"What's wrong?"
The screen, which had suddenly gone blank, now showed the familiar bust of Woz, waving away the light screen. Beckett saw Zola's flushed cheeks.
Come to think of it, she seemed to have blushed and her heart raced inexplicably while watching the video content?
"No! It's nothing!"
Startled by the external voice, Zola's voice instantly jumped up an octave. She was excited.
She had never imagined that she would actually watch such an educational film with a distinguished guest she was serving.
To her, it was undoubtedly a dream, an impossibility.
Who was she?
Just a slave under the Cosmic Auction House.
To be fortunate enough to be with a distinguished guest…?
Zola had never thought that something that only existed in their small circle's dreams would happen to her.
Feeling inferior from the bottom of her heart, Zola's mind went blank, and for a moment, she didn't know what to say.
From birth, she had lived in the resource-poor Northern Hemisphere. After growing up, she was chosen by the leader due to her proud figure, beauty, and potential. She left that extremely barren desert and came to the prosperous Knowhere Capital.
It was the first time in her life she had witnessed what prosperity truly was.
As a slave.
Zola didn't know why she was branded a slave from birth, nor did she understand why her ancestors were all slaves. All she knew was that if she wanted to survive, she had to obey the will of those in power.
In her desert hometown, she worked from dawn till dusk with her family, contributing to the northern development of Knowhere, just to earn meager rations to survive.
In Knowhere Capital, she was alone and helpless. She could only stand out from the other slaves through her diligent efforts and outstanding qualifications, becoming a trainee receptionist for distinguished guests.
While others needed at least two and a half years for their training, she completed all her studies and work in just one year, starting her certified career.
Although she encountered Beckett, a difficult client, on her first day on the job, he… looked really good?
Zola, snapping back to reality, secretly sized up Beckett from the corner of her eye.
Her loose black combat suit couldn't hide her chiseled muscles. Her wet hair after showering, though messy, somehow looked disheveled and handsome paired with her cold, handsome face.
"Hey, woman, what are you thinking about?"
Beckett's words jolted Zola out of her daydream.
"Ah, I'm not, I wasn't."
She shot up with a whoosh, her wine-red wavy hair cascading over her shoulders, flying messily. The orange cat, which had been dozing on her chest, instantly lost its balance. Fumbling, it clung to Zola's collar, finally steadying itself.
"You should leave."
Beckett frowned, looking at the woman in front of him who had suddenly become inexplicably strange. He pointed a hand towards the door, dousing Zola's burning heart with a basin of cold water.
"Yes, Mr. Beckett."
Flustered, Zola glanced at the yawning orange cat nestled on her chest. Surprised by how human-like the pet was, she quickly retreated from Beckett's bedroom.
She still had to prepare the ingredients for Beckett's breakfast tomorrow.
[Ego, Jennifer, don't want to drag him down…?]
After seeing off the auction house staff, Beckett began to ponder again what that segment just now meant.
The mysterious Ego made Beckett extremely vigilant, especially after Ego had pointed out that he wasn't from this universe.
In Beckett's understanding, up to this point, only his adoptive father, Thanos, knew this fact.
Beckett closed his eyes. The light screen floating nearby was still replaying the scene of Ego and Jennifer dancing, talking, and undressing. He racked his brain, unable to deduce any useful clues from the limited information to ascertain Ego's identity, and then…
Beckett fell asleep.
However, Beckett, sleeping soundly, didn't know that on the other side of Knowhere Capital, an enraged Ego was killingly furious.
He, a divine planet of infinite evolution, had been tricked by an interdimensional visitor??
And he was even bugged with a surveillance device?!!
Ego's temples throbbed, his ferocious expression startling Jennifer.
"Ego?"
"Ego, what's wrong?!"
"It's nothing. Just someone who doesn't know their place dared to challenge the majesty of a god."
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Ego, who comforted himself by thinking he had seen it all, spoke to reassure the startled Jennifer.
It was his dereliction of duty to have his beloved woman frightened.
The genes of this woman were high-quality genes he had chosen after careful selection.
"Is it because of The Collector?"
The sensitive Jennifer immediately thought of that terrifying existence that had hung over their two races for tens of millions of years.
"I'm sorry, Ego, I shouldn't have met with you again."
Jennifer gently placed a kiss on Ego's cheek and stood up, intending to leave, but Ego grabbed her hand, holding her fast.
"The Collector?"
"Just a good-for-nothing, at best he's lived a long time," Ego said with disdain.
Throughout the long years, he hadn't sought a path to evolution, only knowing how to collect all sorts of strange and peculiar things to amuse himself. What else could he be but a good-for-nothing?
"Ego?"
As Ego finished speaking, an invisible energy bloomed from within him. In the vast estate, a sea of wine-red flowers bloomed out of nowhere.
"I am God."
"With me here, you won't die."
...
At the Knowhere Control Center, the Knowhere Leader, who controlled the planet, suddenly opened his eyes from his sleep.
His heart felt inexplicably heavy.
[Why?]
The Knowhere King touched his chest, feeling his beating heart.
He hadn't felt this way in a long time.
"Your Majesty, that group of slaves to the north has started another rebellion!"
The Artificial Intelligence's prompt caused the Knowhere King's tightly furrowed brow to relax. "Is it the same group as last time?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"They really are a persistent bunch."
The Knowhere King narrowed his eyes, stood up, and walked to the window, overlooking the bustling night view of Knowhere Capital.
"Dispatch three times the number of troops. This time, we must make that old geezer shed a layer of skin."
With a cold snort, the Knowhere King issued his command.
A race whose bodies and minds had grown accustomed to subservience actually dared to attempt to overthrow his rule?
Freedom and rights for all beings?
What a colossal joke!
"As you command, Your Majesty."
Thanks to [Book Friend 20190501004917355] for the tip~
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