The skill tree disappeared?!
Kevin was startled when he realized the skill tree was gone.
The skill tree was key to his continued growth, and if it truly disappeared, Kevin didn't know how he would proceed.
Although Kevin had been somewhat prepared for this, as the skill tree's origin was inexplicable, its sudden disappearance would be normal.
But when it actually vanished, Kevin still felt a little down.
However, after a moment of sadness, Kevin realized he might have been mistaken.
All his abilities were still there, and if he focused, he could even sense the power of the God of Mist's Divinity and two other vague skills.
This meant the skill tree hadn't disappeared; it had likely fully integrated into Kevin's body, becoming a part of him.
"If that's the case, then what is this Seed of Skill?"
If the skill tree had completely merged with Kevin, then what was this Seed of Skill that now appeared before him?
Kevin looked towards the Seed of Skill.
He briefly examined it and finally came to a conclusion.
This Seed of Skill must be his gain from returning from the Marvel Universe this time.
Or rather...
It was something extracted from the Hulk's soul.
The Hulk's soul, absorbed by Kevin, had become the Seed of Skill.
And for the seed to grow robustly and become a second skill tree, it would need more souls for nourishment, or be allowed to grow on its own.
"No wonder... they said they were my nourishment..."
Understanding the origin of the Seed of Skill, Kevin felt a bit gloomy.
Although he didn't know who created so many Kevin variants, creating so many was simply to nurture a Seed of Skill.
Kevin found this somewhat unacceptable.
He couldn't accept using so many lives to cultivate something, even if that thing might become very powerful in the future.
Withdrawing his consciousness from the Seed of Skill, Kevin tried to clear his mind.
He remembered being trapped inside an egg before, and the suffocating feeling he experienced while inside was very clear to him.
Now, Kevin didn't feel that suffocation, which proved he had emerged from the egg.
Regardless of the Seed of Skill's situation for now, since he was out of the egg, he needed to figure out where he was before anything else.
Kevin remembered that he had turned into a baby before entering the egg.
Was he still one now?
That would be terrible! He didn't want to live as a baby!
Forcing himself to wake up, Kevin finally opened his eyes.
But as soon as he opened them, he saw Groot, the tree person, in front of him.
Groot was leaning over him, his dark eyes blinking.
Seeing such a large tree-person face as soon as he opened his eyes, Kevin was startled.
He scrambled up from the bed, and upon seeing it was Groot, he shouted loudly:
"Groot!! What are you doing!!!"
"I am Groot? (You know me?)"
"Nonsense!! Of course I know you... Wait a minute... something's not right... why have you grown so big...?"
After getting up from the bed, Kevin felt something was off.
Because he should be standing on the bed, and logically, he should be taller than Groot.
But now, he seemed to be at eye level with Groot...
Not only that, he looked around and noticed that the surrounding objects also appeared larger than he usually saw them.
No, it wasn't that the surrounding objects had grown larger.
Thinking this, Kevin looked down at his hands.
A pair of very small, tender white hands appeared before him. Seeing these hands, Kevin's pupils constricted, and he instantly pulled down his pants to look at his lower body.
He let out a long sigh of relief when he saw that what should be there was still intact.
"Good, good, still here, still here. Looks like it's not a sudden gender-bend transformation."
The white, small hands had scared Kevin quite a bit.
He almost thought he had turned into a girl like the unlucky Cassie, and then he would truly be beyond tears.
But thankfully, it seemed he had only shrunk in size.
Plus, because he was regrowing and hadn't been exposed to the outside world yet, his body was fair and tender, like a newborn baby.
"I am Groot (You are strange)."
"I'm not strange, okay!"
Hearing Groot's words, Kevin instinctively retorted, then realized the person in front of him was Groot, a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy:
...No, wait, why are you here? Where is this?
"I am Groot (This is the Milan)."
"I know this is the Milan! I can smell that damn odor right away. Star-Lord hasn't cleaned, has he!"
"?"
Kevin's familiar tone with Star-Lord made Groot a bit stunned.
Confusion showed in his clear eyes, as if he wondered why Kevin knew him.
After a while, Kevin, finally fully awake, also realized something.
He was silent for a few seconds, then immediately created an ice mirror in front of him.
When he saw the handsome, charming, and somewhat familiar mixed-race little boy in the mirror, Kevin's silence grew longer.
