In an instant, a blinding emerald beam shot from the tip of the wand like thunder, tearing through the silent universe. Wherever the beam passed, space itself seemed to twist, and the light of the surrounding stars dimmed beneath its overwhelming power.
In a heartbeat, the disintegration beam crossed an enormous distance through the quiet depths of space like an peerless blade forged from magic, striking the center of Taserface's ship with absolute precision. The ship's shields erupted into dazzling sparks the moment they touched the beam, like tens of thousands of fireflies exploding at once as they tried to intercept it.
But under the terrifying power of the disintegration beam, the shields were nothing more than thin paper. They were pierced through in an instant. The ship's hull began to collapse at a visible speed, the metal twisting and warping like butter melting under high heat before breaking apart inch by inch.
Fragments scattered through space, drawing brilliant yet fleeting trails across the darkness, but before they could drift far, they were broken down again by the disintegration beam and reduced to the most basic particles.
After the outer shell was torn apart, the various devices and pipelines inside Taserface's ship were exposed. As they rapidly disintegrated, energy from the damaged power systems burst out like silver snakes, thrashing wildly in every direction.
A few seconds later, the energy core began to flicker unstably under the violent impact. The red light grew brighter and brighter until, at last, it exploded.
Although there was no sound in the vacuum of space, that powerful energy shock still spread outward in visible ripples. Dazzling light instantly illuminated the surrounding cosmic space, dyeing everything a piercing green.
When the light gradually faded, the small ship had already vanished. Only a field of drifting wreckage remained, as if silently recounting what had just happened.
And in the communication feed, Taserface's ugly face also disappeared from the panel.
Looking at the little red dot that had vanished from the radar, Rocket Raccoon spread his hands and mocked, "Look at that. That ignorant idiot had no idea what he was facing, so he disappeared from the universe."
Star-Lord walked up beside Harry, excitedly clenched his fist, and said, "Whoa, that was so cool. Harry, do I have any chance of using that level of power? That was almost as strong as a starship's main cannon!"
Relying on Star-Lord himself, of course, that would be impossible. But he could sacrifice his father!
So Harry smiled meaningfully and said, "Of course. If nothing unexpected happens, you'll have this power very soon. Don't forget that your father is a Celestial."
As long as Ego's consciousness was completely annihilated and his planet-sized brain was turned into an energy battery, that energy battery would not only be able to power the floating city, but also transmit energy to Star-Lord.
At that point, Star-Lord, possessing a portion of a Celestial's power, would see his strength rise exponentially and truly take off from then on.
Before long, the Ravager ship's systems finished rebooting. Rocket Raccoon called out to everyone, "System reboot complete. We should go. We'll reach Ego's Planet again in about three days!"
"Wait. There's no need for that much trouble." Under everyone's confused gazes, Harry drew his wand, and a portal several kilometers in diameter formed in front of them. On the other side was the beautiful Ego. "We can teleport directly there."
Everyone fell silent again.
Although they did not know exactly how much energy it took to create such a massive portal, they did know how much staggering energy a starship several kilometers across required to jump. Opening a portal directly from this part of space to Ego's Planet required enough energy to power the Ravager ship for months of travel.
Even if magic consumed less power, the amount still could not be small.
So, this was the world of top-tier powerhouses?
Harry's body did not look as enormous as a Celestial's, so how exactly did he contain that much energy?
Rocket Raccoon suddenly realized there were still many things he did not understand. This question had truly stumped him.
No one noticed that Yondu, standing to the side, was staring blankly at Ego's Planet on the other side of the portal. He looked as if he wanted to speak but stopped himself.
Before he could remind the Guardians of the Galaxy, however, Harry stopped him.
Harry's voice sounded in Yondu's mind. "There's no need to warn them. With me protecting them, Ego is not a threat."
Yondu glanced at Harry in surprise, but his gaze did not linger on him for long. Instead, he turned his head and pretended to look at the scenery outside the window while communicating with Harry in his mind.
