Back on the ship.
Lothar suppressed the urge to destroy Vormir and was in a foul mood. If it weren't for his adoptive father, Thanos, needing the Soul Stone's power, he would have destroyed Vormir long ago. He hated being talked to that way, even if the "person" was just a stone.
"So, what's your plan?" Hela asked, leaning against a window after boarding the ship behind Lothar.
She knew she couldn't get the Soul Stone herself, and the Black Quadrant had no other pair of people with genuine emotional bonds besides the father-and-son duo of Thanos and Lothar. Spreading the word to become a behind-the-scenes manipulator would also take time.
"What I plan to do is none of your business, is it?" Lothar, who no longer needed to wear a seatbelt during a space jump, shot a glance at Hela.
"Of course not," Hela replied, a faint smile on her face as she gazed at the magnificent galaxy outside the window. A moment later, a strange-looking golden sticker appeared in her hand.
Whoosh!
The golden sticker, engraved with the symbol of Asgard, flew over to Lothar.
"What's this?"
Lothar looked down at it. There was nothing on the special material besides Hela's symbol.
"My coronation, seven days from now, on Asgard."
"What?" Lothar held the gold sticker, his mind flashing back to another coronation he had "attended": Queen Mera of the Sea.
"The Queen of Asgard?"
"The Queen of the Nine Realms?"
Opening the sticker, the contents inside brought Lothar's thoughts back to reality. Hela had claimed all of Odin's former titles for herself.
"Are you inviting me?" Lothar casually tossed the sticker onto the main console's seat and looked Hela dead in the eye.
"You could interpret it that way."
"Although I don't see it that way," Hela averted her gaze.
"Didn't you say that none of the people or the army on Asgard remembered you?"
"And you still want to go back and be queen?" Lothar looked at Hela as if she were an idiot. Asgard wasn't what it used to be. No one there even acknowledged Hela's existence. Why go through all the trouble to be queen?
"Do you remember the former Sorcerer Supreme, Agamotto?"
"He once helped me create a spell matrix similar to Valhalla. I used the Eternal Flame from Odin's Vault to ignite that matrix and reawaken the army that once belonged to me."
"So, I still have an army to support me." Hela opened her hand, and the insignia of the Sorcerer Supreme's lineage appeared in her palm.
"As for the people of Asgard..."
"Trust me, Lothar. When I lead my army to expand beyond the Nine Realms, they will cheer for me even if they don't know who I am."
"That's the glory of conquering new territory. They'll feel like they're witnessing history."
"I can give them a great sense of national pride, and I can make life on Asgard better."
"At that point, they will forget Odin. They'll forget my foolish, naive brother."
"At that point, they will clearly understand that I am the one most fit to be Asgard's queen."
This was the future Hela envisioned. The people of Asgard would cheer for her from the bottom of their hearts and crown her queen.
"I believe that future is not far off."
Hela's words were full of sincere emotion.
"But the people of Asgard betrayed you." Lothar, seeing Hela this way for the first time, was thoughtful.
"..." A sudden silence fell over the vast ship.
"You know, when I was a child, and Odin first brought me into the Asgardian army, do you know what I heard?" Hela's voice finally broke the silence. It was a memory she would never forget.
In front of a young Hela, tens of thousands of Asgardian soldiers chanted in unison, reciting the honor code of the Asgardian warrior.
"Patriotism is inextinguishable. On the battlefield, we help each other; off the battlefield, even if we were strangers before, we can become friends in just a few words, because we are all Asgardians."
"Even if this feeling has been betrayed hundreds of times."
"A comrade's death isn't the end; it's the beginning of a memory. The past cannot be changed, but perhaps the future can."
"The meaning of war isn't hatred; it's to protect the dreams we paint together..."
Hela recited the words one by one, looking out the window at the galaxy. Her hazy gaze seemed to see a young girl being deeply moved.
That girl was her. That was the origin of her loyalty to Asgard. Her divine power of death had also awakened after that day.
Such a deep sense of patriotism was an emotion Lothar would never understand, because Thanos had never taught him.
"I am loyal to Asgard. I fight for Asgard. Do you understand, Lothar?"
"Not interested in understanding." Lothar plopped down into the main console seat, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes.
Hela's tapping finger on her arm froze.
"In seven days, I might be passing by Asgard."
The corner of Hela's mouth unconsciously turned up, but she immediately held it back.
"Just passing by," Lothar added, his eyes still closed.
"I know." Hela leaned against the window, her reflection intertwined with the brilliant galaxy.
"Oh, right, a reminder: I broke the Bifrost's door. It'll probably take eight days to fix. Don't be surprised when you pass by that I didn't lock it..."
....
Universe, a certain unnamed asteroid.
Star-Lord, who had escaped from the Kyln with Rocket Raccoon and Groot, was currently hawking a "photo album of Ego" at a local hot spot. He needed money, badly. Because of the jailbreak, he couldn't even take his ship with him. Not only had he not made a single cent on this job, he'd lost all his savings.
Fortunately, he still had the "photo album of Ego." This thing was an instant hit with certain niche groups in the universe. If he hadn't been afraid of being found by the Xandarians, Star-Lord wouldn't be selling it in a small place like this.
"Hey, pal, hey pal..."
With a copy of the album that Groot had just duplicated, Star-Lord, who planned to make his fortune this way, set his sights on a new target. A half-naked... uh... spirited old man. Star-Lord had done his research and knew that everyone who came to this place was into this kind of thing.
Ignoring the old man's graying temples, Star-Lord forced a casual friendship and revealed a corner of the "photo album of Ego."
"The real deal, a genuine one-of-a-kind. Top-shelf stuff. Wanna buy?"
"Oh? How much?" The old man's interest was piqued, just as Star-Lord had predicted.
"This is practically a unique edition. I don't have many left..."
"Let's go outside and talk," the old man said with a smile, putting the album back in Star-Lord's arms and walking with an arm around his shoulder.
Star-Lord didn't think much of it, assuming the old man was just worried about competition. But as soon as they reached a dark alley, the smiling old man's face changed. He kicked Star-Lord right in the backside, sending him flying.
"???!??!"
"That's not—" Before Star-Lord could swear, the old man's punches and kicks began to rain down on him.
"You son of a bitch!!!"
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"I'm Ego, you idiot! What do you think I'm doing?!" The furious Ego beat him relentlessly.
"You ungrateful son, what the hell did I do to deserve you?! And you're selling nude photos of me!!!"
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