A few days later, at the Blood Lord Fortress.

"I didn't expect you to change so much in just a few years!" Sitting on the fortress balcony hundreds of meters above the ground, Dracula held a glass of wine and sighed to Josh.

Although Dracula didn't say anything when they met at the hotel earlier, with his sharp eyes, he could still tell that Josh had completely changed.

In fact, the moment he saw Josh, Dracula instinctively felt a sense of threat.

How long has it been? This kid has already grown so strong?

"With your great reputation across the universe in such a short time, I'm still far behind!" Josh said with a smile. He didn't try to hide his strength, and it would be useless to do so in front of an old monster like Dracula.

"Haha, you brat, not honest at all! That 'traveling' excuse might fool someone like Mar-Vell, but not me. If I'm right, it won't be long before a new major force rises in the universe!" Dracula shook his head at the compliment and directly exposed the truth.

Having lived nearly a thousand years, Dracula wasn't easy to fool like Mar-Vell.

And being someone who had once caught the attention of the Ancient One and now possessed great power, there was no way Dracula would believe Josh was just a peaceful man staying on Earth.

Josh didn't respond and simply smiled, but that was enough to confirm Dracula's words.

Smart people don't need to spell everything out.

"Hahaha, alright then. I've got a lot to handle in my territory, so I can't keep hosting you here forever!" Seeing Josh remain silent, Dracula didn't mind. After all, their relationship was more like friendly partners and fellow Earthlings than true confidants.

And just as he said, as the Blood Lord with many territories under his control, Dracula was indeed busy every day.

So he couldn't stay in Contraxia to host Josh all the time, and Josh wasn't that important.

Spending two days entertaining Josh was already a big favor.

"Oh right, Sebastian!" After speaking, Dracula didn't leave immediately. He snapped his fingers.

A black mist rose, and when it cleared, a young man in a black tailcoat appeared nearby.

This was Sebastian, Dracula's servant and the butler of the Blood Lord Fortress.

"While I'm gone, Mr. Kahn is the master here. Make sure to take good care of him," Dracula said.

"Yes, my master," Sebastian bowed and replied.

Dracula nodded, then turned into a cloud of blood mist and disappeared.

"Mr. Kahn, if you need anything, please let me know at any time," Sebastian said, bowing to Josh.

"Then I'll trouble you, Mr. Sebastian. Please prepare a spaceship for me. I want to take my wife and friends to explore some nearby star systems," Josh said without holding back.

His reason for coming to this star region was the Power Stone.

He was supposed to set off shortly after settling down, but running into Dracula—though a pleasant surprise—had delayed him for several days. Now, it was finally time to leave.

"As you wish," Sebastian replied, then disappeared in a swirl of black mist, just like when he arrived.

"Heh... a demon..." Josh shook his head as he looked at the spot where Sebastian vanished, then picked up the still-hot cup of coffee in front of him and drank it all in one go.

That's right—Dracula's butler wasn't a vampire like him, but a demon from Hell.

Clearly, Dracula didn't rise to fame as the Blood Lord in just a few short years by only building up his vampire army. There was more to it.

But as long as it didn't pose a threat to Josh, he didn't care.

To be honest, Sebastian was very efficient.

In less than an hour, a luxurious spaceship was ready—an elite export model from planet Monarch, the Rolls-Royce of spaceships.

The people of Monarch were known for their strange taste and style by many civilizations, but no one could deny the top-tier quality of their luxury goods, which made them highly sought after by the wealthy across the universe.

"Sir, are you sure you don't need a pilot?" Standing by the spaceship, Sebastian couldn't help but ask Josh again.

After all, Dracula had told him to take good care of Josh.

Now Josh wanted to pilot the ship himself, which caught Sebastian off guard. These three were humans from Earth like Dracula—could they really fly a spaceship?

"Don't worry, Sebastian. It's no big deal," Josh said with a smile, then boarded the spaceship with Margaret and Carter.

As the spaceship door closed, Sebastian could only helplessly report the situation to Dracula.

At the time, Dracula was aboard a ship heading back to his territory, having only recently left Contraxia.

After hearing Sebastian's report, Dracula couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

He had just left, and now Josh was leaving too.

This kid definitely had secrets. Should he go take a look?

After a few minutes of hesitation, Dracula finally ordered his ship to turn around, ready to find out what Josh was up to.

After all, since Sebastian prepared the spaceship, tracking Josh's destination wouldn't be hard.

He knew doing this might damage the friendly relationship he had with Josh so far...

But Dracula just couldn't resist his curiosity.

…

"Where are we going?" On the spaceship, while Margaret—who already knew Josh's goal—looked calm, Peggy Carter, who had been brought along at the last minute, looked completely confused.

"Of course, we're going treasure hunting!" Josh replied vaguely.

"…Fine, I feel like I'm just the tag-along here. You two decide everything anyway," Carter sighed and slumped into a chair on the spaceship.

