[Star-Lord grappled with Ego in fierce combat, and with the cosmic entity fully occupied by their battle, he was unable to focus his attention on attacking the others.]
[Drax, who had been buried alive in the suffocating sand, was finally able to catch his breath and struggle free from the liquefied earth, while the organic tentacles that had been binding Gamora and Nebula also began to disintegrate and release them.]
[Rocket fell heavily from the pile of rocks that had been restraining him, and Yondu also managed to push away the crushing rubble that had pinned him down.]
[Throughout the galaxy, the alien clones that had been rapidly expanding and devouring entire planets also stopped their devastating consumption one by one, their growth halted by the interruption of Ego's concentration.]
[Star-Lord's grandparents drove their car at maximum speed, desperately trying to escape the approaching biomass, but they still couldn't match the terrifying pace of Ego's expansion. The rising alien matter had lifted the rear of their vehicle high into the air.]
[Fortunately, Star-Lord managed to knock Ego away at the precise critical moment, and thus accidentally saved his elderly grandparents from certain death.]
[The mother holding her infant child stared up at the gray mass of alien matter that towered like a mountain and had stopped just meters in front of her, her face frozen with absolute terror at how close they had come to being consumed.]
[Deep inside the core chamber, the originally closed and contracting passages widened once again, and Baby Groot turned his tiny head to see the brilliant, glittering core structure ahead of him.]
[Rocket flew frantically to the hole that had been blasted open earlier and shouted down into the depths with desperate urgency:]
["Groot! If you can hear me down there! Hurry up!!! I'm not sure how long Quill can possibly hold him off! Groot! Move as fast as you can!"]
[Baby Groot finally arrived at Ego's true core while clutching the armed bomb protectively in his small wooden arms.]
[The core resembled a massive organic brain, constantly pulsating with life and emitting alternating waves of red and blue bioluminescence.]
[Baby Groot carefully attached the explosive device to the protective membrane surrounding the core and activated the timer mechanism exactly as Rocket had painstakingly taught him.]
[Finally, he fixed his gaze on the two red buttons with intense concentration. After hesitating for several crucial seconds, he slowly placed his tiny finger on the red button positioned on the right side.]
[Just as he was about to press the potentially fatal button, he suddenly noticed a small crack running across its surface due to damage from their rough journey.]
[His finger immediately paused in mid-motion, and then he decisively pressed the button on the left instead. The countdown timer started immediately, and Baby Groot turned around and began running away as quickly as his little legs could carry him.]
[Drax lifted the still-unconscious Mantis and threw her carefully onto the rescue spacecraft, then climbed aboard himself and quickly ran up the stairs toward the pilot area.]
[At the massive crack in the cavern ceiling, Gamora and Nebula endured tremendous hardship and physical strain but finally managed to climb up together and reach relative safety.]
[Star-Lord and Ego continued their brutal combat, with Peter delivering devastating punches to Ego's face before pouncing on him with renewed fury.]
[Both cosmic beings grabbed each other around the throat and repeatedly slammed one another against the rocky formations with bone-crushing force.]
[Ego landed a powerful punch that sent Star-Lord flying backward, but Peter immediately adjusted his position in mid-air and rushed toward his father again with undiminished determination.]
[Star-Lord grabbed Ego by his collar and hurled him outward with superhuman strength. Multiple stone pillars along Ego's flight path were completely demolished as his body smashed through them.]
[Although this type of intense battle appeared devastating, it couldn't inflict any truly permanent damage on a cosmic entity like Ego.]
[Yondu stood on the cavern floor, watching the epic battle between Star-Lord and Ego unfold with growing concern for his adopted son's safety.]
[Rocket flew over carrying Baby Groot, who had just emerged from the core chamber at a full sprint.]
["Yondu! We're all going to explode in less than two minutes!"]
[Yondu gestured toward the spacecraft and commanded: "Everyone get on board immediately!"]
[Rocket looked at him with obvious conflict, "We can't just leave Quill behind to die!"]
["You still have to take care of the little twig! He needs you!"]
["I can't abandon you here!"]
[Yondu shook his head with quiet resignation and spoke with unexpected gentleness, "I haven't done very many things right in my life, little mouse. Please let me do something right for once!"]
[Rocket fell into conflicted silence after hearing this selfless declaration.]
[Looking at Yondu's slightly upturned mouth and accepting expression, Rocket sighed heavily and reached into his equipment pouch to retrieve two crucial items.]
