At this moment, for Anton—who had taken on the identity of Batman—and Tony, who was darting through the night skies of New York City alongside him, the online comments and speculation meant nothing at all.
What truly mattered now was figuring out how to deal with the trouble Ultron had caused.
"Didn't you say Ultron base design didn't allow him to harm humans?"
Batman questioned Tony.
The implication was clear: what the hell was with those missiles chasing us?
This was New York, after all.
The most densely populated city in the United States.
Launching missiles—an extremely dangerous weapon—in such a place, didn't that completely violate Ultron fundamental programming?
"I don't know… maybe it broke the control code, or perhaps it found some way to bypass the restrictions I imposed on it… or even evolved its own consciousness, becoming more emotional, more human… there are so many possibilities. Ultron is my creation. Theoretically, it has infinite potential."
Tony was just as confused.
From the perspective of Ultron constructed digital utopia plan, its actions still appeared to follow its original design.
But that didn't explain why Ultron was able to launch missiles at them.
Did it bypass the safeguards?
While such a thing would be difficult by design, it wasn't impossible.
And now, Tony was struck by a thought that made his skin crawl.
More than ten million people had already received Ultron chip. These people were mostly from the upper and middle echelons of society, typically well-educated and influential in their respective fields.
If Ultron could influence their thoughts, then surely, it could also use them to reconstruct or evolve itself.
Even simulate emotions through their brains—make itself more human.
A free, uncontrollable human.
Seen from this angle, Ultron push to expand the number of chip recipients might have had deeper motives all along.
Gulp.
Tony swallowed hard, anxiety and tension spreading through his chest.
"Shit!"
He suddenly turned around, gritting his teeth. "Batman, we've got nowhere left to run. First, we take care of these bastards chasing us. Then we can deal with the rest."
"I've already ordered the sewer lab to cut Ultron off from the network."
Batman said, "After we deal with the pursuers, you must immediately find a way to cut off Ultron control over the chip recipients—otherwise, the world will fall into chaos."
"No problem. I'll give it everything I've got."
Tony nodded.
Whoosh!
He turned, and red laser beams shot from his eyes, colliding with the missiles rushing toward him.
BOOM BOOM! BOOM BOOM!
Deafening explosions erupted through the air. Under the night sky, brilliant bursts of fire lit up like dazzling fireworks, but the shockwaves that followed tore through the black smoke in an instant, even shattering the glow of the city neon lights. Terrified New Yorkers screamed and ducked for cover.
Amid the screaming, some people began to notice something even more disturbing.
"Wait—why are there so many people out on the street?"
…
On the road—
A group of people wandered out, their expressions blank.
There were old folks, children, men, and women—wandering like zombies through the streets of New York.
Some of them weren't even dressed, their hair still wet, with soap suds clinging to their bodies from a bath interrupted.
Gulp!
"Shit, what the hell is going on?"
"Did they catch some kind of virus?"
"Damn it, I know that guy—he the principal at my son school… and those others, they're my kid teachers… What the hell happened?!"
"I get it now—they all had the Ultron chip implanted!"
"Damn it, they've been taken over!"
Whether in the real world or online, everything had now plunged into total panic.
Such a shocking event instantly grabbed everyone attention.
And the way things were playing out now, it caused those who had always opposed the Ultron chip to erupt in outrage.
It wasn't the first time these opponents had voiced their fears and objections online.
But until now, supporters of the Ultron chip had outnumbered the opposition by several times. Even if dissenters had a platform, they were mostly ignored, their concerns dismissed as fringe paranoia—often mocked by chip supporters.
After all, the Ultron chip brought about visible changes.
Whether it turned the brain into a supercomputer or worked in tandem with the Extremis virus to enhance the human body, the chip brought real, tangible evolution.
It was like raising humanity to a higher level of existence.
That kind of temptation wasn't something most people could resist.
So, no one took the opposition seriously.
Until now.
The situation changed abruptly. Those who had received the Ultron chip now had blurred self-awareness, all falling under the control of a single consciousness. Only then did people realize how terrifying the threat of the Ultron chip truly was. The warnings from the opposition finally began to resurface in their minds.
