173 The Void Land

The most obvious sign of entering the interstellar era is not the construction of spaceships. After all, no matter how high the speed of your craft is, even if it could reach the speed of light, of what real use is it when distances between galaxies are routinely measured in light-years?

A true interstellar era requires the mastery of spatial traversal technology, enabling one to cross countless light-years in a remarkably short span of time.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, space travel and teleportation technologies are by no means rare. For instance, Asgard, the realm of the Thunder God, possesses teleportation technology like the Bifrost.

The destination where Gamora intended to take Star-Lord and the others was hundreds of light-years away from the space prison. Traveling by conventional navigation methods would mean that even if Li Daniuk could infinitely extend his stay in this cinematic world, he would simply grow old and die midway.

Fortunately, Star-Lord’s ship was capable of making spatial jumps.

To Star-Lord and his companions, spatial jumps were commonplace. Their everyday lives involved darting between various star systems; without spatial jump technology, they would likely have been confined to a single star system for the rest of their lives.

Yet for Li Daniuk, boarding a spaceship was a first, let alone experiencing such black-technology marvels as spatial jumps.

Contrary to Li Daniuk’s expectations of having to enter some sort of hibernation pod, the spatial jump technology here was remarkably mature.

After the Raccoon issued a command, the artificial gravity inside the vessel vanished. Though Li Daniuk had fastened his safety belt, he still felt himself begin to float.

The countless stars that had previously dotted the view outside the porthole vanished instantly, replaced by an endless, boundless darkness.

A few minutes later, amidst the Raccoon’s cheers, Li Daniuk saw the countless stars reappear outside the window.

"I didn't expect your ship to be quite so advanced," the Raccoon said approvingly after confirming the coordinates.

Star-Lord said proudly, "Naturally. This is one of the highest-end vessels under the Ravagers' command."

"You stole this from Yondu, didn't you?" Gamora was still harboring resentment over Star-Lord hiding the Power Stone and deceiving them earlier.

By now, the artificial gravity system had returned to normal. Star-Lord unbuckled his belt, stood up, and retorted, "Yondu assigned this to me, alright?"

The Raccoon scoffed, "Yondu was willing to assign such a great ship to you? Then tell me, why is he offering a bounty to hunt you down?"

Seeing that Star-Lord was left speechless, the Raccoon added, "We need to stop at the nearest space station for supplies, and then make three more spatial jumps before we reach the place Gamora mentioned."

Li Daniuk naturally had no objections to this, so he sat cross-legged on the floor and began practicing his internal martial arts. Ever since arriving in this world, Li Daniuk had noticed that his cultivation efficiency was more than one and a half times higher than before. Although the system provided no explanation, maintaining its usual stance of offering no comment, Li Daniuk suspected there were only two possible reasons.

One was being out in the expanse of space, and the other was the relatively abundant ambient energy of this world.

As for the exact mechanics, Li Daniuk had yet to figure them out, but since cultivation efficiency had increased and there was nothing else to do, what else could he do besides cultivate?

***

Three days later, Li Daniuk and his party finally reached their destination.

Drax stood before the porthole and voiced the very question on Li Daniuk’s mind: "What the hell is that?"

Suspended in space ahead of the ship was a colossal skull. The space prison had been the largest artificial structure floating in space that Li Daniuk had ever seen, yet this skull was at least a hundred times the size of that prison.

Countless smaller spacecraft constantly buzzed in and out of the skull.

Gamora introduced the place, "The name of this location is Knowhere. It is the severed head of an ancient celestial being from the dawn of the universe."

A Celestial? If a mere head was this massive, one could only imagine the scale of the entire body. Calling them Celestials was no exaggeration.

Just as Li Daniuk was left dumbfounded by the most mysterious and formidable power he had ever witnessed, he heard Gamora continue.

"There are only two rules here. One is that you must absolutely never provoke the Tivan Group, which operates out of this skull; the other is that might makes right, and whoever has the biggest fist makes the rules."

"The Tivan Group?" Although Drax had roamed the stars, he had mostly been focused on settling scores with Ronan. Furthermore, with his peculiar intellect, he was not very well-versed in the major factions of the universe.

