"What are you doing!"
"No—!"
"Let me off the ship! I want to get off right now!"
"I am Groot."
ZzzzzZ..."
Amidst the wails and howls of the Guardians of the Galaxy, the spaceship piloted by Darian plunged headlong into the swarm of Necrocorps ships!
In an instant, the entire ship felt like it had been thrown into a tumble dryer, spinning wildly. It flipped ninety degrees one moment and inverted one hundred and eighty degrees the next. The people in the cabin were tossed about, feeling their stomachs churning as if they were about to vomit.
With the help of his Veteran Driver's Soul and Spider-Sense, Darian became one with the machine. At every critical moment, he managed to maneuver the ship to narrowly graze past the Necrocorps vessels, dodging the dense barrage of energy cannons along the way.
Even when a few shots were unavoidable, they were blocked by the spaceship's built-in energy shield, causing no real harm.
However, the further they flew toward the perimeter, the more Necrocorps ships blocked their path. It looked as though all exits were about to be sealed off.
Quill swallowed hard. "Wait, I think we can..."
Darian nodded. "You're right, we can charge through!"
Quill: "???"
Before he could react, Darian pressed a red button in front of him.
Vroom—!
In an instant, two dazzling blue jets of flame erupted from the rear of the ship. The engine let out a roar that sounded almost like it was tearing apart. The ship's speed instantly soared to its limit, and like a bolt of lightning off its leash, it charged straight ahead regardless of everything!
In this life-or-death moment, time seemed to stretch infinitely for everyone.
What lay before them was no longer the dense pack of Necrocorps ships or the interlacing energy fire, but their lost youth.
Fragments of their lives flashed before their eyes, and their expressions gradually shifted through joy, grief, sorrow, confusion, and fear...
In the end, all emotions turned into a sense of relief.
"This life... has been quite terrible!"
The group smiled serenely, their entire bodies radiating a Zen-like acceptance of life and death.
Darian paid no mind to the sudden silence behind him.
Under his control, the ship dodged left and right with incredibly minute adjustments and frequency, managing to find a path that practically didn't exist through the seemingly airtight encirclement!
Whoosh—!
The ship passed through the Necrocorps encirclement like a ghost, leaving them all behind as it sped toward the vast starry sky outside the Knowhere!
As the ship's speed stabilized, the souls that had been tossed away finally seemed to return to their bodies. The Zen-like aura dissipated, replaced by the visceral reality of having survived a disaster.
"S-Success? We escaped!?"
The members of the Guardians of the Galaxy widened their eyes, staring at the starlit view outside the porthole in disbelief.
"No, it's too early to celebrate."
Without looking back, Darian's hands moved across the console so fast they left afterimages. "Ronan's Necrocorps is still in hot pursuit. This ship's power can't sustain full-speed flight for long. We must perform space jumps to lose them."
"Preliminary estimates suggest we need to perform over five hundred consecutive space jumps. Are you all ready?"
The Guardians of the Galaxy: "???"
"No, don't..."
But before they could stop him, the yellow ship immediately plunged into the nearest wormhole and vanished instantly.
On Bohet Planet, a yellow spaceship landed steadily on the ground.
The rear hatch opened, and several figures stumbled out of the cabin unsteadily.
"Blegh!"
The Guardians of the Galaxy leaned against the ship, heads down as they vomited wildly. Even green liquid was coming out of Groot's mouth.
God knows what they had just been through!
To evade the pursuing Necrocorps, they had performed space jumps almost non-stop.
One must know that space jumps are quite a burden on mammalian biology; fifty jumps are enough to make someone feel incredibly miserable.
And they had gone through over five hundred!
Now, every one of them felt like they had ridden the teacups for a dozen rounds at an amusement park, followed by a dozen rounds on a pirate ship and a dozen rounds on a roller coaster, and finally were taken bungee jumping ten times. Their entire beings were floating, their feet felt soft, their calves were shaking uncontrollably, and they could barely stand.
Only Drax was still snoring loudly in the cabin.
Actually, he had woken up several times in the middle, but because the ship was so bumpy and he wasn't wearing a seatbelt, he was like a bouncy ball hitting everything in the cabin. His head kept banging against hard objects, causing him to bounce back and forth between consciousness and fainting.
