2051 An Unfamiliar Acquaintance

After the communication ended, Luke quietly stared at the surveillance feed, and saw a streak of flames in the distance.

In just a few minutes, a small spaceship that looked like a swallow with several wings arrived above the broken Trail Ship.

Looking at the data which the A.I. program listed, Luke's lips twitched. F*ck, a 5,000-year-old antique fighter plane was indeed outdated!

The speed displayed by this swallow spaceship was more than twice the maximum speed of the Trail Ship.

If the Trail Ship could move at that speed, Luke wouldn't have been affected at all during that space pursuit.

Rescuing a spaceship like his all the way out here was a risk.

The other party probably wasn't someone as chivalrous as he was, who took pleasure in doing good.

Luke didn't believe they would do all they could here.

Sure enough, the swallow spaceship hovered above the Trail Ship and didn't move for a few minutes, before a robotic arm stretched out and cut through the hull.

The same person's voice rang out from the robotic arm. "Please take your personal valuables with you. Wear the life support device on the robotic arm, and we'll rescue you."

Luke activated the ship's self-destruct sequence and then stood in front of the robotic arm.

He was going to give up the ship today. He had already put away what he needed in his inventory, so he naturally had nothing to bring with him.

A member on the swallow spaceship covered his face in frustration when he saw this. "D*mn it. Is this guy poor?"

A second member was unhappy. "We're doing a good deed."

A third member said, "That's right. We'll also get a reward in passing."

A fourth member said, "Alright, the only thing we can do is send him to the Nova Empire now. Hehe, we have status there. He can't refuse to reward us."

The first member looked at Luke, who had been pulled out of the plane by the robotic arm. He unbuckled his seatbelt and took out his pistol. "Although this guy looks like a cripple, we still have to intimidate him."

The third member stood up and drew out knives from his legs. "I'll go too. I'll stab him to death if he dares move."

The second member: …Does this look like you're doing a good deed? Hm, it's not wrong to be careful, but at least cover up your robber vibe!

A moment later, in the rear cabin of the swallow spaceship, Luke looked at the two… creatures in front of him, and smiled amiably. "Nice to meet you. What should I call you?"

The big guy looked down at the shortie. "I think this guy is up to no good."

The shortie chuckled. "As long as we're paid enough, what does it have to do with us whether he's good or bad?"

They didn't bother hiding their conversation from Luke at all, and he heard them clearly. He simply smiled and looked at them. These two… could just barely be considered acquaintances, and he couldn't do anything to them.

However, based on his understanding of them, he could at least hitch a ride on their ship, and things were unlikely to devolve into a fight.

After that, the shortie turned around and looked at Luke. "My name is Rocket. His name is Drax. What about you?"

Luke said, "Nice to meet you. I'm Big Dipper."

The shortie was the aggressive raccoon called Rocket, and the big one was apparently called Drax the Destroyer.

If there were no surprises, then Peter Quill, whom Rhodes had mocked as an 'idiot,' should also be on this ship.

Little Spidey was unlucky enough to have the same name as this guy.

Rocket was stunned. "Is that… the language of Earth?"

Luke was still smiling. "That's right. My hometown is Earth."

Drax subconsciously asked, "Missouri?"

Luke said, "No, but we're neighbors."

Rocket suddenly thought of something and grimaced. "D*mn it. You pretended to be from the Nova Empire; you're actually poor, right?"

Luke nodded, then shook his head with a smile. "That was just a small lie to guarantee my rescue, but I don't think I can be considered poor. We can slowly negotiate the reward."

Rocket glanced at Drax. "I think we should look for Quill. This guy is as shameless as he is."

Drax nodded in agreement. "That's right."

With that, they left, leaving Luke trapped by the robotic arm.

Two minutes later, Quill arrived.

Ten minutes later, Gamora, who had come to check how the 'negotiation' was coming along, was dumbfounded as she listened to the two men sing.

20 minutes later, Luke was released and was finally able to sit and talk inside the rear cabin.

According to Quill, "Earthlings who can sing and dance can't be that bad."

But Luke felt that it was the Sony Walkman WM-EX1 and the cassette tapes of nostalgic English songs which he had pulled out that had played the biggest role — at least, they were very useful when it came to Quill.

Of course, it was also a good thing that he had a hobby of playing with old electronic devices and had an inventory.

No other Earthling would bring an old antique Walkman and cassette tapes with them on a spaceship.

For the next few days, Luke was hounded by the members of the spaceship in turns, as if he were a rare animal on display in some exhibit.

It was only Drax, the big guy, who rarely approached him. Quill came to talk to him about Earth, dancing and singing.

Gamora glared at him, as if trying to figure out his ulterior motives.

Rocket talked to him about shooting and gun modifications, and Luke used Mental Communication to communicate with Groot Jr. (who ignored him).

The Mantis woman had touched him, and then… nothing.

The system didn't allow anyone else to enter his mind at all. Mantis's ability to sense other people's thoughts through touch was useless.

Conversely, he could use his mental abilities on her.

However, Hypnosis didn't have a good effect on her. He injected goodwill through Mental Communication, and it was very easy for her to develop a good impression of him.

Of course, it didn't have to do with Luke being male – Luke had no intention of becoming some 'bug controlling immortal' either.

As they chatted, Quill naturally mentioned Earth and Missouri.

Luke also told him about the grayish-blue substance that had devoured the town in Missouri.

At that time, Quill's expression was a little subtle as he asked about the casualties in the town.

He heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that all the townspeople had been evacuated in the moment when the grayish-blue substance paused after the first spread.

After a few days, Luke finally learned the truth from the little raccoon.

The grayish-blue substance was actually Quill's father; it was the 'clone' or 'seed' left behind by the Celestial, Ego.

His goal had been to one day devour the entire Earth and make it a part of him.

In fact, there were hundreds of planets where Ego had left behind such 'clones.' Most of them were planets with intelligent life.

Earth was just one of his victims.

The little raccoon hadn't said much at first, but Luke had discovered Rocket's weakness in 2023.

He grabbed this fellow and then converted 20 credit points into Light of Life, which he used to restore Rocket's entire body.

Rocket was won over.

He was an 'abandoned product' of some genetic experiment.

The experiment not only gave him human-like genius, it also gave him a short lifespan and a body that was constantly in pain.

His violent temper was mostly a byproduct of this pain.