The Savior of American Comics? I'm the Subspace Evil God!

Chapters 419, 754, and 755: [Embers of Creation]

In fact, Karl had already obtained the interstellar coordinates of Xandar when Centurion Carson Sal returned to Xandar with the Imperial Truth, which had a 'location' function.

For Karl, who possesses the Space Stone, as long as he knows the corresponding interstellar coordinates, he can travel to the target location anytime, anywhere.

Carl chose to appear on Xandar at this particular time because he was waiting for Star-Lord and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy to gather together for the upcoming storyline.

However, his purpose in coming here was not to seize the [Cosmic Orb] from the other party... that is, the [Power Gem]!
To be precise, it should be said that they are not planning to take action to seize it now.

Because Karl had already calculated that someone would soon bring the [Power Gem] to him.

Although now is the most time-efficient and effortless time to seize the [Power Gem], it is not the best outcome Karl wants to see.

For Karl, only by making the event as big as possible can he maximize the gains he can reap, such as reputation points and souls.

Perhaps this is what they mean by "you can't catch a wolf without risking your cub"?

Therefore... it is clearly not the best time to take action yet.

Karl's purpose in coming here was actually for three other things.

One of them is a special item in the possession of the collector Tivan—the Creation Embers, a work comparable to a divine artifact!

This is a special kind of cosmic dust extracted from supernovae, which was used by the Celestial Race in ancient times when they created life-bearing planets.

It contains an immense amount of life energy; just a small amount can transform the ecosystem of a dying planet into a habitable environment for life in just a few minutes.

Karl only wanted to decorate the Warp, to bring some greenery into it, so that it wouldn't look so frightening.

After all, he plans to use the [subspace] to devour the entire universe in the future... to achieve true cosmic unification!
The second one is the skull fragment of the [Cosmic Celestial Race] located in the [Void Knowledge Land].

Speaking of which, this skull fragment might very well be the remnant of the Celestial race that Gnar used to sever it from his body with the Black Death Sword.

Now that Gnar has become the "E Great Demon" under the Emperor, this trophy should rightfully belong to Karl.

Karl wanted Tzeentch and the others to use this head to study the Celestials in advance... Who knows, one day these so-called Celestials might 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 objective, it's related to Star-Lord in front of us...

"Hey buddy, get out of the way."

Star-Lord, who had already reached the store entrance, looked Carl up and down, then grinned and pointed to the suit Carl was wearing, praising him:

"But I really like your style of dressing, it looks so cool!"

"Thank you for the compliment."

Karl smiled politely, then turned and walked out. Star-Lord followed suit and entered the shop, speaking to the shopkeeper who had just had his memories searched by Karl's [psychic abilities] and was still not fully recovered:

“Hey, broker, stop standing there, I’ve found the ball you wanted.”

“Hmm? Mr. Quill…”

The businessman, known as the 'broker,' looked completely bewildered as Star-Lord suddenly appeared before him.

He clearly remembered that he was receiving a very important guest, but he couldn't recall any details about the person.

The feeling was very strange, as if a part of my memory had been forcibly erased.

Never mind, it must be my imagination.

The broker shook his head, then looked behind Star-Lord, before frowning and asking, "Mr. Quill, why isn't Yondu here?"

"He did originally intend to come with me..."

Star-Lord never blushes when he lies, and immediately put on a serious expression to explain, "But he still asked me to pass on his regards to you, and to tell you that your eyebrows are the coolest and most beautiful in the industry!"

The broker naturally didn't believe such nonsense. He glanced at the [Cosmic Spirit Orb] that the other party had placed on the table and couldn't help but feel a little excited.

"What exactly is inside this?" Star-Lord asked curiously as the other person fiddled with the [Cosmic Orb].

“Excuse me, Mr. Quill.” The broker immediately straightened his face and said sternly, “Yondu must have told you about my rules of the trade, right?”

“I never casually reveal my clients’ names or their requests…that’s why so many people are willing to use me as an intermediary.”

"Of course I know this."

Star-Lord still refused to give up, feigning sadness as he said, "But I almost got killed because of this ball."

"No, no, no, this is called occupational hazard." The broker bluntly exposed, "I believe that everyone in this line of work, including you, is inevitably subject to it."

Seeing that his method wasn't working, Star-Lord couldn't help but complain, "Those idiots with tubes in their heads, I think they were working for someone named Ronan or something..."

However, before he could finish speaking, the broker standing behind the crystal counter opposite him jolted upon hearing the name 'Ronan,' then shoved the [Cosmic Orb] back to Star-Lord, saying:

“I’m really sorry, Mr. Quill, but if Ronan the Accuser is also involved in this matter, then I can’t do this deal.”

After saying that, he walked out from behind the counter and shoved Star-Lord outwards with force.

"Wait a minute, why are you suddenly reacting so strongly?"

Star-Lord was completely bewildered. He stopped and asked, "I can leave, but you have to tell me who he is and why he scares you so much?"

The broker said with fear in his eyes, "That guy is the most warlike commander in the Kree Empire, and also a member of the Accusers, who have the highest authority. He is very dissatisfied with the peace agreement signed between Xandar and the Kree Empire recently."

"He even threatened to destroy Xandar and completely wipe out our Xandar civilization... So we Xandarians will not get involved in anything concerning this madman." "Thank you for your consideration, Mr. Quill!"

