Marvel: The Sole Player

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Drax woke up from his coma, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Ronan lying on the ground, stone dead.

He froze for two seconds, then burst into loud laughter; he had finally avenged his wife and daughter.

After laughing, he pulled a dagger from his waist, prepared to cut off Ronan’s head to take back as an offering to his deceased family.

Darian reached out and stopped him: "Don’t do it. I promised Ronan I would send his body back to the Kree Empire intact. It must be sent back exactly as it is now."

Everyone looked at Ronan’s corpse, and thinking about that thing still hidden inside him, they couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy for the dead Kree.

This was probably worse than death, wasn’t it?

Quill urged: "We should leave quickly. Now that Ronan is dead, the Necrocorps on the perimeter are leaderless and will soon be dealt with by the Nova Corps. If the Nova Corps boards Ronan’s battleship, we’ll be in trouble."

Not even mentioning Yondu’s former Raiders members, every member of the Guardians of the Galaxy was an outlaw with an active warrant for prison escape.

If the Nova Corps came knocking, they might just arrest them all and take the first-class credit for killing Ronan for themselves.

Darian was unhappy upon hearing this: "What do you mean ’Ronan’s battleship’? This is my battleship. We Loot-Looters are law-abiding citizens... oh no, Star-citizens. How can the Nova Corps attack a law-abiding Star-citizen’s ship for no reason? Contact the Nova Corps for me; I want to talk to them."

Quill: "....."

Why did these words sound so familiar? It felt like he had heard them somewhere before.

And besides, since when were the Loot-Looters considered law-abiding citizens?

But under Darian’s command, Quill could only bite the bullet and send a communication request to the Nova Corps.

On the other side, a Nova Corps Officer was directing the attack on the Necrocorps when he saw a sudden communication request—it was actually coming from Ronan’s dark aster.

He felt a wave of confusion. After thinking for a moment, he pressed the connect button.

Then, Darian’s voice came through: "Hello, Officers of the Nova Corps. This is the Loot-Looters ship."

Nova Officer: "?"

What on earth?

Since when did Ronan’s dark aster change its name?

The Nova Officer reacted quickly, frowning as he asked: "Wait, you are the Loot-Looters?"

Recently, the Loot-Looters had become somewhat famous in the Milky Way Galaxy, and the Nova Empire had received some news about them.

However, the Loot-Looters only targeted those universally hated Raiders, never touched ordinary people, and hadn’t encroached on the Nova Empire’s territory. Therefore, the Nova Empire had no intention of interfering with them and was actually happy to see them succeed.

Darian admitted generously: "That’s right. Our battleship just happened to be passing through this battlefield and has no intention of participating in your fight."

The Nova Officer’s lip twitched.

Isn’t this Ronan’s battleship? When did it become your Loot-Looters’?

Before he could speak, Darian continued: "However, while passing by, we happened to find a corpse. It looks a lot like Ronan the Accuser of the Kree Empire."

The Nova Officer was shocked: "What did you say? Ronan’s corpse?!"

"Yes."

As soon as he spoke, a translucent panel popped up in front of the Nova Officer, showing the image of Ronan’s corpse.

He saw that Ronan’s face was frozen in an expression of terror, as if he had experienced something horrific before he died.

The Nova Officer was completely stunned.

He hadn’t expected that before they even breached the enemy’s formation, the enemy’s commander would suddenly drop dead.

But he wasn’t a fool; he immediately understood that Ronan must have been killed by these Loot-Looters, and he was deeply shocked.

As an enemy, he knew very well how dangerous Ronan was.

If Ronan were easy to deal with, the Nova Empire would have wiped him out long ago instead of tolerating his provocations and encroachments for so many years.

Yet, these Loot-Looters had managed to sneak onto Ronan’s dark aster without anyone noticing and even killed Ronan directly.

This level of strength was definitely not simple!

Darian continued: "We picked up Ronan’s body, but we didn’t see who the murderer was. Officers, could you help us investigate?"

The Nova Officer’s lip twitched slightly.

Did this even need investigating? The murderer’s name was practically written on his forehead.

But he didn’t expose them, his expression becoming solemn: "Investigating murderers is our duty. We will handle this matter seriously, please rest assured."

Darian said cheerfully: "I’m relieved to hear you say that, Officer. I was afraid someone would frame us Loot-Looters for this. We’ll leave Ronan’s body to you then, but I have one request: you must return Ronan’s body to the Kree Empire intact."

Hearing this, the Nova Officer was overjoyed.

