"Retreat! Retreat!" Star-Lord issued the evacuation order.
Drax kicked Black Dwarf away and turned to run wildly.
Groot waved his roots to sweep away the pursuers, following closely behind.
Thor also grabbed the listless Loki from the ground and retreated with the others toward the spaceship.
Proxima Midnight saw this, turned her spear, and headed straight for Thor.
She would never allow the lead on the Tesseract to escape.
"Don't forget our goal!" Rocket shouted while running.
Star-Lord understood immediately.
He suddenly stopped in mid-air, turned his gun, and fired wildly at Proxima Midnight, who was preparing to pursue them.
He even mocked her, saying: "Hey! You... Midnight Pole Dancer! Look here!"
"Um... I just wanted to ask, does that long pipe in your hand have a heating function?"
Proxima Midnight was furious; she abandoned Thor and turned her attention to Star-Lord.
She swung her spear rapidly, accurately knocking down the energy blasts fired by Star-Lord.
Just at the moment she was preparing to throw her spear to counterattack.
Mantis, who had been keeping a low profile, found the perfect opportunity.
She exerted force with her legs and climbed onto Proxima Midnight's neck like a nimble cat.
She reached out and quickly pressed down on the top of her head.
"Sleep!" Her forehead antennae glowed faintly.
Proxima Midnight's movements came to an abrupt halt, and her eyelids drooped uncontrollably.
The female warrior, who had been ferocious just a second ago, went limp in the next second and collapsed softly to the ground.
She fell into a deep sleep.
"Nice job, Mantis!"
Rocket shouted in praise, then turned to Thor, who was sprinting over, and yelled: "Bring that woman along too, Thor. She's our spoils of war!"
Thor heard the shout and did not hesitate.
He rushed straight to Proxima Midnight's side and grabbed the collar of her armor.
Then, with Loki in one hand and Proxima Midnight in the other, he exerted force with his legs, leapt into the air, and landed steadily on the spaceship's platform.
"Everyone is on board! Let's go!" Star-Lord landed in the hatch last and urged loudly.
The woman immediately turned and walked toward the cockpit, shoving the joystick forward.
The engines roared, and the exhaust flames erupted.
They instantly broke through the sky above the arena.
The roaring guards and the furious Grandmaster could only watch them leave from afar.
Inside the spaceship.
Thor tossed Loki and Proxima Midnight onto the cabin deck and then strode toward the cockpit.
He saw the woman sitting in the pilot's seat, controlling the ship with one hand while guzzling from a bottle with the other.
Thor grabbed the woman's arm and turned her around.
"You kidnapped me, and now you're saving me. What is your goal?" Thor stared at her and demanded.
The woman impatiently shook off Thor's hand.
Thor's gaze suddenly rested on the tattoo exposed on the inside of her forearm.
He widened his eyes, Thor's face full of surprise.
"That battle mark... you are a Valkyrie."
Valkyrie, the most elite legendary female legion of Asgard.
"I thought all the Valkyries had sacrificed themselves in the war against the enemy."
Thor's tone became complex, carrying a trace of anger and confusion.
"The Valkyries all swore allegiance to the Asgardian royal family. I am the Son of Odin! You knew my identity, so why treat me like this?"
"The Valkyries are all dead! Killed by your sister Hela. Because of Odin's orders."
Brunnhilde glanced at him and said coldly.
"Now, I am just Brunnhilde!"
"Sister? What sister?"
Thor stood frozen in place, his eyes dazed.
"I am the eldest Son of Odin. Are you mistaken? I don't have any sister at all," Thor asked in confusion.
Brunnhilde sneered and took a swig of alcohol.
"Whatever... *hiccup*!" She wiped the corner of her mouth. "I don't want to get involved in your family affairs anymore. Those Asgardian issues have nothing to do with me."
She turned back to continue operating the ship.
"I'm just getting paid to do a job now. These guys hired me to fly the ship. It just so happens that I'm tired of staying on this trash Planet, and I want to go out and look around."
"Don't talk to me about oaths and loyalty; that stuff is bullshit."
After speaking, she ignored Thor.
At this moment, Thor's mind was in chaos.
Sister Hela? Odin's orders?
He realized that he didn't seem to understand his father, Odin, at all.
He also didn't understand the history of Asgard; it clearly hid many secrets.
He suddenly remembered that Homelander, whom Odin had crowned as the God of Mankind, to whom he had even given the Eternal Spear.
Could it be...
A flash of inspiration struck Thor.
Could Hela also be Odin's illegitimate daughter?
Hmm, it's very possible.
Since a Homelander with heaven-defying abilities had already popped up, it didn't seem strange to have another illegitimate sister.
Thinking of this, Thor felt his logic was perfect.
He looked at Brunnhilde, who was drinking alone, and felt the atmosphere was a bit dull.
As the prince of Asgard, he felt it was necessary to ease the relationship with this surviving Valkyrie.
"Um... actually, when I was a child, I once dreamed of becoming a Valkyrie when I grew up."
Thor grinned, trying to use humor to break the deadlock.
"Until later, when I discovered that they were all female."
Brunnhilde didn't even turn her head; she just kept drinking, as if Thor didn't exist.
Well, maybe he wasn't good at telling jokes.
Thor awkwardly rubbed his head and walked out of the cockpit, feeling foolish.
And the moment the cockpit door closed, a laugh rang out softly.
...
Inside the cabin, the Guardians of the Galaxy were surrounding Proxima Midnight, using special shackles to keep her firmly under control.
Star-Lord let out a long sigh of relief: "Finally caught this woman."
Thor walked over, looking at this group of familiar faces.
"Hey! Guys, thanks for coming to save me." Thor thanked them sincerely.
Then, his gaze swept through the crowd and he noticed one person was missing.
"Where is the green-skinned woman?" Thor asked.
Mentioning this name, Star-Lord's eyes dimmed.
"Gamora was kidnapped." Rocket Raccoon jumped onto a crate and answered, "Thanos did it!"
"Thanos? Him again?"
Thor's brows furrowed even tighter; he had heard this name too much recently.
"That's right! That guy whose chin looks like testicles!" Star-Lord's eyes were full of fury.
"We followed his ship to this star sector, but we were pulled into a spatial wormhole and crashed on this Planet."
Rocket continued:
"When we were gathering intelligence on Sakaar, we heard that Thanos's subordinates were also active here."
"We even watched your match. To be honest, it wasn't bad! I won a lot of money."
Rocket patted Thor on the shoulder and laughed: "By the way, that jamming device you used is something I sold to your brother on the black market."
"Hand-crafted, quality guaranteed, honest business."
"So, you caught this woman to deal with Thanos?" Thor kicked the Proxima Midnight at his feet.
"This woman is Thanos's capable subordinate, one of the Black Order." Rocket Raccoon pulled the bolt to chamber a round and snorted coldly. "Our plan is simple... use her to trade for Gamora."
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