In the span of a single blink of an eye—
The entire Dark Aster was completely transformed into a massive, primeval jungle. Atop the thick, interlocking branches of this wild forest, colossal flower buds began to condense into shape.
Refusing to accept defeat, Ronan launched another wave of energy shockwaves. Yet, when those hyper-destructive blasts struck the unbelievably resilient, interwoven wood of Deep Forest Emergence, they merely left deep, superficial scars. They couldn't even manage to sever the deep-rooted, tangled trunks.
"The Power Stone... that's all?"
Peter sat leisurely atop a thick tree branch, gazing down at Ronan with a smooth, contemptuous expression:
"Or is it... that a waste like you simply lacks the capacity to draw out the true magnitude of an Infinity Stone?"
Hearing those words, Ronan's temper completely hit a boiling point, snapping his composure:
"You damned Treant! Don't get arrogant, I'm cutting you down right now!"
As he roared, he brandished his warhammer and went into a frenzy, hacking wildly at the surrounding giant trees and causing the entire vessel to quake violently.
Yet, the surrounding trees seemed as though they had been pumped with hyper-fertilizer.
Their sole defining feature was explosive, endless growth!
The moment Ronan used the Power Stone to vaporize one sector, the very second he turned around to clear another area, the section he had just destroyed had already fully regenerated.
"Heh~"
Peter let out a lazy yawn, then casually clapped his hands together:
"Since you enjoy playing around so much... why don't you give this one a spin?"
Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!
As Peter blended his Chakra with the natural biological affinities of the Flora Colossus, a colossal wooden titan—standing dozens of meters tall with a ferocious wooden dragon coiled around its shoulders—materialized on the battlefield in an instant.
The second that towering Wood Human appeared, every single spectator on the field was struck completely dumbfounded.
The Nova Corps Centurions, who had previously assumed they were as good as dead, now stared with wide, glassy eyes.
Even Irani Rael, Nova Prime herself, accidentally let her golden command scepter drop from her hand, clattering onto the floor.
What... what kind of monster is this?!
Is a creature like that truly something created by mortal hands?!
Preparing to warp away and flee, Yondu and his Ravager crew froze dead in their tracks, halting their escape entirely.
"Good god in heaven... what on earth is this kid's actual background?"
Standing off to the side, Groot's innocent eyes bulged to maximum size, the small twigs atop his wooden head trembling uncontrollably.
"I am... Groot?!"
He felt the pure, ancient resonance radiating from that forest—a primal origin power belonging exclusively to the Flora Colossus species.
Watching this overwhelming spectacle, he couldn't help but lose himself in a sudden, starry-eyed fantasy: Could I... could I actually become that ridiculously strong in the future too?!
In stark contrast to the stunned onlookers, Ronan's face turned completely ash-black. A suffocating, inexplicable wave of manic frustration welled up from the depths of his soul.
"Impossible!"
"THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!"
"I AM A GOD! I am the one and only TRUE GOD of this galaxy!"
He bellowed furiously as he charged straight at the colossal Wood Human, swinging his warhammer downward with all his might.
"Mortal tricks! How dare you flaunt them in the presence of a divinity!"
A blinding pillar of purple energy slammed dead-center into the massive wooden dragon, exploding into a searing glare.
Under the point-blank bombardment of the Power Stone, the Wood Human's right foot detonated into pieces, sending countless wood splinters flying across the vacuum of space.
And yet... that was the absolute extent of it.
Even with an Infinity Stone—or more accurately, given Ronan's own limited biological capacity even while augmented by the Stone—this was as much damage as he could possibly inflict.
"What are you doing... giving my Wood Human a pedicure?"
As Peter spoke, the Wood Human's massive fists, alongside the wooden dragon coiling around its shoulders, launched a devastating pincer attack straight down at Ronan.
Ronan used every ounce of speed he possessed just to barely dodge the giant twin fists.
Yet, the sheer, earth-shattering shockwave created as the Wood Human's hands smashed into the deck sent him stumbling violently off-balance. He could only watch in terror as the wooden dragon snapped its vicious, gaping jaws open, lunging straight for his throat.
