The reason for the changes

A storm of laser bolts swept toward Yondu's ship.

Yondu cried out in alarm, "Activate the shields!"

But the instant the laser bolts touched the hull, an unseen force deflected them, sending them vanishing into the darkness of deep space.

Naturally, Apocalypse had intervened.

After blocking the first wave, Apocalypse extended a hand and gently closed it.

As though a black hole had appeared at the center of the golden swarm, every ship suddenly converged inward, crushed together into one enormous lump of metal.

Apart from the occasional sparks spraying out of it, the lump bore no resemblance to the golden ships it had been just a second earlier.

Yondu swallowed. "What a waste. Ships from the golden race are incredibly rare. I've heard you can't get them on the black market even if you have the money. Every single one costs a fortune."

Watching hundreds of ships destroyed in an instant made Yondu's heart ache.

Apocalypse smiled. "Next time I see them, I'll capture them instead."

The space pirates were delighted and chorused, "Thank you, Mr. Tang!"

They had barely finished speaking when three more swarms of golden ships flew in from different directions.

Clearly, these golden ships had been patrolling separate sectors, sealing off every angle to prevent Star-Lord from escaping from another side of the planet.

Now that they had received word of their companions' destruction, they had rushed over at once.

Yondu was overjoyed.

Normally, whenever the space pirates encountered a swarm of golden race ships, they fled as far as they could.

Now? This was a godsend.

Unfortunately, the three swarms had yet to draw close.

The spindle-shaped metal bodies surrounding Ego's Planet suddenly surged into action. Like three metallic dragons, they swept every golden ship into the defensive layer tens of thousands of kilometers