DOTM: Chapter 502/504

Chapter 502: The Birth of the Universe

The Milano had enough supplies stored, so there was no need to worry about Star-Lord and the others running out of food if they waited too long.

Ethan stayed where Ego's core had originally been, quietly collecting the surrounding energy.

This energy carried Ego's mental imprint. To ensure no issues arose, Ethan performed detailed and complex cleaning and filtering on every portion of energy he collected, making sure no fragments of Ego's mind or soul remnants were hidden within it.

Even if it meant losing more energy, it didn't matter. If these things were hidden in the energy, they would still be a huge threat even if not absorbed into his body.

It turned out Ethan's caution wasn't useless. There were indeed fragments of Ego's mind remaining in the energy.

Although these mental fragments were very scattered and almost impossible to restore to their original state, they could potentially become a seed. Even if they couldn't revive Ego, they could grow into a new life form.

This life form couldn't be considered Ego, but it would possess Ego's memories and certainly wouldn't have a good impression of Ethan, who had caused the death of its predecessor.

In other words, if Ethan hadn't been collecting and cleaning here, perhaps after an unknown number of years, a mortal enemy of his would have been born in this place.

Of course, it was also possible that due to the energy dissipating too quickly, these mental fragments wouldn't have enough energy protection and would eventually vanish completely.

Ethan didn't think this world lacked energy, and who knew if these mental fragments might encounter other special circumstances and be reborn faster?

Being able to take this opportunity for a thorough cleanup and avoid future trouble was, all in all, a good thing.

Therefore, in addition to collecting the dissipating energy, Ethan also used some mental fragments to attract other fragments hidden in the surrounding energy, eliminating these Ego remnants as much as possible.

As a result, the time he spent collecting energy was compressed, and he was able to collect less energy.

However, he also gained other benefits. Ego's mental fragments were not useless; they contained some of Ego's memories and some experience in using energy.

Ethan didn't care much about energy application techniques and the like. Having been a mage for so many years, his main practice was controlling energy. While Ego's control over energy wasn't bad, it wasn't necessarily more advanced than the techniques Ethan had mastered.

What truly interested Ethan was Ego's experience and memories as a planet.

Ego had created a real planet almost from nothing, and the specific process was highly instructive.

Not only was Ethan preparing to condense a magic planet in his mental world, but Ego's understanding of planets also allowed Ethan to understand this world more perfectly.

It could even be said that Ethan's greatest gain from this trip was this experience, which was far more useful than the vast amount of energy.

Once he was certain that these memories had been perfectly stripped and extracted by him, free from any of Ego's mental fragments, he began attempting to use this knowledge to adjust his magic world.

The mental land began to converge into a core, and after the boundless sea of magic enveloped the core, its form also began to change.

Over the years, through learning various knowledge and analyzing various energy compositions, Ethan had accumulated a considerable amount, but it had never truly transformed into the magic planet he envisioned. It seemed to be missing something.

Ego's experience became the key to breaking through that final barrier.

Perhaps without Ego's experience, Ethan could have achieved this himself after some more time, but it certainly wouldn't have been as easy as it was now.

Ego's life form became a perfect reference. Ethan now had a clear template in his mind for what needed to be done when condensing a planet, what problems might be encountered, and how to solve them.

More importantly, the key to Ego's planet condensation was also energy, which perfectly matched Ethan's situation. Therefore, the birth of the magic planet was very smooth, and in just one week, Ethan's mental world underwent a tremendous change.

Now Ethan's mental world was like a void, with a brilliant blue planet at the very center of this void, constantly inhaling and exhaling magic fluctuations.

Ethan had originally wanted to condense a magic planet, but due to special circumstances, this magic planet seemed closer to a star.

This had no impact on Ethan. In fact, his original goal was also a star. A planet was merely a transitional option he considered, worried that his magic might not be strong enough.

According to Ethan's previous thoughts, the birth of a magic star meant that the magic universe he had originally conceived had taken shape.

Continuing in this direction, he would first let this magic star steadily increase its energy level. After it became a sufficiently strong star, he would condense new planets around it, forming a galaxy orbiting this star.

At the same time, condensing new planets could be done using specific attributes, which would help Ethan analyze and master certain energy attributes. He could even create an energy attribute he hadn't mastered into a separate star, slowly understanding its nature within his mental universe.

