Although Star-Lord felt that using a dance-off strategy at this point might be ineffective, he took a deep breath and forced himself to step forward.
After all, apart from this desperate "plan," what other solution was there?
They couldn't seriously expect Peter to single-handedly take down Ronan, could they?
What a joke!
Ronan was holding an Infinity Stone!
Others might not know how terrifying the Power Stone was, but how could Quill not know?
He had previously planned to sell the Orb to the Collector, so he had witnessed it with his own eyes—the Collector's maid, greedy for the Power Stone, merely touched it and was instantly blown into nothingness by its terrifying energy!
Just touching it out of foolish overconfidence resulted in being vaporized on the spot.
Now that it was being driven at full capacity by an absolute tyrant, how could mortal flesh possibly stand against it?!
With that thought, Star-Lord took a deep breath and forced his usual carefree, goofy expression. He unplugged the headphones from his Walkman, clapped to the beat, and began swaying his hips in front of Ronan, singing out:
"Ooh child, things are gonna get easier~"
BOOM—!
The imaginary scene of Ronan being frozen in place by his dance and singing didn't happen at all.
The instant Quill opened his mouth, Ronan raised his warhammer high into the air.
The wild, chaotic energy of the Power Stone flooded into the hammerhead, emitting a blinding purple glare that burned the eyes.
A beam of purple shockwave—as thick as a water barrel—erupted violently from the top of the hammer!
Star-Lord had overlooked one key detail.
In the original timeline, his plan succeeded only because Ronan had already essentially conquered Xandar. At that moment, standing triumphant over every defeated foe, Ronan was riding high on arrogant satisfaction and completely off-guard.
That was why he was caught off-guard by a dance-off.
Right now, however, the situation was completely different.
Peter's feat of tearing through the Dark Aster's energy force field with his bare hands had instilled a deep, primal sense of crisis in Ronan.
Under such extreme tension, his senses were razor-sharp. How could he possibly leave an opening for Star-Lord?
"What do you think this place is?!"
With a roar from Ronan, the pillar of purple light shot directly toward Star-Lord.
"Holy shit—!"
Before Quill could even finish cursing, he was hit dead-center by the beam.
The overwhelming energy instantly shredded his prized crimson leather jacket to ribbons.
Even worse, his body was blasted backward like a broken ragdoll.
Star-Lord coughed up a massive mouthful of blood midair before crashing heavily into the metallic bulkhead of the Dark Aster. His body looked as if it had been scorched into a semi-crystallized state by the sheer heat of the energy.
He lay motionless on the deck, completely devoid of life.
"Quill!"
Gamora let out a heart-wrenching scream.
She couldn't believe this idiot actually risked his life on such a absurd gamble.
More importantly, she realized that somewhere along the line, she had unknowingly fallen for this seemingly unreliable Earthling who possessed a surprisingly gentle heart.
Rocket Racoon slammed his paw onto the flight console in sheer fury.
"That idiot! Did he think everyone is as brainless as him?!"
Groot pressed against the viewport with a deeply sorrowful expression, looking toward where Star-Lord had fallen.
"I am Groot..."
Seeing the terrifying devastation unleashed by the Power Stone, the Ravagers swallowed nervously. They turned to Yondu, whose eyes were bloodshot with rage, and stammered:
"Boss... I know you're furious, but we are really no match for this guy. We need to cut our losses and run."
Yondu wanted nothing more than to charge in and tear Ronan apart, but his cool logic forcibly reminded him: He couldn't sacrifice his life and the lives of all his Ravager brothers for his adoptive son.
Taking a deep breath, he forced a cold, uncaring front and grunted into the comms:
"This job is officially bust! I ain't dyin' alongside these idiots!"
"Ravagers, all units—turn the ship around immediately! Initiate jump-drives and prepare to warp!"
Seeing Yondu lose his resolve to fight, the fragile morale the Nova Corps had managed to assemble fractured once again.
Rhomann Dey slumped heavily into his chair. He was already pondering whether it was time to make a final farewell to his family—perhaps yelling into the communicator, "Tell my mother I went down fighting!", before steering his Nova starfighter on a suicide run against Ronan.
Irani Rael closed her eyes tightly, a single tear of helpless frustration sliding down her cheek.
"Is Xandar... truly beyond saving?"
"That's right!" Ronan overheard her faint mutter and flashed a utterly disdainful sneer at the Nova Prime:
"Feel the despair, insects! I shall use your deaths to announce the doom of Xandar!"
As he spoke, he swung his warhammer downward once more.
The moment the hammer descended, a terrifying shockwave of purple energy—strong enough to rend space itself—shot forth with absolute, world-ending momentum toward the fleet!
Wherever this energy wave passed, space visibly distorted. Several small Ravager fighters flying too close didn't even have time to evade before the ambient energy dissolved them straight into cosmic dust.
Facing this overwhelming sight, Irani closed her eyes in complete resignation.
Yet, after waiting for what felt like an eternity, she never felt the expected agony crush her.
What's going on?
Irani opened her eyes a sliver in utter disbelief.
And then... she saw an oversized... Treant!
Is that... the guy who keeps repeating "I am Groot"?
Irani instinctively turned her head back toward where Groot was standing, only to find Groot standing in place just as dazed as everyone else, muttering under his breath:
"I am... Groot?!"
Beside him, Rocket Raccoon and Drax the Destroyer were equally dumbfounded.
Their eyes darted back and forth between the massive wooden titan standing before them and the small tree-person beside them. Finally, Rocket couldn't hold it in and shrieked:
"Groot?! How on earth did you summon your freaking ancestor?!"
"Ancestor? I don't have a great-great-grandson quite that silly~"
The giant Treant turned its head back to snort, its youthful voice leaving everyone present completely stunned.
That voice was far too familiar—it was clearly Peter's voice!
Wait, how is that even possible?!
Isn't that guy a pure-blooded Earthling?
Why did he suddenly transform into a Flora colossus?!
As giant question marks popped up in the minds of everyone on the field, Peter offered a faint, composed smile down at Ronan, who was looking up with an equally incredulous expression:
"Hey blue-skin, consider yourself lucky. You get to be the test dummy for my shiny new ability!"
As he spoke, Peter slammed his massive wooden palms together in a heavy, echoing clap!
In the very next second, the entire Dark Aster began to quake violently!
Countless thick, brown vines erupted out of nowhere like ancient behemoths awakened from deep slumber, tearing through the starship's heavy hull armor at an absurd speed as they expanded frantically.
As these vines sprouted, they rapidly entwined and compressed against one another, constructing colossal, impenetrable trunks and branches.
In just a few brief breaths, a vast, primeval forest had forcibly taken root in the vacuum of deep space!
Wood Release: The "Slam Your Hands Together and Manifest Whatever You Yell Out" Technique!
Ahem... no, wait—Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!
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