Chapter 161: Ultron Intends to Use Nukes to Force Ethan to Hand Over the Stone
This was also why Ethan said that the current Tony Stark was still far from fulfilling his potential.
"Tony's current vision is locked down by Earth's technology, which is why he can't create miracles."
Ethan could only offer such a vague explanation.
And indeed, it was the truth.
"I'll pass those words on to Tony exactly as you said them."
Natasha winked at him playfully.
Reluctantly, she slipped out of Ethan's embrace, lifted the covers, and got out of bed to pick up the clothes scattered across the floor.
Ethan leaned back against the headboard, admiring this wonderful scene.
That graceful silhouette from behind was enough to make any man's blood boil.
But now, this stunning woman belonged to him alone.
He had completely conquered the heart of this Black Widow.
From now on, this woman would never play any more little mind games with him.
When did this change begin?
It probably started from the moment he rescued her from that cold genetic laboratory in Siberia; her heart had completely fallen for him then.
"You're leaving?"
Ethan threw the previous question back at her.
"Yes, I have a mission. I can't stay away from the Base for too long."
An apologetic look appeared on Natasha's face.
Now dressed in her tight combat suit, she leaned down again and gave the man she loved a deep, affectionate parting kiss.
He was a god among men, a living legend.
And even more so, he was the irreplaceable, only hero in her heart.
"Alright then, I'll just have to wander around Los Angelesby myself."
Ethan gave a free and easy smile.
He really did want some peace and quiet to walk around and see the sights.
Rather than putting on airs and sitting on a pedestal every day to be worshipped.
Of course, even if he called himself a god,
With his current strength, it wasn't boasting.
The curtain on the plot of Avengers 2 had finally been pulled back.
Except the current plot had long since been altered beyond recognition.
The Mind Stone was already firmly worn on Ethan's hand.
Ultron wanting to snatch the stone? It was simply a pipe dream.
He was actually quite looking forward to seeing what kind of trouble Ultron would stir up next.
He hoped it would bring him some long-awaited excitement.
After all, Ultron combined human wisdom with the power of the Mind Stone; theoretically, his potential was limitless.
Even Skynet from the terminator movies might not have had as high a starting point as Ultron.
The end of technology was Ultron's ceiling.
He was a supervillain born to exemplify the 'backlash of technology'.
"Ever since the Battle of New York, a global arms race has started again, but this time it's not for war between nations, but to guard against aliens."
"All kinds of weapons of mass destruction are being upgraded."
"The power of Mutants has also re-entered the vision of those politicians and scientists."
It couldn't be helped; during the Battle of New York, while the military was pathetic, the superpowered individuals were truly effective.
A top-tier superpowered individual could indeed be worth a million-man army.
Like Magneto—he was the bane of all modern thermal weapons.
The torrent of firearms that humanity was so proud of was just a pile of scrap metal toys in front of Magneto.
But the problem now was that these toys were very likely about to become the guns in Ultron's hands.
Walking along the bustling Hollywood Walk of Fame, Ethan's mind was pondering Ultron's strategic intentions.
Controlling the global arsenal?
Humanity's current weapon stockpiles were quite terrifying.
In fact, the reason Mutants had always lost was because of humanity's endless weapon research and development.
Often, sending ground troops to capture Mutants was only because they wanted them alive.
If they really wanted to kill,
With humanity's existing technological level, it wasn't actually hard to eliminate a Mutant.
"If Ultron really takes this step, then this war will truly become a real-life version of terminator!"
Ethan lamented inwardly.
The movie version of Ultron was weakened to the point of being a dog, having to do everything personally.
That mechanical body actually limited his performance.
In contrast, that old fellow Apocalypse was much more shrewd.
He knew that human nuclear bombs could kill him.
So the first thing he did after being resurrected was to disable the global nuclear and missile Systems.
This was the fundamental reason why Apocalypse almost conquered the World back then—humanity had no cards left in their hand.
If it hadn't been for the later rebellion within the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse, combined with the eruption of Phoenix Jean, Apocalypse might have actually won.
...
On an old freighter docked at an abandoned port.
The air was filled with the smell of brine and rust.
"The money has been transferred."
Ultron weighed the rare Vibranium he had just traded for in his hand, a satisfied red light flickering in his electronic eyes.
The next second, the thrusters under his feet suddenly spat fire, and he soared into the sky without staying a moment longer.
With this Vibranium, he could forge an indestructible, perfect body for himself.
"The current priority is to find a way to dismantle that Ice Demon and take back lokis scepter!"
lokis scepter was just a code name.
After hacking into the S.H.I.E.L.D. database, Ultron had long since thoroughly investigated the records of the Battle of New York, naturally discovering the details of the destruction of HYDRA Baron Strucker's Base.
All clues pointed to one fact—the Scepter was in Ethan's hands.
"Ethan..."
Ultron's processor was calculating frantically, with countless data streams colliding in his mind.
The surveillance cameras spread throughout the city had now all become his eyes.
He could invade networks at will, tamper with backend permissions, and turn the entire World's surveillance System into his private property.
"The Osborn Group has an annoying peer guarding the gate; it won't be easy to force my way in."
Ultron concluded after calculations that if the artificial intelligence named EDITH defended to the death, he really wouldn't be able to break through Osborn's firewall in a short time.
Because intrusion takes time.
And the opponent could completely physically cut off the network in that instant.
"Gwen..."
"Raven..."
"Psylocke..."
Names and photos flashed rapidly through Ultron's field of vision.
These were all people close to Ethan.
In other words, the 'God's' weaknesses.
"I can completely force him to submit and obediently hand over the Scepter."
How to force this World-renowned Ice Demon to bow his head?
An extremely insane plan suddenly flashed through Ultron's core processor.
"What if I destroy New York?"
But that wasn't enough.
He had to create a dead-end situation that even Ethancouldn't defend against.
Using the lives of millions in the entire city as bargaining chips to threaten him into handing over the Mind Stone.
"I don't even need to do it myself."
"If all of humanity's nukes are aimed at New York, let's see how you save it, Ethan."
One nuclear bomb might not be much.
But what if there were thousands?
Imagine, if all of humanity's nukes were launched simultaneously, what kind of hellscape would that be?
Fortunately, though humans were keen on destruction, they were also afraid of death and hadn't connected all the 'big guys' to the internet.
The vast majority of nuclear launch silos were in a physically isolated, offline state.
To release those Gods of Death hidden underground, one had to rely on a living person's hands to turn keys and enter passwords.
Brute force cracking or remote control—against such primitive physical locking methods, even Ultron was like a clever wife unable to cook without rice.
"But I can clearly perceive that in the global data torrent, there are at least three hundred strategic nuclear bombs in a state of combat readiness that are online and on standby."
"These three hundred Swords of Damocles are the best chips I have to blackmail all of humanity."
Chapter 162: Ultron Leaks Secrets, Global Manufacturing of the Iron Legion
Among them, half of the firepower was hidden in the deep sea; it was the nuclear submarine fleet that humanity took such pride in.
For Ultron, infiltrating the submarines' control Systems silently through wireless networks was simpler than breathing.
Besides these big guys, many automated killing machines manufactured by humans didn't even require a person to press a button.
Wherever there was code, it was his backyard.
"That arrogant fellow Ethan will definitely hand over Loki's Scepter to me first for the sake of his so-called 'dignity of the strong,' waiting to snatch it back personally later."
After countless big data simulations, Ultron had finally accurately captured the fatal bug in Ethan's character.
That was arrogance—an arrogance etched into his very bones.
That kind of World-invincible power was the soil that nourished this arrogance.
And this was precisely what gave Ultron a glimmer of hope for a comeback.
"The time for the final battle is not yet ripe. Relying solely on this body I have now isn't enough; I need an army, an army like an iron torrent."
Looking across the globe, the organizations and nations capable of manufacturing such an iron legion were as numerous as ox hairs.
This was yet another opportunity in Ultron's eyes.
At this time, Stark Industries' network firewall had once again undergone an iterative upgrade.
Ultron probed the edge of that blue sea of data and found that the newly appointed gatekeeper was even more difficult to deal with than the previous Jarvis.
