Ego possessed acute awareness that the current tactical situation was decidedly unfavorable for his continued survival. The relentless coordinated attacks of the Nova Corps fleet had pushed him to the very limits of his endurance, leaving him feeling thoroughly exhausted and overwhelmed. While each individual attack might seem as insignificant as a mosquito bite - causing no serious immediate damage - the cumulative effect was becoming increasingly unbearable, like an persistent itch that could not be relieved!
If he continued to allow these enemies to maintain their assault without taking decisive countermeasures, their sustained bombardment would inevitably cause considerable structural damage to his planetary body and weaken his cosmic consciousness.
If the enemy forces could maintain this level of coordinated attack indefinitely, Ego would eventually be worn down to the point of complete exhaustion and destruction. Although such an outcome seemed statistically unlikely given his vast reserves of celestial energy, Ego dared not take such a catastrophic risk with his eternal existence.
He had finally succeeded in locating a direct descendant who had inherited his divine celestial power after eons of searching across the galaxy. How could he possibly allow himself to fail at this crucial final step when victory was within his grasp?
But at this critical moment, Ego found himself facing an unprecedented dilemma that tormented his ancient consciousness. The continuous, devastating assault of the Asgardian Rainbow Bridge had rendered him completely helpless against its overwhelming destructive force.
While the entire massive planet served as his physical body and the source of his power, Ego's available energy reserves were insufficient for him to fully unleash and control the complete combat potential that such a celestial body theoretically possessed.
Over the countless millions of years of his existence, he had been systematically and obsessively increasing the thickness, density, and overall mass of his planetary form, believing that size would translate directly to power. However, today he discovered that he lacked the energy reserves necessary to effectively control such a massive cosmic body.
This fundamental limitation also explained why it had required such an extended period for him to locate Star-Lord and his crew during the events displayed on the sky screen prophecies.
The simple truth was that he did not possess sufficiently powerful control over his own planetary body, and his current energy reserves were inadequate for him to exercise complete dominion over the entire celestial sphere.
The situation could be compared to human physiology - while a person can consciously control their fists to deliver punches in combat, they cannot directly control whether their internal organs function properly or efficiently.
Ego's predicament followed a similar pattern, with the crucial difference being that if he possessed adequate energy reserves, he would theoretically be capable of exercising complete and absolute control over every aspect of his planetary body.
And now, the unexpected arrival of Star-Lord had provided him with a desperately needed glimmer of hope for salvation. As long as he could successfully capture his celestial offspring and prevent him from mounting any form of resistance, he would gain the ability to extract and absorb the divine energy flowing through Star-Lord's hybrid physiology.
Through this process of energy absorption, he would finally acquire the power necessary to completely control his planetary body and eliminate all those who had dared to challenge and offend his cosmic authority in one decisive, overwhelming assault.
Therefore, he deliberately chose not to launch attacks against the Milano being piloted by Star-Lord, instead allowing the spacecraft to penetrate deep into the interior of his planetary body where he could capture his son and extract his power without interference from the other heroes!
Star-Lord remained completely unaware of Ego's sinister intentions and strategic planning. His mind was focused entirely on a single, burning objective: gaining access to his celestial powers and using them to destroy Ego once and for all!
Even if his abilities proved to be only temporary, like a trial period that would eventually expire, it didn't matter to him in the slightest.
Tony's advanced sensors detected the Milano's suspicious movement patterns and immediately attempted to dissuade Star-Lord through their communication array: "Hey! Quill! You'd better reconsider entering that planet! This has to be a trap orchestrated by Ego!"
Star-Lord tilted his neck with characteristic cockiness, his voice filled with determined bravado: "Really? A trap that allows you to recognize it as a trap isn't actually a legitimate trap! It's a direct challenge and test of strength!"
After delivering this defiant declaration, he continued to pilot his spacecraft toward the location of the compromised energy barrier with unwavering determination.
Tony couldn't help but smile with grudging admiration: "Ha! This guy! Absolutely fascinating!"
After expressing his appreciation for Star-Lord's reckless courage, he decisively accelerated his own flight trajectory and began pursuing the Milano toward the breach in Ego's defenses.
Kraglin stood beside Yondu on the Blood Eagle's bridge, observing the unfolding battle with bewilderment: "Aren't these guys afraid of death? This seems like suicide!"
Scott Lang responded with calm confidence, his voice steady and unwavering: "This is what the Avengers do. They face impossible odds because it's the right thing to do."
Scott had been assigned the crucial responsibility of safeguarding the black hole bomb, and once the team reached their designated position within Ego's core, he could signal for Wanda to return and transport the devastating weapon to its target location.
When the situation demanded his participation, he possessed the ability to rapidly shrink to subatomic size and personally deliver the bomb directly to Ego's consciousness center, ensuring maximum destructive impact.
Pietro was positioned beside him as backup support, ready to provide assistance if Scott required additional speed for the mission, since even with his enhanced abilities, Scott couldn't match Quicksilver's superhuman velocity.
Wanda successfully destroyed another massive tentacle with her chaos magic and sensed that the tactical timing was optimal, so she flew directly to Thor's position in the cosmic battlefield.
Recognizing her approach, Thor took the initiative to sever his connection to Asgard's Rainbow Bridge. The brilliant colorful divine light gradually dissipated and faded away, allowing the Milano and Tony's armored form to immediately pass through the weakened energy barrier.
Wanda conducted a quick visual assessment of the planet's interior structure, then drew a perfect circle in the vacuum of space to open a dimensional portal. She entered the mystical gateway alongside Thor, and both heroes materialized directly on Ego's surface.