He also understood why Groot didn't recognize him.
In his current state, let alone Groot, even his own mother from the deep sea wouldn't recognize him!
It would be strange if Groot did!
Understanding why Groot was treating him as a stranger, Kevin took a deep breath and softly said to Groot:
"Groot, let me tell you something first. Please don't be scared."
"?"
"I am Kevin."
"???"
"Yes, that's right, don't look so confused. I am Kevin, the glorious member of the Guardians of the Galaxy who saved Xandar with you all! Wait... you guys are the Guardians of the Galaxy I know, right?"
At the end, he remembered that there were so many Guardians of the Galaxy in the Marvel World, and who knew which team this was.
But... since the adult Groot was still alive, then it should be... the team Kevin knew, right?
Probably.
...
Fortunately, Kevin's luck was pretty good.
The team here was indeed the one he knew.
After taking a little time to explain his situation and confirming Kevin was indeed Kevin through passwords and secret codes...
The Guardians of the Galaxy...
Burst into laughter that made Kevin's veins throb on his forehead.
"Hahahahaha!! You... you're Kevin... hahaha! You went from... that big... to... this small... hahaha!! I can't take it... Quill, can you believe he's only three of me tall now! Hahaha!"
Rocket was laughing uncontrollably. He stood on the table, patting Star-Lord's shoulder, and letting out incredibly noisy laughter.
Even Star-Lord couldn't stop laughing. He bent over, laughing, and said to Kevin:
"I'm... I'm sorry, haha... Although I don't really want to laugh... but... but you now... Puhahahaha—!"
Kevin: (▼皿 ▼#)
Watching his two annoying friends laugh non-stop.
Kevin finally couldn't take it anymore. He flicked out magic from his right hand, turning it into ropes, and strung them both up, one by one, also gagging them.
"Laugh, laugh, laugh, I'll let you laugh! You just wait, once I master time magic, I'll turn both of you into children and let you experience what 'cruelty' is!!"
"Forget it, taking care of a few big babies is already enough of a headache for me. If you turn them into children, this Milan will be even more unbearable."
Gamora said, holding the temporarily made clothes that fit Kevin.
Taking the clothes from Gamora's hand and changing into them in front of them, Kevin then looked at her and asked:
"So... what exactly happened? Why did you encounter me?"
"Mmm mmm mmm!!"
"Mmm mmm mmm —!"
Star-Lord and Rocket tried to answer, but Kevin ignored them, only looking at Gamora.
Gamora sighed and explained:
"We had just completed a commission and were about to head back, but halfway, that... escape pod you were in? It suddenly appeared in our flight path, almost destroying the Milan.
"Then this idiot here—" Gamora kicked the suspended Star-Lord, "—said your escape pod looked expensive and must be hiding some treasure."
"So you salvaged me?"
"Yes, and then... we deviated from our course. Now we can't contact anyone, and we can't find any jump points nearby. We're lost."
Gamora said very seriously.
She knew Kevin had a magic that could take him anywhere, which was why she was so earnestly telling Kevin all this.
Through Gamora's description, Kevin also roughly understood the cause and effect of the situation.
To put it simply, after Kevin was ejected by the One Who Remains, turned into a baby, and entered this metal egg, he somehow suddenly appeared in front of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
It seemed Kevin's final attempt to cross had worked, randomly throwing him into a past instance world.
And it just so happened to select the Guardians of the Galaxy's instance.
Then, for some unknown reason, Kevin brought the Guardians of the Galaxy across worlds again.
That's right, the Guardians of the Galaxy were no longer in the Marvel Universe at this moment.
Kevin was absolutely certain.
It was precisely because they had left the Marvel Universe and arrived in another world that they couldn't find the cosmic jump points they should have found.
Those should be unique to the Marvel World.
The Boys world certainly didn't have them.
Did he unintentionally activate his ability after being wrapped inside the egg, or... was there some unexpected event during this process that even he didn't know about?
Kevin pondered, but couldn't find any answers for a long time.
However, he did understand the predicament the Guardians of the Galaxy were currently facing.
The Marvel World didn't have superluminal engines yet, or even luminal engines, at least not in Kevin's knowledge.
They could travel from one planet to another by relying on the ubiquitous jump points in the universe.
Once they lost access to jump points, and if there were no suitable planets nearby, they would surely be stranded and die in space.
