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"Oh, you're finally back, old friend!"
Upon returning to the ship through the portal, Quill immediately gave Kevin a big hug.
It could be said that the Guardians of the Galaxy's success in eliminating Ego this time was entirely due to Kevin.
If Kevin hadn't come to warn Peter and held Ego back, the Guardians of the Galaxy would never have been able to reach Ego's core.
Let alone place a bomb on it to blow him up.
However, speaking of that, Peter was quite curious about one thing:
"By the way, how did you know that Ego was the one who killed my mother?"
Not many people knew about this, or rather, if Ego hadn't said it, no one else would have known besides Ego himself.
But Kevin immediately revealed the truth upon arriving.
It was as if he had known about it all along.
Kevin was prepared with an explanation for this:
"I hope you haven't forgotten my setting as a traveler from another world, have you?"
"..." Star-Lord froze, then burst into laughter: "Hahaha, of course I haven't forgotten, you're a traveler from a parallel universe, I remember."
Rocket: "He obviously forgot."
Gamora: "He forgot."
Groot: "I am Groot."
Drax: "Quill is really too stupid, he would forget something like that."
"I didn't forget, okay! I just feel that, for our Guardians of the Galaxy family, identity doesn't matter!"
Star-Lord defended himself.
Gamora rolled her eyes at him, not responding, but instead asked Kevin:
"So, does that mean you knew from the beginning who Peter's father was, and what he was doing and wanted to do?"
"Yes, just like I know what Thanos wants to do, I also knew about Ego's matters, but... these are things you must face, and I have no right to interfere."
Kevin explained seriously.
The real reason was... he actually forgot about it too.
If Rocket hadn't called him after he returned, Kevin probably wouldn't have remembered anything about Ego.
After all, it had been many years since he watched the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and there were some parts of the Marvel plot that he wasn't entirely clear on, let alone the Guardians of the Galaxy plot.
But he couldn't expose this; he didn't want the Guardians of the Galaxy to think he was as... stupid as them.
So Kevin put on a profound expression, as if this experience was a necessary part of the Guardians of the Galaxy's growth.
Kevin didn't notice that his current demeanor was not much different from the Ancient One, both being cryptic and mysterious, never speaking the full truth.
A pure riddle-teller.
However, thanks to Kevin's good impression in everyone's minds, and the fact that they didn't know the truth.
Therefore, even though Kevin spoke like a riddle-teller, no one suspected anything; instead, they showed expressions of deep understanding.
Especially Star-Lord:
"That's true, if it weren't for this, I wouldn't have found my 'real' father."
Star-Lord subconsciously looked at Yondu, who was sitting in the spaceship.
Yondu's lips distorted, revealing his uneven teeth, and he showed a rather unpleasant smile.
Seeing Yondu's smile, Star-Lord felt embarrassed instead, and he immediately changed his tune, bickering with Yondu:
"Don't get me wrong, I wasn't talking about you."
"Come on, Quill."
Rocket shook his head helplessly, standing on a chair and patting Star-Lord's shoulder: "We all know how much you care about Yondu."
"What? No! I don't, okay!"
Star-Lord subconsciously retorted, but the others were no longer prepared to listen to his impromptu complaints.
Gamora started the ship, and looked at Kevin again, asking:
"Are you leaving later? Going back to Earth?"
"Yes, I still have some matters to deal with on Earth."
"That artificial intelligence that gained self-awareness last time?"
Rocket chimed in, asking.
Kevin nodded: "He's the biggest trouble; there are also some other personal matters of mine."
Star-Lord also emerged from the awkward atmosphere at this moment, and he looked at Kevin in surprise:
"That's rare, you actually couldn't defeat him?"
How powerful Kevin was, Star-Lord, who now possessed a bit of Celestial power, knew perfectly well.
Even such a powerful Kevin couldn't defeat that red robot, so Star-Lord could tell how formidable that robot truly was.
"Hmm... if it were a prolonged battle, he shouldn't be my opponent, but if he runs away, I can't do anything."
"So he escaped? You can't find him now?"
"Yes, but some... defense forces on Earth will help me search for his whereabouts and ways to deal with him. It shouldn't take long to find him."
Kevin pondered.
Almost a week had passed since he returned to the Marvel World from the The Boys world, and the Avengers hadn't contacted him during that time, which proved they also had no trace of Ultron.
The Avengers had many members, including Tony, Ultron's creator, and Thor, the God of Thunder from Asgard.
Leaving Tony aside for now, Thor should be able to ask Heimdall for help in finding Ultron.
But even they hadn't been able to find Ultron until now, which meant Ultron must have used some special method to evade detection.
Kevin even speculated that Ultron might have already left Earth, though he didn't know how.
Otherwise, the Avengers wouldn't still be unable to find him.
"Don't count on those low-level 'defense forces' on Earth; let us help you find him."
Star-Lord hooked Kevin's shoulder, making the suggestion.
Kevin raised an eyebrow, looking at him: "You guys...?"
