Chapter 391: Angry Thanos
Deep within the Universe, the Black Order Flagship II hovered silently in a dead-silent Nebula.
This warship, several kilometers long, was Thanos's mobile throne, its black hull covered in the scars left by war.
Cannon marks, impact dents, and scorch marks from energy weapons, every single trace being an epitaph of a conquered Planet.
At this moment, the atmosphere inside the warship was heavier than usual, the air feeling as though it had been compressed into a solid, pressing down so hard that every member of the Black Order could barely breathe.
Thanos sat upon the throne.
He wore no armor, dressed only in a simple robe alternating between gold and blue.
His massive purple body leaned against the cold metal seat, his left hand cupping his chin, and his right hand resting on the armrest.
His head was slightly lowered, as if he had fallen into some deep contemplation.
But those eyes were open, wide open, and the flickering points of light on the holographic screen were reflected in his pupils.
Each point of light represented an Infinity Stone.
Six stones, six powers, six keys to changing the fate of the Universe.
Over the past decades, he had traversed every known and unknown galaxy.
He had thumbed through countless ancient texts, interrogated countless scholars, and massacred countless lives, solely to find their locations.
The Space Stone was once on Earth and is now mastered by Loren Morgan.
The Mind Stone was once on Earth and is now mastered by Loren Morgan.
The Reality Stone was once on Earth and is now mastered by Loren Morgan.
The Time Stone was once on Earth and is now mastered by Loren Morgan.
The Power Stone was on Xandar, but according to the latest intelligence—
Thanos's mouth twitched slightly, to think it had actually been stolen by a petty thief.
The Soul Stone had an unknown location, but he already had clues.
Among the points of light on the holographic screen, five were red.
Not red stones, but red warning markers.
Indicating that those stones had already been locked onto by the exact same name: Loren Morgan.
Thanos's chin left the hand supporting it.
His head lifted, his amber eyes shifting away from the holographic screen and turning toward the Black Ordermembers standing before the steps below the throne.
Ebony Maw, the leader of his generals, his tall and thin body wrapped in black robes, his pale face devoid of any expression, his slender fingers crossed in front of him.
Proxima Midnight stood beside him, her blue skin shimmering with a cold light in the dim illumination.
Her spear was slung behind her back, her eyes burning with a combat intent that was almost ravenous.
Black Dwarf squatted at the very back like a mountain of flesh, arms crossed over his chest, breathing as heavily as an old engine.
Supergiant and Corvus Glaive were temporarily absent, having been dispatched to the other side of the Milky Way Galaxy to execute a mission.
"Master, you—" Ebony Maw spoke, his voice as smooth as silk and as cold as ice.
"Loren Morgan." Thanos interrupted him, his voice low like distant thunder.
"This name has never appeared in my plans.
An unknown Planet, an unknown human, an unknown entity.
Within a single year, he collected four Infinity Stones—four! And I, having spent decades, have not obtained even a single one."
Ebony Maw fell silent.
He knew Thanos needed no comfort, no explanation, and no emotional support of any kind.
Thanos was merely stating a fact, and Ebony Maw's job was to listen.
"I once thought the biggest obstacle was the Avengers."
Thanos continued speaking, his tone remaining that low, slow cadence, as if chewing on every single word.
"I once thought those fools who called themselves Guardians of the Universe were the ones requiring my personal action.
I once thought the only variables were Odin and the Ancient One.
Those remnants of the old era, ancient and self-satisfied, refusing to let go of their power and knowledge."
He stood up.
His massive body rose from the throne, casting a shadow that covered more than half of the bridge.
Proxima Midnight involuntarily took half a step back, driven not just by fear, but by instinct.
Even for her, the moment Thanos stood up, she felt that awe born from biological instinct toward a higher-tier predator.
"But Odin is dead. The Ancient One is dead. Those remnants of the old era have vanished one after another."
Thanos walked down the steps, every step causing the metal floor to emit a dull vibration.
"I thought the obstacles had been cleared and the path paved.
And then a human named Loren Morgan appeared, plucking away four Infinity Stones as easily as picking fruit."
He stopped in front of the holographic screen, reaching out a hand, his fingers passing through those red points of light.
"He is unworthy," Thanos said, his voice finally harboring a hint of fluctuation—that was anger.
Not a burning, out-of-control anger, but an anger frozen at absolute zero, far more dangerous than any flame.
"He is unworthy of possessing those stones; he has not experienced what I have experienced.
He has not sacrificed what I have sacrificed, has not endured what I have endured. He is merely a thief."
Ebony Maw took a small step forward.
"Master, according to intelligence, Loren Morgan's power is indeed formidable; he defeated Loki, defeated the invading fleet of the Skrulls, and even—"
"And even what?"
"Even rumors say that his subordinates alone possess Godfather-level strength."
Thanos turned around, his amber eyes looking at Ebony Maw.
"Godfather-level," he repeated the word, as if tasting its flavor.
"Odin was Godfather-level, and he is dead. The Ancient One was also Godfather-level, and she is dead.
Godfather-level is not an immortal title, Ebony Maw; it is merely a label.
And labels can be torn off."
He walked back before the throne, but did not sit down.
He stood there, his hands clasped behind his back, turning his back to his subordinates and facing the massive observation window at the front of the bridge.
Outside the window was the endless starry sky, billions of stars burning in the darkness like countless eyes watching this lonely warship.
"The Power Stone is still in the Universe, not yet taken away by Loren Morgan," Thanos said.
Ebony Maw's eyes lit up slightly.
"According to the latest intelligence, the Power Stone is currently in the hands of an Earthling named Peter Quill.
He calls himself 'Star-Lord', leading a mercenary group named 'Guardians of the Galaxy', and they stole the Power Stone from Xandar."
"Not stolen. After I destroyed the Nova Corps of Xandar, they took advantage of the chaos to pick up that stone from the ruins.
I originally planned to retrieve it after dealing with matters on Earth, but now that order needs to be swapped."
He turned around, facing Ebony Maw and Proxima Midnight.
"Find them, intercept them, retrieve the Power Stone, at all costs."
Proxima Midnight stepped forward, her right hand gripping the spear behind her back.
"Master, if the Guardians of the Galaxy resist—"
"Kill them, and then bring Gamora back alive!"
Chapter 392: Pursuit from the Black Order
Proxima Midnight's blue lips pressed together slightly.
She knew who Gamora was, Thanos's adopted daughter, former assassin, and now traitor.
She didn't understand why Thanos still wanted to spare her life, but she wouldn't ask; Thanos's orders didn't need explanation, only execution.
"Yes, Master," she said.
Thanos sat back down on his throne.
He looked at those red light dots on the holographic screen, something burning in his amber eyes.
Not anger, not hatred, but a kind of will.
An absolute will that could not be shaken by any difficulty, any setback, or the presence of any enemy.
"Loren Morgan, I will come find you myself. By then, you will know what true power is."
He said in a low voice, so soft that only he could hear it.
* * * * * *
In the vast space, the benatar spaceship flew rapidly through the starry sky.
This ship was Peter Quill's most precious possession, no, his only possession.
It wasn't big, you could even say it was crude, but it was fast, fast enough to escape from any pursuit.
Over the past year, Quill had piloted it to escape from the ruins of Xandar.
Squeezing out of the Raiders' encirclement, sneaking away right under the noses of the Kree patrol.
Every time, the benatar had managed to do it.
But this time, Quill had no confidence in his heart.
