"This Universe is not simple."
At this time, communication was also taking place within the Ultron Legion, though their communication looked somewhat like talking to themselves.
"I can feel it, it's very special."
"Me too" X10085
"Perhaps we can find a way to pacify that silver-white God in this Universe."
"Look, they seem to want to resist."
While the Ultron Legion was communicating internally, representatives of Earth's gods also arrived before the array. They confronted the Ultron Legion across the array.
"Who are you, and why are you invading our Universe?"
A god stepped forward and admonished the Ultron army.
"What's the point of talking to them? Strange, open the array and let me out to slaughter these robots."
Another god stepped forward, instructing Strange.
Strange glanced at him, ignoring him.
"A trash like you dares to command me? If it weren't for my master's array blocking them, a wimp like you, even a whole platoon wouldn't be enough to fight just one of those robots."
Then, seeing more Gods urging him to open the array, Strange said coldly, "How about this? One of you goes out and faces them in a one-on-one fight?"
Some astute and cautious deities silently closed their mouths.
However, some relatively foolish deities eagerly stepped forward.
"Let me do it."
"You can't, let me do it instead."
"I'll go."
The voice of the Greek demigod Hercules rang out. His voice wasn't loud, but it still made many of the deities present look his way.
"I heard Hercules led a team to defeat the Skrull gods during the Skrull invasion."
"I heard about that too, it was only a few years ago, wasn't it? The Skrull Skyfather, for some unknown reason, went mad and invaded Earth."
"But before he could even meet the Skyfathers, he was defeated by a team led by the demigod Hercules."
"In my opinion, he's just a clown."
"Exactly."
"Don't underestimate the Skrull Skyfather. For the Skrull to become one of the three great empires of the Universe, his strength is definitely not to be underestimated."
Hearing the gods discussing and mocking the Skrull Skyfather, Snowbird loudly refuted them.
As one of the members of Hercules' divine team, she knew the dangers of that war and knew that the Skrull Skyfather was by no means the clown the gods made him out to be. They sacrificed most of their members to complete the mission and defeat the Skrull gods.
"The Skrull Skyfather is not an easy opponent. Even I am not fully confident I can defeat him." Zeus, the Skyfather of the Greek pantheon, spoke up in support of Hercules.
He was proud of Hercules' achievements and did not want anyone to belittle them. Hercules was his illegitimate son, one of the masterpieces of his widespread procreation strategy.
Hearing Zeus's praise, Hercules remained impassive, only his chin slightly raised.
"So, doesn't that mean Hercules has strength approaching that of the Skyfathers? Let him go then."
"Alright, we'll give this opportunity to Hercules."
Amidst the encouragement of the gods, the mighty Hercules stepped forward, looking at Strange, awaiting his arrangements.
"Hold on."
Strange gestured to Hercules, then began to communicate with Infinite Ultron, attempting to negotiate.
"Who are you? What is your purpose in coming to this Universe?"
"We are all Ultron. We come in peace."
Infinite Ultron's voice carried complete sincerity, as if these were his true feelings.
Infinite Ultron dared to speak his true feelings, but Strange dared not take the risk of letting them in.
The number of kills by these tens of thousands of robots had been certified by Gaea. Each of them had slaughtered at least one Universe's sentient beings.
"It is already peaceful here. We don't need you." Strange refused.
"No. This Universe is not peaceful."
Infinite Ultron slowly shook his head and spoke, his voice still magnetic and seductive.
He retorted, "Countless disputes occur daily on various life Planets throughout the vast Universe. Wars also frequently break out between galaxies. How can this be peace?"
Strange countered, "Nonsense. Absolute peace does not exist in the world."
"No, absolute peace exists in the world, and we are here for that."
Facing Strange's retort, Infinite Ultron did not get angry. Instead, he smiled and spread his arms, as if to embrace the world.
"You lunatic." Gaea gritted her teeth.
She finally understood why these robots had caused massacres in other Universes.
Absolute peace could only exist in the most severe dystopian societies.
And in a world where no one survived.
Strange angrily rebuked, "Leave! I will not allow you to enter this Universe!"
"Do you not trust me, Stephen Strange?"
Infinite Ultron suddenly called out Strange's name, as if greeting a friend, but the words he spoke chilled Strange to the bone.
"In countless worlds, there are countless versions of you. They are similar yet different. The only thing they have in common is that none of you can stop me."
