Rocket and Groot had stuffed Peter into the bag, ready to smuggle him out of Xandar and hand him over to Yondu for the bounty. However, before they could even leave the city center, they were intercepted by several Nova ships. Golden beams of light pinned them both down.
Valkyrie and Gamora were at most guilty of disturbing public safety, but these two were caught human trafficking—a much heavier charge.
"Oh, we're screwed," Rocket muttered dejectedly, dropping his weapon in resignation. Groot followed suit, and the heavy black sack hit the ground with a dull thud.
"Ow!" Peter cried out as he bumped his head and scrambled out of the bag. He was about to draw his gun and fight back when he saw the squad of Nova soldiers surrounding them. Being the man he was, he immediately dropped his weapon and put his hands up.
"Hey, if it isn't the Star-Prince," One soldier mocked as he walked over to slap a pair of smart-cuffs on him.
"It's Star-Lord, man," Peter muttered, his face falling as he remembered the Orb had been taken.
"Oh, sorry, Star-Lord," The soldier chuckled, turning to his colleagues. "This guy's a regular. I caught him a while back for petty theft."
His colleague let out a snort. A low-rent thief using such a flashy nickname—what a joke.
The criminals were taken to the plaza to await processing. Peter saw Gamora lying wounded in the distance. His hopeless instincts kicked in, and he felt a strange pang of sympathy for her.
He asked the escorting soldier, "That woman is hurt. Aren't you going to treat her?"
The soldier glanced at him and said, "She beat the hell out of you and almost killed you, and you're worried about her?"
Peter shrugged, completely unfazed. "I've got a scar on my waist from a girl who stabbed me with a pitchfork because I ghosted her. I've got another on my chest from a Kree girl who slashed me because she saw me with a girl who had a way better body."
Peter was a bounty hunter, but more than that, he was a relentless flirt. Unfortunately, he wasn't very good at it, and his smooth moves often backfired, resulting in girls trying to hunt him down. To him, this was just a Tuesday.
The soldiers around him fell silent, looking at him with a newfound, begrudging respect.
Shortly after, a hover-ambulance landed in the plaza. Medics stepped out and began treating Gamora. Valkyrie's sword had pierced her heart; on Earth, she would have been dead on the spot. But Xandarian medical technology was centuries ahead of Earth's. As long as she received immediate care, a punctured heart wasn't necessarily fatal.
"Stop staring and move!" The soldier barked, shoving Peter. Groot and Rocket boarded the transport first. Seeing them, Peter asked, "Where are we going?"
The soldier smirked. "To the place where scum like you belong."
The transport lifted off, heading toward the Xandar police headquarters.
The officer in charge arrived at the Nova Empire headquarters to report the incident to Nova Prime and await a ruling.
Nova Prime was a woman of great poise, but as the leader of the empire, she currently looked like a ruffled hen—frustrated and exhausted.
"Ronan is destroying Xandarian outposts across the galaxy. Shouldn't the Kree Empire have some sort of reaction to this?"
Facing the accusation, the Kree General on the holographic screen spoke in a flat, indifferent tone. "Nova Prime, our two nations have signed a peace treaty. What more do you want us to do?"
Nova Prime said sternly, "At the very least, the Kree Empire should issue a statement condemning Ronan's actions. He is slaughtering children and destroying families."
"I'm sorry, but that is your problem. I have other matters to attend to. Goodbye." With that, the Kree representative cut the transmission.
"Bastard!" Nova Prime cursed, fuming in silence. Ronan's fleet was massacring her people, yet as their commander, she was powerless, reduced to begging an enemy nation for mediation.
The reporting officer stepped forward, projecting a tablet's data onto the wall. "Prime, some good news. While handling a criminal incident, we happened to catch an associate of Ronan."
The screen showed a live feed of Gamora in custody, her chest wrapped in white bandages. Although she looked weak, the surgery had been a success; she was out of danger.
"Gamora. Adopted daughter of the 'Mad Titan' Thanos. She was surgically modified into a living weapon. Thanos sent her and her sister, Nebula, to Ronan. We can safely conclude that Thanos and Ronan are in league."
