A huge head like an asteroid was suspended in the starry sky, and the surface of the head had been petrified.
Looking down from the outside of the planet's orbital spacecraft, the two eye sockets of the huge head were hollowed out with two black holes, and some exploration spacecraft kept going back and forth between the two holes and the interior of the planet.
They were collecting the crystallized cerebrospinal fluid from the skull.
It is said that this head-shaped planet is the remains of the corpse of the legendary gods. It was later discovered by collector Tiwan, and the planet became one of his collections.
Thanks to Tiwan's collecting quirk, many plunderers and space mercenaries like to come to this planet to take on missions, hoping to give Tiwan some of the collections they think are unique.
After all, collectors are famously generous.
Although most of them were trash that Tiwan looked down upon, they were extremely valuable to other people. Many businessmen started to buy the things that Tiwan looked down upon here, and later a market was gradually formed.
As time went by, this empty land also became the largest black market in the southern Milky Way.
“The Collector is well-known in the Milky Way. It is said that he is a member of the Council of Elders of the Universe. Although I have never figured out what this Council of Elders of the Universe is, few people dare to cause trouble here!
We have entered the city, there won’t be any desperate criminals like the Grunts here…”
This is the urban area. Large starships are either docked at the spaceport outside the void or parked outside the city.
Therefore, the means of transportation in urban areas are generally flying motorboats or small spacecraft for intra-planetary travel.
Star-Lord brought a group of card soldiers on a rented flying boat to the largest street in the city.
Star-Lord and his thirteen card soldiers were flying low over a street full of flying machines.
The messy streets are full of "aliens" of various shapes and appearances!
The humanoid mechanical life with mechanical parts all over its body looked like an advanced version of the Iron Soldier. The huge shoulder cannon on its back was flashing with energy. When passing by them,
The robot seemed a little curious, and its mechanical eyes flashed red as it glanced at the silver boxes carried by the card soldiers.
His action made several card soldiers subconsciously alert and put their hands on their waists, but the robot just glanced at them, then took heavy steps to get on a flying motorboat and left.
"Hey, relax. This is the Black Market Street. No one dares to cause trouble here. Those are the Hata people. They are one of the few mechanical life forms found in the Milky Way. They are covered with weapons and are not easy to mess with!"
Star-Lord noticed the card soldiers' vigilance and explained, "The Hata people usually come to the Black Market Street to transform their mechanical bodies, and they usually don't conflict with others!"
The flying boats and small spaceships shuttling through this black market street and the "people" that occasionally came down were an eye-opener for these card soldiers.
In less than ten minutes, Hugh Wade saw a stone man whose body seemed to be made of stones, and a hippopotamus man wearing armor and looking like a hippopotamus...
Of course, there are also many aliens who are covered in armor like them and whose appearance cannot be seen.
However, on the black market, most aliens look like humans, with slight differences in skin color and size, and at most a few more or less organs.
Some have insect-like tentacles on their heads, some have an extra eye on their foreheads compared to humans on Earth, and some have two more arms than humans on Earth, but in general, most of them are humanoid creatures.
Hugh Wade's eyes suddenly focused as a small single-person aircraft landed in front of a roadside store. An alien wearing half-shoulder armor, dreadlocks on his head, and a breathing mask got out of the aircraft.
Hugh Wade, an acquaintance, has seen this alien race before. There is a specimen in the boss's hive laboratory.
"Don't look at him. He is a warrior of the Iron Blood Clan. They worship hunting. If you keep staring at them, it will be regarded as a provocation. They will often challenge the provocateur to a duel. They are a very difficult race!"
Star-Lord followed Hugh Wade's gaze and noticed the Iron-Blooded Warrior walking into a store. He said strangely:
"But these Iron Warriors usually play their hunting games on remote planets. It's strange that they appear here. It's really strange to see them here—"
"How far is it from the store you mentioned?" Hugh Wade looked at the small spaceship of the Iron Blood Warrior parked at the door and did not say much, but the intelligent system in the armor recorded every scene of the coming to this planet.
After returning to Earth, this information will be summarized into the Tang Group's database.
"It's right in front. Trust my judgment. I've dealt with Old Mand a lot. He's the most fair in doing business in the entire black market. In addition, he has a wide range of channels and can even get the latest battleships from the Nova Empire..."