The next step would be to turn all these planets into stars, and then into new galaxies.

Repeating this process to increase the number of stars would eventually form a vast galaxy of countless stars.

After reaching a certain scale, it could continue to split into more galaxies. At this point, Ethan's dream of a mental universe would truly take shape.

What level his strength would reach then, he didn't know himself. Perhaps a snap of his fingers (why a snap again?) could annihilate a cosmic plane?

"Thinking a bit too far ahead."

Regardless, the first planet of the mental universe was finally born. This sense of joy was second only to the times Ethan finally cast magic with his own power and became a true mage, and when he confirmed he had transmigrated and had a golden finger.

The birth of the magic planet not only meant an increase in strength but also that the improvement in magic level would feed back into his body, further raising his life level.

He had previously raised his life level through potions, barely qualifying as a demigod.

Now, he could be called a true demigod or even a god, and among gods, he was in the stronger tier.

Besides this, there were other scattered benefits.

For example, magic would slowly transform his body, causing it to evolve once again.

Resistances such as cold and heat tolerance increased significantly, reducing environmental requirements. Environments that previously required him to release some magic to protect himself could now no longer cause him any negative effects, the most typical example being his ability to survive in space.

Of course, this referred to the perfect state after the magic's enhancement of Ethan's body was complete. At present, he had just raised his magic level, and the transformation of his body had just begun. He still needed to rely on magic to protect himself to survive in space.

In addition, Ethan's own mental universe would continuously generate vast amounts of magic, not only satisfying his own needs and maintaining his existence but also ensuring prolonged mana output.

This was the biggest advantage of Ethan's training method, his various needs from the external world would become increasingly low.

Opening his eyes again, Ethan let out a long breath. Looking at the collected, purified, and compressed energy in his hand, Ethan stored it in a specialized container.

As Ethan's magic level increased, his speed of collecting energy significantly accelerated in the final stage, and he actually collected more energy than he had planned.

He didn't plan to use this energy to make any magic items. He intended to add it all to his mental universe.

Although there were many impurities in the energy, with the birth of the mental universe, these impurities would no longer have a negative impact on Ethan.

In the past, Ethan's magic was weak, its attributes were singular, and his mental strength wasn't strong enough, so he was easily affected by the nature of energy.

Now it was different. Ethan, who had condensed into a magic star, no longer had to worry about these issues. As long as he didn't foolishly absorb too much energy at once and burst, there would be no more trouble with attribute pollution or similar problems.

In fact, these impurities had become beneficial to Ethan, as they increased the diversity within the mental universe. Those potentially unfavorable negative effects, with the magic star's energy intake and output and the continuous circulation of magic within the mental universe, would also be transformed into part of the universe.

However, now was not the time to do these things. Star-Lord and the others were still waiting for him, and his mental universe had just taken shape and needed time to stabilize. The best time to infuse energy and increase the universe's diversity would be after it had stabilized.

Looking around, Ethan found that the cave he had been in no longer existed. He was standing on a rock about two meters in diameter, surrounded by floating rocks of various sizes and dust. Ego's planet had completely turned into cosmic dust.

After orienting himself, Ethan quickly located Star-Lord. Ethan's mirror clone had long since been dismissed, but he had left magic marks on Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon beforehand.

Ethan didn't cast any teleportation magic this time. He simply took a light step forward. Once the step was firm and his body moved forward, he had already arrived inside the Milano.

"Oh, sh*t! How did you just pop out?"

In the past, when Ethan cast teleportation spells, there would be noticeable signs like a blue light door. This method, however, of seemingly appearing directly from the void, had no sign at all, and he suddenly just appeared in front of them.

"My apologies. Next time, I'll send a signal beforehand."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 503: No Money

Ethan rejoined Star-Lord and the others. Both the Milano and the unnamed Ravager warship brought by Yondu began flying in the same direction again.

As for where they were going? None of them had a plan. They were just going to play it by ear and fly wherever. The immediate goal was to find a planet to resupply basic necessities.

Star-Lord also needed to discuss the details of this commission with Ethan.

"I don't know why, but I just feel like something about you has changed."

