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As expected, Yondu and several of his subordinates were immediately drawn to Peter Quill's words, craning their necks and asking,
"You little brat, hurry up and tell us, what did you find there?"
Seeing that he had successfully bluffed his way through, Peter Quill's eyes flashed with a hint of smugness, and then he exaggeratedly recounted everything he had seen and heard on that cargo ship.
Of course, he automatically omitted the part about the annullas battery.
It wasn't that he was afraid Yondu and the others would covet the annullas battery; it was simply too embarrassing… How could Star-Lord, who was invincible across major star fields, have something he risked his life to salvage from a derelict ship ultimately confiscated by the Nova Corps?
If that got out, where would he put his face?
Wouldn't people laugh their teeth off?
"Damn it, I can't believe those softies were actually telling the truth?"
"It seems the legends about those 'ghost derelicts' are most likely all true…"
"The Solar System is too dangerous; I'll never go there again, no matter what."
"But I heard Asgard got some Black Stone artifacts with special functions from Earth that can suppress the Eye of Fear's corruption of surrounding star fields."
"There's such a magical thing? Should we go to Earth and buy some to put on our spaceship?"
Yondu Udonta ignored his chattering subordinates and instead looked at Peter Quill with ill intent, frowning as he asked,
"You better not be lying to me, kid. If you really saved that Centurion, then why would the Nova Corps still lock you up?"
"Well…"
Peter Quill's eyes darted around, and he immediately feigned indignation, saying,
"It's all because of you guys' usual terrible behavior, which ruined The Marauders' reputation, so the Nova Corps simply didn't believe I was a good guy!"
"Tsk!"
Yondu Udonta and the others immediately scoffed and gave Peter Quill the middle finger. Among The Marauders, he was the most disloyal, even screwing over his own people on a regular basis. How dare he criticize others?
"Forget it, this time is an exception."
Yondu Udonta slung an arm around Peter Quill's shoulder. "Come on, I'll take you to meet someone. He says there's a big deal waiting for us, and maybe your lock-picking skills will come in handy."
Peter Quill pouted. "Wait, so you guys didn't come to Xandar specifically to rescue me?"
Yondu Udonta shook his head indifferently. "Quill, listen to me, don't mind these useless details. Right now, we should focus wholeheartedly on how to complete this big deal."
"According to that long-browed Broker, as long as we can find a cursed thing called the Cosmic Orb, he'll pay us a huge sum of money…"
…
Kree Warship: Dark Star.
Inside the massive bridge.
"You Xandarians, and those locust-like Skrulls, all like to call me the harbinger of death, a Kree extremist, a fanatical follower of the Supreme Intelligence…"
A blue-skinned Kree, at least 2 meters tall, with bulging muscles, holding a long-handled hammer-like weapon, walked coldly to a male Centurion, who was restrained in a kneeling position on the floor by torture devices and wearing Nova Armor. He looked down and said,
"And the only reason you slander me like this is because I have always upheld our Kree Empire's most ancient code of conduct, punishing those who do not obey it, and those who offend it…"
"For this reason, I will absolutely not forgive you villains who took the lives of my great-grandfather, grandfather, and father, as well as the lives of countless Kree!"
"The war between the Kree Empire and Xandar, as well as the Skrull Empire, has lasted for nearly a thousand years. I will never forget the will of the Kree ancestors…"
However, before he could finish speaking, the Centurion, imprisoned by the torture device on the ground, angrily interrupted him, saying,
"Ronan, stop dreaming of war. The Kree Empire's high command has already signed a peace treaty with Xandar. Your unauthorized actions are illegal and will be sanctioned. I advise you to rein yourself in and act wisely!"
"Hmph!"
Ronan's face showed a look of disdain, and he said mercilessly, "Ever since the Supreme Intelligence was destroyed by 'The Annihilator' Carol Danvers, those shameless high-ranking officials have long been scared out of their wits."
"And you Xandarians, you were nothing more than a small vassal under the Kree Empire in the past, yet you took advantage of our Kree Empire's internal strife to expand your territory. Such despicable tactics are even worse than those of thieves…"
"Therefore, in my opinion, your civilization has become corrupt and needs someone to help you regain your faith, regain your faith in the Kree!!"
"That sounds good." The Centurion retorted, his face unchanged, "Ronan, you will not occupy Xandar. Neither Nova Supreme, nor the Nova Corps, nor any Xandarian will ever yield to you."
"No, you're wrong."
Ronan corrected him expressionlessly, "I am not occupying it, I am saving it… Only through the baptism of blood and fire can it rediscover its rightful place!"
With that, Ronan did not wait for the Centurion to say anything more, but directly smashed the other party's head with the long-handled hammer in his hand, which was called the Universal Weapon, producing a dull thud like a watermelon bursting.
Blood flowed along the recessed patterns on the ground, all into the blood pool below.
There, a large amount of blood from Xandarians was collected.
Those who knew Ronan knew that this bloodthirsty fellow had a very peculiar habit: he liked to bathe in blood!
"Tsk tsk, Ronan, you shouldn't have killed him so quickly."
At this moment, a green-skinned female warrior, who had been watching the entire process from the side, spoke with a smile,
"We should have kept him alive and then used him to blackmail Xandar into making concessions and compromises, thereby letting the Xandarians see how incompetent and weak their superiors are… This would help us break the Xandarians' fighting spirit."
"Then why didn't you say so earlier?" Ronan looked at her with displeasure.