It was thanks to Drax's thick skin and tough flesh; if it had been Quill, he probably would have been knocked into a coma from the first hit.
At this moment, Darian slowly walked off the ship. Looking at the disheveled group, he shook his head gently. "This is all it takes to break you? You still need to train."
Quill and the others didn't argue—they didn't have the strength to. Their faces were pale from vomiting, their stomachs were already empty, yet they were still dry-heaving.
They silently swore in their hearts that they would never let Darian have the pilot's seat again. They would rather face Ronan and his Necrocorps than sit in a spaceship flown by Darian.
[Task 'Escape the Evil Clutches' settlement complete]
[Rewards Gained: 1500 EXP, 20 Guardians of the Galaxy Favorability, Equipment 'Rocket Jetpack', Item 'Raccoon']
[Equipment: Rocket Jetpack (Allows for rapid movement when worn on the back and enables brief flight; reduces fall damage from heights)]
[Item: Raccoon (Juvenile Instant Noodles)]
Was Rocket Raccoon split up into rewards?
Darian was somewhat speechless. Neither of these items was very useful to him; the Rocket Jetpack wasn't even as good as his Flying Broomstick.
As for this live Raccoon... he really couldn't think of what to do with it besides having it as a pet or backup food.
Darian looked away and turned his attention to his surroundings, finding the place full of life.
As far as the eye could see, there were lush forests with many strange creatures he had never seen before.
Above their heads, several small birds covered in fluffy fur with duck-like beaks were tilting their little heads, curiously observing the uninvited guests.
Looking at these fluffy little creatures, Darian couldn't help but smile. "How cute... they probably taste great."
Bird: Σ(°△°|||)
Half an hour later, a small campfire had been lit in the clearing next to the ship. Everyone sat in a circle, discarding their image as they wolfed down the skewers in their hands.
These wild game meats were caught by Quill and the others on their own initiative.
As soon as Quill heard Darian say he was going to make some barbecue, his eyes lit up instantly.
He immediately volunteered, ignoring his physical discomfort, and quickly called his companions to go catch some wild game.
The others were seeing Quill this excited for only the second time—the first was when he heard the Cosmic Orb could be exchanged for 4 billion units of currency. They couldn't help but wonder: was Darian's barbecue really that good?
Though full of doubt, they reluctantly believed him after Quill's repeated assurances. Plus, having vomited everything up earlier, their stomachs were indeed uncomfortably empty. So, they woke Drax up to go catch wild game together.
Drax had a bad case of morning grumpiness, shouting about going back to fight Ronan one-on-one. But when he heard dinner was being prepared, he decided to fight the guy after eating, reasoning that one only has strength when full.
And now, after trying Darian's skewers, most of them had only one thought in their minds.
So delicious!
Why most of them?
Because Groot doesn't eat meat and could only watch everyone else feast.
Not only that, he was also responsible for skewering the meat and adding firewood. After all, he was covered in ready-made branches; it would be a waste not to use them.
Groot: "I am Groot."
No one knew what Groot said, and those who might have known pretended they didn't.
Rocket Raccoon, his face glistening with grease, asked indistinctly, "So what's next? Ronan's Necrocorps must be searching the whole Universe for us. If we show our faces, there's a high probability they'll find us again."
Drax gripped his skewer tightly. "I want to go back and find Ronan! To take my revenge personally!"
Quill said helplessly, "Forget it. You couldn't even last a second against him. Going back is just suicide."
Drax stiffened his neck defiantly. "Who says I didn't last a second? I clearly lasted three seconds!"
Quill: "..."
Gamora wiped her mouth and suggested seriously, "I think we should still give the Cosmic Orb to the Nova Corps. That way, Ronan might stop bothering us, and it ensures the Cosmic Orb won't fall into the wrong hands."
"The Nova Corps is also bounty hunting us! What's the difference between looking for them and looking for Ronan? It's all walking into a trap!"
This suggestion was immediately met with unanimous opposition from the entire Guardians of the Galaxy.
Just look at how many stars were over their heads right now. Bringing the Cosmic Orb to the Nova Corps—wouldn't that be a double windfall for them?
