Inside the Milano's comm channel, a warm, magnetic voice suddenly echoed without warning.
"Peter Quill, my child. I've been looking for you for a long time."
The cockpit fell into instant silence.
Rocket's ears twitched, his face full of disbelief. Gamora frowned, her eyes sharp with suspicion. Drax stroked his bald head, seemingly trying to process the meaning of the words.
As for Peter Quill—he froze completely, staring blankly out the viewport at the incomprehensible sight before them.
It was a planet.
A… living planet.
Its surface was a deep oceanic blue, like shifting seas, yet across that vast sphere a colossal human face was clearly outlined. The face wore a gentle smile. Where its eyes should have been, soft light shimmered as it gazed at their tiny ship.
"What… what the hell is that?" Rocket broke the silence first, scrambling onto the console and pointing outside. "A talking planet? Is this some new kind of cosmic scam?"
"I am Groot."
"Exactly! This is insane!"
Quill ignored Rocket's shouting. He stared at that enormous face, lips trembling. The voice—something about it struck a chord deep inside him.
"Y-you… who are you?" he asked hoarsely into the comm.
"I am Ego, Peter. I am your father."
Father.
The word detonated in Quill's mind.
He had grown up without one. Before his mother died, she'd told him his father was a being of pure light from the stars. He'd always assumed it was just a comforting fairy tale.
But now—a living planet claimed to be his father.
That was crazier than any fairy tale.
At that moment, a sleek ship shaped like a white flower petal drifted into view from the planet's surface and came to rest beside the Milano.
"Come aboard, my son. Let us talk," Ego's voice invited gently.
Quill seemed almost entranced, instinctively reaching for the controls.
"Wait!" Gamora grabbed his hand. "Don't you think this is strange? A father appearing out of nowhere? And he's a planet?"
"But he… he knows my name." Quill's expression was conflicted—suspicion, doubt, but also a yearning he didn't want to admit.
Levi had remained silent until now.
Leaning against the bulkhead, he studied the planet with keen interest. His energy perception told him the life force within that celestial body was vast as an ocean—ancient beyond comprehension. This was no ordinary being.
A Celestial.
As expected.
To Levi, this was practically a gift delivered to his doorstep. A living Celestial—a perfect target to copy. If he could replicate Ego's lifeform, his own existence would ascend to a whole new level.
"There's no harm in taking a look," Levi finally said.
His calm tone acted like a stabilizer. Quill made up his mind.
"Yeah. Let's go."
The Milano followed the white vessel and descended onto Ego's surface.
The moment they stepped outside, everyone was stunned.
This didn't feel like a planet—it felt like a mythic garden. Golden palaces rose from the ground. Strange plants glowed softly. The air carried a soothing fragrance. Everything was impossibly perfect.
A handsome middle-aged man stood not far away, smiling warmly. He wore a brown leather jacket, with slightly curled long hair and a beard—like a 1970s rock star, eyes full of both gentleness and ancient weariness.
Beside him stood a timid girl with antennae and large, insect-like eyes.
Mantis.
"Welcome to my world, Peter," the man said, opening his arms.
Quill glanced from him to the massive face in the sky, utterly overwhelmed.
"I thought you were a planet?"
"That is my true form—my core," Ego explained with a chuckle. "To walk among the stars, I created this avatar. More handsome than you expected, right?"
He stepped forward and embraced Quill.
Quill was stiff at first, but when Ego held him, a strange, almost primal sense of blood connection welled up. His eyes reddened.
Levi observed quietly. The humanoid form was merely a fraction of Ego's immense energy—like a single strand of hair compared to a body. Meanwhile, Mantis' emotional fluctuations were peculiar—full of fear and pity.
"Come inside," Ego invited warmly.
Within the golden palace, Ego told a long story.
He was a Celestial who had wandered the universe for millions of years. He had seeded life across countless worlds, searching for others like himself. On Earth, he met Quill's mother and fell in love. But as a Celestial, he couldn't remain long.
After leaving, he intended to return for them, but circumstances delayed him. By the time he came back, she had died. In grief, he hired Yondu to bring Peter to him—but Yondu betrayed him and kept the boy.
The tale was emotional, delivered with practiced sincerity. Quill's eyes grew wet, fully immersed in the reunion.
But Gamora and Rocket were increasingly skeptical.
"So you searched for over twenty years and only just found him?" Rocket crossed his arms.
"The universe is vast, my child," Ego sighed. "But I never stopped trying."
Levi later pulled Gamora and Rocket aside.
"What do you think of his story?"
"Full of holes," Gamora said bluntly. "He's too perfect. Perfect like a liar."
"Yeah. I smell deception," Rocket muttered.
"You're right to be wary," Levi said quietly. "He's dangerous—far more dangerous than any enemy you've faced. His power isn't meant to create. It's meant to consume."
He didn't elaborate further.
"So what do we do? Quill's already bought it!" Rocket hissed.
"Relax." Levi smiled faintly. "I'm curious too—about how a living planet works. Think of this as a vacation. Quill needs time—to accept the truth, and to uncover it. Don't worry. With me here, Ego won't overturn the board."
His confidence eased them somewhat. They had seen what he could do.
"I want to see what he's really plotting," Levi murmured, watching Quill laugh as Ego demonstrated Celestial energy manipulation.
A Celestial.
A treasure trove walking in plain sight.
For two days, Ego trained Quill to harness Celestial power. Father and son appeared inseparable.
Meanwhile, Levi was busy.
He sat cross-legged on a balcony, eyes closed. His energy perception spread outward like an invisible net, enveloping the entire planet.
He analyzed Ego's life frequency, locking onto the deepest core of his energy signature.
"System. Lock target: Ego's true form. Begin copying."
[Warning: Target is a Celestial lifeform. Energy tier immeasurable. Copying will cause irreversible alteration to host lifeform. Success rate: 12%. Proceed?]
"Only twelve percent…" Levi frowned.
But this was a pivotal step in his evolution. His divine physiology, combined with his mastery of the Law of Force, should allow him to endure it.
"Proceed."
Boom.
An indescribable torrent of information flooded his consciousness.
Not energy—but pure existence.
He saw a lone awareness awaken in the void. He saw it gather cosmic dust over millions of years to build a planetary body. He saw it learn to create life—and then, driven by loneliness, spiral into madness, devising a plan to consume the universe itself.
Levi felt his body unraveling. Every cell, every atom, rewritten by higher-dimensional laws.
Beneath his skin, golden light began to flow. His bones transformed toward something denser, more eternal.
[Copy successful. Acquired SSS-tier ability: Celestial Lifeform.]
[Warning: Host lifeform undergoing transition toward Skyfather-level existence. Process will require extended duration and is irreversible.]
Levi's eyes snapped open. He exhaled slowly.
The breath crystallized into golden frost before dissolving.
He felt… different.
His life level was ascending in ways he could barely comprehend.
Roughly estimated—
Ten years to complete the transformation.
Too long.
"There must be a way to accelerate it," he thought.
At that moment, Ego's humanoid avatar appeared before him. The smile was gone, replaced with uncertainty and suspicion.
"You… what did you do?" Ego stared intensely. "I felt it. There's something in you… that feels like me."
While guiding Quill earlier, his core consciousness had trembled—as if someone had peeked into his deepest secrets.
Levi rose calmly and brushed dust from his clothes.
"Nothing special. Perhaps resonance between higher beings."
He extended his hand. A golden energy sphere formed in his palm, shifting—
Until it became a miniature, living planet.
"Perhaps I'm like you."
Ego's expression changed completely.
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