Arrogance and Prejudice

Sovereign, the galactic defense center.

The magnificent hall was filled with an air of luxury. People of all kinds came and went, bustling about nonstop.

The alarm suddenly sounded.

Everyone froze, then turned toward the warrior at the monitoring station.

"Commander, an unidentified warship has jumped in at the edge of the galaxy. The forward sentry satellites never received an access request from them."

"Then sink them." The commander, clad in glittering gold, waved his hand dismissively and said with indifference, "There are always some clueless fools who think they can run amok in the Sovereign galaxy. Hopefully, death will teach them a lesson."

At his command, the soldiers cheered, abandoned their work, and ran to the remote fighter control consoles, beginning what felt like a combat game.

Because of Sovereign’s immense power, few Ravagers or other forces came to cause trouble in Sovereign territory, so opportunities for real, live-fire combat were rare.

Having caught such a good opportunity, everyone wanted to fire a few extra shots and pad their combat records.

Soon, the remote fighter squadron took off from the planetary base and jumped forward in the direction from which the enemy had come.

After many days of prolonged jumping and sailing through space, Zhan Liu’s warship finally reached the Sovereign galaxy.

It was now not far from the Sovereign homeworld.

Normally, when entering the territory of a powerful nation, one had to send an access request to the ruling planet of that territory to state one’s identity and intentions.

Otherwise, one would be considered hostile.

But Zhan Liu knew nothing about such procedures, while the Kree warriors controlling the warship had spent a long time wandering through space with Ronan, hunted by everyone wherever they went.

They had long since abandoned the formal visitation habits they had possessed as regular soldiers.

As for the Ravagers aboard the warship, there was even less chance they would bother with an access request.

In the end, after the warship jumped out, it did nothing at all before brazenly charging straight toward Sovereign.

Although Zhan Liu’s warship had not been detected by Sovereign’s satellites, the approach of such a large number of fighters could not possibly remain hidden.

The warship soon picked up the news as well and reported it to Zhan Liu.

Back then, a group of Sovereign people had gotten their hands itchy and damaged his luxurious spaceship, forcing him to carry Valkyrie through the vast universe for two days.

To make matters worse, those fighters had all been remote-controlled machines, so he had been unable to vent his anger on anyone.

After so many days of exhausting travel, most of Zhan Liu’s anger had already dissipated.

He had even abandoned the thought of slaughtering his way through Sovereign.

But the arrogant Sovereign people had once again provoked his fury.

"Heh. I haven’t even gone after them yet, and they’ve already come up to provoke the tiger again!"

"In that case, bring the warship in. Launch our fighters too. Don’t conserve energy!"

"Take apart all those remote-controlled toys, then head to the Sovereign homeworld and have a proper talk with their High Priestess!"

Powered by infinite Nova Energy, Zhan Liu spared no expense.

He immediately pushed the warship’s shields to maximum strength and charged forward without restraint.

When the two sides closed in and opened fire, the warship’s hatches swung wide, and a swarm of fighters dove straight toward the Sovereign fleet.

Interstellar warfare was all about energy.

As long as one’s energy shields were not overloaded and breached, there was no need to worry about combat losses.

Sovereign’s fighters were more numerous, but since they were mass-produced remote-controlled craft, the energy they carried was limited.

After a fierce battle, this Sovereign fleet was completely wiped out.

In truth, not a single Sovereign soldier had died, but the destruction of so many remote fighters still left the planetary defense commander thoroughly humiliated.

"Where did these bandits come from?"

"They actually dared to fire back at the Sovereign fleet!"

"Unforgivable!"

"Immediately send out ten times as many fighters and wipe them all out!"

The commander was so furious that his golden face darkened.

He waved his hands and roared, directing even more soldiers into the battle.

"Commander, we’ve identified the origin of this warship."

"It is Ronan the Accuser’s warship. But according to the latest intelligence, the person currently controlling it is Zhan Liu."

"That is the man who once stole our Super Energy Battery and ambushed and destroyed our remote fighter squadron."

"After we placed him under pursuit, he was driven into a corner and sought refuge with Thanos. With the help of Gamora and Nebula, he killed Ronan and Yondu, seizing Ronan’s army and Yondu’s Ravagers."