Because this time the one chasing him wasn't the Raiders, wasn't the Kree, but Thanos.
"How much farther?" Quill asked, his fingers dancing rapidly across the navigation panel, setting the jump coordinates.
"Four hours left until Knowhere," Gamora's voice came from behind, cold and precise, carrying that unique, unquestionable sense of certainty of hers.
"If we don't get caught in the next hour."
"We won't get caught," Quill said, but there was no confidence in his tone.
"Drax, go to the back and watch the engine, Rocket, check the weapon system, Groot, don't touch that button!!!"
But Groot had already pressed it.
An alarm sounded, the lights inside the spaceship flickered twice, then returned to normal.
Groot, a two-meter-tall humanoid sapling, stood in front of the console, still maintaining the posture of pressing the button, looking at Quill with innocent black eyes.
"I am Groot," he said, his tone sounding like he was defending himself.
"I said 'don't touch that button', not 'please press that button'!" Quill shouted frantically.
"I am Groot."
"No, 'don't touch' and 'touch' do not mean the same thing!"
"Quiet!" Drax's voice came from behind, "You are wasting energy, arguing won't make the spaceship go faster."
Rocket walked out of the engine room, his blue fur stained with engine oil, holding an energy rifle larger than his body in his paws.
His eyes were round, but definitely not cute, staring fixedly at the data on the navigation screen.
"We've got trouble," Rocket said, his voice sharp, carrying that unique emotion of his halfway between anger and anxiety.
"There are three jump signals behind us, less than two astronomical units away from us. Not merchant ships, not patrols, they are warships, Thanos's warships."
The control room fell silent.
Quill's hand stopped on the navigation panel.
Gamora's face became even harder, like a piece of leather air-dried for many years.
Drax walked out from behind, stood in the center of the control room, his two large hands clenching into fists.
Mantis sat in the chair in the corner, her antennae trembling slightly under the light, she perceived the fear permeating the air.
Groot said "I am Groot", his voice very small, as if asking a question.
"Yes," Rocket answered him, "This time it's real."
Quill took a deep breath, turned around, and faced everyone on the ship.
His face lacked its usual cynicism, lacking that silly smile used to hide his unease.
He looked like a true Captain, a Captain who knew that his ship and crew might never be able to go back.
"The Power Stone is in our hands," Quill said, his voice much lower than usual.
"Thanos wants it, he won't let us leave alive.
But we have four hours, four hours to Knowhere.
When we get there, we can hide the stone, or give it to The Collector, or...
In short, once we get there, there will be a way.
So, I need this ship to fly faster than ever in the next four hours.
Can you do it?"
Rocket grinned, not a happy smile, but a crazy smile that only appeared in desperate situations.
"Can," he said, "but the engine might explode."
"Then let it explode four hours later."
Rocket turned and rushed back into the engine room, his paws making clicking sounds on the floor.
Groot followed behind, his footsteps heavy.
Drax walked to the turret position at the stern of the ship, both hands gripping the control levers of the energy cannon.
Mantis closed her eyes, the vibration frequency of her antennae becoming lower, trying to calm her emotions.
Gamora walked to Quill's side.
"We might not make it to Knowhere," she said, her voice so low only Quill could hear.
"I know," Quill said.
"Do you know what Thanos will do to me?"
Quill turned his head and looked at Gamora.
Her face was very close to his, her green skin looking very soft under the console's light.
In her black eyes was something he rarely saw, not fear, not sadness, but a calm that was almost like a farewell.
"He won't do anything to you, I won't let him touch you," Quill said.
Gamora looked at him, her lips moving slightly as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately saying nothing.
She reached out, pressed gently on the back of Quill's hand, and then turned and walked toward another turret at the stern.
Quill looked at her back, something tightening in his heart.
He turned his head back to face the navigation screen, his fingers beginning to set the next jump coordinates.
"Come on, Thanos, let you taste Star-Lord's power," he whispered.
When the first warship of the Black Order appeared behind the benatar, Rocket was making final adjustments in the engine room.
"They're here!" Quill shouted in the control room.
Both hands gripped the control stick, and under his manipulation, the spaceship tilted sharply to the left, changing its course at almost a ninety-degree angle.
The benatar's engines emitted a sharp howling sound, trailing a long blue ribbon of light from the exhaust.
An energy beam shot from behind, grazing the right shield of the spaceship.
The shield generator let out a wail, and the energy reading instantly dropped by fifteen percent.
"The shields won't last long, their cannons are stronger than our shields!" Rocket's voice came through the communicator, shrill and harsh.
"Then don't let them hit us!" Quill roared.
Chapter 393: Thanos has arrived!!!
He pushed the joystick all the way forward, and the benatar darted forward like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
But the warships behind were even faster—not one, but three.
Three black, cone-shaped warships, their surfaces covered in energy turrets, approached the benatar in a triangular formation.
Their speed was faster than the benatar, their firepower stronger than the benatar, and their numbers were three to one.
Quill activated the ship's weapon system.
Two laser cannons extended from the sides of the benatar, automatically locking onto the nearest enemy warship.
Quill pressed the launch button, and two beams of light shot toward the enemy ship's left engine.
The enemy ship's shields lit up, blocking the laser beams, and the energy burst into a cluster of blue sparks on the surface of the shield.
"Useless!" Rocket shouted, "Their shields are stronger than our guns!"
"Then what do you want me to do? Go down there and fight them in hand-to-hand combat?"
"Maybe that's a good idea!"
The turret at the stern opened fire.
Drax operated the main cannon, every energy bolt precisely shooting toward the exact same location on the same enemy ship—the external node of the shield generator.
His patience and precision paid off at this moment; the third energy bolt hit the node, and the enemy ship's shield flickered before a small piece of it vanished.
"Hit!" Drax shouted.
"Keep going!" Quill shouted while maneuvering the ship to dodge the artillery fire.
Gamora was also firing, operating another turret targeting the leftmost enemy ship.
Her shooting style was calmer and more calculated than Drax's, with the interval between each energy bolt being completely identical.
Every bolt fell precisely next to the previous impact point, like a painter drawing patterns on a canvas.
Holes began to appear in the shields of the two enemy ships.
But the third enemy ship, the largest one, had already circled around to the front of the benatar.
Quill's pupils contracted.
At the bow of the flagship, a massive energy cannon was charging.
The energy glow at the muzzle changed from blue to white, and from white to a blinding, scorching white that made it impossible to look directly at.
Something seemed to vibrate in the air—not sound, because there is no sound in space.
But Quill's body felt that vibration; it was the disturbance to space itself when the energy density reached a certain threshold.
"Hold on, everyone!" Quill roared.
The flagship opened fire.
A column of energy as thick as the ship's diameter shot out from the muzzle, heading straight for the benatar.
In the last second, Quill pulled the joystick all the way to the right while activating all emergency thrusters.
The benatar ejected sideways like a football that had been kicked, the energy column grazing the ship's rear shield.
The shield completely collapsed at that instant, its energy readings dropping to zero.
The benatar tumbled in space.
Quill tightly gripped the joystick, trying to steady the ship.
All the warning lights on the console were flashing, and alarms sounded one after another like a frantic orchestra.
Gamora was thrown off the turret, slamming against the edge of the console, a split opening on her forehead as green blood streamed down her face.
Drax was thrown up against the ceiling and then crashed onto the floor, letting out a muffled groan.
Mantis was thrown out of her chair, curling up in the corner with her antennae trembling continuously.
