Facing Star-Lord's roar, Ego didn't speak again.
It wasn't because he'd had a change of heart, but because he no longer had the spare energy to sustain his voice.
Peter clenched his fingers into a fist; with this movement, Ego gasped sharply.
He felt his final means of resistance completely collapse.
Peter's absorption speed more than doubled again.
Correspondingly, Ego's energy form began to disintegrate; the drifting blue-white particles didn't vanish but gathered toward Peter along an invisible path, entering his body bit by bit.
An unprecedented sense of fullness surged through him, causing Peter to narrow his eyes comfortably.
Ego's final whimper was swallowed by the air, leaving behind not even a single last word.
This perverted God, who had lived for eons, traveled through countless galaxies, and fathered a brood of children only to kill them and their mothers with his own hands, vanished completely from the Universe in an extremely undignified manner.
He died silently.
When Peter withdrew his hand, he instinctively squeezed his fist, feeling his skin turn slightly transparent.
It had to be said that the energy Ego had accumulated was indeed exaggerated; even with the help of the Omnitrix and the Tiger Talisman, it nearly blew him apart.
Of course, by "blowing him apart," he didn't mean his body would literally explode and die.
Rather, he almost couldn't maintain his human form and was on the verge of becoming a sentient Planet like Ego.
While he was reflecting like this, Star-Lord and the others discovered a fact that made their scalps tingle.
The Planet beneath their feet... was disappearing.
This was no surprise.
The entire Planet was Ego's body, and now Ego had been completely absorbed by Peter.
The remaining energy remnants would dissipate into the wind; it was naturally only a matter of time.
"Holy cow~"
A crack opened between Rocket and Groot, nearly swallowing Rocket.
Fortunately, Groot was still in his giant form, allowing him to quickly grab Rocket's branch-like limbs.
"Run!" Rocket shouted, quickly signaling Groot to hurry toward the destiny—
It wasn't that he wanted to be lazy, but with his short legs, trying to make it on foot would surely end in tragedy...
The group began sprinting toward the destiny.
But they seemed a bit slow; their running speed couldn't keep up with the Planet's collapse.
More fatally, as the Planet crumbled, gravity was also rapidly vanishing.
If nothing changed, in less than half a minute, they would be completely exposed to space, where the extreme cold and lack of oxygen would quickly kill them!
"No, we can't make it!" Drax couldn't help but roar in despair!
Mantis had already given up struggling.
She simply stopped where she was, staring at where Ego had vanished.
The antennae on her forehead drooped; her expression was hard to define as joy or sorrow, likely a mix of many things—grief and relief perhaps, but neither was complete.
"Hey!"
Peter shouted to her:
"Don't tell me you're planning to be buried with that scumbag father of yours."
Mantis snapped out of it and looked up at Peter; her lips trembled, but she didn't know what to say.
Maybe dying here wouldn't be so bad; after all, she had no necessity or value for existing.
She was just a tool needed by Ego; now that Ego was dead, the tool naturally lost its reason for being.
Thinking this, she slowly closed her eyes, prepared to die in the endless void of space.
Just then, she felt a hand grab her wrist.
Then, with an unquestionable dominance, the other person forcibly pulled her into his embrace!
Mantis opened her eyes, looking at Peter in shock.
"Don't get the wrong idea, I just can't stand by and watch someone die."
Peter said, continuing to fly her toward the destiny.
"Thank you," she said softly.
"Still no good, we're too far from the destiny!" Rocket couldn't help but look back at Peter.
"Man, is this the time to be picking up girls?"
"Use that invincible brain of yours to think of something!"
Peter glanced at the mood-killing, foul-mouthed raccoon, then raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
The next second, the destiny flew toward them at high speed under the control of the Wheel of Fortune.
It even sprouted countless mechanical arms along the way, grabbing them firmly and then quickly retracting, tossing them one by one into the destiny's cabin.
"Phew~ Saved!"
Rocket couldn't help but sigh with relief.
Everyone looked like they had just escaped death.
Only Peter frowned slightly as he looked toward the spot where Ego had completely vanished from the Universe.
He suddenly felt like he'd missed out.
Before, he was too busy using the Celestial genes to absorb the energy in Ego's body and forgot to find an opportunity to grab something of Ego's to sacrifice to the system.
For example, that egg-shaped energy ship; if he had sacrificed that to the system, it would have been worth at least ten or twenty thousand sacrifice points.
Setting that aside, the rewards from this trip to Planet Ego were still very abundant.
Not only did he directly obtain Ego's Celestial genes, but he also absorbed all of Ego's energy.
Just the energy from Ego that he had digested and purified was roughly equivalent to...
He frowned and did a quick conversion; it was roughly equivalent to... the energy reserve of more than half an Infinity Stone?
Not bad; this cosmic trip could be considered to have come to a successful conclusion.
Thinking this, Peter took a deep breath and decided to part ways with Star-Lord and the others on Xandar.
They would continue being the Guardians of the Galaxy, while Peter himself should prepare to return to Earth.
Star-Lord and the others naturally wouldn't object to his choice; they were used to being free and easy and didn't want to go back to Earth to live with Peter.
Parting ways now was the best choice.
Of course, if Peter ever needed them in the future, they would definitely come back at the first opportunity to repay his kindness.
Only... would Peter really ever have a need for them in his life?
...
After waving goodbye to Star-Lord and the others on Xandar, Peter prepared to turn around and head back to Earth.
Just as he finished setting the course, footsteps suddenly came from behind him.
It was Mantis.
She stood at the cockpit door, not entering, just standing there with her antennae twitching slightly as if she were weighing something.
Peter didn't turn his head: "Something the matter?"
"I..." she paused, "I have nowhere else to go now."
These words were very direct, so direct there was no room for maneuver.
Peter was silent for a moment, then glanced at Sif nearby:
"So, what do you mean?"
"Can I go to Earth with you?" Mantis finally plucked up the courage to voice her thoughts. "I won't take up much space, and I don't need much food..."
Before she could finish, Sif's voice, tinged with a hint of a smile, came from the cockpit:
"Peter, doesn't this conversation feel a bit familiar to you?"
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