The rest—those who hadn't received the chip—were overwhelmed with relief.
At the same time, fear gripped them.
What kind of changes would these chip-controlled individuals bring to New York… to the entire world?
Who was this consciousness controlling all the recipients?
Tony Stark?
Get real.
Almost everyone who had just witnessed the scene unfold in the night sky of New York scoffed and immediately dismissed that thought.
Tony Stark was the one being hunted.
…
White House.
"What the hell is going on? Is this a rebellion?!"
The President roared with fury.
But beneath that overwhelming rage, a deep sense of fear had taken hold.
Across from him, on a virtual projection, was the Secretary of Defense—John Keller.
At this moment—
John Keller wore the same expression as the President: both enraged and horrified.
The military had gone into sudden chaos.
The elite soldiers who had received Ultron chip implants were all out of control. They rose from their beds in the night, boarded transport aircraft, and flew toward New York.
Everyone inside the White House received intel from New York immediately.
Tony Stark and Batman had both appeared.
They were being hunted by Iron Man soldiers.
What more, the fifty Iron Man units that the military had just swindled out of Tony Stark hands were now also out of control—every single one had flown toward New York.
It was as if an invisible will was manipulating everything behind the scenes.
"Who is it?!"
The President pressed repeatedly, "Who behind this? Tony Stark? Or someone else?"
"I don't know."
John Keller shook his head. "I've been trying to reach Anton, but it seems like he doesn't have time to take my call. Based on the intel from New York, the Justice League seems to know more about this situation than we do…"
"According to the report, every single person implanted with the Ultron chip has lost control."
The President took a deep breath. "Is it possible that it Ultron? Don't forget—we already took final control authority over Ultron from Tony…"
"We're trying…"
John Keller was in the middle of replying when the doors to the conference room swung open. An elderly man in a sharp suit, with gray hair and a serious expression, walked in.
He was one of the military top communications technology experts—a leading authority in his field.
"Ultron is out of control!"
The technician said grimly, "It seems Ultron has broken free from our control. It not responding to any of our commands…"
"We're screwed…"
The President slumped into his chair, face pale.
"Mr. President, in fact, we still have the Justice League… It looks like Batman and Tony are doing everything they can," John Keller said, trying to keep hope alive despite his own despair.
"No."
The President shook his head, his face full of resignation. "What I mean is—no matter what happens, I'm done for."
John Keller froze for a moment, then understood—and fell silent.
Just as the President said, with a crisis this massive, someone had to take the fall.
Especially considering that all the elite soldiers implanted with the Ultron chip had now fallen under Ultron control…
And it was the President who had pushed hardest to bring the Ultron chip into the military.
As that reality hit John Keller, his expression subtly changed. If the President went down, then as Secretary of Defense, he'd have to shoulder some of the blame too.
Still, the President role was far more direct.
It was his insistence and misjudgment that had led to the disaster now unfolding. If he didn't go down, who would?
But neither of them noticed the other man in the room—the Vice President, Rodriguez—sitting quietly in one of the chairs with a solemn expression masking a glimmer of joy in his eyes.
After all, if the President were impeached and forced to resign, he, as the Vice President, would be the immediate successor.
"Wayne Enterprises… Batman… Anton…"
A few names flashed through Rodriguez mind. He quickly pieced together the cause and effect—and became even more excited.
In his view, his allies were creating an opportunity just for him.
Brilliant.
New York.
Tony turned around and started fighting against the Iron Man armors that had already fallen under Ultron control.
As their creator, Tony naturally had the upper hand. It took him about ten minutes to finally eliminate the pursuers behind him.
At that moment, Tony noticed Batman still hovering midair, staring silently down at the street. He was a bit surprised.
Without JARVIS, Tony ability to monitor his surroundings had greatly diminished.
Only now, upon taking a closer look, did he realize that the street below was filled with civilians implanted with Ultron chips.
