170 The Guardians of the Galaxy Plus One

As capable of becoming prominent figures among interstellar mercenaries or wanderers, the minds of Rocket Raccoon and Star-Lord were undoubtedly exceptionally sharp.

"Gamora definitely knows what this thing actually is!"

After speaking these words in unison, the two of them simultaneously turned their gazes toward Li Daniu.

Li Daniu nodded and said, "In that case, we must ensure Gamora's safety. Otherwise, even if we manage to escape, we'll end up as wanted criminals and penniless vagrants."

In the interstellar era, being a fugitive didn't really amount to much. Leaving aside the entire universe and focusing just on the Milky Way, there were countless habitable planets. If you simply found a place to lay low, who would bother expending the effort to hunt you down?

Being penniless, however, was a completely different story. In any era, without money, you couldn't take a single step forward, and none of them wished to live the life of a primitive on some barren world.

The raccoon asked, "But with just the few of us, how could we possibly manage to resist everyone in this prison? Take that Destroyer, for instance. Making it his primary objective to kill Ronan, he was constantly picking fights with Ronan everywhere before. If he hadn't committed a crime in between, harmed innocents, and gotten himself locked up by the Nova Corps, he'd probably still be making trouble for Ronan right now. Gamora's relationship with Ronan is so close, how could he possibly let Gamora go?"

Hearing the raccoon attach such high importance to the Destroyer, Li Daniu felt somewhat unimpressed. In the movie, the Destroyer had been subdued by Gamora before; although he succeeded in counterattacking later on, his combat prowess was evident enough. Li Daniu certainly wasn't afraid of him.

Star-Lord glanced over at the Destroyer, who was sitting alone and brooding in the distance, and then said with total nonchalance, "Why worry so much about him? My fellow countryman here is exceptionally good at fighting. He sent a guy that huge flying with just a single palm strike, so what's so special about him?"

Although the Destroyer's physique appeared extremely robust to ordinary eyes—especially with the exaggerated blood-red tattoos crisscrossing his bare upper body—compared to the three-meter-tall behemoth Li Daniu had just swatted away, he still fell somewhat short.

The raccoon let out a sneer and said, "You idiot, what do you know? Do you seriously believe that hitting him with your most powerful weapon would even cause him injury?"

Star-Lord froze. Although he also drifted through interstellar circles, his understanding of these notorious figures was truly very sparse.

The raccoon continued, "Word has it that once, he took a direct blast from the main cannons of an interstellar warship and didn't even cough up blood. Furthermore, his strength is terrifyingly immense; he's capable of lifting objects weighing over a hundred tons!"

A hundred tons?

Both Li Daniu and Star-Lord let out gasps of shock. Just how heavy is a hundred tons? Li Daniu's private jet, touted as the ultimate in high-end luxury business aircraft, only weighed twenty-two tons in total.

Could Li Daniu lift his own private jet? Absolutely not!

If the Destroyer possessed strength of that magnitude, then before Li Daniu could even figure out if the guy was using his full power, he himself would already be knocked flat.

Was this still the movie *Guardians of the Galaxy*? This had to be the comic book version instead.

It was no wonder Li Daniu thought this way, because the cinematic versions of the protagonists' abilities had all been nerfed to a certain extent. Otherwise, how could the Hulk's planet-destroying strength from the comics ever be properly depicted on film?

Having no mood to listen to Star-Lord and the raccoon debate the Destroyer's strength any further, Li Daniu queried the system within his mind.

"System, are you certain this is the movie version of *Guardians of the Galaxy*?"

"Certain."

"Then how could the Destroyer possibly have a hundred tons of strength? That's completely impossible in the movie. Besides, if the Destroyer has a hundred tons of strength, just how powerful must Ronan be, seeing as he completely crushed him?"

"Compared to the films, cinematic worlds undergo a certain degree of revision. This was already communicated to you at the very beginning."

Revision? Isn't this revision going a bit too far? Li Daniu wailed inwardly as he asked the system, "With plot characters this powerful according to the comics, how am I supposed to survive here?"

The system continued with its cold, robotic reply: "According to the definitions of the Marvel Comics universe, Drax the Destroyer also possesses the abilities of firing energy beams and flying at sub-light speeds. These traits have been revised out, so please rest assured—you are not facing the true, fully realized Drax the Destroyer."

What the hell, sub-light flight? Firing energy beams? Coupled with a tyrannical physique and immense strength, this was practically a space-age Hulk.

