The group slowly finished their unremarkable Turkish kebabs, each carrying a sense of post-war relaxation and exhaustion as they left. Only then was the true extent of New York City's devastation revealed to everyone.
Broken alien mech wreckage, broken steel frames of high-rise buildings, collapsed streets, and wrecked public facilities were everywhere, with the lingering smell of gunpowder mixed with dust filling the air. The city's power, transportation, and communication systems were almost completely paralyzed, and large areas of the city were reduced to dark ruins. The massive reconstruction of New York was officially put on the agenda.
This was followed by a notice of shutdown from Rimuru Industries.
Upon seeing the citywide shutdown order issued by S.H.I.E.L.D.. and the New York City, Rimuru immediately, his anger rising, his face clearly showing his displeasure.
He painstakingly planned, rectified, and debugged the factory, spending a great deal of energy to build a fully automated intelligent factory. More than 90% of the processes are completed independently by intelligent robots, with zero high-risk pollution, zero explosion risk, and zero safety hazards throughout the entire process, making it stable and efficient.
As a result of a city-wide battle, the project was abruptly halted and ordered to undergo a complete rectification.
Rimuru increasingly speechless, internally ranting and raving.
Are you kidding me? Don't I know better than anyone whether my technology is safe or stable?
Even if there are mechanical legions everywhere and mass-produced mechs on assembly lines, the entire process is under my control and protected by the laws of control. Not to mention explosions, there won't even be the slightest energy leakage.
It's obvious that these politicians are just jealous of the rapid growth and large scale of their foreign-invested industries, and they want to find fault and deliberately cause trouble to manipulate them.
Rimuru's gaze darkened slightly as he thought to himself, "We've given these people too many good days and too much preferential treatment, and now they're taking advantage of us."
I settled here peacefully, built my factory peacefully, and developed peacefully. I didn't miss a single procedure, and I've done more than enough by not actively causing trouble. How dare these people come knocking on my door to find fault?
But as he suppressed his anger and patiently analyzed the situation, he was momentarily stunned.
It seems... I was overthinking it.
Politicians, officials, and top S.H.I.E.L.D.. around the world are as clear-headed as can be.
Having just witnessed firsthand the Transformers army capable of crushing the Chitauri Army and guarding an entire airspace, and seen Galactron, a being that could pierce through a space fortress with a mere wave of its hand and whose overflowing energy directly capped the limits of Earth's technological detection, who would dare to provoke this behemoth?
Let alone being deliberately targeted, every high-ranking official in the world who knows about this has a deep-seated awe of Rimuru, fearing that any word or action they might say or do could displease him and cause him to casually unleash an ultimate weapon that would overwhelm the entire New York and even the entire planet.
The so-called work stoppage was not deliberately targeted at anyone.
The Battle of New York was so fierce that the city's infrastructure completely collapsed, the main power grid was paralyzed, and the energy supply system was completely rendered unusable.
Apart from Stark Tower, which has its own independent Arc Reactor and a complete self-sufficient power supply system, there is no other area in the entire city that can reliably supply power.
Even Rimuru's fully automated, zero-risk smart factory requires the support of a basic power grid.
With the entire city without power, it was impossible to start construction.
Rimuru silent for two seconds, then readily admitted defeat.
Okay, I admit it, this was my oversight.
In a different universe, in a metropolis that claims to be a beacon of freedom and a technologically advanced Metropolis, the basic infrastructure is ridiculously bad, which is truly unexpected.
Helpless as I am, the work stoppage is a foregone conclusion. The reconstruction project will be complicated and lengthy in the short term, and I don't have any other business to attend to for the time being.
With his newfound free time, Rimuru instantly formulated a new plan.
Since we're just killing time anyway, why not go with Thor back to Asgard for a stroll?
In this Battle of New York, he exerted too much effort, with Galactron and the mechanical legion overwhelming the enemy throughout. Thor barely had a chance to fight and was relegated to being a spectator the whole time.
I didn't get any of the promised Thor's Lightning Immunity energy and lightning law compatibility.
Since we've already missed it, we should take the initiative to go and make up for it.
In addition, the Tesseract must also be conquered.
Thor and the captured Loki do indeed need the Tesseract's spatial energy to repair the Bifrost in order to return to Asgard.
Rimuru took advantage of the guise of accompanying them to steal the Tesseract.
Once the Bifrost is fully repaired and stabilized, Asgard will no longer need the power of the Tesseract, and the Infinity Stones will naturally belong to them.
The most crucial and worthwhile thing to plan for this trip is to arrange exclusive equipment for Quicksilver Pietro.
Rimuru couldn't help but complain about Quicksilver's current fighting strength, calling it outrageous.
Despite possessing supersonic or even hypersonic speeds, the combined kinetic energy allows it to pierce through mechs and tear enemy soldiers apart with terrifying inertia, turning them into mincemeat, making it virtually unbeatable in close combat.
As a result, he fought the entire battle completely naked, without any armor, exclusive weapons, or speed-adaptive equipment, and endured all impacts with his bare hands.
The outside world's claims that "equipment cannot be carried at high speeds, ordinary materials cannot withstand the high temperature of friction, and balance is difficult to control" are pure nonsense in Rimuru's eyes. They are purely official malicious suppression of combat power.
If high speeds would instantly incinerate everything, how come Quicksilver's combat uniform, which he wears close to his body year-round, was unharmed? Why wasn't it burned to ashes by the supersonic friction and high temperatures?
Ultimately, it's about forcibly imposing restrictions on characters with such extremely high speeds for the sake of plot balance.
This trip to Asgard also includes a side trip to Nidavellir to have the Dwarf King forge exclusive artifacts and ultimate armor.
Not only should Quicksilver be equipped with a full set of speed-type artifacts to unleash his full combat power, but the Dwarf Race, who possess the universe's top forging technology and can create divine weapons of infinite levels, should also be directly incorporated into their sphere of influence.
In the original story, the Dwarf Race, with their exceptional talent and unparalleled forging skills, ultimately met a tragic end, nearly annihilated by Thanos, with only the Dwarf King surviving. It was truly a great pity.
It would be a real waste for such a top-tier productive force, a forging race unmatched in the universe, to perish in vain.
As for whether Odin of Asgard will obstruct or disagree?
Rimuru completely unconcerned and brimming with confidence.
Odin's greatest worry and destiny was the inevitable Ragnarok, the destruction of Asgard, and the heavy casualties among all the gods.
Others may not be able to reverse fate or stop the twilight catastrophe, but he can.
I am an outsider who is completely detached from this cosmic line, unbound by fate or destiny, and can rewrite the predetermined ending with a wave of my hand.
As long as he intervenes to avert Ragnarok, helps Asgard avoid annihilation, and preserves the foundation of the gods, Odin has absolutely no reason to refuse the submission of a mere Dwarf Race and the forging of several divine weapons, much less dare to refuse.
After considering all his plans, Rimuru looked up at Thor, who was still foolishly munching on takeout barbecue and completely oblivious to the danger, and a hint of certainty flashed in his eyes.
This journey to the Asgard is not only about taking advantage of all the benefits, addressing one's own weaknesses, and recruiting top-tier combatants, but also about completely rewriting Asgard's tragic fate.
Others' fates may drift along with the tide, but his arrival is the biggest variable in all predetermined tragedies.
With the arrival of the Demon Lord, calamities retreat.