Inside the CEO's office of Roxxon Energy Corporation, a Roxxon shareholder was talking eloquently to Dario Agger, the CEO of the company.
"Mr. Chairman, I trust you already know what kind of beings we are."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. informed me that demons had infiltrated my shareholders... At first, I wasn't quite sure what to make of that statement, but looking at it now, perhaps it isn't so unbelievable after all."
Dario looked at the shareholder before him, who had transformed into a demonic appearance. "Are you looking to make a devil's bargain with me? Regrettably, I will not agree to it."
"Don't be so quick to refuse, Mr. Agger. The reason ordinary people don't refuse a devil's bargain is because what the devil offers is simply too important." The demon from Limbo said with a chuckle, "For instance, a major client of mine wants to do business with you. He is willing to provide you with an opportunity to defeat the Avengers."
"Defeat the Avengers?"
Dario chuckled. "Why would I want to defeat the Avengers?"
"Because you are a member of Hydra, even though you possess absolutely no loyalty to them whatsoever. It is also because you are a member of Malekith's Dark Council, and you long to establish your own perfect kingdom. And of course, it is because you are Minotaur, the great Master of the Labyrinth..."
Dario narrowed his eyes. He didn't answer the other party at all. Seeing this, the demon smiled again and handed over a USB flash drive. "In here is a plan to destroy the Avengers—or more accurately, to destroy Iron Man. My client once paid a visit to Earth. Back then, a war broke out that is probably known to no one now, but fortunately, he managed to preserve a weapon from it sufficient to completely ruin Iron Man."
A weapon sufficient to completely ruin Iron Man?
Dario shook his head. If it were a matter of physically eliminating Tony Stark, then as long as Hydra was willing to pay a sufficient price, they could try to achieve it. The issue was that for Hydra, such a price was simply too immense.
Furthermore, Dario didn't believe these demons, these creatures of the magical side, could offer him any real assistance. After all, his secondary identity and his cooperation with Malekith provided him with a wealth of information regarding the magical side.
The demon watched as Dario merely accepted the USB drive nonchalantly, and then offered a reminder, "You had better take a look at it right now."
"And if I don't?"
"Then the threat of this weapon won't just be aimed at Stark."
Dario furrowed his brows, looking at the other party with great displeasure. Even though the person before him was a demon, he wasn't any high-ranking archdemon. Threatening him so directly like this ultimately made Dario feel annoyed.
Nonetheless, he still used a computer to open the USB drive and access the files inside. Upon opening them, Dario was struck with shock, standing up abruptly. "Is this for real?!"
"Of course. This is unquestionably a weapon capable of destroying Iron Man and even the Avengers, is it not?"
Dario took a deep breath to compose himself. "Even if this thing can counter the Avengers, according to the descriptions within, it would take at least a few months to become effective, wouldn't it?"
Despite his words, Dario could hardly conceal his excitement. He didn't even question the authenticity of the files in the USB drive.
The files mentioned something—an artificial intelligence named Ultron, designed by the Avengers to serve them. This artificial intelligence had developed very well initially, but one day, it was suddenly deleted by the Avengers.
The files went on to mention the truth behind Ultron's deletion, which was precisely a secret war that Dario had no memory of: an invasion by a future conqueror named Kang. In everyone's current memories, Kang's space fleet had been crushed by the Avengers and other hero teams, and Kang himself was swiftly eliminated.
Yet this file instantly awakened Dario's altered memories. Kang had ruled the world, at one point even expanding his sphere of influence to every corner of the entire universe. For a certain purpose, Kang had also utilized Ultron to assist him with calculations within the universe he had modified.
Then, Kang discovered that the future Ultron was precisely his enemy.
Of course, these were not the key points. The key point lay within the things mentioned in the document. According to this version of history, two Ultron programs had actually existed in this world. One was the Ultron that appeared in the normal timeline and was deleted by the Avengers, while the other was the Ultron within Kang's Dynasty that would iterate into a world-destroyer.
Regardless of which Ultron it was, both were dead. The difference was that the latter had died much more thoroughly, having been completely erased from reality.
"And as long as the operations are smooth, one can utilize this information to awaken the Ultron program. The principle behind it comes from the Green Goblin Army that ran amok in New York a few months ago. That was actually an AI messing around everywhere, but it possesses some special characteristics that can be used for Ultron's resurrection..."
The resurrected Ultron program would undoubtedly be flawed, but these flaws could be repaired using the Ultron data that Mephisto had preserved during the era of Kang's Dynasty. In this manner, Dario would obtain a version that iterated like the Ultron of Kang's Dynasty.
The only problem was...
"Not only does it take a long time, but there is also no guarantee that this fellow will be entirely obedient to me. It might even turn against me."
Dario ultimately shook off the temptation of utilizing a super AI that the Avengers' technology could not counter to deal with them. "You have no way of solving this issue. I would still need to infiltrate the Avengers' computer systems to locate the remnant data and information, and I would also need to design a self-protection protocol..."
Simply put, the plan to resurrect Ultron was excellent, but he felt there were far too many issues with it. Did the demon have a simpler method?
The demon maintained his smile, continuing to lock horns with Dario. In the end, it was the demon who spoke first.
"The answer is very simple, Mr. Dario. It is impossible for you to never pay any price. You are well aware that after you summoned Mangog, you still failed to plunge Odin into a deep slumber, and the subsequent situation has become increasingly unfavorable for you all. You need an opportunity to turn the tables, do you not? No matter how it is achieved, you have to give it a try."
"That doesn't mean I like to push myself into a dead end. I don't enjoy courting death."
At this point, the demon finally flashed a smile, looking toward Dario. "Regarding this point, please rest assured. The reason this is called a plan to destroy Iron Man is because my employer has long since calculated that Ultron cannot possibly eliminate the entire Avengers. He is bound to fail, but before that happens, he can thoroughly defeat Iron Man."
Silence instantly enveloped the two men until Dario asked a counterquestion.
"Words alone are no proof. I need objective evidence."