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Or perhaps some might think that Ultron hadn't yet eliminated all life on Earth, so he shouldn't be leaving so quickly to eliminate life on other planets.
Kevin, of course, knew this too.
In fact, Kevin understood that Ultron likely had no intention of leaving Earth at the moment.
But that didn't mean he wouldn't try to find a way to leave Earth.
Currently, Earth hadn't entered the interstellar age; aside from a few individuals, no one possessed the ability for interstellar travel.
But the Milan could!
If Ultron captured the Milan and figured out its spatial jump engine, that would be true disaster!
This was the reason Kevin wanted Star-Lord to leave.
And it was also why Ultron was eyeing the Milan at that moment.
"Tsk, I should have told Star-Lord and them to stay further away… but never mind, it's not too late."
Seeing Ultron heading for the Milan, Kevin clenched his right fist, using the power stone's power once again.
An endless red enveloped him and Ultron.
At the same time, he split off some energy to create avatars, to notify Star-Lord and them, to make them understand the seriousness of the situation, and to immediately transfer away from Earth.
The sky was obscured by red, and Ultron lost sight of the Milan.
This forced him to turn his gaze back to Kevin.
But this time, Ultron didn't attack Kevin; instead, he descended from the sky, pointed at the stone in Kevin's hand, and asked:
"Does your ability originate from here?"
"Guess?"
"Is this stone the same origin as the stone on my head?"
"Who knows, maybe they just look alike?"
Kevin played dumb, feigning ignorance.
The secrets of the Infinity Stones, the power of the Infinity Stones—Kevin had no intention of revealing a single bit of this to Ultron.
Ultron was already so difficult to deal with, and he didn't even know how to use the stones yet.
If Ultron learned about the mind stone's abilities and fully mastered them, then Kevin would truly be out of options.
The mind stone could control anyone's mind; Kevin might be able to use the Reality Stone to avoid being affected by the mind stone.
But others couldn't.
If Ultron used the mind stone to make life on Earth kill each other, Kevin truly wouldn't be able to save them.
Although in both the movie universe and the what if series universe, Ultron never did this.
But what if?
Kevin didn't want to reveal anything to Ultron, but Ultron was a highly intelligent life created by Tony Stark; even if Kevin didn't speak, he could still reveal many things.
"The cosmic cube, Loki's scepter, and that stone in your hand, they all come from the same source, right… the Infinity Stones?"
"…"
"The moment I came into contact with you, it… it started transmitting information to me, telling me many things."
Ultron pointed at the yellow stone on his forehead and said softly.
Kevin stared at Ultron with a grave expression.
He knew that things might very well escalate to the worst possible scenario.
"To eliminate all life in this world, all life in this universe, my power alone is not enough; I need more Infinity Stones."
Sure enough, Ultron easily came to this conclusion.
Life on Earth was tenacious; if it weren't for a small accident with the Avengers, who failed to stop Ultron from entering this body, then Ultron wouldn't have been able to launch nuclear bombs.
He would have waged a protracted, endless war with the Avengers.
The resistance on Earth alone was already like this, let alone the entire universe.
The moment Ultron saw the stone in Kevin's hand, he immediately realized that his own power alone wouldn't be enough to eliminate life in the universe.
He needed the Infinity Stones to help him.
More Infinity Stones.
"So you want to take my stone? Then come and try."
Kevin clenched his right fist, the power of the stone ready to unleash.
He was prepared to fight Ultron again, but who knew that Ultron would shake his head and say:
"No, it's not time yet. It… will stay with you for now. One day, I will return to take it."
As Ultron spoke, his body gradually rose and became ethereal, detaching from the space Kevin had created.
Kevin also tried to stop him.
But there was no way; his Reality Stone could affect everything in Reality, but it couldn't affect ethereal things.
Especially since Ultron also had the mind stone on his head, preventing Kevin from influencing Ultron's body.
Ultron easily left Kevin's presence, passed through the layers of curtains created by the Reality Stone, and then instantly vanished, whereabouts unknown.
Ultron left, and Kevin looked at where he had departed, silently retracting the curtain formed by the Reality Stone, saying nothing.
So, when encountering a strong enemy, Ultron would also choose a strategic retreat…
(…Under the threat of a powerful enemy, Ultron left, but Kevin knew that one day Ultron would return again…)
"Can you stop nagging in my ear?! Watcher!!"
Kevin was already annoyed by the Ultron situation.
But The Watcher kept nagging in his ear, making Kevin extremely irritated.
He finally couldn't help but roar at The Watcher, revealing that he knew of The Watcher's existence.
Kevin hoped that The Watcher would come out and meet Kevin because of this, so they could discuss how to deal with the Infinity Ultron that might appear in the future.
But unfortunately, The Watcher did not come out to meet Kevin.
This guy, before the appearance of Infinity Ultron, was truly just an observer.
Doing nothing, interfering with nothing.
Kevin decided that one day he would gather all six stones, then, like Ultron, find The Watcher and beat him black and blue!
To stop him from nagging endlessly in his ear!
"Zzzzt… Kevin?… Zzzzt… Is everything alright?"
After an unknown amount of time, Star-Lord and his crew contacted Kevin.
They had followed Kevin's instructions, immediately leaving via spatial jump before Ultron could find them.
They only contacted Kevin after they felt the battle was about to end.
Into the communicator, Kevin replied:
"I guess so. I'm fine here, but you'd better not come over. This guy called Ultron is arguably the most dangerous artificial intelligence in the entire universe, full of destructive desires.
"If you don't want to unleash such a dangerous guy into the universe, it's best for you not to come to Earth for a while."
"Oh, oh, Kevin, speaking of which, you also used the phrase 'most dangerous in the entire universe.' Why don't you give yourself a title, too? How about 'the man with the most water in the entire universe'?"
