Yondu and Star-Lord

Faced with Ego’s invitation, Star-Lord hesitated before saying, "Let’s wait. We accepted Blood God’s commission to protect Sovereign, and there’s still over a month left."

The truth was, Star-Lord simply didn’t know how to face Ego.

Ego said sincerely, "I’ll help you protect it, and we can talk more while we’re at it. Star-Lord, please give me a chance to make it up to you."

"Stay at Starport for now. My head’s a mess. Come find me tomorrow."

Avoiding Ego’s eyes, Star-Lord spoke. Ego did not force him and merely nodded. "All right. I’ll wait for you tomorrow."

"Okay."

Star-Lord nodded, then turned and left with a complicated expression. Gamora and Rocket hurried after him.

Watching Star-Lord’s back, a glint flashed through Ego’s eyes. At that moment, he sensed something and turned toward Sovereign. Someone there was watching him. If he was right, it was Blood God’s avatar possessing Gladiator’s body.

"Is that a warning?"

Ego sneered disdainfully. "I don’t even care about your true body, much less a mere avatar."

On Sovereign, Wang Bert withdrew his gaze and said coldly, "He didn’t leave. That means Sovereign is his target. Too bad we haven’t found his true body. Otherwise, this would be much simpler."

Carol, who had flown back, asked, "Master, what exactly is he?"

"I’m not sure, but we can ask Yondu."

Wang Bert said, "He was the one who took Star-Lord away back then. He should know something."

Carol said, "Then let’s ask him. That guy is dangerous."

Wang Bert nodded and took out his communicator to contact Yondu—he had specifically left Yondu a communicator last time.

Yondu was enjoying himself with a beautiful robot woman on Contraxia when he answered Wang Bert’s call. His face changed drastically, and he hurriedly shouted, "Blood God, don’t let that guy take Quill away! He’s up to no good."

Wang Bert knowingly asked, "Isn’t he Star-Lord’s father?"

Yondu had the robot woman beside him shut down, then said, "He is Quill’s father, but he wants to kill Quill. I’m not lying. I found him over a hundred children, and every one of them was killed by him.

"That’s why I didn’t hand Quill over to him. That guy is a monster."

Carol was shocked. "He killed his own children? Is he even human?"

"Obviously not. Calling him a beast would be an insult to beasts."

Wang Bert said, "Yondu, I’ll open a portal for you. Come over and explain everything in detail."

"Fine, I’ll be right there."

Yondu immediately agreed. The next second, a portal appeared, and he strode through it.

Carol gave Yondu a disgusted look. This guy had delivered over a hundred children to Ego. He was scum too.

"I didn’t know back then. I thought I was helping fathers and children reunite."

Yondu noticed Carol’s disgust and said, "Besides, he may have killed far more than a hundred children. The ground beneath that planet is packed with bones."

Carol snorted. "An ignorant accomplice is still an accomplice. Besides, are there any good people among the Ravagers?"

"The Ravagers have rules. We’re not those trash space pirates."

Yondu shouted unhappily. Though he had been expelled from the Ravagers Alliance, he was still proud to be a Ravager.

Carol sneered. Changing pirates’ name didn’t make them any less pirates. Wang Bert asked, "Stop arguing. Yondu, what exactly is Ego?"

"I don’t know. All I know is that he has a planet, and he’s unimaginably powerful."

Yondu said, "Also, you might not believe this, but Ego’s planet can move. Not orbiting or rotating—it moves like a spaceship.

"I met with him in different star systems several times."

"A moving planet?"

Carol was greatly surprised. After traveling the universe for so many years, she had never seen a planet like that.

Wang Bert said, "The universe truly is full of wonders."

Yondu said anxiously, "Blood God, let me take Quill and run. There’s still time."

"You think Star-Lord would go with you?"

Wang Bert shook his head. "In his heart, you’re the big demon who wants to eat him."

Yondu said unhappily, "That brat doesn’t know what’s good for him. If not for me, he would’ve been eaten long ago."

Wang Bert laughed. "You’re too reserved. You should tell him how you feel, then tell him a hundred times a day that you love him. We Earthlings are more expressive with our emotions."

"That sounds disgusting. Besides, who says I love him? I’d rather that brat died."