Star-Lord kept scrutinizing Ethan. He looked exactly the same, hadn't even changed clothes, yet Star-Lord had a strong feeling that Ethan had undergone a significant change. He just couldn't pinpoint the reason for this feeling.

"Just some insights in magic. You don't need to dwell on these things. Let's get back to the commission."

"Right, right, we're only interested in the commission." Rocket Raccoon had been standing nearby. Due to his height, he was standing on a table beside them, which allowed him to converse with Ethan and the others on equal footing.

"Wait a minute, isn't this my job opportunity? It shouldn't have anything to do with you!"

Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon's relationship hadn't improved much after defeating Ego together. After all, Rocket Raccoon had hunted him down before. Caught off guard, Star-Lord had been thoroughly thrashed by the ambushing Rocket and only escaped the predicament thanks to his recently deceased biological father.

Looking back now, if he had been captured by Rocket Raccoon and brought before Yondu, perhaps a lot of the subsequent trouble wouldn't have occurred. But this didn't mean he could forget the past grievances. Losing face was a big deal, not something easily overlooked.

While these two were arguing, Ethan noticed Nebula and Gamora were constantly talking about something together. Although both women wore sullen expressions, as if standing next to the other was highly irritating, their conversation never stopped. With his excellent hearing, Ethan could make out what they were saying.

Gamora and Nebula were discussing Ethan.

From the content of the two women's conversation, it was clear this wasn't the first time they had discussed him. The sisters hadn't reached a consensus on some matters.

Nebula believed they should find a way to incite Ethan to oppose Thanos, preferably leading to Thanos's death. Although she didn't know if it would succeed or whether Ethan's strength could contend with Thanos, or if he would be killed by Thanos.

She didn't care about Ethan's life or death at all. If Ethan survived, even if he couldn't kill Thanos, it would prove Ethan was a strong individual capable of opposing Thanos. Considering the two brothers from Asgard, killing Thanos would no longer be impossible.

If Ethan couldn't defeat Thanos, or even protect his own life, then Nebula would either die with him or find a way to survive and look for the next opportunity.

After all, Nebula didn't know Ethan at all. From the very beginning, her agreement to follow Ethan was solely to achieve her own goals.

After reuniting with Gamora, bickering, and then confirming each other's true intentions—they both wanted to kill Thanos. The sisters were temporarily back on the same side.

However, Gamora didn't quite agree with Nebula's idea. She felt that even if they wanted to oppose Thanos, they shouldn't involve unrelated people.

Nebula's explanation for this was: the Asgardians held an Infinity Stone, and Thanos would eventually come for them. They were already naturally opposed to Thanos, so they couldn't be considered unrelated parties.

Interspersed were some sarcastic remarks about how Gamora had suddenly become soft-hearted, perhaps wanting to be a good person. Gamora, of course, wouldn't let Nebula's taunts go unanswered and inevitably retorted with a few jabs of her own, before explaining her own plan—to hide the information about the Infinity Stones as much as possible so that Thanos couldn't obtain them.

As long as Thanos couldn't collect all the Infinity Stones, he wouldn't carry out his terrifying plan.

Gamora's plan was to delay, using the Infinity Stones to occupy Thanos's attention. Maybe if they delayed for countless years, Thanos would grow old? Perhaps then there would be a way to deal with him... maybe?

She wasn't very certain about this, because ever since she knew about Thanos, became his adopted daughter, and was raised and taught by him, she had never seen any signs of aging in him.

There were many races in the universe, and long-lived species were not uncommon. She wasn't sure how long Thanos's lifespan was, but having a clear understanding of his strength, she didn't believe anyone could confront Thanos head-on. Therefore, she could only choose such a passive method of dealing with him.

Even though she had just witnessed the battle between Ethan and Ego with her own eyes, she wasn't very sure if Ethan possessed the strength to confront Thanos directly.

She just felt that with Ethan's strength, he could guard the Infinity Stones well, and perhaps Thanos would never be able to collect all of them.

In this situation, there was no need to provoke Thanos actively. Doing so would be tantamount to willingly delivering the Infinity Stones to him.

The sisters were still arguing, while Rocket Raccoon and Star-Lord had somewhat reached a conclusion to their argument—which was no conclusion at all. Neither of them would yield to the other, but since they were on Star-Lord's ship and Ethan had indeed come to find Star-Lord, they argued for a while, and ultimately it was up to Star-Lord to talk to Ethan.

