The moment Tony Stark touched down, he immediately had JARVIS run a full internal and external scan on Ryan Cole.
What puzzled Tony was this—
Ryan had changed, sure.
But compared to Tony himself, Pepper, and even Happy Hogan, Ryan's transformation was noticeably… muted.
"Looks like you used the gene optimization serum too," Tony said as he stepped off the platform, mechanical arms helping him disengage the armor."But wow—your results are kind of underwhelming."
With the armor removed, Tony's former short-and-stocky build was gone.
He now stood close to six-two, his muscles sharply defined even under a tight combat suit, his proportions balanced and powerful in a way that practically screamed enhanced human.
That said, Tony didn't believe for a second that Ryan had shortchanged himself.
"Yeah," Ryan replied casually, ignoring the jab, "definitely not as dramatic as yours or Pepper's."
"So?" he added with a grin."How does it feel, Tony? Pretty damn amazing, right?"
Tony wanted to argue.
But he couldn't.
He did love how his body felt now.
That enjoyment vanished the moment his eyes landed on the champagne glasses in Pepper's and Ryan's hands.
His expression soured instantly.
"Amazing?" Tony snorted."Then explain why after using that stuff, I eat more than Happy."
"Totally normal," Ryan said, dropping onto the couch and shrugging."I told you—different physiques, different outcomes."
"The bigger your appetite, the bigger the gains. You of all people should understand that."
"Hmph."
Knowing he couldn't win that argument, Tony stalked to the bar and poured himself champagne.
What he didn't realize was that while JARVIS had been scanning Ryan—
Ryan had scanned him.
No machines.Just eyes.
In the span of a few casual sentences, detailed schematics of Tony's latest armor iteration—and Tony's biological data—were already being transmitted via ambient signals to Stellar, Ryan's AI.
Stellar immediately began deep analysis.
Armor structure.Materials.Energy flow.Subsystem integration.
Everything was cross-referenced against its existing database, refining designs for a new powered exosuit.
As for how Ryan pulled this off under JARVIS's surveillance—
Simple.
It was another side effect of Divine Blood, granting limited control over multiple electromagnetic and informational waveforms.
Nowhere near the god-tier state Lucy achieved at full capacity—but more than enough for Ryan's current needs.
He even took the opportunity to quietly skim JARVIS's data core, hoping to borrow concepts to improve Stellar's hardware bottleneck.
Unfortunately, while impressive, JARVIS still fell short of Stellar's long-term upgrade requirements.
And Stellar itself was due for a major evolution soon.
"Let's hope you're right," Tony muttered darkly, completely unaware he'd just been harvested for data again.
Pepper, as always, smoothed things over, joking lightly until the atmosphere relaxed.
As Ryan expected, after a bit of small talk, Tony finally revealed the real reason he'd asked to meet.
The mid-tier gene optimization serum.
Its effects were incredible—but not permanent.
To maintain peak condition, one dose per year was required. Skip it long enough, and physical decline was inevitable.
"So," Ryan said, swirling his champagne,"you're thinking of buying a thirty-year supply in one go?"
"What?" Tony scoffed, slipping into awkward accented Chinese."Planning to gouge me?"
"No," Ryan shook his head."I'm not planning to sell it anymore. At least, not for now."
"What?" Tony snapped upright.
"Tony," Ryan said calmly, draining his glass,"you do know what reverse engineering is, right?"
Tony's expression stiffened.
Previous deals had been expensive—but fair.
Especially when survival was on the line.
This request, though dressed up as a transaction, carried… intent.
"So what?" Tony pressed."You're cutting me off? Or holding it hostage?"
"Neither," Ryan said lightly."I said temporarily. Not forever."
"And hostage? Hard to threaten someone with something I'm not selling."
"You—!"
Tony was speechless.
"Relax," Ryan said, turning serious."I was never planning to profit off the gene serum."
"You and Pepper will keep getting it for free."
"Free?" Tony blinked.
"Free," Ryan confirmed.
"No conditions?"
"Tony," Ryan sighed theatrically,"That hurts. I thought we'd earned the word friend by now."
"Friends help each other. Since when do friends attach conditions?"
Tony rolled his eyes.
He desperately wanted to say:If we're friends, hand over the formula.
But considering Ryan could just as easily say the same about arc reactors and Iron Man tech—
He swallowed the thought.
Besides, Tony had already tried analyzing the serum.
Too little material.No scalable reverse engineering.
Otherwise, he'd never have asked for a thirty-year bulk order.
As the tension crept back in, Pepper stepped in once more.
"Actually," Ryan said after a moment,"there is something we can collaborate on."
"Collaboration?" Tony asked."Using Stark Industries' distribution network?"
Despite ignoring corporate matters most days, Tony was no business amateur.
"Exactly," Ryan said."I'll outsource operations to Stark Industries."
"Trust me—you won't lose on this deal."
He pulled out a sleek, futuristic-looking bottle and placed it on the table.
"NEW?" Pepper read aloud, confused."Ryan… what is this?"
"A drink," Ryan said casually."A biological beverage. NEW is the brand name."
Tony immediately leaned forward.
"A biological drink?""What does it do?"
"It's a derivative of the gene optimization serum," Ryan explained."More accurately—a weakened version."
"You've already felt the effects."
"Obviously, it can't compare to the mid-tier serum."
"So this is the collaboration?" Tony asked, taking the bottle from Pepper.
"Interested?" Ryan smiled.
"I am," Tony said instantly."How are we splitting profits?"
"If you're interested, that's enough," Ryan waved it off."Details like that don't need us CEOs stressing over them."
"Let Pepper's team handle it."
"Your secretaries?" Tony scoffed."You sure about that?"
"No," Ryan shook his head."I'll assign a new secretary. Someone qualified."
He stood abruptly.
"Perfect timing—she just arrived."