Chapter 132: Quill’s Choice

Chapter 132: Chapter 132: Quill’s Choice

Half a day prior.

Inside Daniel’s spaceship.

Quill paced back and forth, stopping from time to time with a deeply furrowed brow. He was locked in a fierce internal struggle.

The massive sum of fifty million credits given by Tivan was currently sitting in his account. That was no small pocket change.

With this kind of money, the vast cosmos was his to explore. He could comfortably enjoy the rest of his days, buy a planet, or even pay to conquer one, setting himself up as a local tyrant and living like a king.

Everything seemed to be right within his arm’s reach. All he had to do was step out of this spaceship, flee to the other side of the universe, and tuck himself away in some obscure corner under a fake name.

Yet, Quill was unwilling. He hadn’t traveled the entire universe yet, nor had he seen enough of its boundless wonders.... he wanted adventure.

Quill was simply not the kind of person who could endure a quiet, lonely life. What he wanted was a brilliant, adventurous, and extraordinary journey, not to hide away on a single planet and merely struggle to survive.

But this was fifty million. Fifty million credits.

Quill’s heart pounded with temptation. Having grown up among the Ravagers since childhood, he had naturally absorbed some of their greed. Faced with such an astronomical fortune, Quill found it almost impossible to walk away.

Yet at the same time, he was terrified of that man, Daniel Danvers.

An absolutely unfathomable individual. That man seemed shrouded in mist and darkness; you could never guess what kind of terrifying methods he had up his sleeve. He was overwhelmingly powerful, a being who stood shoulder to shoulder with the gods themselves.

"If I just run off like this and get caught, the consequences will be absolutely disastrous, won’t they?" Quill muttered to himself.

He had only known Daniel for a few days. If he ran off with the funds, Daniel wouldn’t be like Yondu, who spared him time and time again.

"He’d probably throw me straight into a star." Quill shuddered. Daniel frequently muttered that whoever made him unhappy would be sent to experience the warmth of the sun firsthand.

After spending a few days with Daniel, Quill realized that he was a completely unrestrained, free-spirited man who did whatever he wanted.

Whatever he wanted to do, he did it without hesitation. He never formulated any intricate plans; he simply threw his weight around and charged straight through blindly.

On their way to Knowhere, Daniel had suddenly decided he wanted to see fireworks. He immediately flew out, located an uninhabited planet, and blew it apart with a single punch.

That’s right, a single punch.

Quill had only seen a flash of light before the entire planet violently exploded, completely disintegrating. The "kaboom" sound was merely something Quill had filled in with his own imagination.

On another occasion, they encountered a neutron star with a gravitational pull hundreds of millions of times stronger than Earth’s. Not even a single microbe could survive on its surface. Yet, Daniel had recklessly flown down onto it.

Quill initially thought he was walking straight into certain death, only to see Daniel hopping around actively on the star, completely unaffected. It was as if that astronomical gravitational force didn’t even exist.

There were far too many instances like that. Sometimes when Daniel grew bored inside the spaceship, he would fly into the core of a star to take a nap during his breaks.

When he felt restless, he would stand right on the hull of the spaceship to experience the sensation of passing through a wormhole. He did all of this without a single shred of protective gear.

In fact, if Quill hadn’t desperately held him back, Daniel had even wanted to pilot the spaceship directly into a miniature black hole they discovered.

Over the past few days, Quill had begun to feel that nothing could shock him anymore. Daniel had already given him far too many unbelievable surprises.

"Unless I hide away on a single planet for the rest of my days and never come out, I’ll be tracked down sooner or later," Quill thought to himself silently.

The universe was unimaginably vast, stretching beyond all perception. Yet, to certain individuals, that same universe was no more than a small pond.

"With this much money, could I really retire and live the rest of my life in peace?" Quill wondered.

"No way." He pumped his fist in the air. "Unless I get completely tired of the songs on here, I’m not retiring anytime soon." Quill laughed, patting the Walkman clipped to his waist.