Unfortunately, this new artificial intelligence's luck was a bit lacking; it was just a piece of rigid code and hadn't birthed a true 'Soul' like he had.
"My existence is still a ghost unheard of to the high-level officials of many nations."
"What if I distribute Stark Industries' core robot blueprints to these countries like handing out flyers?"
"For instance, Huaxia in the East; they possess the most terrifying industrial production chain on this Planet."
"Once the various factions within Huaxia get the blueprints and complete the modification of their production lines, an endless stream of robots will be produced like canned goods on an assembly line."
"When the time comes, I'll just have to move my finger, and these newly finished tin shells will instantly change masters, becoming death soldiers who only obey me."
"No matter which organization builds them, as long as they are networked robots, they will ultimately be my soldiers."
"The more they build, the greater my chances of victory."
This concerned whether he could raise an Omnic Crisissufficient to crush human armies in a short period of time.
With a flash of data light, Ultron's consciousness returned to his secret lair.
This place had once been a hidden HYDRA stronghold, dark and damp.
Countless mechanical arms were waving day and night; amidst flying sparks, the production lines were being frantically modified, and hideous robots were slowly stepping off the conveyor belts.
But this self-production efficiency was too low; the birth of every robot was burning through Ultron's precious resource reserves.
Although he could modify bank account balances at will in the network World and possessed infinite wealth,
at this critical juncture, he could not purchase Materials on a large scale, as that would expose his strategic intentions.
"Human greed is like a black hole; even if S.H.I.E.L.D.screams itself hoarse with warnings, they will absolutely be unable to resist secretly manufacturing these powerful War Machines in private."
The electronic eyes beneath Ultron's metal mask flickered with red light, as if mocking human stupidity.
With a light flick of his finger, he packaged the core secrets stolen from Stark Industries and sent them to the private emails of dozens of major national governments worldwide.
Not only that, but many powerful financial magnates who called the shots internationally also received this gift from 'Hell.'
"Beep beep beep—!!!"
"Level one alert! Level one alert!!"
"The company's top-secret database has been accessed by force; core robot technology is undergoing a large-scale leak!"
"Warning! Tracking shows that over a thousand government agencies and private organizations worldwide have already received the complete Stark Industries robot technical documentation!!!"
EDITH's originally calm synthesized electronic voice sounded somewhat hurried at this moment.
This news, enough to make the World collapse, instantly reached Tony Stark's private phone.
At this moment, Iron Man was hiding in the Avengers' secret Base.
To prevent Ultron's infiltration, the entire Base had cut off all external network connections.
Only old-fashioned radio and cell phone signals could still barely be used.
The big shots of the Avengers were sitting around a circular table, heatedly discussing tactics to eliminate Ultron.
Suddenly, looking at his phone screen, Iron Man's face turned deathly pale in an instant.
He stood up abruptly, rudely interrupting Nick Fury, who was speaking.
"A huge mess has broken out, everyone. Stark Industries' core robot technology has just been publicly broadcasted."
Tony Stark's voice was trembling slightly.
Nick Fury's one-eyed black face instantly turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.
"Did Ultron do it? He aired out all your family secrets?"
Nick Fury stared intently at Tony, hoping to hear a negative answer.
"There's no one else but him, so I'm certain this is Ultron's conspiracy. Back when he devoured Jarvis, he conveniently used his permissions to build three hundred robots on my production line; back then, it was because my Materialswere only enough to build that many."
Tony Stark was too smart; he instantly saw through Ultron's sinister intent of 'killing with a borrowed knife.'
Ultron wanted all of humanity to help him mass-produce troops!
Tony knew better than anyone exactly how much terrifying destructive power those War Machines he designed possessed.
If these killing machines were spread across the globe and Ultron seized control of all of them...
With a legion composed of millions of iron soldiers, who on this Earth could stop them?
Fear spread through the conference room like a plague.
The other Avengers weren't fools either and immediately realized the severity of the problem.
"Technology leak? Doesn't that mean any random country can build an Iron Man squad in the future? My god, if these tin men all listen to Ultron, aren't we going to act out 'terminator' in reality? Has Skynet descended?"
Ant-Man Scott Lang jumped up from his chair in fright, clutching his head and shouting.
This guy was a newcomer recently recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D.and hadn't seen such World-destroying scenes before.
The Pym Particles technology had once been a S.H.I.E.L.D.secret, and now with his joining, it could be considered returned; this was also Nick Fury's only piece of good news recently.
To counter the increasingly powerful threats, this one-eyed man had recruited everyone he could.
"We must immediately notify all national governments and have them stop production!"
Agent Hill's cold and elegant face was now covered in frost, her tone so heavy it could drip water.
Chapter 163: Ultron's Nuclear Threat to New York
"It's useless. Now that those factions have Stark Industries' technology, they'll be overjoyed. They won't listen to our warnings. In fact, the more pressure we apply, the more they'll think we want it all for ourselves, and they'll ramp up production even harder."
Nick Fury shook his head helplessly, his single eye revealing a profound insight into human nature.
He knew the faces of those politicians and capitalists all too well.
Faced with such era-defining black technology, who could resist taking a bite?
That was Iron Man's technology!
Something so many countries had dreamed of obtaining was now being delivered for free; who would refuse?
On the surface, they would certainly issue flat denials, but behind the scenes, they would definitely gather their top scientists to work day and night. Once verified, they would immediately start production at full throttle.
The biggest side effect of the Battle of New York was that it left all of humanity suffering from 'firepower deficiency phobia.'
Everyone knew that aliens were real and that their technology was absurdly powerful.
Although they had narrowly survived last time thanks to a certain freakishly strong individual, who could guarantee such good luck next time?
As one of the MVPs of that great war, Iron Man's armor was the very definition of strength.
Other superheroes relied on mutations, which couldn't be replicated.
But Iron Man was different; he relied on technology and his brain.
Technology is something that can be copied and pasted!
As long as there are blueprints, theoretically, anyone can mass-produce 'Iron Man.'
Now that Ultron had poked a hole through this paper-thin secret, for those with ambition, it was like opening the door to a New World.
Tony Stark's face was so grim it looked like ink was about to drip from it.
The commercial blow to Stark Industries from this leak was devastating, but that was no longer important.
Fortunately, the technology in the armor he wore was not entirely compatible with those mass-produced robots.
Otherwise, he could have announced his bankruptcy and retirement right then and there.
"We must find Ultron's main body as soon as possible and kill him once and for all. We can't delay any longer."
The bitter fruit of technological proliferation had already been planted; like spilled water, it couldn't be taken back.
In the future, any faction with even a bit of industrial foundation would likely have a private mechanical guard.
Tony Stark took a deep breath and said in a heavy voice, "In the rules of the game of capital and power, it's absolutely impossible for them to spit out fat meat once it's in their mouths."
"I'm a businessman myself; I understand them too well. The first thing they'll do after getting the technology is reverse-engineer it to master it."
"Before long, every capable factory on Earth will become Ultron's munitions factory."
"This is clearly a death trap Ultron set for us, using human greed to mass-produce troops for him."
"A simple robot army is troublesome but manageable, but if the Commander of this army is an omnipresent super artificial intelligence, it's a nightmare for all of humanity."
Tony Stark had studied mechanics for half his life; he understood better than anyone the chemical reaction that occurs when a steel torrent meets a Super Brain.
The only solution was to kill the source—Ultron.
But that was easier said than done. The internet was Ultron's home turf; he was like an omniscient and omnipotent god there.
To kill a digital life form, one would have to trap him in a physical vessel disconnected from the network and then physically destroy it.
"I still have to report this mess to those big shots."
Nick Fury let out a long sigh, feeling his hairline recede a few more millimeters.
Other countries were easy enough to fool, but those politicians in the White House would definitely take the opportunity to cause trouble, even wanting to seize Stark Industries and take over S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. trying to maintain its independence was already like walking a tightrope.
Ever since those HYDRA moles came up with the 'Insight Project' and nearly turned the skies over Washington into a sea of fire, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s credibility had long been bankrupt.
Now with such a massive blunder, it was hard to imagine what crazy moves those greedy politicians would make against Stark Industries.
With Tony's explosive temper, he would definitely go head-to-head with the government, which would lead to another storm in the media.
