The post-war restoration of New York proceeded smoothly for several days, and the devastated city gradually returned to order. The smoke of war completely dissipated, and sunlight once again shone between the skyscrapers of Manhattan.
The day had come for Thor to return to Asgard with Loki.
The entire Avengers were present, standing on the cleared open-air rooftop to bid farewell to the Nordic twins.
At the very edge of the crowd, Loki was tightly bound, his mouth gagged and unable to utter a single word. He could only lower his eyes in frustration, his brows drooping and his shoulders slightly slumped, looking dejected, pitiful, and utterly wronged.
Anyone unaware of his true identity would likely believe he was the wronged and oppressed victim, completely unable to connect him to the God of Mischief, just days before, opened a portal and unleashed an alien army to slaughter New York.
Thor, carrying a simple personal bag and holding the Tesseract, with spatial energy flowing slightly, was ready to initiate interdimensional teleportation and return to Asgard.
Just as the two were about to set off, a clear voice suddenly rang out from behind the crowd.
"Wait! Take me with you! I want to go to Asgard too!"
Rimuru swayed and stepped out from the crowd, standing steadily within the range of the teleportation energy.
The rooftop fell silent instantly upon hearing this.
Everyone turned their heads in unison, staring at Rimuru, who had suddenly interrupted, with surprise and astonishment in their eyes, their confusion evident.
Even Loki, who had been feigning pitifulness and dejection, suddenly looked up, his narrow eyes revealing a strong sense of strangeness and doubt as he sized up the guy in front of him.
His heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason, and he silently grumbled to himself.
What's this guy doing going to Asgard? Is he planning to chase me all the way to Asgard just to get back at me? Is he planning to settle scores back in his own territory?
Tony took a half-step forward with an absurd expression, raising an eyebrow and teasing him.
"Seriously? Earth just finished a war and things have finally calmed down. Is Earth no longer safe for you? Why do you have to run off to Asgard to join the chaos?"
Natasha looked at Rimuru with curiosity, a hint of helpless amusement in her eyes.
This kid had made it sound so good before, saying he was going to completely slack off and take a vacation after the war, flying to Hawaii to sunbathe and go on holiday. He even promised to let me take leave and go there to be his personal secretary, taking a paid vacation and slacking off the whole time. He spoke with such conviction.
So, after only a few days, you've already forgotten about your vacation? Now you're going straight to the Asgard?
Noticing Natasha's resentful yet curious gaze, Rimuru guiltily and gave her a calm look, silently indicating that the Hawaii vacation would happen next time!
He then dropped his joking expression, waved to the curious crowd, and spoke in a serious tone.
"Don't make wild guesses. I'm not going there for fun; I'm going on serious business."
"Serious business?" Tony raised an eyebrow.
"A matter of vital importance concerning the very survival of Asgard."
The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere on the rooftop instantly became more tense.
Everyone instinctively turned their heads in unison, their eyes all focused on Thor, hoping to find the answer in the face of this Asgard prince.
Thor was completely bewildered, his face blank with a look of utter confusion, as if he were wondering, "Who am I? Where am I? I don't know anything." His mind was completely empty, and he had no clue whatsoever.
Everyone understood instantly.
So even the native Asgard prince, of legitimate blood, knew absolutely nothing about it, and you, a visitor from Earth, are talking about matters of life and death concerning the entire Asgard?
This is outrageous, absolutely outrageous.
Everyone had the same question on their minds: Thor, who was directly involved, was kept in the dark, so how did he know about the hidden crisis in Asgard?
Rimuru didn't bother to explain at all.
Destiny, Ragnarok, the predetermined tragedy of the Asgard —even if I explained it to these people, they might not understand. Even if they did understand, they might not believe it. And even if they did believe it, with their current strength, they couldn't get involved at all. It would only add to their troubles, so there's no point in saying more.
He completely ignored the probing gazes of the crowd, turned to look at the bewildered Thor, and spoke with a relaxed yet confident tone.
" Thor, will you take me with you? You won't be unwelcoming to me as a guest, will you?"
Thor immediately snapped out of his daze, shook his head repeatedly, and laughed heartily.
"Of course not! You are my friend, and it is Asgard honor for Asgard to visit you!"
Even though he was still curious about what matter concerned the survival of Asgard, seeing that Rimuru clearly unwilling to talk about it, he sensibly did not continue to ask.
Anyway, since this concerns our own country, the truth will come out sooner or later, so there's no need to rush.
"Hold onto the Tesseract! Prepare to teleport!" Thor warned in a deep voice.
Rimuru out and firmly placed his hand on the surface of the Tesseract, which emitted a faint blue light. A cool and smooth sensation came over him, and a vast spatial power slowly enveloped him.
Bound and obedient, Loki stood in the middle, not daring to move an inch. But his heart was filled with growing unease. He felt that the journey back to Asgard was about to be completely changed because of this outsider's arrival.
The next second, Thor twisted his wrist.
The Tesseract erupted with a dazzling blue light, and a vast amount of spatial dimensional energy instantly enveloped the three of them, the distorted light and shadow swallowing their figures.
With a flash of blue light, the three figures vanished instantly, completely traversing interstellar dimensions and teleporting towards distant Asgard.
As the aftershocks of light and shadow faded as the three figures vanished completely, the scene fell utterly silent.
Natasha and Birdon exchanged a glance, their eyes conveying a tacit understanding.
