Become a Homelander and a Marvel superstar

"Here you go, Tony," Azu said softly. "Go and bring her back."

"You…" Tony stared at Azu in shock, "Are you serious? Do you know what this thing means? Ultron getting it will…"

"I know."

Azu interrupted him.

He bent down, placed the scepter into Tony's trembling hand, and then gripped Tony's hand tightly.

"That's why we're here."

"Tony, if you can't even save the people you love, what are you talking about saving the world?"

"Go do what you're supposed to do..."

Azu stood up straight, his voice firm and powerful.

"...Leave the rest to me."

"And me too."

A steady voice came from the doorway.

Steve Rogers strode in, shield in hand. Bucky stood silently beside him.

"Count me in." Natasha, fully armed, followed closely behind.

"...Don't forget, we created this mess together!"

Dr. Banner walked in and went straight to Tony.

Following them were Jessica, Wanda, Pietro, Angela...

One by one, all the Water Heroes walked into the office.

They didn't speak, but simply stood silently in front of Tony.

Tony looked at all those familiar faces.

Looking at the determination and trust in their eyes.

That moment, many years later.

He actually felt that long-lost feeling again.

That's something warmer than "The Avengers".

Those are... family.

Tony felt a stinging sensation in his nose, and his vision blurred.

He turned around abruptly, his back to the crowd, not wanting them to see his eyes brimming with tears.

"Hint! Gained 10000 Special Popularity Points! (From Tony Stark)"

He adjusted his breathing, trying to make his voice sound as sarcastic and proud as usual.

"Fine... since you bunch of good-for-nothing freaks insist on coming along to join the fun..."

Tony gripped the scepter tightly and strode toward the door.

"etc."

"Don't rush off, Tony."

In front of the virtual tactical sandbox that Azu opened, he lightly tapped his finger on the holographic model of Avengers Tower.

The building's structural diagram unfolded instantly, with countless red dots densely distributed around the building's load-bearing columns and energy core—those were the antimatter high-explosive bombs deployed by Ultron.

"Listen, Tony. You have only one task: to hand the scepter to Ultron."

Upon hearing Azu's words, Tony gripped the scepter in his hand, which emitted a ghostly blue light, tightly.

"I know what you're thinking, Tony." Azu's gaze remained fixed on the map. "Stop with your self-righteous cleverness. There are no backdoors, no nanoviruses, and no suddenly appearing micro-missiles. Or try to pull a trick during the handover to buy your armor a fraction of a second to dress."

Tony's lips moved, as if his thoughts had been touched.

"Don't do anything unnecessary." Azu turned his head, his eyes sharp. "Ultron is your creation. He inherited your arrogance and your suspicion. He's watching your every move."

"Pepper is still in his hands." Azu emphasized, "If you don't want her to become a corpse, you'd better hand it over to him obediently. No extra steps, no backup plans. Even if Ultron makes you kneel down and polish shoes, you have to do it. Understand?"

Tony gritted his teeth, suppressing any inappropriate thoughts, and nodded stiffly: "Understood. As long as Pepper is safe..."

"She will be safe."

Ah Zu turned around and looked at the others.

"My super vision has seen through the walls there, and I know what Ultron is going to do."

Azu pulled up a technical parameter diagram of the "Regeneration Cradle".

"He's building a body for himself."

"He used vibranium stolen from smugglers, combined with Dr. Helen Zhao's cell regeneration technology, to create an invincible husk. And the Mind Scepter, or more precisely, the Mind Gem on the scepter, is the source of this husk's power."

"The Mind Stone is a treasure that existed since the beginning of the universe, possessing boundless power."

Steve Rogers frowned, looking at the model of the body: "If he succeeds... we may be facing an invincible monster."

"That's right, Captain. That's going to be a big problem."

Azu drew an arc with his finger on the screen.

"But crises are often accompanied by opportunities."

"The moment Ultron infused his vast data consciousness into the new body, he had to sever most of the connections to the external network to ensure the integrity of his core consciousness. That was our window of opportunity."

"Disconnection." Dr. Banner immediately realized, "It's like the black screen gap when reinstalling the operating system on a computer."

"That's right." Azu snapped his fingers.

"In that instant, Wot's Skynet would immediately sever his signal connection with those bomb detonators."

He looked around, his gaze sweeping over every hero poised to strike.

"Once the signal is given, it's the bugle call to charge."

"As for that newly formed Ultron..."

"Leave it to me... I'll send this ghost that crawled out of the network to the cyber graveyard..."

……

Thirty minutes ago, in Mr. Zu's private collection room.

Azu held the soul gem that emitted a yellow light in his hand.

On the table in front of him was another "scepter".

It looks exactly like the original, from the reflective material to the ethereal blue energy emanating from it.

This is a fake he created out of thin air using real gemstones.

Ah Zu inserted the "Sky Net" into the crystal structure at the top of the counterfeit scepter.

Then, he carefully set the real Mind Gem in the very core, encased in layers of a shell forged by the Reality Gem.

This is a beautifully crafted Trojan horse prepared for Ultron.

The Mind Stone is real, but its "driver" is Skynet.

Once Ultron attempts to inject his consciousness into that vibranium body...

"Skynet".

Ah Zu whispered to the scepter.

"...Perform this scene well."

"I want a high-octane battle, a crisis that will make you so nervous you'll wet your pants."

"Understood, sir." The scepter flashed a blue light.

……

Avengers Tower.

Tony Stark has returned to the hall that once belonged to him.

"Sizzle—"

The airtight door slid open.

Tony walked in alone, carrying a metal case containing the Mind Scepter.

Beside the regeneration cradle, the Ultron machine turned around.

Punctuality and trustworthiness.

Ultron's metallic voice rang out, his tone filled with admiration.

"I thought you'd pull some tricks, Stark. Like hiding a miniature EMP in your sleeve."

"I do intend to," Tony said coldly, slamming the box down on the lab table. "But I'd rather Pepper live."

"This is humanity's weakness."

Ultron stepped forward, his metal fingers deftly prying open the latches and lifting the lid.

A deep blue light shone before his eyes.

"That's also why humanity fails. Emotions are just a superfluous burden."

Ultron reached out and grasped the Mind Scepter.

"What perfect energy..." he murmured ecstatically, "This is the key to evolution."