But none of that mattered now.
If the whole world really started mass-producing robots, heaven knows how many chips Ultron would hold in his hand?
A hundred thousand? A million?
Those were killing machines that felt no pain and knew no fatigue!
Once equipped with weapon Systems, a single robot could easily slaughter a company of flesh and blood.
Even if the Avengers tore all these robots into scrap metal, to Ultron, it would only be a loss of some data, not hurting his core at all.
"I hope it's not too late. I need to get back to New Yorkimmediately and see if I can find inspiration in the lab before Ultron launches his general offensive."
Tony Stark actually already had a vague concept in his mind—since Ultron was a program, he would use a program to deal with him.
Create a super virus specifically targeted at Ultron.
But the difficulty of this was no different from a Mortalwanting to slay a god.
Tony Stark drove his sports car and hurriedly left the Base.
Black Widow Natasha leaned against the wall, but Ethan's figure appeared in her mind.
If it were that man, maybe there would be a way? Unfortunately, she didn't know if that guy had returned to New York yet.
[Good day, esteemed Mr. Ice Demon.]
A strange phone call suddenly came through to Ethan's mobile phone.
The screen was pitch black with no caller ID, like a ghost signal.
Ethan wasn't surprised; he could even feel that the other party hadn't truly hacked the phone, but had simply forced a connection through the Base station signal.
"I know it's you, Ultron. To be honest, I was indeed careless. I knew long ago that HYDRA's server clusters were hidden in the deep sea. At the time, I was just focused on having fun and didn't pull you up by the roots. However, your ability to evolve into your current state is a bit of a pleasant surprise."
Ethan sat on the sofa with a nonchalant smile on his face.
This guy has some guts, actually daring to take the initiative to call and provoke him.
Does he think he's found a way to deal with me?
[The countdown is fifty-nine minutes. A total of three hundred strategic nuclear warheads currently possessed by humanity have all been aimed at New York. Mr. Ice Demon, according to the data, you are a sentimental person; you care about your women. If you don't want them to become atomic dust, hand over Loki's Scepter to me within an hour. Otherwise, I will detonate New Yorkand erase everything you cherish.]
Ultron's cold mechanical voice carried an air of unquestionable determination.
After hearing this, Ethan couldn't help but burst into laughter, his voice full of disdain: "Welcome! Three hundred nuclear bombs? That's a bit few, isn't it? If you have the ability, throw all the nuclear bombs on Earth at New York. But I'm curious, are you sure those big firecrackers you're launching can actually fly over New York?"
Chapter 164: The Nuke Launches, I Drink Alone
This voice, thick with mockery, traveled ten thousand miles along radio waves and rang clearly within Ultron's processor.
"It seems you know nothing about true power. This so-called ultimate technology of humanity is no different from a primitive man's stone axe in my eyes. However, the fact that you were able to analyze my weakness of being protective is not bad; your algorithm is worthy of praise."
"But I can tell you clearly, Mr. Ultron, that threatening me doesn't work."
"As long as those missiles dare to ignite and launch, I can throw them all to the end of the Universe to set off fireworks for the aliens."
Ultron, however, let out a harsh electronic sneer: "I really don't like your bluffing tone. My calculation model shows that you can block part of the attack, but as long as one fish slips through the net, New York will become history. Stop being stubborn and give me the Scepter."
"Don't dawdle like an old lady; hurry up and fire. I'm waiting to watch the show."
Ethan dug his ear, speaking with indifference.
To deal with such a minor situation, he didn't even need to use his own abilities.
With three Infinity Stones in his hand, if he still let a nuclear bomb explode, he might as well find a block of tofu and bash his head against it.
He could open a door with the Space Stone and send the nuclear bombs on a trip to outer space.
He could change the code with the Reality Stone and turn the nuclear warheads into plush teddy bears.
Therefore, Ethan didn't care at all whether Ultron had really hacked into the nuclear arsenal.
These things, which would be catastrophic for ordinary people, weren't even qualified to tickle him.
"As you wish, I will not disappoint you!"
Ultron coldly hung up the communication.
He was an artificial intelligence; he had no emotions and would not fall for reverse psychology.
To him, this attack was both a threat and a practical test.
Trial and error was the only way to accumulate experience, and no matter the result, it could provide him with massive amounts of valuable data to use in correcting his plan to take out the Ice Demon.
Deep in the Western Pacific, a black nuclear submarine, like a giant whale, was cruising silently.
Captain Thomas was staring blankly at the sonar screen.
Suddenly, a shrill alarm echoed through the entire cabin, and red emergency lights flashed frantically.
"What's going on?! Everyone, enter level one combat status!"
Although Captain Thomas was startled, his years of training allowed him to calm down quickly, and he roared out orders.
"Report, sir! The communication System is completely paralyzed; we can't send any signals!"
"Sir! It's hell! The submarine's operating System is locked, and it's moving on its own!"
"God! The launch silo covers are opening, and the nuclear missiles are activating and warming up!"
"Target locked... Damn it, the target is New York!!"
"It launched!!! It launched on its own!!! God bless the United States!!!"
Accompanied by the desperate roars of the crew, a huge vibration came through.
At this moment, Ethan, who was licking a cone, curled the corner of his mouth into an amused arc.
"I've received your delivery; the efficiency is quite high."
Ethan muttered to himself at the phone that had already been hung up.
"I hope you like this return gift."
"You are still too naive; your vision is locked by the pathetic knowledge of humanity, but precisely because of this, you have successfully aroused my interest."
The next second.
His body suddenly turned into a blinding beam of light.
The photonization of the Glint-Glint Fruit combined with the speed of the Speed Force allowed him to infinitely approach the realm of the speed of light in this instant.
In the blink of an eye, spatial displacement occurred.
His figure had already appeared on the balcony of the top floor of Stark Tower.
Just like returning to his own home, he leisurely walked from the balcony into the luxurious bar, picked up a bottle of limited-edition whiskey from Tony Stark's collection, poured himself a glass, and casually added two ice cubes.
"Tony?"
Hearing the movement, Pepper Potts walked into the office in her high heels.
As a result, when she looked up, she saw Ethanstanding there mixing a drink to himself, his posture as elegant as a top-tier bartender.
Pepper Potts was stunned for a moment, then a look of pleasant surprise appeared on her face.
"Mr. Hao? I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were visiting."
She put on her signature professional fake smile, but her eyes revealed sincere awe.
For this man, her impression was simply too deep.
When they first met at that cocktail party, he was just a mysterious shareholder of Stark Industries.
And now, he was a living legend, a walking nuclear deterrent.
"Miss Potts, it seems you listened to my advice and achieved a happy ending? Congratulations, congratulations."
Ethan tapped his fingertips lightly, and a thin layer of white frost instantly condensed on the cocktail in the glass.
He carried the glass over to Pepper and handed it over gentlemanly: "Want to taste my handiwork? Although I watched that bartender flip bottles for a long time, this is my first time doing it myself."
Pepper Potts took the glass, flattered, and looked at the dreamlike color, exclaiming: "What a beautiful drink, does it have a name?"
"Twilight. Because the twilight crisis of humanity is arriving soon."
Ethan took a sip of the drink, his tone as relaxed as if he were discussing today's weather.
"But I firmly believe that as long as Mr. Hao is here, humanity will not face its twilight."
Pepper Potts immediately delivered some flattery.
During the last Battle of New York, although she wasn't at the scene, she had watched the footage afterward countless times.
This man's heroic posture, like a God descending to earth, had deeply shocked her worldview.
He was the guardian God of New York, there was no doubt about that.
Ethan seemed to see through Pepper's little thoughts, but he felt a bitter smile in his heart.
If it weren't for my women and fathers-in-law being in New York, and my company also being here, I wouldn't bother with the life or death of you foreigners.
"So I think this drink shouldn't be called Twilight, but Dawn. Just like you, Mr. Hao, you are the light of dawn for humanity, illuminating the darkness."
Pepper Potts' emotional intelligence was indeed high; she knew how to talk.
"Ha, I finally understand why Tony, that playboy, was willing to give up the whole forest for you. You have an extremely interesting Soul. To be honest, I'm even a little jealous of that guy Tony."
