Chapter 234 – The Bald Genius Luthor's Scheme
"Hand over the suspect involved in this incident, or we will resort to the necessary use of force to carry out the arrest."
Naturally, the suspect in question was Wanda.
There were no technical obstacles in investigating the origin of the Westview incident.
Through surveillance footage and analysis from the official mage consultants, it was easy to pinpoint Wanda as the central figure.
Especially considering that S.W.O.R.D. had already identified the Scarlet Witch as the key cause and had even filed a prior report to the authorities, yet the Amazo Troopers still got involved—this added a whole new layer of intrigue to the situation.
Watching the Amazo Troopers maintain their aggressive stance, Allen glanced at the Avengers and speculated, "They're not even giving the Avengers face… Looks like the government's really unhappy with you all."
That much was obvious.
The deployment of the Amazo forces within the national defense system could only be authorized by top-level government orders.
If they knew the Avengers were involved and still chose to push forward, it clearly meant they intended to use this as a political message—turning the Avengers into a public example.
Ordinarily, negotiations would come first, and the Avengers would be asked to provide an explanation—anything to avoid unnecessary conflict.
"We're supposed to care if the government's unhappy?" Natasha sneered in response.
Many heroes within the Avengers had backgrounds that naturally placed them under suspicion.
For instance, Black Widow—Natasha—was a former Soviet operative. Even after working for S.H.I.E.L.D. for years and keeping a low profile, she was still on the government's untrusted list.
Then there was Iron Man—Tony Stark—who never followed orders to begin with.
America is a capitalist's paradise—especially for one wielding terrifying technological power.
As for Thor, Doctor Strange, and the Scarlet Witch, each was backed by different powers and entities far beyond the jurisdiction of any one government.
Wanda, in particular, had deep ties to mutant factions. The fact she hadn't been labeled a terrorist yet was already a generous show of restraint.
Or consider someone like the Hulk—with his unpredictable nature, authorities would rather launch him into deep space than let him roam free on Earth.
"Negotiations have revealed your possible intent to harbor a suspect. We're now executing the arrest order."
With the Amazo Troopers' final ultimatum issued, their combat formation quickly deployed.
"I want to see whether Amazos lives up to all the hype."
With that, Tony closed his helmet. The boosters on his suit roared to life, propelling him skyward in a flash.
Whoosh! Boom!
An arrow struck one of the Amazo units, its explosive head erupting in midair, engulfing the target in flames.
Among them, only Hawkeye—Barton—could provide long-range support.
Black Widow and Captain America were forced to fight on the ground.
Steve knew that if he threw his shield, there would be no getting it back—these robots weren't to be underestimated when it came to combat analysis.
Meanwhile, Tony, using his high-speed flight and dual palm repulsors, kept multiple Amazo units occupied in the air.
Since these troops had been dispatched to arrest, not kill, they didn't immediately go for lethal strikes.
Instead, several units broke off to surround the ground team.
Natasha relied on her agility to dodge their attempts at capture, instinctively firing her wrist-mounted electric pulse guns.
Blue electricity coursed across an Amazo unit's surface, briefly slowing it down.
Seizing the moment—
Captain America's shield flew in, embedding itself precisely at the unit's neck.
A split-second later, an arrow followed, exploding right at the shield's edge. The shockwave launched the shield like a blade, severing the robot's head cleanly.
The trio's coordination was flawless—bringing down one unit with ease.
The problem was, nine more remained.
All of them flashed red signal lights as they locked onto the Avengers as primary targets.
"These guys kinda remind me of the Sentinels… but they're nowhere near as powerful."
Allen pulled the Redemption Blade from his waistband and strode toward one of the Amazo units, hands on his hips.
"I'll give you a chance to surrender, Luthor. I know you're watching remotely. Better not drag the Justice League into this—things won't end well."
And indeed, Luthor was watching from just outside Westview.
At the same time, he was collecting data on the Avengers' combat abilities.
When there was no response, Allen raised a hand. Crimson magical energy flowed from his fingertips, then coalesced as he clenched his fist.
"…?"
Allen stared at the Amazo unit before him, perplexed. "Why didn't that work?"
He distinctly remembered how, in the movie, Wanda could obliterate Ultron bots with a simple gesture. But here, nothing happened.
"Is my magic malfunctioning?"
He tried again to cast Chaos Magic, genuinely confused as to what was going wrong.
At that moment, the Amazo unit stepped forward.
Its arms morphed into restraint devices, aiming to arrest Allen as he examined the magical energy.
Suddenly, a portal opened.
The robot lunged—only to miss, its body bowing forward awkwardly as Allen reappeared on its back.
He drove his blade into the top of its head. Sparks and lightning burst forth as the unit shut down and collapsed.
"Not being able to use magic is a real pain."
Allen muttered as he began using portals to repeatedly appear above various Amazo units, dispatching them one by one with precise, lethal strikes using the Redemption Blade.
…
Meanwhile, inside a surveillance van outside Westview—
Multiple Amazo signal indicators were now offline. A smug smile crept across Luthor's face.
"Have all the video files been uploaded?"
"Yes, sir. Everything's on the cloud."
Satisfied, Luthor nodded and gave his next command. "Deploy the real Amazo army."
"Yes, sir!"
Each Amazo unit cost hundreds of millions—there was no way he'd waste the real ones recklessly.
The ones sent to Westview were downgraded versions, solely used to gather evidence of the Avengers using force against law enforcement.
From the beginning, all the warning dialogue had specified arrest, not execution. All the footage depicted apprehension maneuvers only—deliberately staged to make the Avengers look like they were resisting lawful authority and destroying government property.
Bang!
The van door was flung open.
Tyler stormed in, furious. "You're setting up the Avengers!"
"You were eavesdropping?"
Luthor, still wearing his poker face, remained all business. "Everything I've done follows protocol."
This cunning bald man had no intention of admitting to his open conspiracy.
Instead, he countered with an accusation of illegal surveillance, immediately putting Tyler on the defensive.
This was a classic overt scheme—forcing the Avengers to fall right into his trap.
Once the first legal sanction went through, he could apply more pressure, catching them making the same "mistakes" again and again.
Through this, he planned to crush the Avengers' public reputation and force the passage of a Superhero Registration Act.
"What could you possibly gain from this?" Tyler asked, utterly baffled.
"I'm protecting all of humanity," Luthor replied with righteous conviction, his words technically impeccable.
"Cut the crap," Tyler shot back. "This is about some new plan to go after Superman again, isn't it?"
For the first time, a ripple of emotion crossed Luthor's otherwise composed face.
Tyler had hit the mark.
Luthor's true motivation behind the Superhero Registration Act was to limit Superman's activities within human society.
He wanted to prove that humanity was not inferior to Kryptonians.