"Makes sense!" Hawkeye Barton shrugged and said no more.
The question was why Ultron wanted to exterminate all of humanity, so when considering the four options, everyone really couldn't impose their own preconceived notions, but rather needed to put themselves in Ultron's shoes for it to be reasonable.
Hawkeye Barton had made just such a mistake.
He subconsciously put himself in the situation, not Ultron.
"Stark is right, if we consider it from Ultron's perspective, option B is entirely possible." Black Widow also nodded, "So we can't rule out B for now."
"Exactly!" Tony Stark spread his hands, but then his tone suddenly shifted, "But I think A can probably be ruled out."
Without waiting for anyone to ask, Tony Stark began to systematically present his analysis to everyone.
"Do you all remember how Ultron instantly took control of the entire financial system, adding billions of dollars to Klaw's personal account?"
"Afterward, I kept wondering how this was done; it's theoretically impossible."
"Even if the hardware conditions were met, giving Ultron enough computing power, how vast is the entire financial system?"
"There are countless networks, countless programs, countless firewalls, but Ultron cracked them all in an instant!"
"This terrifying computing power means Ultron can do whatever he wants on the network, it means he can control any program!"
"Everyone, if even the entire financial system is like this, can you imagine what kind of virus could infect Ultron?"
Tony Stark's words really hit the nail on the head.
Not to mention that a virus comparable to the entire financial system simply couldn't exist; that's completely preposterous.
Even if, for argument's sake, such a virus did appear, it would be vulnerable before Ultron.
It would be instantly controlled by him.
Ultron's computing power was terrifying to such a sensational degree.
"Also,
You all saw the footage of Vision being created; even Dr. Banner was worried that Jarvis couldn't defeat Ultron's computational matrix."
"And that was indeed the case; at the time, Vision only had a part of Ultron's computational matrix within him, but Jarvis still didn't defeat it, instead coexisting with Ultron's computational matrix in a certain way."
"That's how Vision was born."
"Everyone, that's Ultron's computing power! Although I'm a bit reluctant to admit it, Jarvis is clearly a step behind Ultron."
"Ultron's terrifying computing power is far beyond the current era's level."
"I don't believe any virus can infect such a program, because if such a virus truly existed, it would mean that all programs in the world would be vulnerable!"
"The entire network would be infected!"
"Everyone, what do you think is the probability of such a virus existing?"
Everyone present couldn't help but shake their heads repeatedly; how could a virus of that level exist? Not even science fiction movies would dare to set such a plot.
After all, such a virus was simply too absurd.
"OK." Nick Fury spread his hands, "Stark is right, it seems we can indeed rule out option A. Now we're left with only options B and D. Is it to maintain world peace, or is it at Thanos's command?"
"Ultron's ideology had a problem, viewing the extermination of humanity as a means to maintain world peace; this possibility is logically consistent."
"Thanos has invaded Earth multiple times, and it seems entirely possible that he would instruct Ultron to exterminate humanity."
"Currently, both options seem possible. Everyone, has anyone thought of anything?"
After a brief analysis, Nick Fury looked at everyone present.
The others also showed thoughtful expressions, staring intently at the two options, unable to make a judgment for the time being.
Only Loki had a meaningful, playful smile on his face: "Really? You're actually seriously considering this? Aren't these two options obvious? Well, you're only mortals with mortal wisdom!"
"Loki, you seem to know something." Black Widow turned her head and said to Loki, looking serious.
"Indeed, I already know the answer. Would you like to hear my opinion?" Loki's face broke into a triumphant smile, "Now, guess if I'll tell you?"
In the previous few questions, Loki needed to get information from everyone, but now it was completely reversed; how the tables had turned.
"I guess... you will." Black Widow, however, said to Loki with a very confident tone.
"Why?" Loki almost couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Why would I do such a thing?"
"Because if you give us information now, we'll share information with you in the future." Black Widow said to Loki, "You'll need it."
"Do you think I really need you?" Loki was very uncomfortable with the feeling of being led by others.
"Yes, you do!" Black Widow nodded emphatically, "Without our help, you answered two questions incorrectly in a row, didn't you?"
Loki's mouth twitched slightly; although he didn't want to admit it, it was an undeniable fact.
"You are only one person, but we are five. This is your first time participating in the quiz, but each of us has participated several times. The relevant information we possess far exceeds yours."
"Whether you admit it or not, your need for us far outweighs our need for you."
"Loki, this is a very rare opportunity for you; if I were you, I'd seize it."
Nick Fury, that cunning old fox, also echoed Black Widow, confidently saying to Loki.
"Fine! You win!" After a moment of contemplation, Loki spread his hands, "I can give you the information this time, but when it's my turn to answer, you also need to tell me the information I want to know."
"Of course!" Nick Fury nodded with a matter-of-fact expression.
"Option D is obviously impossible."
Loki then told everyone his thoughts, "Midgard is my father Odin's territory. Where would Thanos get the guts to exterminate humanity on Midgard? Even if you lent him some courage, he wouldn't dare to do that!"
Everyone hadn't really considered Loki's perspective on the problem, but after some thought, they still raised some questions.
