lerbook Chapter 375 'Shazam'~~~
Chapter 375 'Shazam'~~~
Chapter 375 'Shazam'~~~
Joey's action of looking up and scanning the entire warship was mistaken by Ronan as a sign of relaxed vigilance.
Seeing that Superman looked down on him so much, Ronan was filled with rage and became even more audacious. He picked up his warhammer and unleashed a shockwave powerful enough to shatter bones.
"war!"
This Kree war cry was the last sound Ronan could utter before bidding farewell to this world.
With a sizzling sound, Joey's intense gaze swept upwards, neatly slicing Ronan, who was lunging at her, into three pieces.
"idiot."
Even though he was a mass murderer in the war against the Kree-Nova Empire, Joey still did not take sides between two civilizations with populations in the tens of billions.
He had just tried to give Ronan a second chance so that he could die a worthy death on the interstellar battlefield after the ceasefire ended.
But no one knows how this Cree warlord climbed to such a high position. He was politically naive and driven by anger, always making irrational decisions.
He himself chose to die in this remote exile area, without knowing why.
Perhaps people like him contribute far more to the entire star system after they die than when they are alive.
"Die, you Kree scum!" Inside the space station, Rocket, perched on Groot's back, unleashed a barrage of fire from four or five heavy machine guns borrowed from the prison, pinning several Kree combat squadrons down. "Grand opening special: bullets are free!"
"I am Groot!"
"What did you say?" Rocket's ears were filled with the banging of gunfire, and he could barely hear what Groot was saying until the other person repeated himself, at which point he understood roughly: "What do you mean by looking outside?"
Rocket turned his head and looked into outer space through the large hole that had just been pierced by the Kree's naval cannons, then exclaimed in surprise, "A generous gift!"
On the other side, Star-Lord, who had just pressed a pistol to the head of the ringleader, was preparing to receive the thanks of the prison guards he had rescued when Gamora patted him on the shoulder, gesturing for him to look outside: "Look, it's over!"
The outer shield of this prison space station is functioning well, perfectly isolating it from the outside environment. Despite the bustling activity on the outside, those inside are completely undetectable by the shield and the vacuum, unless they look outwards.
"What?"
Star-Lord looked up and saw that the landing pods that had been rushing toward the prison had turned around and were fleeing in all directions. Many of them even collided with each other in their panic, creating huge sparks.
There's only one reason this is happening: the central command system responsible for planning the routes for these small flight units has failed. Therefore—
Star-Lord then looked towards Ronan's Kree flagship, the Dark Star, in the distance, and then he witnessed a scene he would never forget.
A red ray, visible from tens of thousands of miles away, pierced through the interior of the Dark Star. Then, like a blade of light, it slashed down from above, creating a red curtain that visually cleaved the space in two.
Also split in two was the Kree flagship Darkstar, which was in the very center. In the vacuum, Star-Lord could not hear any sound, but the bursts of light from the broken part of the warship still reached his retina.
This once glorious flagship, which had stood firm on the front lines of the battlefield, separated to the left and right along the trajectory of that ray, exploding in stages with a deafening roar, as easily as cutting and melting a block of butter with a hot knife.
"Did Superman do this?" Cold sweat poured down Star-Lord's forehead again. He repeatedly probed Gamora for information about Superman: "Are you sure he's not a petty person?"
"Calm down, Quill." Gamora rolled her eyes at Star-Lord, annoyed. "People like them, even if they're petty, wouldn't stoop to the level of a small-time thief like you!"
As she spoke, Gamora could already see the lights flashing in the distance—the engine radiation from the Nova Corps' warplanes jumping in: "The Nova Corps is much slower this time—quick, we should go!"
Theoretically, these individuals are still considered serious criminals in the Nova Empire. Even if they helped maintain order in the prison and resisted the Kree attack, Gamora didn't want to gamble on whether Xandar would suddenly have a change of heart and erase their past sins.
Of course, the main reason is that Star-Lord, Rocket, and Groot are all petty thieves, but Gamora, as Thanos's daughter and Ronan's right-hand woman for a long time, has a lot more cases on her shoulders.
"I'm not leaving!" Star-Lord turned and headed towards the upper storage room of the prison. "I need to find my Walkman first!"
Previously, a bastard prison guard stole Star-Lord's tapes and player. Now that he's free, Star-Lord is determined to go and get back what's rightfully his, and then have a real argument with the guard.
"There's no need to go any further."