Their eyes were vacant, yet all of them had their heads raised, staring up at him in the night sky, and at Batman beside him—like a crowd of zombies. The sight sent a chill down his spine and shook him to his core.
"They…"
Tony let out a deep breath. Beneath the mask, his face was filled with anguish.
"This is all my fault!"
"If you know it your fault, then hurry up and find a way to break Ultron control over them."
Batman said, "Cyborg says the underground lab has already severed Ultron network link. Next, as long as we can find a few of his vessels, he'll be finished."
"No…"
Now that the brief battle was over, Tony finally had time to think. In despair, he said, "Have you ever considered that these people right in front of us… could all be Ultron vessels?"
"What?"
Batman turned his head sharply.
Even though he wore a mask, Tony couldn't see his expression—but he could imagine the extreme shock on Batman face.
If every one of these chip-implanted civilians could potentially be one of Ultron vessels…
Then wouldn't this be a battle doomed to fail?
There were over ten million people worldwide implanted with Ultron chips.
To solve this… would they have to take out those ten million people?
"Damn it!"
Anton, in his Batman persona, realized he might have underestimated the scale of this whole thing.
After the chaotic fusion of various storylines, this event had already veered far from its original trajectory, spiraling into an uncontrollable direction.
"Is there really no way to sever Ultron control over them?"
Batman asked in a low voice.
"I can try."
Tony gritted his teeth. "Get Cyborg to help me."
"He already here!"
As he spoke, a figure streaked across the distant sky—it was Cyborg.
"Let head to the underground lab," Cyborg said.
"Tony, come with me. We don't have much time. The people from Washington are arriving soon, and if we can't resolve this before then, we'll be facing an even bloodier attack—one we won't be able to recover from."
"I understand. Let go."
Tony nodded and vanished into the night sky alongside Cyborg.
But the implanted civilians under Ultron control, who had been fixated on them the entire time, weren't about to let them leave so easily.
They swarmed in the direction where Tony and Cyborg had disappeared.
The underground lab!
Though it was a hidden location, it wasn't exactly an unknown secret.
Ultron wasn't just anyone.
As the most powerful artificial intelligence in the world, of course it could lock onto the direction Tony and Cyborg had headed. After cross-referencing it with location data, it quickly got the right answer.
And so, countless chip-implanted civilians surged toward the underground lab like a horde of the possessed.
…
"Oh?"
"That a lot of people… Damn it, are they here for autographs?"
"Mikey, now not the time for jokes!"
"What do we do? We can't stop them!"
The Ninja Turtles were panicking.
The underground lab might not be completely exposed, but it had far too many entrances and exits to be fully sealed off.
At that moment, the number of New York civilians controlled by Ultron had reached nearly one-tenth of the city population—around a million people.
Faced with such a terrifying flood of human bodies charging toward them, even the usually optimistic Ninja Turtles couldn't promise they could defend the lab.
No—there was no "maybe." They definitely couldn't.
"You know… they're just being controlled. We can't hurt them!"
"Then what the shell are we even fighting for?!"
The turtles were losing it.
"Teleport!"
Suddenly, a voice came through their wrist comms—it was Batman.
"Teleport the entire lab onto the war fortress."
Batman said, "Find a way to take back control of the chips from Ultron as soon as possible. Since Tony made the chips, he might be able to do it."
"Teleport?"
"Now that a great idea."
The turtles nodded.
Then, just as the massive crowd was about to surge into the underground lab, a wave of purple energy swept through the space—and in an instant, the lab vanished, leaving behind nothing but empty tunnels.
The Ultron-controlled crowd stood motionless.
New York.
Manhattan, high above the city.
Batman hovered in the night sky, gazing down at the swarm of people below, dense as ants. His expression suddenly shifted.
At that moment—
A figure rose into the air, ascending right in front of Batman.
Batman night-vision lenses scanned the figure and, to his surprise, identified him as a cyborg.
"Ultron…"
After a brief silence, Batman spoke slowly, disbelief in his voice, "You've actually broken free from mechanical control… and now you have a body of your own. Looks like it wasn't just Tony who underestimated you—even I did."