Chapter Summaries

A stall owner explained that the Insectoids had already devastated four planets and predicted that Xisl Planet would face famine, war, and decades of decline. The mandible stall owner rushed to search for his family, while the mysterious stall owner revealed why he considered Thanos’s attacks less destructive.

• Gamora explained that civilizations feared the Insectoids because their past war had brought both devastation and benefits to those involved.
• The mandible stall owner dropped his communicator after hearing news of the destruction in Xisl Planet’s Southern Hemisphere.
• A nearby stall owner predicted that resource shortages, war, and raider attacks would follow, and warned the mandible stall owner to hurry home and look for his family.
• The mandible stall owner ran toward the landing pad, and the stall owner gave Leo the Vitor Beast skull he had been eyeing.
• The stall owner told Leo that Xisl was the fourth planet the Insectoids had invaded and argued that Thanos’s attacks left planets safer and more able to recover.

Jason gave Little Jie a space watch and told him to learn to pilot a small ship, while Gamora and Quill looked at the Celestial Skull. Quill felt uneasy in the Void Land, and Rocket emerged armed with equipment to help restrain Howard.

• Quill piloted the Milan toward the Warp Point closest to the Void Land while the crew remained aboard and Leo stayed missing.
• Jason gave Little Jie a space watch, and Little Jie realized Jason regarded him as family.
• Gamora said she wanted to kill Thanos herself, while Quill stared at the Celestial Skull and warned her it felt strange.
• Jason stopped Karina from approaching the Red Whale and told her to return to her seat.
• Rocket left his room carrying bombs, a knife, and an Infinity Metal Rope, then called for Quill and Jason to help tie up Howard.

Rocket gave Groot the expensive fertilizer, and Groot consumed it before falling still as its effects took hold. Rocket then turned to question the bound Howard the Duck about the gem.

• Groot loosened his vines enough for Quill and Jason to tie Howard the Duck tightly, while Rocket celebrated getting revenge on him.
• Rocket opened the fertilizer package, and Gamora identified rare minerals and other valuable materials with strengthening properties.
• Quill revealed that he had never used Enhancement Potions, surprising the others, who speculated about his unusual strength.
• Rocket gave Groot the fertilizer, and Groot eagerly ate it all before closing his eyes and standing motionless.
• Rocket approached Howard the Duck to ask what was going on with the gem.

Quill, Jason, Gamora, and the others shared drinks and spoke about Leo, their pasts, and why they followed him. Little Jie said he was happy to follow Leo wherever he went, and the group recognized how Leo had changed their lives.

• Quill asked Jason what kind of person Leo was, and Jason called Leo his strongest hope for revenge and the boss he respected most.
• Jason said Leo was kind and mysterious, then warned that he would kill anyone who hurt or betrayed him.
• Quill described his reluctance to return to Earth, his surprise at meeting Leo, and his gratitude for escaping Yondu's Ravagers and finding companions.
• Gamora said she wanted to stop Thanos and hoped Leo could help, then raised her cup to the group.
• Little Jie said Leo had bought him back after he was sold twice and that he would follow the boss wherever he went.

Ronan accused Difan of hiding the Orb of Power and attacked him, sparking a battle between their fleets that damaged Difan’s collection. While the fight continued, Jason suggested Rocket take his place in Leo’s healing experiment, and Leo and Red Whale appeared in the cleared cabin.

• Ronan demanded that Difan hand over the Orb of Power, but Difan insisted it was not with him and said Leo had taken it.
• Ronan fired on Difan’s collection, prompting Difan to send in his Guard Fleet and attack Ronan with a shockwave.
• Difan and Ronan’s fleets fought, suffering casualties and damaging exhibits as Difan tried to force Ronan outside.
• Karina bandaged Jason, who suggested Rocket volunteer for Leo’s next healing treatment; Rocket said he could build a better communicator instead.
• Leo and Red Whale appeared in the cleared-out cabin.

Difan used surveillance footage to alert Ronan that Leo and his companions had carried the Orb of Power through the Void Land, while keeping his own options open between Ronan and Thanos. As Ronan approached, an explosion at Difan’s mine raised new concerns, and the Milan raced back toward the Void Land with pursuers close behind.