Star-Lord boasted as he led Hugh Wade and others into a street shop.
This store looks no different from the other stores on this street. They are all built with the stone unique to the Void and painted gray on the outside. Except for the store sign, which seems to be made from a piece of armor from a spaceship, it looks unremarkable.
Of course, this is a black market street. The things that people who come here to do business have, or the things they want to buy, are often not legal, and they will not go to overly conspicuous shops.
"Hey! Old Mander, are you okay?"
Star-Lord pushed the door open skillfully and walked into the store. Two energy guns were pointed directly at him from outside the door.
"Oh, oh, old Mander, it's me, Star-Lord!"
As if it heard a familiar voice, the intelligent robotic arm retracted the energy gun in its hand.
"Star-Lord, why are you here again?"
The voice came from inside the store. Star-Lord waved his hand and led Hugh Wade into the store, while the other card soldiers waited at the door.
This shop looks inconspicuous from the outside, but the space inside is very large, about thirty or forty steps wide. On the walls on both sides are hung various types of energy guns, mechanical arms, spacecraft mechanical parts, and some electronic instruments that look extremely high-tech.
Hugh Wade accompanied Star-Lord into the store and soon met the "Old Mander" that Star-Lord mentioned, a rhino-man who looked very old.
Literally, this black market dealer named Old Mand is an alien with a head similar to that of a rhinoceros on Earth, wearing a pair of cylindrical glasses on his nose. He is holding something similar to a welding gun, repairing the electronic components of an energy gun.
"Long time no see, old Mander!"
"So long?!" Old Mand looked up in surprise, not understanding what was wrong with him. He had just left here two days ago and suddenly came back. However, Old Mand glanced at Hugh Wade next to Star-Lord.
I see, it looks like Star-Lord has found another big fat sheep.
This was not the first time they had worked together. Old Mand nodded as if he understood. "Long time no see, Star-Lord. They've been saying lately that you got a big deal!"
Star-Lord took out a box of chewing gum from his pocket, put a piece into his mouth, chewed it, and gestured with his hands: "It is indeed a big deal, otherwise I would not come to you, old Mander. You always boasted to me that you can get the latest battleship of the Nova Empire. Is it true?"
"Not to mention the latest battleship of the Nova Empire, as long as you can come up with enough money, even if you want Ronan the Accuser's flagship, I can find a way to get it!" The old Rhino took off his glasses, revealing a pair of squinting eyes. Although he was talking to Star-Lord, his eyes were looking at Hugh Wade.
"This energy crystal! How much is it?"
Hugh Wade stretched out his hand and opened his fist. In his palm was an energy crystal the size of a mahjong tile, flashing blue light.
It was nothing else but the energy crystal condensed by Boss Tang using the space gem.
"Huh? Hiss! Energy crystals of this purity!"
Under the smug gaze of Star-Lord beside him, Old Mand carefully took the energy crystal from Hugh Wade and observed it carefully.
He took out an instrument from a cabinet nearby and placed the energy crystal on it for testing. Looking at the values displayed on the instrument, old Mand's small eyes instantly widened in surprise.
"No, how is it possible? Even the energy crystals created by the Kree using dark matter have a purity of only over 80%. The purity of this crystal is actually over 90%..."
Old Mand seemed a little bit unbelievable. He changed several testing instruments and conducted repeated tests. Then he took a breath and said.
"The customer wants to sell this crystal. I wonder what you want to exchange it for, Galaxy Coin or..."
"Spaceship, the best spaceship, and systematic information on civilization technology!" Hugh Wade stated his requirements.
Old Mander picked up the energy crystal and shook his head, saying, "This energy crystal is of high purity and has a certain value, but this one piece alone is not worth a high-level spaceship!"
"Who told you we only took one piece, old Mand? I told you this is a big deal!" Star-Lord said proudly, "Give us ten of the latest warships from the Kree and Nova Empire. Also, find us a batch of technological data from a second-level civilization. It has to be systematic!"
Old Mand looked at Star-Lord, who looked like a nouveau riche, and said, "Star-Lord, this will cost a lot of money!"
A minute later, Old Mand looked at the open silver suitcases in front of him, which were filled with neatly stacked energy crystals the size of mahjong tiles.
