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As the Power Stone glowed brightly with purple light, the Collector stood in front of it, waving his hands in excitement. "How beautiful! Incomparable!"
Rocket, unimpressed, muttered, "He's talking a load of gibberish. Guy's really good at conning people."
"We're shaking in our boots, white-haired bird," he added sarcastically. "Just show us the money!"
The Collector paused and asked, "How would you like to be paid?"
"Cut the act, sissy. Cash will do just fine," Rocket snapped.
"No problem," the Collector said with a smile.
While he returned to his desk, the maid who had led Star-Lord and the others in earlier slowly approached the Power Stone. Noticing her odd behavior, the Collector warned, "Karina, step back."
But instead of obeying, she stepped forward. Her voice trembled with defiance. "I don't want to be your slave anymore!"
She reached out and grabbed the Power Stone.
The moment her skin touched it, a surge of brilliant purple energy burst from the gem, shattering display cases around the room. The energy crawled up her arm, spreading rapidly over her body.
But the power was too much. Karina screamed, overwhelmed, until the energy consumed her completely—disintegrating her into dust.
With no vessel to contain its power, the gem exploded, obliterating the Collector's lair.
Reacting quickly, Groot scooped up Rocket and bolted. Star-Lord and Gamora ducked behind cover.
The energy raged outward, purple blasts surging in all directions.
Amidst the destruction, a shimmering blue portal suddenly tore open in mid-air. A hand emerged from it, wrapped in glowing yellow mental energy.
It reached straight for the Orb containing the Power Stone.
A moment later, a voice echoed in Kai's mind—*System prompt: Copy complete.*
Satisfied, Kai withdrew his hand, turning to Tony and the others. With a wave, they vanished through the portal, heading back to Earth.
He didn't bother interfering further with Star-Lord and his team. They could handle themselves.
Back in Earth's manor, Kai was still grinning from ear to ear, lost in a state of giddy triumph.
Noticing this, Tony asked, "Kai, what's going on? What's with the big smile?"
Kai didn't answer directly. Instead, he led them to the lawn outside, pulling something from his space storage.
Tony raised a brow. "You're this excited over… a branch?"
Kai didn't reply. He knelt, planted the small branch into the ground, then stepped back and gestured for them to watch.
The others exchanged confused glances, but humored him.
Yinsen squinted. "Tony… did that thing just move?"
"What?" Tony looked at him sideways. "It's a branch. Branches don't move."
"I'm telling you, I saw it shift," Yinsen insisted, his magical senses already on alert.
Then Banner chimed in, "He's right. It's moving."
Both Tony and Yinsen turned sharply.
The branch, once lifeless and dry, was sprouting. Rapid growth followed—forming limbs, taking shape.
Before their eyes, it evolved into a tiny humanoid tree.
They stared, stunned. It was unmistakable—this was the same tree creature they had encountered on Xandar.
Only now, it was a baby—barely a dozen centimeters tall, roots still anchored to the soil.
Tony blinked. "Kai… where did you *find* this?"
Kai chuckled. "Just saw a little branch and thought I'd try something. Didn't expect it to actually work."
With a flick of his hand, Kai summoned a flower pot, gently lifted the baby tree from the ground, and planted it in the pot for mobility.
He carried it inside and placed it on a table in the living room.
"Alright, you'll stay here for now. Once you're grown and mobile, you can pick your own room," he said warmly to the little creature.
Then he led the others to the basement. He unpacked everything he'd brought from space and told them to divide it as they liked.
At that moment, Samuel arrived, excited to hear about their space adventure—only to be distracted by the impressive collection of cosmic tech laid out before him.
Without a word, he joined in, eagerly helping to sort the haul.
Each of them took what suited their expertise, diving headfirst into their research.
Kai watched the flurry of activity, then turned to Tony. "We're all back safely. That stuff isn't going anywhere. Are you sure you don't want to tell Pepper you're okay?"
Tony froze. Then he slapped his forehead, summoned his suit, and shot into the sky toward the company building.
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