The vast and boundless starry sky.
Ego's spaceship was in front.
The Enterprise followed closely behind, heading towards Ego's Planet.
The journey was a bit long, requiring them to arrive on the morning of the second Earth day.
Inside the captain's lounge of the Enterprise.
After taking a shower, Gwen changed into her pajamas and walked out of the bathroom. She then looked at Hawke, who was leaning on the bed, flipping through "Universe Travel Guide—Nova Corps Tenth Edition." She chuckled, got into bed, snatched the manual from Hawke's hand, and then looked at Hawke with a pair of expressive emerald eyes.
Their eyes met.
"Alright, speak now."
"Speak about what?"
Hawke chuckled, feigning ignorance.
Gwen said, "Ego, what he said isn't that simple, right?"
Hawke raised an eyebrow, pulled Gwen into his embrace. Once Gwen naturally settled in his arms, he recounted Ego's origin and his search for Star-Lord.
"Ego is not human."
"He is indeed a God."
"Ego's true form is a Planet that gained self-awareness. Over endless eons, it developed its own consciousness, then gradually coalesced its own planetary body, thereby possessing the power a God should have."
"He has one goal: to spread his life throughout the entire Universe, so that all life in the Universe eventually transforms into him alone."
"All is me, and I am all."
"He believes this is the ultimate beautification and salvation of the Universe."
"However, to achieve this plan, he needs another life form with his genes, capable of inheriting his power, to act as his battery and jointly initiate this assimilation program."
"Ego is indeed Star-Lord's biological father."
"But Star-Lord is not Ego's only child."
As Hawke spoke, the image of the mountains of skeletons inside Ego's Planet in "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" flashed through his mind.
All those skeletons shared a common name.
Ego's children.
In the movie, those skeletons were children brutally murdered by Ego because they failed to inherit his power.
Star-Lord was the only child who inherited his power.
If Ego hadn't placed the tumor in Star-Lord's mother Meredith's head, killing her, frankly speaking, his plan had a chance of succeeding.
Unfortunately… Ego couldn't understand a child's attachment to his mother, especially one raised in a single-parent home.
To avenge his mother, Star-Lord pulled the trigger on Ego with almost no hesitation.
For his mother, he would rather not be a God.
For his mother, he was willing to be a demigod, comparable to a mortal!
Gwen listened quietly to Hawke's narration. Once Hawke finished, she looked up at him and gave her assessment.
"So, Ego is a madman, and a ruthless, selfish, and cold-blooded madman at that."
"Ego was originally just a ball."
Hawke chuckled, "And one that, due to some mutation in the Universe, gained its own life. No one taught it, no one educated it. To call it a person, it's no different from a beast, so you can't have too much hope for it."
Gwen raised an eyebrow.
"Then are we still going to his Planet? Does his Planet have what you want?"
"Hmm."
Hawke didn't hide it from Gwen: "Ego isn't important to me, but how he came to have self-awareness is very important to me. So, I want to go there and see Ego's true form."
Perhaps he could obtain some useful information from Ego's true form that would help him with his eighth sense, his life sense.
Gwen listened to Hawke's words, nodding thoughtfully.
She had no other questions.
Only one.
"Is there danger?"
"Of course there is."
"…"
Hawke said so, and then, before Gwen could speak, he added, "For Ego, it's very dangerous. If he doesn't intend to show me his true form, for me, there's no danger at all. If I wanted to, I could blast his Planet with one punch."
Gwen met Hawke's smiling face, remained silent for a moment, then her small hand on Hawke's waist began to move.
The next second.
Hawke's expression twisted in feigned pain.
"Hiss!"
"Does it hurt?"
"It hurts."
"Good that it hurts. Next time, don't take such a big breath before speaking."
Gwen said, changing from twisting to caressing, and rolled her eyes at Hawke. Then she asked curiously, "Ego said earlier that he sent that Yondu to pick up Star-Lord, but Yondu didn't send Star-Lord back. Could it be that Yondu knew something?"
Hawke nodded: "Yes."
Back then, Yondu did accept a commission to bring back thousands of Ego's children from outside.
Initially, Yondu didn't know what Ego did to those children until he went to pick up Star-Lord. When he learned what Ego had done to them, out of conscience, a desire to protect an innocent child, and guilt for the children he had previously delivered, Yondu violated his agreement with Ego.
He chose to keep Star-Lord, publicly claiming he had sold him, but in reality, it was to protect Star-Lord and keep him away from his biological father's clutches.
But this decision still cost Yondu dearly.
