After the light dissipated, everyone looked at that spot.
There was nothing left.
The ultron main body, along with the ground in that area beneath it, had all vanished without a trace.
Only a bottomless, massive pit, with its edges still melting and smoking, remained, leading straight down beneath the city.
"This... it's just gone?"
Clint's dagger almost slipped from his hand as he stared at the huge pit, his mouth half-open.
That one shot from Tel-Rol had cleared a large section of the battlefield.
In the sky, Tel-Rol slowly descended, shaking his wrist and pouting slightly.
"So weak."
On the other side, Kara had also dealt with the last batch of robots attacking her.
She flew to Tel-Rol's side, looking at him with a somewhat complex expression.
In the public channel, Tony's voice broke the brief silence.
"f.r.i.d.a.y., how many Ultrons are still on site?"
"Sir, after Mr. Tel and Ms. Kara's cleanup, there are 489... 8 Ultrons remaining."
f.r.i.d.a.y. reported in her usual steady tone.
"Nice work, barbarian."
Tony whistled in the channel.
Steve's voice immediately followed, with a hint of caution.
"Everyone, don't relax! Ultron's consciousness probably isn't that easily dealt with!"
Although the biggest threat seemed to be resolved, Captain America never underestimated his enemies.
But just then, f.r.i.d.a.y.'s alarm suddenly rang shrilly in Tony's helmet.
"Sir! Detecting abnormal energy fluctuations! Deep underground, directly beneath the city!"
"What's going on?"
Tony frowned.
"A powerful energy source is being activated, with a 99% match to the 'the cradle' data from Dr. Helen Cho previously detected in the Seoul lab!"
"At the same time, a large amount of data stream is being transmitted at high speed, targeting that energy source! Data structure analysis... it's Ultron's core code!"
f.r.i.d.a.y.'s speech rate accelerated.
"Upload progress: 78%... 81%..."
Tony's face instantly changed.
"Shit!"
He couldn't help but curse.
"That sly fox! A cicada shedding its shell!"
He finally understood why Ultron was so calm; he had already prepared a revival item!
"Steve! You guys clear out the small fries up there, I'll be right back!"
Tony didn't give Steve time to react, pushing his suit's thrusters to maximum power and diving headfirst into the deep pit that Tel-Rol had just blasted open.
"Tony!"
Steve only managed to shout one word.
Tel-Rol looked in the direction Tony disappeared, then at the ordinary robots that were not completely dead and were starting to get back up, and impatiently clicked his tongue.
"So annoying, is there no end to this?"
He was about to make a move.
Kara stopped him.
"You go help Tony, we'll handle things here."
Kara looked at him, her blue eyes filled with seriousness.
"You can't finish them all alone, he needs help."
Tel-Rol was stunned, glancing at her.
"Can you handle it? Don't get ambushed again."
Kara's face instantly flushed, whether from anger or embarrassment.
"I can! You go quickly!"
She stomped her foot, then turned and charged into the robot pile, Heat Vision sweeping across them.
Tel-Rol shrugged, muttered, "Hmph, women," and then jumped into the deep pit.
Deep underground.
Tony passed through layers of rock and arrived at a massive underground cavern.
It looked like Ultron's production base, with the Ultron production line still operating above.
On one side of the cavern, a biological tissue cultivation device emitting a soft blue light stood silently.
It was Dr. Helen Cho's the cradle.
Inside the cradle was a brand new body.
The body's contours were extremely smooth and elegant, full of power, and aside from its vibrant color, it was also more human-like.
The most critical thing was that on the forehead of that body, a yellow gem was faintly glowing.
The mind stone!
"Oh my..."
Tony looked at the body, feeling his scalp tingle.
A vibranium body, plus the mind stone—if Ultron succeeded with this, what would be the point of fighting!
On the screen inside his helmet, the upload progress bar had already jumped to 92%.
"No time!"
Tony raised his arm, his palm's energy cannon aimed at the energy conduit connected to the cradle.
