The Void

"Heh heh, I seem to remember someone saying not long ago that even if we caused trouble on Xandar, the Nova Corps wouldn’t make things difficult for us out of consideration for you." As she spoke, Ava rudely glanced over Li Congxin’s face. "Such a handsome face, but unfortunately it doesn’t always work, teehee!"

Li Congxin’s old face flushed when he heard this, and he defended himself, "How can causing trouble in the street and being hunted afterward be the same thing? At the very least, in the latter case, they’d have to investigate our identities first. They wouldn’t need to for the former."

Li Congxin shook his head lightly, then glared fiercely at Ava. "You’ve grown bold, girl. You actually dare tease me now? You’ll receive some family discipline tonight!"

Ava’s heart began beating faster, and her face reddened slightly as she said, "Bring it on. Do you think I’m afraid of you?"

Seeing her like this, Li Congxin inexplicably felt as though he had fallen into a trap.

Was it just his imagination?

Just as Li Congxin was about to say something else, a mechanical voice suddenly rang out from the speaker: "An incoming call request has been received. Accept?"

"Accept it."

At Li Congxin’s command, the display inside the spaceship immediately showed the imposing figure of a middle-aged woman. Once she appeared, she took the initiative to address Li Congxin: "Greetings, Your Highness Prince of Asgard. I am the supreme commander of the Nova Corps, Nova Prime."

Upon hearing her identity, Li Congxin abandoned his plans to continue flirting with Ava and straightened his expression. "Greetings, Nova Prime. I sincerely apologize for causing your people trouble earlier because of some personal matters."

His completely insincere apology was, to be honest, no different from farting.

He had caused trouble on someone else’s territory, then left without even saying goodbye by teleporting away. Only after their leader came looking for him did he offer an apology. Wasn’t that a little too late?

However, despite Li Congxin’s utterly perfunctory apology, Nova Prime graciously chose to accept it. Then she changed the subject and immediately said, "The woman you captured earlier is a subordinate of Ronan, Xandar’s mortal enemy. May I ask whether Your Highness Prince Li would hand her over to the Nova Corps?"

"Sorry." Li Congxin refused without hesitation. "I know how important this woman is to the Nova Corps. She could even serve as leverage in negotiations with Ronan. However, I’m about to have a little misunderstanding with Ronan. Simply put, we’re both interested in the same thing. If we can’t reach an agreement, we may have to fight, so Nebula is useful to me as well."

When Nova Prime heard this, her eyes immediately lit up.

To be honest, even if Li Congxin had refused her request for no reason at all, she could only have expressed her displeasure.

Although they had thrown Gamora into Klyntar Prison without a second thought after capturing her, that was because Ronan and Thanos were already their enemies. They had no fear of offending them.

Asgard was different. They had previously minded their own business and had no reason to establish a powerful enemy over such a minor matter.

And judging from Li Congxin’s tone, he seemed intent on causing trouble for Ronan. For Xandar, that was simply perfect!

After her initial delight, Nova Prime immediately declared, "Since Nebula is useful to Your Highness, I won’t force the issue. If you need anything, you may contact me at any time. Within the limits of our abilities, the Nova Corps is willing to cooperate with you."

Li Congxin smiled slightly. "Then let us wish each other a pleasant cooperation."

Nova Prime said, "A pleasant cooperation."

After ending the call, Li Congxin smugly turned back to Ava. "See? That’s what my face can do."

Ava helplessly shrugged. "I hope your face can solve the trouble we’re facing now, too."

Li Congxin frowned. "What trouble?"

At that moment, Nebula, whom Ava had pinned to the floor, smugly held up the Star Chart for Li Congxin to see. "The Star Chart is broken."

The Star Chart was broken?

Seeing Nebula’s smug expression, Li Congxin could only say helplessly, "Looks like we can only turn back. If we hand this woman over to the Nova Corps, we should be able to exchange her for a new Star Chart."

Received 666 Impression Points from Nebula!

"Wait!" Nebula hurriedly said, "Didn’t you just say I was still useful to you? The Star Chart is merely broken. Shouldn’t you be thinking about buying a new one? Why are you planning to trade me for a Star Chart? Is my value in your eyes worth only one Star Chart?"

"More or less…" Li Congxin rubbed his chin and counted on his fingers. "As Thanos’s adopted daughter and Ronan’s subordinate, the bounty the Nova Corps has placed on you is one million Credits. The Star Chart you broke earlier was a rare item smuggled out of the Shi’ar Empire, worth one hundred thousand Credits. But I think the Nova Corps should be able to give me the change."