Not only did he offend a God, but he also violated the Raiders' code by "child trafficking," leading to his ostracization and contempt by the entire Raiders group.
Yondu did not regret it.
This could be seen from the fact that he never explained himself to anyone.
Gwen pursed her lips.
"According to you, Yondu is a good person."
"He's a bad person with principles, I suppose."
Hawke said so.
What are Universe Raiders? To put it plainly, they are Universe Bandits, Universe mercenaries, but they are an organization of bad people with principles, strictly adhering to an ancient code, the Raiders' code.
Simply put.
The Raiders belong to the underworld of the Universe.
Gwen leaned in Hawke's arms, her eyes unblinking, seemingly lost in thought.
Hawke smiled, looking at Gwen, who was deep in thought.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking, should we tell Star-Lord about this?"
"He and his father are on the spaceship ahead."
After deciding to go to Ego's Planet, Star-Lord and Destroyer followed Ego to his spaceship.
As for Gamora.
She didn't want to stay on the Enterprise, knowing about Thanos, nor did she want to go to Ego's Planet. So, she just wanted to quickly fix their Milano spaceship with Rocket Raccoon overnight.
Hawke said so, then met Gwen's eyes and shrugged.
"If you want to, you can tell Gamora about this. Isn't she Star-Lord's girlfriend?"
"This won't affect your plan, will it?"
"It will."
Hawke didn't hesitate, but having learned his lesson from last time, he didn't pause for breath and quickly added: "But no matter what, it will eventually come down to force. After all, as you said, Ego is a selfish ball, and I don't expect him to invite me to observe his true form."
Gwen looked at Hawke, who had learned his lesson, and showed a slight smile. Then she thought for a moment and chose not to get up to find Gamora.
"Never mind."
"What's wrong?"
"It's someone else's private matter; let's not interfere."
Gwen looked up at Hawke: "Some things, only when the person involved understands them themselves will they believe it. If they hear it from someone else, they'll only consider it false."
Hawke nodded, agreeing with Gwen's words.
"Alright, then we won't interfere."
"However…"
Gwen paused here, then looked at Hawke: "He's still our fellow countryman, so if we can take care of him, we should try to."
Hawke heard this, lowered his eyes, and met Gwen's gaze in his arms.
The next second.
He smiled.
"Okay!"
As everyone knows, his Gwen is always synonymous with beauty and kindness.
Therefore!
He would protect Gwen's suggestion.
However, just as the two were about to fall asleep.
The Milano, repaired overnight, requested to leave the Enterprise.
Gwen listened to Gamora's request, somewhat curious: "Leave? We're almost at Ego's Planet. Aren't you coming with us to see?"
Gamora shook her head: "No, I'm coming. It's just that Rocket and Groot need to leave first. We have a batch of goods on our ship that needs to be delivered by a specific time."
Gwen's expression dawned, and she nodded.
After receiving Gwen's permission, Gamora went to the deck where the Milano was located, found Rocket Raccoon, and whispered, "I don't trust them much, and I don't trust that Ego much either. After you leave, find the nearest Planet. If anything happens on our side, I will contact you immediately."
Rocket Raccoon, carrying his weapon, nodded his bear head.
"Understood!"
"I am Groot!"
Baby Groot, sitting on Rocket's shoulder, also nodded seriously and said.
Gamora smiled and stroked Baby Groot's head.
Soon.
The repaired Milano left the Enterprise, then appeared to move in the opposite direction, away from the Enterprise and Ego's spaceship.
Just as the Milano spaceship departed, Ego's spaceship sent a communication.
It wasn't Ego contacting, but Star-Lord.
"Why did the Milano leave?"
"That batch of goods on board needs to be transferred by a specific time, have you forgotten, Peter?"
"...I remember now. But will Rocket and Groot be okay going?"
Star-Lord initially wanted to ask what goods, but he understood Gamora's gaze and asked accordingly.
Gamora and Star-Lord then exchanged a few more words before ending the communication.
The next day.
Around noon.
Ego's Planet was reached.
Gwen rose from her captain's seat, looking at the Planet that appeared before them, its surface appearing red with a hint of ethereal blue.
"This Planet…"
"Beautiful?"
"…"
Gwen looked at Hawke, who had interjected, and smiled slightly: "I was going to say this Planet looks strange."
Hawke shrugged.
"Sorry."
"I accept your apology."
Gwen smiled slightly, then brought up the main topic.
"There doesn't seem to be a spaceport here. How do we get down?"
"Have you forgotten the teleportation room?"
"…" (End of chapter)
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