Norman glanced at Alexander and walked straight toward Thor.
Tony looked at Norman, then at Thor, and said, "This is Norman Osborn, the Governor of New York, which is equivalent to, well, the manager of this land—I mean New York."
Although Thor didn't know what a Governor was, he understood the word "manager."
Initiating a handshake with Norman, the God of Thunder said, "I am sorry for the chaos and destruction Loki has caused here, but Loki must be judged by Odin."
Norman hadn't come this time to seize the prisoner, but to reach an agreement.
"Regarding this criminal, we can hand him over to Asgard. In fact, in this World, there is something called an Extradition Treaty between nations."
Clearly, the phrase "Extradition Treaty" touched upon Thor's blind spot of knowledge, and he looked to Tony again for help.
Tony thought for a moment and said, "It refers to the act where a nation, based on a treaty or other reasons, transfers a person within its territory who is accused or convicted of a crime by another nation, to that nation for trial or punishment upon its request."
Seeing that Thor still didn't quite understand, Tony continued to simplify, "Simply put, it's a form of judicial assistance between nations—reach an agreement, then hand over the criminal."
At this, Thor finally reacted—basically, it meant Norman seemed to agree to hand over Loki.
"That's great then. I want to take Loki away now."
"Wait a moment, Mr. Thor. However, an Extradition Treaty exists between two nations that have established Diplomatic Relations. In the past, Asgard was nothing more than a legend to Earth, so there are no Diplomatic Relations between us."
"But now, you can represent Asgard. Perhaps we can sit down and talk about concluding a diplomatic agreement."
Tony immediately understood Norman's meaning. Thinking it over, Norman's approach was indeed more appropriate.
Only, the sole and most critical problem was that Norman was just a Governor, wasn't he?
"The Governor is right. Let's resolve this through Diplomatic Means. Thor, you wouldn't refuse, would you?" Tony said.
Regardless, if Earth truly established diplomatic ties with Asgard, it would be a good thing. Earth's civilization was still one that hadn't truly taken to the stars.
But Asgard was different; they had already fought many interstellar wars.
Though Tony still didn't know how they fought them.
"Diplomacy?" Thor was stunned.
As a prince, although more than ninety percent of this God of Thunder's brain was muscle, there were still some parts filled with things Frigga had taught him.
It was just that diplomacy in the mind of this Prince of Asgard seemed a bit different from what Norman and these Earthlings imagined.
Thor laughed and patted Norman and Tony on the shoulders. "Of course!"
Loki, on the side, understood these things well. Seeing Thor like that, he immediately realized Thor probably thought diplomacy meant a banquet.
Thor took Loki away happily; they would stay on Earth for a while.
"A state government establishing diplomatic ties with Aliens? Governor Norman is truly being fanciful," Alexander said with a cold sneer before leaving.
"Governor, while I think your idea is good, it seems an Autonomous State doesn't actually have diplomatic rights," Tony pointed out.
Norman smiled and said, "Yes, but simple Foreign Affairs Rights still exist, which allows us to host him in New York. As for diplomatic rights, an Autonomous State doesn't have them, but the United States does, and Earth does."
"You mean..."
"Yes, I am going to run in this year's United States Presidential Election. I hope to get the support of Stark Industries. We need allies, but you've seen the International Council—their attitude."
Norman's tone was very serious.
Keeping Thor was mainly to instill some of Earth's diplomatic concepts in him and, in passing, gain some favorability.
After all, Asgard was a bona fide developed civilization. The power gap between Earth and the God Realm was like heaven and Earth. Fortunately, Asgard's attitude toward Earthlings was closer to one of protection.
Tony wasn't indifferent to politics; in fact, every year people approached Stark Industries seeking Stark's support.
It was just that Tony himself hadn't been interested in these things before; Obadiah handled most of those relationships.
Now he quickly thought about what Norman said. While running for President himself might be difficult and he didn't really want to, Norman did have an excellent political background. And judging by the actions of the Osborn father and son, they seemed trustworthy enough.
More importantly, like him, they had seen that alien army. They were comrades-in-arms.
"Sounds like a long-premeditated plan. On a side note, did you plan to run for President this year long ago?" Tony asked.
"Planning to run for President, yes," Norman admitted.
"Alright, I'm in." After some thought, Tony shook hands with Norman.
With Stark's participation, Norman's presidential campaign was secure.
After this battle, the global economy, which had begun to improve, would be hit again. The first to recover and lead the economic resurgence would surely be "Destiny" companies like Stark and Osborn.
"This battle really was incredibly destructive."
Harry walked through the rubble-strewn streets where various types of power armor were organizing rescue efforts.
Those massive leviathan ships had smashed into almost every skyscraper in Manhattan, and those land-based leviathan ships, which looked like Godzilla, had destroyed entire streets.
The internet and financial companies were especially hard-hit; even their well-hidden servers were fried due to power grid anomalies caused by the alien invasion.
It was truly tragic. Why didn't you use ctOS? All of this could have been prevented.
Lening emerged from the electrical circuits and skipped across Harry's fingertips.
As he walked, Harry saw the Arabic BBQ Shop Tony had mentioned.
Unfortunately, unlike the original story, this BBQ shop was now in ruins. Rescue teams had set up a temporary medical center at the nearby subway entrance.
"Looks like the BBQ will have to be canceled." After talking with Norman about the presidential run, Tony found Harry.
"Why? We can just go to another Arabic BBQ place. There was no alien invasion there."
Tony shrugged. "You're right. That was an oversight on my part."
After saying that, Tony looked up. A massive Chitauri ship lay on the street not far away.
Not only that, but the streets were now littered with the remains of these Aliens, and even their weapons.
"We need to handle this technology properly." Harry picked up an alien tech gun from the ground. Reverse-engineering this thing could bring a lot to Earth.
In the original story, Tony collaborated with the government to establish the Department of Damage Control to handle these things, but now the initiative was with Harry.
Tony said, "You're right. Norman is running in this year's election, right?"
"What? Don't you think my father is suited for the role? Maybe you should see how much New York has changed since he took office," Harry said, tossing the alien firearm aside. "Of course, I don't mean like it is now."
Tony crossed his arms, propped up his chin, and focused his gaze on the wreckage of those alien weapons, falling silent for a moment.
"That system, ctOS—we need it. Even something better."
In the next second, Tony spoke the words Harry was thinking.
Harry was a bit surprised, but he immediately understood what was happening—after this, Tony would suffer from severe anxiety. He was afraid.
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