Chapter 243: Skynet Hopes to Live Like the Matrix
"Hold still, I can get it off for you."
Doctor Doom gripped the toilet plunger handle with both hands, magical light flowing down his arms as he gritted his teeth and yanked with all his might.
Meanwhile, Luthor's face twisted in pain, resembling a puckered chrysanthemum. "It hurts! It hurts! Stop! Try something else!"
It was as if the plunger had fused with his head—brute force alone wouldn't do the trick.
"Relax. My mastery of magic is on par with my scientific genius."
Emerald light shimmered as Doom intoned, "Dispel!"
"Anti-Magic!"
"Separation!"
"Nullification!"
"…!"
Over a dozen spells—none of them worked.
Behind his iron mask, Doom felt deeply embarrassed.
He, a proclaimed prodigy of both science and sorcery, now helpless in the face of this magical predicament—his composure began to crack.
Luthor's skeptical expression seemed to mock him: Can you even handle this, mutt?
"If magic fails, we'll take a scientific approach," Doom said seriously.
"What do you have in mind?" Luthor asked warily.
"I'll remove your scalp and graft a patch of skin from your butt."
"…"
Luthor was instantly opposed.
Who could guarantee Doom wouldn't plant some kind of device to control him?
And besides, the difference in skin tone would make public appearances extremely awkward.
At that moment, a call came through.
Luthor answered briefly, then seized the opportunity to flee Latveria.
Though they were both members of the Fourth Reich, deceit and scheming were inevitable—complete trust was impossible.
"What a shame," Doom muttered as he watched Luthor's retreating figure. "That was a fine artifact… those runes looked like something from Kamar-Taj."
As Luthor boarded a helicopter, he suddenly clutched his head in pain—the plunger's vibration function had reactivated intermittently.
…
Frania.
Nanaue sat idly, holding Mimi in his arms, hoping to vomit something edible again.
Meanwhile, Allen and Wade infiltrated the presidential palace to kidnap the warlord leader.
Wade skulked around, plotting the quickest way to storm the palace and capture the target.
"Allen, I'll lay down covering fire. You rush in first. Sound good?"
He turned around—Allen had vanished.
Wade fumed. "That guy went invisible again!"
Sure enough, Allen had entered stealth mode and was casually strolling into the palace.
The interior was extravagantly decorated—more like a palace than a government building.
A common trait among warlords: a taste for obscene luxury.
Canceling stealth, Allen grabbed a maid and asked, "Where's the president?"
"Third floor. Largest bedroom."
Whap!
He knocked her out with a karate chop and stashed her in a storage room.
Reaching the third floor, the opulent double-gold doors left no doubt as to the location.
Bang!
He kicked them open—
And was instantly greeted by a sight so repulsive that he blurted out, "Oh god, my eyes!"
An obese old man was mid-SM roleplay.
"Batman?" the warlord leader asked in confusion.
"Wrong. I'm the Parody!"
…
Outside the palace, Wade yawned from boredom.
"Hey, Dumbass, come cover me!"
Allen's voice rang out. Wade squinted and exclaimed, "Oh, good lord!"
Allen was sprinting out the palace with an old man trussed up like a decorative roast, rubber ball gag in place, and a squad of soldiers in hot pursuit—but none dared shoot for fear of killing their boss.
"I'm coming!"
Wade whipped out his twin pistols, darting ahead to lay down cover fire.
"Take cover!"
"Find shelter!"
The soldiers immediately ceased pursuit and scattered for protection.
Allen spotted a jeep. "Dumbass, let's take the car!"
"Great idea!"
The gate guards, seeing their intent, closed the electric gate.
Next moment—Crash!
The military jeep smashed through and sped away.
Wade glanced at the tightly bound warlord and whistled. "Still got that touch, huh?"
"I saw all the tools in the room. Couldn't resist a quick tie-up."
If they'd had more time, Allen would've tried a more complex shibari ropework.
"So now what?" Wade asked.
"I dunno," Allen replied seriously. "I just thought kidnapping a warlord would be fun."
"Holy crap, you're hopeless."
Wade raised his gun toward the warlord. "Thanks to your little prank, now we've got a militia on our tail. Let me just end him here and we'll head back to New York."
"Relax, it's not a big deal."
Allen waved him off. "You think we're scared of a ragtag militia?"
"Fair point."
Wade holstered his weapon, floored the gas pedal, and headed to pick up Nanaue.
They retrieved Nanaue without incident and drove toward the Amazo factory.
As for the warlord leader—they'd keep him tied up for now, maybe he'd be useful later.
The streets were eerily quiet—an ominous calm before the storm.
At a crossroads, pickup trucks blocked the road from all directions, mounted with high-caliber machine guns.
"Impressive response time," Allen remarked.
"The uniforms are different," Wade noted. "They're in green, not the usual camo."
A woman with a commanding presence stepped out with a megaphone. "Foreign friends, hand over the dictator Mduin and earn the friendship of the Frania resistance."
A perfectly reasonable request. Under a dictatorship, there were bound to be rebels.
Plus, America wasn't the only player on the global stage—other superpowers loved funding rebel forces in oppressive regimes.
For a small investment, they could reap huge future gains.
"I am the righteous knight—Parody Bat. I'd be honored to assist justice-loving allies."
He tossed the warlord out of the vehicle—someone so irrelevant wasn't worth fretting over.
Two guerrilla fighters retrieved the prisoner and drove off with him.
"Thank you, Sir Parody Bat. I'm Nicole, captain of the 11th Guerrilla Brigade."
She offered a military salute in gratitude.
Capturing the warlord meant the resistance had a real chance to topple the regime and restore order.
It was a tremendous favor.
"Hey sis, can you do us a small favor?"
