Russell observed the glowing sphere in his hand and suddenly said:
"I advise you not to press that button. If you're not one of the Elders of the Universe in this timeline, it's better to behave yourself."
The Elders of the Universe were beings who survived the destruction of the previous universe.
But Russell was certain—there shouldn't be any Elders in this era of Eternity.
The Collector didn't understand what he meant.
He only knew that someone had invaded his collection hall—and his finger had already pressed the emergency button!
In an instant, the metal ceiling opened, and several high-energy laser turrets emerged. The walls on both sides slid apart, revealing two combat robot teams ordered from the Kree Empire.
At the same time, transparent energy shields activated, covering the Collector and all of his collections.
Then came a loud rumble—the elevator doors opened, and six alien warriors wielding various weapons stormed in, glaring and awaiting the order to attack.
The Collector quickly regained his previous arrogance and sneered at Russell coldly:
"Human?... It's been a long time since I saw a creature like you."
"Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you have some control over space. I have plenty of ways to block it!"
"You need to understand—this is Knowhere. And I'm the master here!"
But just as he finished speaking, the human in front of him vanished like a phantom.
Even worse, the elite warriors—each of whom could take on a hundred enemies in interstellar warfare—looked past him as if they'd seen a ghost.
No!
The Collector's heart dropped.
They weren't looking at him. They were staring behind him!
"Lock-on!"
The Collector's face went pale, and he screamed in panic.
Then he saw the robots and ceiling-mounted laser cannons target his back!
But before he could feel relieved, he watched in horror as the expensive robots he had bought were suddenly crushed by an invisible force—twisting into mangled scrap metal.
The high-energy laser turrets sparked violently, overloaded, and shut down.
The most terrifying part?
The six warriors who had just stormed in suddenly caught fire—without warning.
Within a second, before they could even scream, they were reduced to piles of white ash.
Fear. Shock. Dread.
The Collector's face turned white. His heart pounded like a drum.
He sat stiffly in his chair, not even daring to breathe.
Bang!
Suddenly, a hand slapped his shoulder.
The Collector screamed in terror, tried to run—but his legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor.
Russell sat down lazily in his seat, glanced at the trembling Collector, and shook his head:
"No courage. No brains. Pathetic."
At that moment, the Collector truly felt the breath of death looming over him.
He shrieked in panic:
"What are you going to do?!"
"Do you know my brother is the Grandmaster of Sakaar? If you harm me, he won't let you go! He'll hunt you across the galaxy!"
"If you leave now, I'll not only pretend this never happened—I'll give you the Celestial Sphere you're holding!"
Russell looked at the glowing orb in his hand and chuckled.
"Idiot. If I kill you, everything you own becomes mine anyway."
"Go in peace."
The Collector, trembling, tried one last desperate move—his hand reaching for his waist.
But in that instant, a space cube wrapped around him like amber.
A moment later, a blast of terrifying electromagnetic energy erupted.
This was advanced technology from Kang the Conqueror.
And now, Russell wielded it with ease—powered by the strength of the Original Force.
In an instant, the Collector's body disintegrated into particles and completely vanished—without even leaving ashes behind.
"It's a pity he wasn't one of the Elders of the Universe,"
Russell commented calmly, too lazy to check the system's feedback. He turned to the pink-skinned alien girl who was frozen in fear.
"What's your name?"
"K-Kayla," the pink-skinned girl stammered.
Russell shook his head.
"No, from now on, you are the Collector."
He tapped the table lightly, and green energy suddenly surged from his hand, engulfing the girl.
A few seconds later, the alien girl had completely transformed—taking on the appearance of the Collector.
"You'll manage this place for me from now on," Russell said casually.
The girl was stunned for a moment, but then she understood what had happened.
Overwhelmed with gratitude, she dropped to her knees and crawled forward a few steps, pressing her forehead firmly to the cold metal floor.
"Thank you for this gift... I won't let you down!"
In just a single minute, her fate had flipped from hell to heaven. She was immensely grateful.
Russell didn't care much. He was just looking for someone obedient to watch over this place in the Void.
After skimming through all the collections, Russell took away the more valuable ones and left the rest untouched.
The next step was to wait for Star-Lord to bring the orb to him.
As for why he didn't seek out Yondu—it was because Ego was too cunning. He never stayed in one place, and the coordinates Yondu had were long outdated.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
A small spacecraft emerged from a jump gate.
Inside the cabin, Drax stared wide-eyed at the massive skull-shaped space station outside.
Star-Lord, who frequently visited the black market here, smiled proudly.
Just as he was about to brag about how massive and packed the inside was, Drax muttered in awe:
"If this thing were alive... imagine how much poop it would've had to dump every day!"
"I. Am. Groot."
"Stop right there," Rocket cut in. "I know it might've been nutritious, but don't start fantasizing."
He rolled his eyes and quickly piloted the ship through the skull's eye socket.
The spacecraft docked at the starport.
Three people, a raccoon, and a tree disembarked and made their way toward the base of the Collector's spire.
After explaining their purpose, they were escorted to the top floor.
When they stepped out of the elevator and passed through a corridor filled with bizarre collections, they finally reached the windowed chamber.
But what they saw wasn't what Gamora had expected.
Sitting comfortably on the throne was a human who looked somewhat like Star-Lord. Meanwhile, the Collector stood beside him—like a subordinate.
Gamora immediately sensed something was off. Her hand instinctively moved toward the dagger at her waist, waiting for the idiot beside her to trigger something first.
Star-Lord, as expected, didn't notice a thing.
Isn't this just a case of a new boss taking over? Not that uncommon, really.
He nervously pulled out the Orb (which contained the Power Stone) from his pocket and said:
"I remember you offered a bounty of 400 million Nova Credits for this thing. You're not planning to lower the price, right?"
Idiot... Rocket cursed silently and added,
"We brought what you wanted. You should pay as promised."
Russell nodded slightly.
The "Collector" stepped forward, took the Orb with a tray, and said:
"Create an anonymous account for Mr. Raccoon here. Transfer 400 million Nova Credits."
Rocket didn't care about the title. For money, he was very flexible.
He checked the instrument on his arm—connected to a secure model—and a string of numbers appeared.
He burst into laughter.
"Damn, the Collector really is generous. I got the payment."
Star-Lord was also ecstatic. With this money, he could live carefree for a long time—hell, maybe even half a lifetime!
But then, he heard the man on the throne speak in a calm tone:
"There's a new bounty. Anyone interested?"
Rocket nodded immediately.
"Of course! Who could resist money? Just say the word!"
Star-Lord thought about it for a moment and decided to take on another job.
With the way he burned through cash, the more the better.
But in the next second, he saw the man in front of him smile and say:
"Capture Star-Lord, and you'll receive 10 million Nova Credits per day."
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