Yondu looked thoroughly disgusted. He asked, "Blood God, what are you planning to do? Star-Lord is your subordinate."

"And you say you don’t care? Don’t worry, I won’t abandon one of my people."

Wang Bert smiled. "We’ll wait and see. What came here is only an energy avatar. Killing it would be pointless and would only alert him."

"For now, that’s all we can do."

Yondu nodded, though his eyes flickered uneasily.

In the middle of the night, Yondu secretly went to Star-Lord’s room. Star-Lord had set up warning measures in advance, so the moment Yondu entered, he woke up and grabbed the gun beside his bed, aiming it at Yondu as he approached.

"Yondu?"

Seeing Yondu’s blue skin and finned head, Star-Lord was shocked. Then he thought of something and cried out in terror, "You’re finally here to eat me?"

This was Star-Lord’s greatest childhood trauma—a human child from Earth, abducted by a group of monstrous-looking aliens who told him every day that they were going to eat him. How could that not leave scars? In the beginning, Star-Lord even had nightmares every night. His current carefree, goofy personality was directly related to what he had suffered as a child.

Yondu felt awkward at those words. His ship had been full of rough men, without a single woman among them. How could they have known how to raise a child? They had just raised him any which way and figured it was enough as long as he grew up.

Maybe I should try Blood God’s method.

Yondu hesitated, then said, "Quill, I never planned to eat you. I always saw you as… as… Damn it, how am I supposed to say something so disgusting?"

How could someone like Yondu say anything mushy or heartfelt?

Star-Lord finally calmed down and asked coldly, "Yondu, what are you doing here? Let me tell you, I’m not only protected by Blood God now, I’ve also got an incredibly powerful father."

"Your father is a monster."

Yondu snorted and explained everything. Then he said, "That’s why I didn’t hand you over to him, Quill. You have to leave with me immediately. That monster is terrifying. We’re no match for him."

"Ego wants to kill me?"

Star-Lord was stunned, then shouted, "That’s impossible! Yondu, you think I’d fall for that? You’re obviously afraid Ego will retaliate against you, so you want to trick me away and use me as a hostage."

Yondu was furious. "Idiot! If I were really afraid of Ego’s retaliation, why would I risk coming here? There’s no time. Come with me now."

"You’d be that kind-hearted?"

Star-Lord sneered. "Yondu, I don’t trust you. Come with me to see Ego. You can confront each other face-to-face and clear this up."

Yondu snapped, "Idiot, going to see Ego now is just walking into death!"

"Trusting you would be walking into death."

Star-Lord shouted, "You used to chase me down every day, and now you’re risking your life to save me? Do you think I’m an idiot?"

Yondu could no longer hold back and shouted, "It’s because I see you as my child! When have I ever truly hurt you? Whenever you screwed up, didn’t I always take the blame for you?"

"My child? You mean you see me as your son? Is it Father’s Day today? Why do I suddenly have so many dads?"

Star-Lord froze for a moment, then scoffed. "Yondu, can you stop making such disgusting jokes? Is there a father who wants to eat his own son every day?"

Yondu said, "It was just a joke. A funny joke."

Star-Lord cursed, "It wasn’t funny at all!"

"But everyone laughed every time."

"You all laughed. I didn’t."

The two began arguing. Yondu sighed and said, "Quill, whether you believe it or not, I really care about you."

Just then, Gamora, having heard the argument, pushed open the door and entered. Hearing Yondu’s words, she froze briefly, then backed away and said, "Sorry, I interrupted."

In the middle of the night, two men were alone in the same room, and one told the other, ‘I really care about you.’ What else could anyone think? Yondu and Star-Lord both froze, then Star-Lord snapped, "Interrupted my ass! Gamora, you’ve got it wrong! I don’t know what Yondu took, but he came here in the middle of the night saying he wants to be my dad."

"Dad?"

Gamora blinked. Yondu said, "Gamora, close the door. Help me convince Quill."

After that, Yondu explained Ego’s situation again. Gamora frowned and said, "I thought there was something wrong with that Ego from the start. Sure enough, he’s no good."

Star-Lord said unhappily, "Gamora, why are you saying that too? He’s my father, and that bastard Yondu can’t be trusted at all."

"Quill, even an idiot like Drax can tell Yondu treats you well."

