Chapter 787: First Encounter
If there were a regret pill, Rocket would need it the most.
Once, a windfall was right before his eyes, but he lost that immense fortune due to a moment’s greed.
He swore he wouldn’t be lured by small gains again if given another chance.
Surrounded by the Nova Corps, Rocket wore a look of despair on his face.
It wasn’t because of his impending capture but because he knew that immense fortune was about to be confiscated by these jerks.
Groot, Rocket, Star-Lord, and Gamora all looked at each other with resentment.
Under the pale yellow light of the gravity beams, escape was impossible.
Even if they could break free from the gravity beams, the Nova Corps were not to be underestimated—they could kill them in minutes.
How had things come to this?
The whole situation began just a few minutes earlier...
Due to his dragon-like greed, Rocket decided to make one last score.
Star-Lord had a bounty of forty thousand for his capture, posted by the Ravagers. Confident in their abilities, Rocket dragged Groot along as he followed.
Unfortunately, Star-Lord had survived among the Ravagers not only because of Yondu’s patronage but also due to his keen awareness. Sensing he was being followed, he immediately moved into a crowded area.
"Damn it, he noticed us!"
Rocket saw Star-Lord’s suspicious behaviour and hurriedly called Groot to follow, planning to take action immediately.
However, a few twists and turns later, Rocket and his team lost track of him.
Groot, exhausted, lay down by a fountain to drink, while Rocket, gritting his teeth, cursed: "Damn smartass, his alertness is high. No wonder the Ravagers want him. I refuse to believe we can’t catch him!"
Yes, he wasn’t ready to give up.
After searching the nearby streets, Rocket heard a commotion when he was about to give up.
Fortune favours the persistent, and their efforts were not in vain.
The Star-Lord they had been desperately searching for was not far away, grappling with a green-skinned woman.
A public fight between a man and a woman, with punches and kicks exchanged, soon drew a large crowd. Some onlookers even started cheering for them.
In the scuffle, it was ultimately Gamora who had the upper hand.
She kicked Star-Lord in the face and, amidst his painful screams, flipped over, picked up a fallen metal orb, and dashed away. But before she could get far, she was paralysed by an electric shock and fell to the ground.
"You dare steal from me? You’ve got some nerve. Let’s see how I teach you a lesson!"
Star-Lord wiped the footprints from his face, fuming, and ran over, ready to teach this "stinky woman" a lesson.
But he hadn’t taken many steps before he was suddenly struck on the head with a blunt object.
Of course, Rocket had sneaked up and, wielding the stolen Zanpakuto, aimed at the back of Star-Lord’s head and struck hard, fearing Star-Lord might retaliate and hit him again.
Fortunately, the Zanpakuto was sheathed; otherwise, Rocket’s blows could have been fatal.
This caused Lord, who was watching the scene, to sweat profusely. He hadn’t expected Rocket to be so violent; his method of delivering a blunt strike was so expert that it was clear he was a seasoned practitioner, perfectly gauging the limits of human endurance.
Bang—
A cringe-worthy buzz resonated, and Star-Lord’s head buzzed as he collapsed to the ground.
Although his physique was unique and more robust than an average human’s, two blows to the back of the head meant he only stayed conscious, dizzy, and saw stars, unable to stand up.
"Done!"
Rocket clapped his hands, tossed the Zanpakuto to Groot, and grinned, "Groot, bag this guy."
Groot, pulling out a sack from nowhere, was about to bag Star-Lord when several tractor beams suddenly descended from above, and a Nova Corps ship appeared, surrounding everyone involved.
What followed was as described at the beginning.
"That girl... is quite interesting."
Unohana looked at Gamora, her gaze filled with a mysterious hue: "She seems a lot like me, yet different. I can see in her eyes a fierce hatred."
"Oh, to catch your interest."
With his hands in his sleeves, Lord chuckled, "Let me guess, are you planning to take her as your apprentice?"
"Not necessarily; it depends on whether she has the talent." Unohana did not deny it, smilingly said: "The thing you’re looking for has appeared. Aren’t you going to make a move now?"
"Taking it now would be so boring."
Lord shook his head with a smile, "Let’s wait a bit longer. Besides... I’m also looking forward to meeting another person."
"May I ask who?" inquired Unohana.
"A... Collector."
As the two conversed, the four below were already restrained.
While being escorted back, Rocket inadvertently glanced up and noticed the two people from whom he had stolen, watching them from the crowd, the man wearing an ambiguous smile.
"Those two swords, keep them with you for now."
"If you find yourself in danger, shout ’Justice prevails’ three times, and you might be pleasantly surprised."
A voice suddenly resonated in Rocket’s mind.
Rocket’s pupils dilated, and then he realised the two people had vanished.
Just a second ago, they were there, but in the blink of an eye, they had disappeared, and no one around seemed to notice, as if only he could see them.
The swords... to be kept...
Rocket suddenly looked at Groot’s back, where the two seemingly ordinary swords were stored.
His animal instincts told him he might have crossed paths with some significant player, and maybe even getting caught had something fishy about it!
Greedy, indeed!
Had he known, he would not have coveted that forty thousand, and then he might not have been captured by the Nova Corps!
Rocket was now blue with regret...
After being arrested by the Nova Corps, the four, due to multiple legal violations and connections with notorious figures like Ronan’s associate and Thanos’s adopted daughter Gamora, were naturally deemed to be accomplices and were incarcerated in the highest-security prison—the Kyln.
Located in an asteroid belt, ordinary spacecraft couldn’t approach it.
The defensive force of the prison and its security were of the highest standard in the Nova Empire. No prisoner ever escaped from there; it was indeed a fortress.
But to Rocket, this was a trivial challenge.
Having crisscrossed the cosmos for so many years with a record of 22 successful escapes, he hardly considered the Kyln a threat.
"Hey, you’ve been zoning out since you got here."
Now in a yellow prison uniform, Star-Lord sat on the bed sullenly, eyeing the still-distracted raccoon, "Are you dumb, or can’t you talk? Damn, I was ambushed by a raccoon."
"Shut up, idiot!"
Rocket glared at him, retorting, "Because of you, I lost tens of millions of Nova credits!"
"Maybe check yourself in the mirror before you brag next time?" Star-Lord laughed heartily, "You, a lousy mercenary, where would you get tens of millions?"
"It was what I stole, and shut up, idiot!"
Rocket crossed his arms, clearly unhappy, "But this is too strange. Those two seemed to have noticed me but did nothing to stop me. I feel like they had some kind of plan."
The disappearance of the two and the inexplicable circumstance of their unnoticed presence left him unsettled.
It seemed the matter wasn’t over, and the two ordinary-looking swords, stolen and brought here with him, might just involve some more considerable intrigue.
