When it came to the art of persuasion, Odin finally relented.
Asgardian warriors were, in truth, excellent fighters.
Daily training was a necessity.
But watching them spar day after day was honestly quite dull.
It would be far more interesting to see just what kind of mysteries existed within the virtual world created by Earth's population.
"Very well. I agree."
Hearing this, Xu Dan was overjoyed.
At last—this was settled.
He let out a long breath and said, "My terminal is on Earth. If it's convenient, I'll need Thor to accompany me. We'll also require technical support from Asgard to carry out cross-realm data transmission."
Odin waved his hand in assent.
Since he had already agreed to cooperate, all follow-up matters would naturally be approved without issue.
"Thor, I leave this matter to you."
After speaking, Odin slowly departed.
————————
Integrating Earth's technology with Asgard's was a time-consuming process.
Waiting was unavoidable.
Yet while waiting, Xu Dan thought of another issue.
Since Loki had already fallen, he would inevitably end up serving Thanos.
When that time came, the Chitauri army would descend—who would stop them?
At present, one of the Avengers' strongest combatants, Bruce Banner, was still locked away in his laboratory, researching day and night.
His control over the Hulk's power was minimal. In fact, he had nearly forgotten the Hulk existed at all—because the "medicine" Xu Dan had given him was simply too effective. Since taking it, Banner had never once gone berserk.
Immersed in research every day, Banner felt fulfilled.
He was never someone who enjoyed fighting.
Now, the Avengers' strongest force was busy with scientific research. Iron Man had recently been indulging himself nonstop. As for the others—who could truly be relied upon?
If New York were destroyed when the time came, and everyone was busy with disaster relief, then who would still have time to play games?
Thus, an excellent idea formed in Xu Dan's mind.
That night, he attended one of Tony Stark's parties.
In fact, these parties had been happening more frequently than before.
Because after being rescued, Tony had spent a long period "working" in Antarctic's hardware technology division.
There had been little time left to study his suits.
Unintentionally, certain timelines had been delayed.
If Xu Dan's expectations were correct, Tony's frequent bingeing now was due to palladium poisoning.
Although Antarctic Biotechnology had developed new drugs, even the world's most effective medicine could only delay the condition—not cure it.
Without a new element to replace palladium, unless Tony stopped using his arc reactor entirely, the poisoning would continue to worsen until death.
But once he abandoned the arc reactor, he would be nothing.
So he was indulging himself—making use of the little time he had left.
When Xu Dan stepped into the party, a group of women on the periphery were screaming around Tony.
Tony, wearing his steel suit, was dancing wildly in an utterly unbearable manner.
Yet no matter how ugly the dance was, it was still a rich man's dance.
When the rich sing and dance, it's all top-tier.
Like a pony.
"Wow! Let's see who's here!" Tony suddenly pointed drunkenly at Xu Dan in the back of the crowd. "Him! President of Antarctica! Godfather of gaming! Xu Dan!"
"Ahhhhhh—!!"
"Ah~!!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!"
A new wave of shrill screams nearly made Xu Dan want to punch those brainless women.
Did they know how to do anything besides scream?
"Tony, it's time for you to wake up."
Xu Dan walked over, picked up a glass of juice from the table, and without mercy splashed it straight onto Tony's face.
The onlookers were stunned.
What was this?
One was currently the richest man in the world; the other was about to become the richest man.
Was this a clash of status?
That was explosive!
The party fell silent instantly.
Only the music continued playing awkwardly.
"Red Queen, turn it off."
Beep.
The music stopped.
Tony raised his hand, wiped the juice from his face, and finally sobered up.
Still, losing face like this in front of so many people made his expression darken.
"Xu Dan? You owe me an explanation!"
"Come with me."
Xu Dan snorted coldly, turned around, and left.
Tony, still wearing his steel suit, followed aggressively.
In everyone's eyes, this was bound to be a bloody confrontation.
After all, Tony was Iron Man.
How could a game developer possibly compete?
But in reality, once they stepped into the shadows, Tony's attitude changed completely.
"Damn it, Dan, you didn't give me any face at all! Didn't you see those girls? If they think I looked bad, tonight's plans are ruined!"
Xu Dan smiled. "Even if you dumped manure on your head tonight, they'd still crawl into bed with you."
"Really? So I'm that handsome?"
"Money."
"What?"
"I'm buying your weapons development department."
"What?"
"What did you say?"
"Hold on." Tony rubbed his temples. The heavy drinking had given him a headache. "I stopped making weapons a long time ago. You know why, Dan. This can't happen."
After returning from the terrorists, Tony had publicly announced the shutdown of Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing division.
That decision was equivalent to Antarctica announcing the closure of its gaming business.
Immense pressure.
Yet Tony had gone through with it.
And now Xu Dan was bringing it up again—wasn't that deliberately reopening old wounds?
But was that really the case?
Xu Dan smiled faintly and said, "Tony, if you've been paying attention to recent intelligence from New Mexico, then you should understand that Earth is now facing a crisis. A monster—or a group of monsters—could descend from the sky at any moment. Weapons research and development are necessary."
Tony paused.
Of course he had received intelligence from New Mexico—he was, after all, a consultant to S.H.I.E.L.D.
Such a world-shaking battle, yet even as Iron Man, he couldn't find a solution.
"But weapons are dead. People are alive. There will always be people who take weapons into dangerous places."
This was Tony's heartache.
He knew better than anyone that his own weapons had turned him into what he was today.
An iron lump embedded in his chest every day—was that really cool?
No.
That feeling was deeply uncomfortable.
Xu Dan seemed to have anticipated Tony's thoughts long ago.
He calmly said:
"Don't worry. I'll put safeguards in place."
-----------------------
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