Days passed like this, and the leisurely days of tricking Peter into wearing women's clothes were gone forever.
Now, her life had become a two-point-one-line routine: eating, sleeping, going to school, and upgrading Wind God II.
Stark, the wealthy liver emperor, was practically all liver! It was terrifying!
If Pepper hadn't complained to her on the phone, Rimuru wouldn't have known that while she was busy tricking Peter, Stark had been holed up in his laboratory every day, determined to get back at her.
When she heard the news, Rimuru couldn't help but be startled.
She had been a bit too complacent lately and had almost forgotten that Iron Man was still catching up!
According to the information she got from Pepper, Stark's Mark IV was basically completed.
Rimuru didn't know the specific functions of Mark IV, but it was definitely an improvement over Mark III.
Mark III was already quite complete, but its performance in the battle against Iron Monger wasn't impressive—let alone compared to Fengshen I, which had been a shining example.
Therefore, Mark IV would definitely be equipped with more powerful weapons, just like in the movie universe.
However, due to Rimuru's interference, the Mark IV's anti-ultrasonic system would undoubtedly be upgraded several levels.
He had lost to Fengshen in a speed race and had struggled in the fight with Iron Monger. With his pride, if he didn't get back at them, he wouldn't be Tony Stark.
It was highly possible that he would create something like Mark VII's powerful propulsion system early, for example, adding hidden propulsion devices along the ribs.
In a way, Tony's version of Mark IV had a bit of an anti-Fengshen flavor to it.
Of course, Rimuru wouldn't fall behind. Tony Stark wanting to get revenge on her was nothing but a pipe dream.
A fair, back-and-forth battle between evenly matched opponents?
Sorry, Rimuru preferred one-sided crushing!
Crushing for a moment was fun—crushing all the time was even better!
So how should Wind God II be designed?
Naturally, it had to be cooler, faster, and stronger!
Although Rimuru didn't need mechanical arms to put the armor on, nor did she need to switch to a cockpit-style wearing system…
But Tony Stark had a cockpit style. If she still relied on mechanical arms, wouldn't she be losing to Tony?
Therefore, it had to be cockpit-style—absolutely cockpit-style!
Next was the armor system. This time, Rimuru no longer planned to design it as "squishy" like Fengshen I.
If Fengshen I was thin-skinned and lightly built, even if she beat a Mark, what was the point?
This time, she would show everyone that she could make a heavy-duty Fengshen too!
This time, she was going to completely dominate Tony Stark!
What's more, Rimuru knew that the Hulk would soon be coming to New York.
So Wind God II needed thick armor and the ability to function as an anti-Hulk suit.
Then there was the weapon system. This time, Rimuru was willing to put in real effort.
But how to obtain specific weapons still depended on Tony Stark. With Rimuru's current personal ability, getting those high-precision weapons on her own was basically impossible.
Finally, there was endurance and maneuverability!
To improve endurance, she could either reduce energy consumption or increase the base energy of the power source.
Tony's method was to replace the palladium metal chip with a new-element reactor, plus hybrid solar-and-electric energy.
Mark VI even used Thor as a walking power bank, but right now he probably hadn't reached the hybrid-energy stage yet.
Moreover, because of her butterfly effect, Tony was not facing a life-threatening crisis like in the original work.
Therefore, finding new elements probably hadn't been added to his agenda!
Rimuru, however, with the Great Sage's ability, could easily find new elements. So in terms of energy, she currently had an almost generational advantage.
Endurance was actually quite easy to solve!
But maneuverability was another issue. To prevent a heavy suit from losing agility, the conversion efficiency of the thrusters needed to be greatly improved.
From materials to core design, everything required a full upgrade!
Since she didn't have a supercomputer, Aiya could only steal bandwidth from computers across the U.S. The intense calculations caused many computers to slow down significantly.
Countless netizens cursed their network providers while trying to watch videos or browse websites.
During this time, several major telecom operators in the U.S. were harshly criticized, and complaint numbers skyrocketed.
Of course, Rimuru didn't dare push it too far—if she got noticed, she might be invited to S.H.I.E.L.D. for tea!
Right now, Rimuru absolutely did not want Aiya to be exposed.
A supercomputer… it seemed she had no choice but to buy one!
To design this heavy-duty mecha properly, she also needed to spend money to upgrade and renovate the laboratory and purchase more advanced equipment.
First, a more efficient and stable particle collider was essential; then a more efficient 3D printer; and more high-tech materials for Wind God II.
Money. Money. After doing the calculations, Rimuru felt like she was about to return to the pre-liberation era.
The rich rely on technology. Mechas really aren't something the poor can afford to play with!
"Great Sage, is there no solution that saves money without lowering performance? If I keep burning money like this, I might not even be able to pay my property fees!"
"Answer: The host's way of thinking is too limited. Have you forgotten that there is also something called magic in this world?"
"Magic?"
Rimuru froze. She really had fallen into fixed thinking. Up to now, she had been designing mechas purely with scientific logic.
If she combined magic with technology, she could turn the impossible into the possible!
In that instant, Rimuru felt as if a new world had opened before her. Her mind became unprecedentedly active, and countless sparks of inspiration burst forth!
Just thinking of a new-generation Fengshen that combined magic and technology made Rimuru feel her soul ignite!
Honestly, her Fengshen I was essentially a modified Mark suit, but combining science and magic would make it truly unique.
How could that feeling of pioneering achievement compare to imitation?
Thinking through her known magic, it seemed that only Multiple Barriers was currently the easiest to integrate with a mecha.
With a magical "energy shield," the main armor of Fengshen didn't need to be thick.
This would also solve the maneuverability issue.
Awesome!
"Great Sage, what magical systems can currently be applied to the mecha?"
"Answer: Based on the host's memory, the most suitable ones are Asgardian runes and Kamar-Taj spatial teleportation. Rune enchantments can turn decay into growth, greatly enhancing the suit's attributes; Kamar-Taj teleportation can ignore spatial distance and achieve instant short-range teleportation."
Cool!
Hearing this, Rimuru's eyes lit up instantly.
If she could combine these types of magic with the mecha, her Fengshen would essentially gain both passive and active skills—with effects similar to teleport and flash.
She could already imagine herself, during the upcoming New York battle, piloting the new-generation Fengshen, standing atop a mound of Chitauri corpses, shouting the famous line: "Is there anyone else?"
Rimuru could not wait to design this epoch-making Fengshen!
"Great Sage, teach me runes. I want to study how to enchant the mecha!"
"Answer: The host has not yet encountered any knowledge, items, or individuals related to runes. Information is too limited, so deduction is not possible."
Rimuru froze. "Great Sage, doesn't your All-Seeing Wisdom capture all unshielded phenomena in the world?"
"Answer: My wisdom depends on your knowledge and experience as the host."
"I see, I see. So as long as I see documents, items, or people who understand runes, you can deduce the rest, right?"
"Yes."
Rimuru stroked her chin. In other words, to complete a true science-and-magic hybrid armor, she needed to meet Thor or touch Mjolnir.
It wasn't hard, but Thor wouldn't arrive on Earth for another year for the plot of The Metamorphosis.
Meaning, Wind God II could only take early steps toward magic-tech fusion.
So frustrating! Rimuru finally understood Howard Stark!
Even with thousands of brilliant ideas—if the era's technology can't support them, they can only stay as fantasies.
..
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