"Want to know the answer to that question? Simple. Just call Karl over and ask him."
Natasha spoke up directly. Whether it was really the Karl they knew, they would find out the mont he showed up.
With that, Natasha imdiately called the office.
At the sa ti, Karl was lounging comfortably with his head resting on Skye's lap while she fed him pieces of fruit.
Wanda sat nearby with one long leg crossed over the other, Moguri curled up in her arms. The three of them were so bored they were practically growing mold. Out of the four of them, only Gwen had a proper job, spending her days doing research at Stark Industries' biological laboratory.
"So bored~~ How about…"
Karl reached out with wandering hands toward Skye's ample chest, only for Skye to shove a chunk of mango into his mouth, nearly choking him.
"Don't even think about it. Tonight."
Skye rejected him rcilessly. Full stomachs always led to dirty thoughts, and Karl was no exception.
Right as the two were ssing around, Karl's phone rang. It was Natasha.
"Yeeaah~~"
Karl lazily answered, placing the phone on Skye's thigh and turning on speakerphone.
"Karl, co to the base imdiately. Soone's here looking for you."
Natasha's voice was calm and steady.
"Who is it? Why do I have to go all the way to the base? It's so far away~~"
Karl clearly didn't feel like moving. Avengers Base was in DC while he was in New York. Not impossibly far, but definitely not close enough to justify getting up. Staying ho with Skye and Wanda was much better.
"They ca from another planet. They said they're looking for Karl. I assu that ans you?"
Natasha replied.
Karl froze for a mont, then imdiately thought of Quill and the others. They were basically the only aliens he knew.
"Quill and the others ca to Earth? Why are they at Avengers Base?"
Karl quickly asked.
"So you really do know them? They're here at the base right now. Co over."
Natasha said. Everyone around her had heard Karl's reaction, confirming that the Karl Quill ntioned was indeed the sa Karl they knew.
"Alright~~ I'm coming."
Karl replied lazily before hanging up.
Then he kissed Skye's thigh before finally sitting up.
"You two wanna co to Avengers Base with ? I'll introduce you to so friends."
"Friends? Those aliens Natasha ntioned?"
Skye and Wanda had both heard the conversation and were now curious about the so-called extraterrestrials.
"Yep. One of them's from Earth. The others are aliens."
Karl nodded. Technically, Quill was only half an Earthling, since he was the child of a human and a living planet, but close enough.
"Can we co? I wanna see aliens too."
Skye imdiately perked up. The only aliens she'd t before were the Chitauri, Thor, Loki, and Malekith. Even though they had visited Xandar before, that was still only one planet among countless extraterrestrial civilizations.
"Sure. Good chance to introduce everyone."
Karl agreed without hesitation.
The group imdiately traveled through the Chocobo Space and arrived at the base, where they t Quill and the others.
"Hey~~ Karl! Long ti no see!!"
Quill enthusiastically hugged Karl. Beside him, Drax did the sa. The massive brute's thought process was bizarre, but he was genuinely warm toward friends.
As for Groot, he still said the exact sa sentence as always. Karl could understand the emotion behind it, though he still had no clue what it actually ant.
After everyone was introduced, Gamora was imdiately dragged off by the overly friendly trio of Gwen, Skye, and Natasha, who started chatting with her about who-knows-what.
"Karl, actually, we ca to Earth because we need your help."
Quill finally explained their purpose.
"Help? You guys run into trouble?"
The one who spoke was Tony.
That's right—after spotting Quill's ship via satellite earlier, Tony had rushed over the mont it landed at the base, arriving almost at the sa ti as Karl.
"Not exactly. We just picked up a huge job, and the few of us probably can't handle it alone. So we wanted you to co along. Of course, we'll split the paynt with you."
Quill said. This mission was big enough that even after giving Karl a cut, they'd still make a fortune.
"What kind of currency do aliens use? Don't tell it's still dollars."
Tony asked curiously. As one of Arica's top capitalists, he was highly sensitive to anything involving money.
"Of course not. Our currency system's pretty simple—Credits. The Galactic Federation uses unified personal credit accounts as paynt. Makes managent easier, and it's convenient for tracking criminals too."
Quill pulled out a device similar to a smartphone. With a tap, a string of numbers appeared on the screen.
No physical cash at all—just digits.
"Huh. So aliens aren't all that impressive either. I thought your money would be sothing high-tech."
Tony instantly lost interest. Turns out aliens also used digital currency. Nothing innovative there.
Though, to be fair, credits really were the simplest and most efficient system for interstellar trade—easy transactions, no physical money laundering, and ideal for tracking.
"So? Karl, this mission pays this much."
Quill gestured with his fingers.
Karl imdiately understood.
This really was a huge contract.
"What's the mission exactly?"
Seeing Karl interested, Quill imdiately activated a holographic projection displaying the mission details.
Sovereign Planet.
Eliminate an invasive parasite.
The mission itself sounded simple, but the na "Sovereign" imdiately caught Karl's attention.
Wasn't that the golden people planet from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2? The place where Adam Warlock would eventually be born?
"Looks like Guardians 2 is starting…"
Karl thought to himself.
Though the tiline had clearly changed a little. During the battle with Ronan, Groot hadn't sacrificed himself this ti, so he was still in his towering tree form instead of becoming Baby Groot.
[Ding~]
Suddenly, a familiar notification rang out in Karl's mind.
His expression instantly sharpened.
The long-awaited system mission had finally arrived.
[Ding~ Mission triggered.]
[Quill's Return to His Roots]
[Mission Objective: Help Quill successfully escape Ego's control.]
[Mission Reward: The Final Summon Beast — Dark Summon Beast, Odin~]
"??"
Karl ntally typed two giant question marks.
"System… what do you an by 'final summon beast'? Did you eat Leviathan or sothing?"
[Ding~ Host, Leviathan is not among the Eight Summon Beasts in this category~]
The explanation sohow explained absolutely nothing.
Karl was completely baffled.
What did it an "not among the summon beasts"?
Did DLC content suddenly stop counting as part of the ga?
That was Leviathan they were talking about!
The Water Demon Beast whose size was second only to Titan, whose destructive ferocity surpassed even Ifrit's.
And the system just casually erased it with one sentence?!
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