Captain Marvel and Star-Lord were still engaged in aerial combat above their heads at this moment. Ego's attention remained focused on these highly visible threats, causing numerous tentacles to rise skyward and launch coordinated attacks against the flying heroes.
Before Ego's consciousness could detect their presence on his surface, Thor moved swiftly to the massive crater created by the Rainbow Bridge's bombardment - a perfectly round hole that descended into pitch-black depths that seemed to extend infinitely downward.
He exchanged a meaningful glance with Wanda, communicating their shared understanding of the mission's requirements, then jumped decisively into the abyss. Wanda followed immediately behind him, her hands glowing with scarlet energy as she prepared to face whatever dangers awaited them below.
Since portal creation required precise knowledge of the target destination before the dimensional gateway could be successfully opened, Wanda needed to physically travel to the core area alongside Thor in order to establish an accurate portal connection for the rest of the team.
Thor and Wanda descended continuously through the crystalline tunnel, accompanied by the constant "whoosh" of displaced air rushing past them. The walls surrounding them had been completely transformed into crystallized mineral formations that contained residual traces of rainbow-colored divine light.
These lingering traces of colorful energy prevented Ego from sealing the passage they were using, but the divine light was slowly dimming with each passing moment, making it obvious that the protective effect would not sustain itself much longer.
Since the Rainbow Bridge had successfully penetrated all the way to Ego's core consciousness area, Thor and Wanda soon began to detect faint illumination emanating from the depths below them.
As the dazzling light grew brighter and more intense, both heroes successfully reached and entered the central core region of Ego's planetary consciousness.
Wanda took extensive time to carefully observe and analyze the surrounding environment, then began systematically searching for Ego's consciousness core alongside Thor, using both visual inspection and mystical detection methods.
However, Ego was far from foolish. His cosmic intellect certainly understood that the precise location of his consciousness core had been exposed and revealed through the sky screen.
Therefore, he had relocated his essential consciousness to an entirely different location within his planetary body. When Wanda and Thor arrived at the original core coordinates, they discovered nothing except completely empty space where the vital center should have been located.
The pulsing consciousness core that had originally been positioned at the center of those massive organic root systems had completely vanished without a trace.
Thor couldn't help but curse under his breath in frustration: "Oh! Damn it! This ancient bastard is considerably more intelligent than we anticipated!"
Wanda paid no attention to his colorful language and instead focused her enhanced senses on careful observation and analysis. Since Ego's relocation process had been completed in a very short timeframe due to the urgency of their assault, she soon discovered telltale traces of the core's movement path among the floating debris and crystallized fragments.
She observed countless tiny pieces of gravel, dust particles, and wisps of energy-charged smoke that formed a clearly defined curved trajectory pointing in a specific direction through the chamber.
Wanda immediately grasped Thor's armored forearm and pointed decisively toward the indicated direction. Thor responded by flying in that direction without hesitation, trusting her mystical tracking abilities completely.
Following this trail of scattered debris and energy residue, they navigated through a complex network of interconnected passages and chambers. After passing through an intricate series of holes and tunnels, the distinctive trail of gravel and energy signatures abruptly terminated directly in front of a massive, seemingly impenetrable stone wall.
Thor immediately understood the situation: the ancient cosmic entity Ego had concealed his consciousness core safely inside this barrier, but he had not anticipated that the Nova Corps would arrive at the battlefield so quickly. The attack had commenced before he could properly clean up the evidence of his movement, leaving clear traces for skilled trackers to follow.
This oversight had inadvertently helped Wanda and Thor successfully locate the exact position of his hidden consciousness core.
Examining the formidable stone barrier before them, Thor instinctively prepared to take immediate action against the obstacle, but Wanda quickly signaled him to exercise restraint and avoid acting rashly. If he launched a direct assault, Ego's consciousness would immediately detect their presence and become aware of their infiltration.
She needed to first verify with absolute certainty that Ego's consciousness core was actually concealed behind this barrier, rather than this being an elaborate deception. There was always the possibility that breaking through the stone wall would reveal nothing but empty space inside. After all, the trail of evidence had been almost suspiciously obvious and easy to follow!
Thor comprehended her strategic thinking, so he carefully memorized the exact location and characteristics of the stone barrier, then began systematically searching other areas within the core region that might potentially contain the hidden consciousness center.
While the two heroes conducted their covert search operation, high above in the cosmic battlefield, Captain Marvel successfully passed through the compromised energy barrier and decisively used her incredible powers to prevent the defensive barrier from regenerating and sealing itself.
After Natasha completely shattered another attacking tentacle with her enchanted Mjolnir, reducing it to harmless fragments, she swung the mystical hammer toward the gap in Ego's defenses with determined purpose.
"Banner! I'm entrusting this position to your capable hands!" Tony issued rapid tactical instructions to his teammates before accelerating toward the breach in the planetary defenses.
Star-Lord piloted the Milano at maximum velocity as he conducted his desperate assault on Ego's surface. Throughout his approach, massive numbers of tentacles appeared with frenzied desperation, attempting to knock his spacecraft out of the sky and prevent his penetration of the planet's interior.
Because Ego's attention remained intensely focused on Star-Lord's highly visible approach and he was simultaneously forced to deal with the Nova Corps' devastating concentrated beam attacks, the cosmic entity failed to notice that Thor and Wanda had completely disappeared from his awareness and were now operating covertly within his most vulnerable core regions.
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