"I need your help to conduct a detailed survey of a certain planet. To be honest... I'm not very good at this kind of thing."

"A survey?"

Past commissions for Star-Lord or the Ravagers were never clean jobs. Something like surveying a planet wasn't the kind of work they would get. Star-Lord was completely surprised that this was the kind of job Ethan wanted to commission.

"Surveying a planet? What a boring job."

Rocket Raccoon said this, but he still didn't leave.

"Shut up!"

Considering he had just killed his biological father, and his stepfather seemed to be in a state of bankruptcy, he hadn't had any income for a while. If it weren't for the money he made from Ethan back then, he wouldn't have lasted this long. He would have actively taken on all sorts of jobs to earn money already.

"Why are you asking me to do this kind of work?" Star-Lord thought for a moment and then explained a little: "It's not that I can't do these things, it's just that surveying planets is usually done by specialized teams sent by governments. People like us are rarely hired for this."

More importantly, most planets in the galaxy have already been surveyed. While the galaxy is vast, most habitable planets are already occupied, and the few that are still vacant have long been marked by powerful factions, not to be casually encroached upon by others.

Want one? Sure! Pay up! If the price is right, you can buy a small habitable planet.

As for large, resource-rich planets, no civilization or faction would transfer them casually. Obtaining such a planet essentially means an interstellar war.

But even when conquering a planet, the target planet has already been surveyed. It seems unnecessary to find someone to survey it again, right?

"The planet I'm asking you to survey isn't in the Milky Way."

"Not in the Milky Way?"

Star-Lord hadn't reacted yet, but Rocket Raccoon showed some interest in this task.

"Is it a planet in another galaxy? Or a rogue planet in the dark regions?"

The so-called dark regions refer to the vast areas between galaxies that appear to contain nothing. Of course, these areas aren't completely empty. They contain various particles, atoms, and other matter, and there are also stars, but they are scattered and not as dense as the stars within a galaxy. Furthermore, they don't necessarily move in any particular direction and it's uncertain where they will end up.

Perhaps at some point, they will be captured by a galaxy and become a new member of that system, or they might continue to wander in the dark regions.

"Sorry, I can't reveal the specific details yet. If you accept this commission, then I can tell you more."

In Ethan's view, Rocket Raccoon wasn't someone who absolutely needed to be kept secret from. If there were no surprises, this raccoon and that tree would still join Star-Lord's team, because he didn't seem to have anywhere else to go. Perhaps this commission would become the Guardians of the Galaxy's first official mission?

"So it's a completely unknown area?"

"An unknown star system, an unknown planet. Everything is unknown. I need to find an experienced veteran, as I don't have experience in this area. At the same time, I need to find someone I can trust, which is why I came to you."

Star-Lord nodded. The reason Ethan gave was very convincing. If he were in this situation, he would make a similar choice.

"You've made an absolutely correct choice. I'll take this job." Star-Lord didn't quibble about the payment because he remembered Ethan wasn't a stingy person. The reward he gave for finding the Orb before was very generous. "Let's talk about the specifics."

As he spoke, he was also waving his hand, motioning for Rocket Raccoon to leave quickly. Next, he was going to discuss the job details with Ethan, so anyone irrelevant should go find somewhere cool to stay.

However, Rocket Raccoon was never one to be obedient. If you ignored him, he might leave on his own when he got bored, but if Star-Lord tried to drive him away, he refused to leave, standing there with his arms crossed and arguing with Star-Lord again—just mutual mockery.

But Ethan's single sentence immediately drew both of their attention back.

"There's something I must make clear to you beforehand. For this commission, I cannot use money as payment."

Star-Lord hadn't asked about this. Ethan could have simply let him finish the task and then used another method for payment. Even if Star-Lord wanted to refuse, Ethan's matter would already be resolved by then.

But this approach went against Ethan's principles. He felt it was better to explain the situation upfront, even if Star-Lord refused the commission because of it.

"What? No money? Then what's there to talk about?"

Rocket Raccoon reacted even more intensely than Star-Lord, as if he were the one not getting paid, not Star-Lord. Star-Lord, however, was silent for a moment, then still indicated that he was willing to accept Ethan's commission.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 504: But I Have a Lot of Resources

Star-Lord agreed to Ethan's request because Ethan had just saved him.

