"Mmph! 'Mmph-mmph! Mmph—' Mmph!"
A muffled sound of protest came from the corner.
Loki squirmed like a fish out of water, trying to attract attention.
Thor looked down at him.
At this moment, the two puncture wounds on Loki's thighs were still oozing blood, making him look rather pathetic.
His heart softened a little.
He walked forward and ripped the gag off Loki's mouth.
"Haa—!" Loki greedily gulped in the air inside the cabin.
"Damn it! That thing had a weird smell; I was about to throw up!"
Then, Thor grabbed the lock on Loki's shackles, exerted force with both hands, and snapped the chains binding him.
Loki rubbed his sore wrists and slumped onto the deck.
"Listen, Loki." Thor looked at him sharply. "From now on, I advise you to behave yourself."
"The best outcome for you right now is to obediently come back to Asgard with me and be locked up."
"Otherwise, I'll leave you in this junkyard to fend for yourself."
"You'd best not make me choose the latter."
Loki glanced out the window of the ship.
He understood very well that the Grandmaster must be dying to melt him down right now.
Staying on Sakaar was definitely a dead end.
Only by escaping with this group would he have the best chance of survival.
"Of course, brother." Loki immediately put on a sincere smile and obediently lowered his gaze. "I completely agree with your suggestion. Returning to Asgard to face the judgment of justice is what I deserve."
After speaking, he staggered to his feet and turned to face Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, and the others.
"Thank you very much for your rescue. I am Loki, of the Asgardian royal family." He bowed slightly. "Believe me, in the coming journey, I can offer you a lot of help."
"Shut up, greasy-hair." Rocket Raccoon didn't buy it at all, pointing his gun at his nose. "Say one more word of nonsense, and I'll put a hole in your third leg."
"Hey, take it easy, rabbit..."
"My name is Rocket!"
"Fine, Rocket." Loki raised his hands in surrender, limped to the cabin wall, leaned against it, and fell silent.
Just then, a roar came from the cockpit from Valkyrie Brunnhilde.
"Boom!"
The ship jolted and tilted violently to the left.
Everyone immediately lost their footing. Under the inertia, Star-Lord stumbled and lunged toward the cockpit.
"What's happening?" Star-Lord steadied himself and looked at the radar screen.
On the screen, a dense mass of red dots was rapidly approaching from behind.
"The Grandmaster's pursuers. Prepare for engagement," Valkyrie Brunnhilde replied calmly.
The ship's tail flames flared, and it cut a sharp turn in the air.
Through the rear porthole, everyone saw dozens of uniquely shaped Sakaar attack craft in hot pursuit.
Energy barrages rained down, grazing past the ship.
"Damn it!" Rocket immediately rushed to the ship's weapons console. "Quill! Starboard is yours!"
"Stop bossing me around, raccoon!" Star-Lord leaped into the starboard gunner's seat. "I've definitely shot down more ships than you!"
"In your dreams, Quill!" Rocket pulled down the control lever. "Ten thousand credits! Bet I take out more than you!"
"Deal!"
The two quickly took their positions.
"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!"
The cannons on both sides of the ship opened fire simultaneously.
Blue energy projectiles tore through the air, heading straight for the pursuers behind them.
Immediately, quite a few attack craft were shot down.
But more attack craft swarmed in from all directions; the Grandmaster was clearly truly enraged.
Under Valkyrie Brunnhilde's piloting, the ship wove and maneuvered between the buildings.
The pursuing enemy aircraft were endless. Some high-speed attack craft were biting onto their tail, getting closer and closer.
Laser rounds wove into a dense web of fire, and the ship's shield alarm screamed frantically.
"Shield energy has dropped to thirty percent!" Valkyrie Brunnhilde roared. "We won't last much longer!"
As soon as she spoke, the ship jolted violently as an energy cannon hit the ship's right wing.
"Right stabilizer is down!" Valkyrie Brunnhilde pulled the control stick with all her might.
The ship's speed plummeted.
In the sky outside, the Grandmaster's pursuit fleet had formed an encirclement.
Hundreds of attack craft hovered in all directions, their cannons all locked onto this crumbling ship.
"It's over." Loki closed his eyes.
Star-Lord left the side cannon, opened his mask, and pulled out his dual blasters. "Guys, get ready for hand-to-hand combat."
Valkyrie Brunnhilde pressed a button.
The hatch at the rear of the ship slowly lowered, and a fierce wind poured into the cabin.
Thor strode to the edge of the hatch, facing the fierce wind, with lightning dancing across his body.
Just at the moment when the Grandmaster's fleet was preparing to concentrate fire.
The sky above suddenly darkened.
It wasn't dark clouds blocking the sun, but the shadow of a colossal object.
Everyone looked up.
They saw a gargantuan interstellar warship appear above Sakaar.
It was like a cosmic behemoth, blotting out the sky.
"What is that?!" Star-Lord's eyes widened.
"Thanos's ship..." Loki's face turned deathly pale.
The wounds from Proxima Midnight's torture were still aching, and if he were to be caught by Thanos again...
Proxima Midnight, who had been in a coma, had awakened at some point.
"Your death has arrived," Proxima Midnight sneered. "Father is here. No one can escape his judgment."
At this moment, the armor of the massive warship slowly opened, revealing dense arrays of heavy cannons.
The next second, destruction descended.
A sky full of energy barrages poured down like a torrential rain!
"Boom-boom-boom-boom—!"
The sounds of explosions were continuous.
This was an indiscriminate carpet bombing.
"Evasive maneuvers! Evasive maneuvers!" Star-Lord shouted.
But the barrage was too dense; there was nowhere to hide.
"Hold on tight!" Valkyrie Brunnhilde roared, slamming the control stick all the way forward.
The ship dove downward at an almost vertical angle, attempting to use the complex terrain to evade the web of death above.
"Bang—!!!"
A heavy energy shell grazed the ship's left wing.
The left engine was totaled on the spot, and billowing black smoke along with flames gushed out.
The ship completely lost its balance and kept spinning in the air.
"Engine failure! We've lost control!"
Valkyrie Brunnhilde struggled to maintain control, but it had little effect, and the out-of-control ship plummeted toward the ground.
"Prepare for impact!" she roared.
"Bang—"
With a loud crash, the ship nose-dived into the ruins.
The immense impact threw everyone in the cabin high into the air before slamming them back down hard.
A moment later, the explosions outside stopped.
"Is everyone... alright?" Thor was the first to stand up and ask loudly.
"Not dead yet," Rocket said, pushing off a metal plate that had been pressing on him and crawling up while grumbling. "But my back feels like it was stepped on by an elephant."
"I am Groot." Groot shook the debris off his body and reached out to pull up Mantis, who was beside him.
Thor kicked open the deformed hatch, and sunlight and smoke poured into the cabin together.
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