Nova Prime frowned. "Birds of a feather. This makes Xandar even more vulnerable."
The officer nodded and swiped the tablet, bringing up Rocket's file. "Subject 89P13, calls himself Rocket. An experimental subject subjected to illegal genetic and cybernetic enhancements on lower life forms."
There wasn't much to say about him—he was a career criminal. The officer swiped to the next image.
"What is that?" Nova Prime asked, looking at Groot.
"Groot. A humanoid plant. He's currently with 89P13, acting as his houseplant and bodyguard."
Next was Peter's turn.
"Peter Quill. From Terra. Raised by a group of mercenaries called Ravagers, led by a man named Yondu Udonta."
"A bunch of galactic thugs," Nova Prime remarked, reviewing their criminal records.
"And the last one..."
The officer switched to the final image. Valkyrie was leaning against a wall, arms crossed, looking thoroughly annoyed.
"This woman calls herself Valkyrie. But our database has no information on her. No records, no criminal history—nothing."
"What?" Nova Prime was surprised. The Nova Empire's database was vast, covering almost the entire known universe. For a woman to easily defeat Gamora proved she was no ordinary person. Anyone who had made a name for themselves on their home planet would be automatically indexed. Yet she had no data. It was as if she had just popped out of a hole in the ground.
The officer explained the earlier events and asked, "Prime, how should we handle these five?"
Nova Prime thought for a moment. "Send them all to the Kyln."
The Kyln was the Nova Empire's highest-security prison. It was essentially a space station floating in the void, designed to house the most violent and dangerous criminals.
New inmates were stripped of their belongings, blasted with disinfectant, and then given prison uniforms and bedding before being sent to their cells.
From the moment they entered, Rocket wouldn't stop bragging. "I'll be out of here in no time. I've broken out of twenty-two prisons. This place is nothing."
Peter said sarcastically, "The Kyln isn't like those other shitholes you've been to."
Rocket snapped back, "You should be glad those two crazy bitches showed up and saved your life. Otherwise, me and Groot would be counting your bounty money right now while Yondu and his lunatics tore you limb from limb."
Peter retorted, "I don't mean to brag, but plenty of people have tried to kill me over the years. None of them succeeded. I'm not getting taken down by a tree and a talking raccoon."
Rocket looked confused. "What the hell is a raccoon?"
"You are, you idiot!"
"I'm not a what, I'm me."
Peter ignored him and turned to Valkyrie and Gamora. "You were both fighting over that Orb. What the hell is it?"
"I am Groot!" Groot behind them said.
"I wasn't talking to you," Peter muttered, glancing at him.
Valkyrie remained expressionless, completely ignoring him as if he were invisible. She was still fuming. It was all that damn thief's fault, otherwise... otherwise Ronan would have already been dealt with and the Orb secured. Then again, she realized this mess couldn't entirely be blamed on him.
Peter had flirted with countless women and knew this type was the hardest to crack. So, he turned to the relatively more approachable Gamora.
However, Gamora had no time for him either. "I have no interest in speaking to a thief with no honor."
Rocket chimed in, "Look who's talking. You're just a lackey for a mass murderer. Everyone in the underworld knows your name."
"Exactly," Peter added, desperate for some common ground.
Having been rejected by both women, Peter felt irritated. He turned to Groot and whispered, "Who is she?"
"I am Groot."
"Yeah, I know. You just said that."
"I am Groot."
"You've said that dozens of times. I'm never going to forget it. Rocket, what's wrong with your tree?"
As Rocket was about to explain, Valkyrie, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke up.
"He's speaking Groot. Their language only has three words: 'I', 'am', and 'Groot'. You have to analyze the meaning based on the tone and context."
Rocket turned his head in surprise. "Impressive. You know Groot, and you're that strong? Who the hell are you?"
Valkyrie didn't answer. Instead, she looked at the bandages on Gamora's chest and taunted, "New look suits you. Very stylish."