"Ronan, I think Gamora just wants to see you make a fool of yourself."
A blue-skinned female warrior, whose entire body had been augmented and replaced with many organs and parts, sitting next to the green-skinned female warrior, said maliciously.
These two female warriors of different skin colors were not Ronan's subordinates, but Thanos's adopted daughters, who had come to assist (monitor) Ronan in completing his mission.
"Nebula, my dear sister, such clumsy instigation is completely useless."
Gamora smiled at Ronan. "What's more, as long as your subordinates can successfully obtain those two infinity stones, our father will order troops to help you destroy Xandar."
"So, killing this hostage is no big deal."
"Hmph." The somewhat inarticulate Nebula rolled her eyes at the other party, muttering, "You get to say all the good and bad things… What an utter bitch!"
At this moment, a Kree soldier suddenly walked in and reported, "My Lord Accuser, Korath the Pursuer has returned."
Not long after, a tall, dark-skinned Kree walked into the bridge, reporting to Ronan with a slightly dejected expression:
"Master, I'm sorry, I failed to get the Cosmic Orb Thanos wanted this time…"
"But that's all because of a damned thief. That guy calls himself Star-Lord. I've already confirmed his identity on the way back; he's a member of The Marauders. This time, he was commissioned by someone to steal the Cosmic Orb before us."
"Who?" Ronan asked, his voice terribly low, from the main seat.
Korath quickly and carefully replied, "Right now, we only know that the Broker is a merchant on Xandar."
"I promised Thanos I'd give him the Cosmic Orb or the Tesseract."
Ronan looked at him with displeasure. "Because only then will he send troops to help me destroy Xandar, but now, you've let that thief run off with my item?"
"Master, that guy was too cunning." Korath said with a terrified expression, "Please give me another chance, this time I will definitely get the Cosmic Orb back!"
"No need."
Ronan waved his hand, then turned to Nebula on one side and ordered, "Nebula, since Thanos sent you two to assist me, then the task of going to Xandar to retrieve the Cosmic Orb will be yours to complete… It will also let me see if Thanos's adopted daughter is as powerful as the legends say."
"It is my honor, Mr. Accuser!"
Nebula swayed forward a step, but before she could say anything more, Gamora, by her side, coldly interrupted, "No, Nebula, believe me, this is your misfortune!"
"You must know in your heart without me saying it, if you fail again, you will have no face to see our father."
Nebula, as if greatly insulted, retorted angrily, "We are both Thanos's daughters, why do you think I will definitely fail?"
Gamora smiled confidently, "Because I understand Xandar better than you…"
"So what?" Nebula argued, refusing to concede, "Ronan just ordered me…"
"Alright, enough, both of you shut up."
Ronan hated two women chattering like ducks in front of him, so he immediately turned his gaze to Gamora, warning her in a deep voice,
"Since you understand Xandar better, this mission will be yours, but you better not fail, otherwise, I will punish you severely, without Thanos needing to lift a finger!"
"You don't need to worry about that." Gamora said, showing no weakness, "Because I have never failed."
"Very good."
Ronan nodded in satisfaction. At this moment, he heard Nebula on the side say somewhat unconvinced, "Ronan, then please send me to find the other Tesseract."
"Loki of Asgard tipped off my father that the Tesseract is currently on Earth."
Just one day ago, Loki, far away in Asgard, for some unknown reason, suddenly contacted Thanos, informing him that Odin had, in a previous transaction, traded the Space Stone's vessel, the Tesseract, to an Earthling.
And that person was powerful, having previously defeated the Dark Elves' fleet. If Thanos wanted that Space Stone, he should go to Earth and get it himself.
Clearly, Loki was planning to divert trouble, using Thanos to defeat those hateful superheroes on Earth, thereby venting the pent-up anger in his heart.
Because he knew Thanos's style very well: wherever he went, half of all living beings would be executed!
Who knew that after receiving the news, Thanos would directly entrust the task to The Accuser Ronan, who was preparing to 'borrow troops' from him to destroy Xandar, and send his two adopted daughters to assist.
"To be precise, it's in the hands of Earth's Guardian."
Ronan glanced at Nebula with a contemptuous expression. "As far as I know, besides 'The Annihilator' Carol Danvers, Earth also has many Guardians, such as The Avengers, who previously annihilated the Chitauri Legion, and Karl Merks, who destroyed the Dark Elves' fleet not long ago!"
"Are you really sure you can single-handedly snatch the Tesseract from such powerful enemies?"
It was well known that decades ago, Kree Empire spies had secretly infiltrated Earth, following the footsteps of the Skrulls.
So it was not difficult for Ronan to clearly know about major events happening on Earth.
"…" Nebula fell silent awkwardly upon hearing this.
Clearly, she did not possess such strength; she had merely been 'competing' with her sister Gamora, not wanting to be outdone.
"Alright, it's decided."
Seeing Nebula fall silent, Ronan nodded in satisfaction. "We'll secure the Cosmic Orb first, and then go to Earth to seize the Tesseract."
…
Xandar.
The door of a private art shop slowly opened, and a handsome man in a gray plaid suit, dressed in a way that stood out from the Xandarians on the street, strode out of the shop.
"Done, now I have the coordinates for Knowhere."
Karl looked at Star-Lord, who was walking towards him in the distance, and a slight curve appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Anyway, there's no rush, so I'll finish watching this good show before heading to The Collector's place!!"