Chapter 185: The Bill
Ultron reassessed the battlefield.
The calculation finished in less than one-hundredth of a second.
Target Analysis: Wanda Maximoff.
The crimson energy she wielded possessed an anomalous interaction with the Mind Stone.
Rather than merely resisting the Stone's psionic output, her power altered the underlying probability governing how that energy manifested. Within the area protected by her Chaos Magic, the Mind Stone's psychic assault simply ceased to function as intended.
A fascinating anomaly.
But not an insurmountable one.
Her effective defensive radius remained small.
Her neural activity had already increased to dangerous levels.
Her heart rate continued climbing despite the stabilizing collar Lynn had designed.
Estimated continuous combat endurance:
Three minutes and eighteen seconds.
Ultron could eliminate her by concentrating the entirety of the Mind Stone's output upon that single location.
Yet...
There was no tactical advantage in doing so.
Ultron's core architecture—derived from the Mind Stone's higher-dimensional intelligence and enhanced through Tony Stark's and Bruce Wayne's combined research—prioritized efficiency over emotion.
His underground factories continued operating.
Every hour...
Nearly four hundred additional drone bodies rolled off the assembly lines.
Time itself favored him.
"Enough."
Ultron slowly descended.
The golden radiance surrounding the Mind Stone faded.
The omnidirectional psychic assault ceased.
Simultaneously...
Several heavily shielded transport drones emerged from beneath the central factory.
They carried multiple containers of highly enriched radioactive material scavenged from abandoned Soviet reactors and military stockpiles throughout the region.
Only Ultron understood why he required them.
He offered no explanation.
"You are merely delaying inevitability."
With that final declaration...
Ultron withdrew.
Thousands of mechanical drones retreated with perfect synchronization into the industrial district.
Not one unit remained behind unnecessarily.
The battlefield finally fell silent.
Heroes slowly rose from the rubble.
Burned metal.
Collapsed factories.
Exploded drone chassis.
The battlefield looked more like the aftermath of an artillery campaign than a superhero conflict.
Wanda released her barrier.
The scarlet dome dissolved into drifting particles of crimson light.
Her knees buckled.
Before she struck the ground...
A silver blur appeared.
Pietro Maximoff caught her effortlessly.
"You alright?"
"My head..."
She pressed two fingers against her temple.
"It hurts."
"The barrier consumed too much concentration."
Pietro frowned.
"We're heading back."
The Allied forces began an organized withdrawal.
...
Thirty minutes later...
The wounded arrived at Lynn's battlefield clinic.
A queue immediately formed.
Tony Stark climbed out of the remains of his armor.
The latest Iron Man suit had been reduced to twisted fragments.
His face was blackened with soot.
The repaired abdominal wound had reopened slightly beneath the armor.
He kicked a nearby stone.
The rock exploded into gravel.
Then he marched directly toward Lynn.
"When exactly are you planning to fight?"
Lynn was replacing the dressing on a severely burned S.H.I.E.L.D. field agent.
Without looking up...
He answered calmly.
"What is the emergency?"
Tony stared.
"What is the—"
"Ultron has thousands of drones!"
"His body is almost pure vibranium!"
"The Mind Stone disabled Superman!"
"It shut down my armor!"
"It nearly incapacitated Thor!"
"And you're sitting here drinking tea?"
Lynn finished wrapping the burn dressing.
He patted the patient's shoulder.
"Next."
Only then did he answer.
"You're all still alive."
"So yes."
"You can continue fighting."
Tony's jaw tightened.
He opened his mouth—
—but Lynn calmly reached beside the operating table.
He picked up a sheet of paper.
"A moment."
He handed it over.
Tony looked down.
It wasn't strategy.
It wasn't intelligence.
It wasn't tactical advice.
It was...
An invoice.
Every patient treated that day.
Every injury.
Every medication.
Every emergency operation.
Every battlefield consultation.
Every surcharge.
Every consumable.
Every follow-up treatment.
Every entry itemized with clinical precision.
At the bottom...
A single total.
Tony stared at the number for nearly five seconds.
Without saying a word...
He folded the invoice.
Placed it carefully into his pocket.
Turned around.
