Karl wore a playful grin.
The sight only made Tothwanwell feel even more humiliated.
Dotilt, standing nearby, had already prepared herself for battle.
She gripped a weapon in her hand, with a small group of elite soldiers gathered behind her, all ready to fight Karl to the death at any moment!
Seeing such a serious formation, Karl finally became more focused.
He had already created an enormous amount of panic among them.
Meanwhile, Iron Man and Eric O'Grady took advantage of the opportunity to slip into the rear section of the base.
Countless boxes and cabinets were packed together inside.
"We're screwed…"
"There are so many of them. Which one is it supposed to be…?"
They stared at thousands of storage cabinets with no idea where to begin.
Every cabinet required its own specific command phrase!
Finding the correct one among so many was almost impossible.
"Don't panic. We've only just started."
"As long as we search carefully, we'll definitely find some kind of clue!"
Hearing how confident Iron Man sounded, Eric could only nod.
He glanced around.
There were indeed far fewer people in this area than before.
Even the number of guards had dropped dramatically.
A trace of surprise appeared in Eric's eyes.
"Did they really all leave?"
"Why do I still feel so uneasy?"
"I keep feeling like something is happening outside our expectations."
Perhaps Eric had fought the Skrulls too many times.
He simply couldn't believe they would allow them to enter such an important place this easily.
Even with Karl drawing away their forces, the defenses here shouldn't have emptied out so quickly.
"All right. Stop overthinking it."
"Maybe Karl really did lure most of their forces away."
"What are you still worried about?"
The reasoning made sense.
Yet Eric still couldn't shake the inexplicable tension and anxiety in his heart.
The feeling made it impossible for him to relax.
Iron Man, however, thought Eric was simply worrying too much.
No matter what, their primary objective was to recover Captain America's shield.
They also needed to find the antidote.
Otherwise, this entire infiltration would have been pointless!
"We should split up."
"You search around here first."
"If you notice anything wrong, notify me immediately."
The two separated and began searching independently.
Standing around waiting wouldn't accomplish anything.
Just as Eric was about to investigate what was hidden inside one of the cabinets, a loud rumbling sound suddenly came from nearby.
The noise immediately drew his attention.
Ultron appeared.
Ultron had originally been nothing more than a machine.
But after developing self-awareness, he had gained the ability not only to control his own body, but also to continuously upgrade it.
That alone was astonishing.
Iron Man had heard before that Ultron's body contained some kind of failsafe mechanism.
Unfortunately, he had never learned exactly what that failsafe did.
"I've only heard that there's some kind of protective failsafe built into him."
"But I have no idea what it actually does."
"That's troublesome…"
They spoke quietly.
Ultron had previously left the base.
But after searching the surrounding area and then hearing that Karl had returned, he immediately realized something was wrong.
This had to be another diversion.
Sure enough!
When he returned to the area where the safes were stored, he found Iron Man and Eric O'Grady there.
"You people make yourselves sound so impressive."
"I didn't expect you to resort to sneaking around and stealing."
Ultron deliberately made his words as insulting as possible.
He had seized Loki's Scepter.
The weapon had given the Skrulls even greater confidence in their assault against Earth.
If Ultron hadn't personally involved himself, perhaps things would never have escalated this far.
Thinking about it now made the entire situation even more astonishing.
"There's no point wasting time arguing with him."
"Let's fight!"
Eric knew that since Ultron had already appeared, there was no point trying to hide.
They could only confront him directly.
At this point, it didn't matter who ultimately won.
Eric was already exhausted by the constant hostility between them.
His nerves could barely take much more!
As long as they dealt with Ultron, they could finally focus on completing the mission.
"You hurry up and find what we need!"
"Don't waste time here."
"We don't know how long Karl can keep them occupied."
"I'll deal with Ultron first!"
Iron Man suddenly stepped forward.
Ultron immediately became interested.
But after seeing how dangerous Ultron looked, Eric couldn't bring himself to let Iron Man take all the pressure alone.
After all, Ultron had always been his opponent.
Eric had already fought him multiple times.
One more battle wouldn't make much difference.
"I've got experience dealing with this."
"Let me handle him."
Ultron had already upgraded himself several times.
With every upgrade, it seemed as though his body gained even stronger regenerative capabilities.
His systems continuously analyzed the characteristics of his enemies, then modified and improved his own body accordingly.
Ordinary people could never develop technology like this.
Only the Skrulls possessed technology advanced enough to support such extensive self-modification.
"For someone who acts so powerful, you're still working for the Skrulls in the end."
"You act like you're something special, but all you're really doing is serving someone else."
The words were deliberately cutting.
Ultron immediately became furious.
He might have been a machine, but he understood perfectly well that the remark was an insult.
His expression abruptly changed.
The person standing in front of him suddenly seemed especially infuriating.
They hadn't expected Ultron to be so sensitive to insults.
That only made the situation more interesting.
"This is turning out to be even more exciting than I expected!"
Light suddenly flared around Iron Man.
He immediately attacked!
Ultron showed no fear whatsoever.
Iron Man drove a punch directly into him.
Ultron took the blow head-on without moving!
Iron Man's expression changed sharply.
He hadn't expected Ultron's new body to be this durable!
"He has an extremely advanced body now."
"We don't know how much impact that body can withstand!"
"And the metal covering him seems to be the same kind used in Wolverine's claws, so…"
Eric didn't need to finish.
Iron Man immediately understood how formidable Ultron's durability might be.
Much of Ultron's toughness came from the metal composing his body.
But Iron Man knew something else as well.
Ultron's greatest weapon wasn't simply raw physical strength.
Much of the threat he projected came from intimidation and psychological pressure.
Eric had always regarded him as an overwhelmingly powerful opponent.
Iron Man, however, continued to view Ultron primarily as an artificial intelligence.
Because of that, he felt far less psychological pressure when facing him.
"You really have changed quite a bit."
"I thought you had enough ability to actually challenge me."
"But looking at you now…"
"You're still nothing more than trash."
Ultron had just endured Iron Man's punch without being knocked back.
His confidence instantly soared.
(End of Chapter)
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