Gamora gently touched the wound, her eyes burning. "When I'm healed, I'll give you a matching set."
Valkyrie scoffed. "Don't push your luck. Ten of you couldn't take me. And I know you're working for Ronan, but that Orb belongs to me."
To her surprise, Gamora defended herself. "I don't work for Ronan. I betrayed him. I already have a buyer lined up. I was going to steal the Orb and sell it for a better life."
Valkyrie stopped in her tracks, frowning. "Is that the truth?"
Gamora's expression was dead serious. "Every word."
Valkyrie looked thoughtful, but she remained skeptical.
The Kyln was a space station, so the cell block was small, housing only a few hundred prisoners. As the group entered the block, Valkyrie looked around with curiosity. As a former Valkyrie, this was the first time in her life she had ever been incarcerated.
Gamora followed behind. The moment she appeared, the other inmates became violent. They pointed at her, screaming at the top of their lungs, and began throwing filth or food at her.
"Kill her! Kill her!"
"Get out of here, murderer!"
"Gamora! You're dead!"
"The guards can't protect you forever!"
"Who the hell is she?" Peter asked, bewildered.
Rocket explained, "She's a general for Ronan the Accuser. Most of the people here have families who were slaughtered by Ronan and his goons. My guess? She won't last until morning."
Peter looked at Gamora and felt a pang of unease. "The guards will protect her, right?"
Rocket looked at him like he was an idiot and laughed. "The guards only care if we escape. They don't give a damn if we die."
Gamora's new uniform was covered in filth, but she managed a thin smile. "You probably think this is a nightmare for me. But compared to my past, this is a beautiful dream."
Really? Did Ronan or Thanos treat you that badly? Everyone was left wondering what she meant by that.
"Hey, look at this little guy. Smooth skin... bet he tastes great with some jam."
A massive, blue-skinned brute blocked Peter's path, running a thick finger down his cheek. Peter grimaced, his skin crawling.
Before he could react, Groot stepped forward. He reached out and pinched the brute's nose, his branches extending and snaking up into the man's nostrils before lifting him off the ground by his face.
"AAAAAAGH!!!"
The pain of branches invading his nasal cavity was unimaginable. The brute screamed in agony while Rocket took the opportunity to send a message to the rest of the inmates.
He roared at the crowd, "Listen up! This guy is with us! Anyone who touches him has to go through us first!"
The bold claim, punctuated by the brute's screams, successfully intimidated the room. The cell block fell silent. Groot dropped the man to the floor, and the five of them moved toward their cells.
The men's cells were communal bunk rooms with dozens of people crammed together. However, female prisoners or special cases were given five-square-meter solo cells. On the way to the private cells, dozens of inmates followed Gamora, shouting death threats.
Valkyrie stepped up beside her. "Your situation looks pretty grim. How about we make a deal?"
Gamora turned to her. "What do you want?"
"Come with me to see my master. I'll guarantee you a safe exit from this prison."
Gamora scoffed. "Who is your master? You're stuck in here just like me. How are you going to protect me, let alone escape?"
Valkyrie said, "My master's identity is a secret; you'll know when you meet him. As for escaping, that raccoon back there claims he's broken out of twenty-two of these places."
Gamora sneered. "You actually believe that trash panda?"
Valkyrie replied, "Even if he's full of it, I have my own ways. Just tell me—are you in or out?"
Gamora reached her cell door and stopped. "I'm sorry, I don't have a taste for mysteries. Unless you tell me the truth, we have nothing to discuss." With that, she entered her cell and the door locked.
"Hmph. Proud even with one foot in the grave. Do you really have no fear of death?" Valkyrie shook her head in frustration.
She walked to her own solo cell next door. She turned and saw the mob of crazed inmates pressed against Gamora's door, pounding on the glass.
Valkyrie smiled to herself and murmured, "Since you want to be difficult, I guess I'll let you taste a bit of ."
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You can read advance chapters and view R-18 images of the characters on pat reon page.
pat reon.com/GreenBlue17
200 power stones.
Top 100. All time.