"Saturday, can we blast these Kree out of the sky?"
Artoria didn't stay to watch the Guardians of the Galaxy's internal drama and quickly returned to the hyperion. She marked all the enemies on the screen. Looking at the densely packed ships, Artoria asked Saturday with some hesitation. This was no small number. She remembered the hyperion wasn't equipped with that many cannons—only about fifty ports. If the first volley could take out half, they could fire another round while the enemy was distracted, giving them some breathing room.
"No problem, master. I have already locked onto a portion of them. According to my calculations, provided there is sufficient energy, it is entirely feasible. However, this will consume a massive amount of energy."
Saturday spoke with confidence, though she was worried that insufficient energy might make their subsequent escape difficult. Even with over a hundred Arc Reactors installed, consuming so much energy in an instant would be taxing.
"Don't worry! I know what I'm doing. If things really go south, I'll just pull a 'Big Sis Carol' move and go full Captain Marvel."
Reaching into the void with her right hand, the Holy Lance Rhongomyniad appeared in Artoria's grasp. She was prepared to show off if anything unexpected happened. She couldn't help it; her personality was just that arrogant, especially when she had the strength to back it up. She really wanted to make a 'Dio' face to express the surging violent desire in her heart, but unfortunately, that would ruin her image.
"Open all gun ports. Prepare... Fire!"
Following Artoria's command, Saturday quickly executed the orders. One by one, the gun ports hidden on the hyperion's hull opened. After automatic fine-tuning, targeting prompts appeared on the screen. Artoria chose to fire without hesitation. The Kree were no good, and the Skrulls weren't much better—they were only whitewashed in the movies. To humans, neither race was a friend. Thus, Artoria had no intention of showing mercy to the Kree. A race managed by a Living Computer had become cold-blooded to the point of having no self-emotion; they would die for an order from above.
"Boom! Boom!"
Blue beams of light were strikingly bright in the dark Universe. In an instant, dozens of ships were hit, turning into cosmic fireworks. Many outlaws who hadn't escaped yet looked in astonishment at the Kree ships turned into fireballs. Who was it? Who wasn't afraid of Kree retaliation and dared to attack them? It was absolutely insane (and brilliantly done). Many people gave a thumbs-up to the attacker's actions, even though they didn't know who it was.
"Damn it! You actually distracted me to destroy my ships. Cunning wretches, die!"
Ronan, who had already sent Drax flying with a hammer strike, saw this scene and the ships being continuously hit. He looked at Gamora and the others in a rage. He believed Gamora and this group were tricking him—or rather, that Thanos was tricking him. Gamora was Thanos's daughter, and he wanted the Power Stone. But as soon as he met Gamora, he was attacked by her'subordinate' Drax, and now his fleet was under fire. He filled in the blanks himself, believing Thanos didn't want him to have the Power Stone and was trying to eliminate him.
Consequently, his anger and killing intent toward Gamora rose by dozens of percentage points. He raised his hammer to end Gamora's life right then and there. However, Gamora was no pushover. Having survived under Thanos for so long with brutal daily training, Ronan didn't actually have the ability to kill her in a single blow.
"Director, we are under heavy attack. The enemy's fire is too precise."
The pitch-black Kree War Hammer was exceptionally powerful; it was a god-tier individual weapon of the Kree Empire, possessing many special powers, such as gravity control. As the war hammer emitted a faint black light, Gamora instantly felt as if a mountain were pressing down on her. It was incredible; she had never seen a weapon operated like this. Having never seen the Mjolnir, she could only say the Kree War Hammer was the most powerful magical weapon she had ever encountered.
Ronan, who was about to finish off Gamora, heard the report and quickly stepped forward to snatch the Cosmic Orb from her hand. Then, using one of the war hammer's abilities—teleportation—he returned to his ship. He was very wary of whether Thanos was nearby, so he quickly led his fleet away from the area. However, he was mistaken; Thanos wasn't here. There was only Artoria, sniping from stealth.
"Gamora, are you okay?"
Star-Lord, who had been kicked away and lay on the ground for a long time before recovering, hurried forward to check on the collapsed Gamora once Ronan left. Looking at her green face, it was hard to tell if she was in pain, but Star-Lord quickly pulled her into his arms, hoping to make her feel better.
Slap!
A crisp slapping sound rang out, causing Rocket, who had just stood up, to look over curiously. Gamora stood on the ground, rubbing her right hand on her body as if she had touched something dirty. Only Star-Lord, with a red handprint on his face, told the story of what that sound was all about.
"Man, you're something else! You just escaped Death, and you're already planning to pick up girls. Too bad you hit a steel plate, huh!"
Rocket mocked Star-Lord with a happy grin, expressing admiration for his 'brave' actions. This made Star-Lord feel even more wronged, his small eyes full of resentment. He hadn't done anything like that; he just wanted to help, not be a hooligan. He could swear on his Walkman that he absolutely had no crooked thoughts just now. But since it had already happened, explaining would just look like covering up, and covering up would be seen as confirming the truth. He could only remain silent. He felt bitter in his heart, but he didn't dare speak up.
"I am Groot."
The Tree Person pulled Drax out of the yellow liquid pool. Drax's condition wasn't very optimistic; he had been hit squarely in the chest by Ronan's hammer earlier and sent flying. It seemed he was seriously injured, with a dent in his chest. However, this guy's body was special, and the dent soon returned to normal.
"Well! Our big dummy has learned his lesson. Now it's time to go elsewhere to make some money."
Although the Cosmic Orb was gone, weren't their lives still intact? Rocket no longer thought about those billions of Credits. It planned to quit right here, take Groot to visit other Planets, earn some more pocket money, and avoid seeing this group of troublemakers again.
"You also saw what The Collector said. Ronan the Accuser has already obtained the Cosmic Orb. His next step will be to incite war. The time for the Kree to launch a full-scale war is about to begin. Do you think you can stay out of it?"
Gamora didn't immediately step forward to stop him. Instead, she spoke about her predictions of what would happen after Ronan obtained the Infinity Stone. These words made Rocket stop in his tracks. Seeing Rocket stop, Gamora showed a slight smile. She couldn't take back the Infinity Stone alone; she needed more strength.
"I am Groot."
"Fine, I know, I understand. But do we have a plan? Going like this is no different from delivering ourselves on a silver platter. If there isn't a detailed plan or a reason to convince me, I won't take Groot to his Death. Even if the end will eventually come, we can at least live a few more days."
Rocket turned around and spoke seriously to Gamora. Its words indeed pointed out the biggest problem, which made Gamora fall silent. However, Star-Lord, clutching his face, stood before everyone.
"I have a bold idea. Do you all want to join in?"
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