Levi was still drifting through space.
He didn't know how much time had passed. Out here, time had no meaning. The only clock he had was the steady circulation of energy within his body.
At first, there had been irritation.
But it faded quickly.
He had survived the meat grinder of World War II.
He had slept fifty years beneath the ice.
He had clawed his way up from nothing in the strange world of the 1990s.
Compared to those, this was just a bigger cage.
He extended his consciousness outward like an invisible net, searching for the faintest tremor in space.
Most of the universe was smooth. He tried several times to locate weak points. Once, he thought he'd found one—only to realize it was a gravitational ripple left by a supernova. Violent. Short-lived. Useless.
Another time, he brushed the edge of a massive vortex—only to discover it was a rogue black hole. He withdrew instantly. Jumping into that meant no return.
He became more patient.
And finally, just as he began to think he might drift forever—
He felt it.
Not a gravitational ripple.
Not a black hole's pull.
But a faint, rhythmic tremor.
Like a subtle crease beneath an otherwise smooth canvas.
Stable. Persistent. Almost hidden within the cosmic background radiation.
Levi's focus sharpened.
Found it.
He didn't rush in. He spent an entire day circling the region, confirming.
Through [Spatial Awareness], he examined the "texture" of the fold. Thin. Narrow. But stable.
A naturally formed spatial corridor.
His only ticket out.
Where did it lead? Heaven? Hell? He didn't care. Anywhere with air, gravity, and living beings was better than this frozen graveyard.
Golden light flared around him.
[Binary Form] — Activated.
[Adaptive Armor] — High-Energy Impact Mode.
[Spatial Manipulation] — Locking onto fold entrance.
"Let's gamble."
He shot forward like a fired bullet, transforming into a streak of gold and plunging into the invisible fissure.
---
Passing through the fold was ten thousand times worse than a wormhole.
If a wormhole was boiling water, this was a cosmic meat grinder capable of shredding stars.
His body stretched in one instant, flattened in the next. Multicolored light slashed at his consciousness like blades.
Chaotic images flooded his mind—burning galaxies, newborn planets, monstrous entities devouring one another in the void. They flashed too quickly to distinguish reality from illusion.
A being like Thor would have had his soul torn apart here.
But Levi's consciousness was shielded by [Will Barrier]. His body, protected by [Spatial Manipulation] and [Binary Form], was like an icebreaker ship in a storm—battered, trembling, but holding together.
Forward.
That was the only thought.
He didn't know how long he surged ahead.
Just as his energy reserves neared depletion—
A point of light appeared.
An exit.
With the last of his strength, he lunged toward it like a drowning man grasping at driftwood.
---
BOOM.
A golden meteor tore through the blue sky of a planet, trailing blazing fire.
A sonic boom exploded across the atmosphere.
Below, in a futuristic city, aircraft traffic faltered in confusion.
Countless people looked up in shock.
"Is that a meteor?"
"It's slowing down!"
"Oh my God—it's a person!"
Levi plunged through the atmosphere, engulfed in flames.
He adjusted his posture midair. [Adaptive Armor] switched to thermal resistance mode, while [Spatial Curvature Barrier] formed a shock cone ahead of him, dispersing most of the heat and kinetic force.
The flames receded.
Revealing his golden energy-cloaked figure.
He stabilized himself in the sky and looked down at the city.
Not chaos.
Not ruin.
Order. Elegance.
Smooth architectural lines. Aircraft moving in layered traffic lanes with perfect coordination. The entire city looked like a masterpiece.
Peaceful. Prosperous.
He chose what appeared to be a public plaza and descended slowly.
BOOM.
His feet touched down. Despite dispersing most of the force, the high-strength composite ground fractured in spiderweb cracks extending over a dozen meters.
Civilians screamed and scattered.
Alarms wailed across the city.
Within ten seconds—
Three golden, star-shaped gunships arrived from different directions, hovering overhead.
Twelve soldiers in uniform golden armor descended with jetpacks, energy rifles trained on him. Perfect formation. Disciplined.
The commanding officer stepped forward and shouted a warning in a language Levi didn't understand.
The tone was unmistakable.
Caution. Authority.
Levi raised his hands slowly to signal no hostility.
The golden aura still flickering around him didn't help his case.
"Unknown intruder! Disengage energy state and submit to inspection!" the officer repeated.
Language barrier. Annoying.
The officer signaled.
A blue energy net launched from one of the gunships and dropped over Levi.
He didn't dodge.
He wanted to assess their tech level.
The net tightened, crackling.
"Target secured. Energy readings—wait! What is he doing?"
Levi shrugged lightly.
Golden energy surged.
CRACK.
The net tore apart like cheap fishing wire, dissolving into blue particles.
The soldiers froze.
"Open fire! Level Two stun beams!"
Yellow energy bolts shot toward him.
Levi's patience wore thin.
Space distorted slightly before him. The beams bent midair as if passing through water, deflecting harmlessly into the ground, leaving charred craters.
"Enough."
His voice was calm.
He vanished.
Reappearing behind the commanding officer, resting a hand casually on his shoulder.
The officer's entire body went rigid. He couldn't move, as if a mountain pressed down on him.
"Relax," Levi said quietly.
With his other hand, he removed a wrist-mounted device—something like a watch—from the officer and put it on himself.
He tapped through the holographic interface.
Found Settings.
Found Language.
Scrolled.
Selected Universal.
The device emitted a soft mechanical tone.
"Universal language engaged."
Levi released the officer and stepped back, waving the translator slightly.
"Now we can talk. Where am I?"
The officer swallowed hard.
"This… this is Xandar," he answered shakily. "Capital of the Nova Empire."
Xandar.
Nova Empire.
Levi blinked.
That name sounded familiar.
His mind raced, matching it against the Marvel timeline.
One title surfaced:
Guardians of the Galaxy.
Xandar. Headquarters of the Nova Corps. Target of Ronan the Accuser.
And—
The Orb.
The Power Stone.
Levi's eyes sharpened.
He hadn't been thrown somewhere random.
He'd landed at the starting point of another major storyline.
The way home—
Existed.
The Power Stone and the Tesseract were both Infinity Stones. With the resonance between them, he could lock onto Earth's spatial coordinates and tear open a path back.
And if that failed?
He could always find Star-Lord and hitch a ride.
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