"Shut up, Quill."
Yondu grabbed Quill by the collar and snapped, "You damn little bastard, don't forget I raised you. I stopped the crew from eating you, I taught you how to fight, how to survive, and now you dare disobey my orders?"
Hearing the part about being raised, Quill's face showed a hint of gratitude, but Yondu's next words made him furious again.
"Cut the crap. You talk like you were so kind or something. You really don't know why I turned out like this?"
Quill slapped away Yondu's hand and shouted angrily, "It's because of you, you bastard! You took me from Earth when I was just a kid!
Besides teaching me how to lie, cheat, and steal, what else did you teach me, huh, Yondu? The reason I became like this is all because of you!"
Being cursed out to his face, especially by someone who, though unofficially, was essentially his adoptive son, lit a fire inside Yondu.
He flung open his coat, ready to use the Yaka Arrow to subdue Quill like he always did in the past.
But the moment he whistled, Quill instinctively raised his arms to shield his head, waiting in terror for what was coming—only for nothing to happen after a few seconds.
Looking at the empty arrow holster on Yondu's waist, Quill quickly realized what had happened, and burst out laughing as he backed away toward William.
Stopping about a meter beside William, Quill pointed at Yondu and mocked, "Look at you now! Come on, old man! Try and threaten me again!"
Yondu's expression froze, his gaze shifting to the Yaka Arrow trembling in William's hand.
The metallic fin on top of Yondu's head shimmered, and the Yaka Arrow shook more violently—only to be instantly subdued as William tightened his grip slightly.
And as William felt the energy in the Yaka Arrow, the moment Yondu's head fin lit up, he sensed a wave of willpower trying to enter the arrow from a few meters away.
That made William wonder—could he control the Yaka Arrow with his own mental power?
He tried injecting his spiritual power into the Yaka Arrow, and soon confirmed that there was indeed a stream of will coming from Yondu's head.
Wrapping his mental energy completely around the arrow, William held it for less than a second before Yondu, who was about to argue with Quill, suddenly looked at him like he'd seen a ghost.
Stammering in panic and fear, he said, "You... you... what did you do? Why can't I control the Yaka Arrow?"
"Simple willpower isolation," William smirked, hitting where it hurt. "This little trick is child's play for a mage.
Besides, the energy circuit inside this Yaka Arrow isn't all that complicated. Many powerful elemental spells, and those involving space or mental manipulation, are way more difficult than this."
Quill and Yondu both remembered the Earth intelligence reports they had gathered on William—every one of them confirmed that the young man before them was a true super-genius.
Seeing their faces darken, William chuckled inwardly and raised the Yaka Arrow with a smile. "I thought this little gadget would be some big mystery—turns out it's nothing special."
Then, to their utter shock, he used his mental power to manipulate the Yaka Arrow, making it fly around in the air as if he had fully mastered the secrets of Yaka metal.
Even without the whistle, Quill was left dumbfounded, and Yondu staggered back, plopping down onto the couch, muttering blankly, "How is this possible..."
After playing with the arrow for a few minutes and feeling the act had gone on long enough, William finally guided it back to Yondu's holster.
"Nothing's impossible," he said, pulling a box from his storage space and placing it on the table in front of Yondu. "This contains one thousand advanced self-healing talismans. I need ten kilograms of Yaka metal and all available data on Yaka Arrows. Any problems?"
"N-No," seeing the full box of talismans, Yondu—who had just been crushed in spirit—forced himself to calm down.
He respectfully said, "Give me some time. I'll find a chance to sneak back to Centauri IV. Once I get the Yaka metal, should I deliver it to Earth or here?"
Still needing them for future tasks, William didn't even think about it before replying, "Of course, Earth."
Then he glanced at Quill. "Since Quill's from Earth, he can deliver it directly to my manor in London."
Yondu looked at Quill, who had lit up with excitement the moment he heard that, and could only nod helplessly. "Understood."
"Great." William took ten healing talismans from his storage space and tossed them to Quill. "That's your payment for delivering the materials. Any complaints?"
"N-Nope!" Quill clutched the ten talismans, grinning from ear to ear. "Thank you! Thank you, boss!"
William chuckled and waved. "It's rare to meet another Earthling out here in space—consider it a welcome gift."
A welcome gift? That was two thousand energy crystals—two hundred thousand galactic credits. In all his years following Yondu, Quill had never made that much combined.
To a money-loving guy like Quill, William instantly became a towering figure in his heart.
Feeling lucky, he couldn't help thinking William was way more generous than Yondu. Should he consider switching to this new boss?
But just as he was about to say something, he hesitated—worried William might not think he was good enough.
As for why William was being so generous, it was all about long-term thinking. He couldn't have Quill's first job be finding the Orb.
What if Quill did find it, but then sold it to someone else for a better price?
By being this generous now, William knew that when Quill eventually did find the Orb, his first thought would be to bring it to him for a reward.
Even if he tried to negotiate a high price, he'd still ask William first.
So while Quill worried he wasn't good enough, William had both men sit back on the couch and smiled.
"I like collecting treasures and rare or unusual items with special functions. If you come across anything like that, bring it to me.
As for the price... I don't think you're worried I can't afford it, are you?"
"Of course not, haha!" Yondu and Quill both flattered him. "It won't be long before you're one of the richest people in the galaxy."
"Exactly!" Quill chimed in. "All we hope is that you'll keep paying us with those self-healing talismans."
"Well..." William pretended to hesitate for a few seconds, then shook his head with a smile. "Fine. Consider it a perk for my first group of partners.
And if what you bring me is satisfactory, and after a few good deals, if we get along, I might consider giving you a share of the sales rights.
After all, as a legitimate businessman, dealing directly with certain shady factions would cause too much trouble."
"Really?!"
Yondu and Quill jumped to their feet, thrilled. As Ravagers—space pirates—they didn't care who they dealt with.
According to Ravager code, aside from not harming kids and pregnant women, everything else was fair game as long as there was big money involved—murder, arson, whatever.
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