Ebony Maw decided to return and report to Thanos. First, the tracker inside Nebula was clearly malfunctioning — otherwise, he wouldn't have lost her so easily.
Second, he needed to find out exactly what happened to Black Dwarf. If Black Dwarf really died in Asgard, only Lord Thanos could decide what to do next.
Without any clues about their whereabouts, trying to find them in the vastness of space was nothing short of a fool's errand.
Wandering around like a headless fly was a complete waste of time!
So, under Ebony Maw's orders, the ship turned around and set course back to Titan.
He recalled his previous battle on Earth with that sorcerer — the magic had affected him to some degree. If it weren't for his quick thinking, he might not have made it off Earth alive.
At the same time, Quill confirmed that Nebula was in good shape, so he activated the jump drive, accelerating their journey to Earth.
Flames roared from the ship's thrusters, and luckily, this ship had been built with the help of Iron Man — only something crafted by Tony could withstand this kind of stress.
Especially when it came to using the jump drive. If they were flying a regular ship, they'd have to stop and rest after just a few jumps.
"I feel like my whole body is overflowing with energy," Nebula said, clenching her mechanical hand into a fist. She had no memory of the procedure Red Queen performed while she was unconscious.
But now, she could clearly feel the changes in her body.
"It's because Master asked me to upgrade every single one of your systems to the maximum level," Red Queen said bluntly, making sure Nebula understood.
Even though Red Queen herself wasn't sure why she felt compelled to explain. Technically, Alan hadn't told her to reveal this, but he also never said she couldn't.
Alan had started to notice that ever since Red Queen gained a physical body and fused with the Mind Stone, she was gradually developing her own consciousness.
Like a child learning to speak, she was beginning to explore human emotions.
Alan wasn't sure if this change was good or bad, but for now, he preferred to think of it as a positive development.
At the very least, Red Queen was starting to think for herself, instead of just waiting for his orders to activate her supercomputer-like processing power.
"Alan, thank you," Nebula said, her heart filled with gratitude. Alan had helped her over and over again.
And now, she could finally break free from Thanos for good!
"Hey, guys! We're almost at Earth!" Quill shouted excitedly, staring out at the blue planet wrapped in white clouds.
From a distance, it looked completely different from Asgard. Maybe it was because of his human roots, but Quill couldn't help feeling nostalgic — it had been years since he last set foot on Earth.
As a space pirate, he was pretty sure his name was still on Earth's wanted list somewhere.
"I wonder what cool stuff Earth has," Rocket said, pressing his face against the window with Groot right beside him, both staring wide-eyed at the planet.
Rocket's mind was already racing, wondering what valuable gadgets or treasures Earth might have for him to snatch.
"Rocket, your eyes are totally giving away what you're thinking," Gwen said, arms crossed, leaning casually against the wall.
In the reflection of the window, Rocket could faintly make out a shadowy figure — sharp teeth glinting as a tongue flicked across its lips.
"You… you're not thinking of eating me, are you?" Rocket's voice wavered. He still remembered that Gwen was bonded with the symbiote — a creature that looked like a monster straight out of his nightmares.
Especially after witnessing She-Venom devour those criminals. That memory was still fresh in his mind.
"Who knows?" Gwen said with a playful grin. "Venom says she's never tried raccoon before. Might be fun to see how it compares to chocolate."
...
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