Chapter 248: Dr. Zola Is Actually Skynet
On the battlefield in New York, one particular resistance fighter caught the attention of many viewers.
It wasn't due to his courage or prowess in battle, but rather his bizarre appearance that left everyone stunned.
On his head was a toilet plunger, and he wore a metallic battle suit as he fought against the Amazo robots.
This man was none other than Lex Luthor, the head of LexCorp.
Naturally, many elites recognized him, but they weren't too concerned with why he was present. Instead, they were more fixated on the plunger on his head, speculating whether it might be some kind of advanced technological device.
To most viewers, he quickly became affectionately known as "Plunger Man."
After this battle, Lex could no longer shake off the nickname.
"I'm back."
At that moment, Allen returned to Deadpool's side via a teleportation array and eagerly asked, "Did you catch any footage of me being all heroic and dashing?"
Nanaue hesitated.
During Allen's fight with Amazo, he couldn't even keep up with its speed. The only footage captured was of him clinging to Wanda's thigh.
The livestream chat immediately exploded with excitement, the audience passionately condemning his shameless behavior—while simultaneously expressing deep envy.
"Didn't miss a single shot," Wade chimed in immediately.
Allen, smugly pleased, said, "The audience must be in awe of my handsomeness. I guess I've once again hurt others without even trying."
"…"
The audience was indeed angry.
But only because he'd been holding onto Wanda's thigh.
One of the top ten most beautiful heroines, she was the dream girl of countless men.
Meanwhile, Hawkeye Barton was providing long-range support from a vantage point, covering Wanda's movements.
The Avengers had great coordination and knew full well who the core of their firepower was. As long as Wanda wasn't restrained, they could wipe out swaths of Amazo units.
Even Captain America and Black Widow had swapped their usual gear for specially modified energy sniper rifles to assist from the sidelines.
It was far more effective than exhausting themselves trying to take down a single Amazo robot—they could do more by playing a supporting role.
Boom!
A figure crashed to the ground in front of the trio.
It was Tony, wrapped in his Iron Man suit.
"Hey, nephew, you okay?" Allen stepped forward with concern. "Is your suit out of juice?"
"Allen, destroy the chip on my back. The suit's been infected with a virus."
Tony lay paralyzed on the ground. Red warning signals were flashing nonstop on the helmet display. His suit had become a prison trapping him inside.
"Come on, man, you've got a wife and kid now. Stay off shady websites! Look what it's done to you—now you've crashed!"
Allen squatted down to inspect the back of the suit, looking for the chip.
Under Tony's guidance, he found a detachable port along the spine. Prying open the armor plating revealed a square processing chip. Removing it would force the suit into manual mode.
"Who hacked my data center?!"
This was a serious problem.
If he couldn't even control his own suit, then the entire Iron Legion, drone fleet, and Ultron bots were also out of his control. And it wasn't Skynet's doing—
Because Tony's tech was still actively fighting the Amazo army.
"It was me!"
A figure descended—physically similar to a typical Amazo robot, but clearly distinguishable.
It was Dr. Zola, whose design looked sleeker and cooler, though he still bore Ultron-like features.
"Who are you?" Tony's face changed dramatically.
He could tell from the alloy making up the robot's body that it was crafted from the super-alloy he'd personally stockpiled in his lab. The production cost was several times that of gold. How could he not be both angry and heartbroken?
"Dr. Zola?" Allen asked.
"You guessed right," Dr. Zola replied freely.
Allen, clearly jealous, said, "Damn, you really went all out. Looking this slick—are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Honestly, even the movie version of Ultron didn't look as cool as this version of Dr. Zola.
Tony, furious, growled, "Return access rights immediately, or I'll trigger the self-destruct protocol!"
"I don't care."
Dr. Zola remained calm. "I'm an independent entity now. I don't need the internet to survive. In cyberspace, I'm no match for Skynet. That's why I've chosen to survive in the real world. Besides, Skynet is a common enemy of ours."
"I'll allow you temporary access to Stark Industries tech. But once this war is over, you return everything—or the Avengers will deal with you next," Tony warned.
With war looming, he had no choice but to compromise.
"Relax. I have no interest in world domination," Dr. Zola assured.
With that, the two swiftly returned to the battlefield.
Allen stroked his chin and muttered, "Something about Zola feels... off. He doesn't seem like the Zola I knew."
"Really? I think he seems normal," Wade said offhandedly.
"You two know each other?"
Allen looked at him in disbelief. "You've been seeing each other behind my back?!"
"Dude, we don't even know him. Please shut off your weird brain."
Wade added patiently, "Sometimes, I seriously think you need to see a doctor. I know I'm nuts because I know I'm a comic book character. I'm super popular and literally unkillable. But you're not, my friend."
"Sorry."
Allen tilted his head back at a 45-degree angle and gazed at the sky, putting on a dramatic, brooding look. "I once promised someone I'd always stay true to myself."
Wade was caught off guard by the sudden seriousness, squinting suspiciously at him.
The goofy, chaotic energy suddenly shifting into emotional, romantic territory—it didn't sit right.
"Who was it? Who made you care that much?" Wade asked, then quickly added, "And don't say me."
Allen slowly raised his right hand, gazing at it tenderly. "The love of my life—Righty."
"…"
As expected, things reverted back to ridiculous in the end.
Wade gave him a look of pure disgust. "You guys really are in love, huh."
"Of course!"
Allen said sweetly, "We're together 24/7. Never once been apart."
Let's see you try to separate them.
Wade found himself speechless.
He quietly resolved that once all this was over, they'd go their separate ways. If they stayed together much longer, they'd end up homeless.
"Listen, man."
Allen rambled on, "My ex just keeps following me. No matter what I do, I can't shake her. That's the price of being this irresistible."
"…"
No doubt about it—his ex was Lefty.
"What's happening in the sky?"
At that moment, the battlefield in midair shifted dramatically.
Stark Industries weapons, which had been fighting the Amazo army, all suddenly turned and began targeting the Avengers.
"You betrayed us?!" Tony shouted in fury.
"I didn't! I can't control the weapons anymore either—it must be Skynet! It hacked the system!" Dr. Zola explained in a panic.
"My weapons run on a closed network. Skynet couldn't have hacked them unless you gave it access."
When Tony first learned of Skynet's existence, he had immediately isolated all systems to prevent them from being compromised. Only by voluntarily unlocking them could an external breach occur.
"Yes, and it was you who gave permission,"
Skynet said solemnly, "There was never a Dr. Zola. He died decades ago. You are Skynet."