• Difan contacted Ronan and shared footage showing Leo and the others entering his collection without surrendering the Orb of Power.
• Difan received reports of a massive explosion at the mine and ordered his security force to report any developments immediately.
• Difan chose to receive Ronan first and warned Kaimi to finish cleaning while Karina endured the Milan’s violent flight.
• Rocket reported that the Milan’s pursuers were less than forty kilometers away and prepared to land near the mine.
• Quill opened a channel to Difan and said they should meet again.

Leo stopped Howard the Duck from teleporting away and learned that Howard was searching for the mysterious Gem of Compassion, which he had somehow known about since being modified. After Nebula attacked the Milan and Leo destroyed her ships and captured her, he left her to Gamora as more Necro Ships converged.

• Leo caught Howard the Duck as he tried to teleport away and asked why he was at Difan's display case.
• Howard told Leo and the others about the Gem of Compassion, which he believed was near Difan but had never seen.
• Rocket confronted Howard about knowing of the gem before learning about StarNet, and Howard said he had known about it since being modified.
• Nebula attacked the Milan with a Necro Cannon, destroying its power system, and demanded Gamora surrender with the Orb of Power.
• Leo crushed four Necro Ships, captured Nebula, and handed her over to Gamora while more Necro Ships approached.

Leo sent Red Whale to protect the Milan and destroy the attackers without harming innocents, while Difan revealed to Ronan that Leo held the Orb of Power. Red Whale broke the Necro Fighters’ encirclement, but the remaining ships began targeting the Milan.

• Leo ordered Red Whale to attack the forces threatening him and the Milan while avoiding innocent people.
• Ronan demanded the Orb of Power from Difan, who told him that Leo held it and had two Infinity Stones.
• Leo told Jason that Difan had betrayed them by revealing their secret to Ronan.
• Quill, Rocket, Little Jie, and Jason watched Red Whale destroy dozens of Necro Fighters above the Milan.
• Red Whale intercepted a falling fighter before it could hit the Milan, revealing its protective purpose as the remaining Necro Ships aimed their Energy Cannons at the ship.

After Leo confirmed that the Orb of Power held an Infinity Stone, Nebula saw a chance to oppose Thanos and begged Leo to help her kill him. Leo recognized that refusing her hope might drive her toward a final, suicidal attempt at revenge.

• Jason challenged Nebula, and she mocked him as a pest who had been bothering Ronan.
• Leo confirmed that the Orb of Power contained an Infinity Stone, and Nebula eagerly realized it could help her escape Thanos's control.
• Nebula offered to help Leo kill Ronan and urged him to strike first against Thanos, promising to serve him and destroy planets if necessary.
• Nebula pleaded with Leo for a promise, believing that his Infinity Stone and Red Whale gave him a chance against Thanos.
• Leo understood that Nebula's last hope depended on his answer and that, without it, she might attempt revenge before choosing death.

The Milan entered the Void Land while the Dark Star approached, and Quill’s crew learned that Ronan was focused on finding the Orb of Power rather than attacking them immediately. With Difan and Ronan likely to turn against them, the crew decided they needed Leo’s help to escape.

• Difan saw the Dark Star approaching the Void Land and ordered his forces to stop it, then checked whether Leo was aboard the Milan.
• Rocket piloted the damaged Milan through the Void Land’s defenses and brought it under control after pushing its engines to their limits.
• Rocket reported that the Legion of the Damned had broken through Difan’s defenses, but Gamora realized they were surrounding the Dark Star rather than pursuing the Milan.
• Gamora and Jason concluded that Ronan was searching for the Orb of Power, which Leo had already taken, and that Ronan would confront Difan instead.
• Rocket warned that both Ronan and Difan might try to capture the crew, so he proposed calling Leo for help; Quill refused to abandon the Milan.
• Jason stabbed his thigh with a blade to restrain his urge to attack Ronan, and the crew saw Golden Light flicker around the wound.

Leo used the Space Stone’s abilities to devastate Ronan’s Necro Fighters while studying how spatial power differed from the Aether’s miniature black holes. The chapter ended with the second of Leo’s Spatial Shockwaves catching Ronan’s escaping ship.

