Gotta hand it to him—Tony Stark really dropped a "shock" on Ronan.
If Earth's energy could sub in for mana to power runes, then the legendary "man-made mage" might actually become a thing.
Of course, the next bit of news Tony dropped wasn't quite as rosy.
"Truth is, all this worked because of that suit you brought back."
"Over all these days, I've only cracked this much of it, but it's still enough to blow your mind."
Tony Stark steered the convo toward that suit.
That suit was none other than the trophy Ronan had peeled off Kang the Conqueror.
He'd handed it to Tony back then to dig into the tech inside.
Who'd have thought, by some wild fluke, Tony would cook up this out of it?
"Trouble, huh?"
"No, let's just say this suit's a real pain in the ass."
"Even got a genius like me, Tony Stark, throwing in the towel."
Ronan grinned at Tony, tossing a playful jab.
After all, Tony had sworn up and down to Ronan that he'd crack every secret it held.
"You have no idea how deep this thing goes."
"Picture this: all the foundational theories we use in tech today? Pretty much cooked up by those genius scientists over a hundred years ago."
"For the past century-plus, human tech hasn't really evolved at its core."
"But that suit you brought back? The tech in there—it's on a whole different theoretical level from ours."
Tony got more hyped the more he talked, like he'd finally found someone to geek out with.
He was the only one who knew just how insane this thing was.
And he couldn't spill it to anyone.
Because if word got out, it could flip modern tech on its head.
Without knowing if this tech might spell disaster for humanity, Tony was playing it real low-key this time.
He hadn't even breathed a word to Pepper Potts.
"By your reckoning, this suit's from the 31st century."
"That's over a thousand years ahead of our time."
"A thousand years for human tech to make a massive leap? Not exactly mind-blowing."
Tony stared at the suit—half-disassembled by now—his face full of awe.
You could tell this was one time he'd hit something he couldn't wrap his head around.
"That's normal, right?"
"I might not get science as deep as you do, but I know how long it took humanity to go from existing to the First Industrial Revolution."
"A thousand years for a second big leap? Doesn't seem that shocking."
Ronan wasn't as floored as Tony.
The First Industrial Revolution—the first tech revolution—ushered humanity into the industrial age.
That moment took humanity thousands of years to reach.
"You're not wrong, but here's the snag."
"Remember me telling you most of our science today still rides on the theories from big shots like Einstein?"
"Even our grasp of the universe still leans on relativity."
"Lots of scientists figure that without a major shake-up, human tech's just gonna stall out."
"Right now, the whole science world's holding its breath for that big breakthrough—and it's right here."
"It's sitting in front of me."
"And I'm basically helpless against it."
Tony took a deep breath, looking seriously fired up.
At the end of the day—money, pride, superhero status aside—
He was a genius.
A science-loving genius.
He'd even cracked the Infinity Stones in his hands, though that ended up birthing Ultron and nearly torching the world.
"Then take your time studying it."
"With your bank account these days, there's nothing you can't get your hands on."
"If you spend the rest of your life cracking this big breakthrough, wouldn't that be even better?"
Ronan clapped Tony on the shoulder, signaling him to chill.
He got where Tony was coming from and could feel his vibe right now.
If Ronan put himself in Tony's shoes, he might be even more pumped than Tony was.
"I know, I know."
"Whew."
Tony let out a heavy breath, like he was speed-calming his nerves.
That "no one to share this with" feeling? Brutal.
"Alright, since I handed this thing to you, I'm cool with whatever you do with it."
"If you wanna pass it to the government brass, I won't say a peep."
Ronan smirked. Honestly, he didn't care much about this stuff.
But Tony shook his head.
"Those higher-ups would absolutely use this for bad shit."
"If I need help, I'll call in people I trust."
"Let's get to the point."
"Check this out."
Tony's mood swung fast—hype one second, gone the next.
He spread the suit out on the table, grabbed a few wires, and hooked them up.
Then he spun to the computer nearby, hands flying across the keys.
Whatever he was doing, Ronan didn't have a clue.
Oh, wait—he could read the English letters on the screen, but beyond that? Nada.
Including what those letters spelled out.
Ronan was totally in the dark.
"Look here."
Tony's hands stopped, and he grabbed a chunk of the screen with his right hand, tossing it into the air.
A virtual display popped up in front of Ronan.
On it, Ronan's suit spun slowly, with some data breakdowns off to the side.
"What's this mean?"
Ronan raised an eyebrow.
"These numbers are conclusions I pulled from analyzing your runes."
"And check this."
Snap.
Tony hit a key, and the virtual screen shifted.
Now it showed Kang the Conqueror's suit, with the same kind of data breakdown.
"Know why I could mesh your runes with energy?"
"Here's the root of it."
"After comparing them, I found this suit's energy flow matches your rune mechanics by about 70%."
"So, I came to a conclusion."
Tony locked eyes with Ronan.
He didn't say it, but Ronan guessed it.
The way Kang the Conqueror's suit handled energy? It was straight-up Kamar-Taj rune tech!
All of a sudden, something clicked for Ronan.