Groot used his branch-like arms to grab the console's pillar, steadying his body.
Rocket rolled out of the engine room, slamming into the wall, cursing a string of words that Quill couldn't understand but definitely weren't nice.
"Shields are gone!" Rocket climbed up from the ground, his blue fur covered in engine oil and dust.
"The engines are overloaded by three hundred percent! One more attack and we'll be space junk!"
Quill did not respond.
His eyes stared fixedly at the main screen ahead; the three enemy ships had already adjusted their formation, surrounding the benatar in the center.
The flagship's bow main cannon began charging again; this time, the shieldless benatar had no possibility of survival.
"I am Groot," Groot said, his voice very soft.
"Yeah," Quill said, his voice hoarse, "we're done for."
The flagship's muzzle lit up.
And then—
The muzzle went out.
It wasn't extinguished; it stopped.
The charging process stopped, the white light at the muzzle dissipated, and the main cannon quietly pointed into the void as if someone had unplugged its power source.
Quill was stunned.
On the flagship's hull, a hatch opened.
A column of light shot out from the hatch, projecting a bright passage in space and sucking their ship in.
Not long after, a figure appeared in front of their ship, walking step by step toward the benatar.
That figure was huge, at least two-and-a-half meters tall, with purple skin, golden armor, and wearing a massive gem-encrusted golden gauntlet on his left hand.
The gauntlet was currently empty, but its very existence was a threat.
There was no expression on his face, and his amber eyes shone in the dark like two lanterns.
His gaze pierced through the benatar's armor, through all obstacles, and landed directly on Gamora.
The newcomer was none other than Thanos.
He walked up to the benatar's hatch, extended his huge left hand, and inserted his five fingers like five steel pillars into the cracks of the hatch.
Then he pulled hard, and the sound of metal tearing echoed inside the hull.
The hatch was ripped open.
Thanos stood at the torn hatchway, his massive body blocking the light from outside.
He lowered his head slightly and walked into the benatar's cabin.
Quill opened fire the very first second Thanos walked in.
He drew two element guns from his waist, and two energy beams—one red and one blue—shot simultaneously toward Thanos's face.
This was his fastest reaction speed, his instinctive response as one of the finest marksmen in the Milky Way Galaxy.
The two beams accurately hit Thanos's forehead and left eye, and then dissipated like water droplets falling on a stone.
Thanos didn't even blink.
Quill pulled the trigger, continuing to fire shot after shot without interruption.
The red and blue energy beams exploded on Thanos's body like holiday fireworks, beautiful and completely meaningless.
Thanos continued to walk forward, every step making the benatar's deck let out a painful groan.
Drax rushed up from the side.
His dual blades—two energy swords almost as long as he was—slashed simultaneously toward Thanos's neck.
Drax's strength was famous in the Milky Way Galaxy; he could tear apart a small spaceship with his bare hands and headbutt through a concrete wall.
His dual blades carried all his anger and hatred—hatred for Thanos, hatred for Ronan.
Hatred for everything that took his family away, he hacked down.
Thanos reached out his right hand and grabbed one of Drax's blades.
Not blocking, not dodging, but directly grabbing the blade of the energy sword with five fingers.
Chapter 394: "Come with me!"
The energy field of the energy blade flickered violently in Thanos's hand, emitting a sharp hum, and then went out.
Thanos's fingers closed, snatching the energy blade from Drax's hand, and snapping the blade into two pieces like a branch.
Drax's other blade slashed onto Thanos's shoulder.
The blade cut about a centimeter into Thanos's skin, and green blood seeped from the wound, looking particularly striking against the purple skin.
Thanos looked down at the wound on his shoulder, then raised his head and looked at Drax.
There was no pain on his face, no anger, only a strange expression bordering on disappointment.
"Is this all your power?" Thanos asked.
He made his move.
A punch, with no buildup, no run-up, just thrown straight out.
Drax was hit in the abdomen, and his body flew backward like a stone kicked away.
He crashed through the internal partition wall of the benatar, crashed through the second partition wall, and crashed through the third partition wall.
Finally, he was embedded in the fourth partition wall, the metal around his body caving inward to form a humanoid pit.
Drax's mouth opened, trying to breathe, but all the air in his lungs had been squeezed out by that punch.
His eyes widened, and his lips trembled, but no sound came out.
There was an obvious depression on his abdomen, not the shape of a fist, but his entire abdomen was beaten inward, and his spine almost protruded from his back.
He was not dead yet; Drax's body was tougher than most creatures, but this punch made him completely lose his combat ability.
His hand slipped from the hilt, and the wreckage of the twin blades fell to the ground with a crisp metallic sound.
Rocket launched an attack from the side.
Small in size and fast, he was the hardest target to hit on the benatar.
He moved quickly behind Thanos, the energy rifle in his hand firing continuously, each shot accurately aiming at the back of Thanos's head, back of his neck, and the backs of his knees.
These were usually the most fragile parts, but Thanos did not look back; he simply stretched out his left hand and waved it backward like swatting a fly.
Rocket's body was too small, and Thanos's palm almost covered his entire body.
The moment the palm hit him, Rocket felt as if his body had been hit by a high-speed train.
He flew out, crashed into the console, bounced off the ceiling, fell to the floor, and rolled into the corner.
His energy rifle was smashed into two pieces, and his brown fur was stained with his own blood.
Not much, but his left arm was bent at an impossible angle, the bone broken from the elbow, and white bone spurs pierced the skin.
"I am Groot!"
Groot rushed up from behind Thanos.
His branch-like arms turned into two thick wooden mallets, smashing toward the back of Thanos's head simultaneously.
Groot's strength was slightly less than Drax's, but his body was more flexible, and his attack angles were trickier.
The two wooden mallets hit the target simultaneously, producing a dull impact sound.
Thanos's head lowered slightly forward, not because he was hurt by the blow.
But because he was feeling the power of that strike, as if tasting the flavor of a dish.
Then he turned around, stretched out his right hand, and grabbed one of Groot's arms.
Groot struggled, trying to pull his arm out of Thanos's grasp.
But his branches began to snap under Thanos's grip, bark peeled off, wood chips flew, and the inner fibers broke one by one.
Groot let out a sharp, animal-like whine.
That was the first time he made a sound other than "I am Groot"; it was unadorned pain.
Thanos lifted Groot off the ground like picking up a branch—no, he was a branch to begin with.
Thanos looked at Groot, his amber eyes devoid of any emotion.
Then he gave a forceful throw, hurling Groot toward the stern of the ship.
Groot's body crashed into the engine room door, the door was knocked open, and he rolled into the interior of the engine room, colliding with the overburdened engine core.
Blue electric arcs exploded from his body, and he let out an even sharper whine, then went quiet.
"I... am... Groot..." His voice came from the engine room, weak and trembling, as if he had exhausted his last strength.
Mantis was trembling in the corner.
She had no weapons and no combat capability; her only power was her antennae, with which she could perceive and manipulate emotions.
But in front of Thanos, her power was meaningless, because Thanos's emotions were not something she could reach.
She tried to reach out, using her antennae to touch Thanos's consciousness.
But the moment her antennae touched Thanos's skin, she felt something she had never experienced before, something that almost caused her to break down.
Not anger, not hatred, not sadness, not fear—it was nothingness.
Deep within Thanos's consciousness, there was nothing.
Not peace, not etherealness, not Zen, but absolute, thorough void like a black hole.