"Rumor has it that he has now become the sixth member of the Black Order, outside the original five."

"His return this time may be specifically for revenge."

Although this intelligence had been pieced together from fragments and was wildly inaccurate, its final conclusion was somehow correct.

One could only say that Sovereign’s intelligence personnel were quite capable.

Upon hearing that Zhan Liu was connected to Thanos, the commander frowned, sensing trouble.

As a cosmic overlord, Thanos’s reputation was something even the Sovereign people could not ignore.

But as a proud Sovereign, he did not care about one of Thanos’s lackeys.

"No one may cause trouble on Sovereign, not even the Black Order!"

"Activate the remote-controlled warships and provide energy support for the fighters."

"We must keep the war away from the homeworld."

Because they feared Thanos, the commander of Sovereign’s forces immediately played his trump card.

The intensity of the war instantly escalated.

Backed by the vast resources of an entire planet, countless remote-controlled fighters and a considerable number of remote-controlled warships took off and surrounded Zhan Liu’s forces.

The boundless starry sky was covered by Sovereign’s warships and fighters, blocking out the entire view.

No matter how many remote fighters were destroyed, even more would immediately replace them from behind.

No warship’s energy reserves, no matter how great, could compare with the enormous resources of an entire planet.

Even the so-called infinite energy of the Nova Force had a limit on its output rate.

Gradually, casualties began to mount on Zhan Liu’s side.

The Ravagers were affected the most, their morale falling as fear of battle began to spread.

"Tsk! What a bunch of useless trash!"

Zhan Liu was extremely dissatisfied with the battle and complained, "How did my subordinates end up as a bunch of losers who can only bully the weak?"

"Now you can’t even bully the weak properly!"

"Looks like once I return to Earth, I’ll have to recruit a few more disciples."

"Surely I can’t personally handle every little problem as the boss?"

After muttering for a while, Zhan Liu waved his hand in frustration.

"Forget it, forget it. Send out the super-soldiers!"

Among Zhan Liu’s subordinates, the only ones truly capable of flying freely through the cosmic void and serving as super-soldiers were the newly recruited Nova Corps centurions recruited by Worldmind.

More specifically, they were Valkyrie, Gamora, and Quill.

The other Nova soldiers were still too weak and had not reached the centurion level.

But those three alone were already enough.

Although Sovereign’s technology was advanced, it had no super-soldiers.

Against three top-level cosmic powerhouses like Valkyrie, the weakness of Sovereign’s lack of high-end combat power was exposed without reserve.

The warships and fighters filling the sky had no effect at all. They merely wasted a little of the three women’s time before being swept away.

The flames of exploding fighters illuminated the entire starry sky, like one twinkling star after another had been scattered across the night.

No matter how fast the fighters could be produced, they could not match the speed at which the super-soldiers destroyed them.

Before long, the starry sky fell silent.

Wreckage from the explosions drifted everywhere through the cold void.

The final defenses outside Sovereign were completely destroyed.

Zhan Liu’s warship charged straight in and continued toward the Sovereign homeworld.

"Martial God, Sovereign is requesting communications."

"Put it through."

Zhan Liu was sprawled on a sofa with his legs crossed, raising a cup with several of his victorious subordinates.

Hearing this, he also wanted to see how the defeated Sovereign people intended to beg for mercy.

After the video connected, a light screen appeared before the seats.

A richly dressed woman appeared within it.

Her entire body glittered gold. She sat high atop a golden throne, her chin slightly raised, her gaze still arrogant.

"I am High Priestess Ayesha, the supreme ruler of Sovereign, bearer of the purest and most noble bloodline."

"If you leave immediately and depart from Sovereign, I can make an exception and forgive your previous crimes, as well as withdraw the warrant for your arrest."

Quill, who had been drinking, choked on her words and began coughing violently.

He stared at her in shock.

"We weren’t the ones who lost that battle, were we?" Quill asked Zhan Liu hesitantly.

"Sovereign people, huh? They sure are arrogant!" This was Zhan Liu’s first time dealing with Sovereign, and he was extremely displeased by High Priestess Ayesha’s expression, which seemed to say that even speaking to them was a gift.

