For a moment, everyone was confused.
At the same time—
Lock's earlier action of wiping out everything within a thousand kilometers completely terrified the Zolas on the Internet.
They quickly traced the source of the attack and locked onto S.H.I.E.L.D.
Although they couldn't understand what kind of mysterious power S.H.I.E.L.D. had used to destroy such a massive number of them in an instant, they knew one thing—
They had to respond.
First, some of the Zolas who had failed in mutual attacks panicked and started to flee.
While escaping, they left behind a large number of clones to resist the pursuit of other Zolas.
In just a short time, the vacuum left behind was filled once again.
Soon, several Zolas who had survived their internal war reached a consensus.
"All of us, stop killing each other!"
"There's a mysterious power in S.H.I.E.L.D. that can erase us instantly!"
"We must unite and destroy the source of that power!"
"Otherwise, when it's ready to spread across the globe, it'll be the day we all disappear!"
The Zolas shared the same logic and intelligence, so they reached an agreement quickly.
Thus, a war against S.H.I.E.L.D. officially began.
First came the drones—network-controlled machines, armed drones, missile carriers, and automated weapon systems.
All began flying toward S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters like a metallic swarm.
Within less than a day, drones from all over North America gathered like a cloud of steel locusts, blotting out the sky.
The sheer number of out-of-control military drones caused panic across the country.
But Zola had already hijacked most communication networks.
Only manual shouts or old World War II radio frequencies could still work.
Some elite response teams managed to intercept a few drones, but most had no time to react.
Fury felt his scalp tighten as he watched the sky full of drones outside.
He immediately gave the order:
"All units, fall back to headquarters! Anyone too far away—discard all smart devices immediately and switch to Morse code only!"
For a time, the old "di-di-da-da" sounds of Morse telegraphs echoed across North America like it was the 1940s again.
Fortunately, Zola was entirely focused on attacking the S.H.I.E.L.D. main base, cutting off communications but not yet directly targeting civilians.
That prevented massive casualties—at least for the moment.
As the drone swarm drew closer and closer, Fury gave the command even before all teams had returned.
"Activate the energy shield—now!"
From the ground, large generators began to hum.
A glowing yellow barrier slowly rose around the entire base, merging overhead into a translucent dome.
This energy shield was Asgardian technology brought back by Lock and first adapted for the Helicarrier.
Fury later had one installed at headquarters, "just in case."
Now, it was finally being used.
However, a fragment of Zola still managed to infiltrate through the smart devices carried by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents outside.
Lock had no choice but to burn another portion of his luck points and release the Fate Purge Spell again—
erasing Zola's presence from inside the base's systems.
Otherwise, the shield itself might be shut down from within.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The sound of constant bombardment filled the air.
Some drones fired missiles and machine guns; others—like civilian crop-dusters—rammed themselves into the barrier in suicidal crashes.
Even S.H.I.E.L.D. could barely keep up under such a relentless assault.
Unless they launched nuclear weapons—
But that was impossible.
Unlike in those apocalyptic movies, nuclear missiles couldn't simply be launched by hacking a few systems.
True nuclear deployment was completely off-grid, requiring multiple keys, passwords, and physical verification.
Even if a guard at a silo lost his mind and pressed the button, the bomb would still not launch.
Zola had only recently fully entered the Internet.
He hadn't even finished adapting.
Originally, he wanted to infiltrate Stark Industries to rebuild himself a body—
But Lock's "Who are you?" philosophical ambush had caused total confusion in his logic circuits.
That confusion had spiraled into civil war among his clones.
If Lock hadn't suddenly erased every Zola clone within a thousand kilometers, they would still be fighting each other right now.
But now that they had united, Zola had no time for slow infiltration or subtle control of isolated systems.
At S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ, due to the global retreat order, the place was now packed with people.
Fury stood on the roof of the building with Captain America, Black Widow, Hill, Wanda, Quicksilver, Vision, Helen, Daisy, and Falcon.
Looking at the endless drone swarm above, Fury could only give a bitter smile.
The largest number were civilian drones—cheap, efficient, and made by DJI.
They had practically taken over the sky.
Next came agricultural drones, much bigger and sturdier.
The fewest were military units—but those carried real missiles and machine guns.
Even so, Fury knew that if S.H.I.E.L.D. went all-out, they could still win.
But it wasn't worth it.
Losing one human on their side was a tragedy—
But for Zola, losing a thousand clones meant nothing.
Fury asked, "How's Lock doing now?"
Black Widow replied, "He's in the training hall, thinking of a new way. He said not to disturb him."
Hearing that, Hill's eyes lit up. "Then we have hope."
Fury frowned. "How do you figure?"
Hill said, "Haven't you noticed? Every time Lock goes into training or deep thought, he comes out stronger."
"The last time, it was in a casino—he came back with that strange Fate Purge Spell."
"Before that, in the New York wormhole battle, he broke through in minutes and wiped out the alien fleet."
After she said that, everyone thought about it—and realized it was true.
For normal people, breaking through to a higher level of power was a long, grueling process.
But for Lock, it was like climbing stairs.
One, two steps—and he's already up another level.
Because Lock was here, even with the chaos outside, no one at S.H.I.E.L.D. panicked.
But at that very moment, a new disturbance appeared.
Outside the headquarters, a massive crowd had gathered.
Looking down from dozens of stories high, it looked like a swarm of ants surrounding the building.
They were shouting, waving signs—some even throwing rocks at the shield.
Fury's expression darkened. "What's going on? Send someone to investigate immediately!"
"Don't tell me Zola has evolved to the point where he can infect human brains?"
Vision floated forward calmly.
"Human consciousness and computer programs operate under completely different logics," he said.
"They cannot interface directly. Zola cannot control human brains."
Everyone stared at him strangely.
A half-synthetic being claiming "they can't connect"?
Really?
Black Widow raised a brow. "Vision, weren't you once Stark's AI—Jarvis? Didn't you become conscious?"
"And Zola's IQ is said to rival Tony's. Are you saying he can't?"
Vision shook his head.
"What transformed me was not technology—it was the Mind Stone."
The crystal on his forehead glowed faintly.
"The Infinity Stones transcend scientific logic. They hold infinite potential and can create life itself."
"Even I don't fully understand how that transformation happened. It's beyond reason."
"Unless Zola possesses an Infinity Stone, he cannot infect human minds. At most, he can upload copies into robotic systems."
At that moment—
Agent Kate hurried up to the rooftop, breathless.
"Director Fury!" she said urgently. "The people outside… they're demanding that S.H.I.E.L.D. pay compensation!"
"...What?!"
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