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In the distant starry sky, a colossal Kree battleship floated.
This was the Dark Aster, the flagship of Ronan the Accuser of the Kree Empire.
Inside the dimly lit command hall, Ronan, clad in the Kree Empire's high-tech battle suit and wielding a war hammer, sat on the central Commander's chair.
Ronan was a pure-blooded Kree, possessing the same blue skin as most of his people; black skin, like Korath's, was a rare trait among the Kree, a result of some unknown genetic mix.
On either side of him stood two figures.
To his left was Gamora, with her healthy complexion, and to his right was Nebula, whose body was almost entirely replaced by mechanical enhancements. Both were daughters of the Mad Titan Thanos, sent to assist Ronan in finding the Cosmic Orb, or rather, to monitor his actions.
In this oppressive silence, a soldier hurried forward and knelt on one knee.
"My Lord Accuser, news just arrived from Morag: the pursuers and his squad have been completely wiped out."
Ronan's fingers tightened around his war hammer. "Where did the Cosmic Orb go?"
The soldier swallowed and replied, "It's gone. According to the last message from the pursuers' ship, they seemed to have discovered a Ravagers' ship, so it's very likely it was stolen by the Ravagers."
"Useless!"
Ronan abruptly stood up, his war hammer striking the ground with a resounding thud.
He didn't care about Korath's life or death; he cared about the Cosmic Orb!
Truth be told, with his current strength, directly confronting and destroying Xandar was indeed unlikely.
It would have been easier in the past; he used to have several battleships of the Dark Aster's caliber, but unfortunately, they were all destroyed by that damned square-faced woman with her absurd iron headbutt, one by one!
That square-faced woman was terrifying beyond belief. At the time, Ronan only dared to mumble threats softly and promptly fled with his remaining, limited forces. This wasn't a retreat; it was a strategic withdrawal!
Because of this, he had no choice but to make a deal with that Mad Titan who swept across the Universe: if he delivered the Orb, Thanos would help him destroy Xandar.
But now, the duck he was about to get was snatched by a squad of interstellar hooligans who appeared out of nowhere!
"Who are those Ravagers!?"
Ronan suppressed the seething rage in his chest, his voice terrifyingly low.
The reporting soldier's voice trembled: "I-I don't know. Our detection and tracking methods have failed. The other party seems to be very familiar with our techniques."
"What about the information on that Ravagers' ship?"
"We did find that, but according to intelligence, this Ravagers' ship itself was also stolen. It seems to have been done by a group called the 'Raiding Ravagers'. It's said these people have robbed dozens of Ravagers' squads, and now the entire Ravagers' community is searching for them."
"???"
What? Ravagers being raided?
Ronan's stern expression involuntarily froze upon hearing this news.
The Universe was vast; indeed, if you lived long enough, you'd see everything.
But he quickly regained his composure and angrily declared, "No matter if they are Ravagers or 'Raiding Ravagers,' they must be found!"
Nebula immediately stepped forward. "Please assign this mission to me. I will find those thieves and bring them back along with the Cosmic Orb."
Just as Ronan was about to nod, Gamora took a step forward.
"Let me go instead. Nebula already messed up her last mission; I'm afraid she can't withstand the blow of another failure."
"I will not fail this time!"
Nebula turned and glared at Gamora, her mechanical eyes almost spitting fire.
Clearly, the two sisters did not get along well.
Gamora was deeply favored by Thanos, almost like a biological daughter, while Nebula, also Thanos's daughter, received treatment even worse than Thanos's Black Order, constantly suffering domestic violence.
If this plot were in a female-oriented novel, she would be the classic template of a beautiful, strong, and tragic heroine.
Well, let's not mention beautiful and strong for now; tragic is certainly true!
"You said that last time too, and ended up losing your left hand for a mechanical prosthesis. How many original parts do you have left to replace?"
"None of your business. My affairs are not for you to meddle with!"
"I'm just worried that if you die, I won't be able to find a humanoid punching bag to practice on anymore."
"Is that so? If you're so capable, let's fight now!"
"Bring it on!"
"Enough!"
Ronan roared, interrupting the sisters' bickering, a look of annoyance on his face.
