Tony Stark was genuinely shaken by what Ryan had just said.
Ever since discovering that the palladium plates were poisoning him, Iron Man had been desperately searching for a replacement element.
JARVIS had scoured every known material database, pushed every simulation to the limit—
And still, nothing.
Nothing that could replace palladium and keep him alive.
As the shock settled in, Tony's mind immediately jumped to the crumpled note he'd just thrown away—the one that explicitly mentioned new element synthesis.
But that raised a question.
If Ryan already possessed that technology, why list it as a bargaining chip?
Unfortunately, no matter how Tony pressed, questioned, or even threatened to terminate the deal outright, he couldn't squeeze a single useful answer out of Ryan.
Ryan wasn't particularly worried that Tony would actually walk away.
But he also had no intention of souring relations with Iron Man completely.
Seeing the atmosphere turn awkward, Ryan smiled and spoke up.
"Iron Man, there's no need to get this worked up. Palladium poisoning and new elements aside—there's actually another deal we can make."
"Oh?" Tony sneered, clearly restraining his temper."Another one of your fair trades?"
"What if," Ryan shrugged casually, "we solved your problem entirely?"
"…Solved it entirely?"
Tony froze.
Almost instinctively, his gaze dropped to his chest.
Because deep down, he knew the truth.
The real root of his problem wasn't the reactor—it was the hole in his chest, and the metal shrapnel lodged dangerously close to his heart, fragments that could kill him at any moment.
Fix that—
And everything else would fall into place.
Seeing the fish finally bite, Ryan smiled.
"That's right. I know exactly how lethal those little souvenirs inside you are."
"And I also know how to remove them completely."
"But this only happens if this deal goes through."
"Otherwise… I'm afraid I can't help."
After a long silence, Tony finally looked up.
"Why should I believe you can actually do this?"
"Simple," Ryan said calmly."I deliver first. Then I get paid."
Tony blinked.
"You're serious?"
"I am. But—" Ryan nodded with a grin.
"But what?" Tony asked immediately, knowing it couldn't be that easy.
Ryan finally revealed the catch.
"We sign a contract first. Otherwise, how do I protect my interests?"
Tony stared at him.
He'd been fully expecting another outrageous demand.
Instead, it was… reasonable. Almost boringly fair.
"You're telling me that once we sign, you'll fix my condition first… and only then collect payment?"
"Exactly," Ryan replied."I trust that America's greatest hero wouldn't play dirty over something like this."
"Of course, if you did… well, I'd just have to accept my fate."
He shrugged, looking every bit like the weaker party.
Tony mulled it over.
Yes, he'd be paying a heavy price—but the risk was minimal.
After weighing the pros and cons, he finally spoke.
"Fine. I accept."
"For payment—I choose ten billion dollars, and the Adamantium alloy formula."
Ryan felt a flicker of disappointment—but only briefly.
Honestly, this outcome wasn't surprising.
Out of all the options he'd listed, those two were the least valuable to Tony.
Ten billion dollars?
To a man who treated Iron Man suits like fireworks just to impress a woman, that amount was no different from a hundred bucks to an ordinary person.
As for Adamantium—
That choice made perfect sense.
Howard Stark had built Captain America's shield back in the 1940s.
Though it was an unrepeatable accident, official lore made it clear the shield was closely tied to Adamantium metallurgy.
And let's be honest—was that alloy valuable?
Absolutely.
Wolverine's claws were Adamantium.In The Wolverine, that Japanese old man wore an entire Adamantium-powered exoskeleton.
Ryan even suspected that Iron Man's absurd resistance to physical and energy attacks—
The borderline cheating-level shock absorption and damping—
Likely came from replicating aspects of Captain America's shield material.
So why weren't Iron Man suits indestructible?
Simple.
Adamantium was a nightmare to process.
And Iron Man suits evolved fast.
From Mark I to Mark XLII—it hadn't even been that many years.
To Tony Stark, an Iron Man suit wasn't a family heirloom.
It was a consumable.
Using a one-time-process alloy like Adamantium for a full suit would be insanely inefficient—cost aside.
That's why Iron Man armor was tough—but not unbreakable like Cap's shield.
There was also the density issue.
A full Adamantium suit without god-tier propulsion might not even get off the ground.
And if Adamantium was so valuable—why give it up?
Because it wasn't exclusive.
If it were, that Japanese man wouldn't have built himself a full-body suit.
William Stryker wouldn't have coated Wolverine's skeleton—or created Lady Deathstrike.
Sure, the X-Men films weren't part of the MCU.
But as parallel worlds with shared foundations, the data still carried weight.
If it wasn't unique, trading it to save his life was an easy call.
Truth be told, Ryan hadn't even been certain Tony had the formula.
After all, the MCU was only entering Phase Two at this point.
Anything beyond Captain America: The Winter Soldier was uncharted territory.
Tony's response confirmed Ryan's guess—if not entirely, then at least partially.
(Regarding Adamantium, don't overthink it—consider this MCU a parallel variant.)
Once the terms were settled, the two quickly signed the agreement.
In reality, the contract itself carried little real binding force.
Compared to Stark Industries, Umbrella Biopharmaceuticals was firefly to moonlight.
If Tony wanted to break it, Ryan had no way to stop him—at least not yet.
Thankfully, Ryan wasn't irreplaceable.
Worst case, he could always take his solution elsewhere.
And with the promise of permanently healing Tony's chest injury, betrayal was unlikely.
It was only then that Pepper Potts, who had overseen the contract drafting, finally realized—
Her boss.
The man she cared for.
Was dying of palladium poisoning.
After Tony spent a long, exhausting stretch calming her down and sending her away, he turned to Ryan, who was pocketing his copy of the contract.
"Alright. We've signed."
"Show me your sincerity."
"No problem," Ryan said."Let's begin with step one."
He paused under Tony's intense stare.
"Contact S.H.I.E.L.D. immediately."
"And retrieve the item your father—Howard Stark—left behind for you."
Tony shot to his feet.
"You said what?!"