He had to cut it off physically!
Just as he was about to fire.
A red energy beam shot out from the shadows on the side, hitting his suit.
Tony staggered from the impact.
An ultron main body, identical to the one evaporated on the surface, emerged from the shadows.
Red light flickered in its electronic eyes.
"Stark, you're always in the way."
"What the hell?"
Tony steadied himself and retorted.
"I am everywhere."
Ultron spread his arms.
"As long as the network exists, I will never truly die. And this body will be my ultimate form!"
"I will collect the other Infinity Stones. I will save this universe!"
Tony quickly analyzed the battle situation.
"f.r.i.d.a.y., stall him! Buy me some time!"
"Understood, sir."
Tony's suit shoulders opened, and dozens of miniature missiles whistled as they shot towards Ultron.
Ultron merely raised his arm, and an energy shield easily blocked all attacks.
"Useless struggle."
Taking advantage of the smoke from the explosion, Tony accelerated towards the cradle.
Ultron reacted even faster, accelerating like a teleport, blocking Tony's path, and punching him in the face.
"Bang!"
Tony crossed his arms to block, but he was still knocked backward by the immense force, sliding over ten meters.
"The strength is much greater than the clone on the surface..."
Tony felt the armor on his arms creaking.
"Upload progress: 97%!"
f.r.i.d.a.y.'s warning sounded again.
"Damn it!"
Tony knew he couldn't delay any longer.
His foot thrusters flared, and he charged at Ultron.
He feigned a move, brushing past Ultron, and darted towards the cradle behind him.
"Your target is me!"
Ultron seemed enraged and turned to pursue.
Tony seized the opportunity, and just before he was about to crash into the cradle, he suddenly flipped over, aiming his foot thrusters at the pursuing Ultron.
"Take this big one!"
Two maximum-power repulsor beams slammed squarely into Ultron's chest.
Ultron was blasted away.
Using the recoil, Tony directly embraced the massive cradle with both hands.
"Get up for me!"
The power of his entire suit instantly overloaded, and red alarms flashed wildly on his faceplate.
He forcibly lifted the several-ton cradle, tearing through the base's ceiling, and rushed towards the surface!
"You won't take it!"
Ultron roared, chasing after him, firing energy blasts at Tony as if they were free.
Tony awkwardly dodged in the air, still clutching the massive device, moving clumsily like a duck.
"f.r.i.d.a.y.! Transfer your data into this body!"
Tony calmly issued the command, constantly adjusting his body to dodge attacks.
"Also activate j.a.r.v.i.s.!"
..."Yes, sir."
"Sir, it has been an honor to serve you, goodbye!"
Just then, a figure shot up from below, kicking the relentlessly pursuing Ultron in the face.
"Bang!"
Ultron was directly sent flying like a baseball.
Tel-Rol hovered beside Tony, looking at the large box he was holding with a look of disdain.
"What are you doing? Stealing someone's stuff?"
"Shut up! Help me stop that tin can!"
Tony yelled; he didn't have time to banter with Tel-Rol now.
"No problem."
Tel-Rol grinned, then turned and charged towards the flying Ultron.
With Tel-Rol buying him time, Tony could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
He held the cradle, quickly burst out of the ground, and arrived at the outskirts of Sokovia.
"f.r.i.d.a.y.! Start!"
"Connecting to the cradle... Cracking firewall... Uploading 'f.r.i.d.a.y.' protocol..."
Inside the cradle, the mind stone on the forehead of the vibranium body flickered with light.
Tony watched all this nervously, sweat beading on his forehead.
Success or failure, it all came down to this.
A few seconds later, the body in the cradle slowly stopped trembling.
Everything became quiet.
"Did it succeed? Or fail?"
Tony's heart pounded, and he asked.
"j.a.r.v.i.s., are you there?"
Just then, a gentle, metallic voice softly sounded in his communication channel.
"Sir... I have always been here."