Ronan had three things to do in Asgard.
Refuse!
Refuse!
And refuse again!
Well, except for taking a treasure from the Asgardian vault.
If there's no benefit, why bother—
Wait, hold up.
Dude, you're facing Hela, the Goddess of Death, okay? Do you even understand how serious this is?
Let's not even get into how powerful she is, but after all, this is still your family's personal business.
The eldest daughter was supposed to inherit the throne, but she didn't see eye to eye with her father about how to run the kingdom. So, daddy dearest chased her down and locked her away in a "cold palace."
Then the eldest son and the younger son grew up and caused their own daytime soap opera drama.
In the end, the younger son overthrew his father, stripping him of his powers, which gave Hela the opportunity to break free from her prison.
After that, it was a back-and-forth battle, ending with Hela and some guy named Surtur, who wields the Eternal Flame, mutually destroying each other.
What a lovely ending.
You lose your home, and those two end up killing each other!
As he thought about it, Ronan had so many things he wanted to say sarcastically.
First of all, with a title as arrogant as hers, and such immense power—not to mention her... uh, physique—Hela's demise was ridiculously theatrical.
The more Ronan thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.
More importantly, now that Loki was gone, the original cause of Ragnarok was also gone.
So why was Ragnarok still going to happen?
Ronan couldn't help but think about something else.
Judging by the way Peter Parker looked, his timeline didn't seem like the main universe.
Could it be that certain plot points were different as well?
For example, what if Hela hadn't just resurrected but hadn't died either?
Let's not forget, Hela's prison was on Earth!
With that thought in mind, Ronan realized that Odin was extremely cunning.
Because he knew that if Hela truly resurrected and they couldn't stop her, the Ancient One would have no choice but to get involved.
After all, Earth was the place where Hela had been sealed, a mark of her disgrace. She'd never allow Earth to continue existing because of that.
At that point, as Earth's protector, the Ancient One would be forced to confront Hela.
No wonder Odin didn't show any displeasure when the Ancient One refused to help earlier.
If they managed to deal with Hela, then the Ancient One's involvement wouldn't matter.
If they couldn't stop Hela, the Ancient One would have to intervene eventually.
Holy crap!
Ronan couldn't help but curse.
He had seriously underestimated these so-called gods.
After living for so many years, their schemes were ridiculously well-played.
So, in the end, Ronan would have to hope that Thor and his crew could handle Hela to prevent her from causing trouble on Earth, right?
With that realization, Ronan glanced at Odin sitting on the throne.
Whether it was a coincidence or not, Odin was also looking at him.
Oh, you sly old man.
Ronan couldn't help but roll his eyes.
And so, a new idea formed in Ronan's mind.
Since there was no escaping this situation, why not make some extra cash on the side? There was no way he'd let Odin get his way without paying up.
At that moment, it seemed Odin had seen through Ronan's thoughts, and his expression became somewhat complicated.
If the Ancient One could see through his schemes, Odin wouldn't feel too surprised.
After all, they were both ancient beings, able to read each other's moves—completely normal.
But Odin was surprised that this young fox in front of him had also figured out his real intentions.
Now, that was not normal!
It made Odin think of his two sons.
Why was there such a huge difference between them?
"As Asgard's friend, are you really going to stand by and do nothing during our time of crisis?"
"I have fought for Earth before, giving it my all, even breaking Asgardian laws."
"Why can't you do the same?"
Thor, clearly unsatisfied with Ronan's response, tried to guilt him into helping.
Oh?
Moral kidnap, is it?
Ronan raised an eyebrow.
He hadn't expected Thor, of all people—with his bold and honest appearance—to resort to moral blackmail.
Ronan had always thought that only shameless types like himself would play this card.
But to see Thor, the "straight-laced god," turn to such tactics... well, wasn't that a surprise?
Yeah, Ronan censored his own thoughts.
"Look, let's just consider this for a moment. Is there any chance, just a possibility, that..."
"When you say you fought for Earth, wasn't it because it was Asgard's responsibility in the first place?"
"Alright, let's set that responsibility aside, so I don't sound like I'm guilt-tripping you."
"But wasn't Earth's crisis caused by your brother?"
"Since your brother caused it, as his big brother, isn't it your job to clean up his mess?"
Ronan's words fired off like a machine gun, leaving Thor riddled with metaphorical bullet holes.
Like he always said, when it came to verbal sparring, Ronan never lost!
And Ronan was right—this whole mess was caused by Asgard's family drama. Why should outsiders have to clean it up?
"I... I..."
Thor struggled to come up with a rebuttal.
He couldn't.
Because everything Ronan said was the truth!
Loki had caused the disaster, and Thor was cleaning it up.
When you think about it, this was clearly Asgard's responsibility.
"Alright, Ronan, stop giving Prince Thor such a hard time."
At that moment, the Ancient One, who had remained silent, finally spoke.
Hearing this, Ronan reluctantly closed his mouth, swallowing the even more brutal words he had ready to fire.
Out of respect for the Ancient One, I'll let you off today, Thor.
Otherwise, I'd show you what it means to be the "unmatched verbal warrior" of the universe!
"Allfather, although I can't break the rules of the Sorcerer Supreme, I can offer this assurance."
"If Asgard faces a future crisis, you are welcome to seek refuge on Earth."
"Kamar-Taj will guarantee your safety."
The Ancient One's statement pretty much closed the book on the matter.
You can fight, no problem, but Kamar-Taj won't get involved.
If you need to retreat to Earth, that's fine. If anyone comes after you, we'll step in.
That was the Ancient One's most generous offer.
"Master, shouldn't we think this over? This doesn't seem very profitable for us..."
Ronan deliberately raised his voice when he said the words "not profitable."
He wasn't hinting at anyone in particular; he just wanted the Asgardians present to understand.
If you want to seek refuge on Earth, no problem.
But you've got to pay protection fees!
Translation: pay up!
And those words, though casually spoken, reached Odin's ears perfectly.
Far from being angry, Odin actually smiled.
Asgard had plenty of wealth!
After all, they had waged wars for years and collected treasures from all over the realms.
So money? For them, that was nothing!
"In that case, I must thank the Sorcerer Supreme for her kindness."
"We may need to purchase a place on Earth to lay low, somewhere we can hide our identities."
"So, we will trouble you with this matter."