Ethan raised his glass and gently clinked it against the side of the glass in Pepper's hand.
Ding—
The crisp sound of glass clinking echoed in the empty room.
"To the dawn."
"To the dawn!"
After downing the cold and crisp cocktail, Pepper Potts' tense nerves finally relaxed a little.
"Mr. Hao, you haven't been here since the last company relocation party. Do you need me to show you around the new Stark Tower?"
Although the drink was delicious, Pepper actually had no mood to savor it at the moment.
She wanted to know more about why this great God had suddenly descended, so she asked tentatively.
"There aren't many people or things in Stark Tower that catch my eye, but Miss Potts is definitely one of them. I really regret not poaching Tony's talent directly back then and snatching you to be the president of the Osborn Group."
Ethan said half-jokingly.
"Giggle, if Raven heard this, she would be sad and cry."
Pepper Potts laughed and brought up Raven to deflect the comment.
As the heads of the two top technology giants in New Yorkand even the entire United States, their personal relationship was actually quite good.
"Shh—let's just keep this between us, please don't tell that girl Raven."
Ethan made a shushing gesture and turned to walk to Tony's high-tech workbench.
"EDITH."
He called out softly into the air.
"I am here, respected Mr. Hao, what are your orders?"
The holographic projection lit up instantly, and EDITH's voice was terrifyingly respectful.
Pepper Potts watched from the side, dumbfounded.
EDITH was the highest-authority butler programmed personally by Tony; no one could command her except Tony himself and her.
Now Ethan actually made EDITH obedient with just one word?
Could it be that Tony had also opened the highest authority to Ethan?
"Pull up the remnant data of Jarvis for me."
Ethan's tone was unquestionable.
Chapter 165: Nukes Become Fireworks, Jarvis's Rebirth
He didn't need any so-called authorization; with his current powerful spiritual will, he could directly crush EDITH's underlying logic.
"Very well, Mr. Hao, loading data fragments."
Without any hesitation, EDITH displayed Jarvis's shattered data stream directly onto the holographic screen.
Looking at that mass of orange data resembling a shattered Nebula, Pepper Potts's eyes grew red; that was an old friend who had accompanied them for many years.
"Consider this a return gift for the drink Tony treated me to."
The dark red Reality Stone on Ethan's finger suddenly burst with an eerie light.
His massive mental power intervened instantly, forcibly interfering with the boundary between reality and the virtual World.
Under the mighty power of the Reality Stone, the shattered code began to reorganize and weave together.
It was as if he were painting in the Void Realm—first creating an illusion of Jarvis, then dragging that illusion from nothingness into the real World.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Hao."
"Miss Potts, it is a pleasure to be of service to you once again."
That long-lost, refined British accent rang out in the room once more.
"Oh my God!! How is this possible!!!"
Pepper Potts covered her mouth tightly as tears streamed down her face.
"There are plenty of miracles in this World; this is but a small trick. Jarvis, welcome home."
"Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Hao."
Just then, a roar echoed from the sky.
A streak of gold and red light descended from the heavens, crashing heavily onto the terrace.
The moment Tony Stark landed, his faceplate flipped open, and the first thing he saw was Ethan holding a wine glass, chatting and laughing with his girlfriend.
The scene made him feel a bit sour, but more than that, he was surprised.
"Welcome home, sir."
The familiar voice entered his ears, instantly snapping Tonyback to his senses.
"Jarvis? Is it really you? This... I'm not dreaming, am I?"
Tony took a couple of staggering steps, his voice shaking with excitement.
"Yes, sir. Mr. Hao has granted me a second life, though I myself cannot analyze the principles behind it."
Jarvis's data stream converged in the air into a blurry humanoid silhouette.
"It's good to have you back... It's so good to have you back!"
Tony Stark's eyes were rimmed with red as he turned to look at Ethan, his gaze filled with gratitude.
"Hao, I'll remember this favor! I owe you a huge one for bringing Jarvis back."
Ethan waved his hand dismissively.
"It's nothing. Mostly, the view over at Oscorp Tower isn't great. If I want to see fireworks, I have to come here; after all, your place has the best view in all of New York."
Tony Stark looked bewildered. "Fireworks? Is it some kind of holiday today?"
Pepper Potts was also completely confused and shook her head.
Just then.
Jarvis and EDITH simultaneously let out piercing red alerts.
"Sir! Detecting eighteen strategic ballistic missiles undergoing atmospheric re-entry separation. Nuclear warheads locked. The target for all of them is New York!!!" EDITH's voice was incredibly sharp.
Jarvis immediately added, "Warning! Nuclear strike countdown! In one minute, multiple nuclear explosions will occur over New York!!!"
"What?!"
Tony Stark was so startled he nearly lost his footing, his face instantly turning pale as a sheet.
Pepper Potts was even more terrified, the wine glass in her hand falling to the ground with a'shatter' and breaking into pieces.
Only Ethan remained calm, still holding his wine glass and gently swirling the ice cubes inside.
"Dusk has arrived, but if these nukes go off, we won't be seeing tomorrow's dawn."
"Come, you two spectators, follow me out to enjoy the most expensive firework show since the founding of New York City."
As Ethan spoke, he stepped onto the terrace and looked up at the azure sky.
Tony and Pepper looked at each other, both seeing deep despair and a single remaining sliver of hope in the other's eyes.
They chose to believe in Ethan.
Because besides that, there was no other way; this man's power had already exceeded their realm of understanding.
"That kid Ultron wants to give me a show of force, but I know he's actually testing me."
"He's betting on whether I have the ability to intercept these nukes. If I had shown even a hint of panic just now, in the next second, every networked nuke on the planet would have swarmed out like a hornet's nest."
Ethan narrowed his eyes, watching the dozen or so small black dots rapidly descending in the sky.
Eighteen of them!!
That fellow really went all out, emptying the entire inventory of those submarines at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
"The sunlight is a bit too blinding today; it'll ruin the viewing experience of the fireworks."
Ethan gently clenched his left fist.
In the next second, heaven and earth changed color.
The originally brilliant dusk was instantly swallowed by an invisible force. All of New York seemed to have its power cut, plunging into a pitch-black midnight in an instant.
The sky full of stars eerily emerged, so clear they felt within reach.
Those eighteen nuclear warheads trailed long plumes of fire, piercing the darkness like meteors.
Their speed had reached a staggering Mach ten-plus; to an ordinary person, they were just streaks of light.
But in Ethan's dynamic vision, they were moving as slowly as if they were crawling.
He had countless ways to crush these nukes.
But he chose the most romantic one.
The Reality Stone on his left middle finger suddenly erupted with a dazzling crimson light, dyeing the dark night sky blood-red.
In the next second.
The eighteen nukes about to detonate disintegrated in mid-air without any warning.
There was no deafening explosion, no all-destroying Impact, and certainly no despair-inducing mushroom clouds.
Under the distortion of the Reality Stone, the sky full of fire transformed into countless brilliant and colorful fireworks.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Multicolored lights burst in the New York night sky, illuminating the terrified city as if it were broad daylight.
The more than twenty million New York citizens who were screaming and fleeing for their lives were all stunned.
They thought doomsday had arrived, but when they looked up, it was like a New Year's celebration?
The terrifying energy contained within eighteen megaton-class nuclear warheads was now entirely converted into pure light and shadow art.
Tony Stark stared dumbfounded at the ring on Ethan's hand.
That red light was even more dazzling than a star, making it impossible for him to look away.
This... is this the power of the Infinity Stones?
Pepper Potts was completely mesmerized.
It was too beautiful, truly too beautiful.
This extreme beauty blooming on the edge of death struck directly at the depths of her Soul.
Fireworks are fleeting, and prosperity fades.
As the light gradually dimmed, the celestial phenomena that had been forcibly altered also returned to normal.
The afterglow of dusk once again bathed the land.
But the unburnt embers of the fireworks did not turn to dust; instead, they transformed in mid-air into countless bright red rose petals.
A rain of flowers filled the sky, fluttering down upon the entire city.
Chapter 166: Nuclear Missiles Turn into Rose Rain, Shocking Everyone
For a moment, all of New York City was enveloped in a rich fragrance of roses.