Walked away.
About fifteen meters later...
Bruce Wayne emerged from the Batplane.
His tactical suit bore fresh plasma burns.
The right shoulder plating had partially melted.
Several new cuts marked his face.
Tony silently handed him the folded invoice.
Bruce unfolded it.
Read it once.
Folded it again.
Placed it into his own pocket.
Neither man spoke.
Behind them...
The line of injured heroes continued growing.
Ahead...
Lynn continued operating.
Further away...
Wanda rested on broken concrete while Pietro handed her bottled water.
The battlefield briefly resembled something almost peaceful.
...
The line outside Miracle Clinic's forward operating station continued to lengthen.
It stretched from the medical pod down the gravel road winding between the hills.
More than thirty injured personnel waited.
Justice League reserve members.
Avengers support operatives.
S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
Mutant volunteers.
Atlantean warriors.
Several unidentified enhanced individuals.
Lynn activated the All-Seeing Eye.
Thirty-seven complete medical reports appeared simultaneously.
Fractures.
Burns.
Concussions.
Plasma trauma.
Internal bleeding.
Most required only conventional battlefield medicine.
None justified wasting advanced resources.
He finished calculating.
"Attention."
His voice remained gentle.
Yet everyone heard it.
"Patients with life-threatening injuries come forward."
"Everyone else returns to the Avengers medical unit."
"My facilities here are limited."
"I prioritize lives."
The line immediately became restless.
One young mutant raised his arm.
"Doctor Lynn!"
"I've waited almost forty minutes!"
"You can't just send me away!"
Without turning his head...
Lynn answered.
"Closed midshaft fracture of the left humerus."
"No vascular injury."
"No nerve damage."
"Immobilization and casting are sufficient."
"The Avengers medical staff can handle it."
"You do not require me."
The young man tried to argue.
Someone behind him shoved him aside.
Lynn continued scanning.
Each patient required less than half a second.
Medical severity.
Genetic abnormalities.
Potential copying value.
Everything appeared simultaneously.
Nearly all were ordinary.
Then...
Two readings stood out.
A young mutant from the X-Men.
Illyana Rasputina.
Known as Magik.
Her right leg had suffered a direct plasma strike.
The tibia remained partially exposed.
The All-Seeing Eye detected an unusual mutation.
Her nervous system exhibited extraordinary sensitivity to dimensional distortions, complementing her natural mutant ability to navigate Limbo through stepping discs. Although her true teleportation powers were mystical as much as mutant in origin, her innate spatial perception was biologically exceptional.
Another patient.
An Atlantean warrior.
Three vertebral fractures.
Remarkably specialized cellular proteins adapted to extreme aquatic pressure and rapid oxygen utilization.
Interesting.
Lynn looked toward Magik.
"You."
"The leg injury."
"Come here."
Her teammates carefully helped her onto the operating table.
Despite significant blood loss...
Her expression remained composed.
Typical of an X-Man accustomed to combat.
"Lie still."
Lynn donned fresh gloves.
The All-Seeing Eye zoomed inward.
Third-degree plasma burns.
Comminuted fracture of the tibial shaft.
Complete rupture of the anterior tibial artery.
Serious.
Not difficult.
Three minutes.
The operation began.
Lynn's hands moved with flawless precision.
Bone alignment.
Vascular reconstruction.
Cellular regeneration.
Stem-cell activation.
Thermal sterilization.
Every movement flowed naturally into the next.
Inside his consciousness...
The familiar notification appeared.
[Healing Complete!]
[Evaluation: B — Qualified.]
[Divine Hand Copy initiated...]
[Scanning target abilities...]
21%...
56%...
88%...
100%.
[Copy Complete!]
[Successfully acquired: B+ Talent — Spatial Fold Perception.]
Ability Description: Passive perception of localized dimensional distortions and naturally occurring spatial discontinuities, significantly improving coordinate acquisition during teleportation, dimensional travel, or portal creation.
A respectable auxiliary ability.
Not extraordinary by itself.
But when combined with Lynn's existing portal techniques and multidimensional magical aptitude...
Its long-term value increased considerably.
He silently classified it.
Ability Furnace.
Priority: Low.
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