Chapter 238: The Consciousness Reserve Device

"Interesting, but that's all it is."

George kicked the corpse of the dead Absorbing Man aside and looked up at the surveillance camera in the upper-right corner. Smiling, he said:

"Dr. Zola, if you’ve got any trump cards left, now’s the time to play them. Otherwise, you won’t get another chance."

"How is this possible? What kind of power is this? Why couldn’t the Absorbing Man block even one attack before dying?"

Dr. Zola stared at the monitor displaying George’s smile, and an involuntary shiver ran through his consciousness.

"Damn it!"

Trump cards? What trump cards?

“This humiliation… I’ll repay it a hundredfold next time,” Zola swore.

Without hesitation, Zola activated the flight system integrated into his robotic body, smashed through a nearby window, and soared away from the island base.

Though Zola had a consciousness reserve device that could upload his consciousness via the network to a pre-prepared storage unit whenever his body was destroyed, allowing him to transfer it into a new robotic body, this process came at a significant cost.

Firstly, the consciousness reserve device was extraordinarily complex to create. It required a tremendous amount of time and preparation. If he used it now, Zola would have to dedicate a long period afterward to building another reserve device, ensuring he could revive himself if killed again.

Secondly, every transfer of consciousness caused a temporary weakening of his mind, requiring considerable time to recover.

For these reasons, Zola avoided letting his robotic body sustain damage unless absolutely necessary.

In truth, his robotic body wasn’t weak. It was equipped with various advanced weapon systems and powered by energy derived from the Tesseract. This energy enabled him to wield immensely destructive energy weapons, making him far superior to Hydra’s mass-produced soldiers. According to his calculations, Zola believed he had an 80% chance of defeating Iron Man in a one-on-one fight.

But against George, who could control metal? Zola was completely outmatched.

As Zola ascended over the base, preparing to accelerate his escape, he suddenly realized he couldn’t move.

"Dr. Zola, where are you planning to go?"

Behind him, George’s voice rang out.

Moments earlier, George had noticed that the tracking spell’s direction had shifted, pointing outside the base. Realizing Zola was trying to escape, George moved swiftly. With his exceptional vision, he spotted Zola hovering in the air and instantly Apparated behind him, using his power to immobilize him.

For anyone relying on conventional technology, George’s ability to control metal was an insurmountable counter.

"Hail Hydra!"

Knowing he was immobilized and now face-to-face with George, Zola resigned himself to abandoning his robotic body. But before doing so, he intended to launch one last attack.

Because of his ability to transfer consciousness, Zola had long installed a self-destruct mechanism in his robotic body. When faced with an unbeatable enemy, he could detonate himself as a last resort, hoping to take the enemy down with him.

However, George’s reaction was swift.

Hearing Zola shout "Hail Hydra!" George immediately sensed something amiss. While maintaining control over Zola’s robotic body, George raised his wand and cast the Freezing Charm.

"Total immobilization!"

Instantly, every internal component of the robotic body froze, as if time itself had stopped. The self-destruct mechanism, along with every other system, was completely paralyzed.

The only thing still functioning was the consciousness of Dr. Zola, visible on the chest display of the robot.

"What? Even the self-destruct mechanism is disabled!"

For the first time, Zola felt genuine panic.

He realized he had completely lost control of his robotic body. Not only could he no longer activate the self-destruct mechanism, but he couldn’t even upload his consciousness to the reserve device as an escape plan.

Under normal circumstances, his consciousness would automatically upload to the reserve device if his body were destroyed. Alternatively, he could actively abandon the body and transfer himself. But now, trapped and without control, Zola was like a prisoner locked inside the robotic shell.

"At least... at least his psychic abilities only work on living beings," Zola consoled himself.

According to his research, George’s telepathic powers, inherited from Professor X, couldn’t affect computers. This meant George couldn’t read his robotic mind or uncover his plans.

Zola plotted to provoke George into destroying his robotic body. Once that happened, his consciousness could escape and transfer into the reserve device, enabling his eventual resurrection.

Unfortunately, Zola had miscalculated once again.

After immobilizing Zola, George reached out and touched the robotic body, utilizing his electromagnetic abilities to hack into it.

While telepathy couldn’t affect computers, George’s electromagnetic powers turned him into the ultimate hacker. Just like Misaka Mikoto, whose electromagnetic abilities allowed her to control electronics, bypass firewalls, and hack devices wirelessly, George could manipulate and even destroy electronic systems at will.

In moments, George accessed the entirety of Zola’s data and plans.

"So, that’s how it works," George muttered, withdrawing his hand. He now fully understood the workings of Zola’s consciousness reserve device and its limitations.

"If there’s consciousness, there’s a soul. And if there’s a soul, it can be dealt with."

George raised his wand again, pointing at the robotic chest display where Zola’s consciousness resided. With a calm voice, he cast the Killing Curse:

"Avada Kedavra!"

A green light struck the robot, and Zola’s consciousness began to disintegrate.

"No! This is impossible! My consciousness—!"

Zola had believed that even if George chose not to destroy his body, he would remain imprisoned, waiting for an opportunity to escape. He never anticipated that George could directly destroy his consciousness, leaving no chance for resurrection.

"Good thing I had the Killing Curse," George mused. "Otherwise, he’d have been much harder to deal with."

For someone like Zola, killing his robotic bodies wouldn’t have mattered, as his consciousness would persist online, capable of resurrecting endlessly. Similar to Ultron, Zola’s essence was tied to his digital existence.

But no matter how advanced his consciousness was, it still constituted a soul. And where there’s a soul, magic targeting souls can take effect.

That’s the advantage of being a wizard—having a solution for everything, no matter the enemy.