“I’ve noticed that you’ve been taking out the stuff Jackson from Earth gave you to look at quite often since the last time you saw him.” Seeing Star-Lord remain silent, Rocket continued.
Speaking of which, among the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy, besides Star-Lord, the other two, a raccoon and a tree, no longer had homes. Gamora, a survivor of the Zehoberei people, had her home planet Zehoberei destroyed by Thanos, leaving her alone.
As for Drax the Destroyer, his entire family was killed by Thanos, leaving him with nothing but hatred for Thanos.
As for Rocket and Groot, they too lacked any previous attachments. Thus, among the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Star-Lord seemed to have a relatively better origin. Even though he was taken away from Earth by Yondu at a young age, at least his home planet, Earth, remained intact, and he might even have family there.
“Well… I didn’t think much about it originally. However, after Jackson told me so much about Earth last time, I realized I still have feelings for that planet I hadn’t thought about for decades.” Hearing Rocket’s following words, Star-Lord’s eyes flickered, and he went on to admit.
If Star-Lord hadn’t been thinking about his former homeland, even if he wanted to hide this time, there were plenty of places in the universe to go. Why go to the Nine Realms?
Of course, a few months ago, Star-Lord’s unexpected encounter with Lin Rui on that alien planet was the main reason he missed Earth. Without that encounter, Star-Lord might never have thought about Earth again in his lifetime.
“Yeah!… After all, that’s your home planet. You were born there. Even though you’ve been wandering the universe for so many years, your roots are still there.” Upon hearing Star-Lord finally admit his feelings for Earth, Rocket didn’t mock him; instead, he expressed some envy.
“My roots… I wonder what Earth is really like now. Jackson talked about so much, and it felt as if Earth has developed well.” Star-Lord walked from the pilot’s seat to a nearby window, gazing out into the cosmic expanse, murmuring to himself.
“It’s definitely doing well!”
“Yeah!”
*Swoosh!*
In the boundless cosmos, the sleek silver and red spaceship accelerated once again, swiftly heading toward the location of Earth. After more than twenty years, Star-Lord was leading the Guardians of the Galaxy back to his home planet.
…
In Asgard, within the Bifrost Guardian Hall, Heimdall was conducting his routine patrol of the Nine Realms. Since the Dark Elf leader Malekith left the Nine Realms, Heimdall had intensified his surveillance of the portals to prevent Malekith from bringing powerful enemies from other universes to catch them off guard.
At this moment, Heimdall had just shifted his focus away from Earth. Due to the activation of Ancient One’s magic array, Earth now appeared as a mist in Heimdall’s view.
Of course, if Heimdall were to open the Bifrost, he could still penetrate this mist, but there was no need. With the relationship between the Ancient One and the All-Father Odin, Thor and Loki would not face any troubles on Earth.
However, knowing Loki’s personality, he might cause some mischief. If Loki truly caused trouble, Heimdall believed that Ancient One would also penalize him, which he thought wasn’t a bad idea.
Without looking at Earth again, Heimdall shifted his gaze upward. He intended to check the cosmic situation beyond the Nine Realms. Although viewing the universe beyond the Nine Realms consumed a lot of Heimdall’s energy, he still did so at times. After all, compared to the Nine Realms, the outer universe was more fascinating.
*Humming~*
Golden light continuously blinked in Heimdall’s dark gold eyes. His gaze had already passed through the entire Nine Realms and was heading toward the center of the cosmos. Along the way, various scenes quickly flashed in Heimdall’s eyes.
While Heimdall’s gaze had already reached distances that spanned countless light-years, a mass of black mist, larger than an ordinary planetary body, suddenly emerged “before his eyes.”
“What’s this…?” His gaze, which had been extending outward, came to a halt upon seeing the mass of black mist, instinctively sensing something amiss.
Subsequently, Heimdall’s focus narrowed as he attentively observed the continuously twisting and advancing black mist.
*Sigh!*
Just as Heimdall was engrossed in observing the mist, the center of the irregularly shaped and ever-shifting black mist suddenly caved in. From that depression in the mist, a colossal face burst forth, and a pair of enormous dark yellow eyes, emitting a faint glow, met Heimdall’s gaze.
“Oh?… A rather powerful Eye…” As if perceiving Heimdall, who was stationed in Asgard, across countless light-years, Dormammu’s massive face revealed a slightly surprised expression, and he murmured softly to himself.
*Humming!*
In the next instant, an invisible force surged from Dormammu’s enormous eyes. This intangible force, following Heimdall’s gaze, traversed the spatial distance and shot into Asgard. Once this energy issued by Dormammu reached its destination, the sensation of being watched disappeared in an instant.
“Those coming from that direction… it seems they’ve become aware of my arrival…”
*Sigh~*
After uttering this humming statement, Dormammu’s enormous black mist once again accelerated in its movement through the cosmos, heading straight for Earth.
“Ah!…” Just as Dormammu was picking up speed on his way to Earth, a painful scream suddenly echoed within the Asgardian Bifrost Guardian Sanctum. It was Heimdall’s voice.
*Plop~*
Following the scream, Heimdall, who had originally been standing in the center of the Sanctum overseeing the Bifrost, collapsed onto the ground, clutching his eyes in agony. From his throat, muffled cries of pain intermittently escaped, clearly indicating that he was enduring tremendous suffering.
“Ugh~ Ah!… Danger! I must quickly inform the All-Father!”
Struggling on the ground for a few moments, Heimdall endured the pain with clenched teeth. One hand covered his eyes, while the other laboriously traced a few runes on the ground.
*Thud!*
Next, Heimdall slammed his palm down. *Swish!* Following the palm strike, a golden light rapidly flashed from beneath his hand, shooting through the Bifrost and instantly entering the Asgardian palace.
*Exhale~*
Having executed this action, Heimdall seemed unable to hold on any longer. His hand went limp as he collapsed onto the ground in a state of unconsciousness. Underneath his slack hand, a blurry bloody handprint stained the golden floor. Looking at Heimdall’s eyes, two trails of blood had already streamed down his face.
In that brief “stare-down” with Dormammu moments ago, Heimdall, the self-proclaimed Eye of the Nine Realms, had actually been injured to this extent. It remained uncertain what kind of crisis Dormammu’s arrival to the Nine Realms might pose.
……
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