After so many years of Josh's mysterious behavior, she no longer had the energy to question him.

She figured she'd find out eventually anyway.

"Josh, what about those rats?" Margaret suddenly asked.

"Heh, just let them follow us," Josh said with a light chuckle.

"What do you mean by that? We're being followed?" Carter couldn't help but interrupt. Damn it, how had she not noticed? Even the ship's scanners showed nothing.

"They were already watching us back at the starport," Josh explained. "After we left, they followed. But they're being careful, staying just outside this ship's detection range."

"Wait—how could they know exactly how far our scanners reach? And still manage to follow us so steadily?" Carter was confused. "Hold on, could it be Sebastian?"

"No," Josh shook his head. "Besides Dracula's own ship, he didn't have any other ships on Contraxia. Sebastian bought this ship from a local company less than an hour before we left. And it has a tracking system. If Sebastian wanted to know our location, he could just track the ship. No need to send people after us."

"So the people following us know this ship's specs very well," Carter concluded, scratching her head.

"Exactly. That's the only explanation."

"So... we can't figure out who they are?" Carter asked.

"Does it matter? Sooner or later, they'll show themselves," Josh said casually.

"But are you sure it's fine? If I'm not mistaken, this is just a passenger ship, even if it's luxurious," Carter was still worried.

After all, she'd never been in a real space battle before.

"Relax. It may be a passenger ship, but it's very safe. And…" Josh gave a mysterious smile.

No matter how many questions Carter asked after that, Josh didn't answer.

Even Margaret stayed silent.

This ship wasn't as fast as the ones in Star Wars, but in the Marvel universe, it was among the fastest. After just three days and four warp jumps, they reached the star system where Morag was located.

"This is our destination? Looks pretty gloomy," Carter muttered, looking at the gray, cloudy planet below.

"Yep. But don't let the look fool you. This place was once home to a brilliant civilization," Josh said while operating the ship.

Even though it was a Monarch ship, its export model supported multiple languages—including Kree. So Josh had already let Frenzy hack the ship and change the controls.

Thanks to that, he could control it easily.

After scanning the planet and comparing the data, Josh quickly located his target and landed the ship.

"Wait… you're not even wearing protective suits?" Carter was stunned as Josh and Margaret casually opened the hatch and walked out.

Seriously? Not only could they use magic and had superpowers—now they didn't even need to breathe clean air?

"Don't worry… the air's just a little dirty. But overall, it's perfectly breathable for Earth-like life," Josh reassured her.

Although Morag had been abandoned after its civilization collapsed, its atmosphere and climate systems were still in good shape.

Even in the movie, both Star-Lord and James Rhodes from Endgame had opened their helmets while on Morag, which proved that the air was breathable.

So, if enough effort was put into restoring and rebuilding, Morag could still become a habitable planet for humans.

But the civilization that once lived here had already used up almost all of its resources. The cost of restoration simply wasn't worth it.

That's why Morag has remained abandoned all this time—if it still had any real value, some outside civilization would've claimed it long ago.

Hearing Josh's explanation, Carter also stepped out of the ship.

Turns out he was right—aside from the slightly murky air, it wasn't hard to breathe at all.

"This place is really stunning," Margaret sighed, looking at the ruins ahead as Josh took the lead.

Even though it was in ruins, it was still clear that this had once been a thriving city.

"So, what destroyed this civilization? Was it an invasion? Doesn't really look like it," Carter said, glancing around.

The place was rundown, but as a trained soldier, she could tell—this didn't look like a battlefield.

"There's no solid evidence, but chances are, it had something to do with a power they used that didn't belong to them," Josh replied as he walked ahead.

Even though the movie never explained how Morag fell, and the Orb containing the Power Stone was still well-protected when Star-Lord arrived, Josh believed its destruction was closely tied to the Power Stone.

"What power?" Carter asked, clearly intrigued.

"...Do you remember the Tesseract?" Josh stopped and looked at her.

"You mean... you think this civilization was destroyed because of the Tesseract?" Carter's face turned serious.

After all, the Tesseract was on Earth.

"No, not the Tesseract—but something similar… I guess there's no point hiding it now. The Tesseract was just a shell. Its core is actually a gem—the Space Stone," Josh said, and then went on to explain the Infinity Stones to her.

Margaret had already heard this story before, but hearing it again still made her marvel at the scale of it all.

The universe really was full of mysteries.

Carter, however, was completely shaken.

She'd always known the Tesseract held immense power and came from a mysterious origin.

But she never imagined that its true nature could be something so terrifying.

And worse—there weren't just one, but six of them.

"…So, what you're here for… is one of those six Infinity Stones?" Carter asked.

"That's right. And not just any of them—it's the most destructive one: the Power Stone… It can easily destroy an entire planet," Josh replied with a nod.

Destroy an entire planet… just like that?

What are you planning to do with something like that?

Carter swallowed hard, and for the first time, looked at Josh with a hint of caution and concern.

--

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