Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy

Outside the Milky Way Galaxy, about one hundred and fifty million light-years away, there was a spiral galaxy with a mass three point five times that of the Milky Way. Perhaps this galaxy had once housed various highly developed brilliant civilizations, but at this moment, it was in the midst of destruction. The culprit stood outside the galaxy, indifferently watching its demise.

The trial is complete. Where is the next place to observe? The mysterious figure thought calmly. The Milky Way? A bit remote.

Let me see… Oh, the Watcher is actually paying attention to that small place too? Is something happening there? Or the Infinity Stones? Those guys, they wouldn’t mobilize unless it were for the Infinity Stones!

Let’s go take a look…

The mysterious figure vanished in a flash, leaving behind only the shattered remains of a gigantic galaxy plunged into ruin.

In the Milky Way Galaxy, within the Solar System, time stopped.

Xiao Hen reached out, just about to take the Infinity Gauntlet and the two remaining Infinity Stones from Thanos, but at that exact moment, the time stop shrouding the entire Solar System shattered with a boom like a broken mirror.

"The Infinity Stones must not be collected! Human, stop!"

A strange voice rang out from thin air.

Xiao Hen’s expression shifted, and he turned to look. Dozens of kilometers away stood an old man in a robe. He looked like an old mage from ancient times who had come to the present world, holding a withered wooden staff in his hand. With a compassionate expression, he looked at Xiao Hen without the slightest ripple in his gaze.

"Who are you?" Xiao Hen felt vigilant in his heart. An entity capable of breaking a time stop was no weakling. The old man before him looked like a ragged old codger picking up trash on Earth, but the more it seemed so, the less he could be underestimated. Some powerhouses loved to play the pig to eat the tiger, and the person before him, capable of breaking his time stop, was definitely not just an ordinary old man.

"Me? Just an old geezer guarding the safety of the universe!" The old man shook his head and murmured.

"Guarding the safety of the universe?" Xiao Hen found it amusing. Earth had a group of superheroes guarding the safety of the planet and humanity, and the Milky Way had the Guardians of the Galaxy. This Marvel Universe really was prolific with heroes, and now an old hero popped up? Guarding the safety of the universe, no less? Who did he think he was?

"Ridiculous, guarding the safety of the universe? I am collecting the Infinity Stones, not destroying the universe!" Xiao Hen glared coldly at his opponent.

"The Infinity Stones cannot be gathered. No matter what, I will stop you!" The old man said with a solemn expression.

"Want to stop me? That remains to be seen if you have the ability…" Xiao Hen sneered.

The time stop lifted, and Thanos also recovered his mobility. He looked somewhat strangely at the suddenly appearing old man, his heart stirring as he recalled what had just happened. A flash of sharp light immediately appeared in his eyes: You not only have the Power Stone and the Mind Stone in your hands, but also the Time Stone, as well as the ability you used to annihilate Corvus Glaive and the others just now. Is the Space Stone in your hands too?

"Not quite an idiot yet!" Xiao Hen sneered.

Thanos felt a surge of joy and said, "All four stones are in your hands? That’s fantastic! Added to the two in my hands, all six Infinity Stones are finally about to be gathered in my, Thanos’s, hands!"

"Perhaps your dream needs to wake up. Whether it’s me or you, if you want to assemble the Infinity Stones, get past this old fogey in front of us first!" Xiao Hen looked at the old man and said.

"Who are you?" Thanos looked at the old man at that moment as well.

"Just an old man walking the universe," the old man murmured.

"Old timer, you want to stop me from collecting the Infinity Stones?" Thanos said in a deep voice.

"Yes, whether it is you or this young man!" The old man said, "The Infinity Stones cannot be gathered. Every time, every single time the Infinity Stones are gathered, it triggers turmoil across the entire universe and may even destroy it. I, our entire Guardians of the Galaxy, exist for the sole purpose of stopping all of this from happening!"

Guardians of the Galaxy? It’s you bunch of has-beens? Unlike Xiao Hen, Thanos instantly recognized the old man’s origins. The Guardians of the Galaxy were a group of keepers of the Infinity Stones whose very existence was meant to prevent the gathering of the Infinity Stones. They firmly believed that the gathering of the stones would cause the destruction of the universe, and these ancient beings had always monitored the status of the Infinity Stones throughout the cosmos, stepping in to stop any hint of them being assembled.