All emotions were compressed to an imperceptible density, like the remains of a dead star, like a void at the end of the Universe.
Mantis screamed, withdrew her antennae, curled up in the corner, holding her head with both hands, and trembling incessantly.
Gamora stood in place, unmoving.
She held her sword in her hand, that slender sword that had accompanied her for twenty years.
She looked at Thanos, looking at this being she once called father, her black eyes devoid of any emotion.
Or rather, too many emotions were compressed together, making it impossible to see anything at all.
Thanos walked toward her.
Every step was as heavy as measuring an era.
He walked up to Gamora, lowered his head, and looked at her with his amber eyes.
He was twice her height and many times her bulk.
But at this moment, he did not look down at her condescendingly; instead, he lowered his head slightly.
As if to confirm, to confirm whether she was still that little girl in his memory.
"Gamora, come with me," Thanos said, his voice low, carrying a subtle warmth that only she could discern.
"No," Gamora said.
She raised her sword.
The tip of the sword pointed at Thanos's throat; her hand was very steady, and the blade flashed with a cold light under the lights.
She knew this sword stroke wouldn't lead to any result, but she raised it anyway.
Not because of bravery, not because of stupidity, but because she had nothing left to lose.
Thanos looked at the sword in her hand for a long time.
Then he stretched out his hand and pinched the blade with two fingers.
Gently, as if taking a dangerous toy away from a child, he took the sword from Gamora's hand.
He placed the sword on the ground, then stretched out his hand, palm up, as if in invitation.
"Come with me," he said again.
Chapter 395: The Power Stone Is Acquired!
Gamora looked at his extended hand, looking at that huge hand stained with Drax's blood and Groot's tree sap.
She remembered a long time ago, on another Planet, another similarly huge hand reaching out toward a green-skinned little girl.
That little girl had just lost her mother, lost her Planet, lost her entire World.
That hand was the first warm thing she saw in the darkness, even though she later knew that the Master of that hand was a monster.
But at that moment, in the little girl's heart, that hand represented—safety.
She held that hand.
Not because she wanted to, but because she had no other choice.
Thanos's fingers closed, wrapping her hand in his palm.
His hands were warm; Gamora had never told anyone that Thanos's hands were warm.
That warmth once made a little girl feel that the Universewasn't too terrible.
"You killed my family," Gamora said, her voice very soft, so soft that only Thanos could hear.
"I am your family," Thanos said.
He turned around, dragging Gamora toward the torn hatch.
Gamora did not struggle, not because she didn't want to, but because she knew struggling was meaningless.
She turned her head back, looking at the mess inside the benatar, Quill collapsed behind the console, motionless.
Rocket was curled up in the corner, his blue fur covered in blood.
Drax was embedded in the wall, his eyes half-closed, his breathing so weak it was almost imperceptible.
Groot was in the engine room, roots stretching out from the crack of the door like a weak hand.
Mantis was in the corner, hugging her head, still trembling.
She looked at them, her lips moving slightly.
No sound came out, but Quill saw it.
He lay prone behind the console, supporting the ground with one hand, trying to stand up.
His right leg had been smashed by something, unable to walk, but his eyes were open.
He watched Gamora being dragged away by Thanos, watched her look back, watched those two words silently spoken by her lips.
"I'm sorry."
Quill reached out his hand.
As if he could grab her across half the cabin.
"No, Gamora!" His voice was hoarse, as if squeezed from the depths of his throat.
Thanos walked out of the hatch, Gamora following behind him with mechanical steps, like she was sleepwalking.
Quill struggled to stand up, limping toward the hatch.
He grabbed the edge of the torn hatch, leaned out his body, and looked at the flagship getting further and further away in space.
His right leg was bleeding, his face covered in dust and tears.
His lips trembled, but his eyes were bright, as bright as two stars about to burn out.
"Gamora!" he shouted.
No one answered.
The flagship's hatch closed.
The thrusters ignited, and the three warships accelerated simultaneously, dragging three blue exhaust flames in space and disappearing at the edge of the galaxy.
Quill stood at the torn hatchway, the vacuum of space sucking away the air around him.
His body began to swell, the gas in his blood began to form bubbles, and the symptoms of decompression sickness would appear within seconds.
His consciousness was blurring, his body was collapsing, but he was still standing there, still reaching out his hand, still looking at the direction where those three lights disappeared.
A hand grabbed his collar from behind, dragging him back into the cabin.
Rocket, whose left arm was broken and whose fur was covered in blood, was still alive and used his only remaining good hand to drag Quill back from the brink of death.
The remaining part of the hatch was closed by Rocket with one hand.
The air began to refill, the air pressure slowly recovered, and the temperature slowly rose back.
Quill lay on the floor, eyes open, looking at the ceiling, motionless.
Rocket squatted beside him, black eyes looking at him.
"She's gone."
Rocket said, his voice losing its usual sharpness and becoming hoarse, like an old man speaking.
Quill did not answer.
He just looked at the ceiling, looked at the flashing lights emitting harsh alarm sounds, looked at the broken entrails of the benatar.
After a long time, he closed his eyes.
Two tears slid down the corners of his eyes, flowing along his temples into his hair.
Thanos returned to the bridge of the flagship.
Gamora was taken away by Proxima Midnight, not detained, but "settled".
Proxima Midnight's attitude toward Gamora was very strange, not hostility, not contempt, but a cautious respect with a trace of unease.
She knew that Gamora was once Thanos's sharpest blade, even now this blade was rusted, its edge was notched, and it pointed toward its Master.
But its sharpness still left an indelible mark in her memory.
Thanos walked to the center of the bridge, standing in front of the holographic screen.
Ebony Maw was already waiting there, holding in his hands a small, silver-white metal container with ancient texts engraved on the surface.
"Master," Ebony Maw held the container high above his head, respectfully presenting it, "the Power Stone."
Thanos opened the container.
Purple light surged out of the container, illuminating the entire bridge.
It was not a soft and gentle purple, but a violent purple that seemed to tear everything around it apart.
The light twisted in the air, like a small star trapped in a cage.
Energy ripples spread out from the surface of the gemstone, impacting everything around.
Ebony Maw took a few steps back, his robe rustling in the wind of energy.
Proxima Midnight tightened her grip on the spear, her blue skin turning pale in the purple light.
Black Dwarf squatted in the corner, holding his head with both hands, making a low moan.
Thanos extended his left hand.
On the golden gauntlet, the gem-inlaid slots were empty one by one, waiting to be filled.
He aligned the Power Stone with the corresponding slot on the gauntlet and then pressed it down.
The purple light was swallowed.
Not disappeared, but absorbed.
The moment the gem was embedded into the gauntlet, a purple energy pattern spread from the gauntlet.
Climbing up along Thanos's arm to his shoulder, to his neck, to his face.
His eyes turned purple, not amber with purple reflections, but completely pure purple with no other color.
His body swelled a little bit at that moment, the contours of his muscles became more distinct, and purple light flowed in the blood vessels under his skin.
Then, the light dissipated.
Thanos's eyes returned to amber.
He looked at his left hand, looking at the gemstone on the gauntlet emitting a soft purple light, the corners of his mouth curving upward slightly.
It was not a smile, just the muscles at the corners of his mouth moving, but to Ebony Maw, that was already the expression closest to a smile he had ever seen.
"The first one is acquired," Thanos said.
His voice was different from before.