Ever since Thanos sent these sisters, they bickered at least a dozen times a day and fought several times. He now strongly suspected that Thanos dumped these two sisters on him simply for his own peace and quiet!
"The Cosmic Orb is of utmost importance. Gamora will be responsible for tracking down the Cosmic Orb and bringing it back!"
Having inexplicably provoked a powerful interstellar force, Darian and Quill were not flustered at all.
Darian's personality dictated that, for him, nothing in this World was worth panicking over, except for mission failure.
Quill was quite flustered at first, but then he thought that panicking was useless. Besides, he was currently dirt poor, and the Cosmic Orb would instantly fetch a large sum of Universe credits. Thinking this, he instantly stopped panicking.
He was more concerned with practical matters than distant threats.
Quill leaned closer to Darian, rubbing his hands conspiratorially. "Countryman, after we hand the Cosmic Orb to the broker, how should we split the reward?"
"Fifty-fifty."
Darian said casually.
After all, having plundered so many Ravagers' teams before, he was now flush with resources and didn't care for this small sum.
Quill's face lit up. "That's great! But first, let's agree, who gets which five?"
Darian: "..."
Why did this guy seem to be getting more and more idiotic?
As they were talking, Quill's communicator rang. It was his adoptive father, Yondu.
He hung up without a second thought.
As a rebellious runaway, he refused to communicate with his adoptive father.
Of course, the main reason was his fear that Yondu would find out about what he did on Vanaheim and give him an earful.
Darian casually opened the interstellar bounty board and immediately chuckled. "Quill, your bounty has increased. It's now 40,000 Universe credits. The bounty hunter is still Yondu. How about this: I tie you up and send you over to collect the reward, then we figure out a way to get you out later, and we split the bounty evenly?"
Quill's eyes lit up. "We can do that?"
He had absolutely no psychological burden when it came to scamming Yondu out of money!
The two chatted as they headed towards their next destination.
This time they were going to Xandar, the Planet Ronan had painstakingly plotted to destroy.
Xandar was the capital of the Nova Empire. As a seasoned interstellar power capable of rivaling the Kree Empire, the Nova Empire's strength was not to be underestimated.
Its Nova Corps was particularly renowned, acting as interstellar Police. It was said that once the Nova Corps assembled, its power would be incredibly immense.
Darian was quite familiar with this statement.
The Green Lantern Corps from DC Comics next door also said the same thing, but they ended up being wiped out every time they appeared.
After more than a dozen space jumps, their ship finally arrived at Xandar.
Looking out the viewport, the entire Planet was enveloped in a faint golden energy field. The surface was covered with various peculiar buildings, and countless spacecraft shuttled along orderly flight paths.
"This is the good thing about the Nova Empire: they open their doors to everyone. As long as you're not a Kree, they even welcome Ravagers. Of course, the prerequisite is that you must abide by their rules."
Quill skillfully entered the immigration application.
Although the Nova Corps' security system was strict, it processed tens of thousands of immigration applications every day and usually didn't scrutinize visitors who weren't carrying weapons of mass destruction too closely.
The spaceship slowly passed through the golden energy field, creating ripples.
As they descended, they could see various colorful aliens walking on the streets—red, blue, green, yellow, pink—even richer in color than a rainbow.
Quill parked the ship at the Nova Empire's designated third spaceport berth, and he and Darian walked down the gangway, one after the other.
"Countryman, remember not to start anything casually, or we'll be arrested by the Nova Corps," Quill reminded him.
Darian waved his hand. "Don't worry, I always follow the rules and never do anything illegal."
Quill: (￢_￢)
We're currently carrying illegally obtained items. How can you say that with a straight face?
Led by Quill, who knew his way around, the two turned into an inconspicuous alley and found a strange, hemispherical shop.
The metal door slid open silently, revealing a broker sitting inside, manipulating a holographic screen.
Quill walked up boldly. "Broker, we've brought the Cosmic Orb."
The broker glanced at Darian, surprised. "Who is he? Where's Yondu?"
Quill blurted out, "This is our new member. As for Yondu, he has other matters to attend to, so I came in his place."
Fortunately, the broker only frowned and didn't ask further.
