Antony opened his eyes and glanced at the caller ID.
Jane Foster.
After answering the call, his expression gradually turned more serious.
A raccoon?
Blue skin?
A sapling?
Guardians of the Galaxy?
Wait… that lineup…
That wasn't the first movie's crew—it was the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 lineup.
"Where did they say they were going?" Antony sat upright as Skynet smoothly moved behind him and began massaging his shoulders again.
"They said they're heading to… Ego's planet," Jane replied over the phone. "They're looking for someone named Quill."
"Alright. Tell them to wait there. I'll be right over."
After hanging up, Antony fell into deep thought.
Ego's planet.
The name struck his memory like lightning.
He had been so busy reshaping Earth's power structure that he had completely forgotten about this.
In the Marvel universe—
There was an extremely dangerous monster.
Ego.
A Celestial.
A living planet.
In order to fulfill his so-called Celestial Expansion—turning the entire universe into an extension of himself—Ego had planted his "seeds" on millions of planets.
And Earth…
Was one of them.
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Ego had buried a seed in a forest in Missouri.
Those seeds normally remained dormant.
But once activated—
They would grow like cancer cells, devouring every living thing on the planet.
Even the planet itself.
"…Damn."
Antony cursed under his breath.
He threw off the blanket and stepped barefoot onto the carpet.
"What's wrong, sir?" Skynet asked, noticing the sudden shift in Antony's mood.
"We've got a little problem."
While dressing quickly, Antony's mind raced.
If Yondu and Rocket had already met up—
That meant the old bastard Ego had already found his son.
Peter Quill.
He hadn't expected the timeline to reach this point so soon.
"The seed… let me think…"
Antony paced back and forth.
"Missouri…"
"Saint Charles."
"In the woods near the town."
That was the location shown in the movie.
"Skynet."
"I'm here, sir."
At the moment, Skynet was elegantly putting her clothes back on.
Technically, her synthetic body could simply generate clothing instantly—but she had deliberately chosen the slower, more human method.
"I need you to go to Saint Charles, Missouri."
"On the edge of that town there's a nearly bankrupt Dairy Queen dessert shop."
"I want you to use that as the center point and search the forest within a five-kilometer radius."
"What exactly am I searching for, sir?" Skynet asked as faint streams of light flickered in her eyes.
"A seed."
Antony looked up slightly as he reconstructed the movie scene from memory.
"It doesn't resemble any Earth plant."
"It glows with a strange blue light and pulses like something alive."
"Like an alien heart buried underground."
"Understood, Mr. Starr," Skynet replied immediately.
"Good."
Antony finished dressing.
"Now it's time for me to meet our extraterrestrial guests."
-----
V.G.D. Second Experimental Base
Rocket Raccoon was holding a screwdriver and lying across the control console of one of the machines, trying to pry open the cover panel.
"Hey! Stop that! That's precision equipment!"
Jane Foster was furious. She held Mjolnir high in the air—if Thor hadn't been restraining her, she would have smashed Rocket flat already.
"Precision? Ha!"
Rocket didn't even look up. His furry paws moved with incredible dexterity.
"The energy conversion efficiency of this thing is an absolute joke! I'm helping you optimize this junk!"
"Understand, natives?"
"I am Groot."
Baby Groot stood nearby, playing with a measuring cup and trying to put it on his head like a helmet.
Yondu leaned against the damaged spacecraft, his eyes scanning the surrounding Vought security personnel holding rifles.
His lethal Yaka Arrow hovered in front of him, ready to strike.
Suddenly—
BOOM!
A thunderous sonic blast ripped across the sky.
Antony had intentionally created the pressure wave.
Everyone's clothes whipped violently in the wind.
Rocket nearly dropped his screwdriver into the machine.
He looked up and shouted:
"Who the hell is that now?! Does everyone on this planet have to make such a dramatic entrance?!"
Antony floated in the air.
The star-spangled cape behind him slowly settled as he hovered above the landing site.
He didn't land immediately.
Instead, he remained suspended in the sky, looking down on the alien visitors.
Yondu's expression changed slightly.
A veteran Ravager like him could smell power.
And the man floating above them—
Radiated the aura of someone extremely dangerous.
"Put away the arrow, blue-skinned gentleman."
Antony spoke calmly.
His voice carried the authority of someone used to command.
"On Earth, pointing weapons at the host is considered rather rude."
Yondu hesitated.
Then he whistled.
The floating arrow obediently returned to his belt.
Satisfied, Antony descended slowly to the ground.
The cold expression on his face melted instantly into a diplomatic smile.
"Welcome to Earth, my friends."
He walked over to Jane and gently patted her shoulder, signaling her to relax.
"Host?"
Rocket jumped down from the console and dusted off his paws while staring up at Antony.
"Alright then, host."
"Your people wrecked our ship and dragged us here from hundreds of light-years away."
"How are you planning to compensate us?"
"If our experiment caused the accident, Vought will take full responsibility."
Antony maintained perfect composure as his gaze shifted to Rocket.
"A talking raccoon…"
"That's quite rare."
"I'M ROCKET! NOT A RACCOON!"
Rocket exploded in fury.
He yanked the energy rifle off his back and aimed it directly at Antony.
"Call me raccoon again and I'll blow your head off!"
Antony smirked.
His eyebrow lifted slightly.
A faint red glow appeared in his eyes.
Zzzzt—!
Two razor-thin beams of heat vision shot out.
They sliced the barrel clean off Rocket's rifle.
Clank.
Half the gun barrel fell to the ground.
Rocket stared at the weapon in his paws.
Then slowly looked up at Antony.
"…Alright."
He swallowed nervously.
His ears drooped.
"…Okay. A little raccoon can actually be kind of cute."
"Hahaha!"
Yondu burst out laughing.
"Rocket, I like your old attitude better!"
Then he turned back to Antony.
"We don't need compensation."
"Just help us fix the ship."
"We need to get to Ego's planet as soon as possible. Our people are still there."
"Of course," Antony said generously.
"We'll do everything we can to help repair your ship."
"The most brilliant engineer on this planet—Tony Stark—is already on his way."
"I believe his assistance will significantly speed up the engine repairs."
Yondu visibly relaxed after hearing that.
"Additionally…"
Antony changed the subject and pointed toward the massive interstellar jump ring.
"As you can see, our technology is still in its early stages."
He walked over to Rocket and crouched down so their eyes were level.
"…Mr. Rocket."
"I need you to give our scientists a lesson."
--------------
T/N:
Access Advance Chapters on my
P@treon: [email protected]/PokePals