yournovel Chapter 369 A Shot from Behind
Chapter 369 A Shot from Behind
Chapter 369 A Shot in the Back
This little trick of hiring a mercenary to secretly send a message naturally did not escape Joey's eyes, which could detect all electromagnetic wave activity and the movement of other energy particles.
The weapons in the hands of these people posed far too little of a threat to Joey. He ignored their threat and stepped forward. To avoid any complications, he had no choice but to resort to violence.
After all, a powerful figure who often sat in various chairs once said, "If you want it, you have to take it yourself."
It's certainly wrong to directly steal from others, but considering that the Kree Empire is an empire known for its military expansion and already has a bad reputation, and that the bigwig behind these mercenaries, "Ronan the Accuser," is even more of a heavyweight.
Even within such an extreme empire, he was often labeled a radical "fanatic." His attitude towards races he disliked was always to exterminate them on the spot. Compared to him, Adolf, who "held Legalist ideas" on Earth, and other humanoid planets were all moderates.
Joey didn't feel any guilt about robbing people like that.
Moreover, this is a Power Gem, capable of unleashing the power to destroy an entire planet in an instant. If it falls into the hands of someone like this, who knows what kind of disaster it will cause.
In a flash, Joey pulled the cosmic orb containing the Power Stone from the other's waist: "Is this it?"
The sphere's material didn't feel particularly special; its outer metal shell was etched with concentric hollow patterns. But strangely, beneath these hollow patterns lay complete darkness. Even when Joey tried to see through the internal structure, he found that his super vision couldn't penetrate what was inside: "That's right, it seems to be this thing."
"You—when did you take it?!" The mercenary leader before him finally realized that the cosmic orb in his pocket was gone. "That belongs to Ronan the Accuser. Give it back, and I won't say it a second time!"
Superman's speed left the mercenaries speechless. His speed exceeded the sensory reaction of everyone present, and he stole the cosmic orb without anyone noticing.
"Fire!"
With the cosmic orb stolen, the dozen soldiers present pulled the triggers without hesitation, even without the mercenary leader's reminder.
"Oh! Don't be impulsive!"
The instant the enemy fired, Star-Lord had already darted behind Joey's large cloak, grabbing the latter's shoulder: "You can fly, right? Fly away!"
It wasn't because he knew Superman was invulnerable; it was simply because he had grown up among a group of raiders and developed an almost passive survival instinct. When faced with danger, he would naturally find a suitable unlucky person to take the fall.
Superman had better be prepared to provoke so many armed thugs. Ideally, he should take off and run away with them. If that's not possible, he could at least become a human shield for himself.
However, Joey had no intention of running away. The powerful firepower, which was enough to tear apart some vehicles head-on, bombarded Superman's chest, but only produced sparks that were neither painful nor itchy.
In Joey's opinion, this kind of conventional firepower, let alone him, could probably be blocked without injury even by Batman's wrist armor.
Shrapnel flew everywhere, startling Star-Lord, who was hiding behind Joey, who scrambled across the ground. He rolled away first, escaping through the gap created by the earlier blast: "Don't get hurt! He's the one who took your Orbs, not me!"
After emptying all the bullets in the magazine, the mercenary captain pulled the trigger in the air, making a clicking sound.
Realizing the bullets were useless, he was filled with rage and, driven by malice, pulled a dagger from his pocket, roared, and stabbed it towards Joey's waist: "Die!"
Joey didn't even bother to dodge. With a ripping sound, the Kree Empire's military dagger was compressed into a twisted and bent piece of scrap metal by the combined effect of the opponent's enhanced flesh and steel body.
"Why bother?" Without dodging or flinching, Joey slapped the other man across the cheek, knocking the oddball to the ground. "You didn't even use a gun, why a dagger?"
You wouldn't understand.
The mercenary captain, who had just tried to kill Superman with a dagger, was now experiencing a ringing in his ears. If his body hadn't been enhanced, that slap would probably have been enough to send him to meet his great-grandmother.
Even so, he still felt his consciousness sinking, and he saw stars. It's no exaggeration to say that Superman's slap almost made him have a deathbed flashback.
As for why they were so eager to take the slap, there were naturally underlying reasons.
As someone who works under Ronan, the most powerful military leader in the Kree Empire, how could he not know that a dagger is useless?
It was simply because he had a deep enough understanding of his master, the accuser Ronan.
Ronan wasn't afraid of his subordinates making stupid mistakes, but he couldn't tolerate his employees doing nothing.
It's a matter of strength if Superman takes the Orb from you, but if you just stand by and watch Superman take it away without doing anything, then it becomes a matter of attitude.
Whether Superman kills him outright or spares his life, it's better than returning empty-handed and unharmed.
If he can't give Ronan an explanation, then Ronan will have to give him an explanation with the hammer in his hand.
The remaining mercenaries changed their magazines and tried to fire again, but Joey struck with both palms, and the huge shockwave knocked all the soldiers down, unable to get up again.
"Klass, my name is Klass."
Lying on the ground, mercenary captain Krass, seeing that all was lost and knowing he was truly helpless, decided to leave his last words: "I was born in—".
That concludes my self-introduction.
Joey didn't care who the other party was, where they came from, or where they were going. After eliminating these threats that were not a threat to him, he finally had time to open the Cosmic Orb and obtain the Power Stone.
Then he discovered a problem—
"Which ball is this?"
The Cosmic Orb has its own unique material and patterns, so much so that even Joey couldn't see through it. But this one was clearly different. Both in appearance and in its internal structure, it was completely different from the one he had just put away.
Click!
Joey crushed the ordinary storage ball containing a rag doll to pieces. Looking up at space, he saw a spaceship flash by and jump into the unknown deep space of the universe.
Upon seeing this, Joey was both angry and amused.
One was angry at his own carelessness, and the other was amazed that Star-Lord was no slacker; at least his pickpocketing skills were almost on par with Batman's.
Ta-da~ Ta-da~ Ta-da~ We're ostrangers to love♪
Beyond the planet, Star-Lord had already sneaked away, gotten into his vehicle, tossed the cosmic orb he'd just grabbed onto the control panel, and habitually turned on the jukebox: "You know the rules, and so do I—♪"
As the familiar "Never Give Up" began playing from the spaceship's speakers, Star-Lord clapped along with the song, quickly pushed the warp switch, abandoning his dear fellow Earthling, Superman, and made his escape: "Goodbye, Superman! And hello, 20 million credits!"
In this dangerous star field, the only rule is that there are no rules. Although he doesn't do much burning, killing, looting, or plundering, he is already very skilled at cheating, deceiving, and stealing.
This is him, Star-Lord, a raider who knows how to survive.