At first, I thought it was an error. Because producing ten thousand units in such a short time was nearly impossible. The total number of drones produced on Gundam Island so far was about two thousand. Creating ten thousand Ultron Sentries, which are more complex than drones, seemed practically impossible. Of course, my drones aren't produced in a mass-production factory, which puts me at a disadvantage, but even considering that, the number of Ultron Sentries was beyond imagination.
'How could he make so many? Did Hydra help him?'
Just then, I heard Captain's voice.
"Jin... Do you happen to have anything hidden away? Like a Gundam..."
The fact that Captain would say such a thing showed how serious the situation had become.
"This is insane... I was saving this for an alien invasion. Summon the Minerva drone base."
[Understood, Master. It will arrive in approximately 30 minutes.]
My words brought some relief to the other members, including Captain. Captain then gave instructions.
"Good. Reinforcements will arrive in 30 minutes, so let's go down, evacuate citizens, and reduce the robot numbers as much as possible."
"Got it, Cap."
"Sigh... Today's going to be tough."
"30 minutes..."
We disembarked from the Odyssey and tried to enter the city, destroying Ultron Sentries that rushed at us.
BAM! CRASH! SMASH! RATATATAT~!!
β Keuk! There are too many!
Vulture, who had been providing heavy fire support from the air, came over comms. I also equipped my [Levitating Cloak] and rose into the air, converting 30 cards at a time into energy bombs and throwing them at the Sentries. Since I was throwing so many cards at once, Nano assisted with the calculations. Nano really is broken. It felt like having two brains.
The 40 Iron Visions on the Odyssey were also doing their best to help, but they were being destroyed quickly. It was like watching a swarm of Zerglings.
"Isn't support here yet?"
Hawkeye, apparently frustrated with the situation, shouted up at me.
"Only 10 minutes have passed."
"Damn! I'm out of arrows!"
I quickly took a bow I had made earlier from my inventory and threw it to Hawkeye.
"Clint, catch! No time to explain, so figure it out yourself."
"Got it."
The bow I gave him fired plasma bolts, with destructive power varying depending on how far the string was drawn. But it was a prototype I hadn't even tested yet, so its safety wasn't guaranteed.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
"Wow~!! This is great! Why are you giving me this now?"
"It's an experimental model. It might explode."
Clint flinched and began drawing the string with restraint.
"R-right... I'll be careful."
I surveyed the battlefield from the air. Fortunately, the Ultron Sentries' attention was focused solely on us, so the citizens seemed to be evacuating the city safely.
β Boss! I'm out of ammo. Gonna make a run to the Odyssey.
Around the 15-minute mark, Vulture, who had been providing heavy fire support, announced that and turned back to the Odyssey to resupply. He must have been pouring out firepower so intensely that he'd exhausted his consumables in less than 15 minutes.
With Vulture gone, our advance was halted, and we could only hold our ground. It became clear just how many enemies Vulture had been holding back. On top of that, the members were starting to tire. They weren't machines, so it couldn't be helped.
So I urgently called out to the members.
"When I give the signal, fall back for a moment!!"
I first concentrated on eliminating the enemies in front of the members. Once I had cleared enough space, I immediately landed and shouted.
"Now!"
At my signal, the members immediately stopped fighting and fell back. Using Eldritch Magic from my [Mana Mystic Arts] ability, I created an enormous, glowing circular saw and threw it horizontally at the Ultron Sentries.
WHOOOOOOSH!!!
Countless Sentries were ground up by the sawblade, carving a path forward.
"Now!!"
At my signal, the members followed the path the saw had created and pushed forward.
"If you have something like that, use it sooner!"
Natasha scolded me as soon as she entered the city.
"It's a melee. I couldn't help it. What if I used it carelessly and ground up the members too?"
"Stop your bickering and help Tony first. It looks like he's still fighting hard."
Jessie pointed toward where Tony and Ultron were fighting. The battle there was still intense, with numerous explosions and dust clouds rising. Seeing this, Vision flew into the air.
"I'll go ahead and help. If I make contact with Ultron, I'll attempt to purge him from the internet."
"Okay, we'll be there soon."
Vision flew toward Tony. As we moved, we took down Ultron Sentries that charged at us. Fortunately, there were no more civilians in sight. They seemed to have all evacuated while we fought.
'At least the civilian casualty count is lower. I wonder if Zemo's family made it out alive...'
[Master, a support request has come in from Vision. Master's approval is required.]
A request for approval suddenly came from Minerva.
"Is it about Ultron?"
[Yes.]
"Good! I'll approve temporarily."
[Understood.]
It seemed that because Ultron had evolved beyond his original counterpart, he needed Minerva's help. As we entered the city, Ultron Sentries began swarming us again.
"This is insane... It never ends."
Banner said, looking at the renewed swarm of Sentries. Just then, Minerva contacted us.
[Master, the drone base has arrived.]
"Deploy all of them!"
