The Roidmudes that triggered the global freeze centered in New York were mostly defeated by Proto Drive. Although, due to the evolution of the Heart, they ultimately managed to defeat Proto Drive.
However, they did not continue making large-scale moves afterward. Instead, they went into hiding, dispersing across the world to experience and learn human emotions in order to pursue further evolution.
Meanwhile, Tony stayed in the laboratory with Krim, working on improvements to the Drive System, hoping to develop a system capable of countering the Heavy Acceleration Field.
Although the new system was still in the design stage, using Kurim's data, Tony didn't take long to successfully collaborate in producing a large number of different types of Shift Cars.
"Shift Cars can work with the Drive System to produce abilities of different attributes, strengthening Drive's power. They can also help others become immune to Heavy Acceleration when necessary," Kurim said with satisfaction, watching the Shift Cars jumping around excitedly like puppies and kittens.
Tony stared intensely at the surprisingly intelligent Shift Cars.
These miniature car models not only possessed special powers capable of resisting the Heavy Acceleration Field, but each of them also had a considerable degree of autonomous intelligence.
This immediately gave Tony many ideas.
After all, the only artificial intelligence he had truly created with full self-awareness so far was J.A.R.V.I.S.
Although the intelligence of these Shift Cars was relatively simple and far inferior to J.A.R.V.I.S., their numbers were large.
Perhaps he could draw inspiration from Krim's Shift Car designs…
Ever since the Battle of New York, Tony had been thinking about how to protect Earth from the countless threats that might appear in the future.
The Avengers were powerful enough in combat, but their numbers were too few. While they could effectively strike invading enemies, it was difficult for them to truly protect humanity during large-scale crises.
Take the recent New York battle for example. Although the Avengers and other superheroes managed to contain most of the Chitauri vanguard forces within the Manhattan area, dealing heavy damage to the enemy while evacuating and rescuing civilians in the combat zone—
Many civilians still died at the hands of Chitauri soldiers.
In the end, they were collected as data by the massive game field deployed by Genm.
"The Avengers… compared to revenge, what they really should do is prevention and protection."
With this thought in mind, Tony considered that if he could create a massive army of Iron Man armors always on standby, they could respond to extraterrestrial invasions at any time and defend humanity.
Originally, Tony's plan was to design a super artificial intelligence to control a mechanical guardian army.
But after seeing Krim's Shift Cars, Tony immediately came up with a new idea.
After all, the Roidmude that appeared earlier were also artificial intelligent lifeforms created by Krim and Banno, yet they broke free from control and turned against human society.
Although Krim claimed the situation occurred because Banno rushed things and forcibly injected human emotions into the Roidmudes—
The AI rebellion that had just caused enormous damage and destruction right in front of them made Tony understandably cautious.
According to Tony's initial plan, the super AI meant to protect Earth and humanity would inevitably command a massive number of armored mechanical guardians.
If that power were misused, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Tony had great confidence in his own designs, but after seeing the Roidmude…
What if something went wrong?
And who knew whether those Roidmudes might possess the ability to influence other artificial intelligent lifeforms?
It was better to be cautious.
After all, Tony understood the principle that eggs shouldn't all be placed in one basket.
At the same time, drawing inspiration from the Shift Car design had another advantage: just like the different Shift Cars, specialized intelligent machines could be created to handle different environments and situations.
Tony's thoughts raced endlessly.
On the outside, he simply stared intently at the Shift Cars.
The Shift Cars seemed to notice Tony's strange gaze. Uneasily, they flashed their headlights—like a unique communication signal among animals.
After briefly "discussing" with each other, they collectively hid behind Krim, keeping their distance from Tony.
"Sir, you're scaring the little ones," J.A.R.V.I.S. reminded him.
J.A.R.V.I.S., on the other hand, felt a strong sense of familiarity and friendliness toward Krim and the Shift Cars.
Tony finally snapped out of his thoughts. Looking at the group of Shift Cars hiding from him, his eyelid twitched.
He glared at J.A.R.V.I.S.
"Record the data related to the Shift Cars into the Guardian Project."
"The Guardian Project?" Krim asked in confusion.
"For now, it's just a concept and a plan," Tony nodded.
He didn't hide anything and told Krim about his idea.
After working together for a short time, Tony had already confirmed that Krim was both a brilliant scientist and a person of high moral character. There was no need to conceal the plan—and perhaps Krim could help him greatly.
After hearing Tony's explanation, Krim's tone turned slightly serious.
"I understand your thinking," he said with a sigh.
"But excessively powerful weapons or forces, if not properly controlled, often bring great disasters at the same time.
"The Roidmudes are a perfect example."
Tony smiled confidently.
"Don't worry, Dr. Krim. I'll be extremely cautious. I won't let any problems appear in the program."
"The most important thing is that when powerful enemies invade, we must have sufficiently strong means to protect humanity."
Krim nodded silently, acknowledging Tony's plan.
"That's quite interesting," Dan said with interest after learning about the changes in Tony's thinking caused by seeing the Roidmudes and Shift Cars.
In that case…
Would Ultron still be born?
Or would many Ultrons with separate independent consciousnesses appear?
And would these Ultrons still regard humanity as the greatest obstacle to peace—a cancer on Earth?
Or would they split into factions—one hostile toward humanity and the other dedicated to protecting it?
The development of the story might become very interesting.
Putting away his smile, Dan Daoichi shook his head and muttered to himself:
"The background and prologue of Drive and the Roidmudes have basically been set up here."
"From now on, I can mostly just sit back and watch how things develop freely, and see what direction the story will take."
For the Roidmudes to evolve, experiencing intense emotions was essential.
They truly needed to live among human society and experience various human feelings.
If they were too weak, the story would have little meaning.
The Roidmudes that had been reduced to core data by Proto Drive would eventually restore their forms.
Their evolution—and super evolution—through absorbing and understanding emotions would take time.
In other words, the real story of Drive and the Roidmudes would only begin after some time.
The global freeze earlier was merely the prologue.