Beating Ronan Down

"Quill, Drax…" Rocket murmured as he looked at the people sprawled on the ground. Ronan had already arrived on Xandar and was about to unleash the Power Stone’s power to destroy the planet, yet they had no way to stop him. Not only them—even the Xandarians had no solution.

"Your Excellency Empress, the ship is ready. Please leave immediately!" a general said solemnly to the Empress.

"No. Even if Xandar is destroyed, I will perish with it. There are still billions of citizens on this planet. How could I flee alone?" the Empress said in a low voice.

"But…"

The general wanted to say more, but the Empress interrupted him.

"No more buts. Give the order: aim all weapons at Ronan. Even if we die, we’ll drag him down with us!" the Empress said with a wave of her hand.

"Yes, ma’am!"

The general accepted the order and left. The Empress remained behind, calmly watching the screen. On it, Ronan gazed wildly over Xandar’s land. Thinking of his father and grandfather who had died on the battlefield, as well as his family members and countless Kree, he was ultimately just an avenger seeking revenge against his enemies for his fallen people and family.

There was no right or wrong in war. Between two races, two nations, or even two civilizations, there was no right or wrong—only victory and defeat.

The Guardians of the Galaxy had failed to stop his plan. Next came the moment for him to destroy Xandar and fulfill the mad ambition he had harbored for so long.

"Die, Nova Empire! Xandarians!" Ronan roared madly, swinging his war hammer down at the ground, about to activate the Power Stone and destroy Xandar.

At that moment, a hand firmly seized the war hammer just before it struck the ground.

"That’s not how you use the Power Stone!"

A calm voice reached his ears. Feeling the immense force on his hand, preventing him from smashing the war hammer into the ground, Ronan’s expression changed. The madness on his face froze as he turned around and saw an ordinary-looking young man standing before him, gripping the war hammer with one hand and forcibly blocking his downward strike.

"Damn it, who are you?" Ronan yanked hard at the war hammer, trying to reclaim it, but failed. Xiao Hen’s strength was far beyond anything he could match. Even with the Power Stone, he was still utterly vulnerable before Xiao Hen. Leaving aside the fact that Xiao Hen possessed more Infinity Stones than he did, Ronan could not compare to him in raw strength alone.

"Who am I? Perhaps you’ve heard of me. I’m from Earth!" Xiao Hen suddenly smiled. With a burst of force from his hand, bang! The war hammer shattered, and the Power Stone fell through the air into his other hand, leaving him completely unharmed.

"H-how is this possible…? You… you can hold an Infinity Stone in your hand?" Ronan had studied the Power Stone carefully after obtaining it. Mortals simply could not hold any Infinity Stone, yet this man was grasping the Power Stone without suffering any harm. What was going on?

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Earthlings are merely mortals. If you really are from Earth, you can’t possibly hold the Power Stone!" Ronan roared. He did know of Earthlings—they were merely weak mortals. One Kree could fight a hundred Earthlings. How could such ant-like Earthlings possess an Infinity Stone? What a joke.

"That only proves your ignorance." Xiao Hen shook his head, kicked Ronan flying, then lowered his gaze to the Power Stone in his hand.

The Power Stone was purple. The six Infinity Stones came in different colors, each with different effects and functions. Just as Xiao Hen had said earlier, that was not how the Power Stone was meant to be used. Ronan had merely wielded it with brute force, simply guiding its power to destroy Xandar.

In truth, the six Infinity Stones represented the universe’s six fundamental forces.

The Time Stone represented the laws of time. The Space Stone represented the laws of space. The Soul Stone could control souls. The Mind Stone represented the power of the mind’s laws. The Reality Stone represented the laws of matter. As for the Power Stone, it represented nothing other than energy.

All manifestations of the universe’s laws could be categorized into these six aspects: energy, matter, time, space, mind, and soul. They were the fundamental components of the universe, and also its most important parts.

When it came to the use of Infinity Stones, Thanos was the one who had studied them most deeply. He had coveted the Infinity Stones for a long time. To reach the Death Goddess’s level and become worthy of her, Thanos, a powerful member of the Titan race, had planned far ahead and begun making moves against the Infinity Stones long ago.

For example, the Mind Stone in Xiao Hen’s possession had once been in Thanos’s hands. However, Thanos had been playing a larger game. He gave the Mind Stone to Loki, intending to use Loki to trigger chaos and war on Earth and draw out the other Infinity Stones. After all, the stones were scattered across the universe and were not so easy to find.

Thanos’s plan had been fairly successful. The Mind Stone played a major role in Loki’s hands, successfully drawing out the Cosmic Cube that contained the Space Stone, and even the Time Stone hidden within the Eye of Agamotto. However, before Thanos could reel in his net, Xiao Hen intercepted the Cosmic Cube midway. Thus, Xiao Hen and Thanos were destined to clash sooner or later. In fact, they had begun competing against each other long ago.

"Give me back the Power Stone!" Ronan struggled to climb to his feet. Xiao Hen’s kick had not been light, but the Kree’s powerful physique had forcibly endured the blow without killing him.

"Without the Power Stone, you’re just a jumping clown. Do you think Thanos never calculated that you would betray him?" Xiao Hen sneered. Thanos was no fool. If he had sent Ronan to obtain the Power Stone for him, would he not have considered the possibility of betrayal?

Come to think of it, whether it was someone like Ronan or his own daughters, Gamora and Nebula, all of Thanos’s subordinates had betrayed him. That man’s ranks were practically a nest of traitors, with every one of them wanting to break away and establish themselves independently. It was clear just how little support Thanos had.

"Why are you stopping me from taking revenge? Who exactly are you? Did Thanos send you?" When Ronan chose to betray Thanos, he had considered that Thanos might come after him. He had originally expected such a thing to happen only after he successfully destroyed Xandar. Yet at this critical moment, someone had unexpectedly appeared to interfere.

"Thanos? You’re mistaken. I’m not on Thanos’s side!" With a flick of his hand, Xiao Hen put away the Power Stone. Then, unhurriedly, he said, "My purpose is the same as his. I came for the Infinity Stones, and I’ll be taking this Power Stone!"

"As for you, you can die now."

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