Even the Collector, lying on the ground with his hair scorched, looked utterly incredulous.
"Hey, brother, that move was amazing."
"Where did you get the bow and arrow, and how did you make it disappear?"
"And that magic circle—are you a magician?"
"I am Groot…"
The four of them asked one after another, their small eyes full of confusion and doubt.
Blaine raised his eyebrows, as if he had accidentally exposed his true strength. Especially when he noticed Quill's subtle movement of slipping the Cosmic Orb into his pocket just now, Blaine felt a bit helpless.
Looks like, in the end, Ronan wasn't the one carrying water in a bamboo basket—it was him. After finally gaining their trust, Quill clearly wouldn't feel comfortable handing the Power Stone over to Blaine.
What was even more frustrating was that Blaine hadn't responded to any of their questions yet.
He couldn't exactly tell them outright that he had a Hunter's space where he could directly store items, or casually say, 'Yeah, that's right, I'm a magician who uses magic. Not only that, I'm also a warrior—and even an assassin in a meat suit…'
As for Groot's question, Blaine hadn't finished debugging the universal language converter yet, so he had no idea what Groot was trying to ask.
So whether he explained it or not was a problem. If he said it, they might not believe him. But Blaine couldn't say it—how could he expose his trump cards to others? Yet if he didn't say anything, they would doubt him even more…
Just as Blaine was caught in a dilemma, a sudden scream rang out, and at the same time a black figure rushed straight toward him.
Blaine leapt, teleported, and quickly dodged to the side.
The dark figure lunged fiercely, but missed completely and crashed heavily to the ground once more.
"What are you trying to do?"
Only then did Blaine realize it was the Collector, whose residence had just been blown up.
"Little brother, I can tell at a glance that you have extraordinary bones, a full and radiant aura, and an impressive physique."
"Get to the point."
He had to admit, being flattered did feel rather pleasant. But Blaine, long used to maintaining indifference in front of others, replied coldly.
"Uh… um… would you like to make a friend?"
"You noticed something about me, didn't you?"
Using his mind-reading ability to peer into the man's thoughts, Blaine instantly understood.
"Since you're being so direct, I'll be direct too,"
"Name your price. I want to buy the bow in your hand—the one you just used."
Unexpectedly, after coming to space and meeting an alien, he was still dealing with the same kind of smooth-talking profiteer he'd seen back on Earth. First put a flattering hat on you to get close, make you feel awkward about asking for more—classic tactics. Unfortunately, this approach was completely useless on Blaine. He didn't buy it at all.
"Not for sale. Not for sale."
What a joke. The Elemental Bow had followed Blaine through life-and-death battles and was one of the first weapons he had obtained while fighting across countless fronts. How could he ever sell it?
"Don't be stupid. How much? Set a price!"
"Why? Even after your house got blown up, you still have money?"
Blaine was genuinely curious—what kind of confidence made him so stubborn about buying the Elemental Bow?
"Haha, just kidding. Don't even mention the house being blown up,"
"Even if I strip naked and run out of here today,"
"By the day after tomorrow, I'll still be a famous Collector,"
"I've been roaming this interstellar world for so many years. I still have that much confidence."
"Kid, like I said earlier, don't speak so absolutely,"
"Maybe one day you'll need my help,"
"I've seen this kind of thing plenty of times."
After saying that, the Collector stood up, patted the burnt mink coat on his body, and spoke in a deliberately smug tone.
"Oh? You said you've been around for years,"
"Then do you know Morag?"
He had originally planned to refuse outright, but after hearing those words, Blaine suddenly had an idea—one far more important than obtaining the Power Stone.
"Morag? Never heard of it."
"However, you're probably talking about the dark region about ten light-years southwest of Kree territory."
"That's it—that's the place! You know it!"
Blaine, who had just lost hope, became excited instantly.
"Of course I know it,"
"Not only that, I also know why it's called Morag."
"Then do you know how that area was formed?"
"What happened there?"
Hearing this, Blaine grew even more excited. The Collector had spent many years drifting through interstellar space, dealing with all kinds of strange and obscure matters. He had seen a great deal—maybe he really did know something useful.
"Well,"
"That depends on the situation. Mostly on you."
As he spoke, he rubbed his fingers together.
Blaine was all too familiar with that gesture—it clearly meant the man wanted to take advantage of the situation. Looking at him now, he was exactly like those ugly profiteers back on Earth. Why were profiteers the same throughout the entire universe…
"Two third-level Star Cores?"
"No haggling. If you want it, don't stand there."
At this point, Blaine didn't bother with restraint and directly took out two third-level ones. Anyway, he had taken advantage of the explosion earlier to sneak around and pick them up. He'd originally planned to use them as upgrade materials, but using them to squeeze information out of this guy felt perfectly appropriate.
"Star Core…"
"What a name that's been around for a long time."
"Alright, I'll talk, since you've said that."
When Blaine spoke the words "Star Core," the Collector's body visibly trembled, as if recalling something from the distant past. Blaine noticed this clearly.
It made his eyes light up even more.
The name "Star Core" had been assigned by the system's evaluation. Based on Blaine's judgment, the Hunter System was very likely connected to the mysterious man he had seen on the moon before. From this, it could be inferred that the Collector might know something related to Blaine's origins.
These questions had troubled Blaine for a long time. The Power Stone wasn't essential—there were plenty of tenth-level Star Cores in the universe. But an opportunity to learn about his own origins was rare. Naturally, Blaine knew which mattered more.
In the distance, Quill, Rocket, and the others seemed curious about Blaine's conversation and gathered around them.
"I remember back then,"
"I was very young, just an insignificant little star pirate,"
"Because I acted alone and didn't have a crew, I was often bullied. Even when I got something good, it was usually stolen from me."
"Get to the point."
For this kind of person, Blaine really wanted to slap him straight in the heart. I'm paying you, not listening to your life story.
If it weren't for the fact that his mind-reading ability couldn't directly extract memories, and mind control could only force the other party to speak for himself, Blaine would have controlled him long ago. With how verbose he was being now, Blaine's patience was already wearing thin.
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