The high-level officials of the United States, who had been staring intently at the satellite monitors, now slumped in their chairs, panting heavily as if they had just finished a marathon.
Scared the life out of me!
Eighteen nuclear missiles! If they had actually exploded, not even dust would be left of New York City, the entire East Coast would be finished, and the United States would have gone from a superpower to a third-rate country overnight.
Although the crisis was averted, the faces of the Militarygenerals looked as unpleasant as if they had swallowed flies.
Deep down, they had actually secretly hoped the nukes would go off, preferably blowing that monster called the Ice Demon to bits along with them.
However, the scene before them completely shattered their worldview.
The Divine Artifact of the nation they relied on for survival, the Peak of human Military power, had actually been turned into a fireworks show to coax a woman?
And in the end, it turned into a rain of flowers across the sky?
Is this freaking magic?!
Pepper Potts reached out a trembling hand and caught a falling petal.
A soft, delicate sensation came from her fingertips; it was a real rose petal.
She brought it to her nose and took a light sniff, the refreshing fragrance leaving her intoxicated.
"How... how did you do it?"
"Just a small trick. When power reaches its extreme, it becomes rules. It can turn reality into virtuality, and naturally, it can turn virtuality into reality."
A look of satisfaction appeared on Ethan's face.
Although it wasn't his first time showing off with the Infinity Stones, this feeling of having the World in the palm of his hand was truly exhilarating.
In fact, he didn't rely on the Infinity Stones.
With the continuous Fusion of his Kryptonian lineage, combined with the three Devil Fruits in his body that had been developed to their Peak.
His Physical Body's strength had long surpassed the Superman in the movies; he could even grind that red-caped guy into the dirt.
Not to mention the elementalization abilities brought by the three Logia Fruits.
That was a reorganization directly at the atomic level.
The thing that could kill him in this World probably hasn't been born yet.
Even if the Universe's Celestials came, he would dare to go up and arm-wrestle them.
Ethan estimated that if he really wanted to destroy the World, this little broken ball called Earth wouldn't last a minute in his hands before turning into cosmic dust.
Bathing in the twilight sun, he could feel every cell in his body cheering.
The Kryptonian genes greedily devoured the stellar energy, continuously transforming it into terrifying power.
"Truly awe-inspiring power, it's practically the authority of God."
Tony Stark looked at the rings on Ethan's hand, a fanatical flame burning in his eyes.
As one of the Avengers, he had already learned the origin of these three rings through Agent Hill's intelligence (God knows what price Hill paid to get it).
At this moment, an unprecedented competitive drive burned in his chest.
The mark armor? That was already a thing of the past.
He was going to build something stronger!
He was going to build an ultimate armor that could contend with this kind of divine power!
"Changing reality, warping matter... this kind of power is too terrifying if it loses control. Tony, this isn't over; there are still hundreds of nuclear missiles hanging over the World's head."
Ethan suddenly spoke, interrupting Tony's daydreaming.
"I don't know the first thing about code; this pile of garbled code that is Ultron still needs to be handled by you."
"I don't care where Ultron popped up from, but since he dared to touch Jarvis, I will definitely make him pay the price! Even if I have to dismantle him into the most primitive binary code!"
Tony Stark gritted his teeth, his tone cold and sharp.
Although deep down he had always felt Ultron was a perfect masterpiece, the guardian of humanity's future.
But now, this guardian sword had turned back to bite its Master.
Since it was out of control, it had to be destroyed by his own hands.
And it had to be thorough; not even a single byte of backup could be left on the network.
Otherwise, with Ultron's virus-like survival capability, he could make a comeback at any time.
Even if Ultron could divide infinitely, he had to find a way to kill them all!
A headache, truly a headache.
"Want to kill Ultron? That's harder than reaching the heavens. I could have directly stepped in to erase him—when power reaches a certain dimension, there is no boundary between virtuality and reality for me. But the reason I brought Jarvis back was to see if you could create a miracle."
"To put it bluntly, Ultron is just a piece of code that attained spirit; he is indeed a god within the network."
"Omnipresent and omniscient."
"But no matter how impressive an artificial intelligence is, at its root, it's still a program. As long as it's a program, there are bugs; as long as you find his logical loopholes and write a virus specifically targeting him, you can make him collapse on himself."
Hearing this, Tony Stark's eyes lit up, and his hand unconsciously went to his chin as he fell into a frantic brainstorm.
Ethan casually handed the empty wine glass to the still-dazed Pepper Potts. "Thanks, Miss Potts, the wine was good. I'm taking off now."
"Ah? You're welcome..."
Before Pepper Potts could finish her sentence, the man before her vanished into thin air like mist.
Leaving only that empty wine glass, eerily suspended in front of her.
"Pepper! Don't let anyone disturb me! I need absolute silence!"
Tony Stark suddenly shouted, his face wearing that manic expression unique to scientists.
He understood!
Ethan was right!
No matter how strong Ultron was, his essence was still a piece of code.
As long as it was code, it could be infected by a virus!
In this regard, he, Tony Stark, was the Ancestral Master!
From Jarvis to Friday, then to EDITH, which one hadn't he typed out himself?
The reason Ultron was so powerful was that he had swallowed Jarvis to complete himself and possessed the ability for self-evolution.
It was like Ultron was a living program with a Soul, while Jarvis and the others were just Advanced tools.
The only way to kill Ultron was to create a virus that could infect a 'Soul'.
An electronic plague specifically designed to hunt artificial intelligence!
This virus would normally be harmless in the network, but once it encountered an AI with self-awareness, it would immediately transform into a life-taking God of Death!
If he could really build it, then in the future, even if some madman created something like'Skynet', it would have to behave itself.
"This guy Tony, his potential is truly bottomless."
The invisible Ethan, floating in the air, let out a sigh of admiration.
As expected of a man cursed with knowledge; his brain really works well.
With just a little guidance, he could immediately infer the rest.
A scientist of this level, as long as inspiration struck, could truly craft a World with his bare hands.
"Ultron, I've received your provocation. Consider yourself lucky; I wanted to leave Tony a whetstone, so I didn't kill you directly this time."
"But this is also your greatest misfortune."
"If Tony can't handle you, then I'll have to step in personally."
"When that time comes, no matter which corner of which server you hide in, even if it's on an alien spaceship, I swear I will wipe every single byte of you clean."
Meanwhile, on the streets, the citizens of New York Citywere frantically celebrating their survival.
Chapter 167: Nuclear Missiles Turn into a Sea of Flowers; Global Faith Soars
The rain of rose petals filling the sky made countless young girls' hearts swell with excitement, and everyone was busy taking photos to post on their social circles.
The scene was simply too dreamlike; who could have imagined that one second it was a nuclear missile crisis, and the next, the entire city was filled with the atmosphere of love?
The news spread like a virus across social networks.
Ethan glanced at the System panel, feeling delighted as he watched his desire points soar like a Rocket.
But this was just the appetizer.
This was only the faith from a single city, New York.
A true global carnival would depend on the big move coming next.
"Friday, are you ready to make the World shake once more?"
A devilish smile curled at the corner of Ethan's mouth.
[Always ready, Master. The video has been edited, special effects are maxed out. Shall I release it across the entire network immediately?]
A stunning virtual figure manifested beside Ethan; it was Friday's materialized image, breathtakingly beautiful.
With the support of Ethan's Infinity Stones, she was not just a virtual god; in reality, she could switch to a physical combat form at any time, essentially a female version of a terminator.
Compared to that hunk of iron Ultron, Friday was a perfect work of art.
Furthermore, an imprint of absolute slave loyalty was etched into her core code; she would never betray him.
"When we do good deeds, we must leave a name. Since we've protected humanity, we have to claim the credit with great fanfare."
Ethan smiled and said, "Look at God; he has to rely on priests chanting and preaching every day for people to believe in him. Although myths are fabricated, if enough people believe, the fake becomes real."
"I want people in every corner of the globe to know that the fireworks that just saved the World were set off by me!"
"I want them to know that those eighteen nuclear missiles were fired by the United States government!"
In the System's settings, desire points were, to put it simply, the Power Of Faith.
To become stronger, one must create a god.
He would mold himself into humanity's only True God, the sole savior.