Looking at these energy crystals, Old Mand wanted for a moment to call the guards directly, kill Star-Lord and the others, and take all these high-purity energy crystals for himself.
However, Star-Lord's words instantly made old Mand sober up.
"Old Mand, this is just the beginning. My current employer is a big boss who is at the level of the universe overlord. There will be a constant flow of business in the future!"
Star-Lord doesn't know Boss Tang's strength, but that doesn't stop him from using Boss Tang's skills as a banner.
As soon as his words came out, old Mand was frightened. In the Milky Way, there are not many people who can be called the overlord of the universe, and the most famous of them is Thanos.
Could it be that Star-Lord has defected to Thanos? But even if it's not Thanos, he certainly can't afford to offend the force that has the ability to extract energy crystals of this purity.
Old Mand has been doing business in the void for so many years and has his own set of survival rules. When he judged that the people led by Star-Lord were not easy to mess with, he decisively became a law-abiding businessman again.
"The technological information of the second-level civilization is easy to get. I have a complete set on hand. It is the systematic spaceship manufacturing technology of the Gulu tribe, complete with energy shields and naval guns. However, the spaceship will take some time..."
"The scientific and technological information of the Gulu tribe is all over the place. Is there any better civilization that has at least complete spacecraft jump technology or artificial wormhole technology?"
When Star-Lord heard what old Mander said, he was full of disgust. The Gollum people are not even better off than the Chitauri. Their technology is even worse than that of dogs.
"Star-Lord, you are so bold to think about spacecraft jump technology. That is a technology that only the second-level advanced civilization can barely master. There is also artificial wormhole technology. Currently in the Milky Way, only the Kree and the Nova Empire have the core information. I don't have it!"
"How long will it take for the spaceship to arrive? We want the technology of the Gululu tribe. We also want all the technological systems of other civilizations, no matter how many there are!"
When Hugh Wade said this, he felt the small bag near the Spade J gold medal hanging under his neck. It was one of the five yin bags specially refined by the boss in addition to the big bosses and the boss ladies. The energy crystals filled in it were the confidence of Hugh Wade's words.
"As for the spaceship, it will take at least thirty rising suns in the Void Land. After all, it will take some time to get some 'battle-damaged' spaceships from the two empires!"
"But I do have some systematic spacecraft manufacturing technology, which I can sell to you first!"
Old Mand smiled, his rhino horn hiding the cunning in his small eyes. Selling intelligence and knowledge was his favorite business. Intelligence was often time-sensitive, but knowledge could be sold repeatedly.
... ... ... ..
"The stuff is correct!" After Star-Lord checked the technological information that old Mand took out from the memory, Hugh Wade waved his hand and the card soldiers left six boxes of energy crystals.
These are the prices for purchasing the materials and part of the deposit for the spacecraft.
As for whether old Mander would run away with the money, Hugh Wade said he was not worried about this issue. On the energy crystal being tested, there was a tracking spell drawn by the boss himself.
By the time the old rhino was testing the crystal, the tracking symbol had already locked onto him.
"If you really want spaceship jump technology or artificial wormhole technology, Star-Lord, you can try your luck at the Collector!"
After the transaction was completed, old Mand personally escorted this group of big customers to the door. Before leaving, old Mand made a proposal to Star-Lord.
"Collector Tiwan? Forget it, we don't have what he wants!" After hearing what Old Mand said, Star-Lord refused without thinking.
Leaving old Mander's shop,
Hugh Wade couldn't help but be curious: "Collector Tiwan, the owner of this planet, has spaceship jump technology? Can't we exchange it for energy crystals?"
Star-Lord looked around like a thief, and after confirming that no one was eavesdropping on their conversation, he whispered:
"Tiwan is a very picky collector, or rather, he has a collecting quirk. His collection room only contains those unique items. Well, he is indeed very generous, but he has a difficult personality.
There was once a Wagol mercenary, the last survivor of his race, who went to the void to look for a collector to take on a job, but ended up becoming Tiwan's collection!
There is also a half-dragon man, the descendant of a legendary dragon-like beast. The collector said that he has the largest horns in the entire universe and is very valuable for collection, so he was locked up in the collection room!
If it is not necessary, I think we should not provoke him. It is more important to complete Boss Tang's mission!"