It wasn't that the volume changed, nor that the pitch changed, but that the voice itself had a certain texture.
As if the energy of the Power Stone, when passing through his vocal cords, plated his voice with an invisible yet perceptible metallic sheen.
"Master," Ebony Maw said, "Next, the Soul Stone."
Chapter 396: Claiming the Soul Stone!!!
"I know where it is, Gamora knows, she has been there." Thanos interrupted him, turning to look in the direction Gamora was taken.
A ripple appeared on Ebony Maw's pale face; it was not surprise, but understanding.
"You need her to lead the way."
"I need her to do much more." Thanos said, a purple glow pulsing slowly on his gauntlet.
"The Soul Stone has a price, it demands... a sacrifice."
Ebony Maw fell silent.
He knew what Thanos was talking about.
The conditions for acquiring the Soul Stone were an open secret in the Universe.
Not openly spread far and wide, but a carefully guarded secret passed down among those entities who truly understood the Infinity Stones.
The Soul Stone could not be taken by force, could not be swindled by wit, and could not be stolen by speed.
It could only be obtained through one way, and that was to sacrifice a life you loved most, a soul for a soul.
Thanos walked toward the room where Gamora was taken.
His footsteps echoed on the metal floor, heavy, steady, and unstoppable.
The Power Stone glowed on his gauntlet, casting his Shadow on the floor in a purple light.
A huge shadow wearing the Infinity Stones gauntlet, like a doom prophecy about to descend upon the head of the Universe.
Vormir.
This was a Planet without any signs of life.
The gray-blue sky was forever covered by heavy clouds, and the ground was a wasteland composed of rough rocks and sharp gravel.
There was no vegetation, no Water source, and no animals.
The wind was strong, but it was not the kind of wind filled with the breath of life on Earth; the wind here was dead, bone-chillingly cold, as if blown from the tombs of the Universe.
Thanos's spaceship landed on the surface of Vormir, and the gravel kicked up by the thrusters struck the spaceship's armor, making a crackling sound.
The hatch opened, Thanos walked out, and Gamorafollowed behind him, wearing a suppressor on her wrist.
It was not an ordinary suppressor, but one specifically designed for her by Ebony Maw.
It could block all of her combat abilities, making her as vulnerable as an ordinary Earth woman.
The wind howled between the two.
Gamora's hair was blown wildly by the wind, and she shielded her eyes with her hand, looking at this desolate, lifeless land.
She had been here; no, not her, it was she and Thanostogether, many years ago.
During Thanos's long journey searching for the Infinity Stones, he had once brought her to this Planet, trying to find the whereabouts of the Soul Stone.
They didn't find it, but they encountered an entity at the peak of the mountain.
A disembodied, floating in the air, black-cloaked skull.
Red Skull.
Thanos raised his head and looked at the distant mountain peak.
At the top of the mountain peak, a black figure was standing on the edge of the cliff, his cloak snapping in the wind, his red face appearing particularly glaring under the gray-blue sky.
He seemed to have waited for a long time, waited for years, decades, or perhaps even longer.
He no longer remembered time, because on this Planet, time had no meaning.
He was the Guardian of the Soul Stone, and his existence had only one purpose: to guide those who were worthy to find the stone.
"You have come."
Red Skull's voice was hollow and distant, as if speaking in a very large room and then transmitted through a pipe.
Thanos didn't speak; he stepped forward toward the mountain peak, crushing the rocks beneath his feet with every step.
Gamora followed behind, the suppressor making every step of hers seem heavy and difficult.
They walked up the mountain peak.
Red Skull floated at the edge of the cliff, his cloak motionless in the wind, which defied common sense, but here, common sense was meaningless.
"Thanos, son of Titan." Red Skull said, with hollow eyes.
No, he had no eyes, there were only two black hollows in his eye sockets, but Thanos could feel that those hollows were looking at him.
"You have finally come; you have searched for so long, experienced so much, and sacrificed so much. Today, you are standing here, only a step away from your goal."
"Where is the Soul Stone?" Thanos asked.
Red Skull reached out his hand and pointed below the cliff.
The bottom of the cliff was a black, non-reflective thing resembling a liquid void.
Not Water, not any known substance, but some unnamed thing between existence and non-existence.
"The Soul Stone is right there, but to obtain it, you need to pay a price." Red Skull said.
"I know." Thanos nodded.
Red Skull's head turned toward Gamora.
"You know it too, but are you willing?"
Gamora stood at the edge of the cliff, the wind blowing her clothes tightly against her body.
She looked at the black void below the cliff, then turned her head and looked at Thanos.
There was no emotion in her black eyes, not because she had no emotion.
But because there were too many emotions, so many that she could no longer express them through her eyes.
"You brought me here not to let me lead the way; you came to take my life." Gamora's voice was somewhat drifting in the wind.
Thanos looked at her, his amber eyes appearing deep under the gray-blue sky.
"You said you hated me, you said you hated me for killing your mother, destroying your Planet, and turning you into a monster. You said you hated everything I did, and hated everything I represented."
"I do hate you."
"Then you should be very happy; your death will save half of the lives in the Universe. Your hatred will turn into the greatest kindness to this Universe."
"Do not use my words to glorify your Carnage."
Gamora's voice finally had a ripple: it was anger, sorrow, and despair.
It was an inseparable, tangled-ball-like thing mixed with all these emotions.
"You are not saving the Universe, you are destroying it. You think you are doing the right thing, but you are just a madman. A self-righteous, paranoid, bloodthirsty madman."
Thanos didn't speak.
He just looked at her.
"Have you ever loved me?" Gamora asked suddenly.
The wind blew past the mountain peak, across the bodies of the two people, and past Red Skull's fluttering cloak.
Thanos was silent for a long time.
"Before I met you, I didn't know what love was. On my Planet, love was a luxury, a thing that only those who didn't need to struggle for survival could afford. I was never that kind of person; I have always been a warrior, a conqueror, the Destroyer of Titan, and I am not worthy of love."
He took a step forward.
"But you let me know what love is. Not romance, not tenderness, not the things praised by poets and singers. Love is when I see you, I know I am willing to do anything for you. Including hurting you, including losing you, including killing you."
Gamora's eyes finally became moist.
Not because of those words he said; those words she had heard many times, in different contexts, in different languages, from different people.
She shed tears because she saw Thanos's eyes.
In those amber eyes, there was something she had never seen before.
Not sadness, not remorse, but true, pure, unadulterated pain.
He truly loved her.
To the point of being able to kill her.
Chapter 397: Loren, I'm coming!
"No, you don't truly love me. If you truly loved me, you wouldn't do this."
Gamora shook her head, tears sliding down her face and being scattered by the wind.
"Precisely because I truly love you, I must do this.
The rule of the Soul Stone is to sacrifice the person you love most. If I didn't love you enough, I wouldn't be qualified to obtain the stone."
He walked up to Gamora, his huge body blocking the wind, blocking the light, and blocking the entire World.
He lowered his head, looking at her, her green face reflected in his amber eyes.
"I love you, Gamora, deeper than any father loves his daughter."
He reached out his hand and lifted Gamora up from the ground.
His large hand grabbed her arm and raised her to the edge of the cliff.
Gamora's body hung suspended in the void, with that black abyss beneath her feet.
"No!!!" Gamora's voice shattered.
Her tears scattered in the wind, and her body trembled.
Her hands struggled, but the suppressor made all her struggles meaningless.
