With the preliminary agreement finalized, all the worries have been put to rest, and the only remaining step in the transaction is to go through the formal signing process.
Rhodey didn't delay and immediately decided that he could take the existing Ultimate Nullifier prototypes in the living room back to the military base for registration, testing, and data entry.
Rimuru had absolutely no objection to this.
He wasn't afraid at all that the military might renege on their promises or pull some dirty tricks behind his back.
They are well aware of my methods.
If anyone tries to renege on their debt or play tricks, guess if I'll just pull out the Transformers army that dealt with the Chitauri in New York and reenact it all?
With a preliminary agreement reached, the atmosphere inside the room instantly shifted from a serious negotiating tone to a relaxed and casual one.
The three of them finally had time to take a close look at these groundbreaking Ultimate Nullifier models.
Rhodey, as a military colonel, displayed impeccable professionalism.
Observe the fuselage structure, test the response speed, and record basic data; never disassemble or touch it haphazardly.
Pepper remained elegant and composed, only glancing at the exterior design from afar, occasionally murmuring her admiration for the model's sophisticated technology, maintaining her composure throughout.
Tony, however, completely transformed into a tech fanatic bursting with curiosity, handling things with utter recklessness.
Touching the liquid metal surface, prying open the alloy joints, examining the body interfaces—the desire to explore was off the charts.
Rimuru was standing nearby, saw everything clearly and silently complained to himself.
If Pepper hadn't been standing by, watching over him constantly, Tony, with his insanely inquisitive nature, would probably have already stripped the Ultimate Nullifier's shells and disguises off completely, dismantling them thoroughly for research.
After examining and studying them for a long time, Tony stared at the perfectly aligned Ultimate Nullifier, his eyes growing brighter and his thoughts becoming clearer.
He suddenly turned to look at Rimuru, his tone carrying a hint of serious discussion, and a touch of eager excitement.
"Seriously, Rimuru."
"Since you can rely on your mechanical army to protect yourself and stabilize the situation, can't we on Earth also adopt this model?"
"I will also build a fully-encompassing intelligent mechanical army, on standby 24/7. In the future, when faced with alien invasions or dimensional crises, Earth will have its own trump card to deal with them, instead of being passively attacked every time."
Upon hearing this, Rimuru's heart skipped a beat, and he was completely speechless.
Goodness, this plan looks so familiar!
Isn't this the prototype of Ultron Program?
He had originally thought that by not letting Tony rush into the portal with the nuclear bomb, he had completely changed the original key plot and could directly extinguish the source of Ultron's birth.
Unexpectedly, after going around in circles, Tony was actually inspired by his own Ultimate Nullifier Legion!
This was a precise misstep; there was no way to avoid it.
Rimuru inwardly and quickly spoke up to stop him, trying to avert disaster.
" Tony, your idea is indeed good, but don't rush into fantasizing about it."
"Have you considered what would happen if you built an entire autonomous mechanical army and it went out of control?"
"All of my Ultimate Nullifier are under the unified control and management of Black Dragon. You've seen Black Dragon's abilities; they're absolutely stable and controllable. I can guarantee with 100% certainty that they won't rebel or go out of control."
Upon hearing this, Tony immediately became unconvinced, raising his chin with a confident expression.
"What's so difficult about that?"
"You can create that ultimate AI life form, and so can I! I have JARVIS! JARVIS's intelligence and computing power are no less than your AI."
Rimuru's inner monologue was a frantic scream, "What the hell...!"
He was speechless.
You're really arrogant. It's not that I look down on JARVIS, it's just that these two things aren't even in the same league.
He was clearly trying to be helpful and warn Tony of the risks in advance, but why does it sound like he's personally guiding Tony in developing an intelligent mechanical army?
It has the complete opposite effect!
He sighed helplessly, but patiently continued to offer his advice.
"Of course I know you have the ability, and I believe you can build it."
"But what happens after it's built?"
"You simply want to use it to protect the Earth and deal with crises, but do you think politicians and high-ranking officials from various countries will believe that?"
"You command a private, mechanized armed legion capable of crushing a conventional army. Do you think they can sleep soundly?"
This statement hits the nail on the head.
Tony's excitement vanished instantly, and he fell silent.
No matter how intelligent or arrogant he was, he had to admit that what Rimuru said was absolutely true.
This world has never tolerated an individual controlling top-tier military power capable of overturning the world.
The reason Rimuru is able to command countless mechanical warriors and act with impunity is because he has already demonstrated absolute power that can crush the entire world.
The die is cast, and the die is cast; even if the various factions are wary, they can only compromise and dare not provoke them.
They would absolutely not tolerate a second Rimuru.
If Tony were to secretly assemble a super mechanical army, he would not be met with praise, but rather with endless suspicion, suppression, sanctions, and even a comprehensive annihilation.
Rhodey and Pepper, who were standing nearby, didn't pay much attention to the conversation between the two.
In their view, this conversation was far too shocking.
The idea of a private individual creating a military mechanical army capable of arming the entire planet is so insane that even Tony, with his billions and mastery of cutting-edge technology, could never achieve it.
The two of them took it as a casual chat between two geniuses, listening without taking it to heart.
Tony stood there, his hand supporting his chin, his eyes downcast, saying nothing.
He neither refuted nor abandoned his own ideas; he simply fell into deep thought.
Rimuru, seeing his silent demeanor, understood perfectly well what was going on.
The old saying is indeed true: either perish in silence or become perverted in silence.
Tony is not the type of person who is born to sit idly by and wait for death.
Throughout his life, he has always been one to overcome any obstacle, and if he clearly sees a future crisis, he would never simply sit idly by and pretend not to see it.
Today's advice can at most temporarily suppress his impulse and delay his plans.
But he was absolutely certain that he would implement this plan to build a mechanical army to protect the Earth; it was just a matter of time.
Rimuru sighed inwardly, and instantly formed a complete plan in his mind.
Fine, go ahead and do whatever you want.
I just need to prepare a backup plan in advance.
The simplest and safest way is to quietly and completely back up all of JARVIS's underlying data, core logic, and thought models.
We do not tamper with or steal anything; we simply preserve the most original and purest complete backup.
No matter how Tony iterates, modifies, or forcibly creates a new intelligent system in the future, he still holds the original trump card.
As his thoughts raced back further, Rimuru silently reviewed the plot points he had already altered.
Killian, which could have triggered the Extremis Virus crisis and caused a chain reaction of subsequent crises, had already been dealt with in advance, eliminating the potential threat entirely.
The twins Wanda and Pietro, who would later be involved in the Sokovia Incident, were also appeased and dealt with by him long ago.
In other words, he essentially nipped in the bud all the potential triggers that could have ignited the Ultron Crisis in the original timeline.
He has done his best to avoid the risks that needed to be avoided.
He had also prepared his backup plan in advance.
As for the remaining unknown variables and unforeseen events, we can only leave it to fate.