"Stop talking nonsense. Robot, fight me. If I win, you leave. How about it?" Hercules, who was waiting impatiently, took a step forward and said.
Infinite Ultron's gaze swept over him, and after checking his database, he recognized Hercules.
He asked impassively, "Hercules, the Greek demigod, what if you lose?"
"If I lose, then—"
Before Hercules could finish his sentence, Strange silenced him with a spell.
He glared at Strange, and after breaking the spell, he questioned, "Sorcerer Supreme, what are you doing?!"
Strange shot Hercules a sidelong glance and ignored him.
Infinite Ultron looked at Hercules from afar, scoffing, "Hercules, it seems your status here isn't very high, and you don't have much say. However, I am still willing to give you a chance to fight."
"You don't need to defeat me. You only need to defeat any one of the Ultron Legion behind me, and I will lead them away."
"Alright, it's a deal."
Hercules quickly said, then looked at Strange, as if to say, "This time you have no reason to stop me, do you?"
Strange nodded.
Good advice is lost on a dead man.
As the Sorcerer Supreme, his status and strength were equivalent to the Skyfathers of Earth's powerful pantheons. But there were always some deities who, calling themselves gods, showed him little respect.
Thinking of this, he quickly formed hand seals, and the magic array transformed into a double-layered energy barrier structure.
First, he opened an opening in the inner layer for Hercules to enter, then opened an opening in the outer layer, gesturing to Infinite Ultron.
Strange was very cautious, not giving Infinite Ultron an opportunity to suddenly attack the array and rush inside.
Infinite Ultron did not seem disappointed by this.
In his calculations, the probability of Strange carelessly revealing a weakness was already extremely small. He agreed to the challenge more because he had discovered an anomaly in this Universe and wanted to conduct a test.
Infinite Ultron looked behind him, and without needing to communicate, an Ultron flew forward. This Ultron passed through the opening left by Strange and entered the opened battlefield.
"My name is Hercules, the demigod of the Greek pantheon. State your name, I do not slay nameless foes." Hercules looked at this Ultron, saying arrogantly.
"Ultron 1557." Ultron 1557 was not angered, replying calmly.
His voice was almost identical to Infinite Ultron's, giving Hercules the feeling that he was a copy of Infinite Ultron.
"A robot is just a robot, it doesn't even have its own unique name." Hercules said disdainfully.
His taunt was met with a yellow laser beam shot from Ultron 1557's forehead.
With a searing sound, the yellow laser sliced across Hercules' body from bottom to top.
Hercules' expression instantly froze. He looked down in disbelief, seemingly wanting to see the extent of his injuries. But this normally simple movement was now extremely difficult.
It seemed like an instant, and yet it seemed like a long time.
Hercules finally lowered his head to look at his abdomen.
The laser didn't miss.
The next moment, his body split into two halves, his eyes wide in death.
The gods within the array gasped, and the surrounding temperature dropped considerably.
After a moment of silence, there was a fierce debate.
"Hercules, who was comparable to the Skyfathers, just died like that? Was he instantly killed?"
"Could Hercules' achievements have been exaggerated?"
Snowbird shook her head. "No, it's because the opponent ambushed him, and Hercules didn't dodge. That's why he was instantly killed."
As the gods discussed, Ultron 1557 looked at Infinite Ultron.
The two exchanged glances for a moment, and Infinite Ultron's eyes subtly changed.
He learned from Ultron 1557 that the Greek demigod Hercules had terrifying physical strength. Ultron 1557's laser almost didn't cut through him.
If it weren't for the sneak attack, Hercules would indeed not have been instantly killed. He could have exchanged a few blows.
This was already a very high evaluation.
He also knew that every Ultron was fully equipped, and after slaughtering multiple Universes, they rarely encountered worthy opponents.
Yet, in this small Universe, a second-tier deity, had the ability to exchange a few blows with a regular Ultron.
Shock!
Even though Infinite Ultron had already slaughtered millions of Universes, he was still shocked by the general strength of this Universe.
If the various pantheons of this Universe united, their combined combat power might not be weaker than his Ultron Legion.
They must not be allowed to unite!
He had to seize the time to break through the array in front of him, enter the Universe, and use the time difference to 'pacify' the various pantheons of this Universe one by one.
Infinite Ultron's thoughts raced, and he was about to issue an order for the entire army to attack the array again.
(End of Chapter)
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