According to Heimdall's description, Star-Lord was not alone. He was accompanied by a woman.
"A woman?"
Ethan suspected it might be Gamora. But how did those two end up together again?
Because of Ethan's meddling, there was no real plot left in this world. Many major events from the original story had not happened or had changed significantly. The Dark Elves were completely wiped out by an ambush from Asgard. Ronan did not go to Xandar but instead came to Asgard, only to be turned to dust by a single move from Ethan.
Star-Lord did not get the Power Stone, was not captured by the Nova Corps and sent to prison, did not save Xandar with a few companions, and certainly did not form the superhero group the Guardians of the Galaxy.
The current Star-Lord was wandering the galaxy, wanted by Yondu, and he was still alone when he last parted ways with Ethan.
Considering that Star-Lord did not have a team now, if he fell into Ego's hands, it was unlikely that Rocket Raccoon would rush to save him. Yondu was still searching for information about Star-Lord and had no idea he had gone to Ego.
This meant that if Ethan did not intervene, Star-Lord would likely be in serious trouble.
Was it Star-Lord's good luck? Or was this guy really blessed with a protagonist's halo? This incident just happened to occur precisely when Ethan needed his help. Ethan definitely would not stand by and let Star-Lord be used as a battery by Ego, especially since Ego's target also included Earth.
Earth in this world had long been designated by Ethan as his logistical base. How could he allow Ego to lay a hand on it?
Right in front of Heimdall, after asking for the location of Ego's planet, Ethan directly opened a portal and walked through with Nebula.
During this time, he even had a moment to think, "Perhaps the woman with Star-Lord is not Gamora. After all, Star-Lord has an excellent appetite. As long as there is a gender distinction in the galaxy and the gender is female, he is willing to go for it."
When Ethan arrived on Ego's planet and saw Star-Lord playing catch with his dad, he found that the green-skinned woman standing beside them really was Gamora. Those two had indeed ended up together.
"Gamora?"
"Nebula?"
Ethan just felt it was miraculous, while Nebula was much more shocked. She never expected to encounter Gamora here.
Compared to that, Ethan waving his hand and bringing her across who knew how far to this distant Ego's planet was hardly worth noting. After all, this man possessed powerful and terrifying strength, so having a few more special abilities was not strange.
"What are you doing here?"
The two women immediately became confrontational, completely confusing the father and son who had been happily playing.
Especially Nebula, who showed intense hostility upon appearing. If Ethan, whom he knew, had not been standing beside her, he definitely would have treated this suddenly appearing blue-skinned woman as an enemy of Gamora.
"Haven't seen you in a while, Peter."
"You're looking for me?"
"Of course, what else would I be doing here?" Ethan turned his head and glanced at Ego, who was standing not far away. The man's expression was not very pleasant.
Unlike Star-Lord and Gamora, Ego could sense the aura of a higher life form from Ethan. Coupled with the way Ethan appeared, it made him very wary. He was worried his plan might go awry.
If Ethan knew what Ego was thinking, he would definitely give him a thumbs-up and praise him as "You're so smart!", because Ethan certainly would not let his plan succeed.
"You need something from me?"
Star-Lord's question drew Ethan's attention back. While reaching out to shove Nebula, who was about to charge at Gamora, aside, Ethan greeted Star-Lord and also stated that he wanted to ask for his help again, with compensation, of course.
"So, you specifically came looking to hire me?"
He sounded very proud. Did not a returning customer coming to find him prove his skills were excellent? He even straightened his back and struck a smug pose, showing off to Gamora beside him, as if emphasizing that he was a very capable man.
"..."
Ethan felt his mouth twitching a bit. Aside from marveling at Star-Lord's unique taste, he really did not know how else to describe the scene before him.
Fortunately, Peter Quill did not just focus on pleasing the girl. He also knew to ask Ethan for some specific details and also chatted about his own situation during this time.
Since parting ways with Yondu and going solo, Peter Quill had mostly been alone. Gamora was also someone he had only recently met.
Even if this companion was initially his enemy, because she was originally coming after Star-Lord, specifically, after the Orb, or rather, the Power Stone, in his hands.
Speaking of the Power Stone, Star-Lord began to complain to Ethan.
