Bridge of Fate!

Seeing Congxin One restored to its normal size, Rocket Raccoon was so shocked that his mouth fell open. "Oh my God! I’ve never piloted such a huge spaceship before!"

"I am Groot!"

"Fine, I admit I’ve never even seen such a huge spaceship before, but you didn’t have to say it out loud, Groot! You’re making me look bad!"

"I am Groot!"

Watching the little raccoon and the giant tree argue as usual, Li Congxin couldn’t help finding it amusing. "Actually, if you didn’t translate it, nobody would understand what Groot was trying to say."

Received 999 Impression Points from Rocket!

Never break up a funny scene!

They were all so straightforward, completely ignorant of the art of subtlety. It was simply too much!

Led by Li Congxin, everyone entered the spaceship. Rocket Raccoon quickly familiarized himself with Congxin One’s operating system, and moments later, he had already started it up with practiced ease. "Your Highness, piloting such a powerful spaceship for the first time feels amazing. You won’t mind if I send the coordinates to those arrogant bitches from the Sovereign and borrow your spaceship to give them a good thrashing, will you?"

Rocket Raccoon was the type who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside. Though he clearly had a gentle heart, he preferred to hide it behind his bad temper.

His proposal was a good example. He didn’t really want to cause trouble for no reason. He simply felt a little embarrassed and intended to annoy Li Congxin by using this opportunity to get back at him.

Hearing this, Li Congxin suddenly came up with an interesting idea. With great interest, he said, "You need my authorization to use the spaceship’s communications system. But if you’re willing to join the Avengers, I can appoint you as the commander of Congxin One. Every function of the spaceship will be open to you, including the communications system you just mentioned."

Rocket might have been small, but he was absolutely a rare talent.

Not only did he possess considerable combat ability, he was also a master-level mechanic who had mastered extremely advanced Cosmic Level mechanical knowledge. At the same time, he was one of the finest pilots in the universe, and his skill at piloting spaceships was unquestionably first-rate.

From that perspective, his abilities overlapped with Star-Lord’s to some extent. Keeping him in the Guardians of the Galaxy would definitely be a waste.

Li Congxin felt that someone with talent like this would be better off following him.

The bait Li Congxin had thrown out was anything but small. To a spaceship pilot like Rocket, it was like an ordinary driver on Earth suddenly meeting a super-rich tycoon who said, "Come work for me. As long as you agree, I’ll hand you my one-of-a-kind Maserati to drive. You can show off however you like!"

Faced with that level of temptation, the more a driver loved cars, the harder it would be to refuse. Rocket was precisely that kind of veteran driver who loved cars to the core.

If he claimed he wasn’t tempted by such conditions, even he wouldn’t believe himself.

However, after a moment of silence, Rocket didn’t respond to Li Congxin’s offer. Instead, he changed the subject. "We’re about to enter a space-jump point. Everyone, prepare yourselves. This is going to put a great strain on your bodies."

Li Congxin merely smiled faintly and said nothing.

Once activated, a space-jump point looked from a distance like a giant screen made up of countless hexagonal panels. Under Rocket Raccoon’s control, Congxin One soon charged into the most active section of one of those "screens." The scene before them instantly became bizarre and surreal. It seemed as though they had entered another dimension, but in the blink of an eye, they shot out through another spatial passage.

The unbearable pressure Li Congxin had imagined never appeared. This surprised Rocket Raccoon, but he still reminded them again, "To reach Ego’s planet, we’ll have to make more than seven hundred consecutive jumps. This is only the beginning, so everyone, prepare yourselves mentally." As he spoke, he initiated another space jump.

The spaceship remained as steady as ever, and nobody aboard felt the slightest discomfort. Then came the third space jump, the fourth…

After more than a dozen consecutive space jumps, sitting inside Congxin One still felt no different from sailing slowly through the universe. There was not even the slightest pressure from the spatial fluctuations.

"This… How is this possible?" Rocket Raccoon continued piloting the spaceship through space jumps as he asked in a voice full of shock, "Every space jump is a severe test, whether for the spaceship or the people inside it. Even my body, which has been modified, can barely endure one jump after another. How can we not feel anything this time?"

"Because this spaceship is different." Only then did Li Congxin speak in an unhurried tone. "Congxin One was originally built by Thanos using Titan technology and countless precious materials from across the universe. Every aspect of its performance was at the pinnacle of the universe. After I took it, I strengthened it using methods for refining divine artifacts. Even ordinary energy cannons can’t damage it in the slightest."