At that moment, Li Daniu mentally raised his middle finger at the authors of Marvel Comics. Was such exaggeration really necessary?

However, learning that the plot characters had been significantly weakened compared to their comic book counterparts made Li Daniu feel somewhat more at ease. If the Destroyer in the movie were truly as powerful as the one in the comics, he could simply find a hole to hide in and forget about everything else.

It wasn't that he was dead set on going toe-to-toe with the Destroyer, but if someone as powerful as the Destroyer still couldn't handle Ronan or Thanos, one could easily imagine just how overwhelmingly powerful the villains truly were.

After pondering for a moment, Li Daniu halted the argument between Star-Lord and the raccoon, saying, "Why on earth would we want to fight him? We can completely pull him over to our side."

The raccoon retorted, "His goal is to kill Gamora, while our goal is to protect Gamora. How could we possibly end up on the same side?"

Li Daniu smiled and said, "You're wrong. The Destroyer's target has never been Gamora; it's Ronan. Would killing Gamora really matter that much to an interstellar overlord like Ronan? He has subordinates by the plentiful. However, if we have a living Gamora—or even Star-Lord's precious artifact—we can definitely lure Ronan right over. That way, he and Ronan can go head-to-head directly."

Upon hearing Li Daniu's explanation, both Star-Lord and the raccoon couldn't help giving him a thumbs-up, as they naturally grasped his meaning completely.

As long as they took the artifact out to sell it, it would inevitably draw Ronan in pursuit. At that moment, if someone who viewed Ronan as a mortal enemy stood in his way, they would undoubtedly find things much easier.

The raccoon summed it up: "So, the most crucial question now is, who's going to talk the Destroyer into this?"

Once this question was posed, the three of them exchanged glances. Then, both Li Daniu and the raccoon turned their gazes toward Star-Lord; even Groot, the tree creature who had remained silent all along, looked directly at Star-Lord.

"Why are you all staring at me? For all I know, the guy could blow me away with just a single exhale!" Star-Lord said with a wry smile. "The power levels aren't even close, how can anyone possibly negotiate with him?"

The raccoon stated, "You just transitioned from being a captive to becoming our partner, so you ought to demonstrate some of your capabilities. Didn't you boast that you've hooked up with more women than there are people in this prison? Didn't you claim that females of any species could never escape your sweet talk? It's time to prove your eloquence!"

Li Daniu smiled genially and said, "The plan was my idea, and I just solved your little problem for you a moment ago. Tell me, shouldn't you contribute something as well?"

Groot chimed in reluctantly, "I am Groot."

Seeing that Li Daniu and the others were persistent, Star-Lord reluctantly walked toward the solitary figure of the Destroyer sitting across from them.

The raccoon asked curiously, "Do you think he'll pull it off?"

"He should." Li Daniu believed that with Star-Lord's protagonist halo, persuading the Destroyer—a future teammate—wouldn't run into any fatal snags.

There was no telling what Star-Lord said to the Destroyer, but the latter's expression shifted from cold indifference to agitation, and finally to an urge to throw punches.

Just as Li Daniu was debating whether he should step in to preserve Star-Lord's precious life, the Destroyer actually followed Star-Lord and walked back toward them.

The raccoon grew tense and asked in a low voice, "Can you handle the Destroyer?"

"No." Li Daniu shook his head. Still, he wasn't particularly concerned, because the Destroyer couldn't fly. Despite his immense strength, such brutes usually relied solely on wide, sweeping attacks, and Li Daniu, having mastered traditional lightness skills, was confident he could keep the Destroyer from landing a single blow on him.

The worst-case scenario the two of them worried about didn't materialize. Star-Lord's silver tongue was indeed remarkable; he had successfully convinced the Destroyer to join their cause.

At this point, the Guardians of the Galaxy were essentially assembled—with the addition of Li Daniu, of course, while Gamora remained hooped up inside her own quarters.

The raccoon declared, "Next, the single most important thing we need to do is break out of prison. I'll lay out the plan for you in a moment. For now, Star-Lord, you need to go have a talk with Gamora first. Otherwise, if she refuses to cooperate when we make our move, our losses will be massive."

This time around, Star-Lord showed not the slightest inclination to refuse, because in his eyes, Gamora was an absolute stunner, and the opportunity to converse at length with such a beauty was exceedingly rare.