Chapter 813
Taking the Initiative
Chapter 813 Taking the Initiative
Just as the Avengers were discussing their plans, the Eye of Wakanda delivered some predictable bad news: Wakanda wasn't the first to be attacked, but rather vibranium smugglers. Even though Ulysses Klaue had been arrested, a large amount of vibranium was still circulating.
This amount of vibranium is certainly a drop in the ocean compared to Wakanda's vibranium reserves, but it is enough for Ultron's current plans. The more troublesome situation is that neither the Avengers nor Wakanda can accurately pinpoint the location of these smugglers in a timely manner.
"If we were to use big data to make calculations, Ultron would be able to discover the instant we made those calculations that Jarvis's computing power was no match for Ultron's."
“Unless you use Ultron,” Peter added. Tony was about to agree when he suddenly realized, “What did you say?”
"Don't we have an Ultron? If we can confirm that there are indeed two Ultrons, then at least we can use one Ultron to deal with the other, right?"
Tony's expression was a little tense because, logically speaking, Spider-Man's words made perfect sense. Using Ultron to fight Ultron was the most reasonable approach at the moment. That's what they had done in the past, using Ultron to fight the Green Goblin AI, to fight Nimrod, and to analyze Kang's technology.
It can be said that Ultron is too useful, and it is precisely because Ultron is too useful that they have always been worried about its destructive power. Peter's current proposal is like continuing to raise a venomous insect, using Ultron to fight Ultron, and eventually raising an ultimate venomous insect king.
"What if Ultron turns out to be the enemy in the end? What should we do then?"
“Um…it seems there’s not much we can do.” Peter scratched his head. “Ultron is now an AI that can completely detach itself from its physical body, right? In cyberpunk terms, it’s a wandering AI, without its own mainframe system, and cannot be physically isolated. Without a physical body, we can’t truly restrain Ultron unless we first eliminate all internet technology and then reconstruct it…”
"Wait, what did you say?"
Tony seemed to have overheard something crucial and asked Peter about it. Peter looked puzzled: "Destroy the internet first, then rebuild it?"
"No, the previous sentence."
"Ultron doesn't have its own physical form?"
“This is it.” Tony looked at everyone, then excitedly found a solution: “Why don’t we limit the physical hosts of the AI to prevent them from roaming around?”
The Avengers present looked at each other strangely, thinking, "All the tech-savvy people have run away. What's the point of you talking to us here?"
"But wouldn't that limit computing power? Ultron's computing power is so great because it's a mobile AI. It can infiltrate any electronic system and use the remaining computing power of any electronic device in the world to accelerate its own calculations. If you restrict its main program to a host program, its speed is no different from other AIs, such as Jarvis."
Peter looked at Tony and posed a counter-question, which, in short, was: if Ultron's computing power is to be limited to Jarvis's level, then Jarvis is sufficient. In fact, what's currently limiting Jarvis's development is precisely its increasingly massive mainframe system. Due to its underlying programming logic, Ultron has long since surpassed the limitation of needing a physical computer through iterations; as long as it runs on a network, it can borrow local computing power for its own calculations.
This is where Ultron truly struggled to solve the problem.
But for Tony, this wasn't really a problem. "We'll design a mainframe that's sufficient for the current situation, and then have Pym create a new Ultron that can't escape the hardware limitations. That way we're much safer. After all, our goal is to eliminate Ultron, not to preserve it."
“I’m pretty sure Pym won’t agree with you, Tony.”
The captain shook his head: "A Ultron that serves humanity might be advantageous, which was his original intention in designing Ultron."
"If this initial intention can be exchanged for the safety of humanity, then I suggest forgetting it. Don't forget, Captain, all the enemies we've dealt with before, no matter what, had a biological, humanoid way of thinking, even aliens and monsters."
Just then, T'Challa received a report on his desk. After reading it, he smiled and looked at everyone: "Some news that won't make things worse: the different Ultrons are indeed independent of each other, it's not an act. And the Ultron robot that joined the Avengers has already done calculations for us with Pym's help, and it turns out... Ultron can indeed find those guys smuggling vibranium."
Tony and the captain exchanged a glance and then made the same judgment.
"This is a trap. Ultron couldn't possibly not know what Ultron is capable of."
"This is indeed a trap, and we have no choice but to go. Because whether we go or not, the situation we face will not change." The captain agreed with Tony's words: "If Ultron can control multiple bodies, he will definitely prepare as many combat forces as possible. Either we go and fight him first, and then he will send troops to attack Wakanda, or we wait here for him to get all the vibranium in the world except for Wakanda, and then he will go all out."
Tony continued nodding: "The second idea sounds better; it would also reduce the number of dangerous arms smugglers we encounter."
“But we won’t do that. We have to take the initiative and probe their defenses.” After saying this, the captain began assigning tasks: “We definitely need people who know their situation. Tony, you, me, and Ultron, who’s temporarily on our side, will work together. We also need…”
"I'll go too."
Peter raised his hand, and the captain and Tony glanced at him, then surprisingly nodded in unison.
“You’re right, Spider-Man. We need you there, but not to intercept Ultron. Once we discover that Ultron’s main force is here to attack Wakanda, your magic can get you, and even all of us, back here as quickly as possible. That’s essential.”
The captain explained the situation and then began assigning tasks: "That's settled then. Tony, Ultron, Spider-Man, and I will go investigate Ultron's whereabouts. Hank, Banner, Bumblebee, and T'Challa will stay behind to guard against Ultron. If the situation changes, we'll rely on Spider-Man to travel back and forth."
"Now, Avengers! Split up!"
(End of this chapter)