A Mutant Collector Quest

"So, what do you think of this Collection?" she asks, glancing back with a knowing glint in her eye, clearly aware of my gaze.

"It is incredible, Carina," I reply sincerely. "You keep calling it small, but to me, it is massive. So many species, all from different corners of the universe, each one so unique. I have never seen anything remotely like it in my life."

Her teasing expression softens into one of quiet pride. "I am glad you think so," she says, her voice carrying a hint of genuine appreciation. "Next up is the Flora section. It's a bit smaller right now—I have only recently started acquiring specimens for it," she explains, motioning for me to follow her through another metal door.

The door slides open with a faint hiss, revealing a new chamber. This room was smaller, with only four large glass cases and multiple shelves filled with glass containers holding plants.

I walk over to examine them. The larger flora looked as though they could swallow a human whole, while the smaller ones were far prettier—some luminescent, others shifting in hypnotising colours. One plant even seemed familiar, resembling something I had seen in Alfheim.

"So, how did you get teleported here, Luke? You never gave me a clear answer," Carina asks, standing close enough that I could feel her gaze on my face as I examined the flora.

"I have just started learning the Mystic Arts," I say, choosing my words carefully. "Mostly about portals and traveling between dimensions. I passed through a strange place, and that eventually brought me here," I explain, blending truth with fiction.

"Mystic Arts…" she murmurs, her expression clouding. "There was a time when I was interested in such things, but in the end, everything becomes boring and dull," she says, her face growing impassive.

I glance at her with a touch of pity, realizing this was the curse of long-lived beings—boredom.

"That is also why my father kept pushing me to start my own Collection," she continues, her eyes brightening again as they lock with mine. "Do you have a Collection of your own, Luke?"

"Me?" I chuckle, thinking back to both of my lives. In my first life, I had an extensive collection of figurines and waifus from all kinds of media. In my second life, though, I haven't really invested time in such an activity. "No, I sadly never had a hobby of collecting," I say with an apologetic smile.

"Really?" she asks, sounding surprised. "Are you sure?" she asks again, her gaze narrowing slightly.

"Yeah, I am sure," I reply, curious about her reaction.

"Hm… but I feel like you do. Call it intuition," she says with a smirk. "Tell me, Luke, a handsome, strong male like you must have had plenty of… partners back home, right?" she asks with a sultry grin.

I raise an eyebrow, sensing the odd turn in the conversation. Maybe using Pheromone Emission on her wasn't the wisest experiment. I promptly turn that ability off.

"I do have a girlfriend, yes," I reply with a smile, thinking about the beautiful blonde back home. It feels like ages since I have seen her.

"Just one? That can't be right, Luke," Carina says, stepping closer again. "I am sure you have loads of women as your partners. Am I right?" she asks, her lips curling into a naughty smirk.

"… How do you know that?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at her.

"Intuition, Luke," she whispers, her smirk widening.

I surmise that she might have figured it out from how forward I have been with her, despite having a girlfriend.

"I will take your silence as a yes," she says, her fingers tracing my chest through the shirt. "Those women... they are your Collection, aren't they?" she adds, her fingers trailing down towards a dangerous area.

"They are my partners, not part of some collection," I reply, my eyes narrowing as her hand stops at the base of my shirt, just before it reaches the pants.

"Are they really not?" she whispers seductively, leaning closer, her soft breasts pressing against my chest. "If you provide for them, keep them safe, play with them, and occasionally add to their number… doesn't that make them your Collection, Luke? Your Harem Collection," she adds with a chuckle, pulling away and swaying her hips tantalizingly as she walks ahead.

For a moment, her words makes me pause. Do I really have a collection? A Collection of Marvel's hottest women? I shake my head, dispelling the thought. They weren't objects or collectibles—they were living, breathing beings, just like me.

"Come, let me show you the last room in my Collection," Carina calls, already standing outside the room.

