The scene Leon had expected did not unfold.
Thor and the warriors who arrived with him did not march toward the city or approach the towering building where Leon stood. Instead, the group of Asgardians quickly began moving away from the landing point almost immediately after appearing.
Thor, the God of Thunder and a prince of the Asgardian gods, had already regained his divine power after returning from exile. With his strength restored, his senses had become extraordinarily sharp.
The moment he stepped onto Earth again, he felt a powerful gaze upon him.
Thor turned his head.
Across an enormous distance, his eyes locked onto Leon.
Their gazes pierced through space itself.
When Leon met Thor's eyes, he suddenly felt as if thousands of bolts of lightning were flashing before him. Each streak of lightning carried terrifying force, as if it contained the power to split the heavens apart.
That energy surprised Leon.
There was something unusual hidden within Thor's thunder. Beneath the violent lightning, Leon could faintly sense traces of deeper cosmic information—something far beyond ordinary electrical energy.
"Did he become stronger while traveling through the dimensional passage?" Leon wondered quietly.
Meanwhile, Thor felt something equally unsettling.
Through Leon's gaze, Thor saw what appeared to be an endless sea of fire.
It stretched infinitely deep, like a bottomless abyss capable of devouring everything that existed. The pressure contained within that fiery presence reminded Thor of only one person.
His father.
The majesty Leon radiated felt disturbingly similar to Odin's overwhelming divine authority.
The two men held each other's gaze for several seconds.
Then they both looked away.
A faint arc of electricity flickered unconsciously across Thor's armor as Leon's gaze left him. Leon, on the other hand, remained perfectly calm.
"What's wrong, Thor?" one of his companions asked.
Thor turned back toward the group.
He took a slow breath, suppressing the restless divine power stirring inside his body.
"Nothing," he said quietly. "Let's leave this place quickly."
One of the warriors frowned.
"I felt something too," the man said. "Did you notice it?"
Several others exchanged glances before nodding.
"Yes."
"I sensed it as well."
"This place feels dangerous."
"Agreed," another warrior said. "We should leave immediately. But why hasn't anyone from Midgard appeared yet? Shouldn't they come to greet us?"
Thor waved his hand dismissively.
"Don't worry about that," he said.
He reached into his armor and pulled out a small device.
"I brought this."
It was a mobile phone.
"This is a Midgard invention," Thor explained proudly. "It allows people to contact each other from anywhere. Someone showed me how to use it."
He fiddled with the phone awkwardly for a while.
Asgard was an advanced civilization in its own way, but its development had taken a very different path. Asgardians possessed naturally powerful bodies, innate divine power, and mastery of magic.
Because of that, most of their technology was magical rather than mechanical. Devices like phones were unfamiliar to them, and their principles were completely different from Asgardian creations.
After a few attempts, Thor finally managed to dial a number.
A moment later the call connected.
The warriors watched curiously while Thor spoke into the device. To them, the idea of talking through such a small object still felt strange.
After a brief conversation, Thor hung up.
"Let's go," he said. "Someone will pick us up outside the city."
The group immediately began moving again.
But before leaving, Thor glanced back one last time.
Leon was still standing on the distant rooftop, watching them.
Even across such a great distance, Thor felt Leon's gaze pressing down on him like something tangible.
"Damn it," Thor muttered under his breath.
"Is that the man Father warned me about?"
The feeling unsettled him.
After his exile on Earth, Thor had matured significantly. He was no longer the reckless warrior he once had been. Leon's presence triggered a powerful sense of danger deep within his instincts.
That alone was enough to convince Thor that confronting Leon now would be a terrible idea.
Meanwhile, Leon withdrew his gaze as the Asgardians disappeared into the distance.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Things were becoming far more interesting.
"So there really are outside forces interfering now," he murmured.
If Asgard had begun paying attention, then the situation had clearly expanded beyond Earth alone.
Leon's eyes glimmered slightly.
"In that case… I don't need to hold back anymore."
He turned toward Svija.
"From this moment forward, remove the restrictions on the soldier units," Leon ordered calmly. "Begin expanding the number of soldiers immediately."
"And start the invasion plan."
"Yes, sir," Svija replied.
Leon's invasion plan was simple.
If he alone stood against the world, the threat would remain limited to his personal power. But if thousands of soldiers formed a true army under his command, the situation would change completely.
An organized force could threaten the world from every direction.
Until now, Leon had been carefully controlling the pressure he placed on the world. Too much pressure might cause global collapse too quickly, which would ruin his plans.
But too little pressure would prevent the world from truly recognizing the danger he posed.
To be honest, Leon had invested considerable effort into becoming a proper villain.
"Sir," Svija reported, "there are currently three thousand six hundred and seventy-two soldier units available. At maximum capacity, production can generate approximately three hundred new units per day."
Leon shook his head.
"That's too slow."
"The combat strength of each soldier is impressive, but without numerical superiority they won't make a meaningful difference. There are many countries in the world, and conventional weapons can still destroy individual soldiers."
He folded his arms.
"Starting now, expand production at full capacity. Establish ten production lines immediately."
"Yes, sir. I will begin at once."
Leon gave another command.
"Deploy the existing soldiers. Begin expanding outward."
"Understood."
Within seconds, every soldier unit received its orders.
Then they moved.
Thousands of soldiers suddenly burst out of the massive sword-shaped building. Flying in teams of three, they shot into the sky and scattered in every direction like a swarm of metallic predators.
At present, Leon only controlled the Manhattan area.
Because of the chaos he had caused, most of New York had already become an empty city. Civilians had long since evacuated, leaving vast districts deserted.
Beyond Manhattan, however, the situation was different.
Within a three-kilometer perimeter around the island, numerous military units had been deployed. Their purpose was simple.
Monitor Leon.
And defend against him.
On this day, those forces encountered disaster.
Each soldier unit possessed extraordinary combat abilities. Though they were technically controlled by subprograms created by Svija, their combat execution remained flawless.
Once Leon issued an order, the soldiers carried it out with perfect efficiency.
War erupted around Manhattan.
This was no longer a small confrontation. It was a real battlefield.
On one side stood the powerful human military forces of the United States.
On the other side stood soldiers combining advanced technology with mutant abilities.
The moment both sides made contact, full combat power erupted.
Human artillery thundered across the battlefield.
Shells and missiles rained down relentlessly, exploding around the advancing soldiers. Individually, these attacks could not destroy the soldier units, but the human army possessed enormous firepower reserves.
Explosions blasted the battlefield again and again.
Under such continuous bombardment, even the powerful soldiers began suffering damage. After all, their numbers were still limited.
But the strength of each soldier far exceeded that of ordinary humans.
It did not take long for the balance of battle to shift.
One battlefield after another began falling under the soldiers' control.
The fighting spread across multiple locations surrounding Manhattan. More than ten separate military units had been stationed in the region.
Within less than half a day…
Every one of them was destroyed.
.....
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