"Don't you dare!"
Ronan screeched in mad desperation, frantically driving the Power Stone at maximum capacity in an attempt to shatter the dragon.
Under his full, desperate output, the warhammer indeed unleashed an indestructible force, nearly snapping the wooden dragon's body in half.
Just as he saw the dragon's frame shrinking and a wide, psychotic grin began spreading across his face—
His footing suddenly wavered, and the continuous output of energy from his weapon flickered out for a split second!
That momentary interruption in firepower gave Peter the exact opening he needed.
The Wood Human delivered a swift, brutal kick, sending Ronan flying like a cannonball several hundred meters through the air.
Even as strong as Ronan was, he felt like half of his skeleton had been utterly shattered into dust. He couldn't stop a thick fountain of dark blood from spurting out of his mouth.
"You damned reptile!"
"Do you really think a cheap trick like this can hurt the great Ronan the Accuser?!"
Ronan roared maniacally, desperately trying to push himself up from the deck to continue fighting.
Yet for some reason, an overwhelming sense of profound weakness washed over his entire body. Even the simple act of standing upright felt like an insurmountable task.
"You idiot. Take a look around you."
Peter shook his head in exasperation, mercifully offering him a polite heads-up.
Ronan instinctively raised his head.
Only then did he realize that the giant flower buds atop the colossal trees had blossomed at some point during the chaos.
The massive petals were vibrant and dripping with color. As they unfurled, a fine, pale-yellow pollen rapidly diffused outward through the void.
Completely ignoring the vacuum environment of space, this pollen drifted in swirling clouds straight toward Ronan.
With every ragged breath Ronan drew, massive amounts of pollen flooded into his lungs, making his head spin wildly as the entire world tilted around him.
"You despicable worm... you poisoned me!" Ronan spat in sheer rage!
"Instead of calling me despicable, you should probably reflect on how stupid you are for failing to notice such a obvious environmental change," Peter replied smoothly.
With a light snap of his fingers, two thick wooden vines sprouted from beside Ronan.
The vines effortlessly pried open Ronan's stiff, paralyzed fingers.
As easily as snatching candy out of a toddler's hand, they casually confiscated the high-tech warhammer that had brought the entire planet of Xandar to the brink of utter despair.
"Give me back my hammer!"
Ronan let out an unwilling, pathetic roar, clawing at the air like a dying stray dog in a desperate attempt to reclaim his weapon.
Yet Peter didn't bother offering him a second glance. He leaped down from the giant tree branch.
Midair, his frame smoothly shifted back into his human form.
The moment his feet touched the deck, he casually brought his boot down, stomping heavily onto Ronan's head to pin him flat. At the same time, he spun the captured warhammer in his hands like a pair of stress-relief walnuts:
"Wasting a artifact like this on a piece of trash like you is a complete disgrace."
The moment the words left his mouth, a deep, pitch-black layer of Armament Haki instantly coated Peter's right hand.
Grabbing the head of the warhammer with a single hand, his fingers squeezed inward with slight pressure.
CRACK, CRACK!
The high-tech warhammer—which had taken countless Kree scientists and immense resources to forge—proved as brittle as a stale cracker in his grip.
Accompanied by a crisp, shattering explosion, the warhammer Ronan guarded like a sacred prize crumbled instantly into a cloud of useless metallic debris.
Losing its containment device, the naked Power Stone was exposed to open air, bursting into a surge of purple energy a hundred times more violent than before!
"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Gamora shouted at the top of her lungs, issuing a frantic warning.
Lying pinned on the deck, Ronan's face contorted into a manic, expectant grin.
He wanted to watch—he wanted to watch this mortal get blown to absolute pieces by the unchecked power of an Infinity Stone!
Yet the scene that played out next shattered his final delusion.
Peter simply reached out his bare hand, casually plucking the glowing Power Stone out of the air like a marble.
And as the terrifying Power Stone rested squarely in his palm, it failed to leave behind so much as a single, faint white scratch on his skin!
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