But I'm afraid that if my unknown enemy can crack the Hunter Space, then things will really get interesting.
No other bigshots at the Marvel Universe level can crack it, so presumably those guys can't either.
"This?"
"Hey, this material seems to be…"
The Collector grew a little curious when he saw Blaine take out such an ordinary-looking piece of silver-white metal.
If someone else had taken it out, he would definitely have flown into a rage, thinking they were trying to fool him with scrap metal.
But since it was Blaine who took it out, he believed there had to be something special about it. Blaine was clearly not the kind of person who would waste time just to trade two third-level Star Cores for information. Besides, his strength was obvious—there was no need for him to deceive an old man.
Because Blaine had been using mind reading to prevent the Collector from lying, when he saw the thoughts being analyzed just now, Blaine couldn't help but smile slightly.
The Collector took the metal from Blaine's hand and weighed it.
"It's much lighter than ordinary metal."
After speaking, he put it in his mouth and bit it, then pressed it to his ear and listened.
Was this like people on Earth in the past biting silver coins to tell real from fake? Or was it simply that the entire universe used the same method to judge whether something was good or bad?
"The strength of this material is extremely high, probably several levels above adamantium,"
"The density is also astonishing,"
"With the current level of technology, it's still far from being able to process this."
"Did you get it from Nidavellir?"
"That's a holy land for forging."
"You don't know?"
"I don't," he said, shaking his head, "but if you have more, I can accept them."
"This would be extremely valuable as a collectible. The technological content alone is astonishing."
"There's none left."
As he spoke, Blaine directly stored the metal back into Hunter Space. At the same time, his brows knit together even tighter. Under mind reading, the Collector had indeed been telling the truth—but it was precisely because he hadn't lied that Blaine frowned.
If even the Collector didn't know what it was, Blaine was now even more confused.
"Aren't you a self-proclaimed famous Collector?"
"You claim you can get anything, don't you?"
"I'll make a deal with you."
"What?"
"In the future, help me find out whether this kind of metal exists,"
"Not only whether it exists, but also where it comes from."
When he said this, Blaine was unusually serious, enunciating every word clearly.
"You also said it yourself—I'm the Collector,"
"Why should I help you?"
"To get you to help,"
"I can promise this: I owe you a favor,"
"If you run into trouble in the future, you can contact me anytime."
As he spoke, Blaine handed the Collector a business card. This was something Blaine had used long ago when he first started out as a Bounty Hunter. It was basically useless now and had almost gone moldy inside Hunter Space.
"Hahahaha, are you joking?"
"My dignified Collector needs someone to protect me?"
"Repay a favor?"
"Sorry, I don't believe that."
"Do you not believe in my strength?"
Hearing the Collector's wanton laughter, Blaine said nothing and simply turned his head to look into the distance.
Boom, boom, boom…
In the distance, rows of houses were directly blasted into the ground by raging flames. Even the horizon seemed to sink slightly. The ground beneath everyone's feet trembled violently, as if the entire planet were about to shatter. As for casualties, Blaine didn't care in the slightest.
"Are you threatening me with force?"
"I—I will swear to the death—"
The Collector's mouth was still talking tough, but his body trembled involuntarily. Perhaps this was some lingering trauma from his youth.
"As you said,"
"Don't speak so absolutely. One day, you might need me,"
"There's a saying on my planet: miss this village, and you won't find another shop,"
"You should think it over."
At this point, Blaine didn't bother hiding anything anymore. He had already exposed his strength in front of them, and he didn't mind doing it again.
"Fine, you want me to help you?"
"Tell me—what do you want?"
Blaine instantly saw through his thoughts. In the end, this old fox was still coveting Blaine's Elemental Bow.
"As you know, I'm an artist who loves collecting."
"So you want to trade for my Elemental Bow?"
"Smart."
"Fine. If you find it, contact me,"
"And we'll complete the transaction then."
"You don't trust me?"
"That's right."
Faced with the Collector's question, Blaine was brutally straightforward. Those two words choked him completely, leaving him speechless. This was how you dealt with profiteers—otherwise, they would always push for more.
Besides, Blaine had no intention of giving him the Elemental Bow. Even if the metal was found, Blaine would just seize it himself. There was no reason to trade away a weapon he had worked so hard to upgrade.
In any case, the metal wasn't something Blaine needed for upgrading equipment. Whether he seized it or not didn't matter, and the Hunter System couldn't interfere with that either.
"Well, since you put it that way,"
"Why should I trust you?"
As if he had expected this, Blaine directly took out another weapon—the Flood Dragon Trident.
"Because I still have something you're interested in."
As he spoke, Blaine raised the trident and swung it toward the flat land in the distance.
Bang—
A bottomless chasm instantly split the ground before him, stretching endlessly into the distance.
With a casual swing, Blaine had sliced the planet's surface open like tofu.
"Oooh—oh—oh—"
"Atlantis…"
"A trident…"
"Little brother, we'll do as you say. It's a deal,"
"If I find that metal,"
"You must give me this trident—and the bow from earlier."
Seeing Blaine's display, the Collector was completely captivated. What better way to ignite a Collector's obsession than with the ultimate collectibles? And what about the ancient, mysterious Atlantis, lost to the universe long ago?
The Collector, who knew of Earth's existence, would naturally understand these ancient civilizations. These were exactly the things he desired. Blaine was confident of that.
Seeing the Collector's excited expression, Blaine casually put the Flood Dragon Trident away with a flick of his hand. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Hmph, old man,"
"Still pretending to be reserved in front of me."
With the agreement settled, Blaine once again followed Quill, Rocket, and the others as they left the place.
In truth, after already revealing his strength, Blaine had wanted to leave right then.
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