She looked at Thanos, looked at the man she had called father for twenty years, and looked into his eyes.
In those eyes, tears were welling up from the amber irises, sliding down his purple cheeks.
Thanos was crying.
He was shedding tears, silently shedding tears, like a melting iceberg, like a dying star.
His lips trembled, his hands trembled, his entire body trembled.
But he didn't let go of his hand.
"I'm sorry," Thanos said.
He let go of his hand.
Gamora fell.
Her body passed through the black void, without sound, without light, without any trace to prove her existence.
Like a pebble thrown into a well, she disappeared at the bottom of the abyss, leaving not even an echo.
Thanos stood at the edge of the cliff, lowering his head, looking at that patch of black void.
His shoulders trembled, his breath rose and fell rapidly, and his tears fell onto the rocks drop by drop, making a subtle sound like raindrops.
Red Skull floated behind him, not moving, not speaking.
After a long time, perhaps a century, perhaps just a minute, an orange light lit up in the black void at the bottom of the cliff.
It was not a dazzling, violent light, but a soft, warm orange like candlelight.
The light rose from the abyss, slowly like the Sun rising from the horizon.
It rose before Thanos, suspended in the void, exuding a soft halo.
The Soul Stone.
Thanos reached out his hand.
His hand was trembling, not out of fear, not out of cold.
But because the sacrifice from just that moment was still reverberating in his body, like a struck bell, the lingering sound endless.
He reached out and grasped that orange stone.
The stone embedded itself into the gauntlet.
Orange energy spread from the gauntlet, climbed up his arm onto his shoulder, and intersected, merged, and resonated with the purple energy already existing in his body.
His body lit up at that instant, purple light and orange light flashing alternately.
Illuminating the entire peak, illuminating the grey-blue sky, illuminating Red Skull's hollow eye sockets.
Then, the light dissipated.
Thanos stood there, two stones glowing on the gauntlet on his left hand.
The purple Power Stone, the orange Soul Stone.
His body was taller than before, larger, more like a god than a Titan.
He turned around and looked at Red Skull.
Red Skull looked at him, the glow of the stones reflected in his hollow eye sockets.
"You have done it. You sacrificed the person you love most in exchange for the Soul Stone, and you have obtained the qualification."
Thanos did not speak.
He took steps down the mountain, his pace heavy, every step leaving deep footprints on the rocks.
He didn't look back, didn't glance at that cliff again, didn't glance at that black void again.
He knew Gamora would not come back, and he knew he had lost her forever.
He knew he would carry this loss, this sacrifice, and this pain to walk the remaining path.
But he also knew this was necessary.
For half of the life in the Universe, for his mission, for that goal he had believed in for decades, Gamora's death was worth it.
Thanos returned to the spaceship.
The hatch closed behind him, shutting out the wind and grey sky of Vormir.
He walked down the corridor, entered the bridge, and sat down on the throne.
Ebony Maw stood below the throne, looking at the two glowing stones on Thanos's gauntlet, his pale face devoid of any expression.
But there was a trace of light in his eyes—that was reverence, awe, an emotion bordering on religious fanaticism.
"Two now, Master. The Power Stone, the Soul Stone. Four more to go."
"Four," Thanos repeated, lowering his head to look at his gauntlet.
"Space, Reality, Time, Mind—they are all with Loren."
Thanos raised his head, his cold eyes looking at Ebony Maw.
"Loren." When he spoke this name, there was a strange texture in his voice, as if he were chanting a spell, or as if he were making a promise.
"I will let him know what the consequence of getting in my way is, and I will make him feel what pain is.
I will make him lose everything he owns, just as I lost everything.
Then, upon his ruins, in his tears, in his despair, I will take those stones and complete my mission.
By then, he will understand that he never deserved to possess them."
The spaceship's engines started.
The blue exhaust flame dragged a long strip of light across the grey sky of Vormir. The spaceship lifted off, accelerated, and disappeared at the edge of the galaxy.
Thanos sat on the throne and closed his eyes.
Deep within his consciousness, in a most secret corner he had never shown to anyone, Gamora was still alive.
Not truly alive, but existing in the form of memory.
A green-skinned little girl squatted in the corner of a spaceship, hugging her knees, lowering her head, crying silently.
He walked up to that little girl, squatted down, reached out his huge hand, and gently placed it on her head.
"Don't cry, I will make everything better," he said.
The little girl raised her head, her black eyes full of tears.
"You killed me," she said.
"I saved the Universe," he said.
"Is there a difference?"
Thanos's hand paused on her head.
He didn't answer.
He opened his eyes.
The spaceship flew through the starry sky. Ahead was endless darkness, behind was Vormir which had been left far behind, and on both sides were hundreds of millions of silent stars.
On his gauntlet, the two stones were glowing, like two eyes burning in the darkness.
Four more to go.
Four more in the hands of Loren Morgan.
Thanos clenched his fist.
"I'm coming," he whispered.
Chapter 398: The Mysterious Glowing Woman!
The benatar drifted through the starry sky.
No direction, no power, no hope.
The spaceship's engines had completely shut down three hours ago, and the last bit of backup energy was used to maintain the life support system and basic navigation functions.
Quill leaned against the pilot seat; the wound on his right leg had already been treated with first-aid spray by Rocket, the blood had stopped, but the bone had not yet healed.
Whenever he tried to stand up, a sharp pain would shoot from his knee all the way to his spine, making his vision go black.
He didn't care.
Gamora was taken away.
He watched helplessly as she was dragged away by Thanos, watching that black warship disappear at the edge of the galaxy.
He reached out his hand, but he couldn't reach her.
He called out her name, but she couldn't hear.
He chased after, but his spaceship wasn't fast enough, his weapons weren't strong enough, everything about him was not enough.
"Remaining energy three percent, estimated endurance time, four hours and twelve minutes." The spaceship's voice system reported, its voice calm to the point of being cruel.
Rocket crouched in the corner beneath the console, the broken bone of his left arm already fixed by him with bandages and metal splints.
But his movements were still very stiff, every movement would make the corners of his mouth twitch.
His black eyes stared at the energy readings, his round pupils reflecting those constantly dropping numbers.
"Three percent." He repeated, voice hoarse, "Four hours later, we will become space junk."
Drax was dug out from the wall.
It wasn't that he walked out himself; his abdomen had been caved in by that punch from Thanos, his spine was dislocated, and at least four ribs were broken.
It was Groot who dragged him out from the wall.
Groot's own state was not much better; two of his branch-like arms were broken, and the remaining few were covered with cracks.
Large patches of bark peeled off, revealing the pale xylem underneath.
He sat at the doorway of the engine room, leaning against the door frame, his black eyes half-closed, breathing slow and heavy.
Mantis curled up in the corner, hugging her knees with both hands, her forehead pressed against her knees.
Her antennae hung at her sides, no longer trembling, not because of calmness, but because of exhaustion.
She had been trying to use her ability to alleviate the pain of Drax and Rocket over the past few hours.
But her power was not infinite, and their injuries were much more severe than she had anticipated.
"I am Groot," Groot said, his voice weak.
"I know," Rocket answered him, "but I don't want to hear it."
"I am Groot."
"I said I don't want to hear it!"
Rocket stood up from the corner too quickly, pulling on his broken arm, the pain making his face twist for a moment.
He walked to the control console, randomly pressing a few times on the panel with his only good hand, and a bunch of data popped up on the screen.
All red, all warnings.