I adjust my pants, trying to manage my hard on, that she had stirred. "Was that really just your intuition?" I ask, catching up to her.

"Well, just think of it as special powers of mine," she replies with a coy smile. "Normally, I don't use it, but every now and then, I am... oh so tempted to," she adds, her blue eyes drifting down to my crotch, where the outline of my hard cock is still visible.

Her gaze feels different—more intense—than the other girls, it is almost making me feel a little uncomfortable.

Also I am somewhat certain that she had just used her Cosmic powers to figure those things out about me. The strange thing is, I didn't even notice when she did it!

Still, I am a bit skeptical; Cosmic powers are a fundamental force of this universe, and using them to search for personal details about someone feels like such an extravagant waste.

"Come on, maybe you will find something here that catches your eye," she says, leading me down another corridor. Despite having memorized the routes I have taken, I can't shake the feeling that I would get hopelessly lost in this labyrinth of a spaceship without Carina's guidance.

At the end of the corridor, another metal door slides open as Carina approaches it. Inside is yet another small room, even smaller than the flora section.

"This is my Collection of Artifacts," she announces with pride, her voice carrying a hint of excitement. "Ancient weapons, trinkets, tools, metals, and stones of unknown origin." She steps inside, gesturing to the neatly arranged shelves and pedestals, each displaying small, transparent cases holding their mysterious contents.

"Artifacts are always the hardest to find," she continues, her tone laced with satisfaction. "Most of the time, you are digging through mountains of junk, trying to figure out if you have stumbled upon a treasure or just something pretty to look at. It takes real skill to classify these things."

My eyes wander around the room, drawn to the eclectic mix of items on display. On one pedestal, encased in a pristine, transparent box, lies a gleaming silver dagger. The craftsmanship is exquisite, its blade almost seeming to shimmer with an otherworldly light.

"This is my most prized piece, acquired in the short time since I began collecting," she says, gesturing towards the box. "A dark matter dagger, wielded by a dark elf."

My eyes widen slightly. "Oh? How much are you willing to sell that for?" I ask, intrigued. A dark matter dagger is a rare and powerful weapon, capable of piercing through nearly anything. In the Marvel movies, the Ruler of the Dark Elves himself wielded one.

Carina chuckles softly, her expression rueful. "I wish it were that simple. Unfortunately, this is the one item I can't sell for mere money. To acquire it, you would need to offer me something of equal value in return. It's one of my father's rules for truly rare treasures, and even I have to abide by it."

"Understandable," I nod, recognizing the logic. Bartering has always been the cornerstone of acquiring rarities.

Leaving the dagger behind, I browse the rest of the room. Most items appear to be alien tools—strange and unfamiliar. Even so, any one of them could cause a sensation back on Earth.

A fleeting thought crosses my mind: subduing Carina and looting the place! If I had D.A.I.S.Y. and Focus with me, it would be entirely possible. I could rob not just this room but the whole ship!… Next time, perhaps.

My musings are interrupted when my gaze falls upon a metal box containing a curious object shaped like a bat.

"Is this... a Batarang?" I ask incredulously. It unmistakably resembles the iconic weapon Batman hurls at criminals in DC media. But this is Marvel, not DC. What is it doing here?

I tap the holographic display in front of the bat-shaped metal piece. A robotic female voice responds in a monotonous tone:

"An intricately designed decorative piece crafted from an unknown hybrid metal."

"Where did you find this?" I ask Carina, curiously.

"Oh, that bat-shaped thing? A merchant from the Shi'ar Empire on Knowhere traded it to me," she replies with a casual shrug. "He sold me a bunch of junk today—this included. I nearly took a loss, but at least some of the gems he had were radioactive. Those might come in handy." She adds gesturing towards the far side of the room.

I glance back at the Bat-shaped piece, mulling over the coincidence. Maybe someone simply designed a bat on metal—Bat fanatics could exist anywhere, even in Marvel, after all!

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