Star-Lord's last words convinced Hugh Wade, and the group prepared to leave the Black Market Street and board the spaceship to the next destination, the planet Sakaar in the Tyyo galaxy, several light years away from the Void.
It is a land of war, but also the largest arena and slave market in the universe.
Now that we have purchased a spaceship, we need a group of technical talents who can fly, repair and manufacture the spaceship.
In addition, the ruler of the planet Saka is said to be a brother of the collector Tiwan.
Star-Lord and his crew had just left the black market street and were about to take a flying boat to the spaceship parking area when they ran into an "acquaintance"!
"It's you! Didn't I just hand you over to Tiwan, and you escaped!"
The tall Predator was holding a transparent petri dish in his hand, which contained a half-meter-high alien egg. When he saw Star-Lord, the Predator was a little surprised and immediately ejected his sharp claw knife.
Kaka!
A dozen card soldiers following Star-Lord all raised the energy guns in their hands. The thick energy guns looked somewhat like toy water guns on Earth, but the alien metal material looked particularly heavy. The energy waves condensed at the muzzle were very lethal at first glance.
These energy guns were all purchased from Old Mand's store. Star-Lord has four of them hanging around his waist. These energy guns were purchased with public funds and were the latest models. They may not be the most powerful, but the ones on Star-Lord's waist are definitely the most expensive ones.
Star-Lord understood the words of the Predator through the universal translator. He did not want to provoke this warlike race, so he spread his hands towards the Predator.
"Hey, you got the wrong person, we just arrived at the Land of Nothingness!"
The Predator just glanced at Star-Lord and said in a muffled voice, "I have already completed the Collector's commission. Whether you escaped from his collection room or not has nothing to do with me!"
After saying that, the Predator carried the petri dish containing the alien eggs onto the spaceship, leaving Star-Lord confused.
"boom!"
The Iron Blood spaceship piloted by the Iron Blood Warrior had just risen into the sky and was about to enter the low-Earth orbit to break through the Land of Nothingness when a huge energy wave dropped from the sky and directly blew the Iron Blood spaceship into pieces.
Huge wormholes seem to open windows in the void of outer space.
A number of black, huge, oddly shaped but powerful warships suddenly appeared in the sky above the void in the shining light of the warp wormhole.
The moment they jumped out of the jump window, when these warships arrived at the designated location, they threw black cruise missiles towards the void without even issuing the most basic combat declaration.
Amidst flashes of fire, those black, quadrangular missiles were fired one after another from the weapon launch ports of the Kree warships.
In just a blink of an eye, the pirate ships anchored outside the void met with a devastating disaster.
Balls of scorching flames lit up one after another in the starlight of deep space, and the explosions were extremely powerful.
After hitting the first locked spaceship, the energy of the explosion and the impact of the secondary detonation will often also involve the surrounding spaceships that are flying too densely.
... ... ... .
"It's a Kree warship. The black one is the flagship of Ronan the Accuser. How could he appear in the void? Oh my God, is he preparing to declare war on the Collector?"
The movement in the sky quickly attracted the attention of many people in the Land of Nothingness.
Some people tried to escape by driving their own spaceships, but their spaceships were often ruthlessly destroyed by Kree warships that blocked the space as soon as they took off.
... ... .
At the same time, in the collector’s enviable collection room, collector Tiwan was playing with the cosmic spirit ball in his hand, admiring it carefully.
The Collector also stands at the top of the pyramid in the entire Marvel Universe.
He and his brother Gao Tianzun are both members of the Elder Council of the Universe, and are beings that can live and die with the Marvel Universe.
His endless lifespan made him treat collecting as his hobby, just like his brother Gao Tianzun who liked to hold gladiatorial competitions.
"The Infinity Stones are the most valuable treasures in the universe, full of secrets and power. As far as I know, many people and forces are looking for them."
While the collector was playing with the Cosmic Spirit Orb, he seemed to be able to see the power gem inside the Cosmic Spirit Orb. At the same time, his left hand moved across a crystal coffin at hand.
Inside the coffin was a guy who looked exactly like Star-Lord, with a greasy face and fat belly, exactly the same.
The Collector's fingers slid across the collector's coffin that held Star-Lord.
"For me, the only Infinity Stone in the universe is a top collection. I like it very much, but it represents trouble. Behind that little Titan stands death. I don't like to cause trouble for myself."