"No spaceships nearby," Rocket said, the sharpness in his voice replaced by something heavier.
"No signals, no routes, nothing.
We are in the most remote corner of this galaxy, no one knows we are here, no one will come to save us."
"I am Groot," Groot said.
"Yeah, we're going to die," Rocket said.
This sentence fell into the cabin like a stone sinking into deep water.
No echo, no ripples, just quietly and silently sinking to the very bottom.
Quill slowly stood up from the pilot seat, the pain in his right leg making his movements look like slow-motion playback.
He limped over to the control console, looking at the red data on the screen.
There was no expression on his face, not calmness, but blankness.
It was as if someone had drained all his emotions away, leaving only a breathing shell.
"There are still four hours, in four hours, a lot of things could happen."
"What things? A miracle? You believe in that?"
Rocket smiled playfully, obviously he didn't believe in this stuff at all.
"Why not believe?"
Rocket looked at him, a complex expression in his black eyes.
Not anger, not contempt, but something close to pity.
He wanted to say something, maybe "You're crazy," maybe "Gamora won't come back," maybe "We're done for, accept reality."
But he didn't say it; he just turned around, walked back to the corner, squatted down, and continued wrapping his broken arm with bandages.
Drax sat at the doorway of the engine room, leaning his back against the wall, his eyes half-closed.
His breathing was very slow, very deep, every inhalation seemed like he was using all his strength.
He looked at the ceiling, looking at those flickering, malfunctioning lights, his lips moving slightly.
Not speaking, but counting.
One, two, three, four.
He was staying awake in his own way, because if he closed his eyes, if he stopped counting, he didn't know if he could open them again.
Mantis raised her head.
Her antennae twitched slightly, turning her head to the side, as if listening to something.
"What's wrong?" Quill asked.
Mantis didn't answer. She closed her eyes, concentrating all her attention on her antennae.
Her antennae extended in the darkness, passing through the spaceship's metal shell, through the vacuum, through interstellar space, stretching in a certain direction.
Then she opened her eyes.
"Someone is coming," Mantis said.
"Who?" There was a trace of vitality in Quill's voice for the first time.
"I don't know," Mantis said, her voice very soft, like speaking in a dream.
"But her emotions are very strong, not hostility, not goodwill, it's... purpose.
She has a very strong purpose, she is moving toward this purpose, she is flying toward us."
Quill rushed to the observation window.
Outside the window was the endless starry sky, dark, silent, without any moving spots of light.
He stared at that void for over ten seconds, nothing was there.
He began to doubt whether Mantis was hallucinating due to fatigue.
But Mantis's perception had never been wrong, never.
Then he saw it.
A spot of light.
Not a star, not a planet, not the exhaust flame of a spaceship.
But a humanoid spot of light.
A glowing humanoid object dragging a golden tail of light, traversing the starry sky at an incredible speed.
Its speed was so fast that Quill's eyes couldn't track it, one second it was still at the edge of his vision.
The next second it had already arrived beside the benatar, and the second after that it stopped outside the observation window.
Quill took a step back.
That humanoid entity floated in space, less than five meters away from the benatar's observation window.
She wore a red and blue uniform, her long golden hair in the vacuum.
No, there shouldn't be wind in space, but her hair was fluttering, as if supported by some invisible energy field.
Her body was glowing, not reflecting starlight, but she herself was the light source.
Golden light radiated from her skin, outlining a clear humanoid silhouette in the darkness.
Chapter 399: You can call me Captain Marvel!
She looked at Quill inside the observation window.
Quill looked at her.
Her eyes were blue, but not the ordinary kind of blue.
It was a blue like burning gas, a blue like the core of a star, a blue like the Infinity Stones.
There was no hostility in those eyes, no goodwill, only an overwhelming, unshakable sense of certainty.
It was as if she knew who she was, knew what she was going to do, and knew that nothing could stop her.
"Who are you?" Quill shouted toward the observation window, his voice blocked by the glass and failing to pass through.
But that entity seemed to have heard.
Not through sound, but through a more direct and essential way.
Her lips moved slightly, making no sound, but Quill read the word.
"Carol!"
The person who came was none other than Captain Marvel.
Carol Danvers reached out and touched the hull of the benatar.
Not knocking, not slapping, but pressing her palm against the metal outer shell.
Golden light surged from her palm, spreading along the surface of the spaceship, covering the entire hull like spilled quicksilver.
That light penetrated the metal, penetrated the circuits, penetrated every damaged part and every broken cable.
The spaceship's lights lit up.
Not the kind of faulty blinking light that could go out at any time, but a steady, energy-filled brightness.
All the warning lights on the console went out simultaneously, replaced by green normal operation indicator lights.
A deep roar came from the engine room, which was the sound of the engine restarting.
It was the sound of the energy core reigniting, the sound of life returning to this dying spaceship.
Quill stood in front of the console, mouth open, looking at the screens that had lit up again.
The energy reading jumped from three percent to ninety-seven percent, not slowly or gradually rising, but in an instant, a jump without any transition.
"How is this possible!" Watching such a scene, Rocketrushed out from the corner.
His broken arm dangled at his side, and his only eye widened like a copper bell.
"Where did the energy come from? This violates the laws of physics; energy cannot be created out of thin air."
"She gave it," Mantis said, pointing outside the observation window.
Carol was still hovering there, her palm still pressed against the hull, the golden light still flowing.
Her expression didn't change at all, as if injecting energy into a dying spaceship was just a trivial matter in her daily life, much like brushing her teeth and washing her face.
She withdrew her hand.
Then she flew to the cabin door of the benatar, grabbed the edges of the cabin door that had been torn by Thanosand barely repaired by Rocket, and pulled hard to both sides.
The metal was torn apart like paper in her hands, the cabin door opened, and the vacuum of space surged into the spaceship.
But Carol stood at the breach, and her body emitted an even more intense light.
It formed a golden energy field that sealed the breach, blocked the vacuum, and kept the air inside the spaceship.
She walked into the spaceship.
Her boots stepped on the metal floor, making a crisp sound.
Her height was about the same as an ordinary human female, but her aura made the entire cabin appear cramped and narrow.
Her golden hair fluttered in the breeze of the energy field, and her blue eyes swept over everyone in the cabin.
Quill, Rocket, Groot, Drax, Mantis.
Her gaze lingered on everyone's wounds for less than half a second, then withdrew.
"You need help," she said, not a question, but a statement.
"Who on earth are you?" Quill asked, his voice trembling slightly.
Not because of fear, but because he hadn't recovered from the shock just now.
"Carol Danvers, you can also call me Captain Marvel."
"When I was patrolling a nearby Planet, I detected the energy signal of this spaceship."
Not an active signal, but a distress signal.
"Your communication system has been sending automatically, but the power is too low for most receivers to catch, but I can receive it."
"How far away is your so-called nearby Planet from here?" Rocket asked with great curiosity, because he had clearly detected it with instruments just now.
The civilized Planet closest to them spanned several light-years.
"I can fly at the speed of light, and my perception range is even farther than the speed of light. Your signal is weak, but it's enough for me."
Rocket's mouth opened, then closed, then opened again, then closed again.
He wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything.
Because his rationality told him that this woman's very existence was a challenge to the laws of physics.
And her act of injecting energy into the benatar just now had exceeded the scope of what he could explain with any known theory.
"Hello, Captain Marvel, I am Peter Quill." Quill finally found his voice.
