"So you're knocking on the door just to show off your tech?"
Marcus opened the door and looked at Tony with a raised eyebrow. If this guy wasn't designing equipment, what else would he be up to?
"Of course not. I'm just curious what you've been doing locked in your room every day," Tony replied.
He was genuinely curious, especially about Marcus's armor. He desperately wanted to know who had made it.
Howard, his father?
The thought had crossed his mind, but he'd quickly dismissed it. If his father could create such powerful armor, he would've definitely left behind design schematics.
Moreover, technology from more than ten years ago couldn't possibly match current capabilities. If tech back then had reached this level, wouldn't that mean they were experiencing technological regression now?
But if someone else made it, Tony found that hard to believe too. After all, he was the top scientist around, and even he couldn't create that kind of armor. Could scientists from a decade ago really have managed it?
"Oh, is that what you're wondering? See for yourself."
Marcus stepped aside, revealing the room's interior. The entire space was filled with rusty equipment and weapons, styled like European artifacts from hundreds of years ago.
"Are you into Renaissance collectibles? Where did you get all these antiques?"
Tony picked up a rusty dagger from the floor, waved it a few times, then tossed it back down.
"Renaissance? These things aren't from that era."
Marcus picked up a shield from the ground and pointed to the clover-like pattern in its center.
"Does this look familiar?"
Tony, who hadn't paid much attention before, finally saw it clearly under Marcus's guidance. With a surprised expression, he picked up another piece of rusty equipment from the floor.
Examining it carefully, a familiar pattern soon appeared before his eyes.
"Isn't this the same design that's on Thor's hammer?"
"Now you see it. These all came from Asgard."
"You've been to Asgard?" Tony asked, bewildered.
No wonder Marcus had disappeared for a while. He must have gone to Asgard—but why would they invite him?
Full of questions, Tony looked at Marcus, waiting for an explanation.
"I don't have access to the Bifrost. How could I go to Asgard? These were sent from there."
Sent from Asgard?
Thor didn't owe Marcus anything, so why would he send this scrapped equipment?
Just as Tony was about to ask, Marcus continued:
"Don't ask how they got here. These things are yours now."
Marcus had already extracted the energy from the equipment, gaining seven Aya Starss. Added to the seven he already had, the Aya Starss in his possession had again reached double digits—fourteen in total.
"Mine? Why would I need this scrap metal?"
Tony was baffled. He wasn't an antique collector. To him, these were glorified hunks of junk.
"These are all Asgardian equipment. Don't forget where the Destroyer came from!"
Now Tony realized that these metals from Asgard might have special properties.
Though probably not as remarkable as the Destroyer, compared to Earth metals, their performance would likely be vastly superior.
"Come to think of it, Thor's friends had impressive gear. Even if these aren't as good as their equipment, they're probably not far off."
At this thought, Tony became excited. He could potentially use these materials to manufacture specialized equipment.
Destroyer fragments and vibranium alloys were limited in quantity, so naturally those had to be reserved for critical components. But these metals were different—available in large quantities, they could be used to create all sorts of special equipment.
"Jarvis, send all these ancient weapons to the furnace."
"Wait, there's something else you should check out too," Marcus interjected.
He hadn't just extracted energy from these weapons. Odin's swift ship, which he'd also drained, was currently docked outside Tony's mansion.
Taking Tony to the dock, among various yachts, a gray and silver sailboat came into view.
"Where did this ship come from? Are those wings meant to make it fly?"
"What do you think? This is a genuine 'spaceship,' also from Asgard."
Tony felt he might need time to process Marcus's words. He couldn't comprehend how such an archaic vessel could possibly fly.
Seeing Tony's skeptical expression, Marcus laughed.
"Don't look so surprised. This ship may appear simple, but it's genuinely an Asgardian spacecraft. Well... at least it can fly in Asgard."
Fortunately, Tony had met Thor, Sif, and the others, even fighting alongside them. With his basic understanding of Asgard, he could accept the concept of a flying ship.
After all, in Tony's eyes, technology was everything. With sufficiently advanced tech, not just a sailboat but even a wheelchair could be transformed into a spacecraft capable of universal travel.
"By the way, if this is an Asgardian ship, does it contain Asgardian technology?"
With that thought, Tony eagerly boarded the vessel to inspect it.
The results were somewhat disappointing. Except for the pair of wings, the sailboat appeared almost identical to an ordinary vessel.
After careful examination, he finally discovered strange energy circuits on the wings and rudder.
"These energy circuits must be what enables this boat to fly, right?"
In Tony's view, Asgardian and Earth technologies existed in completely different paradigms—like the "Einstein-Rosen Bridge" in scientific terms versus the "Bifrost" in Thor's vocabulary. Though referring to the same concept, the specifics differed enormously.
These Asgardian technologies were products of an entirely different civilization. Tony could study them and reproduce similar results in his own way, but to exactly replicate Asgardian tech, he'd probably need to reconstruct their entire technological foundation.
After examining the boat thoroughly, Tony jumped off and declared:
"This is definitely worth researching. Looks like my garage needs another renovation!"
He planned to study the ship in detail, and the only space large enough to accommodate it was his garage.
Fortunately, he had transformed his lab multiple times before. Converting the garage into a research space wouldn't be difficult.
"Jarvis, prepare everything. We're about to start work!"
As he spoke, Tony's body was enveloped by his red nano-suit. Numerous grappling hooks extended from his arms, firmly securing the sailboat before slowly lifting it from the water.
As the vessel rose, several thrusters activated on Tony's suit, guiding the sailboat toward the mansion.
"That guy's adaptability is seriously impressive," Marcus thought.
He genuinely admired Tony's ingenuity. The man's ability to excel as a super-genius must have something to do with his remarkable adaptability and problem-solving skills.
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