This was a first-class credit being delivered right to his door!

Suppressing the urge to smile, he said with a straight face: "Rest assured, our Nova Empire and the Kree Empire have signed a peace treaty. Out of concern for our friendly neighbor, we will definitely return Ronan’s body intact."

After saying this, he felt great inside.

Although the two countries had signed a peace treaty, the Kree Empire had turned a blind eye to Ronan’s fanatical actions for years, allowing him to constantly violate the Nova Empire’s borders, never giving up on their desire to destroy the Nova Empire.

Now, it was perfect. He could already imagine the expressions on the faces of those in the Kree Empire when they sent Ronan’s body back.

"Then I’ll leave it to you."

Darian said, then suddenly asked: "By the way, is there a Good Star-Citizen Award for the person who found the body?"

The Nova Officer was taken aback: "Uh, yes, there is."

"Great, we Loot-Looters discovered it together. I’ll send you the list now. Remember to give each of us a Good Star-Citizen Award."

Soon, the Nova Officer received a list.

He clicked it open and said in surprise: "Why did you send the Nova Empire’s wanted list?"

Darian chuckled: "What wanted list? This is our Loot-Looters’ member list. They are all top-notch Good Star-Citizens."

Nova Officer: "..."

Do you Loot-Looters recruit people based on our wanted posters?

Almost every person on this list was a major fugitive wanted by the Nova Empire.

These weren’t Good Star-Citizens; they were clearly a bunch of outlaws!

The Nova Officer was silent for a few seconds before finally making a decision: "When I return, I will apply to my superiors to grant you the Good Star-Citizen Award."

Darian said with satisfaction: "Then thank you, Officer. If there’s nothing else, we’ll be going now."

The communication was cut, and he sent a Loot-Looter with Ronan’s body in a small ship toward the Nova Corps.

After completing all this, the dark aster turned around, its engines at full power, and plunged into the nearest space wormhole, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

The Necro-soldiers still fighting for their lives on the battlefield looked back and were all dumbfounded.

They, the grunts, were still risking their lives on the front lines, so how did their crystal Base ship just run away?

Seeing this, the Nova Corps fleet immediately took advantage of the momentum to push forward, launching a new round of offensive against the Necrocorps.

After seeing their Base flee, the Necro-soldiers lost all will to fight. They either surrendered or were annihilated by the Nova soldiers, and the situation was easily resolved in a short while.

A Nova soldier looked at the disappearing wormhole in the distance and couldn’t help asking the Nova Officer beside him: "Officer, Ronan’s dark aster has escaped. Should we send a fleet to pursue?"

The Nova Officer glanced at him: "You saw wrong. That was the Loot-Looters ship. They are law-abiding Star-citizens who helped us solve a big problem. Why would we chase them?"

Nova Soldier: "?"

At the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy, there was a sector of space shrouded in darkness year-round.

There sat a grand yet eerie sanctuary; no trace of any living creature could be seen for several light-years around.

This was a forbidden zone that no one dared to approach lightly because its Master was an existence that struck terror into the entire Milky Way Galaxy.

The Mad Titan, Thanos.

In the center of the Sanctuary, a massive throne hung in mid-air.

Seated upon it was a tall, purple figure.

He was burly with dark purple skin and several deep grooves on his chin like the ventral pleats of a whale. Golden armor encased his powerful physique. Even just sitting there quietly, he radiated an overwhelming pressure that made it hard to breathe.

"My Lord Thanos, Ronan is dead. The Nova Corps has taken his body back to the Nova Empire."

A soldier of The Black Order knelt at the bottom of the steps, his head almost touching the ground, not daring to look up at that terrifying figure.

The purple figure, Thanos, looked down at the soldier from his height, his voice deep and calm.

"How did he die?"

"According to the reports, there are two versions of Ronan’s death. The autopsy side is still deducing which one it was. One is that he was killed instantly by a blade piercing his brain. The other is... unyielding integrity."

Thanos: "?"

He didn’t doubt whether he had misheard; he only doubted if there was a problem with the information the soldier brought.

Unyielding integrity? What kind of strange way to die was that?

Thanos frowned, his tone deepening: "Is the source reliable?"

The soldier quickly replied: "Absolutely reliable. This is from the Nova Empire’s autopsy report. The report says they found a foreign object in Ronan’s rectum. Preliminary deductions suggest Ronan fought while clenching that object, leading to severe internal damage."

"The people in the Nova Empire are still examining the body. It’s currently unclear if this was Ronan’s personal fetish or caused by an enemy."

