William felt his heart was like the expensive German-imported automatic lawn sprinkler system that the Destroyer had stepped on.
Crushed to pieces.
"Gods' Exclusive Risk Protection Plan"?
All he wanted now was to buy himself a "Base Demolition Insurance"!
The insured amount must be an astronomical figure that could rebuild the entire North Brother Island!
On the sofa, Thor, who had been half-dead, suddenly came alive.
His dim blue eyes, upon seeing the Destroyer, erupted with a near-frenzied light.
It was excitement.
"He sent someone to pick me up!"
Thor sprang from the sofa, his voice trembling with excitement.
"Father! You still care about me!"
He charged straight towards the enormous French window like a bull in rut.
He was also shouting incomprehensible Asgardian words.
William's pupils suddenly contracted.
That window.
German custom-made, triple-layered composite bulletproof glass.
Able to withstand a direct RPG blast, it was one of the ultimate sources of security in his office.
Of course, its purchase price was as heartbreaking as the bottle of '82 whiskey in his liquor cabinet.
"Stop..."
He instinctively wanted to shout for him to stop, but it was all too late.
"Bang!!!"
A dull, teeth-grinding thud.
The anticipated scene of glass shattering and fragments flying everywhere did not occur at all.
Thor.
This former God of Thunder.
Slammed squarely into the glass, which was even harder than him, in a perfectly executed football tackle.
He was like a wet towel just pulled from the Water.
He slid slowly and powerlessly down the smooth, cold glass surface.
Finally, with a "thud," he slumped onto the expensive Persian rug.
His face was filled with pain, confusion, and the shock of being betrayed by the entire World.
The office fell into an eerie silence once more.
In the air, a thick scent named "awkwardness" permeated.
William watched all of this with an expressionless face, his heart undisturbed, even with a hint of a smile.
He silently gave a thumbs-up to the German glass manufacturer in his mind.
Thor, clutching his nearly dislocated shoulder and dazed face, struggled to get up from the floor.
He looked incredulously at the window, which was as sturdy as ever, then down at his mortal hands.
The pitiful pride of a former God was shattered by the physical rules of the mortal World.
He finally gave up on this unrealistic fantasy.
Slinking, he limped around the sofa, roughly pulled open the office door, and rushed out without looking back.
William looked at the door, which had been slammed shut, and finally came back to his senses.
"Emil, follow him and see."
Emil Blonsky nodded, turning without a word.
Just as Emil's hand was about to touch the doorknob, William's voice sounded again.
"Want to smash something?"
Emil's steps abruptly halted.
He didn't turn back, but his back seemed to tense up in an instant.
He paused for a full two seconds before raising his hand again, opening the door, and walking out.
William knew he wanted to.
He wanted to so badly he was going crazy.
A long-suppressed soul only needed an excuse to unleash its most primal Beast.
After seeing off two troubles, William immediately pulled out his phone, his fingers moving so fast on the screen that they almost left afterimages.
He directly dialed Tony Stark's video call.
Beep—
It was almost an instant connection.
Tony's magnified face appeared on the screen, with the cold metallic interior as the background.
He was in the cockpit of a Mark suit.
"Let me guess, William."
Tony's voice carried the metallic quality unique to the suit's built-in voice changer.
"That colorful light show on your lawn isn't a surprise party to welcome me, is it?"
William had no time for his banter; he directly aimed his phone camera out the window.
In the frame, the Destroyer had already begun its heavy stride.
It completely ignored Thor, who had rushed in front of it, gesticulating and shouting.
Its smooth helmet slowly rotated, seemingly coldly scanning the entire island's architectural structure.
Then, its faceplate suddenly split open.
A scorching beam of energy, powerful enough to melt steel, violently erupted from it!
Boom!
The beam did not hit Thor but precisely struck a warehouse not far away.
That warehouse had just been completed.
It was filled with precision instruments and materials William had purchased at high prices from all over the World.
The priceless warehouse was blown open with a huge hole.
Flames and thick smoke, mixed with William's broken heart, soared into the sky together.
William's heart was bleeding, but his tone on the phone was unusually calm.
"Tony, look at this! Asgardian original import, all-metal casing, self-contained energy weapon system, design full of post-modern industrial aesthetics. Interested in coming over to dismantle and study it? Consider it a... collectible I'm giving you."
"Collectible?"
Tony whistled on the other end of the phone.
"You call this a collectible? I'm already on my way; I'll be there in five minutes. Listen, don't break it; I still need complete sample data!"
"I'll try!" William said through gritted teeth.
Break the Destroyer?
He wished he could!
Hanging up the phone, he felt a little more at ease.
As long as Tony came, at least there would be a limit to the Base's losses.
William hung up the phone.
The commotion outside had clearly alarmed the other people on the island.
He didn't bother to collect his thoughts and rushed out of the office.
Morris Bench was pointing in horror at the rampaging "iron can" in the distance, almost in tears.
Tandy and Tyrone, on the other hand, had adopted vigilant combat stances, with holy blades of Light and deep black mist intertwining and flashing around them.
Jessica Jones, who was vacationing on the island, stood at the very front.
She was wearing a black bikini, with only a white shirt, dampened by seawater, casually draped over her, revealing her curves.
She still held half a glass of whiskey in her hand.
Seeing William appear, the group immediately gathered around him.
"Boss! What the hell is that thing?"
Tandy's tone was tense and hurried.
Morris didn't care about the Water stains on him, urgently shouting, "Boss, that... that iron can outside is shooting lasers!"
Jessica took a gulp of her drink, pointing her chin at the Destroyer, which was wreaking havoc outside the window, with a hint of complaint that only William could discern:
"Is this your new client? His onboarding welcome ceremony is quite unique."
William looked at the fiery woman beside him, then at these "problem employees" in front of him, and the "disaster client" in the distance who was blasting his hard work into ruins, and also the "idiot client" who was still trying to reason with the demolition crew.
He took a deep breath, adjusted his tie, which wasn't even messy, and forced out a professional smile that was uglier than a cry.
"Everyone, calm down."
"This is just a small... client dispute."
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