Arthur quickly found what he wanted.
It was a metal cylindrical device that he had once seen in the hands of the blue fat guy, Jeff.
The device could project a virtual screen from its side, similar to a personal computer, but with more functions.
The one Arthur had, however, only contained a map.
When opened, the map only showed interstellar jump points.
The time required to jump from here to Earth was even longer than Arthur had imagined… it would take at least six months of continuous travel!
Arthur wanted to curse when he saw this. No wonder Yondu thought that only by cooperating with them would he be able to get enough 'fare' to return home!
But Arthur quickly hid his emotions, and no one could see his expression beneath the mask.
After discussing some details of their future cooperation with Yondu, he was taken to a resting area.
It was Star-Lord who led Arthur to the resting pod.
On the way, Star-Lord remained silent. Only when they reached the door of the resting pod did he turn to Arthur and ask, "You're from Earth?"
Arthur thought for a moment and did not answer, but as he was about to close the door of the pod, Star-Lord rushed in ahead of him.
"I said, you're from Earth?"
Star-Lord looked at Arthur with a serious expression on his face.
Feeling helpless, Arthur nodded. "And?"
"And what?" Star-Lord looked confused. "No, I mean, are you really from Earth?"
"You've repeated that three times now. Do you think my ears don't work?" Arthur said helplessly, "I am indeed from Earth.
So what?"
"In my impression, Earthlings don't look quite like you."
Star-Lord looked at Arthur's mask in confusion. "Or has there been a new evolutionary project for Earthlings in the last twenty years?"
"It seems that space travel has altered your perceptions of things," Arthur said, removing his mask. "Can't you tell it's a mask?"
"Who would have thought? It looks like it grew right on your face!"
Having said that, Star-Lord waved his hand and added, "But none of that matters. What matters is that if you're from Earth, I must warn you not to think of Yondu as a good guy. You see, I was taken from Earth by him. We're both from the same place!"
"You're from Earth, too?"
Arthur made an effort to look shocked as he heard that.
"Why do you seem so unfazed?"
Star-Lord looked at him in confusion. "Don't you believe me?"
"Believe me, I'm shocked too!" Arthur said with a almost blank expression on his face.
"Well, I don't know if it's evolution or what, but Earthlings seem to have no expressions these days," Star-Lord said, speeding up his speech. "Anyway, what I'm trying to tell you is don't trust Yondu. He's not a good guy. You know that? I was only eight years old when I was taken! Eight years old, you know?"
"I know what eight years old means… You don't have to keep repeating it." Arthur said helplessly.
"Anyway, they even tried to eat me!" Star-Lord continued, "Well, mate, I always had a plan."
"A plan to return to Earth?"
"No, no, no… That place has all my sad memories. I don't plan on going back. But we can escape from Yondu's side!"
Star-Lord looked out the door and said, "I was planning on doing this on my own, but hey, buddy! You showed up! As a fellow Earthling, you're practically my natural ally! If you're willing, we could totally team up and wreak havoc across the universe! You know, working with Yondu is nothing compared to working with me. At least I won't screw you over! If we work together, we'll be rich in no time, and when you want to go home, I can even help you choose the fastest spaceship!"
"And then?"
Arthur blinked.
"Why do I get the feeling that you're not very interested, except for asking 'and then'?"
Star-Lord looked at Arthur curiously. "Hey, listen… Yondu has a mission to explore a primitive planet and find something. The time is in a week. That's our chance. Once we leave this ship, there's a jump point nearby that we can use to escape. Yondu won't be able to catch us."
"How long have you been planning this?"
"Three hours!"
Star-Lord's face was full of excitement as he spoke of this.
Arthur was stunned. Even though he had anticipated something, he didn't expect this guy to be such a goofball!
Then he suddenly thought of something and said: "You don't… want to run away from home every few days, do you?"
"This isn't home at all! I'm just Yondu's cargo, cargo!"
Star-Lord said, "Even though he taught me how to shoot, he also taught me how to steal. He raised me, but only because I'm useful. If one day I became useless, he wouldn't hesitate to kill me. You know what I mean? Kill me!"
No… he wouldn't!
Arthur sighed slightly but did not reject Star-Lord's suggestion. In fact, it was exactly what he wanted.
Arthur was unsure of Yondu's attitude toward outsiders, but becoming the leader of such a motley crew was definitely not a sign of benevolence.
Working with him was like asking a tiger for its skin.
But cooperating with this old fox and getting tricked was a normal thing!
Arthur wasn't like Star-Lord, who had been raised by him. Arthur was just a stranger who had recently arrived in the universe from Earth and didn't understand the world around him at all!
He didn't even know the current world prices, so how could he expect Yondu to be fair to him?
This silly guy, on the other hand, was more reassuring.
So when Yondu proposed the cooperation plan, Arthur had already sketched out an interesting plan in his mind.
He would encourage Star-Lord to run away from home!
After all, they were both Earthlings. Even if there had been a conflict in the beginning, they were still compatriots.
By agreeing to Yondu's cooperation plan, Arthur could seamlessly become a member of the Raiders.
At that point, he could chat with Star-Lord from time to time and encourage him to run away from home!
Arthur didn't expect that even before he started his actions, Star-Lord had already brought it up.
Although it was a bit strange that Star-Lord so easily shared his plan to escape with a stranger like himself and intended to "go along with it," considering their shared origin and the fact that Star-Lord, despite being a goofball, had superhero attributes and wanted to help a fellow countryman stranded in a foreign land, it made sense.
Lastly, Star-Lord had seen his abilities.
Cooperation would only benefit him and not harm him.
Whether it was a twist of fate or a happy accident, Arthur's arrival was perfectly timed, just before Star-Lord's plan to run away and after he had already formulated his escape plan.
The timing was just right!
"Alright, we'll cooperate!"
After pretending to think for a while, Arthur nodded and agreed.