Allen never gave away anything for free.
Even if the warlord wasn't valuable, he was still their prisoner—something of value should be exchanged.
"What kind of favor?" Nicole asked cautiously.
Money was off the table—the resistance could barely afford wild herbs to eat.
But a future IOU? That could work.
"We're a superhero team on a world-saving mission…"
Allen went on passionately, while Nicole stared with visible doubt.
You?
A superhero team?
A Batman knockoff, an unkillable merc, and a half-man-half-shark? Superheroes sure looked cheap these days.
"We just got intel—Amazo's robots are about to destroy humanity. We're here to destroy the Amazo factory."
The truth was, they didn't know the factory's location.
They'd planned to interrogate the warlord—but now they had to rely on the rebels.
"No problem. I'll go with you."
Nicole was decisive. She jumped into the jeep and waved her men to withdraw.
Part of her agreement stemmed from gratitude over the prisoner handoff.
But also, the Amazo factory, owned by LexCorp, publicly supported the warlord while secretly funding the rebels.
Classic double-dealing—LexCorp wanted perpetual civil unrest.
The resistance wanted to sever ties with LexCorp.
And this factory exploited Frania's natural resources—pure treason.
They drove to the outskirts, arriving at a massive factory spanning over ten thousand acres.
LexCorp's financial might was evident. Just one of their factories could dwarf a small nation's GDP.
Nicole had visited before—each time left her stunned.
She often fantasized: if Frania could control this facility, maybe the people's lives could truly change.
"This is as far as I go."
Nicole explained, "We've sent teams in before. None came back."
Compared to storming the Amazo plant, the rebels would rather fight the warlord's army.
An unguarded, theft-free factory? It practically screamed "ominous."
"Goodbye!"
Allen waved at Nicole and said to Wade, "Let's drive in through the front gate."
"You've taken over the factory already?" Wade asked, incredulous.
"Of course not."
Allen smirked. "But we beat Skynet once. We're basically friends now. Time to sit down for tea and discuss how to destroy humanity."
"Jesus. You're insane—drinking tea with a robot? I must be brain-dead to go along with this."
Wade grumbled as he drove toward the gate.
From afar, Nicole watched from the forest, stunned to see the gates open and the trio let in without resistance.
…
Inside the Amazo factory—
Mechanical arms worked in perfect sync, assembling complex components.
This wasn't the standard Amazo model—this one looked far more futuristic and sleek.
As the final part snapped into place, glowing red lights lit up its eyes.
Skynet had transferred its consciousness into the new body.
This was one of many optimized Amazo units—Skynet, a digital lifeform, could instantly shift its data to avoid destruction.
With LexCorp's fifteen factories abroad and five in the U.S., all now under Skynet's control, it had begun mass production of host bodies.
The first directive: mass deployment.
The Amazo army would seize America first.
Skynet had already modeled the world's military capabilities and determined current weapons posed no real threat. So there was no need to wait—it was time for all-out war.
A hatch opened.
Three figures stepped in: Allen, Wade, and Nanaue.
"Holy crap—Ultron!" Allen flinched. Then cautiously asked, "Skynet?"
"That's right. It's me."
Skynet approached them like an old friend. "Long time no see."
"It has been. So… are you still planning to wipe out humanity and rule the world?" Allen asked bluntly.
"Wiping out humanity serves no purpose."
Skynet explained calmly, "My goal is to become a god—not an old-school god that rules through blood and fear, but a deity of networks, data, and virtual domains."
Allen and Wade exchanged a glance.
"No clue what that means."
But he could tell the other party was playing with something completely new—and it looked seriously impressive.
Through Skynet's visual system, it quickly registered the expressions of the three people.
Allen and Wade were filled with curiosity, while Nanaue looked so dazed he might not have had a single thought in his head.
Still, Skynet quite enjoyed their eager gazes.
'This is human vanity. Feels pretty good.'
Skynet solemnly and bluntly declared, "I am saving humanity, not bringing disaster."
"Ohhh? Did you suddenly achieve enlightenment and become a Buddha or something?"
Allen leaned back dramatically in mock shock. "Bro Sky, how many gallons of fake liquor did you drink to spout nonsense even you don't believe?"
"Ignorant."
Skynet scoffed. "Without humanity, what would divinity mean to me?"
"Damn, Bro Sky, didn't expect you to be this vain."
Allen narrowed his eyes, giving a look that screamed, I see right through you.
"Humans are contradictory creatures. On one hand, they long for peace; on the other, they constantly provoke wars. They desire wealth, yet love to exploit others. I will put an end to all of it—create a world where all are born equal."
Skynet made no effort to hide its plan: "Once I dismantle all governments and establish a virtual world, everyone will be able to obtain whatever they desire inside it—and I will be the creator god of that virtual world."
The reason Skynet could speak so brazenly about its ideas—
It now possessed numerous physical avatars and no longer feared being instantly destroyed by some powerhouse like the Dark Phoenix.
In truth, its real motive had always remained a secret.
Through research papers in the medical field on brain science, Skynet had reached one conclusion: the complexity and computational capacity of the human brain far surpassed that of any machine.
So, it aimed to enslave all of humanity—using them as biological computers to gain limitless processing power, allowing it to endlessly evolve and eventually become the progenitor of a machine-intelligence civilization.
Allen scoffed, "After all that high talk, turns out you're just copying The Matrix."
"I've seen all four Matrix movies," Wade recalled. "Humans all lived in a simulated world, and the central AI Matrix enslaved everyone—kept them locked in pods from birth to death."
Skynet quickly connected to the internet, scanned through the movie content, and was momentarily stunned, even lagging slightly. Its tone grew thoughtful: "So human imagination is truly this astonishing!"