For the moment, Harry did not really have anything pressing to do back on Earth. After thinking it over, he decided it might be more interesting to travel through space with Rocket and Groot for a while.
So he gave a slight nod and said, "Sure. I'll be in your care for the next little while. Do you two have any plans?"
Rocket immediately pulled up a holographic projection and shoved it toward Harry. "Harry, look at this. The Ravager Yondu put out a bounty on Star-Lord. If we can catch him, that's a huge payday!
"When we split it up, we'll be set for a long time!"
Groot looked excited too and clearly approved of Rocket's plan.
"I'm Groot!"
Harry did not lack money, of course, but he was still interested in tagging along. Space travel itself was a completely new experience for him.
Most of the time, he either went straight to his destination by portal or traveled under the guidance of the Sorcerer Supreme. He had rarely actually ridden in a spaceship.
Before long, the ship took off again. During the flight, Rocket carefully inspected every part of it, worried that the earlier collision might have caused hidden damage.
After checking everything over, he finally let out a sigh of relief. The ship was completely fine. Even the fuel reserve was exactly the same as before.
That only confirmed Rocket's earlier suspicion.
Harry really had reversed time and repaired the ship through sheer force of power.
Rocket had heard of powerful figures out in the cosmos before, a mad Titan, Ronan the Accuser, and monsters like that...
But he had never heard of anyone reversing time through their own power alone.
That was basically the authority of a god.
At that thought, Rocket grew seriously tempted. Should he ask Harry to help him get rid of the High Evolutionary's bounty?
If it was Harry, maybe it really could be done.
Time passed quickly, and a week later their ship docked at the starport on Xandar.
After paying the docking fee, the three of them got out, with Rocket grumbling the entire way.
"Oh, those greedy Xandarians are unbelievable. Just a little while ago the docking fee was only eight hundred units, and today it's already up to a thousand!
"And that's just for one day! I really hope we find that idiot Star-Lord soon, or I'm going bankrupt!"
The three of them searched the docks ship by ship, but after making the rounds, they still had not found the one they were looking for.
Rocket clenched the tablet in his paw and snapped irritably, "Damn it. Is that guy still not here? Why can't I find his ship?"
Rocket's original plan had been simple, find Star-Lord's ship, wait for him there, and grab him. For now, it looked like that was not going to work.
Seeing that Rocket and Groot were both getting tired, Harry suggested, "Maybe we should wait him out. We could go into the city and rest for a bit first. It's easier to get things done when you're not exhausted, right?"
Rocket looked awkward immediately. His furry little face scrunched together in embarrassment.
"Sorry, Harry, but I'm really out of money. Even if we go into a shop, we'd probably be stuck drinking free tap water."
Harry gave a casual smile, pulled up his account balance, showed it to Rocket, and patted his own chest.
"Relax. I'm buying."
The instant Rocket saw that long string of zeroes in Harry's account, his entire expression changed. He hurried over, grabbed Harry's leg, and said in a syrupy voice, "My dearest friend, Harry Potter, please feel free to command me as you see fit!"
The three of them headed to a hotel first, had a good meal, and then went to get massages.
Xandar really was an exceptionally inclusive planet. The restaurants had food suited to the tastes of nearly every known species, and even the massage parlors had attendants that fit just about every species' beauty standards.
When they finally walked out of the massage shop, all three of them looked refreshed. Rocket stroked the fur on his belly and sighed happily.
"Now this is the kind of life I'm meant to be living. Harry, you need more employees? Because I want in."
"Of course," Harry said at once.
Over the past several days, Harry had realized that Rocket was a scientist on par with Tony in many ways. If he could sign a contract with him, the benefits would be enormous.
But before the two of them could get that far, Groot suddenly pointed ahead and shouted, "I'm Groot!"
Because of the last incident, Rocket did not dare ignore him this time. He looked over immediately.
Then he saw the target he had been longing to find, chatting with an alien woman.
Rocket ground his teeth together, his whole body practically vibrating with excitement.
"That bastard made us wait this long. Come on, forget waiting for him to go back to his ship, let's grab him right now!"
"I'm Groot!"
The moment Rocket finished speaking, the two of them rushed forward.
Harry could only shrug helplessly and follow after them.
In the distance, Star-Lord had just been brushed off by an information broker and was about to mutter a few choice insults when the corner of his eye caught sight of a beautiful woman nearby.
He instantly straightened up and tried to look elegant, even casually whistling as if he had not a care in the world.
Good God, she was gorgeous.
The moment he saw her, Star-Lord felt like he was about to fall in love.
And just as he was working up the courage to go flirt with her, he discovered, to his delight, that the green-skinned beauty had spoken to him first.
