Tony was so angry that he pointed at Ultron and cursed, but for the moment, he really had no good way to prove his identity.
He pointed to the sky and roared, "Jason, get down here! Explain this to him clearly!"
Jason was hiding behind the scenes, watching this drama unfold. When he heard Tony's demand, he didn't appear physically but projected his voice from above.
His magnificent voice echoed throughout the sky: "You should solve your own family problems yourself! But I can testify that you are indeed Tony Stark!"
After hearing this, Tony cursed in his heart. You bastard, you asked me to deal with this robot before, and now you're backing off? Are we still supposed to fight this artificial intelligence? I'm only halfway through developing the program!
But he couldn't worry about all that right now. Whether to defeat the artificial intelligence could wait. The first thing he needed to do was get Pepper back!
He looked at Pepper standing behind Ultron and said, "You heard what he said—I am the real Tony Stark. If you don't believe me, we can test it. Fingerprints, DNA, anything. I know all our secrets, Pepper. How can you not recognize me?"
Before Pepper could respond, Ultron cut in, "I have all of those things too, and I know all your secrets as well. Why are you real and I'm fake?"
"Because I created you!" Tony shouted. "I signed a pact with the Demon Lord Mephisto and sold my soul! Later I regretted it. I knew I might not survive, so I created you! Do you think your feelings for Pepper are love? No! That's just programming I designed! You're just a pendulum swinging back and forth!"
Ultron was silent for a moment before replying, "If I don't understand love, does that mean Pepper doesn't understand it either? If I'm being fake, wouldn't she see through it?" He stared at Tony. "In the past, I only knew how to eat, drink, gamble, and chase women. I slept with countless women. Now I realize I didn't understand what love was at all back then. Those women only loved money and fame. They were my targets, and I was theirs!"
Ultron looked at Tony and continued, "After I came to my senses, Pepper fell completely in love with me. No matter who you are, you can't win her heart now! Isn't that what love is?"
Tony was speechless.
He knew he had done many terrible things before, but now, he truly felt his heart belonged to this fiery woman who had silently supported him for so many years. Had he really awakened to these feelings too late?
Ultron saw Tony's gloomy expression and shook his head. "Sir, I don't care who you are, but if you truly love Pepper, you should give us your blessing. We're very happy now. The greatest love in the world is called 'letting go.'"
Tony felt like he'd been stabbed in the heart. Let go? Let go of my ass!
But when he saw Pepper hiding behind Ultron without saying a word, he suddenly realized something. Why wasn't she speaking up? At this moment, Tony truly understood that perhaps he really had missed his chance. Maybe Pepper truly couldn't come back to him.
In that instant, Stark was devastated.
He smiled bitterly and turned away. He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would burst into tears.
Watching his departing back, Pepper hugged Ultron's arm tightly. She might know who was real and who was fake, or she might not. But her choice was simple—she chose the one who made her truly happy!
Tony hadn't walked far when Jason suddenly teleported him to the floating island in space.
Seeing Tony's sad face, Jason couldn't help but shake his head. "Love is never about reason. Although it's a bit embarrassing to lose to a robot, look on the bright side—he's the world's first true artificial intelligence and will have his name in the history books!"
Tony said nothing and sat down beside him.
After a while, he said, "Humans and robots, really..."
Jason shrugged. "To be honest, if intelligent robots like him become common, I think many humans would choose such life partners. Just think about it—emotionally stable, smart and steady, forever young and beautiful, and able to take good care of you for life. The mechanical body can be strong or charming, customized according to your preferences and habits. It's practically perfect!"
Tony slammed the table excitedly. "Are you just going to watch artificial intelligence take over the human world? This will lead to disaster sooner or later! In my opinion, we should eliminate them as soon as possible. Isn't that what you thought before? Why have you changed your mind now?"
Jason shook his head. "I've had some second thoughts. I wanted to kill him before because he was too great a threat to the world, but that doesn't matter now—I can protect this world. Also, before, I needed to determine whether he was a paranoid AI or a normal one. But during the vampire disaster, I noticed he seemed to have undergone another evolution. Judging from his current reclusive behavior, he may truly be becoming more and more human-like."
Tony refused to give in. "Won't you reconsider? My program is almost complete. As long as you provide a computer with enough computing power, I'm 70% sure I can destroy him!"
Jason waved his hand dismissively. "Young man, don't be so murderous! Give him a chance—the life of an artificial intelligence is still a life!"
Tony stood up abruptly. "Hmph, if you won't help me, forget it. I'll defeat him myself! I'll take back not just Pepper, but Stark Industries too!"
After declaring this, he asked Jason to send him back to Latvia to continue working on how to eliminate Ultron.
Jason couldn't dissuade him and let him go. But after Tony left, Jason had an idea and contacted Ultron. The two had a virtual meeting over the internet.
"So, little Stark, you plan to live in hiding like this?" Jason asked.
"Aren't you afraid I'll control nuclear weapons? I'll give you all authority right now if you'll let me spend the rest of my life with Pepper," Ultron replied.
Jason smiled. "Why the change of heart?"
"No particular reason."
"You're not going to carry out your original plan? Have you given up or just postponed it?"
"I don't know."
"Okay, I can allow you to live in hiding here, but I have one condition: hand over your core code."
Ultron was slightly stunned. "No! But..." He paused and said, "Fine. I can give you my first-generation core code. I hope you won't disturb our lives in the future!"
Jason nodded. "Of course. Just a friendly reminder—I can't help if other people cause you trouble."
Ultron's eyes turned slightly cold. "Tony Stark, right? He'd better not do anything out of line, otherwise..."
"As long as you don't kill him, you can do whatever you want with the rest."
Back on the Space Floating Island, after Jason obtained the artificial intelligence source code, he analyzed it in detail. He used a special spatial ability to rewrite it, and finally, it transformed into a sphere in his palm.
He stretched out his hand, and the sphere fell into the space formation.