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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones. or 500 Collections
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"Even if the Nova Corps cannot control the Power Stone, it doesn't matter. At least they can ensure the safety of the Cosmic Orb, so it won't be snatched away by Ronan or Thanos…"
Somehow, as Gamora spoke these words, Karl's handsome figure unexpectedly appeared in her mind.
Perhaps giving the Cosmic Orb to that man would also be a good choice?
However, this fleeting thought was immediately dismissed by her.
Although the other party was unharmed in the recent explosion, demonstrating powerful strength, this alone was far from enough.
Because in Gamora's heart, the one who could wield the Power Stone must not only possess great strength himself, but also have a massive influence comparable to Thanos.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be long before the Power Stone would still fall into the hands of her adoptive father, Thanos.
No one knew better than her what Thanos wanted to do with these infinity stones.
And after learning about the true terrifying power contained within these infinity stones from The Collector, Gamora became even more certain of her thoughts.
To prevent the tragedy that once occurred on her home planet, Xandar, from being widely enacted across the Universe, and to prevent countless lives from being brutally annihilated, Gamora was determined that the Power Stone would absolutely not fall into Thanos's hands!
"What? Are You kidding us?"
Rocket Raccoon clutched his forehead, reminding her angrily, "You haven't forgotten so quickly that we are currently being hunted by the Nova Corps because we forcibly broke out of Kling Prison, have You?"
"If You ask me, we should just hand this dangerous thing over to Ronan. That way, all the problems caused by it will be solved."
"What are You saying?"
Star-Lord was the first to object, "Are You trying to help that lunatic destroy Xandar, and even the entire Milky Way Galaxy?"
"What's wrong, great Star-Lord, Peter Quill, have You suddenly transformed into a saint who cares about others?"
Rocket Raccoon retorted mercilessly, "But why don't You think about it properly? Has the Milky Way Galaxy ever helped You? Why do You want to save it?"
But to everyone's surprise, Star-Lord said righteously, "Even if it hasn't saved me, it doesn't matter… because I live here. How can I just watch it be destroyed?"
"Peter, listen to me."
Gamora suddenly interjected, advising, "We absolutely cannot let the Cosmic Orb… no, the infinity stone inside it, fall into Ronan's hands. I can't tell You the specific reasons yet, but we must return to your spaceship now and take this Cosmic Orb to Xandar!!"
"Okay, we'll do as You say, or…" Star-Lord glanced at the Cosmic Orb in Gamora's hand, swallowed, and then expressed his true thoughts, "Or we can give it to some 'good Samaritan' who won't arrest us, and make a fortune in the process."
Seeing the expression on Gamora's face gradually grow cold, he quickly and awkwardly explained, "That… I think this is a good way to kill two birds with one stone!"
"No." Gamora shook her head in disappointment, "I can't believe You are so despicable, so shameless, and utterly untrustworthy!"
With that, she strode towards the milano.
But after only a few steps, she stopped again.
Because in the sky opposite, dense Necrocraft were diving towards their direction, clearly Ronan had tracked their whereabouts and pursued them here.
Soon, a Necrocraft landed on the ground, and then Ronan, wielding his hammer-like Universal Weapon, led Nebula and a group of Necro-soldiers out of the ship's cabin first.
"Ah hahaha, excellent, You're finally here."
At this moment, Drax, the Destroyer, who had been blasted to who knows where, suddenly drew two daggers and laughed loudly at Ronan, who was walking towards him:
"The Accuser Ronan, I can finally kill You with my own hands and avenge my family!!"
"You killed my wife, You killed my daughter, it's time we settle this score today!!"
Ronan was instantly bewildered upon hearing this.
Wait, who the hell are You?
I've killed too many people, how would I know who You are?
"Ronan, Gamora and the others seem to have escaped with the Cosmic Orb…"
Nebula pointed at Gamora and the others, who were fleeing through the crowded people towards the spaceship in the distance, and shouted at Ronan.
"Nebula, don't You always want to prove yourself?"
Ronan ordered without looking back, "Then go retrieve the Cosmic Orb and prove with action that your worth far exceeds Gamora's!"
"Leave it to me."
Nebula hastily dropped a sentence and returned to the Necrocraft, then commanded the ship to pursue Gamora and the others in the direction they fled.
During this process, Drax, feeling ignored, charged towards Ronan with his dual blades.
However, the next second he was sent flying back… to be precise, he was punched away by Ronan!
Ronan plunged his Universal Weapon into the ground and walked towards Drax with bare hands, then a battle that could only be described as a one-sided slaughter officially began.
Even with dual blades and the double buffs of vengeance and anger, Drax was still no match for Ronan.
Anyone with eyes could see that Drax and Ronan were not on the same level, whether in terms of strength or combat skills.
He couldn't even inflict the most basic injury on Ronan.
Drax was like a frenzied wild boar, charging at Ronan again and again, and being knocked back again and again, in a continuous, repetitive cycle.
Until Ronan grew tired of such a monotonous and boring fight, he stepped on Drax's chest, who hadn't managed to get up from the ground, and mocked him with disdain:
"I don't remember killing your family, and I probably won't remember killing You here today either…"
Bang—
Before Drax could unleash his impotent rage, Ronan delivered a flying kick, knocking him unconscious and simultaneously kicking him into the pool of yellow liquid opposite.
"Ronan, the item is in hand."
At this moment, Nebula's slightly smug voice suddenly came through the communicator. Ronan waved his hand towards the sky, and a Necrocraft immediately stopped in front of him.
