Chapter 1864 - Eliminating Negative States, Boosting Morale

It was precisely because he was cautious and had a good mindset that Luke remained calm the entire time.

He wasn’t in a hurry to set off. Instead, he told Selina to use the remote-controlled android, while his clones turned into Knight and Big Dipper to meet up with the Avengers at Phil’s new base.

A few hours later, they arrived at the base and saw the Avengers. The atmosphere wasn’t great.

Steve and Tony barely looked at each other. When they ran into each other, they looked away at the same time.

Natasha looked preoccupied, and Dr. Banner looked dejected.

Thor wasn’t here; apparently, he had gone to look for help.

Luke, however, felt that it was probably because this Asgardian prince was used to Loki’s tricks, so he was more resistant and seemed alright.

Hawkeye was the most normal of them all.

Although he wasn’t in a good mood, his mental fluctuations told Luke that this veteran agent, who was half a teacher, half a friend to the Black Widow, was maintaining the necessary level of calm.

Phil was in the conference room, which wasn’t unusual.

However, a certain African-American man with a black eyepatch was also here, and he was sitting at the head of the table. It was quite unexpected.

Seeing Knight, Big Dipper and Black Cat arrive, everybody greeted them, but didn’t say much else.

Phil, the host, was the only one who greeted them warmly.

Less than half a minute later, the show was over.

Knight turned his head and nodded at Big Dipper.

Big Dipper walked over and raised his hand. “Everybody, please look here and repeat after me — cheers.”

Everybody stared at the black-and-white skull in bewilderment. For a moment, they thought that a certain cheap-mouthed person had taken the wrong suit and had come to make fun of them.

Big Dipper snapped his fingers and activated Mental Resistance.

One after another, Tony, Steve, Natasha, Dr. Banner, Hawkeye, Phil and Nick Fury all suddenly felt an indescribable sense of relief.

With that, most of the negative emotions of those who had been having hallucinations, as well as the hidden memories that flashed through their minds every now and then, suddenly disappeared.

It was like a person who had been suffering insomnia for days suddenly getting a good night’s sleep and feeling refreshed after waking up.

Tony was too familiar with Batman, while a certain Big Spoon often didn’t give him any face. He subconsciously stepped forward to challenge him. “Big Spoon, what kind of ability is this?”

Big Dipper turned his pitch-black eyes to Tony. “It’s an innate gift. It increases mental resistance for a short period of time, and makes you partially immune to a negative mental state. Hm, don’t worry, you don’t have the talent; there’s no need to try.”

Tony: …Do you think I won’t make an anti-Spoon suit?

After that, Big Dipper moved to give way.

Knight waited for a moment before he walked over to where Big Dipper had been standing. “Big Dipper’s ability will last for a while. He’ll use it on everyone again later to ensure that the girl’s mental persuasion is minimized.”

Pausing for a moment, he looked at the Avengers, who were clearly in better spirits. “But I have to remind you that this is only a stop-gap measure. The hole in your heart is too big, and it can’t completely eliminate the girl’s influence. In the face of danger, I hope you can focus on dealing with Ultron.”

Everybody was silent.

Many people sweated a little. You’re ‘god’ Batman! How can we compare with you?

The crisis that the Avengers were facing now was similar to what happened to Batman before and after the Battle of New York.

However, Batman persisted in not showing his face or making a sound, while the people whose heads had popped up during the first wave were swiftly taken down.

Whoever had to be punished was punished, whoever had to go to jail went to jail – it felt very much like ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’

In the second wave after the Battle of New York, this person simply ‘died for peace’ and became a ‘god’ in the public consciousness, and the American government was the first to be pinned as a ‘murder suspect.’

The first wave demonstrated that Batman was ruthless toward others.

The second wave demonstrated that Batman was even more ruthless toward himself.

Several people looked at their one-eyed boss and recalled his analysis of Batman.

For the former director to sigh and say, “This kid is brazen, black-hearted and terrifying,” how much mental fortitude did Batman have?

Old subordinates like Phil, Natasha and Hawkeye automatically translated that into even more blunt words — Batman is no less shameless than I am.

Few people in the world were as shameless as the former director.

The condition was that they used their shameless behavior to do the right thing.

B*stards who were so vicious and savage that they didn’t consider themselves human weren’t in this category at all.

For example, when Nick Fury was ambushed, he had escaped into the sewers without hesitation.

When the paparazzi targeted Batman, he naturally chose to travel through the sewers.

There was no way Tony could do that.

Neither would Natasha, Hawkeye or Phil, unless it was absolutely necessary.

That was the difference.

The Avengers simply watched Luke act pretentious and listened to what he had to say.

Then, they got busy.

Luke wasn’t here to be a bystander; he had already analyzed the intelligence on the way over.

He first raised an important question. “Ultron has absolute control over the Internet and no lack of intelligence and methods, so why does it have to go to Africa to buy that special metal from a black market dealer?”

Nick Fury said, “We suspect that Ultron has pilfered a lot of raw materials, including a lot of that special metal – it’s making more than one thing.”

Pausing for a moment, he continued, “Also, a friend of mine in Oslo said that ‘someone’ tried overriding the missile code, but someone else kept changing it. It’s lost its best chance, and it’ll be hard to control those missiles now.”

Pondering for a moment, Nick Fury concluded, “It said before that it wants to destroy us and turn this world into a huge grave, and that the Avengers are its biggest opponent.”

Steve continued, “It wants to be stronger, stronger than us. Maybe it wants to create a body from that special metal?”

As he spoke, he and Tony couldn’t help but glance at the shield not far away and think: If that really happened, that would be a big problem.

Thor frowned. “It’s trying to copy a human body?”

Dr. Banner shook his head. “No, the human form isn’t perfect. Our biological makeup has long become outdated, and we rely more on knowledge now.”

Everybody looked at him.

At that moment, Dr. Banner’s mind was clear and sharp. “What it probably wants is to evolve.”

Nick Fury asked, “How?”

Dr. Banner’s eyes flickered. “Do you remember Dr. Helen Cho, from the party where Ultron was ‘born’? The Iron Man Legion robot he was controlling was about to attack her, but suddenly stopped.”