"JARVIS, detach the armor and go help Rocket and the others."
"But sir, my core programming prioritizes your safety."
JARVIS's voice rang out.
"I'm perfectly safe right now. Go buy me some time. I only have one final program left."
Tony forcibly overrode him.
Among all of JARVIS's directives, there was one command with the highest authority:
Obey Tony Stark.
"Understood, sir. I will leave behind a drone cannon to ensure your safety."
As he spoke, the Arc Reactor on Tony's chest lit up.
Liquid nano-vibranium began flowing outward, gathering beside him until a red-and-gold suit of armor gradually formed. Finally, the Arc Reactor detached and locked itself into the armor's chest.
Two floating cannons separated from the armor's back and hovered beside Tony.
Then the Iron Man suit shot into the air and flew outside.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The explosions became increasingly violent.
Rocket and Nebula were badly outnumbered and were gradually being overwhelmed. If Groot hadn't been blocking the rebels with endless vines and branches, the mutineers would have already reached Tony.
Suddenly, a beam of blue energy descended from the sky.
The repulsor blast exploded amid the crowd, instantly blasting countless traitors into pieces.
Then energy bolts rained down like a storm.
JARVIS had arrived, piloting the Iron Man armor.
"Tony, you done with the programming yet?"
Rocket shouted upward at the armor in the sky.
"Apologies, Mr. Rocket. Mr. Stark is nearly finished, but he still requires a little more time."
As an AI, JARVIS could multitask effortlessly.
Talking and fighting simultaneously was no issue at all.
And thanks to his combat targeting systems, every repulsor shot hit with perfect accuracy. Every blast claimed at least one life.
With the armor providing overwhelming firepower, Rocket and Nebula finally gained breathing room.
The two immediately launched a counterattack while Groot shifted from defense to offense, harvesting the lives of the mutineers one after another.
At the same time, Yondu arrived with his remaining loyal crew.
A sharp whistle sounded—
A crimson line streaked through the battlefield, piercing through chest after chest.
"Everyone! The ship's operational! Get aboard!"
While they were still fighting, Tony's voice suddenly echoed through everyone's comms.
"Move! Get on the ship!"
At Yondu's command, everyone sprinted toward Quill's ship.
JARVIS-controlled armor was the first to fly through the hatch, and the suit immediately opened up, wrapping itself around Tony once more.
As soon as Rocket boarded last, JARVIS smoothly lifted the ship into the air.
That's right—
JARVIS was piloting the ship.
While rewriting the system software earlier, Tony had secretly integrated JARVIS directly into the vessel's control systems.
Now JARVIS controlled everything on the ship:
Weapons systems.
Navigation.
Even the toilet flushing system.
As they pulled away, Yondu's massive Ravager ship finally exploded.
The blazing fire illuminated everyone's faces.
Kraglin and the surviving Ravagers could not help but break into tears.
They had loved that ship.
It was their home.
And now, thanks to the traitors, that home was gone.
---
In the endless void of space, Rocket piloted the ship forward.
Yondu's face remained expressionless, but inwardly his heart was bleeding.
That ship had been everything he owned. His life's work, built up over countless years, had all vanished in a single explosion.
"Where are we headed, Captain?"
Kraglin wiped away his tears and looked up.
He was obviously asking Yondu.
But Rocket answered instead.
"Ego."
Rocket's response was immediate.
So were his actions.
He grabbed the jump navigation panel, searched for Ego's coordinates, and slammed the button without hesitation.
"FUCK! ARE YOU INSANE?! EVERYBODY HOLD ONTO SOMETHING!"
Yondu roared the moment he saw Rocket's tiny paw pressing the coordinates for Ego.
The ship suddenly accelerated violently.
Blue light erupted from the engines.
Ahead of them, a hexagonal rift slowly opened—the sign of entering a jump point.
The ship plunged straight into it.
The next moment, they emerged somewhere completely different.
Then instantly jumped again.
"DAMN IT! Our bodies can't handle more than fifty consecutive jumps!"
Yondu screamed furiously.
His eyes had already bulged outward like a goldfish, and his mouth stretched grotesquely wide like a frog.
"I know that."
Rocket sounded completely unconcerned.
His own eyes had bulged out too, and every strand of fur on his body stood on end.
"TO GET TO EGO WE'LL NEED OVER SEVEN HUNDRED DAMN JUMPS! SEVEN HUNDRED!"
Yondu's face distorted horribly, stretching and flattening like rubber candy while he involuntarily screamed.
Nobody else looked any better.
Everyone's bodies flailed like noodles in a hurricane.
Rocket himself now resembled Scrat from Ice Age—bulging eyes, stretched snout, just missing the acorn.
Only Tony's appearance remained hidden.
His entire body was protected by the nano-armor, and the vibranium absorbed most of the kinetic force.
Still, the dizziness and nausea were impossible to suppress.
"Sir, the armor currently lacks vomit bags. I suggest enduring it. Surely you do not wish to be covered in your own vomit?"
JARVIS's calm voice sounded strangely mocking in Tony's ears.
"FUCK YOU, JARVIS! Once I'm back on Earth, I'm replacing you with FRIDAY!"
Tony's face was pale, his body weak. Even speaking had become difficult.
"FRIDAY does not possess my level of functionality, sir. She is still in the learning phase."
FRIDAY was the new AI Tony had built based on JARVIS's core code.
It was also Pepper's birthday present.
The development was complete, but she was still in the training phase.
"FUUUUCK!!"
Tony roared, as though yelling might somehow make him feel better.
---
At the same time, on Ego's planet, Gamora stood on the balcony outside her room, repeatedly trying to contact Rocket through her communicator.
She wanted to know how Rocket and the others were doing.
But the signal remained disconnected.
She couldn't tell whether the issue came from Ego's planet or from the effects of repeated space jumps.
"Still nothing?"
Gwen walked out from behind her and stepped onto the balcony.
"No. I have no idea how they're doing."
Gamora put away the communicator and leaned helplessly against the railing.
"Karl said there's something off about Ego. He's not what he appears to be."
Gwen leaned against the railing beside her and lowered her voice.
"Karl feels it too?"
Gamora's gaze sharpened.
Ever since Ego first appeared, she had constantly felt something was wrong.
At first it was only instinct.
But after seeing Mantis's strange behavior earlier, that feeling had become even stronger.
Just as Gwen was about to say more, Wanda's voice suddenly echoed directly in her mind through telepathy.
"Gwen, are you with Gamora? Come to Karl's room. He has something to tell us."
"I'm with her. We're coming now."
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