If Kevin had stayed inside the egg, this would certainly have been the Guardians of the Galaxy's ultimate fate.
But luckily, Kevin came out.
"It's fine, you guys must have come to my universe, and I'll take you back later."
After figuring out the whole situation, Kevin said to Gamora.
Gamora breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this:
"It's great to hear you say that."
"Mmm mmm mmm!!"
After Gamora and Kevin finished speaking, the two of them were about to go about their respective business.
Star-Lord and Rocket, who were tied up, immediately started shouting when they saw this, their bodies swaying back and forth, propelled by blue magic ropes, making muffled sounds, indicating that there were still people here and not to forget them.
But neither Gamora nor Kevin paid any attention to the two of them.
Gamora was fed up with these two idiots, and Kevin wanted them to learn their lesson and know that he, as the Ocean Lord, was not to be mocked!
Therefore, it wasn't until the next meal that Kevin let them down.
Then, because they didn't learn their lesson, they burst into laughter at Kevin again, and Kevin hung them up once more.
...
"Can't go back? What's going on here...?"
In the Milan's lower common room, Kevin frowned as he looked at the brilliant cosmos outside.
After learning about the Guardians of the Galaxy's predicament, Kevin chatted with them briefly, then thought about sending them back to their original world.
But when Kevin tried to cross, he found that he couldn't go back to the Marvel Universe at all.
Not even the DC Universe.
Even though the skill tree had already integrated with Kevin, and now that it was growing again, completely transforming its power into a part of his body, Kevin could autonomously control the ability to travel between worlds.
But he just couldn't make the crossing.
It was as if some crucial element was missing.
Kevin couldn't figure out what was missing, so he temporarily gave up on the idea of sending the Guardians of the Galaxy back to their original Marvel Universe.
But luckily, at least it was confirmed that this was indeed The Boys Universe.
Although it was unclear which The Boys Universe it was, as long as he knew where he was, Kevin could use teleportation magic to send everyone to Earth.
The Earth of The Boys world.
"After we go back, first confirm if this is a The Boys parallel world, and then go see how the other parallel universes are doing; I hope it's not too bad..."
This time, Kevin's original intention in going to the Marvel Universe was to find a way to solve the crisis of parallel universe collisions.
But before he could get the method, he was sent back by the Leftovers.
This was undoubtedly bad news.
After all, Kevin didn't know how long the parallel worlds in The Boys Universe could last.
For now, he could only take it one step at a time; if all else failed, Kevin could try to preserve only one timeline.
That is, the timeline after Kevin's Crossing.
With his current strength, preserving one timeline should be enough.
But this was the last resort; unless absolutely necessary, Kevin still didn't want to abandon so many parallel worlds.
The lives in those parallel worlds were real; Kevin didn't want those lives that shouldn't have died to be annihilated into nothingness along with the parallel universes because of him.
"First, tell Star-Lord and the others so they can be mentally prepared..."
Kevin got up, ready to explain the situation to Star-Lord and the others, to prevent them from being surprised if they ended up on a different Earth.
But as soon as he got up, he saw Drax, that idiot, standing beside him, staring intently at him.
"...Drax, what do you want?"
Seeing Drax standing there, Kevin's mouth twitched.
After shrinking, perhaps due to the re-fusion of his abilities, his perception was not very sharp, and he hadn't noticed that idiot Drax standing there for half a day.
Drax thought for a moment and said:
"There's something I'm curious about; I want to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Are all the dicks of your race that big?"
???
No, how rude!?
Who just comes up and asks something like that? Drax, is there something wrong with your head!?
Hearing Drax's thoughtless question, Kevin immediately went 'black man asking mark.jpg'.
His mouth twitched, not wanting to answer Drax's question.
He immediately rolled his eyes at the idiot and perfunctorily said:
"Yes, yes, they're all that big."
"Oh."
"No more questions? If not, move aside; I need to talk to Quill."
Kevin pushed Drax aside and walked out.
But Drax's next question almost made him stumble.
"Then can the females of your race handle it?"
...
"Or is it that the females of your race's..."
"Drax! Go cool off in the Water Ball!!"
Seeing Drax's endless questions, and the topic increasingly veering towards something that wouldn't pass censorship, Kevin, exasperated, immediately created a Water Ball to envelop Drax.
He wanted to thoroughly cleanse Drax's empty head!
