["Heh… You know quite a lot. Sure enough, I didn't misjudge you all. Now I have no reason not to be honest with everyone. Let's lay out the case in detail. Of course… I'll also include the story of that Mikhail as a bonus."]
——
Marvel Universe.
"I! HAVE! HAD! ENOUGH!"
Star-Lord slammed a can of beer heavily onto the table, his angry voice echoing throughout the Milano.
"It's one thing that we can't find the Eternal Flame Mansion—" He turned his head to look out the window. On the light screen in space, Himeko and the others were about to learn about Mikhail's story. They were already incredibly close to the truth, yet they couldn't even find Penacony's coordinates and were still spinning around in space.
"If we don't find Penacony soon, the Watchmaker's legacy will be found by them! By then we won't even get to sniff the train's exhaust! Damn it… Aren't they in the galaxy? How can they not locate a tourist planet? No way, is this thing broken?"
Star-Lord angrily slapped the navigation dashboard, trying to "fix" this second-hand item he got from the Collector through physical means.
Drax sat cross-legged on a chair, sharpening his beloved short blade. He looked up and asked: "Could it be that Penacony doesn't exist at all?"
"You mean… like an illusion?" Mantis poked her head out from behind a potted plant.
"Unlikely." Gamora looked at the light screen floating in the sky. "We can clearly feel the influence brought by Acheron. This is enough to prove that the world in the light screen is real—even the light screen itself might be the work of some Aeon. Moreover, this light screen seems to contain a bit of an Aeon's power. Otherwise… we wouldn't have been piloting the ship for two months without even touching a hair of the light screen."
"I got it!"
Rocket suddenly poked his head out from the cockpit, his face full of excitement: "It's a parallel universe! I should have thought of it earlier! The Interastral Peace Corporation employees in the light screen are practically sticking advertisements on the toilet bowls, yet we haven't encountered a single ad. How is that possible?"
"Hm, indeed…"
Rocket's words did provide a more reasonable explanation. His adoptive father Thanos had traversed countless star systems, yet she had never heard him mention "Aeon" or "Interastral Peace Corporation." If the light screen hadn't suddenly appeared in the universe, she would probably still know nothing about Aeons to this day.
"OK, target change. We should immediately find a way to enter a parallel universe." Star-Lord raised his arm and shouted.
"Hey hey hey, are you crazy?!" Gamora blocked him. "Do you know how much more dangerous their universe is than ours? Their Aeons can easily destroy countless star systems with just a slight move. Do you think we can survive such a catastrophe? Maybe one day we're flying the ship in the universe, and the next second we're all done for!!"
"Of course~" Star-Lord pulled out a palm-sized box from behind him. Everyone present instantly fell silent. They all knew what was inside.
——The Power Stone.
"Gamora, don't worry… We have this." Star-Lord proudly shook the box in front of Gamora. "We're not going to do anything bad, but with this thing, even if we can't kill an Emanator, we can at least save our lives in a crisis, right?"
"Crisis moment… You mean the Swarm Disaster or battles between Emanators?" Gamora glared at him angrily. "Do you think when the 'crisis moment' you mentioned really arrives, you'll have the chance to take this thing out?"
——
["Let's start with the conclusion: According to the clues in the Family's hands, this Firefly is indeed not a local, nor was she an invited guest. In other words… she is a genuine stowaway."]
[Gallagher sighed helplessly: "I was also fooled by this girl. I really am getting old. However, stowaways are not that rare on the Planet of Festivities, and they aren't hard to investigate. Afterward, we tracked from both the dream and reality, but the result… is only bad news, and the most troublesome news at that."]
["This little girl has vanished from the face of the earth. She left no traces in the dream, and her body cannot be found in reality either. It's as if she never came to Penacony."]
[March 7th covered her mouth in surprise: "Ah? Doesn't that mean…"]
["[Death] completely erased her…"]
["Impossible." Gallagher shook his head and denied, "The problem now isn't 'she died,' but 'it's as if she never appeared.' Let me put it bluntly. This girl's situation… even the Bloodhound Family is seeing it for the first time, let alone you all."]
[Himeko keenly noticed the clue in his words: "[First time]… So in Penacony, [Death] does exist, right?"]
["You've all seen it already. There's nothing left to hide. A city with a bright and beautiful surface will definitely have an unspeakable underside. I don't need to say more about adult matters."]
[Gallagher shook his head: "But if you want to question the Family based on just this, it's too naive. There are accidental deaths in sweet dreams too, so what? Such extremely low-probability events… will only affect an extremely small number of people."]
["If you really want to delve into this case, you must first understand the Family's true [difficulties]."]
——
Gintama.
"Nooooo—!!"
The Yorozuya let out a wail that didn't sound human, startling several birds perched on the eaves. Although passersby were startled, they had gotten used to it recently.
"If she's gone, who's going to fill in the gap for my dropped-from-the-sky girl type?! She and Stelle have such great chemistry right now!"
Kagura calmly chewed on her vinegar kombu on the side: "Gin-chan, she didn't die, she just completely disappeared Aru."
"Hey hey, listen to what you're saying. Isn't completely disappearing worse than dying?" Gintoki did a kip-up from the sofa. "If she died, at least there's a chance to revive in Penacony's dream. But if her physical body disappeared, doesn't that mean… not even ashes are left?! Aaaah, Memokeeper, give me back my Firefly!"
Shinpachi adjusted his glasses: "If a dropped-from-the-sky type like Firefly disappears, does that mean… the childhood friend type wins completely?"
"Who's the childhood friend?" Gintoki looked at Shinpachi in confusion.
"Someone who… uh, somewhat fits the criteria… probably March 7th?"
Gintoki shook Shinpachi's shoulders desperately, trying to shake his brain into place: "You idiot! March 7th is Stelle's good sister and good buddy! What are you thinking!"
"Gin-chan, but at this point, Firefly's dropped-from-the-sky identity can no longer protect her, right?" Kagura spread her hands. "Unless she can obtain the ultimate identity that wins every harem anime throughout the years—as long as you have it, you win big: Dropped-from-the-sky Childhood Friend!"