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In fact, as early as when Centurion Karson Sal returned to Xandar with the Imperial Truth, which had a 'location' function, Karl had already obtained Xandar's interstellar coordinates.
And for Karl, who possessed the Space Stone, as long as he knew the corresponding interstellar coordinates, he could go to the target location anytime, anywhere.
The reason Karl chose to appear on Xandar at this time was naturally to wait for the plot where Star-Lord and the other livewires of the Guardians of the Galaxy gathered together to begin.
However, his purpose for this trip was not to snatch the Cosmic Orb—which is the Power Stone—from their hands!
To be precise, he wasn't going to snatch it right now.
Because Karl had already calculated that someone would voluntarily deliver this Power Stone to him soon.
Although snatching the Power Stone now would be the most time-saving and effortless period, it was not the optimal outcome Karl wanted to see.
Because for Karl, only by making the event as big as possible could he maximize the Prestige and soul gains he could reap.
Perhaps this is what they call 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'?
So... now was clearly not the best time to act.
And Karl's purpose for coming here this time was actually for three other things.
One of them was a special item in The Collector Tivan's possession, comparable to a divine artifact—The Embers of Creation!!
This is a special cosmic dust from ancient times, used by the Celestial Group when creating life Planets, refined from supernovas.
It contains incredibly vast life energy; just a small pinch can transform the ecosystem of a dying Planet into an environment suitable for living organisms within a few minutes.
The reason Karl coveted it was simply to adorn the Subspace, bringing some green plants into it so that it wouldn't look so terrifying.
After all, in the future, he plans to use the Subspace to devour the entire Universe... achieving true Universal unification!
And the second was the skull remains of the Celestial Group located in Knowhere.
Speaking of which, the remains of this skull might have been left by the Celestial Group that Nal cut down with the All-Black Necrosword back then.
And now, Nal has become the Great Daemon of the Emperor, so this war trophy should rightfully belong to Karl.
Karl wanted Tzeentch and others to study the Celestial Group in advance through this skull... perhaps one day this so-called Celestial Group would appear on Earth!
It was for these two purposes that Karl directly used the power of the Space Stone to cross hundreds of light-years and appear directly on Xandar.
As for the last purpose, it was related to Star-Lord in front of him...
"Hey, buddy, don't block the way."
Star-Lord, who had already reached the store entrance, looked Karl up and down, then smiled and pointed at the suit he was wearing, praising: "But I really like your style of dressing, it looks so cool!"
"Thank you for the compliment."
Karl smiled politely, then stepped aside and walked out. Star-Lord then entered the store and said to the boss, whose memory Karl had just searched with his Mind abilities and who had not yet fully recovered: "Broker... Hey, don't just stand there, I've found the ball you wanted."
"Hmm? Qui... Mr. Quill."
The merchant, known as the Broker, looked at Star-Lord, who had suddenly appeared in front of him, with a bewildered expression.
He clearly remembered that he seemed to have been entertaining a very important guest just now, but he couldn't recall any details related to the other party.
That feeling was very strange, as if a part of his memory had been forcibly erased.
Forget it, it must be my illusion.
The Broker shook his head, then looked behind Star-Lord, and frowned, asking, "Mr. Quill, why didn't Yondu come?"
"He originally planned to come with me..."
Star-Lord never blushed when lying, and immediately put on a serious face to explain: "But he still asked me to send his regards to You, and told You that your eyebrows are the coolest and most beautiful in the industry!"
The Broker naturally wouldn't believe such nonsense. He looked at the Cosmic Orb placed on the table, and couldn't help but feel a little excited.
"What exactly is in this thing?" Star-Lord asked curiously while the other party was fiddling with the Cosmic Orb.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Quill." The Broker immediately straightened his face and said righteously, "Yondu must have told You about my rules, right?"
"I never casually reveal the names of my clients or their requests... that's why so many people are willing to use me as a middleman."
"I know that, of course."
Star-Lord still refused to give up, pretending to be sad and said, "But I almost got killed for this ball."
"No, no, no, that's called occupational hazard." The Broker mercilessly exposed him: "I believe it's inevitable for everyone in this business, including You."
Seeing that his method was not working, Star-Lord couldn't help but complain: "Those idiots with tubes in their heads earlier seemed to say they were working for someone named Ronan or something..."
However, before he could finish his sentence, the Broker standing behind the crystal counter opposite him shuddered upon hearing the name 'Ronan', and then pushed the Cosmic Orb on the table back to Star-Lord, saying:
"I'm really sorry, Mr. Quill, if The Accuser Ronan is involved in this, then I can't do this business."
With that, he walked out of the counter and forcefully pushed Star-Lord out.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, why are You suddenly reacting so strongly?"
Star-Lord was instantly bewildered, he stopped and asked, "You can make me leave, but You must tell me who he is? Why are You so afraid of him?"
The Broker said with fear in his eyes, "That guy is the Kree Empire's most warlike Commander, and also one of the most powerful Accusers. He is very dissatisfied with the peace treaty signed between Xandar and the Kree Empire recently."
"He even threatened to destroy Xandar and wipe out our Xandarian civilization... so as long as it involves that madman, we Xandarians will not participate."
"No need to see You off, Mr. Quill!"
"Hey, you eyebrow-faced jerk, we had an agreement beforehand!"
Star-Lord, who was pushed out the door, shouted in dissatisfaction, but when he turned his head, he saw Gamora leaning against the wall, having appeared at some unknown time.
