There was a saying: "Though the tiger dies, its might remains."
The severed head of an ancient god faintly radiated supreme majesty.
Hayato observed Star-Lord and the others and found that, aside from their instinctive aversion to the corpse, they did not seem to sense that majesty.
"Is something wrong?"
Gamora was the best at reading people. She noticed that something was off with Hayato's expression, though she was not particularly worried. She asked out of habit.
"Nothing. It's just a corpse."
Hayato quickly figured it out.
No matter how powerful a god had once been, it was dead now. Could it still leap out and bite someone? The Collector had made its head his lair. Aside from his collecting obsession, he probably also intended to use the ancient god's aura to intimidate certain people.
It was not that those who were too weak, like Star-Lord, ignored the ancient god's pressure. They simply could not sense it. Only those who had reached a certain level of strength could feel it.
Through this, the Collector was sending a message: "You have entered my territory."
If they had wandered in by mistake, they could give him face and take a detour.
If not, if they had come specifically to visit, then they had better think carefully.
The ancient god's remains had indeed spared the Collector quite a few troubles.
As for why the ancient god had died?
Who knew?
Even someone as powerful as the Living Tribunal could die. Then anyone could die.
But intimidation was sometimes merely intimidation. Hayato did not care. He was a tiger too—how could he fear the lingering scent of a dead tiger?
The Milano approached the head-planet, with Rocket now at the controls.
"I found a dedicated spaceport. Should we dock, or keep flying forward?"
Rocket