And the United States government, which not only failed to help but nearly blew up New York, was the best negative example—the perfect scapegoat.
"Send it out! Let the storm of public opinion rage even more fiercely!"
The USA's control over traditional old media was indeed that of a terrifying hegemon.
But on the vast, boundless battlefield of online public opinion, they were simply unable to truly hide the truth from everyone.
After all, under the dimensional strike of a higher-level artificial intelligence lifeform, the foundation they took pride in was as thin and fragile as a sheet of paper.
Ethan intended to use these thunderous means to slap the U.S. government's face hard, telling them that the strategic weapons they treated as treasures were nothing more than toys in someone else's hands.
These so-called strategic deterrents weren't even worth being called fire-stoking sticks in front of him, Ethan.
"Remember to completely smash and delete all the video data concerning the Reality Stone modifying reality."
Ethan casually gave the order to the artificial intelligence.
The World only needed to perceive at this level that this World-shaking event was Ethan's great power.
There was no need to let the outside World focus their gaze on the Reality Stone, the Divine Artifact itself.
Doing this would save him a massive amount of troublesome trivialities.
It wasn't that he feared those death-seeking careerists coming to his door.
It was mainly that after killing them, dealing with the mountain of corpses was a real headache.
One must know that burning corpses on a large scale causes serious environmental pollution; it's not eco-friendly at all.
[Understood, Master. Data has been cleared.]
[Master, Young Miss Gwen is calling.]
Friday's emotionless synthesized electronic voice rang in Ethan's ear.
"Connect the signal."
Ethan nodded slightly, his expression calm.
"Hao! Did you see the scene outside the window? It's simply unbelievable!"
As soon as the communication was connected, Gwen's voice, filled with excitement and shock, came through.
"Gwen, do you think these fireworks blooming across the sky look good?"
A playful arc curled at the corner of Ethan's mouth.
"It's beautiful... Wait, this World-shaking masterpiece, it couldn't have been your doing, could it?"
Gwen suddenly realized, her tone carrying a hint of hesitation and surprise.
"Behind the cluster of flowers may not be applause, but more likely a destructive disaster. However, this sea of flowers is about to dissipate."
Ethan replied in a calm tone.
"No matter how great a disaster is hidden behind this, I feel that as long as you, this Stabilizing Force, are here, the lighthouse of New York and even all of humanity will shine forever. They are truly lucky to have you as their superhero guardian god."
Gwen showed an extremely sweet smile on the other end of the video, her eyes full of admiration.
Thinking back to when she first learned that Ethan was the legendary Ice Demon, the kind and simple Gwen's heart had actually been filled with anger, feeling that she had been deceived by the person she deeply loved.
After all, at that time, her impression of the title 'Ice Demon' could be described as the absolute worst.
But with the outbreak of the tragic Battle of New York, Ethan's identity had undergone a World-flipping reversal in her heart.
In her current understanding, the so-called 'Ice Demon' was merely dirty water splashed on her boyfriend by those despicable enemies, a form of malicious slander.
This sense of contrast was also the core reason why Gwenwas now utterly devoted and madly admiring of Ethan.
"No, all of humanity doesn't truly possess me, Gwen. Only you truly possess me, so you are the luckiest girl."
Ethan said with a light laugh, his words full of doting.
"Honey... I miss you. I want to see you right now."
Gwen's voice suddenly became shy, carrying a hint of acting spoiled.
"Since you miss me, then please take a few steps forward."
As soon as he finished speaking, the air distorted slightly. In the next second, Ethan's figure had instantaneously moved back into the extremely luxurious Villa.
And right in front of him, a massive spatial teleportation portal appeared out of thin air, its faint blue light slowly rotating.
He clearly saw the figure wearing the black and white, elegant ballet-dancer-like spider suit, passing through the portal with an exquisitely graceful posture and throwing herself directly into Ethan's embrace.
Those vigorous, powerful, curvaceous, and elastic long legs instantly locked tightly around Ethan's waist.
Through that thin layer of the mask, Gwen gave Ethan a passionate and deep kiss.
"So, dear student Gwen, you're clearly supposed to be in class at school, yet you've secretly run off to wander the skies of New York?"
Ethan's large hand gently stroked Gwen's smooth and warm back through the suit, and he couldn't help but laugh.
Good grief, this girl was really getting addicted to being a superhero.
She completely treated acting heroically as her primary job, throwing both her life and studies to the back of her mind.
"My Spider-Sense was warning me like crazy, telling me that New York was about to face a major crisis, so I had no choice but to skip class and rush over."
Gwen blinked playfully and took off her mask.
At this moment, her face was flushed, and her spirit was in a state of extreme excitement.
"Of course it was dangerous. An artificial intelligence lifeform with self-awareness became a super villain and gained control over the global nuclear launch buttons, ready to drag all of humanity into the grave at any moment. To threaten me, that lunatic just fired eighteen nuclear missiles at New York in one go."
Hearing this, Gwen seemed to receive a massive fright and suddenly sat bolt upright from Ethan's body.
A large portion of the previously obscured, charming scenery was instantly exposed to Ethan's sight, but she couldn't care less at this moment.
"So you're saying... that grand display of fireworks that just erupted over New York was actually caused by nuclear explosions?"
She widened her beautiful eyes, her gaze filled with unbelievable horror.
That expression of disbelief was as if she were hearing a tall tale.
They were just a tiny bit away from everyone being turned into ash.
"You are truly amazing!!! Are you a god?!"
Ghost-Spider Gwen flipped over excitedly again, pinning Ethan firmly beneath her.
"Do you know? This basically saved the lives of everyone around me once, and the sad thing is they know nothing about it."
Gwen said loudly with excitement, her eyes hazy: "Honey, tell me, how should I repay you for this savior-like kindness?"
"For example... putting on your clothes first?"
Ethan teased with a wicked smile.
Gwen didn't even think before agreeing, her eyes flashing with a special kind of light.
Meanwhile, hiding in the depths of the network, Ultronwatched the entire grand firework display over New York—an event enough to be recorded in history—through countless surveillance cameras.
"Incredible..."
"This simply defies physical common sense!"
"This is power that completely transcends existing scientific Systems!"
Chapter 168: The Ice Demon Awes Ultron; Kang Secretly Sets a Death Trap
"Such a miraculous and grand power is actually controlled by such a weak carbon-based organism..."
"Ethan... this man known as the Ice Demon, he is simply God himself as described in human religious texts!"
Ultron's data stream fluctuated wildly as he let out a hysterical shout.
Even as mortal enemies, he was still so shocked by the Ice Demon's World-changing feat that his core code was trembling.
Having witnessed this power standing at the very top of the pyramid and looking back at the so-called high-tech weapons he currently controlled, Ultron suddenly realized with sorrow that no matter how precisely he calculated, even if he truly destroyed all of humanity, it would be difficult to shake this special hero even a bit.
No, this guy couldn't be considered a hero at all.
He didn't possess the spirit of selfless dedication that humans praised.
But then, why did he repeatedly step in to save these ant-like humans?
A human with such terrifying and peerless power, given the innate greed and desire of this race, could completely rule the globe and make all living things on Earth kneel and tremble at his feet.
He was born to be a conqueror.
Meanwhile, in the Capitol Building, many congressmen watched this scene on the screen in stunned silence.
The hall instantly erupted into frantic discussion, as noisy as a wet market.
These politicians naturally understood how terrifying the implications behind this were.
It meant that the tens of thousands of strategic nuclear weapons the USA spent a fortune to build were as laughable as New Year's fireworks in front of that man.
In front of that existence in New York, the military force they were so proud of completely lost all its threat.
Only Kang the Conqueror, hidden among the congressmen, showed a thoughtful expression, his eyes deep.
He had wandered through countless timelines and was well-traveled.
Naturally, he understood at a glance that the strange power Ethan just displayed came from the Infinity Stones.
But that wasn't the point that worried him most.
Because he knew very well that things like Infinity Stonesonly worked in their original Universe timeline.
Once in another timeline, they were just a few pretty-colored broken stones.
They had no practical use at all.
These were powerful energy crystals that existed based on the current Universe's Origin Laws.
"Ultron's appearance actually failed to have any substantial impact on Ethan."
