A Meal

"What did you think about Jack?"

Xandar, the capital.

Inside a futuristic restaurant, Hela set down her cup of Xandar’s signature drink and raised her eyes to ask the man seated directly across from her.

He wore a loose black battle suit, with a red tail coiled around his waist. His hair looked as though he had just survived a cosmic explosion, and once he started eating, his mouth never stopped moving.

Empty plates piled up like a small mountain vanished at a visible rate, while waiters continuously brought one new dish after another to the table.

Long accustomed to Beckett’s eating speed, Hela could not help poking his calf with the tip of her foot beneath the table, signaling for him to stop focusing solely on eating.

One poke, and Beckett did not react.

Two pokes, and Beckett remained unmoved.

Three pokes, and Beckett finally lost his patience.

"What he thinks has nothing to do with me."

He had only one objective: information regarding the Soul Stone. He did not want to know anything else, nor was he willing to know.

"Aren’t you afraid this might be a trap?"

After waiting so long for that answer, the veins on Hela’s forehead throbbed. The more she looked at him, the more she felt that today’s lunch had been a complete waste.

"Father once said—"

"Stop!"

"Keep eating!"

Rolling her eyes, Hela raised a hand to stop Beckett from continuing and gestured for him to hurry up and eat.

"Another ten portions."

"…"

As Hela’s eye twitched, Beckett, now fully unleashed, directly cleaned out the entire restaurant’s stock…

Hela’s wallet ached.

The private savings she had accumulated since childhood had practically all been poured into this single meal.

She should never have added that extra remark, asking Beckett whether he wanted to sit down and discuss the doubts surrounding this operation.

She would pay for lunch, and she could book the entire restaurant so no one else would disturb their discussion.

The result was obvious.

One dared to invite, and the other dared to eat.

"Ma’am, I’m sorry, but we’ve used up all the ingredients in the kitchen. What do you think…?"

The restaurant owner, who had been born and raised on Xandar, had never seen anything like this. Though he was making money, earning it made him feel somewhat uneasy.

That man with a tail coiled around his waist looked cold and fierce just from his appearance. Who knew whether he was some wanted cosmic drifter or gang member?

"It’s fine. Bring us some cooling drinks." Hela covered her forehead and waved for the owner to bring something to drink.

Beckett’s eating had made this entire meal heat her up. She needed to cool down.

"Burp~"

"Meow~"

After finishing his last bite, Beckett let out a full belch in front of Hela for the first time. The orange cat, imitating him, lay sprawled on its back in the soft leather chair, contentedly narrowing its eyes as its pink little paws rubbed its soft, swollen belly.

Xandar’s food really was rather delicious.

"Full now? Can we finally have a proper talk?"

Taking a sip of the icy cooling drink, Hela looked at him coldly.

"There’s nothing to discuss. Jack Jones is just Jack Jones."

"You want information about the Frost Giant colluding with Xandar, and I want news about the Soul Stone. He happens to know both. That is enough."

"If he breaks his promise, then he will pay an extremely painful price."

Beckett rose to his feet, tapped the table with his right index finger, then bent down toward Hela. His black pupils were filled with chilling sharpness.

"Father once said that promises must never be broken lightly, because the cost of breaking one is exceptionally severe."

Hela frowned. Their eyes met, and she could not see even the slightest trace of a joke on Beckett’s face. There was only sincerity.

"Are you serious?"

Hela wanted to laugh.

Did the Dark Order have no idea how they had risen to power?

And they were talking about promises.

"Of course."

Beckett turned and left, raising his right hand behind him as his figure gradually disappeared around the restaurant’s corner. Only his upright index finger remained conspicuously glaring beneath the midday sunlight outside the window.

"Father has always done things this way. So have I." That was why Beckett never made promises lightly.

As a father, Thanos had fulfilled everything he had ever said to Beckett.

Including never betraying a promise he had made.

This was also why, as Beckett grew older, Thanos’s image in his heart became ever more towering.

He pressed forward through hardship solely for the balance of the universe, and gathered the Infinity Stones only to solve overpopulation.

His will was firm, his shoulders bore a heavy burden, and his heart had never wavered.

Even under such circumstances, Thanos had never broken a promise.

After the Centaurian race’s rebellion had been suppressed, and after nearly massacring the entire Centaurian race, Thanos had still kept his promise. He sent Chakel Yondu’s family out of the Centaurus Galaxy and into a safe galaxy.

He could easily have killed Yondu’s family as well, but he had not done so.

"Your Highness Beckett, wait for me!" Already full and satisfied, The Other grabbed the orange cat by the back of its neck as it lounged comfortably in the leather chair. Holding his scepter in one hand, he sprinted after Beckett’s departing figure and left the restaurant.

They looked exactly like they had eaten without paying and were trying to flee.

"That guy…"

"No, what was I going to tell him again?"

Only after Beckett left did Hela remember why she had invited him to this meal in the first place.

Looking at the menu packed full of dishes before her, Hela’s face darkened like the bottom of a pot.

She could already foresee herself emptying out all her private savings.

"Mother was right. Men’s mouths are nothing but lying ghosts."

Hela gritted her teeth inwardly. When she called to pay, the owner flashed a mouthful of white teeth and told her, "That gentleman already settled the bill, ma’am."

"He already paid?"

Hela paused halfway through taking out her card, then looked out the window.

Her excellent eyesight allowed her to clearly see the figure walking down the street.

He wore a loose black battle suit, with a tail coiled around his waist and an orange cat drowsy after its meal sprawled over his shoulder.

"Your Highness Beckett, why did you pay the bill?"

The Other, following closely behind Beckett, was utterly puzzled.

Although this amount of money was not much to Beckett, Hela had said at the beginning that she would treat them to this meal.

"That’s right. I said I would pay for this meal."

A woman’s voice sounded immediately after The Other’s. Hela, her graceful figure wrapped in tight black clothing, appeared directly across the road from Beckett.

Leaning against a streetlamp, her arms crossed over her chest, she blocked Beckett’s path.

Beckett put away the switch he had been playing with and walked straight up to Hela. Thanks to his advantage in height, he looked down at her. "I just don’t want to owe you a favor."

"Don’t block the road. Move."

Beckett’s tone was as impolite as ever. Hela raised her brows and stepped aside.

That thing had been given to him by Vanessa before she left, hadn’t it?

The Cosmic Switch containing the remaining divine energy.

"Hey, Beckett, want to consider joining forces?"