Don't talk about how they might have defeated Ego even if Ethan hadn't shown up. The fact is, Ethan had helped him kill Ego.

Of course, for Star-Lord personally, the most important thing was that he had avenged his mother.

So even if Ethan didn't pay any compensation, Star-Lord was willing to accept the commission.

"Are you crazy?"

Rocket Raccoon didn't know what Star-Lord was thinking. He just thought this guy must be out of his mind to take on a job without asking for payment.

"Did your dad beat you stupid earlier?"

"This is my ship, and this is a job commissioned to me. Whether I accept it or not is my business."

Seeing the two of them about to start bickering again, Ethan quickly finished what he had to say. After that, he wouldn't care how much the human and the raccoon argued.

"Not being able to offer monetary compensation doesn't mean I'll let you help for free. You can make some requests, or is there anything you'd like to get? I will try my best to fulfill your requests. Things like daily necessities can be included as extras."

Ethan couldn't pay with money because he didn't have the universal currency of this universe.

But this didn't mean he was poor. The resources he possessed were things that even some of the more powerful civilizations in the galaxy might not have.

For example, many civilized races in the galaxy have genetic modification technology that can optimize their own race, making them powerful in physique and even perfect in appearance. Due to differences in aesthetics between races, some civilized races might not conform to Earth people's aesthetics, but that doesn't mean they are ugly. They become higher life forms with long lifespans.

Although many civilizations possess such technology, not all modification techniques have such good effects, nor does it mean that all life forms in the galaxy that have entered space can enjoy this kind of evolution.

The top-tier technologies are held by the most powerful civilizations, such as the Kree Empire. These technologies are not publicly available and are only provided to their own people.

As a lone individual who came from Earth, grew up in a group like the Ravagers (similar to space pirates), and even recently fell out with the Ravagers, Star-Lord had even less opportunity to use this technology to complete his life level evolution.

So Ethan felt that this reward would definitely satisfy Star-Lord.

Considering that Star-Lord possessed Ego's bloodline, it would be much simpler to evolve him into a higher life form than an ordinary Earthling, because he himself possessed astonishing potential. All that was needed was to activate this potential, and Ethan had plenty of potions that could do this.

Ethan would also provide perfect follow-up services, such as teaching Star-Lord how to control the energy in the universe. If he had Ego's enduring perseverance and persisted for countless years, he could also possess such terrifying power—and have a humanoid body that could move freely, unlike Ego, whose core body was always a planet.

Considering that much of Ego's knowledge was self-taught, things like initially collecting and learning to control and use these energies must have wasted a considerable amount of time.

Star-Lord could completely finish this part of the learning in a shorter amount of time, which meant he could significantly increase his strength in a very short period.

A long life and powerful strength were his capital for surviving in the universe.

Besides life evolution, Ethan could also provide various supplies from other worlds. Leaving aside common things like food, which were easy to obtain and available in most worlds,

Anything slightly more high-tech could be obtained from Tony. If Star-Lord had any requests, Ethan could ask Tony to carry out a complete modification of Star-Lord's spaceship.

Since traveling around the universe and purchasing a large amount of various technical knowledge common in space, Tony had spent some time learning and thoroughly understanding this knowledge and had begun converting it into practical items.

From how quickly Tony mastered nanotechnology back then, one could tell that this guy was basically cheating. Let alone having ready-made technology for him to learn and use, even if only given some development directions, vague concepts, and partially incomplete technology, he could restore or even improve the technology in a very short time.

Therefore, Ethan could conclude that the current Tony absolutely had the ability to upgrade and modify the Milano.

Besides the Milano, Star-Lord's personal equipment could also be upgraded. Ethan could help with this, especially after teaching Star-Lord how to control energy. Perhaps Star-Lord would need to start trying new fighting styles.

If Star-Lord didn't have needs in this area, he could also ask Ethan to help him with something else. Presumably, there weren't many things that could stump Ethan.

And even... Ethan might be able to help Star-Lord resurrect his mother.

Listening to the various options Ethan presented, this time Rocket Raccoon stopped mocking Star-Lord. He even thought the terms Ethan offered were too good.