Thanos knew that collecting the Infinity Stones would sooner or later lead to an encounter with these guys, but he hadn’t expected to run into them now. However, this actually seemed like a good thing. The strength of the young man before him was no joke; he had just used a time stop, and possessed even more Infinity Stones than Thanos himself. A moment ago, the two stones in Thanos’s own hands had almost been lost, and if this old fogey hadn’t shown up, the other party might have really succeeded.

Thanos rolled his eyes and chuckled slyly, "Stopping the Infinity Stones from being gathered is your responsibility. However, right now I only have two stones in my hands!" Thanos raised his left hand and said, "This guy has four on him!"

"So, I am here…" The old man glanced at Thanos, then shifted his gaze to Xiao Hen. He could certainly tell that both individuals before him were collecting the Infinity Stones. Although their strengths were relatively matched, this young man possessed four stones, making him a greater threat and the primary target he needed to deal with.

"Hehehe…" Thanos sneered, his figure retreating slightly by a few steps.

Xiao Hen remained expressionless, as if he hadn’t noticed Thanos’s petty actions. From Thanos’s words, he learned that the old man came from the Guardians of the Galaxy. He knew very little about this mysterious organization; before entering the Marvel Universe, he had only found a tiny sliver of information. They were an organization guarding the Infinity Stones, and as mentioned earlier, for the sake of universal peace, they dedicated themselves to preventing the gathering of the Infinity Stones. In Marvel history, the Infinity Wars had occurred more than once, and every single time, the shadow of the Guardians of the Galaxy was present. Thus, the Infinity Stones had never been gathered, and the reason behind it all was their interference.

"Guardians of the Galaxy, are you?" Xiao Hen slowly reached out. "You bunch of outdated has-beens want to stop me from collecting the Infinity Stones? Have you prepared yourselves for death?"

"Besides, if all of you Guardians of the Galaxy had come, I might have backed off a bit. But with just you alone right now, you want me to call it quits? Heh!"

"Divine Energy Impact!"

Countless streams of divine power burned away, and a beam of light blazed forth from the Solar System. The entire face of Earth facing the battlefield was instantly scorched. In that single instant, eighty percent of Earth’s population perished, and the planet resembled a roasted sweet potato, billowing with thick smoke and heat.

The light of the sun was blotted out, and planets like the Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter all suffered terrifying impacts. On the outer fringes of the Solar System, the Oort Cloud guarding the system, along with all those cosmic dust particles and meteorites, were overwhelmingly shattered to pieces with a boom. The orbital trajectory of the entire Solar System suffered a devastating blow, its effects radiating even to a small fraction of the Orion Arm. Though the impact on the Milky Way Galaxy as a whole from this localized battle was minor, it was still detectable by powerful civilizations within the galaxy. The high-end instruments of those civilizations sensed the violent changes occurring in the Orion Arm in that split second, and the massive shifts in magnetic and gravitational fields exerted a slight, minor influence on the operation of the entire Milky Way.

The old man raised his head with a solemn expression, and that terrifyingly destructive Divine Energy Impact had already arrived right before him.

Boom!!!

"Alas! Why is the universe like this, subjected to such terrifying disasters?" Right as the horrific impact and explosion approached, the old man let out a low sigh. "That is precisely why the Infinity Stones must not be gathered! Especially not when gathered in the hands of someone this terrifying!"

"Guard!" The old man waved the wooden staff in his hand, and with a soft whisper akin to the buzzing of a mosquito, a low chant emerged. A pale green protective shield appeared in front of the old man. This unknown barrier actually blocked the Divine Energy Impact capable of destroying a star, which had been unleashed by Xiao Hen.

"This is?" Xiao Hen stopped his attack, looking across at the pale green protective shield in front of the old man, upon which rippled the fluctuations of the cosmos.

"The Universe Will? No!" Xiao Hen shook his head. No matter how strong the old man was, he couldn’t invoke the protection of the Universe Will. If he truly possessed that kind of strength, he could have directly invoked the Universe Will to annihilate him—why bother with defense?