"Phew..."
Quill lowered his hand, and the light around him slowly faded.
"Hey, guys, looks like I did it."
"Quill..." Gamora stepped forward and asked with concern, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Quill clenched his fist, feeling the power surging through him. "I feel... better than ever."
But on the distant battlefield in space,
the situation had taken a sudden turn for the worse.
Earth was only one of the countless planets Ego had seeded.
At that very moment, across every corner of the universe,
blue Celestial Flowers bloomed almost simultaneously on countless planets, barren and thriving alike.
Earth's supply had been cut off, but even more planets were being drained of their life force. It was converted into pure Celestial Power and sent through the Hyperspatial Network in an endless stream to Ego's main body.
Rumble—!!
The light on the surface of Ego's Planet suddenly surged, growing tenfold.
The particle beam locked in a standoff with Homelander doubled in width!
As countless viewers on Earth watched in terror,
the terrifying blue torrent drove the red torrent back with overwhelming force and bore down on Homelander.
The light of destruction closed inexorably in on Homelander's face.
Everyone watching held their breath.
It wasn't just the viewers. Homelander himself felt the shadow of death.
For the first time since arriving in this world, he felt a threat to his life so clearly.
"That damned old bastard... fighting dirty, are you?!"
Fear turned to rage. The humiliation of being overpowered made Homelander's fury erupt like a volcano.
He was Homelander, the God of Humanity. Was he really going to fall here?!
"You think you can beat me?!"
"Dream on!!!"
"System! Raise the stakes!!"
"Burn rate... ten times higher! Twenty million!!"
``` Command confirmed! Popularity Points burn rate adjusted to: 20 million