"You can also call me Star-Lord, this is Rocket, Groot, Drax, Mantis, we are the Guardians of the Galaxy."
Carol looked at him, her blue eyes without any ripples.
"You were attacked? Who did it?"
"Thanos." When Quill said this name, the tremor in his voice disappeared.
Replaced by something colder and harder, that was hatred, anger, and the hollow, unplaceable emotion after losing Gamora.
Carol's eyes narrowed slightly.
That was the first time her expression had changed since entering the benatar.
"Thanos, if I guess correctly, he is looking for the Infinity Stones, right? So you guys have an Infinity Stone in your hands?"
"Yes, we had a Power Stone, but it was snatched away by him. He has now gone to find the second one, the Soul Stone."
Carol's silence lasted for three seconds.
In those three seconds, the air in the cabin seemed to be compressed, becoming heavy and stagnant, making people a little breathless.
It wasn't that Carol did anything, but that her very existence had this kind of power.
When she didn't speak, her silence carried more weight than anyone else's voice.
"The acquisition condition for the Soul Stone requires sacrificing the person you love most. I think you know what this represents."
"He killed his own adopted daughter to trade for that stone."
Hearing Captain Marvel's words, Quill's eyes turned red.
Not crying, he had already cried.
At the moment Gamora was taken away, at the moment the benatar was destroyed, at the moment he thought he was going to die in space.
His tears had dried up, leaving only red eye sockets and sore eyelids.
"No, Gamora will be fine, I'm going to bring her back," Quillsaid in a hoarse voice.
Carol looked at him for a long time.
"She should already be dead," Carol said flatly, stating a fact.
No cruelty, no sympathy, just a fact.
"The rules of the Soul Stone are irreversible, you cannot bring her back."
Chapter 400: Heading to Earth
"What do you think I should do?" Quill's voice suddenly grew loud, as if something had blasted it open from the inside.
"Sit in place, do nothing, and accept the fact that she's dead?
Do you know her? Do you understand her? Do you know what she went through to get to where she is today?"
Carol didn't speak.
"She was taken from her home planet by Thanos since she was a little girl, and trained to be an assassin by the only person she trusted.
She killed countless people and did countless things that disgusted her.
And then she finally broke free, finally found her own family, finally had companions she could trust, and finally had a little reason to live."
Quill's voice was trembling, but his eyes were bright, shining like two stars about to burn out.
"Then that bastard took her away from me, I don't care if she's still alive, I don't care what the rules of the Soul Stone are.
I don't care about the balance of the Universe or some bullshit mission, I'm going to find her, and even if all I find is a corpse, I'm going to take her home."
The cabin fell silent.
Rocket squatted in the corner, lowering his head without speaking.
Groot poked his head out from the engine room door, his black eyes looking at Quill, his lips moving, but making no sound.
Drax closed his eyes, leaning against the wall, a trace of an imperceptible arc at the corner of his mouth, something close to approval.
Mantis's antennae were trembling slightly, as she felt Quill's emotions.
Those chaotic, burning, magma-like emotions made her tears slide down silently.
Carol looked at Quill, and there was finally a change in her blue eyes.
Not sympathy, she wasn't the type to sympathize with others.
Not being moved, nor was she the type to be easily moved.
It was something older, something a warrior saw in another warrior.
That stubbornness of "knowing there is nothing ahead, but still walking forward."
Carol spoke, her voice a bit lighter than before, but still steady.
"Infinity Stones, I know their power, because the power within me comes from one of them."
Quill raised his head and looked at her.
"Project Pegasus, an experimental project of the U.S. Air Force, attempted to use the energy of the Space Stone to develop new energy technology.
I was exposed to the energy radiation of the Space Stoneduring an experiment, and my body was modified.
Gained Superman's strength, flight capability, and the ability to absorb and release energy.
The energy of the Space Stone flowed in my cells for more than twenty years, changing everything about me."
She raised her right hand, and a ball of golden light lit up in her palm.
Not an energy beam, not aggressive light, but a soft golden light like candlelight.
The light danced and pulsated in her palm, like a tiny living heart.
"I know what the energy of the Infinity Stones is like, because that kind of energy flows inside my body.
I also know what Thanos uses them for; he thinks the Universe has overpopulation and insufficient resources, and the only solution is to randomly eliminate half of life.
He calls it mercy, he calls it salvation, he calls it a mission."
She clenched her fist, and the golden light was swallowed into her skin.
"But, I disagree."
She turned around and walked toward the cabin door.
"Where are you going?" Quill asked.
"Earth, the remaining Infinity Stones are all on Earth.
Space Stone, Reality Stone, Time Stone, Mind Stone, all on Earth.
Thanos has already obtained two, and he won't stop.
He will go to Earth, seize the remaining stones, and complete his plan, and I'm going to stop him."
Quill walked out from behind the console, the pain in his right leg making his pace somewhat unsteady.
But he walked quickly, almost catching up with Carol.
"Take us with you." He said.
Carol stopped, turned around, and looked at him.
"Your spaceship is already totaled, and even though I just charged it, its structural damage is too severe to make it to Earth."
"Then take us with your way, you can fly at the speed of light, you can survive in space.
You can charge a spaceship, and you can definitely fly with five people."
Carol looked into his eyes.
"What can you do if you go to Earth? Thanos has two Infinity Stones.
His Black Order fleet is closing in on Earth, and his power is stronger than anything you've ever seen.
You can't even beat one of his minions, what can you do?"
"I don't know, but Gamora once told me that if one day she died.
No, if one day she disappeared.
Whether she was dead or abducted or lost in some corner of the Universe, she wanted me to do one thing."
"What is it?"
"Find her."
Carol was silent for a few seconds.
Then she nodded.
"Your spaceship won't last until Earth, but I can fly with you, it won't be very comfortable, but it will be fast, get ready."
She walked out of the cabin door, stood in space, turned around, and faced the benatar.
She stretched out her hands, and golden energy surged from her palms, enveloping the entire spaceship.
Not injecting energy, but enveloping the entire spaceship in a huge golden energy field.
Like a soap bubble, wrapping the spaceship and everyone inside it.
"Everyone hold on tight." Carol's voice penetrated the metal shell of the spaceship, clearly reaching everyone's ears, "Accelerating now."
Quill grabbed the console, and Rocket grabbed Quill's leg.
Groot used his remaining branch arm to grab Rocket's tail, Drax reached out and grabbed Groot, and Mantis grabbed the corner of Drax's clothes.
The five people connected in a string, like a string of wind chimes hanging inside the spaceship.
The golden energy field suddenly lit up.
The benatar disappeared in space.
In the golden energy field, time lost its meaning.
Quill didn't know how long they had been flying, maybe a few minutes, maybe a few hours, maybe a few days.
His watch was still ticking, but he wasn't sure if the watch's time still had reference value in this energy field.
The only thing he could be sure of was that they were moving, moving at an incredible speed.
So fast that the starry sky he saw through the energy field turned into colorful lines.
Red, blue, white, gold, like a white cloth splashed with paint.
Rocket squatted by Quill's feet, his only good hand grabbing Quill's trouser leg, his big black eyes wide open, looking at the colorful lines outside the window.
"Speed of light!" Rocket said, his voice holding something strange between excitement and fear.
"We are flying at the speed of light, her energy field is warping space, making us move at the speed of light.
This is the most incredible flight technology I've ever seen."
"More incredible than your technology?" Quill asked.
Rocket did not answer.
This was the strongest affirmation he could give.