Because Quill, who knew Blaine's strength, would never just hand over the Power Stone to him. The pig pretending to be a tiger had already exposed his true Hunter identity, so the situation was easy to imagine.
What's more, Blaine had already learned a great deal of useful information today, and the Collector had agreed to help him search for the mysterious metal. As a result, Blaine didn't care that much about the Power Stone anymore.
In any case, judging from how the plot was developing, the chances of obtaining it were not high. When he was on the Collector's planet earlier, Blaine had already tried to change the plot by killing Ronan in advance, but the outcome had clearly deviated from what he expected.
Since that was the case, there was no real reason for Blaine to stay. However, under the enthusiastic invitations of Quill and Rocket, Blaine had no choice but to temporarily join the Guardians of the Galaxy.
After all, once he parted ways with them, Blaine would simply head to another region of space and continue his interstellar wandering.
Thus, the six of them boarded the ship and lifted off into the sky. For the moment, however, they had no clear destination.
Kree space was no longer safe. Not only were the Kree authorities searching for Quill, but Yondu—Quill's adoptive father—was also on his trail. So everyone unanimously decided to follow the bounty list provided by Rocket and Groot, traveling elsewhere to take on jobs and earn commissions.
In the past, Blaine would have refused without hesitation. But after wandering alone through the universe for so long, he had to admit—he genuinely missed this kind of lively chaos.
Besides, following a group of idiots like this, it was hard not to have fun. Though Blaine appeared cold and detached in front of others, deep down he actually had a bit of comedic talent himself.
Just after Rocket finished setting up the ship and took off, before they had even left the atmosphere of the Collector's planet, Blaine suddenly sensed a massive presence charging toward them at extreme speed.
The target was clearly this planet. Needless to say, it was coming to cause trouble. At this point, Blaine didn't even need to guess who it was.
Sure enough, the moment Rocket's ship burst out of the atmosphere, it felt as if a dark cloud had blotted out the sun overhead. Forget their ship—even the entire planet seemed to be shrouded beneath it.
As expected of a space pirate. This single battleship alone was practically a moving planet. It could just as easily be called a space station, or even a mothership.
"Oh shit,"
"I guess we're not getting away."
Quill, who had grown up on this mothership, recognized it instantly the moment he looked up and caught a glimpse of it.
"Damn it,"
"I guess it's coming for you."
Rocket muttered to Quill, sounding as though he was already considering abandoning him and fleeing alone.
Next, a hatch opened beneath the massive mothership, and a beam of light shot out, directly pulling Blaine and their ship up together.
Yondu might look rough, but he was actually a good person—perhaps even a bit soft-hearted. Otherwise, he wouldn't have saved Quill when he was young, nor raised him all these years.
The moment they were pulled aboard, Blaine extended his mental power to survey the mothership. Big—really big. That was his first impression. Judging by Earth's current technological level, it would probably take decades to reach something like this, Wakanda aside.
There were also a lot of people. Tall and thin, short and fat, red-skinned, green-haired—every kind of bizarre appearance imaginable. In short, the pirates aboard this ship perfectly fulfilled all of Blaine's fantasies about aliens.
They came from all corners of the universe. Forget racial discrimination—each planet probably had its own entirely different culture. Yet Yondu, as the "captain," managed to keep all of them in line. From this alone, it was obvious how formidable he was. Anyone who said he had no methods was clearly lying.
As soon as the six were brought aboard the mothership, they were immediately surrounded by a large crowd. The hatch of their ship opened, and everyone jumped down obediently. On someone else's territory, there was no room for resistance.
Amid the crowd, Blaine recognized Yondu at a glance.
Blue-skinned from head to toe, wearing a large red leather coat that looked a bit like something a gold prospector from 1980s or 1990s America might wear.
At the same time, Yondu had what looked like an airplane nose. But it wasn't hair—it was a strip of metal. Yondu called it a fin, though Blaine had no idea why.
However, that metal fin was not to be underestimated. Yondu used it to control his weapon—the Yaka Arrow, also known as a whistling arrow.
Blaine had specifically consulted the system about this weapon. Yaka Arrows are made from a special sound-sensitive metal called Yaka, originating from Centauri IV, the first planetary colony outside Earth's solar system. They are about fifteen inches long and virtually indestructible.
As for the exact principle behind them, neither Blaine nor the system knew.
Because the attack method of the Yaka Arrow was so unique, somewhat similar to Blaine's Absolute Hit combined with mind control, Blaine speculated that it might be related to a special racial trait of Yondu's people—something like a sixth sense.
The moment Quill jumped down, Yondu grabbed him by the collar and started shouting, demanding to know why he had disobeyed orders and why he hadn't answered his calls.
What followed left Blaine stunned for a full ten minutes.
Relying solely on his silver tongue, Quill somehow managed to talk Yondu into complete confusion.
By the end of it, Yondu actually believed that the Cosmic Orb wasn't in Quill's hands at all—but in Ronan's.
In the end, everyone unanimously decided to return to Kree space to resupply—energy, ammunition, and manpower—before heading to Xandar to deal with Ronan and seize the Orb.
Only after it was all settled did Blaine finally process what had just happened. What kind of mouth was that? He actually believed it?
At that moment, Blaine finally understood how, in ancient times, someone could talk an entire city into ruin—or verbally kill an opponent on the spot. What was eloquence? If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Blaine would never have believed such a person existed in the universe.
Just as Yondu led his crew back toward Kree space, an even greater conspiracy was unfolding elsewhere.
"Report."
"According to reliable sources, the Cosmic Orb was brought back to the Kree planet by space pirates."
A Xandarian knelt on one knee and reported to the figure before him.
Standing at the forefront was Ronan the Accuser, who had just been rescued by Nebula.
"You should know Father doesn't like to see losers,"
"Without the Cosmic Orb, you know the consequences."
*************************************
You can get access to early chapters on patr*on
If you like my work and you want to support me then you can become my patron on patre*n.
My patr*on account is Lord_Immortal_0170