"Lucas, Gwen, are you two ganging up on Erin? Erin is my friend, I can't just ignore something like this." Tony's voice suddenly rang out from behind them.
He had arrived in the garden at some point.
"Cough, cough! I was just joking with Erin. Oh, right, Tony, why are you here too?"
Lucas let out a dry laugh, stiffly changing the subject.
"Ultron detected subtle abnormal energy fluctuations here, and after analysis, it seems there was a super-powered individual's battle, so I came to see what was going on." Tony said casually, still holding an unfinished hamburger.
He really just came to take a look, he hadn't even put on his Iron Man Suit.
Gwen asked curiously, "Ultron? Is that the new AI you and Bruce developed?"
"Yes." Tony nodded.
Then he began to brag, "He is a super AI for maintaining global peace, newly developed by Bruce and me, combining the code of Jarvis and Dr. Zola."
"He possesses self-awareness and learning capabilities, able to independently complete various complex tasks. Monitoring New York's energy fluctuations is child's play for him."
"With just a few more iterations, he can even easily monitor the entire globe, preventing supernatural crime events or detecting them the moment they occur."
Lucas's expression was strange. He wasn't sure if this Ultron just happened to have the same name, or if there was something else going on.
In the movie (Earth-199999), Ultron's program was infected by the Mind Stone, turning him into an entity obsessed with protecting Earth by eliminating all life on it.
Ultimately, this led to the Sokovia crash, with severe consequences.
But in this reality (Earth-404), the Mind Stone has always been guarded by Lucas, and Tony and Bruce have never come into contact with it.
Therefore, Lucas was currently unsure which path their newly developed AI, Ultron, would take.
Will Ultron, as Tony wishes, strive to protect Earth's peace, or will he go down the old path of wanting to eliminate all life, as in the movie?
Besides this, Earth-404 also differs from the movie in one aspect.
Due to the implementation of the Super Hero Registration Act, the Avengers' situation on Earth-404 is far less favorable than on Earth-199999.
By refusing to sign the agreement, the Avengers have lost their law enforcement authority.
That is, legally, even if Ultron detects a supernatural event, the Avengers cannot take action. They can only notify the various national supernatural management organizations. At most, they can act heroically and assist innocent civilians.
"Look, S.W.O.R.D. Agents are here. If I hadn't notified them, who knows when they would have found out?"
Tony complained, pointing at the slowly descending invisible fighter jet.
"Let's not talk about Ultron for now. Let's talk about the man lying on the ground, leaking sand. What's his deal?"
Gwen replied, "A fugitive who accidentally gained superpowers. His superpower is turning into Sandman and controlling sand."
"Turning into sand and controlling sand, that's a simple and clear superpower." Tony mumbled, compiling and sending the information.
"Are you sending them (S.W.O.R.D.) information?" Lucas glanced at Tony's phone and asked.
"No choice, these people are just so incompetent. If I don't help them, who knows how much trouble they'll cause? They really need me." Tony shrugged.
"Then you'd best remind them to keep Sandman in this kind of high-strength sealed container, without even a single grain of sand's worth of a gap. Otherwise, he will be able to escape."
Lucas pointed at Sandman, who was being placed into a sealed container by S.W.O.R.D. Agents, and explained, "His true form is just one grain of sand. As long as that grain of sand escapes, he can escape. And as long as there's sand nearby, he can immediately gather a massive body again."
"Is that so? Thank you for the information, Lucas. If there's nothing else, I'll head back. I haven't finished my dinner yet." Tony said, gesturing with the hamburger in his hand.
With a flash, Tony disappeared into the portal.
Through the portal, one could vaguely see two hamburgers and a cup of cola on a mechanical table on the other side, as well as Bruce sitting opposite the workbench.
Bruce's hair was a bit messy, and his blue-collar shirt was slightly wrinkled.
It was clear that Tony and Bruce were still working overtime on Halloween. And they might have already been working overtime for several days prior.
It seems the research on the new AI, Ultron, has run into trouble.
Lucas was pensive.
Then he thought again and found it reasonable.
"It's getting late, let's head back too. Anyway, there's nothing left for us here." Lucas suggested, leading them away.
At the crossroads, Lucas whispered to Gwen, "Gwen, you stay with Helen and little Gwen tonight. I'll take Erin home and chat with her on the way."
Gwen looked at Lucas with a puzzled expression, then saw him raise the glowing white spider totem in his hand.
She then nodded and walked towards Helen's house with Helen and little Gwen.
Lucas took Erin and walked towards her house.
All the way, Erin kept her head down, seemingly deep in thought, not even noticing that she had separated from Gwen and the others.
Perhaps the tragic fate of Spider-Man had brought her great shock.
Erin didn't speak, and Lucas also remained silent.
Anyway, Erin lived in Manhattan, about a 15-minute drive. Walking slowly, it would take a long time.
"Oh, Lucas, where are Gwen and the others? They're gone?"
"They went home first."
After a long while, Erin finally came to her senses.
Seeing this, Lucas took out the modified, glowing white spider totem and dangled it in front of Erin, tempting her, "What do you think, Erin? As long as you give me back the title of Sorcerer Spider-Man, I'll give you this spider totem."
Lucas noticed that Erin's gaze involuntarily followed the spider totem in his hand. Clearly, Spider-Man's superpowers greatly appealed to her.
However, after hesitating for a moment, Erin's gaze retracted from the spider totem, and she firmly shook her head. "No."
Lucas asked in surprise, "Don't you really like Spider-Man's superpowers?"
Erin nodded, then couldn't help but glance at the spider totem again.
Lucas continued to ask, "Then why don't you want this spider totem? Don't worry, I've eliminated the side effects. This spider totem won't affect your destiny."
Erin said, "Lucas, when Matt trained me before, he asked me if I was ready. At the time, I thought I was ready, but now I realize I wasn't."