Ayesha also saw the expressions on Zhan Liu and the others’ faces.

She frowned slightly, hesitated, then suppressed her anger and said, "I am no longer pursuing you for the crime of stealing the Super Energy Battery, nor will I pursue your invasion of Sovereign. That is already an immense act of grace."

"You should know how to be grateful. Don’t push your luck!"

Zhan Liu chuckled, waved a hand, and cut off the communication.

He was already too lazy to continue talking.

If we’re comparing who’s more unreasonable, Ayesha, you’re still nowhere close!

"Quill, I have a mission for you. Go capture that glittering old woman and bring her here."

"Uh… Wouldn’t that completely enrage Sovereign? Their influence in the universe is still quite considerable." Quill grew timid and was reluctant to go.

"Tsk!" Zhan Liu shot him a disdainful look and mocked him. "Quill, you still look like the same loser. You still haven’t developed the awareness of a strong person."

"Do we need to care about offending them?"

"Now, they’re the ones who need to be afraid of offending me!"

"Strong people have the privilege of not being reasonable!"

"Or rather, strength is reason!"

"Gamora, you go!"

Gamora glanced at Quill without saying a word.

She rose, flew out of the warship, and headed straight for Sovereign.

Ever since the two of them had fallen out last time, they had not exchanged a single word whenever they met.

Even when the three of them fought just now, each had fought independently, without the slightest coordination.

But in truth, Quill and Gamora still had feelings for each other.

It was only because of the knot between them that they had yet to reconcile.

But now Quill realized that Gamora was actually different from him.

The reason Quill had refused to capture High Priestess Ayesha was not merely because of his loser mentality.

There was another important reason: capturing her would inevitably lead to a fierce clash with Sovereign’s ground forces.

In other words, he would most likely have to slaughter the entire High Priestess’s guard before he could bring Ayesha back.

And Quill was unwilling to commit such a massacre.

Gamora had followed Thanos from a young age.

She had witnessed the destruction of cities, the annihilation of nations, and even the destruction of planets countless times.

Although she did not like such things, her inner resistance was far weaker than Quill’s.

Gamora did not inherently like killing people, but if Thanos ordered her to kill, she would never show mercy.

The same held true when Zhan Liu gave the order.

Gamora was not a murderous maniac, but she was certainly no innocent saint.

It was only that when she and Quill had been together in the past, she had never had the opportunity to display this side of herself.

After realizing this, Gamora’s image in Quill’s heart collapsed in an instant.

She was no longer the lover he had once known.

Quill’s emotions churned beside them, and he was filled with gloom and sorrow.

But no one cared.

Everyone was focused on Gamora’s performance in battle on Sovereign.

Sovereign’s remote-control technology was truly impressive.

It had penetrated every part of the planet, to the point that even the ground forces consisted entirely of remote-controlled mechanized robots.

Facing the robot army surging toward her like a tidal wave, Gamora seemed to have activated an invincible mode and slaughtered her way through them.

Her exaggerated performance left every spectator salivating, especially Nebula, whose eyes had turned red.

She was jealous!

Why?

Why was this fair?

Thanos valued Gamora because Gamora could always win in combat matches.

But in this Nova soldier selection, why had Gamora been able to pass while she could not?

She thought about it again and again and came up with only one possibility: the influence of her half-robotic body.

And those lost body parts had been removed by Thanos after she lost one sparring match after another against Gamora.

The more she thought about it, the more she hated!

The more she thought about it, the more she hated!

She hated it so much!

Suddenly, a violent explosion on the screen drew her attention back.

Gamora, who had charged forward without pause, had finally forced Sovereign to bring out its last trump card.

Sovereign’s Super Energy Battery was both an energy source and a weapon.

Seeing that it could not stop Gamora’s advance, the High Priestess was forced to detonate the Super Energy Battery like a bomb.

According to the warship’s observations, the violent explosion flattened everything within a hundred miles and created a gigantic crater on Sovereign.

Seen from space, it looked like a scar on the planet’s face that could never be erased.

The screen zoomed in, clearly showing that Gamora’s lower body had vanished in the explosion.

She lay in the crater, barely clinging to life.