In his line of work, he only needed to handle the exchange of tasks; knowing too much often shortened one's life.
Darian took out the Cosmic Orb and handed it over. The moment the exchange was complete, the system's voice sounded.
"[Mission 'Cosmic Orb' settlement complete]"
"[Reward received: 2000 experience points, equipment 'Triple-Barrel Hand Cannon', item 'Graduate Student Pill']"
"[Equipment: Triple-Barrel Hand Cannon (A triple-barrel grenade launcher worn on the hand. The anti-tank grenades it fires adhere to vehicles upon impact)]"
"[Item: Graduate Student Pill (Allows you to be promoted to a graduate student)]"
The hand cannon seemed quite practical, but what in the World was this Graduate Student Pill?
Darian's mouth twitched slightly, and he decided to throw this thing into his storage space to gather dust, along with the large band-aid from before.
While he was checking his rewards, Quill was talking up a storm with the broker, and in an unguarded moment, he let slip about Ronan.
They themselves weren't afraid of Ronan, but that didn't mean others weren't.
The broker's face turned green upon hearing Ronan's name. His hands trembled as if he had Parkinson's, and he shakily shoved the newly acquired Cosmic Orb back into Darian's arms.
"I can't do this business. You two, quickly take your stuff and leave!"
"Hey, how can you go back on a deal we agreed upon?" Quill said, displeased.
The broker's attitude was firm: "I didn't know you guys messed with that lunatic Ronan. I don't want to provoke that Kree. Get out of here, quickly!"
"You mean, you can't afford to provoke Ronan, but you can afford to provoke us, is that it?"
Darian narrowed his eyes and decisively pulled out his Golden Desert Eagle, aiming it at the broker's head.
The broker swallowed.
Where did this ruthless person come from, pulling out a gun at the slightest disagreement?
Facing the 'reason' in Darian's hand, the broker's voice weakened by a third. "If Ronan finds out, he'll kill me."
Darian smiled kindly. "You don't have to wait for Ronan; I can kill you right now."
The broker wanted to cry but had no tears. Either way, he was dead!
Quill stepped in at the right moment to mediate. "We're not unreasonable people, but you can't just make us come all this way for nothing, can you? We risked our lives to get this Cosmic Orb."
Indeed, they risked their lives. Quill almost overate and died from barbecue on Morag that day.
The broker looked at the gun still pressed against his forehead and gritted his teeth. "I can personally compensate you 100,000 Universe credits."
Darian was displeased. "You said the reward was over a million, and now you want to send us off with 100,000? Are you treating us like beggars?"
As he spoke, he made a motion as if to pull the trigger.
The broker's legs went weak, and he almost knelt down. "400,000! That's really all I can give! I genuinely can't get any more!"
"Alright, remember to pay in cash."
Seeing the broker on the verge of collapse, Darian didn't press him further.
The broker, as if granted a great pardon, scrambled to the safe, his hands trembling so much he almost entered the wrong code. He frantically pulled out all the cash inside, just wanting to quickly send these two plagues away.
Quill scratched his head.
We said we wouldn't break the law, so how did it inexplicably turn into a robbery again?
After getting the cash, Darian casually put the Cosmic Orb back in his pocket, and he and Quill left the shop, finding a secluded spot to divide the loot. Divide the money.
After splitting the money, Quill rubbed his hands and spoke a little awkwardly, "Um, countryman, since this mission is over, shouldn't the magic you cast on me be lifted?"
"I lied to you; I actually didn't cast any magic on you," Darian chuckled.
To his surprise, Quill shook his head and said firmly, "Don't lie to me. You definitely cast magic on me. I checked again on the way here, and the magic effect is still there."
"Uh..."
Darian's expression was strange. "Is there a possibility that it's simply a problem with your own body?"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Quill laughed and waved his hand in denial.
Reality was too cruel; he instinctively denied this fact.
He firmly believed that Darian had cast magic on him and urged Darian to quickly help him lift the magic.
But Darian couldn't help him; the blue pill had already been given to another Peter, so he was truly powerless.
Darian ignored the idiotic Quill, turned to open the map, and activated the map of Xandar.
And just then, a green figure suddenly appeared before him.
"She-She-Hulk?"