"Let's go."
Ronan boarded the ship and immediately gave the order to retreat.
The dense Necrocraft in the sky immediately gave up pursuing Star-Lord and the others.
Unfortunately, in the previous aerial battle, the spaceship Gamora was on was accidentally blown up by Nebula, and she herself was thrown out of the force field inside Nowhere by the aftershock of the explosion, directly exposed to outer space.
"Quill, give up…"
Rocket Raccoon's slightly low and disheartened voice came from the communicator of Star-Lord's small spacecraft, "Although her body has undergone some modifications, she can only last three to five minutes in space at most."
"And the small work pod aircraft we are currently piloting can only accommodate one person. We can't save her."
"What's more, there isn't much oxygen in these aircraft to begin with. If we continue to stay here, I believe it won't be long before we too will be like her…"
With that, Rocket Raccoon was the first to turn his aircraft around, preparing to fly back into Nowhere.
However, Star-Lord remained in place, staring intently at Gamora, who was slowly dying, suspended in deep space, his heart filled with immense conflict and struggle.
He hesitated whether to risk his life to save this woman, who had a somewhat violent temper and with whom he had not yet had any romantic involvement!
"Damn it, I can't just watch her die in front of me."
Just as Star-Lord finally made up his mind, putting on his Cosmic Helmet and preparing to exit the cabin to rescue Gamora.
A brilliant blue portal suddenly appeared in the deep space beside Gamora, and then an arm reached out from the other end of the portal, pulling the dying Gamora back.
Then, the portal, along with Gamora, disappeared with a "Bo~" from before Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon's eyes.
Σ(⊙▽⊙"a???
WTF?
"Quill, did You see that? It looked like a big blue mouth just swallowed Gamora whole?"
Rocket Raccoon scanned around, his voice trembling slightly, "Damn it, that monster must be invisible, otherwise how could I not detect its presence at all?"
Star-Lord was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted, flying his small spaceship back into Nowhere while informing the bewildered Rocket Raccoon over the communicator.
"Rocket, stop guessing. There's no monster at all. Gamora was probably rescued by the man we saw earlier in the exhibition hall."
"What? How are You sure?" Rocket Raccoon asked, somewhat incredulously.
"Of course, by the color and style of the clothes on that arm… I told You, I like that guy's fashion sense!"
…
And while Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon were heading back, inside the chaotic exhibition hall, Karl casually placed Gamora on the ground, then looked at Taneleer Tivan, who had already gotten up from the ground, and said with a smile:
"How about it, our bet… it seems You lost!"
"It appears so."
Taneleer Tivan glanced around, his face instantly turning extremely grim, "But as You can see, most of my collections seem to have been destroyed in that explosion just now. I'm afraid it will be impossible to confirm whether the genesis ember was also… in a short time."
However, before he could finish speaking, Karl gently interrupted, "If You are worried about that, then there's no need."
As he spoke, with a gentle snap of Karl's fingers, a transparent device the size of a soda can, containing a small pinch of fluorescent green powder the thickness of a baby's thumb, quietly floated before him.
In fact, even before the explosion, Karl had already used his abilities to pinpoint the location of the genesis ember from countless collections.
However, unlike other collections, this canister of genesis ember was not displayed outside, but rather kept in a heavily guarded secret room.
"Alright, I'll admit defeat. Now the genesis ember and Nowhere are all yours."
Facing Karl's playful gaze, Taneleer Tivan seemed to have accepted the fact that he had lost, and spread his hands towards Karl with a rather helpless expression, feigning magnanimity, "Since my collections have all been destroyed, there's no point in me staying here any longer…"
"Honored Earth Guardian, I hope we have a chance to meet again in the future… but when that time comes, I will definitely win a round against You!"
With that, Taneleer Tivan turned around with a feigned swagger, swaying his body and walking unsteadily towards the exhibition hall.
However, as he turned, a cunning and ruthless glint flashed in his eyes, and then his right hand subtly pressed a control mechanism hidden under his fur coat on his left forearm.
Swish swish swish—
Dozens of energy guns and special crossbow bolts made of dark matter suddenly emerged from beneath the ground, unleashing a barrage of rapid fire towards Karl's direction.
Puff puff puff—
Caught off guard, 'Karl' was instantly riddled with holes, his face filled with shock, and blood splattered wantonly from his bullet-ridden body.
"Heh heh heh…"
Taneleer Tivan let out a triumphant laugh, then picked up the genesis ember that had fallen to the ground, looked at 'Karl', who had collapsed into a pool of blood but still had his eyes wide open in death, and said with a sinister smile:
"I'm really sorry, Mr. Karl, although I always tend to keep my promises, but who made the genesis ember so precious?"
He smugly shook the device containing the genesis ember in his hand, then pouted and continued, "This tiny bit is far more expensive than all my other collections combined!"
"And throughout the entire Milky Way Galaxy, there's only this last bit left…"
"If I gave this unparalleled treasure to You, then no matter how much money I spend in the future, I wouldn't be able to find a similar collection to replace it."
"So, this time it's really not my fault… if You have to blame someone, You can only blame Mr. Karl for being too greedy, actually coveting my most valuable collection."
"Also, didn't You do your homework before coming to see me?"
"When it comes to my collections, I can even betray my own brothers!!"
"Heh heh, even if all the other collections are destroyed, as long as the genesis ember is still here, there's absolutely no problem… because this treasure is one of a kind!!"