"What, are You in some kind of trouble?" Gamora looked at Star-Lord with a slightly aggressive gaze, like a cold and beautiful queen.
"Ahem, nothing." Seeing a beautiful woman appear, Star-Lord first straightened his collar, then feigned a sophisticated air and said:
"It's just that this guy just stood me up... I hate unprincipled people who break their promises the most!"
"Hello, my name is Peter Quill, known as Star-Lord."
Gamora did not introduce herself, but instead smiled and asked back in a teasing tone, "So, that means You must have good taste?"
"This..."
Star-Lord had never seen such an assertive beauty before, and he immediately said somewhat complacently, "I didn't say that, but others around me always praise me like that."
"You know what? I've always been very low-key, never liked to show off my... huh?"
Before he could finish speaking, he found that the Cosmic Orb in his hand had been snatched by Gamora, who then kicked him in the groin.
Hiss~~
Karl, who was acting as a spectator not far away, couldn't help but worry about Star-Lord's lower body, because this idiot had been hit by Gamora with this move more than once or twice.
One must know that Gamora had already earned the title of 'the most dangerous woman in the Universe' when she was just a teenager, so her strength can be imagined.
So even if Star-Lord had iron balls, he couldn't withstand her continuous blows!
However, after the small interlude just now, Karl had already attached a 'Mind Imprint' to Star-Lord. This way, no matter where he goes in the future, the corresponding interstellar coordinates will be transmitted back to Karl in real time.
Unless he encounters a 'Mind Archmage' with a higher mastery of Mind abilities than Karl along the way, with the abilities of Star-Lord and his group, they would not be able to detect the existence of this 'Mind Imprint', let alone actively erase it.
After finishing these, Karl directly opened a Chamblue teleportation gate, then stepped into it, and he disappeared without a trace.
And after Karl left, Star-Lord, Gamora, and the kidnappers Rocket Raccoon and Groot, were also captured by the Nova Corps in a chaotic battle, just like in the original work, and then all sent to Kiln Prison.
This time, the Nova Corps no longer considered Star-Lord's previous favor of rescuing Karson Sal. After all, letting him go last time was already an extraordinary act of mercy.
Who would have thought that this guy would come back to cause trouble so quickly, in less than a day?
He truly is a lost cause!
...
A few hours later.
After Star-Lord and his group caused a ruckus as in the original work, they successfully escaped from Kiln Prison. Then, aboard Star-Lord's spaceship, the milano, they carried the Cosmic Orb, which was like a hot potato, and headed to Knowhere under Gamora's guidance.
And not long after Star-Lord and the others left, The Accuser Ronan's Dark Aster spaceship tracked them to Kiln Prison.
Immediately, a large number of Necron soldiers occupied the entire prison.
"Please, don't kill me, I really don't know where they went, I swear."
A prison guard, his face full of terror, begged Nebula, who had a monomolecular combat knife at his throat. But she smiled coldly, "That means You are useless."
Poof—
The monomolecular combat knife directly pierced the other party's throat. Nebula casually flicked the blood off the blade, no longer paying attention to the corpse lying in a pool of blood at her feet. She turned to Ronan, who was silent, and said:
"These people should not be lying. If they really knew the whereabouts of Star-Lord and Gamora, they would have told us."
"It seems we were a step late again this time... Ronan, I told You before, You should trust me more than Gamora."
"Damn it, that bitch actually dared to betray me?"
Ronan's anger was beyond words. He had originally thought he could easily get the Cosmic Orb this time, but who would have thought that Star-Lord would be so cunning?
No, it should be said that Thanos's eldest daughter, Gamora, was so unreliable?
He had originally thought that she had simply failed in her mission and was accidentally captured by the Xandarians, and had not yet found the Cosmic Orb.
But Thanos's subordinates had informants in Kiln Prison who happened to overhear Gamora's conversation with Star-Lord and the others. They learned that she was not going to give the Cosmic Orb to Ronan, nor to her adoptive father Thanos, but was going to sell it directly to the buyer behind the scenes for a bounty of 4 billion, and take the opportunity to completely break free from Thanos's control.
This was simply too loyal!
So, upon receiving the news, Ronan furiously led his troops to Kiln Prison.
Who would have thought that he was still a step too late, and Star-Lord and Gamora successfully escaped.
Feeling tricked, Ronan now wished he could personally strangle Gamora. He should have sent Nebula to Xandar to snatch the Cosmic Orb back then!
Even if it failed, at least he wouldn't be played for a fool like this.
If this got out, wouldn't the other Accusers laugh their heads off?
Truly, his lifelong reputation was ruined!
At this moment, Korath the Pursuer came over and reported, "Master, we just received news that the Nova Corps has dispatched an entire fleet to Kiln Prison. We must leave here quickly."
"Alright." Ronan said with a livid face, "Gamora and those guys can't have escaped far. Immediately send Necron ships to search every corner of the entire galaxy... at all costs, we must get the Cosmic Orb back before anyone else!!"
"Yes, Master."
Korath looked at the controlled prisoners and guards in the prison and cautiously asked, "Then... what should we do with these prisoners here? They might expose our whereabouts?"
"Kill them all."
Ronan said without looking back, "We absolutely cannot let the Nova Corps detect my intentions and movements in advance, otherwise they will also join the ranks of snatching the Cosmic Orb."
"Also... it seems I need to personally meet Thanos!"