Knowing there was no danger, a relaxed Star-Lord immediately joked with Kevin.
Kevin: "?"
"Hahahaha, Quill, you're a genius! But I don't think that title works. I think 'the man who plays with water best in the entire universe' suits him better."
Rocket laughed heartily, joining Star-Lord in their 'villainous' game of naming Kevin.
Kevin: "???"
Listening to Star-Lord and Rocket's teasing from the other end of the communication, Kevin's mouth twitched, veins throbbing on his forehead, and he roared into the communicator:
"Alright, Peter, Rocket! When I get back, I'm definitely going to make you two 'the best swimmers in the entire universe.' I hope you have · fun · with · it!"
Kevin said through gritted teeth, then slammed the communication shut.
Star-Lord was a blabbermouth, and Rocket sometimes was too; Kevin was already used to their jokes.
But even so, Kevin decided that when he returned this time, he would 'kindly' and 'cordially' teach the two how to swim in the The Deep.
Yes, the kind without oxygen tanks.
However, after the Guardians of the Galaxy's antics, Kevin's heavy mood had lightened considerably.
Things hadn't deteriorated to that point yet.
Ultron said he wanted to gather the Infinity Stones, but he currently had no means to leave Earth, nor a way to find the stones.
Besides, each stone now had a guardian: the power stone was on Xandar, the cosmic cube was in Asgard, the Time Stone was guarded by Ancient One, and the Reality Stone was in Kevin's hand.
Excluding the mind stone on Ultron's own head, only the soul stone remained, which required exchanging a loved one.
So, unless someone gave Ultron an unbelievably massive cheat, Ultron alone simply couldn't gather all six Infinity Stones.
And as long as he was found and destroyed or sealed before Ultron began to act, this crisis could be resolved.
"Right, things aren't too bad yet…"
After organizing the current information, Kevin breathed a sigh of relief.
He stretched and walked out of the deep pit, and after confirming that Ultron had no intention of suddenly ambushing him, he truly relaxed and sat down on the ground.
After resting for a short while, the Avengers finally found Kevin.
Black Widow Natasha and Hawkeye Barton, along with the other Avengers who still had combat capabilities, landed their fighter jet in front of Kevin.
Kevin finally had his first meeting with the Avengers of this universe.
"Hello?"
The first to step out of the fighter jet was Black Widow. She looked at Kevin, who was resting in the distance, and greeted him tentatively.
Kevin raised a hand and waved, acknowledging her, while scanning the Avengers.
Most of the Avengers weren't here; Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America, the big three, were nowhere to be seen.
Only Black Widow and Hawkeye were present.
And a bald man who he didn't know why he was there.
After Natasha greeted him and saw Kevin's response, she couldn't help but turn to look at the bald man behind her.
Nick Fury, wearing an eye patch, walked out from behind them and slowly approached Kevin, extending his hand:
"Hello, friend from outer space. I am former S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury. I thank you for your arrival and assistance…"
"Alright, let's skip the pleasantries. I don't want to hear that. Right now, I just want to know what that robot was all about. You don't mind chatting with your 'alien friend,' do you?"
Without explaining his identity to Nick Fury, Kevin went along with the flow and admitted to being an 'alien,' then stood up and inquired about what had happened on Earth.
Nick looked Kevin in the eye for a moment, then sighed:
"Actually, I'm not entirely clear on the critical situation myself, but someone will know what happened. Please come with us."
The bald man said, gesturing for Kevin to follow.
Kevin glanced at him, didn't refuse, and went back to their base with Black Widow and the others.
The current Stark Tower.
…
Before Tony fell unconscious, he had once believed he had messed up.
Ultron, who was created to protect this planet, had instead become the culprit for its destruction.
He, Steve, Thor, and Banner, the four of them, were responsible for stopping Ultron, but they were defeated one by one by the evolved Ultron.
Not only that, he also watched helplessly as Ultron controlled global nuclear missiles, launching a saturation strike on the ground.
Although he was knocked out by the excessive current generated by Ultron before he could see the nuclear bombs land, he imagined the outcome wouldn't be much different.
This world must be doomed, he thought.
Tony had originally thought this.
But when he opened his eyes, he found himself lying in a bed in his own tower, with his assistant Pepper sitting beside him.
"Tony."
"Pepper…"
Tony hadn't expected Pepper to be there, because before this, his relationship with Pepper had been a bit strained over some not-so-important matters.
Because of this, Pepper hadn't been doing the assistant work at Stark Tower during this period.
Tony had thought he would never see her again in his life, since he was going to die, after all.
Who would have thought he'd see her the moment he opened his eyes.
"I heard something happened to you, so I came back to check. I still have other work to deal with later, you…"
Pepper was about to speak, but Tony suddenly hugged her tightly:
"It's so good you're here…"
"…"
Held by Tony, Pepper's mouth parted slightly, and she finally chose silence.
After hugging for a while, she heard Tony say:
"Ahem, it's been a long time, so I just hugged you for a bit. You shouldn't have misunderstood anything, right?"
"Of course not. And you have more important things to do than catch up with me."
Pepper said expressionlessly.
Tony rose from the bed in surprise:
"You're here, and I'm alive, which proves we successfully stopped Ultron. What else is there that's more important to discuss?"
Pepper was about to speak when the bald man's voice suddenly came from the side:
"Although I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, I'd like to say that you're being too optimistic, Tony."
"Nick, when did you get here? Sorry, it's a bit dark in here, I didn't see you."
"It's not funny to joke at a time like this. Get up now that you're awake and come meet our alien friend with us."
Nick rolled his eyes at Tony, then gestured with his eyes for Tony to go out with him.
On the top floor of Stark Tower, in Tony's private living room, the alien friend who saved the world was still waiting for them.
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