They argued back and forth but couldn't reach a conclusion. They simply decided to set the matter aside for now; they were already drowning in debt anyway, so one more thing didn't matter.
At this point, Darian asked Rocket Raccoon, "Rocket, do you know how to build a spaceship?"
He hadn't forgotten the main purpose of this trip. Now that they couldn't return to the Knowhere, his only hope rested on Rocket Raccoon.
One must know that the game system's evaluation of Rocket Raccoon was that he was one of the smartest beings in the Universe.
Rocket Raccoon gave a contemptuous smile. "Build a spaceship? Isn't that something even kids can do?"
Everyone: "..."
Sorry, we're not even as good as kids.
Hearing Rocket Raccoon's words, Darian's eyes lit up. It seemed he had found the right person.
"That's great. I need you to help me design a set of spaceship blueprints."
"Why would I bother with something so troublesome?"
Rocket Raccoon refused flatly.
He was a very stubborn Raccoon. He would instinctively refuse anyone who approached him or any request made of him, yet deep down, he wanted to be needed.
Simply put, he was a tsundere.
Darian said cheerfully, "Don't be so quick to refuse. As long as you agree to design the spaceship for me, I'll give you a wife."
Rocket Raccoon: "???"
The others: "???"
Immediately after, Darian pulled out the juvenile Raccoon he had just obtained from the game warehouse.
As long as it was a reward issued by the game system, no matter the size or whether it was alive, it could be placed in the game warehouse.
"This... what is this?"
Rocket Raccoon's eyes bulged as he stared at the little fellow in front of him who looked almost exactly like himself. His whole body froze.
Since he gained consciousness, he had never seen another of his kind, nor did he know what his species was.
He had always thought he was just a particularly short alien. After all, the Universe was full of all sorts of bizarre aliens; even talking trees and rock people existed. An alien like him—small in stature, covered in fur,
with claws and a tail—wasn't too strange.
Darian explained, "This is a female Raccoon. Although she's still young, she can be your child bride."
"This is a Raccoon? I... am I really a Raccoon?"
Rocket Raccoon was completely dazed.
The Earthling Quill had used the word 'Raccoon' in front of him more than once. He had always thought it was some kind of obscure insult and would get furious every time, insisting he wasn't a Raccoon.
He never imagined that 'Raccoon' was actually a biological species.
Darian nodded.
"Yes, you are very famous where we come from, especially among children who really like you."
He really did like eating the instant noodles endorsed by the Raccoon when he was a kid.
Quill chimed in, "Raccoons are creatures unique to Earth. So, Darian and I are technically your fellow countrymen."
Rocket Raccoon was speechless for a moment, experiencing a sudden epiphany of self-discovery.
But he quickly reacted and glared at Quill in a rage. "Fuck, Quill! Why the hell didn't you tell me sooner? I thought 'Raccoon' was some derogatory term!"
Quill felt wronged too. "I thought you considered yourself human and couldn't accept the fact that you're a Raccoon. Every time I called you a Raccoon, you'd blow a fuse. Who knew you actually didn't understand?"
Drax crossed his arms and shook his head solemnly. "Why can't you all be as honest as I am?"
Darian said speechlessly, "That's because you're missing a few screws in your head."
"Impossible. I don't have screws in my head."
Darian: "..."
Damn, I actually tried to argue with this dimwit. Have I been infected by the silly vibe of this group?
Darian quickly shook his head and got back to the topic. "So, Rocket, do you agree or not?"
"No..."
Rocket Raccoon instinctively wanted to refuse.
But when he saw the young Raccoon looking at him with big, watery eyes, the refusal stuck in his throat.
"Fine. But let's get one thing straight: I'm not making any overly complicated blueprints."
Darian smiled slightly. "Don't worry, I wouldn't let you make it complicated even if you wanted to."
Then, he stated his specific requirements.
Darian's requirements were indeed not difficult. He only needed the spaceship to have basic functions, decent performance, and the ability to perform space jumps.
Most importantly, the spaceship had to be easy to manufacture, and the materials needed to be as common as possible.
This was because Darian was worried that if the design was too complex, Earth's current level of technology wouldn't be able to build it, or they wouldn't be able to find the corresponding materials. It was better to start with a basic model and progress step by step.