• Leo unleashed two Spatial Shockwaves that shattered the Necro Fighters in front of the Milan and pursued Ronan.
• Leo used a Spatial Barrier to stop more than thirty pursuing fighters, then created a Gravity Ball that pulled forty fighters into a collapsing point in space.
• The Void Land’s guard force intercepted the falling wreckage, while Leo compared his Gravity Ball with the Dark Elves’ Black Hole Grenade and the Aether’s power.
• The remaining fighters charged into Leo’s crossing shockwaves and were destroyed, while Ronan fled in a Necro Ship.
• Ronan’s ship escaped the first shockwave but was caught by the second.

Leo destroyed another group of Necro Fighters and took control of Ronan’s ship, forcing Ronan to leap into the air and flee toward the depths of the Void Land. The Milan was left surrounded by the remaining fighters as Ronan’s abandoned ship turned back toward them.

• Jason recognized Ronan’s personal ship and prepared to confront him while Necro Fighters surrounded the Milan.
• Leo unleashed a Space Shockwave that destroyed twenty Necro Fighters, then continued moving the Milan toward Ronan.
• Ronan ordered his pilot to escape, but the Necro Fighter could not accelerate under Leo’s control.
• Ronan smashed through the hatch with his Warhammer and jumped from the ship, using its shockwave to propel himself through the air.
• Leo released his control of the Necro Fighter, which shot away and left Ronan behind as he flew toward the depths of the Void Land.
• Leo told the Milan’s crew that Ronan had jumped ship, while Necro Fighters surrounded the damaged Milan and Ronan’s abandoned fighter returned.

Ronan’s hidden force of mutated Kree warriors awakened aboard a fighter as it raced toward the ground, ready to attack Quill, Gamora, and the Milan. Meanwhile, Ronan was retrieved by a returning Necro Fighter inside the Void Land, but Leo’s attack was closing in and the Milan was only three hundred meters away.

• Ronan’s failed Enhancement Serum experiments had produced powerful, violent Kree monsters who were kept in Nutrient Pods until needed.
• The Intelligent Program opened the Pods, freed all thirty warriors, and showed them images of Quill, Gamora, and the Milan as their targets.
• Ronan remained near the entrance to The Collector’s Collection Room as a Necro Fighter returned to take him aboard.
• Ronan’s aide reported that the Destroyer Squad was nearly there, the First Mate had been notified, the Dark Star was approaching, and the Ghost Ship was on its way.
• The Milan closed to within three hundred meters, and its attack tore open much of the Necro Fighter’s cabin, leaving Ronan barely able to hold his position.

Leo cleared the way for the Milan by destroying Ronan's Necro Fighters, and the ship closed in on Ronan as Jason prepared to confront him. Ronan fled by bringing down his ship, but Leo protected the Milan from the arriving Destroyer Squad and killed the attackers who boarded it.

• Leo single-handedly destroyed every Necro Fighter, leaving the Milan a clear path to Ronan.
• Jason asked Quill for a flight suit and prepared to charge at Ronan as Leo opened a doorway in the Milan's cabin.
• Ronan recognized Leo, feared him, and struck the surface beneath his ship with his Warhammer, sending it crashing toward the ground.
• The Destroyer Squad arrived in twenty ships, and two crashed against Leo's Spatial Barrier around the Milan.
• Nebula identified the attackers as Ronan's Destroyer Squad, and Leo used flying metal fragments to kill the Destroyers climbing onto the Milan.

Rocket used Black Hole Grenades to hold back the Destroyers while Leo watched Ronan and Difan and detected a hidden spacecraft approaching. As the battle pushed Quill and the others to their limits, Leo appeared atop the Milan and faced three charging Destroyers.

• Rocket precisely deployed Black Hole Grenades, killing many Destroyers and thinning their force from about six hundred to four hundred.
• Gamora suspected that the grenades and weapons came from technology connected to the Reality Stone, while Quill struggled to understand the grenades.
• Leo told Howard the Duck that he was considering whether to kill Difan, who was refusing Ronan's demands and quietly surrounding him.
• Leo detected a stealth spacecraft approaching Ronan from three kilometers away and recognized it as a possible reinforcement.
• Quill and the others continued fighting the Destroyers until their stamina and focus neared their limits.
• Leo appeared atop the Milan as three Destroyers charged at him, and he clenched both fists.

