"This is my power, how could this be?"
Ego, who could sleep soundly thanks to Mantis, suddenly awoke from his slumber as if sensing something.
Millions of years ago, he awoke in the Universe, and after gradually learning to use his divine power, he evolved into the Ego Planet it is today.
As time passed, he became increasingly intelligent and powerful. He began searching for the true meaning of his existence, using his immense power to create physical avatars to travel the Universe.
He would bury a seed on every Planet and then combine with the intelligent life on that Planet to birth offspring.
He needed a child who inherited his power to make the seeds on various Planets sprout, turning those Planets into extensions of himself, thereby ruling the entire Universe.
Unfortunately, among so many children, not a single one inherited his Celestial power.
However, today, he suddenly felt a power originating from the same source as himself approaching him, which made him ecstatic.
"It's in that spaceship!"
After waking, he quickly found the source of that power: a spaceship heading towards him.
"Could it be that I still have a child alive who hasn't been found?"
Creating a human avatar in his divine palace, Ego called Mantis and quickly flew towards where the spaceship was about to land.
Before long, he saw a group of people dressed in Raiders' attire emerge from the spaceship.
Inside the leading man, there was indeed Celestial power from the same source as his own.
"Hello, do you know someone named Ego? I am his child, Peter Quill, from Earth."
Star-Lord stepped out of the spaceship, saw the man and woman standing there, remembered what Adam had said, hid the hatred in his heart, and immediately approached politely to inquire.
Ego scrutinized Star-Lord, and understanding dawned on him.
He did indeed have a child on Earth, and the woman on Earth was also the only one he truly loved, the woman who almost swayed his beliefs.
Twenty years ago, he hired a Raider named Yondu to bring his children back from various Planets.
Peter Quill from Earth was the last one. At the time, Yondu told him that Peter Quill had died due to an accident, and he hadn't doubted it then.
After all, before that, many others on other Planets had also died prematurely due to various accidents.
The key was that among so many previous children, not one had inherited his power, and he had already given up hope on this matter.
Now it seemed Yondu had lied to him.
"Child, I am Ego, I am your biological father. You're actually still alive! It's wonderful to see you!"
Ego embraced Star-Lord, his face filled with excitement.
Of course, he wasn't excited about having a son; he was excited that his plan to rule the Universe could finally be achieved.
"What? You are my father? Father, I've missed you so much!"
Star-Lord immediately roared, his expression even more excited than Ego's, though both were all thunder and no rain, with no tears flowing.
"What filial piety!"
Adam and the others, watching the overly dramatic father and son, also secretly sighed, though they put "filial piety" in quotation marks.
After a series of pleasantries and feigned longing, everyone "happily" flew towards Ego's divine palace.
Afterward, Ego recounted his evolutionary history to everyone in the divine palace.
"I want to have a private conversation with my child.
Mantis, take everyone to explore around the divine palace and admire the beautiful scenery here."
After introducing himself, Ego instructed Mantis, who was standing beside him.
Adam nodded at Star-Lord, then led the group to follow Mantis out of the divine palace.
"The scenery is quite good!"
Strolling outside the divine palace, admiring the scenery of Ego Planet, Adam couldn't help but exclaim.
Ego had almost toured all Planets in the Universe with intelligent life, so he naturally saw the most unique and beautiful scenery of various Planets, coupled with his ability to create all things.
Therefore, he easily replicated those sceneries on his own Planet.
"What do you think those antennae on her head are for?"
Mantis was introducing the nearby scenery to everyone, while Drax and Rocket were already making a bet behind her:
"I bet if she has to go through a very low door, her antennae can sense it, so she won't bump into it."
"I bet it's not. If you lose, you have to secretly take Peter's clothes while he's showering. I think that scene would be very interesting."
Rocket replied mischievously.
Drax immediately agreed, then went forward and asked Mantis:
"What are the antennae on your head for? We made a bet."
Ignoring Drax and the others laughing and joking, Adam cautiously released his mental power, slowly permeating the ground, and began to investigate the entire Ego Planet.
He had only vaguely sensed something from outer space earlier, but it wasn't until he stepped onto this Planet that he could properly estimate Ego's strength.
"What an immense power, but soon, it will belong to me."
After some investigation, he gradually had a clear understanding.
"Actually, I have something to tell you all."
After spending half a day together, Mantis found that this group of people was very kind, especially Drax.
Although Drax said she was ugly, he was still willing to be her friend, and Drax was genuinely very humorous.
Therefore, she didn't want to see this group of people eventually killed by Ego and turned into nutrients.
"Mantis, it's getting late now, and we're hungry. Can you take us to eat first?"
However, at this moment, Adam suddenly stepped forward and interrupted Mantis, causing Mantis, who had finally gathered the courage to defy Ego's command, to deflate again.
He didn't plan to break with Ego so quickly before Star-Lord had fully awakened and mastered his Celestial power.
That's why he deliberately interrupted Mantis from telling the truth; otherwise, he would have to erase Drax's memory again.
After all, given Drax's personality, once he knew the truth, he definitely wouldn't be able to hide it when facing Ego.
"Alright, alright, I'll take you to eat first."
So, led by Mantis, everyone returned to the divine palace's dining room, and then various strange fruits were placed on the table by her.
"I am the only living creature here, but there are many delicious fruits here. You can try them."
According to Mantis, Ego didn't like living creatures on his body, just as a dog doesn't like fleas on its body. She was kept by Ego because she had value.
Therefore, there were no animals on the entire Ego Planet, and thus no way to make any delicacies.
Fortunately, there were various unique fruit trees from other Planets created by Ego, so they could eat fruit to fill their stomachs, which had always been her food.