"Harry, I know you're strong, but that's a Celestial. If he means Quill and the others harm, you might not be able to stop him!"
"No. Don't worry. You should know that I once defeated Mephisto in the Hell dimension, and he is far stronger than Ego. I have a plan. If this plan succeeds, Star-Lord will permanently obtain a Celestial's power. He'll also be able to fully perfect his genes and become the next Captain Marvel in the universe," Harry persuaded him.
Yondu fell silent again for a moment, but in the end, he agreed.
Harry was indeed powerful. He very likely could protect Quill from Ego. More importantly, if Harry's plan truly succeeded, then Quill would become the next Captain Marvel. Even when facing a powerful civilization, he would have the initial right to speak for himself, and he would never again have to live such a wandering, unstable life.
It had to be said that for Star-Lord's future, Yondu was completely convinced by Harry.
The group soon returned to Ego's Planet, but this time, they brought a massive spaceship with them.
Ego stood on the planet's surface, watching the spaceship slowly fly out of the portal with a deep gaze. He knew he could no longer proceed according to his original plan. He had to speed things up. Only then could he devour all the energy from the other planets before Harry Potter noticed anything strange.
Ego adjusted his expression, and his face soon returned to its kind, benevolent look.
He arrived beneath the Ravager ship and waited for it to land. Then he said to the group coming down from the ship, "Welcome back!"
Ego turned and swept his gaze over everyone. When he realized Yondu was not there, he could not help asking curiously, "Where is Yondu? Why don't I see him? Although there were some misunderstandings between us, he did raise my child, so I can forgive him."
Star-Lord curled his lip and complained, "Right before we were about to cross through the portal, Yondu suddenly told us he had to go to Xandar to handle something, then left in a small ship. I really don't know what he's thinking. We had just saved him."
Ego's eyes shifted slightly, and the power gathering at the planet's center gradually calmed down.
Although he did not know why Yondu had not told Star-Lord and the others his true nature, this was undoubtedly beneficial to him. So Ego still planned to slowly persuade Star-Lord. After all, whether Star-Lord willingly acted as his energy battery would greatly affect the battery's efficiency.
Ego smiled and said, "In that case, you can wait for him here. Come, everyone. I've prepared rooms for you. I believe you'll all have a wonderful night."
That night, in Star-Lord's room, Star-Lord sprawled carelessly across the bed, still hugging his faded cassette tape. The melody of "Come and Get Your Love" drifted faintly through the room.
This guy loved music too much. Even when sleeping, he had to fall asleep with music playing.
Suddenly, the lights in the room turned on automatically. In the soft, warm glow, Ego slowly walked in.
"My child, it's time to wake up. There's something I want to discuss with you." Ego's voice carried a reassuring magnetism, waking Peter from his sleep.
He rubbed his eyes and sat up, only to see his father gazing at the holographic photo he had recently hung on the wall. It was a candid shot from their celebration on Xandar. Beside him, the rare smile on Gamora's lips had been frozen forever in the image.
Peter instinctively wrapped the blanket around his chest. "Ego? Why are you here? Don't you need to sleep?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Peter realized how stupid he sounded. Ego's current body was made entirely of energy. Of course he did not need to sleep.
Ego clearly had no intention of laughing at Star-Lord. He raised a hand, his fingertips tracing Gamora's outline in the photo. "Earlier, I saw the way you looked at her. You like this girl, don't you?"
Star-Lord immediately felt a little strange. He had never imagined there would be a day when a parent would care about his love life.
It was an odd feeling, but he did not dislike it. "That's right. I... I like her. I'm pursuing her. She's a good girl, but we've had some conflicts lately..."
Star-Lord rubbed his face in frustration.
A deep, eerie light flickered in Ego's eyes as he stared into Star-Lord's and persuaded him. "Peter, you don't need to be like this. She is merely a passerby in your life, like the stars wandering through the universe. We are eternal. You and I. My power. Your bloodline. We can reshape the entire universe. So sometimes, we must cast aside mortal pleasures."