At my command, countless drones appeared in the sky and began attacking the Sentries. Vulture, apparently finished resupplying, was seen rejoining the fight alongside the drones.
The number of Ultron units attacking us decreased noticeably, but even so, their numbers were still overwhelming.
"Finally, we can breathe a little. If you have something like that, use it sooner."
This time, Wanda said it to me.
"It was too far away. Nothing I could do."
In addition to the drone base β a converted Helicarrier β good news also came from Vision.
[Master, Vision has succeeded in purging Ultron from the internet.]
"Thank goodness."
But not everything was good. Suddenly, the ground split and began rising into the sky. Just like in the original, the scale was enormous. The entire city of Sokovia seemed to be lifting off.
RRRRRUUUUMMMMBBBBLLLLEEEE~~!!!!
"What the..."
Captain was caught completely off guard by the rising land.
[Master, the vibranium core's magnetic field is holding up the bedrock. If we cannot stop the ascent, it could destroy the Earth.]
Minerva relayed this information to all members.
"Mother... fucker..."
Banner blurted out a curse. Despite Banner's language, no one made a "language" joke. The members probably felt the same. Captain quickly regained his composure and asked Tony and me for ideas.
"Tony, Jin, have you found anything?"
β Sigh... I don't know... The only thing that comes to mind is to blow the city apart once it reaches a sufficient altitude.
"I think so too β overload the core at the center of the city. But Ultron won't just stand by and let us do it."
Captain then gave instructions to everyone.
"Good! Until it reaches sufficient altitude, our goal is to secure the core."
Following Captain's orders, we began moving toward the core while taking down Ultron Sentries. But the closer we got to the core, the more Sentries there were.
BAM! CRASH! THWACK!
"Damn! I feel like there are more and more robots."
Natasha said as she fought Sentries. Captain replied.
"Ultron knows it too β that he has to protect the core. This is insane... I don't know if we'll make it in time..."
I checked the sky briefly. The drones and Vulture were fighting hard, but the Sentry numbers were simply overwhelming. Vision and Iron Man weren't doing well either β Ultron, in his body made from the regeneration cradle, was far from an easy opponent.
"Sigh... No other choice."
After a moment's thought, I commanded Minerva.
"Minerva! Send in the RX-93."
[Understood, Master.]
At my command, a massive robot dropped from the sky, stomping and destroying Ultron Sentries or firing its beam rifle, clearing a path for us to reach the core. The robot was built exactly in the shape of the Nu Gundam from Gundam.
Seeing this, Captain smiled and said.
"Jin, you son of a gun! If you had something like that, you should have brought it out sooner!"
"Seriously... That phrase is going to become a trend."
Tony also saw it and complained.
β Jin!!! A Nu Gundam! You pull this out while I'm fighting? FRIDAY, get that on camera immediately.
The newly built Gundam was upgraded to be even more powerful than the previous model, the First Gundam. Using Chitauri alloy, its defense was greatly increased. Its beam rifle was converted into a plasma cannon based on data obtained from the New York incident and alien technology, so it had no range issues. Its secondary armaments β head vulcans, shield cannon, and New Hyper Bazooka β were implemented exactly as in the original.
And of course, the Nu Gundam wouldn't be complete without fin funnels. Using all available drone technology, they were implemented just like in the original. As soon as the Gundam landed on the ground, it deployed its funnels, which flew autonomously and fired powerful lasers. However, again, I couldn't implement the beam saber β creating plasma in the shape of a sword was too advanced. Instead, I created a weapon that could emit a laser edge from a long sword form and mounted it on the shield for easy access. Even I was disappointed by this.
Anyway, with the Nu Gundam deployed, the tide turned in our favor. The members were able to quickly reach the core using the path the Nu Gundam had cleared.
Natasha looked at the core and asked me.
"So what now? Do we overload it?"
"No. If we overload it and destroy the city now, the ground below will suffer enormous damage too. It needs to rise higher."
Hearing that, Captain said.
"Then from now on, we protect the core."
"Right."
Once we secured the core, Iron Man and Vision also joined us, taking positions to defend it together. Then, Ultron was seen slowly descending from the sky. Seeing this, Thor stepped forward and shouted at Ultron.
"Is this all you have?!!"
Hearing that, Ultron raised his hand. The remaining Ultron Sentries gathered around him, merging into an enormous robot. It looked like the original Ultron, but its size was far larger than the Nu Gundam β easily 30 meters tall.
Thor was completely taken aback. Captain, flabbergasted, said to Thor.
"Did you have to ask?"
I was also quite surprised. This hadn't happened in the original. Thor immediately raised Mjolnir to the sky, gathering lightning, and unleashed a powerful bolt at Ultron.
KABOOOOOM!!
Ultron staggered from the powerful strike. Part of his shoulder was destroyed, but other Ultron Sentries quickly attached and repaired it. Ultron was using his Sentries like nanites.
"This is bad..."
Ultron looked at us and sneered, throwing Thor's words back at him.
"Heh. Is this all you have?"