Thanos:"....", regardless of the result, it was quite absurd.

He was silent for a few seconds before deciding to skip the topic, asking in a heavy voice: "Who killed Ronan?"

"It should be the Loot-Looters. Specifically who it was is not yet clear."

"Loot-Looters?"

The soldier hurried to explain: "This is a newly emerged interstellar organization, famous for looting Raiders. So far, many Raiders have been looted by these Loot-Looters."

What kind of tongue twister was this?

Thanos never paid attention to interstellar gossip and had never heard of this organization.

He asked again: "What about Corvus Glaive? Ronan is dead, why has he not returned?"

The soldier hesitated, swallowing hard: "General Corvus Glaive... he is missing."

"Missing?"

Thanos repeated the word. His voice didn’t fluctuate, but the soldier felt an extremely terrifying pressure. His back was instantly soaked with cold sweat, and even breathing became difficult.

The soldier struggled to steady his trembling voice: "Y-yes. General Corvus Glaive has completely lost contact with us. No matter what means we use, we cannot reach him."

Thanos’s eyes suddenly turned cold.

He had previously sent Corvus Glaive to keep an eye on Ronan. Now Ronan was dead and Corvus Glaive was missing; these two events were bound to be related to those so-called Loot-Looters.

Ronan was incompetent and rebellious, refusing to be managed; his death was not to be pitied.

But Corvus Glaive was different.

He was one of the most capable generals among his Black Order, and the husband of another member, Proxima Midnight. Now that he was gone without a trace, it was undoubtedly a public challenge to his authority.

"Investigate thoroughly!"

Thanos clenched his golden gauntlet on his left hand, his voice low and icy: "Find that Loot-Looters organization for me. No matter which corner of the Universe they hide in, not a single member is to be spared!"

"Yes!"

"Furthermore, notify the other four of The Black Order to drop their current tasks and stand by."

Bohet Planet, the remote Planet where the Guardians of the Galaxy had previously hidden.

An incredibly massive black battleship sat quietly on the ground, causing a wave of panic among the native inhabitants of Bohet Planet.

Darian had originally intended to transport the dark aster directly back to the Moon, but the ship was too massive and would easily draw attention, so he teleported it to this secluded interstellar corner.

This trip had been very fruitful.

Not only did he get a dark aster for free, but the ship was also piled with various resources: weapons, energy, rare metals, and interstellar currency—everything one could want.

As one of the three major interstellar empires, one could imagine how deep the Kree Empire’s pockets were.

And Ronan, as The Accuser of the Kree Empire, was a tycoon among tycoons; his personal wealth was far greater than all the Raiders Darian had looted combined.

Now that Ronan was dead, these ownerless items naturally all belonged to Darian.

The Nova Empire’s actions were also extremely fast.

Before long, they had issued the Good Star-Citizen Awards and, along the way, revoked the warrants for all members.

The members of the Loot-Looters had suddenly gone from wanted criminals to law-abiding Star-citizens, successfully clearing their names. They no longer had to hide, and they finally didn’t have to worry about being arrested while watching a concert.

But Quill wasn’t happy at all.

Because he had become a little pink man; he was pink from head to toe, including the pair inside his pants.

Drax walked over, looked him up and down, and praised him sincerely: "Quill, this outfit of yours is truly domineering!"

The others nodded one after another, their expressions so sincere they didn’t seem to be joking.

Quill: "..."

He had ten thousand curses he wanted to say in his heart, but looking at the smiling Darian nearby, he forced himself to swallow them back down.

Influenced by Darian, except for Quill and Darian themselves—the two Earthlings—everyone else unanimously agreed that pink was a symbol of power.

In their eyes, Quill’s pink was simply domineering, walking with a breeze, radiating an aura nearly three meters high.

In fact, many people were also itching to get themselves a set of pink battle robes.

But Darian had said that pink wasn’t something just anyone could pull off. Only someone with a very high status, like the Vice Captain who served as the face of the team, was qualified to wear pink.

Hearing this, although the others were a bit disappointed, they felt it made sense.

Of course, the real reason was that Darian didn’t want to see a line of little pink men standing under him, especially since they were all burly, rough guys. Just thinking about that image was an eyesore.

One Quill was already more than enough.

Quill forced a smile and waved his hand at everyone: "Keep it low-key, keep it low-key. As long as you work hard, you can be like me in the future."

He secretly vowed in his heart that this secret must be kept.

From now on, pink was the symbol of strength. No matter who said otherwise, it wouldn’t work!