Gamora sighed. Star-Lord snorted. "There’s something wrong with all your eyes. Yondu, come with me and confront Ego. Blood God is here, so Ego can’t do anything to us. Let’s go."

With that, Star-Lord reached for Yondu’s arm. Yondu frowned, preparing to forcibly take Star-Lord away. At that moment, a small silver hammer suddenly appeared behind Star-Lord and struck him down with one blow.

"Quill!"

Yondu and Gamora were both shocked. Then Wang Bert’s projection appeared and said, "Yondu, I told you it was useless."

Yondu said, "How would I know it was useless if I didn’t try? Besides, I could knock Quill out and take him away."

Wang Bert said, "What good would that do? With Star-Lord’s abilities, he’d escape sooner or later. Yondu, leave Star-Lord here. I’ll resolve this completely, and you won’t have to keep running afterward."

"Blood God, with Quill’s personality, once he wakes up, he’ll definitely go ask Ego for answers."

Gamora said worriedly, "Most of the time, he has no brains at all—except when he’s chasing women."

"Don’t worry. He won’t remember what just happened."

Wang Bert explained the Memory Hammer’s function, then said, "Gamora, stay by Star-Lord’s side and observe Ego in secret. Yondu, stay on Sovereign and don’t stir up any more trouble."

Yondu said irritably, "I won’t do anything else. I never thought that brat trusted me so little. I raised him for nothing."

"I think you should reflect on yourself."

Wang Bert shook his head. With a wave of his hand, he and Yondu vanished together. Gamora looked at Star-Lord lying on the floor, with no intention of helping him up, then turned and left.

Inside the egg-shaped spaceship, Ego waved to Mantis and said, "I’m in a good mood today. You don’t need to help me sleep."

"Yes."

Mantis, dressed in green with two antennae on her forehead and unnervingly large eyes, nodded respectfully and got up to leave.

After Mantis left, Ego spoke as if talking to himself. "Grandmaster, you’re too timid. There’s no need to scout anything out. Blood God isn’t here, but even if he were, so what? I’m a Celestial."

Grandmaster’s figure suddenly appeared across from Ego. He said, "We can’t be careless with Blood God. Ego, you are indeed powerful, but Blood God is certainly no weakling. Scout first. Once we’re ready here, we’ll launch the attack with you."

"Whatever you say. I happen to need some time to teach my son."

Ego hesitated, then said, "Grandmaster, I actually have a better plan. Do you want to hear it?"

Grandmaster smiled. "As long as it can kill Blood God and win this wager, I’m willing to hear any plan."

"I planted seeds on many planets, including Sovereign. As long as I activate those seeds, Sovereign will be devoured and become part of me."

Ego said, "That way, you can easily win this wager."

"You want to devour planets?"

Grandmaster was shocked. Ego actually had such enormous ambitions? "I merely wish to reproduce and spread. It is the instinct of life."

Ego said calmly, "I spent countless years preparing for this. Now, I will finally succeed."

Grandmaster looked at Ego and slowly said, "Why tell me this? You should know the Elders of the Universe would never allow such a thing."

"The other Elders of the Universe wouldn’t allow it, but you would, because you’re a bastard who will do anything to win."

Ego said calmly, "There is far more blood on your hands than on mine."

"I do it to protect the universe."

Grandmaster thought for a moment, then said, "Blood God and the others will stop you."

Ego smiled. "Exactly. When that happens, they will definitely attack my planet. But that is my home ground. With your preparations added in, Blood God and the others will certainly die."

Grandmaster’s eyes lit up. "You mean, deploy those things on your planet?"

"Yes. Deploy them on my planet, then wait at our leisure for Blood God and the others to come and die."

Ego nodded. "Grandmaster, my plan combined with yours is foolproof. Even if Blood God truly is as terrifying as you say, he’ll still die without question."

"If Blood God enters your planet to fight, he’ll certainly die."

Grandmaster thought for a moment, then said, "The problem is that Astronomer and the others will definitely object."

Ego sneered. "Then don’t let them know. You’re the one mainly in charge anyway. Hypocrites like Astronomer love having others do their dirty work."

"Unfortunately, I’m the one who does the dirty work."

Grandmaster snorted and asked, "Ego, how many planets do you intend to devour?"