"Hey, you eyebrow bastard, didn't we have a prior agreement?"

Star-Lord, pushed outside the door, roared in dissatisfaction. However, when he turned his head, he saw Gamora leaning against the wall.

"What's wrong? Have you run into some trouble?" Gamora looked at Star-Lord with a slightly aggressive gaze, like a cold and beautiful queen.

"Ahem, it's nothing." Seeing a beautiful woman appear, Star-Lord first straightened his collar, then said in a pretentious manner:
"It's just that this guy stood me up... I hate people like him who are untrustworthy and have no class!"

"Hello, my name is Peter Quill, also known as Star-Lord."

Instead of introducing herself, Gamora asked with a teasing smile, "So, you must have excellent taste?"

"This one……"

Star-Lord had never seen such a captivating beauty before, and immediately said with a touch of pride, "I didn't say that, but everyone else around me always praises me like that."

"You know what? I've always been a very low-key person, and I've never liked to show off... um?"

Before he could finish speaking, he discovered that Gamora had snatched the [Cosmic Orb] from his hand and then kicked him in the groin.

hiss~~
Carl, who was watching from a distance, couldn't help but worry about Star-Lord's lower body, because this goofball had taken Gamora's hits more than once or twice.

It's worth noting that Gamora earned the title of 'the most dangerous woman in the universe' when she was already a teenager, which speaks volumes about her strength.

So even though Star-Lord is made of iron, he couldn't withstand the opponent's continuous attacks!

However, after that little incident, Karl had already attached a 'mind imprint' to Star-Lord, so that no matter where Star-Lord went in the future, the corresponding interstellar coordinates would be transmitted back to Karl in real time.

Unless they encounter a 'mind master' with even greater skill in psychic abilities than Karl, Star-Lord and his companions would be completely unable to detect the existence of this 'psychic mark,' let alone actively erase it.

After finishing all that, Karl opened a deep blue portal, stepped inside, and vanished without a trace.

After Carl left, Star-Lord, Gamora, and the Rocket Raccoon and Groot who came to kidnap him were captured by the Nova Corps in the melee, just like in the original story, and then all sent to Klin Prison.

This time, the Nova Corps disregarded Star-Lord's previous act of rescuing Carson Sal, since letting him go last time was already considered an exceptional act of mercy.

Who would have thought that this guy would come back and cause trouble again in less than a day?

He's truly hopeless!
……

A few hours later.

After causing a ruckus just like in the original comics, Star-Lord and his crew successfully escaped from Klin Prison. They then boarded Star-Lord's spaceship, the Milano, carrying the treacherous Orb, and, guided by Gamora, headed towards the Void.

Not long after Star-Lord and the others left, Ronan the Accuser's Dark Star spaceship tracked them down to Klin Prison.

Soon after, a large number of undead 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 filled with terror, begged Nebula, who held a monomolecular combat knife to his neck, for mercy. But Nebula just smiled coldly and said, "That means you're no longer of any use."

puff--

The monomolecular combat knife pierced the opponent's throat. Nebula casually flicked the blood off the blade, ignoring the corpse lying in a pool of blood at her feet, and turned to Ronan, who remained silent, saying:
“These people are probably not lying. If they really knew where Star-Lord and Gamora were, they would have told us.”

“It seems we’re a step too late again… Ronan, as I’ve said before, you should trust me more than Gamora.”

"Damn it, that bitch actually dared to betray me?"

Ronan's face was filled with unspeakable anger. He had originally thought he could easily obtain the [Cosmic Orb] this time, but who would have thought that Star-Lord would be so cunning.

No, I should say that Thanos's eldest daughter, Gamora, is incredibly unreliable.
He initially thought the other party had simply encountered difficulties and been captured by the Xandarians, and that the [Cosmic Orb] had not yet been found.

However, Thanos's henchmen had spies planted in Klin Prison who overheard Gamora's conversation with Star-Lord and others. They learned that Gamora neither intended to hand over the Orb to Ronan nor to her adoptive father Thanos, but instead planned to sell it directly to the buyer behind the scenes in exchange for a bounty of up to 40 billion, and to use the opportunity to completely break free from Thanos's control.

That's incredibly loyal!

Upon receiving the news, Ronan angrily led his troops to [Klin Prison].

Unexpectedly, he was still a step too slow, and Star-Lord, Gamora, and the others successfully escaped.

Feeling cheated, Ronan now wishes he could strangle Gamora with his own hands. He should have sent Nebula to Xandar to steal the Orb of the Universe!

Even if it doesn't succeed, at least we won't be being played like this.

If this gets out, won't he be laughed at by the other accusers?
A lifetime of illustrious reputation ruined in an instant!
At this moment, [The Pursuer] Korath came over and reported, "Master, we just received news that the [Nova Corps] has sent an entire fleet to [Klin Prison]. We must leave here immediately."

"Alright." Ronan ordered, his face ashen, "Gamora and those guys can't have gotten very far. Immediately send out necromancer ships to search every corner of the entire galaxy... Do whatever it takes to get the [Cosmic Orb] back before anyone else does!!"

"Yes, Master."

Kolas glanced at the group of prisoners and guards being held in custody 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 turning his head, "We absolutely cannot let the Nova Corps discover my intentions and movements in advance, otherwise they will also join the ranks of those vying for the Sphere."

"And... it seems I need to go and meet Thanos in person!"

(End of this chapter)