"Peter, you're too smart! Did you know this guy would offer such great compensation all along?" Extending his short little paw to pat Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon praised him with a look that said, "So you're this shrewd": "With so many things to gain, who cares about money?"

Star-Lord listened, dumbfounded. He just felt that Ethan had helped him, and helping him in return was just repaying a favor. Besides, surveying a planet wasn't exactly troublesome work.

Furthermore, he instinctively felt that Ethan wouldn't really make him work for free. Through their previous interactions, he had also gained some understanding of Ethan.

Now he felt he still didn't understand this person enough...

Leaving aside other things, most of the offers were within his understanding... but resurrecting his mother? Was he serious?

"You can take your time thinking about what you want. I will try my best to fulfill any reasonable requests you make."

Star-Lord nodded. He indeed needed to think carefully. Meanwhile, Rocket Raccoon had already considered himself one of the recipients of this mission and directly asked about the specifics on Star-Lord's behalf.

"What kind of planet is it?"

"You'll need to determine the specifics yourselves. Actually, I don't have much information either, otherwise I wouldn't need to find experienced people to help."

Ethan glanced to the side. He had already noticed that while he was talking to Star-Lord, the sounds around them had gradually faded, and the people gathered on the ship had almost completely focused their attention on their conversation.

The compensation he offered was too enticing. Almost no one could refuse.

Yondu, who had originally intended to leave, also chose to stay, preparing to complete this job with Star-Lord.

Besides the fact that he genuinely needed income right now, he also had a bit of suspicion about Ethan.

Leaving aside genetic modification technology for now, given Ethan's strength, it might not be strange for him to have obtained this technology from some civilization.

But resurrecting the dead? What the hell was that? Was that really something that could be done? How did that sound so ridiculous?

Thinking of Ethan's strength, Yondu didn't want to directly question him. Besides, there were too many strange things in this universe, and he couldn't be sure that Ethan really couldn't do it.

But why would Ethan offer such good compensation just to ask Star-Lord to survey a planet? He suspected there was some hidden secret involved and was worried something might happen to Star-Lord, so he decided to go along.

Ethan could guess some of Yondu's thoughts. He didn't feel the need to explain anything, because before long, the facts would prove that he had no ill intentions towards Star-Lord.

Compared to Yondu, who was just worried about Star-Lord, Gamora and Nebula on the side were thinking more deeply.

Nebula had been constantly undergoing modifications since childhood, so she was accustomed to using various technologies to enhance herself. When she heard the conditions Ethan offered, her first reaction was whether she could further improve her own strength.

And Gamora, through her conversations with Nebula these past few days, had learned about some of the suffering Nebula had endured. She was wondering if Nebula could be freed from her current state as a cyborg.

Everyone had something they wanted, so these people, who were clearly not a team, now acted like one, accepting Ethan's commission together with great tacit agreement—except for Nebula, who had come with Ethan in the first place, piloting the Milano towards Earth.

The fighter jet Yondu was piloting, after clearing out the living supplies on board, was put by Ethan into a glass container only the size of a fist and then handed back to Yondu for personal safekeeping.

This was a temporary container. Ethan told him that when he wanted to take the ship out, he just had to smash the glass container.

Just looking at Yondu's expression as he looked at the shrunken ship, perhaps this guy would never take the ship out again.

As for how the Milano could ensure it entered Earth without being detected by any detection equipment, Ethan actually didn't need to worry about it. Compared to the currently common detection technology on Earth, the Milano had sufficiently advanced anti-detection technology.

Star-Lord flew the spaceship directly to Los Angeles and landed on the lawn in the backyard of Ethan's mansion.

It was no surprise that Tony Stark was already waiting there.

The anti-detection equipment on the Milano could evade most detection equipment on Earth, but it couldn't evade Tony's personal detection device—especially Tony, who had obtained advanced technology from cosmic civilizations and possessed sufficiently advanced detection technology, although he couldn't yet cover the entire Earth with his detection range.

The Milano had come straight towards his residence (actually towards the one next door), so the detection device issued an alert to warn Tony.

After recognizing that it was Star-Lord's Milano, Tony, although he dismissed the alert, still wore his Iron Man suit to greet everyone just in case.

"Oh? Haven't seen you in a while, Peter. You've actually recruited so many people? Looks like the job market in the galaxy is pretty tight!"

(To be continued.)