"Man, you really screwed me over."
What frustrated him the most was that he did not even have the thing, but now everyone thought he had taken the Orb. People like Gamora were looking for him instead of the person who actually took the Power Stone, Ethan. Those people had no idea Ethan even existed.
"The Power Stone is not with me. You know I gave it to Thor, right?"
"But everyone thinks I took the thing."
"Actually, it is not that many people, is it?"
Those who wanted the Orb were none other than Thanos, Ronan, and Yondu, who did not know what it was but was extremely annoyed because Peter had taken it first, maybe also the black market merchant who originally offered a price for it, and some mercenaries they hired?
Looking at it that way, there really were quite a few people.
As Ethan pondered, he noticed the woman beside him and added Gamora to the list in his mind.
This woman knew what was hidden inside and also knew that Thanos wanted to obtain it, so she wanted to find it in advance and take it somewhere Thanos could not get it.
Her idea was to sell it to the Collector, as the Collector had a considerable reputation and strength in the galaxy. Perhaps with the Orb in such a person's hands, it could prevent Thanos from getting the Power Stone.
With this thought, Gamora spent a lot of effort and time finding clues, learning that the Orb had been taken by a former Ravager named Star-Lord, and then spent a lot of time investigating Star-Lord's whereabouts.
This led to the two of them meeting and traveling together later. She learned from Star-Lord that the Orb had not stayed with him but had been given to someone else.
She initially wanted Star-Lord to take her to find this person, but unexpectedly met the person who took the Orb at this place.
Gamora kept observing Ethan. She could not see anything special about him. She felt that Ethan probably could not stop Thanos from taking the Orb, and perhaps she should persuade him to give the item to a more powerful person for safekeeping.
Thinking this, she looked at Nebula beside her with a face full of questions. Compared to herself, Nebula had a much worse temper, and Ethan had just so casually pushed Nebula aside, yet her sister showed no sign of exploding at all. This was not normal.
With a lot on her mind, Gamora seemed a bit silent. Coupled with Ego, who was somewhat wary of Ethan, several people in the scene were quiet, with only Ethan and Peter Quill talking non-stop.
"You know what? I was even chased by a raccoon and a tree before. If I knew that accepting your request back then would cause so much trouble, I definitely would not have taken it."
"Even if I had not commissioned you, you would have taken that thing, and you would not have been able to avoid these troubles anyway."
Ethan spread his hands. He was not willing to take the blame for this. If it were not for him, the troubles Star-Lord would have faced would have been much greater, and he only got through the danger relying on his protagonist's halo.
After all, no one could guarantee that this world was the timeline where he could save the galaxy by dancing. Especially with Ethan influencing this world more and more, events had long deviated from the original plot. It was entirely possible that Ronan, seeing Star-Lord acting crazy, would not even ask questions and would just smash him with his hammer.
"Alright, I guess you have a point."
The two of them rambled for a while, having more or less finished their greetings. Star-Lord began to introduce his father to Ethan.
Ego smiled and greeted Ethan. He currently looked like a kind and amiable old man, showing no hint of the enormous ambition he harbored, to turn countless civilized planets in the galaxy into extensions of himself, slowly spreading to all planets and even the entire universe.
"Hello, Ego."
Ethan's first greeting was quite ordinary, but then his true nature was revealed.
"I am very curious, how many planets have you left extensions of yourself on?"
Ego was originally smiling and preparing to greet Ethan, but his expression changed dramatically when he heard this sentence. His entire demeanor became completely different, losing the previous amiable appearance.
At this moment, Ego looked full of killing intent, staring at Ethan with a cold face.
"Who exactly are you?"
"A passerby, temporarily living on Earth."
Ethan's answer seemed perfunctory, but this answer made Ego understand one thing. It seemed Ethan was not just here to find Peter Quill this time, but was also here for him.
"You want to stop me?"
From the previous conversation, it was clear that this person already knew his plan. He did not know how the other person knew, but he had no intention of hiding it.
This confidence stemmed from his own powerful strength. Moreover, the other party was in his territory. Even if this person might possess great power, he did not believe they could do anything to him.
"Stop?" Ethan wagged his finger. "Completely eliminate, you mean."
(To be continued.)