Originally, just a couple of days ago, Star-Lord and his crew considered themselves fortunate. While on their way to the Nine Realms, they stumbled upon a jump point that led directly into it.
By traversing that jump point, they had saved almost half a month of travel time. However, now, they’d rather be outside the Nine Realms’ domain, avoiding the engulfing dark mist behind them.
Up to this point, Star-Lord and his team were still unaware of the origin of the massive black mist tailing them. They believed it was some terrifying natural lifeform in the cosmos, and if they hadn’t encountered it, it might have eventually moved on.
However, if they knew that this mist was Dormammu, appearing to devour Earth, they might have even provoked it intentionally.
“What can we do?! The fact that we’ve held on till now is a miracle! You know it’s even stronger than your purple potato look-alike father!” After being hit on the head by Gamora, Star-Lord continued shouting with a helpless tone.
Swoosh!
Another dark shadow swept past the side of the Milano, nearly obliterating an engine group. Rocket was entirely focused on piloting the spaceship and paid no attention to Star-Lord or Gamora.
“Where’s your backup?! You said your home planet was close by! And you’ve sent out how many distress signals! Any response?” Gamora inquired.
“It is close to Earth! I did send out the distress signal! But that was just a shot in the dark. Even if my home planet has developed rapidly these years, how could it possibly handle the terror behind us? We’re on our own, let’s just hope for the best!” Star-Lord shouted back, gripping the controls tightly.
Bang!
Another loud noise followed, and then the entire Milano began to spin out of control. Just now, a black mist had swept by from the right wing of the Milano, partially melting the super-alloy wing. The spaceship’s propulsion system had been damaged.
“Damn it! We can hardly hold on anymore!! Star-Lord!” As the spaceship spun rapidly, Rocket was strapped securely to his seat, shouting loudly.
The immense black mist that had been chasing them was an enigma. Their attacks from the spaceship either had no effect or were directly consumed. Until now, they had unleashed the weaponry on the Milano multiple times, but it had failed to slow down the pursuing black mist.
“Surviving those dangerous missions hasn’t killed me, but do I have to die near my own homeworld?! Talk about misfortune!!” Even without Rocket’s reminder, Star-Lord was acutely aware that their spaceship had reached its limit.
“Who said anything about dying? We’ll fight it even if we can’t beat it!! I fear no one!” Upon hearing Star-Lord’s words, Gamora shouted loudly from the back.
“Yeah! That’s my plan too! If it’s got the guts, let it try to devour me! I’m no easy meal for it!” Following Gamora’s shout, Drax the Destroyer, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up.
Having survived for so long, each member of the Guardians of the Galaxy had experienced life-threatening situations of all scales. Dangers existed everywhere in the vast universe, and today was merely another crisis.
Therefore, if the spaceship couldn’t endure any longer, they would undoubtedly choose to confront the approaching mist head-on.
Hearing Gamora and Drax’s shouts, Star-Lord also understood that now was not the time to give up. However, even if they fought desperately against the mist, the outcome would likely be them being devoured to the last bone.
Hence, when the spaceship finally regained stability and began to accelerate, Star-Lord turned to Rocket, who seemed conflicted.
“Rocket! I know you’re hiding something. Do you really want me to be devoured before you reveal it?!”
“I’m already working on it! Stop yelling!” Hearing Star-Lord’s outburst, Rocket firmly replied.
Then, Rocket’s small paw quickly tapped the screen in front of him a few times. Subsequently, at the rear of the Milano’s spaceship, small round metal balls emerged one by one. They circled around the spaceship’s engines, forming a protective barrier around the overloaded engines.
“This was a pain to get my hands on…” Rocket muttered under his breath as he controlled the metal spheres.
Once those metal balls were securely positioned around the engines, a hint of reluctance flashed in Rocket’s eyes. He then tapped the screen with determination.
“Hold on tight!!” Along with the press of the red button in the center of the screen, Rocket roared loudly.
Upon hearing Rocket’s shout, Star-Lord and the others instinctively tightened their seatbelts. In the next moment, they felt the spaceship vibrate abnormally. A powerful shockwave started from the rear of the Milano and rippled throughout the entire spaceship.
Under this force, even more powerful than that provided by the overloaded engines, the Milano transformed into a stream of silver-red light, hurtling into the cosmic void ahead.
Unbeknownst to Star-Lord’s crew, the metal balls had vaporized around the engines’ rear. Those small metal spheres, having turned into small, glowing red iron balls, were releasing immense energy, propelling the Milano to accelerate and escape.
As the Milano abruptly surged out of Dormammu’s attack range, two palm-sized golden objects fell from the spaceship’s underbelly and it was as if they were parts of the ship that had worn off normally.
After falling, these two golden objects were flung away from the Milano and were subsequently devoured by the black mist rapidly approaching from behind.
“Hope this doesn’t disappoint me… Boom!!” With the massive thrust pinning him to his seat, Rocket grinned and shouted.
Buzz, Buzz!
Bang! Bang!
Just as Rocket roared within the Milano, behind the spaceship, a considerable distance away, two strong energy fluctuations suddenly emanated from within the encroaching black mist. Subsequently, as if thunder had struck in the cosmos, two consecutive golden rays flashed within the enormous black mist— something within it had exploded!
Roaring thunderously, under the impact of the two golden rays, the once-accelerating black mist suddenly decelerated and began to twist and turn. As the mist writhed, the two golden rays within it rapidly faded. A few seconds later, the two piercing beams of golden light vanished from the mist, and the mist itself gradually ceased its turbulence.
Then, from within the mist, Dormammu’s terrifying visage emerged.
……
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