After briefly punishing Drax, Kevin went to explain the situation to Quill and the others.
Perhaps because of the previous lesson, or perhaps because they had grown accustomed to Kevin's current appearance, Quill and Rocket did not continue to mock him.
After a very serious discussion, Quill asked:
"So, you're saying we can't go back now?"
"That's how it is for now. There might be some issues with the parallel universes. Until those issues are resolved, I'll have to trouble you to stay in my universe."
Kevin said with a slight apology.
If it weren't for him, the Guardians of the Galaxy wouldn't have ended up here and almost been trapped in space.
However, compared to Kevin's apology, Quill was quite open-minded:
"Isn't this great!"
"Huh?"
"I've always wanted to travel to other universes! I mentioned it to you last time, but you weren't willing. Now what, didn't we just come over ourselves?"
...
Kevin thought seriously.
It seemed Star-Lord had indeed mentioned wanting to visit Kevin's world last time, but because of a lack of skill points, Kevin had refused their suggestion.
Mainly, it took three skill points to bring one person, and with so many people in the Guardians of the Galaxy, bringing them all over would practically empty Kevin's pockets.
But unexpectedly, now, by a strange twist of fate, Star-Lord's wish had come true.
"Alright, as long as you don't mind, after all, I don't know when this situation will get better... Oh, by the way, why do I feel like you're missing someone? Where's Mantis?"
Kevin didn't see Mantis here.
She should have been with the Guardians of the Galaxy.
"She went with Kraglin to see Yondu. We originally planned to pick her up after completing the mission, but..."
They inexplicably ended up here.
After the Ego the Living Planet incident, Yondu settled on Xandar, and Kraglin would sometimes go back to visit him.
So when the Guardians of the Galaxy had time, they would also accompany Kraglin back.
This time, Mantis went back with Kraglin, and because of this, these two Guardians of the Galaxy members who joined the team later were not on the Milan.
"Alright, as long as they haven't suddenly disappeared, it's fine."
Kevin asked about Mantis and the others because he was worried they might have gotten separated from Star-Lord.
If Mantis and the others had also come to The Boys Universe, but Kevin didn't know, then by the time Kevin found them again, they would probably have starved to death and become mummified.
Since they were still in the Marvel Universe, Kevin didn't need to worry about them.
After chatting with Star-Lord for a few moments, Kevin stood at the very front of the Milan's cockpit, extending his hands to open a portal to Earth.
"Get ready, we're about to depart."
Although Kevin said to get ready, he didn't even wait for everyone to react before he opened a huge blue portal at the front of the Milan.
The other end of the portal was Earth; the Milan, which was originally floating in space, almost instantly went from one end of the portal to the other.
The azure Earth was right before their eyes. Kevin looked down from above Earth, then opened the portal again, directly sending the Milan onto Earth in one go.
This skipped the step of descending from outside the atmosphere.
Otherwise, it would not only waste time but also be easily discovered by the human military, making explanations difficult.
The landing spot Kevin chose was in a wilderness area.
After landing, Kevin first told Star-Lord and the others to wait there for a moment, while he himself flew to the center of New York City to see if this world was his original world.
And fortunately, as soon as he entered the center of New York City, it wasn't long before he saw his own promotional portrait standing on top of a certain aquarium.
It was still the version without a beard and wearing a suit.
This proved that Kevin hadn't gone to the wrong world, which was a cause for celebration.
Since he hadn't gone to the wrong world, Kevin now had to consider how he would explain his current appearance to Annie, and how he would explain to her that he had lost the engagement ring.
In Kevin's current state, if he went directly to Annie and told her that he was her fiancé or something... he'd probably be kicked out on the spot.
After all, suddenly reverting to a youthful appearance, such a thing would be hard for people to believe if told.
"...I'll go back and think of a solution first."
Kevin decided to go back first, settle Star-Lord and the others, and then figure out how to meet Annie and explain his current situation.
But just as he was about to go back, Kevin detected some familiar auras.
With a stir in his heart, Kevin instinctively followed the familiar auras.
And in a certain place outside New York City, he saw a building that was extremely familiar to him, and one that absolutely should not have been there.
Xavier's School.
No, it should be called Jean Grey School now.
It was the Mutant Academy of the mutant world, and it was precisely the school established after Wolverine became a teacher!
The Mutant Academy from the Wolverine 3 world had also come to this world!