"Yeah, we have nothing to do right now, and aren't we a team? Your problem is our problem, the robot you're looking for is the robot we're looking for... and that robot looks pretty advanced, maybe it can sell for a lot of money."
Star-Lord's voice became very small at the end, as if he was muttering to himself.
Kevin heard it clearly but had no intention of exposing Star-Lord.
This kid was actually a rather awkward person; he simply wanted to help Kevin, after all, Kevin had always been helping him, and Star-Lord himself would probably feel embarrassed if he didn't repay Kevin.
Of course, if they could actually capture Ultron and then sell him on the black market for money, Star-Lord wouldn't be entirely against it either.
"Yes, it's time to make some money! Don't forget the Milan is still waiting for us!"
Rocket suddenly remembered that the Milan had been severely damaged when they made an emergency landing earlier.
Rocket, Groot, and Nebula, who was a war prize, had originally planned to wait for Star-Lord and the others to return to discuss repairing the Milan.
But who would have thought that Yondu would interfere, capturing both Rocket and Groot.
Although the outcome seemed good now, the Milan was still left on the previous crash-landed planet, waiting for them to recover it.
Star-Lord also finally remembered his beloved ship, the Milan, and quickly agreed with Rocket:
"Right, let's go retrieve the Milan first. Once the Milan is repaired, then we'll help Kevin find that red-headed robot."
The group quickly decided on their next itinerary.
Kevin watched silently from the side, not stopping them.
It was a good thing that the Guardians of the Galaxy were willing to help; it meant that in this world, Kevin also had true friends.
Friends who were willing to help him fight enemies, even if that enemy was extremely powerful, and would not shrink back.
Honestly, this feeling was quite good.
... ...
The Guardians of the Galaxy were going to rendezvous with the Milan, and Kevin had no intention of going with them.
He planned to stay on Yondu's large warship, waiting for Star-Lord and the others to return.
Also staying behind were Yondu and Kraglin, who was responsible for piloting the ship, a loyal Ravager to Yondu, and the successor to his Yaka Arrow after Yondu's death.
Besides the two of them, Mantis, Ego's handmaiden and Star-Lord's half-sister by blood, was also there.
She had just left Ego and was not yet accustomed to her new environment. Star-Lord planned to let her familiarize herself with some interstellar common sense on the ship.
However, for some reason, this Mantis girl always liked to lean close to Kevin.
For example, it was happening now.
Kevin was sitting in a corner, fiddling with the uru ring in his hand, which already had cracks. He was hesitating whether to go to Asgard to have it repaired when Mantis leaned towards him.
Kevin: "? Why are you leaning so close to me?"
"Because you are also a Celestial, so I'm curious if you'll also be like Ego and need me to lull you to sleep."
Mantis was a straightforward girl.
Having only been with Ego on Ego Planet, she hadn't been exposed to things outside, and her mind was still very pure.
Speaking her mind without much regard for taboos was how Mantis was now.
And unlike Storm's contrived bluntness, Mantis was genuinely simple and had little cunning.
Therefore, Kevin didn't get angry listening to Mantis's words; he just smiled and replied:
"No need, I'm not like him."
"Oh."
Mantis responded softly and sat beside Kevin without speaking further.
Kevin ignored her, letting her sit beside him, and turned his head to continue studying the Reality Ring in his hand.
But after a while, Kevin noticed that Mantis still showed no signs of leaving, so he couldn't help but frown and ask:
"What exactly do you want?"
"I think she might feel you're too dangerous, so she wants to figure out your purpose for staying here."
Before Mantis could answer, Yondu, holding some snacks, walked over and answered Kevin's question.
Turning his chair, Kevin turned to Yondu, who was standing at the cabin door, and asked:
"Is it her who wants to figure this out, or is it you who wants to figure this out?"
"Probably both? Want some?"
Yondu said, holding out the small bowl of snacks in his hand to Kevin.
Kevin unceremoniously reached out his hand, took out the pea-shaped snacks from inside, and put them in his mouth.
"The taste is not bad... So, you think I'm dangerous?"
"If a guy who personally destroyed Ronan and Thanos, and can even arm-wrestle a planet, isn't dangerous, then there's nothing dangerous in this universe.
"Listen, kid, I don't really care how powerful you are, or who you are. I just want to know one thing."
Yondu asked seriously: "You won't hurt Peter, right?"
"If I were to hurt him, I wouldn't have gotten involved in the Xandar incident, nor would I have traveled all the way to Ego Planet to save him... By the way, why would you think I would hurt him?"
Kevin asked, not understanding.
He had never had any intention of harming the Guardians of the Galaxy before; even if killing them would yield a large amount of skill points, Kevin had never planned to do so.
Because it was meaningless, and it didn't align with Kevin's long-held philosophy.
He didn't want to offend people for no reason.
"Perhaps intuition?" Yondu shooed Mantis away and sat on the chair beside Kevin, "Because I feel that you don't seem to care much about Peter and the others. Although you say you're friends, I can tell that your feelings for Peter are not the same as Peter's feelings for you."
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