Hearing Star-Lord's words, Ash fell silent. He hadn't expected Star-Lord to trust him so much, even willing to transfer his power to him. If Ash had any ill intentions, Star-Lord's fate would be tragic.
"Perhaps you inherited your mother's kindness, but sometimes, being too kind is not a good thing," Ash said slowly, shaking his head while gazing into Star-Lord's eyes. "I've already told you, my control over this power far surpasses yours. That means if I wanted to, I could do many things with the energy you give me."
"And would you?" Star-Lord countered, meeting Ash's gaze without flinching.
As Star-Lord had admitted earlier, upon learning Ego's true nature, he held no affection for the power he had inherited. To him, avenging his mother was worth any cost—even sacrificing this power. Yet he was aware that he alone lacked the strength to kill Ego or perish alongside him. But Ash, currently restrained, was clearly stronger.
If releasing Ash meant sharing some of his energy, their combined power would surely surpass what he could achieve alone.
"Ego, that wretched monster, managed to produce a son like you. It seems genes don't dictate character after all," Ash remarked with a wry smile, looking earnestly at Star-Lord. "Let's give it a try. Just don't transfer too much divine power at once; I'm worried the vines might absorb it."
With a hum, a faint white glow of divine energy flowed from Star-Lord into Ash. In an instant, the surrounding vines lit up as though trying to consume the energy. But despite the glow, the vines failed to absorb the energy because it didn't belong to Ash.
This was a flaw, or perhaps a safeguard, in Ego's design of the vines. They could only absorb Ash's divine energy. If anything unforeseen happened, Ego wouldn't risk his own power being drained.
As a result, the vines were unable to draw even a trace of Star-Lord's energy, regardless of its density.
"It works!" Ash's eyes lit up with excitement. "But the energy is still too little. It's not enough to break me free."
Ash's condition was visibly improving. If he had previously resembled a skeleton, now he looked closer to a normal person, though still frail.
"Honestly, telling me to hold back on transferring energy was pointless. Even if you wanted a massive transfer, I wouldn't know how!" Star-Lord said, shaking his head. He then focused, sending another slightly denser stream of energy into Ash.
As Star-Lord repeatedly transferred energy, Ash's body seemed to inflate like a balloon. Soon, he stood before Star-Lord as a muscular figure, a physique that made Star-Lord envious.
"Is this the effect of divine power? Why don't I have a body like that?" Star-Lord thought as he eyed Ash's physique.
Although Star-Lord hadn't developed a beer belly yet, his days of lavish indulgence before buying his ship had cost him his abs. His physical strength and speed had also waned slightly. While his combat effectiveness wasn't significantly affected, seeing someone with a perfect physique in front of him sparked jealousy.
Just as Star-Lord was admiring Ash's transformation, the surrounding vines began thrashing wildly, as though desperate to drain energy from Ash's now robust form.
With a loud crack, Ash, now empowered by Star-Lord's energy, didn't sit idly. As the divine energy coursed through him, the vines rooted in his body shattered one by one. After what seemed like countless years of being a "reserve battery," Ash was finally free.
Moreover, as Ash regained his freedom, his own divine energy began surging back into his body. Without the consumption and forced extraction by Ego, Ash's recovery was swift.
Just as Ash regained his strength, far away in his palace, Ego—who had been peacefully resting for the first time in years—suddenly woke up, his gaze immediately locking onto the direction of Ash's location.
"Peter? Ash? How did he find that place? Damn it! He even released Ash?!" Ego's expression darkened.
Ego had been in a good mood that day, having found another offspring who awakened divine power. He believed it was finally time to set his plans in motion. With Star-Lord's help and Ash as a battery, Ego felt confident about activating the seeds he had planted on countless planets.
But Ash's release meant that both he and Star-Lord had chosen to oppose him, ruining his carefully laid plans. Now, Ego's only option was to capture them both and imprison them deep beneath the planet, just like Ash had been.
Even if doing so shattered his grand plans for the Celestial race, Ego couldn't risk waiting for another offspring to awaken divine power. Who knew when that might happen?
Although Ego had lied about many things, he hadn't lied about one: he truly felt lonely in the vastness of the universe.
Despite being part of the Celestial host, Ego wasn't a complete Celestial. Even though his strength rivaled that of some Celestial members, he had never been accepted by the group. This drove his ambition to create a new race, a species of his own that would one day surpass the Celestials themselves.
For countless years, Ego's plans had been thwarted time and time again. He even suspected that the Celestials might be covertly sabotaging him.
But there was no time to dwell on such thoughts. His immediate priority was capturing Star-Lord and Ash, re-establishing control, and preventing them from influencing any future offspring.
In a flash, Ego vanished from his palace. Meanwhile, Ash, now fully alert, instinctively seized Star-Lord and threw him aside just as Ego appeared.
For a moment, Star-Lord thought Ash had betrayed him. But seeing Ego's form where he had stood moments before, he realized he had misunderstood. Ash hadn't let him down.
"Impressive reflexes and familiarity with my power. It seems you've learned a lot over the years," Ego remarked, his tone cold and devoid of fatherly warmth. He no longer saw any need to deceive or recruit Star-Lord.
"All thanks to you," Ash replied, his eyes brimming with hatred, mirroring the expression on Star-Lord's face.
When Star-Lord saw Ego's icy demeanor, he knew Ash hadn't lied. Ego was indeed the monster who had caused his mother's death.
"Exactly, all thanks to me. Without me, you wouldn't exist," Ego said with a smug smile. "As my offspring, I'll give you a chance. Lie down and submit to the earth willingly, and I might spare you some suffering."
Ego turned his attention to Star-Lord. "Peter, if only you hadn't been so curious. You could've been my assistant, a part of the Celestial race, second only to me."
"So you did kill my mom! And you had the nerve to build her a statue?!" Star-Lord roared, his voice shaking with rage.
"A statue? That's nothing. Our divine power is immensely creative. Constructing a statue is as trivial as waving a hand," Ego said, shaking his head in disappointment. "You haven't embraced your Celestial nature. But that's to be expected. You're half human, after all. Soft and weak."
Ego conjured a statue of Star-Lord's mother with a wave of his hand, only to shatter it moments later. Enraged, Star-Lord lunged at Ego, fists flying.
"Stop! Don't go!" Ash shouted, alarmed. But Star-Lord was already in motion, oblivious to the spear of divine energy aimed at his back.
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