Roaming around the universe meant exposing his trail. Refusing to remain quiet meant he would eventually be found, so weighing the horrific consequences of being caught by Daniel, Quill ultimately decided to wait a bit longer for Daniel to return.

He wasn’t running. What was the point of fleeing when he had such a terrifyingly powerful bodyguard by his side? Besides, he had heard Daniel mention that he would eventually return to Earth. Once Daniel left, wouldn’t he be completely free anyway?

"There’s no point running off with the money if you don’t live long enough to enjoy it."

Quill rested his hands behind his head and abandoned all thoughts of leaving. He lay back down on the sofa, closing his eyes as he continued to listen to his music.

"I want to keep listening to this for the rest of my life... and maybe someday find someone who’ll listen and dance along with me..." Gradually, Quill drifted off into a deep sleep.

...

At the headquarters of the Tivan Group.

Across the massive dining table, Daniel sat at the head, devouring food at incredible speed, his face smeared with sauce and crumbs

"Bring out two more." Daniel called out, tossing aside a massive thigh bone.

He was currently feasting on Vorga meat. The Vorga was a massive, domesticated herbivore known for its thick flesh and gentle temperament. Growing over a dozen meters in length and weighing more than ten tons, it was one of the most widespread sources of meat in the universe.

Tivan had originally prepared the absolute finest and most expensive delicacies for Daniel. However, Daniel had taken a single bite, stopped entirely, and bluntly remarked, "Disgusting."

Even after nearly a hundred dishes were brought out, Daniel remained thoroughly dissatisfied. As Daniel’s expression grew darker by the second, Tivan anxiously wiped the sweat from his brow, wishing he could execute the maids serving the food on the spot.

What on earth were they serving? Couldn’t they see the guest despised it?

Yet, the maids were completely helpless; these were the very dishes Tivan usually loved, each meticulously crafted by renowned chefs. Under normal circumstances, Tivan adored them, but Daniel absolutely detested them.

Finally, under Tivan’s murderous gaze, a maid had no choice but to bring out a Vorga meat that had originally been prepared for the mining slaves.

The moment Tivan saw the Vorga being brought in, he raised his weapon. He was just about to kill it when Daniel took a bite and exclaimed, "Delicious."

Tivan silently lowered his weapon, shooting a look of profound satisfaction at the trembling maid while a massive wave of relief washed over his heart.

...

"What are you waiting for? Go quickly."

Watching Daniel devour an entire beast in just a few minutes, the maid stood there in complete shock. His appetite was unbelievable; the creature had weighed a good six or seven tons. When she heard Tivan’s impatient voice, she finally snapped out of it, quickly bowed, and hurried out of the room.

After devouring two more beasts and finishing over a dozen bottles of Tivan’s finest vintage wine straight from the bottle, Daniel leaned back in satisfaction and said, "Now this is a good meal."

Those words were enough to make the normally proud and arrogant Tivan feel a rare sense of satisfaction.

"I’m glad you enjoyed it," Tivan said with a flattering smile.

"Let’s go. Show me around your territory." Daniel took the lead and walked out.

If he was going to put on an act, he had to see it through completely. Besides, Daniel was genuinely curious. Just as Quill had suspected, the Tivan Group he mentioned earlier really did belong to Tivan.

Daniel wanted to see what the extracted brain tissue looked like and what kind of effects it had on the body. After all, he still had a large family waiting for him back home: his parents, Susan, Tony, T’Challa, and hopefully the old King as well. Deep down, Daniel was a man who cared deeply about his family.

Watching Daniel leave, Tivan initially intended to follow right behind him, but he suddenly stopped. Instead, he walked back to the dining table and, under the maid’s shocked gaze, took a small bite of the remaining Vorga meat.

"Hmm..." Tivan closed his eyes and savored the flavor. "Not bad. In fact, it’s quite good. From now on, every meal must have a serving of Vorga meat."