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Even though Arthur had already known about it beforehand, the moment he actually laid eyes on the scene, he was still deeply shaken.
Shriveled corpses piled up into a mountain, entwined with strange, twisted vines; it was a massacre straight out of a living hell.
T'Challa sucked in a sharp breath. "Now, I believe it."
"Believe what?" Arthur's gaze turned cold. He tapped his wristband, summoning a virtual screen and recording the horrific sight before them.
"I believe… that in this universe, there are cruelties and horrors far beyond what we know." T'Challa sighed heavily.
"There's no time for reflection here." Gamora's voice came from a distance. "If you've seen enough, then we need to leave, fast."
Arthur nodded, then picked up one of the shriveled bodies and tossed it into his Disassemble space. "Let's go. We need to start planning."
Once they exited the cavern, no one spoke. As they moved along, a white, oval-shaped spaceship streaked across the void above.
"It's Ego's ship!" Gamora's expression darkened.
Arthur narrowed his eyes. "T'Challa, I need to ask you for a favor."
"What is it?" T'Challa asked.
"Get in touch with Camp Lehigh. Call for reinforcements," Arthur said. "Nebula, help look after her. She's not combat-effective right now. I can't be certain whether Ego, when leaving, could still tap into the memory of this planet. But if he can, once we return, we might be facing Ego head-on. Which means we won't have time to prepare any sort of strategy."
"What exactly should I tell them?" T'Challa was momentarily dazed.
Sure, he had joined Arthur's team and was now part of the Superhero Alliance, but their first real battle was coming much faster than he had imagined.
"Tell them there's a rotten sphere that needs correcting. Anyone who can fight, big or small, get them all here. Use Asgard's Bifrost to come directly! Heimdall, I know you can hear me!"
Arthur shouted up toward the sky, then turned back to T'Challa. "But they need to arrive by spaceship. Until I give the clear command, they cannot descend directly!"
"Understood." T'Challa nodded firmly.
Arthur glanced at Gamora. "Let's move."
Gamora handed Nebula to T'Challa. "Sorry to trouble you."
"I am not trouble." Nebula was clearly displeased with Gamora's wording.
Gamora ignored her and hurried after Arthur, quickening her pace.
Time passed quickly. About half an hour later, the two of them were back at Ego's palace.
The door was once again opened by Drax. Seeing Arthur and Gamora return together, the burly man wore a look of suspicion, as if doubting everything around him. Arthur couldn't help but wonder, was this guy's intelligence all invested in the strangest places?
"Where's Star-Lord?" Arthur asked after a bit of silent griping.
"He's chatting with his father," Drax replied. "I feel like… maybe we shouldn't disturb their father-son bonding?"
Arthur gave Drax a long look, then nodded slightly. This was a good sign, if Ego hadn't acted directly yet, perhaps that meant he still didn't know that his little secret had already been uncovered.
Before the thought had even settled, a deep masculine voice chuckled:
"I suppose you must be my son's good friend, Arthur?"
Looking over, Arthur saw a middle-aged man walking toward them with two others.
One was Star-Lord. The other was Mantis.
The middle-aged man at the front looked a little on the plump side, his slightly curly hair slicked back, his face beaming with a smile as he approached. "Very pleased to meet you."
Arthur also smiled. "I'm truly happy for Star-Lord. For him to finally reunite with his father, I imagine this must be the happiest time of his life."
"No, to be precise, it was I who found him." The "planet-dad" said with a grin, extending his hand toward Arthur. "And you, my friend, I've heard of the help you've given my son. Allow me, as his father, to express my heartfelt gratitude."
Arthur nodded and clasped Ego's hand. But before he could speak, a familiar notification suddenly popped up before his eyes:
[Would you like to Disassemble Magic-Class item (Green)?]
The polite words on his lips froze instantly.
'What the hell?!'
Why was there a Disassemble prompt?
Up until now, the system had never offered the option to Disassemble a living being!
Or… was this some new function unlocked after the last upgrade?
But no, that didn't make sense!
He had touched T'Challa, Star-Lord, and even Mantis last night, and none of them triggered this! Only this so-called "planet-dad" in front of him…
Could it be… the Disassembler system didn't even classify him as human?
Well, fair enough, whether from a moral standpoint or from his physical form, Ego was indeed not truly human. But still… to be able to Disassemble him directly, wasn't that a little too outrageous?
"What's wrong?" Ego asked curiously, noticing Arthur's odd pause. "Something happen?"
"Ah?" Arthur blinked back to reality and said, "Nothing. I was just… distracted. Sorry, I've been rather unsettled lately."
"Then it seems you're in need of a proper rest," Ego said warmly.
"Yes. It's been a long time since I rested well."
"I suffer from the same problem." Ego smiled. "But fortunately, I have a wonderful helper. Mantis has an extraordinary gift for helping others fall asleep."
"That's a remarkable talent."
"I think so too."
The two of them exchanged pleasantries for a while. Everything seemed perfectly normal, at least, from Arthur's perspective.
But that didn't rule out the possibility that Ego simply didn't want to make a move in front of Star-Lord.
Staying cautious, Arthur shot Gamora a meaningful glance. She caught it, nodded, and then said to Star-Lord: "Could you come with me for a moment? There's something I need to tell you."
Star-Lord had been watching Arthur and his father chat with great interest, but hearing Gamora's call, he immediately followed her without hesitation.
Ego could only watch his son's back helplessly.
Arthur chuckled. "Once sons are grown, they never stay with you, they always belong to someone else."
Ego nodded with absolute certainty.
But he didn't know that at that very moment, Arthur's mind was turning over a dangerous thought:
If I really were to Disassemble this guy… what exactly would I get? Divine power? Or something else entirely?
Damn it, the curiosity was eating him alive!