Marvel: What If Thanos Adopted A Saiyan?-Chapter 128 - 129: A People Enslaved

"What is it?"

The screen that had suddenly gone dark returned to the familiar bust of Woz, and as Lothar dismissed the holographic display with a wave of his hand, he noticed Zora's cheeks had flushed a deep crimson.

Thinking back, she had seemed oddly flustered while watching the footage—her heart racing, face reddening?

"N-No! It's nothing!"

The moment Zora registered his voice, her reply shot up an octave—clearly flustered.

She had never imagined she would one day watch something this... educational, with a guest of such high status.

To her, this moment felt surreal—like a dream.

Who was she?

Nothing more than a slave under the rule of the Cosmic Auction House.

And yet now, by sheer chance, she was here, sitting beside someone of such elevated standing...?

Zora had never dreamed that something so improbable—something only whispered about within their small circle—would happen to her.

Plagued by deep-seated self-doubt, her mind blanked. For a long moment, she didn't even know what to say.

From birth, she had lived in the resource-starved northern hemisphere. When she came of age, her striking figure and innate potential caught the attention of the overseers. Plucked from her barren desert homeland, she was brought to the dazzling capital of Gafa.

That was the first time she'd laid eyes on what others called "civilization."

As a slave.

Zora never knew why she had been branded with the mark of slavery from birth—or why her ancestors had all shared the same fate. All she understood was that to survive, she had to obey those in power.

Back in the desert, she had worked from dawn till dusk with her family, laying the groundwork for Gafa's northern development, all in exchange for a pittance of food—barely enough to stay alive.

In Gafa's capital, with no connections or support, she relied solely on diligence and her remarkable aptitude to rise above the countless other slaves, eventually becoming a trainee in elite guest relations.

While most trainees took at least two and a half years to graduate, she had completed the entire program in just one year and earned her certification.

Even if on her first day she was paired with Lothar, a notoriously difficult client... well, he did look pretty good, didn't he?

Snapping out of her thoughts, Zora stole a sidelong glance at him.

His loose black combat suit couldn't hide the hard lines of his physique. Damp hair still messy from the shower only added to the roguish charm of his cold, handsome face.

"Hey, woman. What are you daydreaming about?"

The sound of Lothar's voice yanked her out of her reverie like a splash of cold water.

"Ah! I—I wasn't! I mean—no!"

She shot to her feet. Her burgundy waves fluttered chaotically around her shoulders. The orange cat napping on her chest nearly lost its balance, scrabbling at her collar until it regained its footing.

"You should go."

Lothar frowned, gesturing toward the door. His curt dismissal doused Zora's flushed enthusiasm like ice water.

"Yes, Mr. Lothar."

Flustered, she gave a brief glance at the yawning orange tabby, startled again by just how humanlike this creature behaved. Then she quickly retreated from Lothar's room.

She still had to prepare the ingredients for his breakfast tomorrow.

Ego... Jennifer... doesn't want to drag him into this...?

Now that the auction house worker was gone, Lothar finally turned his focus back to that earlier scene.

The enigmatic Ego had put him deeply on edge—especially after declaring outright that Lothar wasn't from this universe.

As far as Lothar knew, only one being was aware of that fact—his adoptive father, Thanos.

Lothar shut his eyes. Nearby, the holoscreen still looped the footage of Ego dancing with Jennifer, chatting, disrobing. He racked his brain, trying to extract any clue that might lead to Ego's true identity, but...

Sleep overtook him.

What Lothar didn't know was that, on the opposite side of the Gafa capital, Ego was practically fuming with rage.

The god of the Infinitely Evolved Planet—outwitted by some interdimensional drifter?!

And worse—recorded by a surveillance device?!!

Veins throbbed at Ego's temples, his expression so twisted it startled Jennifer.

"Ego?"

"Ego, what's wrong?!"

"It's nothing. Just... some fool who dared challenge the dignity of a god."

Inhaling deeply, Ego forced himself to calm down, reassuring both himself and the frightened Jennifer.

Letting his beloved become distressed—his failure.

This woman's genes had been chosen after meticulous selection; she possessed perfect compatibility.

"Is this... about the Collector?"

Jennifer, always quick to catch on, immediately thought of the ancient terror who had loomed over their two races for millennia.

"I'm sorry, Ego. I shouldn't have seen you again."

She leaned in and kissed him lightly on the cheek, intending to leave—but Ego caught her wrist in one swift motion, holding her in place.

"The Collector?"

"Just a coward. All he's ever had is longevity." Ego's voice dripped with contempt.

Across eons, he had failed to find true evolutionary purpose. Instead, the so-called Collector simply amassed strange and rare artifacts to amuse himself. If that wasn't pathetic, what was?

"Ego?"

As his words faded, a wave of invisible energy radiated from his body. In an instant, the vast estate bloomed with a sea of crimson flowers.

"I am... a god."

"And with me here—you will never die."

...

At that very moment, in the Gafa Control Center, the planet's ruling monarch jolted awake from a restless sleep.

Something weighed heavily on his chest.

"Why?"

King Gafa clutched his chest, feeling his heart race unnaturally.

It had been a long time since he'd felt like this.

"Sire, the northern slaves are rioting again!"

The AI assistant's alert broke the stillness, easing the king's furrowed brows.

"The same group as before?"

"Yes, my king."

"Persistent little vermin, aren't they?"

King Gafa narrowed his eyes, walking to the window and gazing down upon the glittering nightscape of the capital. freewebnøvel.com

"Triple the guards. This time, I want that old bastard skinned alive."

He let out a cold snort and issued his command.

A people long trained to kneel and obey, and now they dared dream of rebellion?

Freedom and rights for all?

What a cosmic joke.

"As you command, my king."

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