As a core agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.., this level of interstellar anomaly and the intervention of unknown powerful beings in Asgard's affairs are absolutely top priority intelligence.
"We must report this to Director Fury immediately," Natasha said in a deep voice.
Birdon nodded slightly and immediately took out an encrypted communicator, preparing to transmit the crucial information that [ Rimuru was being transported to Asgard with Thor and Loki ] back to the S.H.I.E.L.D.. mothership as soon as possible.
Nick Fury, far away on the Helicarrier, is destined to have his scalp tingled once again because of this elusive and mysterious existence.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. center of the Helicarrier was dimly lit, and the screens were filled with analytical data on the post-war reconstruction of New York, reports on the clearing of alien debris, and statistical maps of the damaged areas.
Nick Fury rested his forehead on one hand, his one eye fixed on the latest intelligence that the agent had just uploaded. The short line of text on the screen almost made the veins in his temple bulge.
[Confirmed: Rimuru has been teleported to Asgard along with Thor and Loki.]
"..."
The command center fell into an eerie silence.
Fury took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, finally managing to squeeze out a low, suppressed curse through clenched teeth, a sound of utter exhaustion and profound weariness.
Headache.
It's a genuine physiological headache.
It was that kind of explosive headache that came from all the accumulated pressure of the entire Battle of New York.
His mind was a complete mess, with all his thoughts stuck on Rimuru, this one variable.
First, there's the mess in New York.
The city was half destroyed, littered with Chitauri mech wreckage, alien weapon fragments, and unknown alien technology parts.
Any one of these items leaking out would be enough to trigger a frenzy on the black market, allow terrorist forces to take off, and throw the global arms race into chaos.
There is a severe shortage of manpower. The Avengers are exhausted from the battle and the entire Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. non-stop. Even with three shifts, they can't clear the mountain of debris. Everyone is exhausted.
Fury's original plan was simple: with Rimuru on Earth, everything would be fine.
He has an unlimited supply of the Ultimate Nullifier Legion and fully automated intelligent mechanical units at his disposal. They are the perfect workforce for clearing ruins, recovering alien equipment, maintaining post-war order, and keeping the peace.
As it turned out, the main character simply ran away to Asgard.
Secondly, there's the undetermined site of the base.
Rimuru's earlier application for a large area of exclusive development land is still in the stage of high-level negotiations.
That piece of land is extremely valuable and has an excellent geographical location. The authorities have been carefully managing the situation, trying to negotiate slowly and maintain a balance of power to gain more leverage for cooperation. They even want to use it to bind Rimuru's power and make him stand up for Earth and S.H.I.E.L.D.. in the long term.
The negotiations have just entered a critical phase; the terms haven't been finalized, the agreement hasn't been signed, and the land hasn't been approved.
The person is gone.
He went straight to the Asgard for a vacation and to take care of important business.
What gave Fury the most heartache was his top-secret plan, hidden deep in his heart and unknown to anyone else.
He had witnessed the Battle of New York firsthand, seen the endless torrent of machinery, and experienced Galactron's overwhelming earth-shattering combat power. He had long since come to fully understand the gap between them.
Earth is too weak.
No matter how strong the Avengers are, they are ultimately limited in manpower and individual combat strength, and they simply cannot withstand an interstellar invasion.
Therefore, he secretly planned to have Rimuru take over a batch of specially made Ultimate Nullifier production lines.
I don't ask for anything else, I just want to exchange Earth for an absolute defense and a batch of mechanical combat forces for routine maintenance. In the future, if there are alien invasions, mega-disasters, or supernatural crises, the Avengers won't have to fight desperately; the mechanical army can just sweep them away.
He had even figured out the bargaining chips, cooperation conditions, and exchanges of benefits; all that was left was to find a time to formally discuss it with Rimuru.
The other person simply disappeared and went to visit someone in Asgard.
Fury rubbed his throbbing temples, increasingly doubting himself and feeling a chill run down his spine.
An incredibly absurd yet perfectly reasonable guess quietly crept into my mind.
Did he guess what I was thinking?
Did you guess I want to exploit his mechanical army, get Ultimate Nullifier power for free, and bind myself to his technology to maintain Earth's stability?
So, why not just slip away? Avoid negotiations, avoid empty promises, avoid all the entanglements, and simply ascend to the Asgard for some peace and quiet?
"This guy..."
Fury's lips twitched violently, a mixture of amusement and exasperation on his face.
He may seem like a carefree, laid-back guy who loves to slack off and go on vacation, but he's surprisingly meticulous and has an absurdly sharp insight.
You've spent ages strategizing and planning, trying to pull off a big move, only to have someone else use a single sentence to you.
"I'm going to Asgard on official business," perfectly avoiding all obstacles.
Land negotiations? Put on hold.
Manpower for wreck cleanup? Gone.
The Ultimate Nullifier collaboration plan was aborted before it even began.
The pressure of rebuilding New York fell entirely on S.H.I.E.L.D.. and the Avengers.
Fury stared at the screen filled with red emergency reports, feeling a sudden dizziness.
Others are on vacation after the war.
Only he, after the war, carried the mess left by the whole world, bearing all the headaches alone.
"OK."
After a long silence, Nick Fury gritted his teeth and uttered a single word, his face filled with utter despair.
"Going to the Asgard, is that it?"
I'll wait for you to come back.
"We'll talk slowly when you get back."