["A space suit and a personal flight device! Unfortunately, I only brought one set!"]
[Yondu accepted the life-saving space suit and flight equipment from Rocket's outstretched hands and nodded with quiet gratitude.]
[Rocket gazed at Yondu for a long moment, then turned to leave but found himself strangely reluctant to abandon his friend. He turned back to look at the Ravager captain one more time, hesitating as if he wanted to say something meaningful: "I..."]
[Baby Groot, sitting securely on Rocket's shoulder, suddenly piped up cheerfully: "I am Groot!"]
["What did he say?"]
[Rocket translated with obvious affection: "He said: Welcome to the stupid Guardians of the Galaxy! Although he didn't actually use the word stupid!"]
[Yondu nodded appreciatively and waved farewell to both of them.]
[This time Rocket didn't linger or hesitate, turning to fly rapidly toward the sky and their waiting rescue ship.]
[Yondu watched their retreating figures and whispered softly to himself: "Goodbye, little branch!"]
[As Rocket flew toward safety, he spoke to Baby Groot with mock sternness: "We're going to have to discuss your use of vulgar language later, young man!"]
[Obviously, that wasn't what Baby Groot had actually said, but Rocket deliberately took the blame for any profanity because he didn't want Yondu to have a negative final impression of the innocent little tree.]
[Besides, he was always known for his crude language anyway, so if he claimed responsibility for the swearing, Yondu would definitely believe it without question!]
Wanda Maximoff crouched down in front of Baby Groot, who was gazing up at the cosmic viewing screen with wide, curious eyes, and gently stroked his tiny form with her finger. "Such a precious little guy who apparently talks dirty! Ha!"
Baby Groot reached out with his small wooden arms and hugged her index finger, rubbing his head against it affectionately. Wanda looked down at him with pure motherly love glowing in her expression.
Star-Lord pointed firmly at Rocket and declared, "You absolutely have to teach him better manners! No swearing or inappropriate language! That's completely unacceptable!"
Pietro immediately remembered Captain America's embarrassing incident with profanity and enthusiastically agreed, "Yeah! I totally support that! No cursing whatsoever!"
Bruce Banner teasingly addressed Tony, "You just said Quill's grandfather lived far away from the incident. So who exactly are those people driving that car?"
Tony spread his hands in a gesture of complete bewilderment, "Hey! How was I supposed to know what they were doing out there? It seemed like they lived quite far from his childhood home!"
[Ego and Star-Lord remained entangled together, moving continuously at tremendous speed through the air as their cosmic battle raged on.]
[But this time, Ego clearly had gained the upper hand in their struggle. He grabbed Star-Lord and threw him with devastating force against the solid stone wall, then seized his head and hurled him downward again.]
[Star-Lord crashed heavily into the rocky ground, creating an enormous crater in the stone with the impact.]
[However, he wasn't seriously injured by the collision. Looking up at Ego hovering in the distance, he suddenly gathered his strength and rushed toward his father once again with renewed determination.]
[Ego also charged toward Star-Lord without showing any weakness, meeting his son's attack head-on.]
[Star-Lord roared with fury as he flew through the air, using his newfound powers to absorb the nearby yellow rock formations and wrap them around his body like cosmic armor.]
[Ego performed the same technique, and massive amounts of stone formed into the shape of a gigantic humanoid figure under his control.]
[Star-Lord shaped his collected yellow rocks into the form of a colossal Pac-Man, whose enormous mouth kept opening and closing with mechanical precision.]
[Ego threw his stone-covered fist directly at the Pac-Man construct with tremendous force.]
[The two cosmic constructs collided with the violence of planets crashing together, sending debris flying in all directions like a spectacular meteor shower.]
[Star-Lord and Ego grabbed each other's hands in a test of pure strength and fell vertically downward until they struck the cavern floor with earth-shaking impact.]
[At this critical moment, there was only slightly more than one minute remaining before the bomb would detonate and destroy everything.]
[Aboard the rescue spacecraft, Gamora was carefully applying medical treatment to Mantis's head wound while Nebula sat quietly beside her, watching the procedure.]
[Rocket and Baby Groot flew rapidly toward their position and entered the main cabin through the damaged hull opening.]
[When Gamora saw that only Rocket and Baby Groot had returned, but there was no sign of Star-Lord anywhere, she immediately became frantic with worry.]
["Where's Quill?"]
[When Rocket didn't respond immediately, her voice involuntarily rose to nearly shouting volume.]
["Rocket! Where is he?!!"]