"The energy fluctuations produced by mere space jumps are completely incapable of affecting Congxin One or anyone inside it."

Received 999 Impression Points from Rocket!

The more Li Congxin explained, the more tempted Rocket Raccoon became by his earlier proposal.

A spaceship strengthened through divine forging techniques—and one of the most advanced large spaceships in the universe at that. Rocket had already begun weighing whether he should continue following that hopeless fellow Star-Lord.

From Rocket Raccoon’s breathing, heartbeat, and other signs, Li Congxin could tell that his state of mind had begun to waver. The corners of his mouth curled into a satisfied smile.

That smile lasted only for an instant. In the next moment, his expression changed from a faint smile into an alluring, excited grin.

Because…

"Received Impression Points from the Cosmic Source Will and automatically converted them into one ‘Random BGM Draw Card’!"

Without the slightest warning or hesitation, the system notification suddenly rang out, catching Li Congxin completely off guard.

Happiness had come far too suddenly!

There wasn’t anyone else in the spaceship, so how had he somehow attracted the attention of the Cosmic Source Will?

As expected of the Cosmic Source Will. Once it hid itself, even an existence like him at the Multiversal Level couldn’t sense its exact location?

At the same time, on a desolate, uninhabited planet somewhere in the universe, three large-headed beings, including Uatu, were observing a mysterious white-haired old man dressed in a spacesuit. However, their attention was drawn away by a gigantic spaceship making one space jump after another. The old man was extremely displeased that the spaceship had interrupted him.

Only after watching the spaceship disappear into another wormhole without reappearing did the observers finally withdraw their gazes.

The mysterious white-haired old man, whose thunder had been stolen by Congxin One, grumbled loudly in displeasure, "Oh my! Anyway, let me continue from where I was rudely interrupted. At that time, I was still a Federal Express deliveryman…"

After sweeping his mental power through the entire spaceship and confirming that no one else was present, Li Congxin stopped dwelling on the old man. He silently brought up the system interface and used the Random BGM Draw Card.

"Congratulations, Host. You used the ‘Random BGM Draw Card’ and obtained the BGM ‘Bridge of Fate.’"

"Bridge of Fate"

Level: 1 (0/1000)

Effect: By drawing upon the emotions of bonds and the conviction to protect, unleash combat power that surpasses the limits. With the music as the background, our team’s combat power will be greatly increased. The precise increase depends on the BGM’s level and our team members’ will to fight. The deeper the bonds between comrades and the stronger their conviction to protect, the greater the increase in combat power.

A BGM with a group enhancement effect?

An excited smile appeared at the corners of Li Congxin’s mouth, but right afterward, his brows furrowed slightly.

He faintly sensed that this BGM would be of great use to him!

But that raised a question.

With Li Congxin’s current strength, what kind of crisis would require him to place his hopes of victory in his teammates?

The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed!

As he pondered, the space jumps finally ended. A red planet appeared directly ahead of the spaceship. From a distance, it looked like a ferocious old face wearing a sinister grin.

Ego’s planet had finally arrived!

On Ego’s planet, Gamora sat alone in a meadow in the wilderness, expressionlessly gazing at the distant sunset. A hot breeze brushed across her face, lifting the long hair at her temples. The heat carried the unique scent of dry weeds from Ego’s planet into her nostrils, making her already terrible mood even more irritable.

Just now, she had gotten into an argument with Star-Lord.

She felt that Ego was utterly untrustworthy. There were too many suspicious things about this planet. Her years of experience roaming the universe told her that everything Ego had said was a lie, merely a beautiful dream he had woven for Star-Lord. Beneath that false paradise, an even more brutal abyss surely lay hidden.

That was why she had suggested that Star-Lord leave with her. But Star-Lord was now completely immersed in his beautiful dream of a loving father and filial son, and he had no intention of waking up!

"Buzz!…"

A nameless beetle suddenly flew toward Gamora from the distance. It circled beside her for a long while, refusing to leave, and finally exhausted the last of her patience.

"Swish!" Without even turning her head, she swung her sword and cut the annoying insect in two. Gamora was just about to return her sword to its sheath when she suddenly saw sparks dancing before her eyes.

The flying sparks drew a circle in the air. Then, a familiar figure emerged step by step from the circle linking to another space, his face filled with killing intent.