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"You don't need to worry about that. Just lead the way—I'll handle the fighting myself."
George nodded with a smile.
"Oh right, can one of you help me register as a bounty hunter and set up a personal account?"
His spiritual power enveloped the entire ship, so every movement onboard was within his perception. Naturally, he had heard the group's entire conversation.
But he wasn't angry. Wanting to escape was only human nature, and he never intended to imprison them forever.
As long as they guided him and helped complete the mission of taking down Thanos and Ronan the Accuser, and establishing relations with the Nova Empire, he would grant them their freedom.
To be honest, that was the only real use he saw in them. It's not like he expected them to help him battle the Celestials or the dimensional demon gods.
If Star-Lord could ever absorb all of his father Ego's power, then perhaps he'd be more useful.
"That's easy. I'll help you register."
Gamora pulled a device from her pocket, scanned George, and began creating a universal account and identity for him.
As a top-level spy in the universe, forging a new identity was child's play for her.
She personally held hundreds of different names and racial identities, all of which could withstand official verification—allowing her to operate undercover across countless planets.
In less than five minutes, George had a universal account as a Tolanian and a registered identity as a novice bounty hunter.
"Take on the bounties for killing Thanos and Ronan the Accuser."
Both Thanos and Ronan were ranked among the highest in the bounty system—ten billion and eight billion credits respectively—sitting right at the top of the list. But no one had ever succeeded in claiming them.
Thanos was infamous for slaughtering half of each planet's population he visited. The surviving halves naturally held deep hatred and would pay handsomely to see him dead.
Ronan, as one of the Kree Empire's military commanders, had led invasions and enslaved countless planets. The number of people who hated him rivaled even Thanos.
And since George currently had no money in the universe, killing these two would not only serve his goals but also earn him a tidy 18 billion credits.
"How did we forget about that?!"
Star-Lord, Yondu, and Rocket all perked up instantly at George's words.
They'd completely overlooked the fact that Thanos and Ronan had some of the universe's most lucrative bounties.
Of course, any bounty hunter with even a bit of sense would avoid taking those missions. That's why they never gave them serious thought.
Unfortunately, their excitement faded as quickly as it appeared. In the end, the money would all go to George. They wouldn't see a single credit—yet still had to risk their lives.
"If you all do well—even if I don't need you to fight—I'll reward each of you with a billion credits once we're done."
George stepped forward and patted Star-Lord and Rocket on the shoulders.
"But if any of you try to run again, I'll enforce our contract—and you'll disappear on the spot. Body and soul, together."
His words made the group's eyes light up with hope at first—a billion credits wasn't small change. Yondu's entire Ravager crew wouldn't be able to earn that in 20 years, even with maximum effort.
That's why the ten-billion-credit bounty on the Tesseract had drawn so many bounty hunters and Ravagers to Earth in the first place.
But in hindsight, trying to retrieve the Tesseract from Earth wasn't any easier than taking down Thanos.
If George truly planned to share a billion credits with each of them after it was all over, then they'd be more than willing to officially join the Superpowered Guardians.
A billion was enough to retire for life and live in comfort.
But then George's final sentence nearly gave them a heart attack—cold sweat instantly broke out on their foreheads.
That meant he had heard everything they'd said earlier.
"Hahaha! You really know how to joke, Principal!"
Star-Lord quickly forced a laugh and changed the subject.
"You must be seeing outer space for the first time. Isn't it beautiful out here?"
"I was only joking—don't take it so seriously,"
George chuckled, then turned to gaze through the ship's window. Looking at the brilliant starry sky outside, he couldn't help but sigh softly.
"It really is beautiful."
The best way to win people over was always a mix of reward and threat—the carrot and the stick.
Money meant little to him. Even if he lost 5 billion out of the 18 billion bounty, he'd still have 13 billion left. Besides, once he sold off Thanos and Ronan's ships, even hundreds of billions wouldn't be out of the question.
Technically, according to their contract, the others weren't supposed to get paid—but if he wanted them to give their all, he'd need to toss them a bone.
"Stop the ship for a moment."
It was the first time George had ever seen the stars from so close, and something stirred deep inside him. He gave the order to Yondu to halt the ship.
Yondu didn't understand why they were stopping before reaching the jump point, but he dared not disobey. He quickly brought the massive base ship to a halt in deep space.
"Phantom Shift!"
In a flash, George vanished from inside the ship and reappeared outside, floating freely in the vastness of the starry sky.
Closing his eyes, he let himself feel the raw power of the stars around him. And in that moment, he suddenly gained new insight into the elusive magic he'd been struggling to understand: Fairy Glitter.
Fairy Glitter was one of the three Grand Fairy Spells from Fairy Tail, and among them, it was the most destructive.
In terms of sheer power, not even Fairy Law could rival Fairy Glitter's raw destructive potential.
Its core principle was to absorb the energy radiating from the sun, moon, and stars—compressing it into a massive ring of stellar light to entrap enemies and unleash devastating judgment upon them.
Now, immersed in the universe and directly feeling the radiation from countless stars, George's comprehension of the spell instantly reached a whole new level.
"This guy... he's a monster."
Watching George float unprotected in space without any gear, completely unharmed, Star-Lord and the others couldn't help but exclaim in awe.
Even across the universe, with its endless civilizations and species, very few beings could survive in the vacuum of space without any form of equipment.
Even Gamora—whose body had been enhanced and modified countless times—couldn't last more than five minutes alone out there.
George's human body, frankly, was freakishly overpowered.
"Gather now, river of light led by the fairies! Illuminate the darkness! Obliterate evil with your radiant fangs—Fairy Glitter!"
After floating in the cosmos for quite some time, George suddenly opened his eyes wide, and quietly began to chant the incantation for Fairy Glitter.
As the final syllable left his lips, a massive magic circle unfolded high above him in space.
(End of Chapter)