"What happened?"
"That guy stood me up. I hate people like that, no class at all. Peter Quill, better known as Star-Lord, pleased to meet you."
Gamora finished off the alien fruit in her hand and gave him a deliberately alluring look.
"Then you must be a man of impeccable taste?"
As the conversation continued, Star-Lord became more and more convinced that the gorgeous woman in front of him was interested in him. For once, he actually seemed a little bashful.
"Well... I wouldn't say that myself. But other people do tell me that all the time.
"I'm a very low-key guy, though. Never flashy..."
What Star-Lord failed to notice was that, during the course of the conversation, Gamora had quietly moved closer and closer to him.
The instant she saw an opening, she snatched the Orb from his hand, drove a kick straight into his groin, and bolted.
Clutching himself in agony, Star-Lord staggered upright and reacted fast, pulling an energy lasso from his pocket and activating it before hurling it after her.
The lasso wrapped around Gamora's legs and tripped her to the ground. Star-Lord rushed over immediately, and the two of them started fighting hand to hand.
But the moment he engaged, Star-Lord realized in shock that his skills were nowhere near enough to beat this green-skinned woman.
Just as he was being overwhelmed and was on the verge of being stabbed to death by her dagger, a raccoon suddenly barreled in from the side and slammed into her.
Watching a raccoon and a tree-being fight a green-skinned assassin would have been fascinating under normal circumstances, but Star-Lord had no interest in staying to watch.
He only wanted to get the hell out of there.
But just as he turned to make his escape, he found a man with a faint lightning-shaped scar on his forehead standing directly in his path, smiling at him.
Star-Lord stopped hard, raising both hands into a defensive posture as the blaster at his waist slipped neatly into his palm.
He gave Harry a wary once-over and forced a fake smile onto his face.
"Listen, pal, I don't know where you came from, but this is not the time to play hero and block the road. Move, or I start shooting."
The smile never left Harry's face. He tilted his head slightly and studied Star-Lord with amused interest, clearly unconcerned by the threat.
Arms folded across his chest, he glanced at the gun in Star-Lord's hand and said at an unhurried pace, "You don't need to be so tense. I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to catch you and hand you over to your old man. He's very worried about you.
"And by the way, there's no need to point that thing at me. It won't do you any good."
Naturally, Star-Lord did not believe him. He drew the blaster fully and leveled it at Harry.
"I don't buy that for a second. This blaster works just fine. Move now, or I fire."
Harry let out a helpless breath, pulled out his wand, and pointed it back at Star-Lord with a smile.
"Relax. You won't do that."
Star-Lord grinned crookedly. "Yeah? I'm not so sure about that."
He was just about to pull the trigger when his face suddenly changed.
No matter how hard he tried, he could not make his finger move.
The trigger, which was normally ultra-responsive, now felt as if it had been welded in place. He could not press it even the slightest bit.
He looked up at Harry in terror.
"Oh, come on, what did you do?"
Harry replied calmly, "I told you, you won't do that. That wasn't a threat. It was a statement of fact."
With those words, Harry had altered the rule itself.
Of course, Star-Lord had no idea what had just happened, nor did he understand that he had just been affected by a power on an absurdly high level.
So he still had the courage to resist.
He drew his second blaster and tried pulling that trigger instead, but it did no good.
Just like the first one, the trigger would not move at all.
Harry watched Star-Lord's pathetic little routine for a moment, then chuckled and produced an energy chain that wrapped itself around him, binding him and lifting him into the air so he floated along beside him.
Then Harry noticed the small sphere Star-Lord had been holding and took it from him.
Inside that sphere, he could sense a limitless energy remarkably similar to an Infinity Stone.
Curious, he asked, "Hey, where exactly did you get this thing?"
But obviously, Star-Lord had no intention of answering.
At that moment, Rocket finally broke away from Gamora and rushed over. The instant he saw Star-Lord tied up, he lit up with delight.
"Yes! Walking money! Harry, let's go, let's go! For this mission, you should take the biggest cut!"
But just as the three of them were preparing to head back to the ship and hand Star-Lord over to the Ravager Yondu, Rocket and Groot were suddenly struck by beams of light and lifted into the air.
Looking again, they saw that several drones had appeared at some point and were projecting golden energy beams, forming a cage of light around them and holding them suspended.
Rocket instantly panicked and shouted, "Oh, hell, who are you people, and why are you attacking us?!"
Then he noticed Harry standing nearby. He was caught in the same golden beams, yet somehow completely unaffected.
Staring at him, Rocket blurted out, "Wait, Harry, why are you okay?!"
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