Received 999 Impression Points from Nebula!

"Um…" Looking at Li Congxin’s miserly expression, Nebula decisively explained, "Actually, right after I obtained the Star Chart earlier, I copied its contents."

When Li Congxin’s expression shifted, a trace of smugness appeared on Nebula’s face. "As long as you don’t hand me over to the Nova Corps, I can immediately import the Star Chart’s information into this spaceship’s database."

Li Congxin raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Nebula nodded. "Really!"

Li Congxin asked again, "Are you sure?"

The smugness on Nebula’s face grew even stronger. "I’m sure!"

"All right." Li Congxin immediately instructed Ava, "Keep this blue girl restrained. Be careful—most of her body is made of machinery. She might suddenly shoot a screwdriver or some other tool out of her arm, so keep an eye on her and don’t let her escape. As for the Star Chart…"

As he spoke, Li Congxin casually took out a metal sphere identical to the Star Chart Nebula had broken and stuffed it into the spaceship’s control console. "Actually, when I left the broker earlier, I noticed someone spying on us in secret, so I hid the real Star Chart. The one you broke was merely an ordinary Star Chart officially sold by Xandar, worth two thousand Credits."

Received 999 Impression Points from Nebula!

Seeing Li Congxin’s expression that seemed to say What are you going to do about it?, Nebula gnashed her teeth in hatred. Yet, she had no way to deal with this vile man.

As she restrained Nebula with Asgardian specialty rope, Ava asked Li Congxin curiously, "Clark, you even fooled me. But that isn’t important. I’m just curious—since you already backed up the Star Chart, why didn’t you simply use this woman to exchange for some actual benefits from the Nova Corps?"

As she spoke, a sly glint flashed through Ava’s eyes. Then she suddenly changed her tone. "Could it be that your tastes are really that extreme? You’re even interested in a blue, half-mechanized woman?"

At that moment, the scenery outside The Void appeared on the spaceship’s screen. It was their destination.

"What are you imagining?" Li Congxin casually took out the Cosmic Cube and explained, "With the emergence of the Orb of Power—or, more precisely, the Power Stone—many people are interested in it now. Besides Star-Lord’s group, there’s also the Kree Accuser Ronan, and even Thanos."

When Li Congxin began analyzing the current situation, Ava immediately listened attentively. In her eyes, compared with Li Congxin’s invincible, sweeping-all-before-him side, he looked even more handsome when seriously analyzing a problem.

When Nebula saw the Cosmic Cube, however, surprise appeared in her eyes. The expression vanished in an instant, and no one knew what she was thinking.

Li Congxin continued, "We lost the initiative earlier because we were busy reforging Miraculous Hands, Spring Returns. The situation is no longer under our control. Although I know the Power Stone was probably taken by Star-Lord’s group to The Void to be sold to The Collector…"

"We don’t know whether they’ve successfully sold the Power Stone yet, or whether Ronan or Thanos got to it first. Of the groups targeting the Stone, Star-Lord’s group is the weakest by far. They’re even inferior to the Ravagers led by Yondu."

"At a time like this, this blue elf is extremely important to us."

"Nebula is Thanos’s adopted daughter and Gamora’s sister from Star-Lord’s group. Now, she’s even been sent by Thanos to work under Ronan."

"With her in our hands, no matter who possesses the Power Stone, we can use her to locate them. So now…"

As he spoke, Li Congxin raised his hand and drew a huge Any Door in the space directly before the spaceship. Through it, they could see a terrifying planet resembling the skull of a supergiant. It was The Void, where The Collector resided.

The Collector was the greatest hoarder in the Marvel Universe. His lifelong passion was collecting. He wasn’t even interested in ruling or dominating the universe. He collected the Infinity Stones simply because they were rare.

As for occupying The Void, that was merely to facilitate mining the substances contained within the Celestials’ remains. After selling them, he could use the money to purchase more collectibles.

From that perspective, this man was rather simple-minded.

While explaining The Collector’s background to Ava based on the latest information he had obtained, Li Congxin decided to first find somewhere resembling a bar and gather information about Star-Lord’s group.

If they could intercept them before they met The Collector, that would be perfect.

And given the flamboyant personalities of the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy, they could never keep a low profile no matter where they went. Finding out about them shouldn’t be too difficult.

However, shortly after the three of them landed and began searching for a bar, Li Congxin slightly furrowed his brows and instructed Ava, "Stay right here."

His figure flashed, and he vanished from the spot.

At the same time, a mass of purple energy filled with an aura of destruction suddenly erupted from a domed building some distance away from the three of them, blasting the entire structure to pieces!