"Huh?!"
"King!"
The moment King Robin landed, Zola, who had been in a daze, instantly came to her senses. She dropped to her knees, disregarding whether her messy red hair still adhered to the dress code for auction house staff, and prostrated herself at his feet.
"What did you say?"
Robin's appearance gave Beckett a legitimate excuse to change the subject.
Beckett hated exposing his emotions in front of people he knew.
He hated it immensely.
Of course, among those he knew, his adoptive father, Thanos, was not included.
Giving Zola the planet resource card was a spur-of-the-moment decision by Beckett, but it seemed the suddenly appearing King Robin didn't appreciate it.
"I believe when you checked into this place, someone must have told you that damaging anything within the estate is prohibited, right?"
Every estate built by the auction house was equipped with various luxurious facilities. The opulence of Knowhere, one of the most developed planets in the universe, was fully reflected in them.
Most importantly, his reputation.
The reputation of a planetary lord.
Knowhere's grand event was about to commence, with all the big shots or their representatives from across the universe who intended to participate in the auction gathered together. In such a situation, whether for the sake of the planetary lord's dignity, or for... the Infinity Stones.
The reason sounded far-fetched, but for Robin, a far-fetched reason was all he needed.
"Is that so?"
Beckett's hair, which had turned golden yellow, gradually shifted back to jet black. He walked step by step to Zola, who was still prostrate on the ground, not daring to rise without a command. He bent down and retrieved the planet resource card.
"Let's go."
"Uh, oh, coming right away, His Highness Beckett!"
The Other, clutching the scepter, hadn't emerged from his joy. He followed Beckett with a silly grin, just as he always had, step by step.
They brushed past Robin.
"I thought you were going to fight him."
Hela, who had witnessed the entire scene, gazed at Beckett's retreating back, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
She had wanted to see how strong her temporary partner's comrade was.
"There will be opportunities."
Robin's low voice was as intoxicating as ever: "But not now."
"You don't want your compensation?"
"It's not time yet."
Robin withdrew his gaze, glanced in a certain direction in the distance, and slowly vanished from his spot.
"...Huh?"
Zola, who had been trembling on the ground, received no response from her King for a long time. After a considerable while, she finally mustered the courage to look up, only to find herself completely alone in the desolate landscape.
...
"Jennifer, this man, it's this man!"
"I saw it clearly!"
"What he's holding is the legendary Infinity Stone!!!"
At the gathering place of the high-ranking officials of the Knowhere Rebel Army, a man with an excited expression was gesticulating wildly, describing to Jennifer, who was still in her red dress, the incredible scene of Beckett bringing the dead back to life and healing bone-deep injuries.
As a scholar specializing in cosmic legends among the Xiangluo Tribe, Gu Ji was certain that the man named Beckett held the Infinity Stones that his tribe had been desperately searching for over tens of millions of years.
"With him, we will definitely be able to defeat Robin!"
"We will definitely be able to save our people!"
"If your description is accurate, then this Beckett is a VIP of the Cosmic Auction House. How can we possibly win him over?"
Unlike Gu Ji's excitement, Jennifer's worries were clearly more numerous.
"He's already fallen out with Robin, I saw it with my own eyes!" Gu Ji's expression grew more animated as he mentioned this.
"It seems to be over some compensation issue, I didn't quite catch the specifics."
"In short, this man named Beckett is already preparing to leave Knowhere because he fell out with Robin. Jennifer, if we don't seize this opportunity, we'll be out of options once he leaves Knowhere completely."
The pressing time, the allure of the Infinity Stones, and the mission to save their people forced Jennifer to make a decision after three seconds.
Follow him!
The Infinity Stones were truly too tempting for her.
Her teacher had once told her that with her current strength, even with thorough preparation, she wouldn't have a 100% chance of victory against Robin.
Unless she could find the legendary Infinity Stones of the universe.
Even if she could find just one.
It's just...
What leverage did she have to get this man, who possessed the Infinity Stones, to help her?
Jennifer's gaze shifted to the other side of the lobby, towards the flowers he had given her the night before, before their passionate revelry.
She had been so touched that she chose to break up with him after their night together.
She couldn't drag the man she loved into trouble.
She would rather return to Ego's side as the new Lord of Knowhere after her plan succeeded.
Or, never return at all.
"Where is he now?"
Regardless, she had to try to contact him first.
...
When Beckett arrived at his warship's docking bay, followed by The Other, he was surprised to find that his incredibly cool and stylish warship was missing.
"Woz is locating it—"
"No, no need." Beckett crouched down and picked up a small chip from the center of the docking bay.
"Woz is decrypting..."
"Decryption complete."
A map immediately appeared on the azure light screen, with the destination being the icon of his exclusive warship.
"Interesting."
Beckett crushed the chip into fragments, stood up, and walked towards the location marked on Woz's screen.
A magnificent castle.
Beckett pushed open the grand doors and the first thing he saw was the eye-catching warship.
And beside the warship, Jennifer, in a red dress, had been waiting for a long time.
"Jennifer?"
Seeing the face he had studied for half the night, Beckett subconsciously uttered her name.
"It seems I can skip the introduction step?"
Jennifer was clearly surprised that Beckett knew her name.
She didn't think her reputation had spread all the way to the Centaurus Galaxy.
The only possibility was that Beckett had heard of her from Robin.
After all, she was a VIP at the auction house.
"Do you know the price of stealing?"
Beckett narrowed his eyes, and an invisible wave of energy rose from his feet.
"I'm sorry, this is the only way I could meet you." Jennifer said apologetically.
She didn't dare to show her face openly on the streets of Knowhere right now.
"Apologize with your death."
Beckett remained unmoved. He extended his right hand, and the energy gathered in his palm was firmly aimed at the apologetic Jennifer.
"I'm here to make a deal with you."
"I know you have two Infinity Stones, so I was wondering if you'd be interested in collecting a third one?"
Jennifer's face showed no fear.
"A third one?"
"Yes, the third one, the Soul Stone."
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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