"The Tivan Group has been operating in this place for hundreds of years," Gamora explained. "They use various methods to harvest useful materials from this Celestial's skull, such as bone matter and spinal fluid."

No one could fail to grasp the immense value of a Celestial's remains. For a single corporation to occupy and control this place for centuries spoke volumes about its terrifying strength!

The Raccoon piloted Star-Lord’s ship through the mouth of the skull, and upon entering, Li Daniuk was shocked once more. From the outside, the place looked simply like a skull, but once inside, one could see that the interior had been completely retrofitted with metallic structures, with countless miniature robots mining away in the gaps between the metal architecture.

The technology of this world was truly formidable.

Amidst Li Daniuk’s silent amazement, the ship came to a steady halt. After disembarking, the group followed Gamora into a massive tavern.

"I’ve already notified my contact. His people will come to pick us up shortly, so for now, it's relaxation time."

For interstellar mercenaries or wanderers like Star-Lord, long and tedious space journeys were a constant, so they were accustomed to unwinding after a arduous voyage.

Thus, save for Li Daniuk, everyone in the sprawling tavern began to let loose—drinking, gambling, and more. If time hadn't been of the essence, Li Daniuk would have fully believed that Star-Lord might track down some alien woman in the bar to completely decompress.

"Hey, compatriot, why aren't you going to have some fun?" Star-Lord asked, walking over to Li Daniuk with a glass of unidentified liquor.

Li Daniuk shook his head and replied, "I'm not fond of places like this."

In truth, it wasn't that he disliked it; rather, Li Daniuk knew nothing at all about these alien forms of entertainment, and he didn't even know what kind of drink to order.

Gamora mocked from the side, "You think everyone is just like you, living only for merrymaking?"

Star-Lord offered an awkward chuckle and said, "I'm usually a very serious person."

Gamora smiled as well—this was the first time she had shown a smile in front of them.

"You really thought I wouldn't run a background check on you before I came looking for you?"

Just as the three of them were idling and chatting, a burst of commotion erupted nearby. Turning their heads, they saw Drax actually fighting the Raccoon. Of course, Drax's primary opponent was Groot, the tree-like being inseparable from the Raccoon.

The three of them hurriedly rushed forward to break up the fight.

Yet the Raccoon stubbornly brandished his weapon, roaring at Drax, "You think nothing can harm you? Come on, try out my custom-built weapon!"

Star-Lord stepped in front of the Raccoon, whispering urgently, "Have you forgotten why we're here? Do you want to throw away a fortune?"

Hearing this, the Raccoon reluctantly lowered his gun, though he snapped spitefully, "Once this business is finished, I'll make you taste the true power of my custom weapon."

Drax shoved Li Daniuk and Gamora aside and bellowed, "This business? I've heard it all now! You never intended to deal with Ronan at all; you were just planning to sell the orb and run! You betrayed my trust!"

Hearing these words, Star-Lord and the others exchanged awkward glances. Indeed, they had never intended to go toe-to-toe with Ronan head-on.

One only had to look at the surrounding onlookers who immediately scattered the moment Ronan’s name was mentioned to realize just how terrifying he truly was. And this was Knowhere, a place where not a single soul was an ordinary law-abiding citizen.

Seeing that Star-Lord and the others were speechless, Drax stormed angrily toward the exit of the tavern. Knowing that Drax intended to tip off Ronan and use the Power Stone to lure him in, Li Daniuk immediately moved to block his path.

Before Li Daniuk could figure out how to persuade Drax, the brute threw a punch straight at him.

Unwilling to test his body against a hundred tons of force, Li Daniuk sidestepped out of the way. The very instant he dodged, Drax burst out of the tavern.

Just as Li Daniuk moved to pursue him, Gamora stepped in front of him and said, "Forget it. Let him clear his head."

*Damn it,* he wasn't just stepping out to clear his head; he was going to hand over the coordinates to Ronan! Unable to explain the gravity of the situation, Li Daniuk slipped past Gamora and bolted outside.

Yet in that brief moment of delay, Drax had completely vanished.

Standing on the street outside the tavern, Li Daniuk felt a cold sweat break out across his back. *Should I... just run for it right now?*