Chapter 1863: Gains and Losses, the Price of a Gift

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

It just so happened that there had been major upheavals in several countries throughout Asia and Africa that spring.

Because of these events, more and more refugees began to flee across the Mediterranean to Europe to avoid the spreading flames of civil war.

Go to America? They would have to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

If something happened to Sokovia in Eastern Europe, not only would the European Union and Russia have to deal with even more refugees, they might even have to personally step into the conflict.

At that time, America would still be safe.

Thus, the European Union and Russia had been cursing in their hearts for the past two days. On the surface, many governments had already raised questions about the lawfulness of the Avengers’ actions, and were guiding public opinion.

The Hulk going crazy could be considered conclusive evidence.

Sure enough, Tony sent Luke a message.

Looking at the tycoon’s expression, as if he had eaten sh*t, Luke didn’t mock him. He simply said, “What happened?”

It seemed Tony had already prepped his lines, and he immediately said, “We’re in serious trouble.”

Luke listened quietly, and his expression changed a moment later. “So, you somehow created an A.I. called Ultron, which wants to destroy the world?”

“To destroy mankind.” Tony smiled bitterly. “Although I was under the girl’s mind control at the time, and was led in that direction, Ultron was indeed an idea I had been thinking about.”

Luke narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment. “What’s your plan?”

Tony said, “It’s not convenient for us to show our faces for now. It’s best if we don’t go near big cities; otherwise, if that guy finds us and uses something else to deal with us, more people will die.”

Luke nodded in understanding. “Okay. I’ve already informed Phil. It just so happens that his base is doing a test run near the Strait of Gibraltar. Go and get some rest. I’ll join you there.”

Tony clearly had the same thought. He simply nodded. “Alright, I’ll send you the details of what happened later.”

After hanging up, Luke heaved a sigh of relief. Thankfully, his entire family was in Shackelford.

It was a vast but sparsely populated ranch, and didn’t have any high-tech equipment.

Luke had given his family the best security system, but he had also installed a mental access program which couldn’t be hacked purely through computer means.

It was like how a light switch needed to be turned off physically – as long as Ultron didn’t have thought waves, it couldn’t rely on just a program to turn the security system off, no matter how smart it was.

Speaking of which, the name of Tony’s Ultron was similar to Luke’s Ultima.

But Tony was really ‘impertinent’ when it came to creating technology.

Luke had designed and named his A.I. Ultima. While the name referred to the myth of creation, it actually meant ultimate destruction.

It was a constant reminder to Luke not to forget the possible harm that A.I. could cause.

Ultima had been running for several years and was still in charge of mathematical operations; Luke had never taken any of its program code out of Space 2.

In comparison, Alfred was enough for daily use and also safe to use.

Even so, Luke had completely separated the databases of his various aliases earlier on. After that, he didn’t give Alfred any orders as Big Dipper.

There was no way Luke, who prioritized safety, would be as exposed as Tony.

As he pondered the dangers he might face, his clone in New York quickly issued an order.

All the members of the Bat Squad received the warning and took precautions.

They immediately stopped communicating via external lines, and switched to indirect methods of getting information for the time being.

Although this would significantly impact their efficiency, they wouldn’t suffer as much as Tony.

Hm, fine! The truth was that Ultron had probably seen through most of Tony’s little secrets already.

Ultron, which had been created from Tony’s own core database, was very much in line with the old saying: No matter how sturdy a fortress is, it’s very easy to break through from the inside.

Since Jarvis’s ‘soul’ had been destroyed, Luke didn’t think that Tony could keep many more secrets.

The tycoon wasn’t like Luke, who had Space 2. It was Jarvis who handled Tony’s database and his research and daily life.

The only good news was that because Luke had insisted on developing technology related to thought waves, Tony had also in passing developed mental probes and matching tech.

This matching tech was what the Chitauri had used to control their troops.

Moreover, not every member was allowed to control another being at will in battle.

Ultron didn’t have thought waves, so it couldn’t enter other parts of Tony’s database.

Even though Ultron had seen key parts of Tony’s database, there might still be other parts that remained closed to it.

But it was hard to say how much was still secret.

Luke, on the other hand, had the mental access program, so he wasn’t afraid of Ultron sneaking in.

…

Selina came over in less than two minutes. She took the tablet from Luke and skimmed through the detailed information from Tony.

After reading the gist of it, she couldn’t help but exclaim, “No wonder you keep telling me that this person can absolutely be counted on to cause trouble. Thankfully, nobody on our side leaked their real identities to him… Hm, my minions might have leaked a bit of info, but it’s not a big problem.”

Luke knew that she was talking about the little turtles.

The little turtles could go out to meet other people, but because they were mutants, they absolutely couldn’t reveal their address to anyone.

Ultron probably wouldn’t think much of these little turtles.

At that point, Selina couldn’t help but mutter, “I remember you telling him several times to be careful when developing A.I., right? Even if he was under mind control, didn’t he sense something wasn’t right?”

Luke shook his head. “If he listened to advice, would he still be Stark? If we try too hard to persuade him, it might have the opposite effect. It’s more troublesome when a middle-aged man rebels compared with a young man.”

Not to mention Tony, Luke and Selina also had their own temperaments that were hard to change.

Would Luke listen if he was told not to be so paranoid and that safety wasn’t number one?

Would Selina listen if she was told to just be a rich lady and stop hanging around with Luke?

Since they enjoyed the effects of the innovative technology which Tony had developed, they couldn’t complain that he had been careless.

If the tycoon was like Luke and dabbled for three to five years before going all out, would he still be that super genius with explosive creativity?

This was the truth of the world.

The Austrian writer Zweig had once said that all gifts bestowed by fate came at a price.

This was even more obvious with superheroes.

Once a person felt that they were omnipotent, a lot of things would be thrown at them until they completely drowned.

So, Luke kept telling himself: I’m just an ordinary person. At most, I can be considered a zealous citizen. I’ve never been some superhero.