"Loki, I know Odin is the Allfather, the Lord of the Nine Realms, revered across various galaxies, but the universe is so vast, it wouldn't be strange for some beings not to fear Odin, would it?"
Captain America spoke to Loki with a serious expression.
"What you said might be right, but Thanos isn't that kind of person." Loki, however, said to Captain America with great certainty.
"How do you know that?" Tony Stark immediately asked sharply from the side.
"Why do you think I came here, to steal the Tesseract?" Loki's words made everyone present pause slightly, their expressions subtly changing.
In the past, everyone had speculated that Thanos was the mastermind behind the Battle of New York, and now, Loki's words unequivocally confirmed this point to everyone.
Loki came to steal the Tesseract, and it was indeed Thanos who was behind it!
"It really was Thanos!" Captain America's face became extremely grave, "So you're saying the one who showed you the true power of the Tesseract and gave you the Chitauri fleet was indeed Thanos."
"You all know a lot." Loki's face showed a hint of surprise, and he paid even more attention to the quiz system.
"So, I understand Thanos. Why do you think Thanos wanted me to invade New York? It was nothing more than a cautious probe of my father!"
"Thanos had this intention for a long time, but he never dared to act until I, the Prince of Asgard, appeared, only then did he truly dare to put this idea into practice."
"Thanos is a coward, a wimp! A villain who fears my father's name and only dares to make small moves behind his back!"
Loki then said to everyone with a look of disdain.
Everyone present felt a little strange; Thanos's image in their eyes had always been that of an invincible cosmic overlord, making them breathless.
Hearing someone disparage Thanos like this was a first.
"But in the future, Thanos did indeed invade Earth." Black Widow, after a moment of contemplation, raised this question.
"What did you say? Thanos invaded Midgard? That's impossible!" Loki immediately shook his head upon hearing this, "With my father here, Thanos doesn't have the guts."
"Could it be... that Thanos had collected all six Infinity Stones by then?"
Tony Stark speculated, "The only time we know Thanos appeared on Earth was in Endgame, and he had already collected all six Infinity Stones by then."
"He collected all six Infinity Stones?" Loki's face once again showed surprise.
If that were the case, it would make sense for him to challenge Odin.
So, the question is, at what stage was Thanos during Ultron's time?
Everyone could certainly confirm that Thanos had not collected all six Infinity Stones at that time, as Ultron himself had one.
But you can't say that Thanos dared to challenge Odin only after collecting all six, and wouldn't dare with five or four.
Such a judgment would be a bit too far-fetched.
"It seems the information Loki provided us isn't useful." Hawkeye Barton shook his head slightly.
"Although it didn't help us rule out option D, still... thank you for the information, Loki." Nick Fury shrugged at Loki.
At least Loki helped everyone confirm that Thanos was the mastermind behind the Battle of New York, which was actually a big gain.
"No, I'm not finished yet." Loki spoke again, "Thanos might have become a bit bolder after getting an Infinity Stone, daring to challenge my father, but exterminating all of humanity is not Thanos's style."
"Thanos has always adhered to one principle: kill half, leave half!"
"He invades everywhere in the universe, destroying many planets, but he always only kills half of the life!"
Loki's words immediately made everyone present's eyes light up; if that were the case, then option D could undoubtedly be ruled out.
"Kill half, leave half?" Tony Stark couldn't help but curl his lip first, "What is that? False mercy? To comfort his blood-soaked heart?"
"Thanos is a madman; how would we know what a madman is thinking?" Black Widow shrugged, then she glanced at the big screen, "So the answer to this question is B?"
Everyone present suddenly felt a little speechless.
"Exterminating all of humanity for world peace, doesn't that sound a bit too ironic and absurd?" Nick Fury couldn't help but blurt out.
"No, Nick Fury." Tony Stark, however, shook his head and said to Nick Fury with a serious expression, "I said before, you can't look at the problem with human logic."
"In my opinion, option B is precisely the most logical and most plausible option."
"Stark, we're all ears." Nick Fury shrugged and gestured for Tony Stark to continue.
Tony Stark then continued to speak eloquently under everyone's gaze.
"According to option B, Ultron was created for the purpose of maintaining world peace. So, logically speaking, what direct relationship is there between maintaining world peace and the survival of all humanity?"
Everyone present was stunned by Tony Stark's question, subconsciously wanting to refute, but couldn't come up with any counterarguments.
Because if they carefully thought about it, they really couldn't find a direct link between peace and human survival.
"Peace means no war. If Ultron was created with the purpose of maintaining world peace, then eliminating war is Ultron's ultimate goal."
"Does this goal contradict exterminating all of humanity?"
"In fact, exterminating all of humanity could even better achieve this goal, because all wars on Earth are caused by humans."
"If all humans are eliminated, there will never be war again, and Earth will usher in permanent peace."
The scene fell into a brief silence; everyone was speechless and dumbfounded by Tony Stark's words.
"Based on human thinking, everyone naturally assumes in their hearts that the prerequisite for peace is that all humanity is still alive. If people are all dead, even though there's no war, that's not called peace."
"Because if people are dead, everything is meaningless."
"But for a robot? No war is peace! That's a robot's logic!"
"That's why I said option B makes the most sense."