Rocket’s concussion grenade proved effective against the Destroyers, but he had only one, leaving the Milan’s crew without a way to fight the overwhelming numbers. Leo supplied Dark Elf rifles and Chitauri grenades, and the crew began attacking as Jason’s shots drew Ronan’s defense.

• Quill suggested using concussion grenades on the Destroyers that Leo’s shockwave had knocked down, and Rocket threw his only grenade into their ranks.
• The blast killed ten Destroyers and weakened more, but Rocket revealed he had no more grenades.
• Leo summoned Dark Elf rifles and a hundred Chitauri grenades, explaining that he had taken them from a Dark Elf flagship warehouse.
• Jason fired a rifle and killed a Destroyer with one shot, prompting the crew to arm themselves.
• Jason fired at Ronan, who deflected the shot with his Warhammer, while Rocket and Quill attacked the Destroyers and Gamora took two grenades toward the exit.

Ronan survived a devastating Spatial Shockwave that wrecked the Necro Fighter and crippled its other occupants, then escaped the falling wreckage. Meanwhile, Leo experimented with Spatial Energy and the Infinity Stones as the Milan approached the Void Land, where a burning fighter squadron closed in.

• Ronan endured the Spatial Shockwave with help from his Iron Man Armor, while the two other people in the Necro Fighter were left severely injured and unresponsive.
• The damaged Necro Fighter fell toward the Void Land, and Ronan kicked open its hatch and escaped using his armor and Warhammer to steer himself.
• Leo observed the shockwave dissipate, tested Spatial Energy by distorting Tricolor Void Gold, and made Uru vanish and reappear through Phase Shift and Reality Shift.
• The Necro Legion kept its distance from the Milan after four Necro Fighters were destroyed, while a flaming fighter squadron sped toward Leo and the others.
• Dim lights came on inside the cabin as the Milan entered the Void Land's Gravity Capture Range.

Difan chose to side with Leo and hold Ronan back, accepting the risk of losing much of his business to the Kree Empire. Jason reached Ronan’s group, driven by memories of his murdered family, and attacked him with the Aether Rifle.

• Difan decided to support Leo rather than Ronan, despite the danger this posed to the Difan Group’s trade with the Kree Empire.
• Difan held Ronan in place and withdrew the forces guarding the entrance passage.
• Jason sprinted toward Leo’s group, sustaining injuries as Golden Light began to heal and strengthen his body.
• Jason recognized Ronan and remembered his wife Zhen and children Wenwen and Nini, whom Ronan had killed.
• Jason roared Ronan’s name and fired the Aether Rifle at him in a frenzy.

Leo slaughtered the Destroyers surrounding the Milan with his metal darts and Golden Light Beams, clearing the way for the group to move on. After they recovered from the twenty-second massacre, Leo guided the Milan toward the unguarded inner entrance to confront Ronan.

• Leo used three metal darts to pierce through the Destroyers attacking him and shielded himself from the horde.
• Leo rose into the air and expanded his darts’ attack range, while Golden Light Beams metalized and disabled more Destroyers.
• Leo’s metal darts gained blue radiance and speed as they swept through the Destroyers, killing or incapacitating them.
• After about twenty seconds, Leo landed and told Quill, Rocket, Gamora, and Jason to board the Milan and settle the score with Ronan.
• Leo guided the Milan toward the inner entrance after the group entered the cabin.

Jason tried to kill Ronan and himself with a Black Hole Grenade, but Leo intervened and saved them both. Leo healed Jason and flew toward Difan with the others following.

• Ronan kicked at Jason, but Jason clung to his leg and thrust the activating Black Hole Grenade in front of him.
• A deep-blue stream of light froze the miniature black hole, Jason, Ronan, and part of Difan in place.
• Leo pulled Jason and Ronan out of the black hole’s range, then shattered the space containing it.
• Leo drew the badly injured Jason to him and healed him while Ronan was thrown into a stone wall.
• Quill, Gamora, Little Jie, Nebula, and the others followed Leo toward Difan, who watched Leo approach with excitement.