Chapter 299

"Earth?"

Gamora and the others were taken aback.

Before they could voice their objections, Star-Lord urgently input Earth's coordinates and began piloting the Milano toward a jump point.

"Get ready!" Star-Lord shouted.

"Wait!" Gamora frowned. "Earth is really far. The number of jumps required—our bodies can't—"

Before she could finish, a series of honeycomb-like grids materialized in front of the Milano.

Whoosh! The ship passed through one of the grids.

In the blink of an eye, they found themselves in an entirely new and unfamiliar location.

Whoosh! The Milano passed through another grid.

Strange and otherworldly sights began unfolding before them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The ship jumped from one space to another, causing Rocket and the others to scream as the distortions from the jumps twisted their bodies. Their faces stretched comically, mouths and eyes enlarged, making them look utterly ridiculous.

This process would continue for hundreds of jumps.

"I… told… you… our bodies… can't handle this…" Gamora said in a strained voice.

Star-Lord defended himself, equally distorted, "I… know… but this… is an emergency!"

While the Milano made its daring jumps, the swarm of remote-controlled Sovereign ships chasing them halted at the jump's edge, unable to follow immediately.

Back on the Sovereign homeworld, the golden-skinned operators controlling the fleet let out curses of frustration.

"Damn it!"

"They got away!"

The Sovereign grumbled angrily, their golden fingers hovering over game-like controls.

At the highest seat, High Priestess Ayesha turned toward the fleet commander, her tone sharp. "Why are we making no progress? So many ships, and you couldn't stop a single one?"

"This makes us look incompetent!"

The golden-haired fleet commander quickly explained, "High Priestess, those batteries are highly volatile. One wrong move could destroy our entire fleet."

Ayesha's face darkened. "I care not about the fleet. I care about the insult!"

"I hired them, and they stole from us! That is the ultimate blasphemy!" she fumed.

Hearing her anger, the fleet commander realized now was not the time to worry about potential losses.

"Attention all ships! Fire at will! Pursue them until they are eliminated!"

At his command, the Sovereign operators, sitting at their arcade-like controls, sent their ships surging forward.

In space, a dense swarm of golden ships zipped through the grids, resuming their interstellar pursuit of the Milano.

As the Milano emerged into a dark expanse during one of its jumps, Rocket glanced out of the window and noticed something unusual.

Floating there, bathed in a faint white glow, was an egg-shaped ship. Standing atop it was a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair and a thick beard, waving at them casually.

"Is that… a person?" Rocket's triangular face contorted in disbelief.

How was someone standing unprotected in the vacuum of space, unharmed, and even waving like it was no big deal?

"Forget it! The jump point is right ahead!" Star-Lord dismissed the sight and piloted the Milano into the next jump, leaving the strange figure behind.

Moments later, the pursuing Sovereign ships arrived, following them through the jump point.

Not long after, the egg-shaped ship and its bearded occupant reappeared at the same location.

This man was none other than Ego, the Living Planet—a Celestial with a massive brain who had constructed a planetary body for himself by manipulating molecular matter.

"Finally, the seed I planted years ago has grown into an adult," Ego said, gazing in the direction the Milano had disappeared, a pleased smile on his face.

He couldn't help but reminisce.

Ego didn't know where he had come from. For as long as he could remember, he had been drifting through the universe, utterly alone.

Over millions of years, he learned to manipulate the molecules around him, growing increasingly intelligent and powerful.

Eventually, he constructed a planetary body to encase his brain, layer by layer, until it became a complete planet.

But he wasn't satisfied.

Ego sought purpose. He believed there must be other lifeforms in the vast cosmos and dedicated himself to finding them.

To interact with the universe, he created a humanoid avatar—his imagined ideal of life. He designed every detail meticulously, from pain receptors to a digestive system.

Through this avatar, he traveled the galaxy.

Eventually, he found Meredith Quill, Star-Lord's mother, on Earth and fathered a child with her.

Star-Lord was the only offspring who had inherited his Celestial powers.

Recently, Ego had heard about a human on Earth called the White Knight, who wielded the Power Stone without harm. This anomaly piqued his interest.

Mortals couldn't handle the Power Stone, yet someone had.

At first, Ego thought the White Knight might be his child, as he had left a seedling on Earth years ago.

However, further investigation revealed that the White Knight wasn't his progeny. Instead, another person present during those events surprised him—Star-Lord.

Star-Lord was his son, the only one to inherit his divine powers.

This was miraculous. Ego had sired countless children across the universe, but none had ever inherited his abilities—except this one.

Star-Lord possessed an affinity for light elements and even the ability to control light itself.

With this knowledge, Ego set out to find Star-Lord, intending to reunite with him.

But Ego's intentions weren't purely sentimental.

He sought to fulfill his grand plan: to make every planet in the universe part of his being. While one Celestial might struggle to achieve this, with two, it seemed possible.

For this, he needed Star-Lord.

"The White Knight…"

Ego's thoughts lingered on this mysterious figure, puzzled and intrigued by his identity.

(End of Chapter)

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