Having taken care of everything, Joey patted Star-Lord on the shoulder and returned the confiscated Walkman to him: "Everything you're looking for is here."
His ghostly appearance startled Star-Lord: "What the hell? Can you teleport?"
After Star-Lord got his Walkman, Rocket, who had been passionately exchanging gunfire with the Kree landing forces on the upper level, also arrived.
The first thing this little raccoon did upon seeing Joey was to put its paws up, pads facing upwards, as if to say, "Where's our payment?"
"I am Groot!" Groot wanted to say, "But you said this beforehand!"
He was riddled with bullets while holding off the Kree's initial landing force; he'll definitely be in serious trouble in a few million.
This bounty hunter with the tree and the bear is just that straightforward. No matter how difficult the employer is to deal with, they won't take away a single penny of the money they deserve.
"You guys are really obsessed with money!"
Joey was prepared. He showed Rocket the strange metal in his hand that shimmered with indigo light. With Joey's slight movements, the metal itself emitted a soft humming sound.
From the moment Joey pulled that thing out, Rocket's eyes hadn't left it: "Is this what I'm thinking of?"
"That's right." Vibranium has its own unique spectrum, and Joey, whose vision is rarely obstructed in the universe, has almost become a professional vibranium searcher: "Vibranium."
Unlike Earth, where a large piece of vibranium asteroid fell from outer space in ancient times, causing vibranium to become abundant and even be bought with any kind of printed US dollar, vibranium is an extremely rare and scarce special metal on a cosmic level.
Few in this star system could recognize vibranium, but Rocket happened to be the knowledgeable one. He estimated its value at a glance: "This little bit of vibranium isn't worth four hundred million, but it could still net each of us tens of millions. It's not bad. Quill—you put the vibranium away!"
Upon hearing that vibranium was so valuable, Star-Lord's mind went blank for a moment. He didn't even consider why Rocket would entrust such a valuable item to an outsider like himself: "Leave it to me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he reached for the vibranium, intending to stuff the rare metal into his pocket. He was so fast that Joey didn't even have time to stop him, and could only move the vibranium in his hand back: "Wait—"
But Joey was still a little too late in taking action.
"Ouch!"
Star-Lord's hand had only moved slightly closer, not even fully touching the vibranium, when he felt a sudden, needle-like stinging pain in his fingers and palms under the radiation of those eerie blue light waves: "Ouch, ouch, ouch—!"
"Haha, you big idiot!"
Seeing Star-Lord writhing on the ground in pain, tears welling in his eyes, Rocket, who had been holding back his mischief, finally pointed at him and burst into laughter: "Who would directly touch vibranium ore that hasn't been solidified by sonic waves with their bare hands!"
If there really is such a fool, then his fate will be like Star-Lord's now, or even worse, and he might even suffer physical harm.
"I am Groot." After finishing with Star-Lord, Groot stepped forward, took the vibranium, and temporarily stored it inside his body.
Anyway, his body had been riddled with holes by the Kree firepower, so he could be used as a shelf.
"I'm afraid we can't let that go."
Joey pointed out the window, drawing everyone's attention to an inconspicuous asteroid not far away: "Vibranium is about this big."
Holy crap!
Rocket pressed his face against the glass of the space station, wishing he could immediately shove his head out and dig: "Groot, we're about to strike it rich!"
He was already losing count of how much that thing could sell for.
But then he exclaimed "Holy crap!" again. While observing the vibranium asteroid that Superman had brought, Rocket also noticed a point of light growing brighter and brighter in the dark depths of space in the distance.
"And what is that?!"
The rocket's scanner showed that the object was traveling at least close to the speed of light, so the fact that it was visible to our side meant—
In Rocket's vision, it took only a few seconds for the opponent to expand from a flickering bright spot into a blazing golden-blue flame. By the time they saw the light, she was already in front of the three of them.
This is a robust woman with long, wavy golden hair, wearing a polymer battle suit made of red, blue, and gold. The eight-pointed star emblem on her chest shines brightly under the radiating golden and blue energy waves.
"Was she with you?"
Having recovered, Star-Lord noticed the similarities between Joey and the woman outside the space station in terms of abilities and color scheme, and instinctively assumed she was with Joey: "You're Superman, and she's Superwoman or something?"
"No, she is—"
After listening to Star-Lord finish his rant, Joey looked at Captain Marvel, who was separated from him by a pane of glass, and uttered a corny joke that perhaps only he could understand: "—Shazam in a way."