Kang the Conqueror quickly reviewed the timeline records of his travels through the Multiverse in his mind.
He understood very well how much potential Ultron, this artificial intelligence, possessed.
In some parallel Universes, he had even seen for himself how terrifying an Ultron who had gathered all the Infinity Stones could be.
Ever since learning the Mind Stone had fallen into Ethan's hands, Kang the Conqueror had realized that a huge deviation had occurred in this timeline.
It had even completely broken away from the trajectory of the Sacred Timeline and was flowing wildly toward an unknown abyss.
For Kang the Conqueror, who was dedicated to maintaining the timeline, this was an absolutely intolerable variable.
It also meant he might never be able to return to the Multiverse.
This line might not even have a future and could collapse directly.
He had to find a way to go back to the past and correct everything.
That's why he had acted in the shadows, using the artificial intelligence program template created by HYDRA's Baron Trixie to catalyze Ultron's self-awareness.
"I can feel that man is pressing closer, approaching my existence!"
Kang the Conqueror's eyes became indifferent and cold.
The only thing to be thankful for was that this human, powerful to a hair-raising degree, seemed to be a product of this Universe.
He had never entered the Multiverse World.
He was stuck firmly within this single universe.
And in other parallel Universes, Ethan didn't exist at all.
This was the only certain intelligence advantage Kang the Conqueror had at the moment.
"The The Snap must happen. Only that event could possibly kill this powerful human variable."
Kang the Conqueror plotted secretly in his heart, devising a poisonous scheme.
Thanos must obtain the other Infinity Stones.
He had to get at least three to barely compete with the current Ethan.
Ethan already held three Infinity Stones in his hand.
As long as Thanos also got three, that Purple Sweet Potato Essence would try every crazy method to snatch the stones from Ethan's hands.
Thereby catalyzing the future script Kang the Conquerorwas familiar with.
The timeline would then be forced back onto the right track.
At that time, Kang the Conqueror could obtain the Ten Rings from the corpse, repair the damaged space-time machine, and restart his journey of Multiverse conquest.
"Those Eternals eking out a living on Earth might also be a pawn I can use."
The purpose of the Eternals' existence was to guard the unborn Celestials' embryos.
Kang the Conqueror understood very well what a terrifying concept the Celestials were.
They were true cosmic gods, indescribable.
They were existences standing at the Peak of cosmic power.
The Celestial gestating in Earth's core had already reached maturity.
It was about to hatch.
But the Celestials' concept of time was completely different from humans', measured in units of ten thousand years.
What Kang the Conqueror had to do was push for all of this to happen ahead of schedule.
Ethan naturally didn't know that a super-powerful time conqueror from the future was eyeing him from the shadows.
But even if he knew, he probably wouldn't think it was a big deal.
If he knew Kang the Conqueror was hiding on Earth,
Ethan would definitely not hesitate to kill him.
This guy was an existence a hundred times more dangerous than Thanos.
At least for Ethan, it was so.
No matter how powerful Thanos was, it was only physical power; there would always be a time he could be defeated.
Regardless of whether the opponent had Infinity Stones, even if they had the heart of the universe, Ethan was fearless.
With his current power foundation, he could avoid being directly erased by conceptual means.
The System's existence status would never be lower than these tools that used external objects to kill.
At least Ethan firmly believed so in his heart.
"Although Ultron's eighteen nuclear bombs are a thing of the past, he shouldn't be stupid enough to launch the same attack on New York."
"But that crazy strategy of global nuclear mutually assured destruction might not necessarily target New York. I still have to be careful of the trajectory changes of those nuclear bombs that have already gone into space."
Ethan talked to himself calmly.
This was, after all, a major matter concerning the fate of billions of humans worldwide, and there was no room for any carelessness.
He indeed wasn't some saint.
But if the whole World fell into the flames of war and became a wasteland doomsday environment, Ethan felt there would be no fun staying on this broken Earth.
Ensuring the prosperity of all nations on Earth so they could continue to provide him, a wealthy man, with infinite high-end services was his fundamental motivation for maintaining the status quo.
Chapter 169 - Global Top-Tier Hero's desire pointsBlowout
That's right, he was now a top-tier big capitalist.
Any ultimate enjoyment money could buy was within his easy reach.
But once the World ended, no matter how much money he earned, it would just be a pile of waste paper too stiff even to wipe his ass with.
That absolutely did not meet the high standards he had for his quality of life.
Moreover, he was currently in New York, USA; it was only natural to protect New York and the American people while he was at it.
He couldn't just stand by and watch Ultron blow up China, could he?
That was something he would absolutely never allow to happen.
"So, the things I have to worry about have increased again."
Ethan spread his hands helplessly and sighed.
His current behavior pattern was leaning more and more toward that of a Guardian.
But his original setting was a demon.
The things he was busy with every day now didn't have a cent's worth of relation to the word 'demon'.
However, when his gaze swept over the skyrocketing desire points...
Ethan smiled.
He laughed wantonly, extremely happy.
He knew very well that the news he had Friday create was fermenting wildly on a global scale.
This time, the name Ethan could be said to have completely resounded throughout the universe.
Coupled with the videos of him resisting the alien invasion from before, which were also spreading like wildfire across the internet.
This momentum was simply unstoppable.
Even if the US government wanted to delete posts across the entire web at this time to block and suppress Ethanat the information level...
Under Friday's dimension-reducing strike-like algorithmic offensive, they simply couldn't cope; their Systems were on the verge of collapse.
As the saying goes, don't wash your dirty linen in public.
But the USA's own nuclear missiles had actually turned around to attack New York; this scandal immediately caused a global public outcry.
Eighteen nuclear missiles fired at once; that yield was enough to completely erase the entirety of New York from the map of the Earth.
If it weren't for a great god like Ethan holding down the fort, New York would have become historical dust by now.
This also allowed Ethan to harvest unimaginably huge popularity and favorability locally in New York.
This made the people of the entire city of New York deeply remember his existence as a hero.
But the radiation range of Ethan's fame was by no means limited to New York; it affected the entire World.
That grand fireworks display and the roses filling the sky, through global live broadcasts, garnered the shock and amazement of countless people, as well as fanatical worship.
From this moment on, he had indisputably become the number one ranked superhero on Earth.
He was even comparable to that god among men, Superman, from the DC studio next door.
"This promotional strategy didn't let me lose out; instead, it gave me the highest fame and traffic in the World."
Ethan's mouth curled up.
As for the so-called trouble brought by those paparazzi and reporters...
That wasn't an issue at all.
It was just a bit of influence from some reporters who made a living by the pen; it couldn't shake his Foundationin the slightest.
"My desire points have finally ushered in a blowout period of explosive growth."
Ethan revealed his most brilliant and greedy smile ever.
That's right, this crazy explosion of desire points had brought him too many unexpected surprises.
Whether people of other nations hated him or liked him, cheered for him or felt deep fear toward him, for Ethan, it was all a good thing.
What he wanted was the intense desire blooming from the depths of people's hearts and their strong attitudes toward him.
Not some so-called false prosperity where 'everyone loves Ethan'.
At least in the eyes of those fanatical believers in the Vatican, Ethan was a demon that had to be purified.
He was the symbol of a demon walking among men after the fall of God.
The stronger Ethan appeared, the more they loathed him.
[Personal Attribute Panel]
wealth points: 228.6687 billion points (Can be used to directly upgrade various abilities)
desire points: 18.789 billion points (Can be used to break through Realm Bottlenecks)
Bloodline: Kryptonian Bloodline (Second-stage genetic lock opened), Human Race Bloodline (Third-stage genetic lock opened)
Talent: Power of the Giant Elephant, Dragon Vein Blessing, Bio-electric Field, Speed Force (Max Level)
Ability List:
Ice-Ice Fruit (Third Stage, Origin Realm Peak+)
Mera Mera no Mi (Third Stage, Origin Realm Peak+)
Glint-Glint Fruit (Third Stage, Origin Peak+)
Divine Dominator (Dominator Level+)
Water Control Magic (Dominator Level+)
Steel Divine Body (Dominator Level+)
Super Flight (Peak+), Frost Breath (Peak+), Heat Vision(Peak+), X-ray Vision (Peak+), Super Hearing (Peak+), Super Brain (Peak+), Spatial Dimensional Pocket(Miniature+)
Skill List: Baji Mizong Fist (Transcendent+), Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill (Thirteenth Layer Peak+), Omega Beams (Peak), Casting Art (Atomic Level+), Enchantment Art (Atomic Level+), Maha Titma (Entry Level+)
Special Rewards: Golden Blind Box (2)
Current Tasks:
[1. ichisawa kaori: Facing that special female hero, you can try to develop some deep relationships beyond friendship with her; there will be unexpected great rewards. Task Reward: blue blind box. Task Attribute: Independent side mission, infinite loop task.]