Under Star-Lord's uneasy gaze, the Collector sighed and said:
"By the way, mortals like you naturally don't know the existence of the Five Great Gods of the Universe. They are the true gods of the multiverse! They are the cornerstones of the entire universe!"
"Wuwuwu--" Star-Lord struggled to speak with a ball-shaped chew in his mouth.
There is a more powerful existence behind Thanos, and he needs to bring this message back.
It's not that he hasn't dealt with collectors before, but in his world, collectors don't have any skills at all.
The Collectors in this universe are simply perverts.
In his universe, perhaps because of the blood left by his "father", he, a half-god and half-human, was lucky enough to survive Thanos's snap.
He came to this universe through this quantum channel, wanting to search for the Infinity Stones and take them to his universe to redeem his own world and his lover.
However, this universe seemed a little different from the one he remembered. In this timeline and this universe, not only did he not get the Cosmic Spirit Orb, he didn't even recognize his companions.
He had no choice but to go to the planet in his memory to find the Cosmic Spirit Orb where the Power Stone was stored. Unexpectedly, as soon as he got the Cosmic Spirit Orb, he met an Iron-Blooded Warrior, who was at the level of an Iron-Blooded Elder.
Star-Lord felt desperate when he thought that he was captured by the iron-blooded elder in less than three seconds.
"Information is the most valuable. It's like a key. If you want to open the door to a new world, how can you do it without a key?"
At this point, the collector chuckled and said in a playful tone:
"You carry information from another universe. As long as I find the key point, I can open the door to another universe."
The maid next to her handed her a pair of strange glasses, which looked very much like the ones used by jewelry appraisers.
The collector puts black glasses on his face.
"Card"
With a slight click, the frame in front of the Collector's eyes spun open like the lens of a camera.
As he continued to focus, he clearly saw the energy lines wrapped around Star-Lord's body.
In the truth hidden under the dazzling light, the luster that shines like stars,
Energy that is not seen by mortal eyes, energy that is not felt by them.
That is the cosmic force, the original power belonging to another universe.
This is what he's interested in.
Star-Lord is the most valuable thing that the collector has obtained in the past few thousand years.
There was a flash of surprise in Tanlia Tiwan's eyes.
The Collector reached out and tapped an instrument on the workbench.
The next moment, a holographic projection appeared beside him. Those projections flashed images from various eras and star fields. Some were wars, some were secret meetings, and more were destruction.
In the purple or dark red halo, the planets are falling apart.
The Collector's voice echoed in his room along with the flickering projection. Like the best tour guide, he explained in a gentle tone:
"You want to get the Power Stone, but first you don't know what the Power Stone is.
When the universe was first born, well, I mean when most of the universe was first born, the origin of everything was an explosion. In the eternal darkness, there was the first light shining, and then, the most fundamental power of the universe was filled into every corner by the explosion. "
"Just like blowing up a balloon, it begins to expand, and most of the power turns into various stellar entities, but some of it will evolve into more unique things under special circumstances."
The collector raised his finger, and on the fingertips of the white gloves, six irregularly shaped rough stones emitting unique light were spinning and jumping rapidly, attracting Star-Lord's attention.
Collector says:
"Why are they called Infinity Gems? Because each of them represents an attribute of the stars, or a rule, and is the manifestation of great power on the material level."
"Space, time, reality, mind, power and soul form the basis of all things."
"If you get one, you master one; if you get them all, you control infinity!"
Tanlia Tiwan clenched his five fingers, looked at Star-Lord, and said:
"This is not an exaggeration by writers, young man. In fact, no matter how many words you use, you can't describe how powerful they are. The more powerful they are, the more dangerous they are."
The collector waved his finger and said, "The Infinity Stones represent the original power of this universe.
Even if you could get this power gem and bring it back to your universe, it would be useless.
The original power of a universe, unless you can completely integrate it, remember, the rules only exist within the universe.
The different rules of the two universes conflict with each other. What you bring back is just a stone.
Unless they are two universes with the same origin and two sides of the same coin, but with you, I can locate your universe through the energy in you!"
Star-Lord's eyes suddenly widened, his eye sockets filled with red bloodshot.
“Wuwuwuwu—”
Star-Lord struggled desperately...