Although Star-Lord found it a little strange that Ego would say these things to him, he did not think too much about it. He only spread his hands and said, "Sorry, Ego. You might not be mortal, but I..."
"No, Peter. As long as this planet's light continues to shine, your life and mine will be eternal."
"I'll live forever?"
"Mm. Of course!" Ego nodded kindly.
"Really?" Star-Lord gradually became excited.
"That's right, as long as the light does not go out. But you must understand, Peter, that our responsibility is immense. Only we can reshape the universe. Only we can move the fate of the universe and guide it onto the right path!"
"Oh, that's awesome. How do we do it?"
Ego was very satisfied with Star-Lord's reaction. He waved a hand and said, "Peter, come with me."
The two returned to the original hall and arrived in front of an oval-shaped projection device. Ego continued to brainwash Star-Lord.
"Now you must begin to change your attitude toward life. Everything around you, including that girl, everything is temporary. Only we are eternal."
Star-Lord asked doubtfully, "Wouldn't eternity get really boring?"
"Not if you have a purpose. That is why you came here." Ego tapped Star-Lord's forehead and transferred a portion of his memories to him.
The next moment, Star-Lord was instantly lost within the vast memories of a Celestial.
At that moment, his perception became incredibly closely linked with the planet's core-brain. It was as if he were that brain itself. He was the supreme Celestial!
At this time, Ego became excited. Now that things had reached this point, his plan was almost complete.
He projected models of planet after planet into the air with energy and said to Star-Lord, "Look. This is my Expansion. This is my goal, and now it is your goal as well. Over the past several thousand years, I implanted thousands of my seedlings across thousands of planets. I intend to fulfill the ultimate meaning of life, propagation and growth. All life will be replaced. In the end, only we will remain!
"However, I have one problem. The power of a single Celestial is not enough to accomplish all of this. The power required to supply the growth of thousands of seedlings is truly astronomical. So I chose to combine my genes with the genes of other species and attempt to produce a child with Celestial genes. Now, Peter, with you, none of this is a problem. This is the first time in my life. It was you, Peter, who made me understand that I truly am not fighting alone!"
Star-Lord was persuaded, but he still hesitated and asked, "But if that happens, all my friends will die..."
"That is merely your human side causing trouble. That side is useless now. Peter, you must remember that you are a Celestial!"
"What about my mother? You're a Celestial. Did you really love her?"
Ego was silent for a moment, then raised his head with a trace of pain on his face. "That's right. I truly loved her. My river lily knew all the words to every song on my radio. I went back to Earth to see her three times, and I also knew that if I went back to see her one more time, I would never leave. Then the Expansion, the meaning of my life, would have been ruined. So I had no choice but to make a difficult decision. And the hardest part was putting the tumor in her head."
The final sentence exploded in Star-Lord's mind like a thunderbolt, pulling him completely out of the Celestial's massive memories.
At first, he looked slightly confused. Then endless rage engulfed him.
"Wait. What did you just say?"
But Ego had not yet noticed Star-Lord's exact state and said indifferently, "All right, I know that sounds bad, but..."
Before he could finish, Star-Lord picked up both guns and fired wildly, blasting Ego's body into a ragged mess. But what was exposed beneath was only energy veins. There was no blood.
Ego was deeply confused by Star-Lord's actions. "You are overestimating yourself."
Star-Lord's reason had been completely swallowed by fury. He roared, "You killed my mother!"
But after being offended by Star-Lord, Ego behaved even more angrily than he did. "I worked so hard to help you, to shape you into something perfect, and this is how you repay me? You need to mature a little more. You and I could have joined forces, but now I think it would be better for you to spend the next thousand years serving as a battery to replenish my divine power!"
With a heavy swing of his arm, an energy tentacle emerged from behind Star-Lord and lunged fiercely at him, attempting to pierce through his body.
Star-Lord clearly could not react in time. But just as he was about to be pierced by the energy tentacle, a figure appeared out of thin air beside him and blocked the energy tentacle with a single finger.
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