The battle was over.
From the moment Ryougi Shiki drew her long blade across the lines of death, nothing could save the Destroyer.
Shen He jumped from his sniping position and ran with all his might towards the center of the battlefield.
"Are any of you injured?"
His worried gaze swept back and forth between Ryougi Shiki and Saiki Kusuo.
"Oh." Ryougi Shiki pressed her left shoulder. "It seems my shoulder blade is fractured."
Her entire arm was completely unable to exert any force, and even a slight movement caused excruciating pain, yet her tone was as simple as if she had merely stumbled.
...You're too reckless, Shiki.
Shen He suddenly calmed down, took a bandage for healing wounds from his system backpack, carefully tore open the fabric on her shoulder, and wrapped it for her.
"Those who kill must be prepared to be killed. You're too cautious, Shen He." Ryougi Shiki remained still, looking at him with a cold gaze. "You wouldn't be so weak as to think you can achieve what you want without losing anything, would you?"
"It's just not worth it."
Shen He said no more, focusing on the bandaging. This special bandage had an automatic bone-setting effect, which saved a lot of trouble.
And ultimately, his sudden arrival in this World meant he had no particular mission; he simply wanted to experience the exciting life he had once yearned for.
"Sif—!"
Just then, lightning flashed.
Shen He turned his head and saw Thor, holding the Valkyrie Sif, surging with powerful lightning.
At that moment, he had unleashed his own divine power!
No, besides that, Thor's armor was also slowly reforming.
Odin's seal had been broken.
"Heimdall!" Thor seemed completely oblivious to his restored divine power. He simply roared skyward, "Do you hear me!? Heimdall! Open the Bifrost Bridge! Sif needs healing!"
However, there was no response.
According to the original plot, Heimdall should have been struggling to break free from Loki's icy prison at this time.
After bandaging Ryougi Shiki, Shen He ran over with the remaining bandages.
"Thor, calm down. She's just injured."
"Shen He, I cannot lose my friend."
Thor's face was filled with anxiety and remorse; only after loss does one truly cherish everything taken for granted.
"You won't lose her, and your hammer is back."
Shen He used the bandage to help Sif. Mjolnir in the sky was already flashing with lightning, whistling towards them at high speed. At the same time, the vortex of the Bifrost Bridge finally reappeared in the sky, about to descend.
Everything seemed to have returned to the original plot's trajectory, seemingly unchanged.
But looking at Thor, who picked up Sif and stood, Shen He was sure he had changed something. On the face of this man, who was flickering with electricity, a trace of the resilience and maturity that would only appear in the future was already evident.
"Please tell Jane for me." Thor stood in the Bifrost Bridge's halo. "I will definitely come back for her. And it was an honor to meet you, Shen He. Asgard will forever remember its friendship with Chaldea."
"Go do what you must, Thor." Shen He waved goodbye.
Thor and the four Asgardians disappeared into the colorful light.
Now, everything was truly over.
Shen He turned and walked back against the wind and sand. Violet trotted to his side, along with Ryougi Shiki and Saiki Kusuo. The group left clear footprints on the battlefield behind them.
It had been three days since returning to New York, United States, from the chaotic region.
Coulson had visited several times, wanting to invite Shen He to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters to discuss what Chaldea knew.
This included Asgard, the other Guardians Shen He had mentioned, and even Chaldea itself.
When legendary gods appeared before them, and after a war almost broke out on Earth, there was too much they wanted to know.
However, Shen He refused all of it.
These past few days, he seemed to have reverted to his state when he first arrived in this World, staying in his hotel, teaching Violet to speak and read, and doing various chores.
Until this morning, Tony called him.
"He, don't you, the major shareholder, care about your own company's affairs? Are you really saying you want me, Tony Stark, to work for you?" Tony's voice still sounded as arrogant as ever. "I'm on my way to your place now. Today I have to take you out for a good chat. That's it."
Tony hung up the phone directly, giving Shen He no room to refuse.
Shen He could only helplessly stand up, feeling a bit guilty for dumping all the new company's affairs on Tony and acting as a hands-off boss.
"Shiki, Violet, I'm going out for a bit. Call me if anything happens."
"Understood."
Ryougi Shiki's voice came from the training room.
These days, she seemed to have resumed her Kendo practice, spending most of her time in the training room, occasionally bringing Violet along.
She seemed to like Violet, this little girl who appeared to be a killer but was actually very innocent.
So Shen He ran downstairs and got into Tony's luxury sports car.
"God, do you know what your eyes look like right now?" Tony looked at Shen He sideways. "Like a dried salted fish. I heard you guys had a few big fights in that chaotic place and even taught an alien god a lesson. Why do you look like the opposite happened? Did someone 'do' you?"
"You're the one who got 'done'." Shen He irritably raised his middle finger. "I just, well, have some rather troubling matters."
"Excellent, that's what I'm here for." Tony shrugged, turned the key, and the sports car sped away with a roar. "Today, let's first check out our new company, and then I'll take you to have some fun. Trust me, after today, all your troubles will disappear."
The company co-founded by Shen He and Tony had a very simple name: "Virtual World Company." It was self-explanatory. Although all its employees were spun off from Stark Industries, Shen He was indeed the big boss with ninety percent of the shares, while Tony Stark privately owned the other ten percent of the original shares.
"Although there are still some areas we haven't thoroughly researched, I can already replicate the fully immersive virtual reality device and have used it to create our company's first-generation product. This is it. I call it 'New Century One'."
Tony patted a huge and bulky device in front of him. On the three-meter-tall machine, dense wires connected to an oval, fully sealed metal cabinet fixed to the machine, which looked about 2.5 meters tall, enough for one person to stand inside.
"This thing looks... like a coffin." Shen He gazed at the behemoth. "How do I feel like you didn't upgrade or optimize it, but rather made a primitive version?"
"The helmet you brought out was already optimized enough." Tony looked at his masterpiece with satisfaction. "This is our first-generation product, intended to be sold to the Military as a soldier training simulator. So, you should understand, the bigger it is, the higher the perceived cost, and the higher the cost, the less it will alarm traditional financial groups, and the more expensive we can sell it for."