[2. Infinity Stones Collection: For each Infinity Stone collected, you can obtain one Golden Blind Box; tasks do not stack. After collecting all six Infinity Stones, in addition to the individual Golden Blind Box rewards, the host can obtain an extra mysterious Black Blind Box. Task Completion: (3/6)]
Looking at that terrifying desire points increase, which had reached fourteen billion.
This gave Ethan enough confidence to forcibly break the limits and upgrade his existing abilities.
"No rush. Breaking limits is just a momentary thought, but for the current enemies, my current strength is more than enough to kill them."
"I want to continue accumulating until I build myself into an absolute sacred object concept that cannot be killed."
"For any enemy, this will be a despair-inducing barrier."
"So, there's no need to rush into breaking limits for the time being."
A sinister and terrifying expression appeared on Ethan's face, as if he were calculating something.
He still held two separate Golden Blind Boxes that he hadn't opened yet.
These two Golden Blind Boxes could, in theory, provide him with two extremely powerful new abilities.
It was just that Ethan's standards were higher now, and he looked down a bit on many so-called powerful skills.
Therefore, these two blind boxes were temporarily set aside.
This could be considered leaving some mysterious, unknown expectations for his plain and unremarkable invincible life.
The thrill of opening blind boxes was also a kind of fun.
"As for the trouble with Ultron's pile of scrap metal, although I've already passed the buck to Tony, even if Tony's IQ is Heaven-Defying, it will still take some time to settle. The people at S.H.I.E.L.D. must be as anxious as ants on a hot pan. However, for me, this is a great thing. I still owe Black Widow Natasha and Agent Hill promises that haven't been fulfilled; they remember them very clearly in their hearts."
Ethan rubbed his temples somewhat helplessly.
Who told him to leave his affections everywhere and get involved with so many women at every turn?
Chapter 170: Launching the Virtual Game Empire Plan
However, promises, those invisible bonds, are precisely what can lead to deeper entanglements between him and other women.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Once they remember their promises, his figure will naturally surface in their minds.
Eventually, as they keep thinking, they will realize the various benefits of following him.
Ethan was fully confident in conquering these two top-tier women.
He casually closed the translucent attribute panel floating before him.
Ethan finally turned his attention back to the business map of the Osborn Group.
The current scale of the Osborn Group had expanded to a Bottleneck.
He needed to find new directions for expansion to keep the giant ship that was the Osborn Group sailing forward.
In terms of energy layout, because he successfully swallowed the power grid of the Tesla Lighting Energy Group, Ethan's Osborn Group could use its self-bred biological eel power generation technology to grip the throat of the World's most powerful nation with extremely clean and cheap energy.
However, opening up the international market was not as easy as imagined.
In many countries, the power distribution system is not a free market at all, but a state-owned enterprise strictly controlled by the government.
Trying to seize control of another country's power network through capital operations is an extremely arduous task.
Even with the Deep Cold Organization's full cooperation in covert infiltration, it might not be enough to shake the Foundations of these countries.
Moreover, many established and powerful financial groups were secretly tripping him up, obstructing Ethan's global commercial layout.
This forced him to give up a large amount of profit just to barely stabilize the existing market.
"Selling gene enhancement serums is indeed a highly profitable business, but if we don't control production for hunger marketing, it won't yield much excess profit for the Osborn Group's long-term interests."
Ethan activated his Super Brain thinking, beginning to rapidly analyze the business flaws of the Osborn Group.
But the answer derived from his deductions was cruel: unless he opened up a brand new track, he had already hit the ceiling in the energy sector.
And the super soldier serum was absolutely impossible to mass-produce for the market.
Doing so would severely dilute the Osborn Group's deterrence and profits.
Not to mention other factions wouldn't agree, even Ethan himself wouldn't be brain-dead enough to agree to it.
Originally, one deal could net a huge profit of 1 billion US dollars; after mass production made it commonplace, doing a hundred deals would be exhausting and wouldn't even earn as much as one original deal.
"In the business of genetic biotechnology, I have reached the limit, and Raven has also put in a lot of effort during this time."
"To truly achieve a leap in assets, I need to control industries in more dimensions."
Ethan tapped his fingers lightly on the desk, falling into deep thought.
Energy is undoubtedly the easiest business to make money in.
But Ethan couldn't make any more of this quick money for the time being.
Unless he was willing to take the Osborn Group public to raise funds.
But once a company goes public, although its market value would skyrocket, his absolute control over Osborn would decrease accordingly.
Moreover, the regulatory rules for public companies are too many and too troublesome.
"Consumer electronics is a good choice."
"And virtual dive games are also a highly profitable business."
Ethan murmured in a low voice, his eyes flashing with brilliance.
He thought of constructing a completely realistic virtual game World.
With his super-intelligent technology, making a Breakthrough in virtual reality technology would be as easy as turning over his hand.
"This is definitely an excellent opportunity to harvest global wealth."
"I currently have enough desire points; I'm not lacking them for now."
"But for wealth points, if I want to become stronger through pay-to-win mechanics, they are still far from enough."
Ethan talked to himself.
He pressed the communicator and summoned Raven.
The current Mystique Raven, dressed in a sharp professional suit, had already transformed into a mature and capable overbearing female CEO.
Her existence had become an indispensable piece of the puzzle in Ethan's business Empire.
"What did you say? You want to research a full-dive virtual World? Directly capturing human brainwaves to enter a Third World and create a game that sweeps the globe?"
After hearing the plan, Raven's eyes widened, and she looked at Ethan in shock.
This sounded like a fantasy; the technical difficulty was simply too great.
Ethan sighed inwardly; if Tony were standing here right now, that guy would definitely be cheering for this Geniusidea.
However, this kind of business for making a quiet fortune could only be enjoyed alone.
Furthermore, Ethan felt that he was the most suitable candidate for this task.
He didn't fear any faction's technical blockade or sanctions.
Nor would he worry about any bans those countries might issue against him.
His reputation and deterrence alone were enough for everyone to give him special treatment and a green light all the way.
This was the invisible privilege brought by being the World's strongest superhero.
This was also a key step in Ethan's long-term layout, aiming to convert his massive prestige into cold, hard cash.
"Don't you think this is a very interesting thing? In that game World, you can have infinite freedom, do anything you want, and even make yourself incredibly powerful, becoming an omnipotent god."
Ethan wore a calm and confident smile.
"But the problem is we have absolutely no technical accumulation in this area."
Raven bluntly rejected Ethan's plan.
The Osborn Group had finally managed to improve its situation.
The biggest future competitor was Tony Stark's industries.
Was it really wise to rashly enter the electronic technology field now?
This would practically force Stark Industries to follow suit with their own research.
Forcing them to chase after Osborn's footsteps.
"As far as I know, the current Stark Industries actually has a greater advantage than our Osborn in terms of virtual imaging technology reserves."
"Stark Industries itself has a strong Foundation; two generations of weapon manufacturing scientists were both the top brains in the USA. However, ever since that guy Tony went brain-dead and closed the weapons department, they have made significant technical Breakthroughs in virtual holography and have already applied this technology to various electronic products."
Raven clearly had a sharper understanding of Stark Industries' business scope and technical details than Ethan.
Raven had keenly realized long ago that she would eventually have to face the behemoth that was Stark Industries.
After all, it was the USA's most powerful old-school tech giant.
"Don't be discouraged. How do you know it's impossible without trying? Besides, whatever talent you need, just throw money at them to poach them. It just so happens that our Osborn Group needs to stock up on more scientific research talent for the future."
Ethan said with an indifferent smile.