Chapter Summaries

The escape team fought through the guards and drones to reach the watchtower, where Rocket tried to operate the escape equipment. As guards closed in and the tower failed to respond, Su Ming used Magnetic Control to tear it from the ground and lift it into the air.

• Groot shielded Rocket from drone fire while Drax fought guards and threw Rocket a weapon, and Rocket shot down the drones.
• Gamora took the control wristband, and Quill used Broker's prosthetic leg to knock out a guard.
• The escape team climbed Groot's ladder into the watchtower, where Su Ming joined them and the guards surrendered.
• Rocket revealed that the prosthetic leg was unnecessary, then struggled to get the equipment working as drones surrounded the tower.
• Su Ming used Magnetic Control to rip the watchtower from the ground and raise it into the air, startling Quill.

Su Ming led a mass escape from Kyln Prison, using his mysterious energy to turn prisoners and guards into allies and guide them to waiting ships. After the fleet departed, he exchanged the prison itself for money, leaving it to vanish from space.

• Su Ming flew the detached guard tower through a wall into Kyln Prison’s spacecraft hangar while Rocket struggled to control the disconnected console.
• Prisoners rushed toward the breach, and Su Ming used his white energy to soothe their panic and persuade the guards to join the escape.
• The prisoners and guards boarded the ships, while Su Ming sent Quill to retrieve their belongings and the Orb.
• Quill returned with his music player, and Su Ming ordered the fleet to depart Kyln Prison.
• Su Ming exchanged Kyln Prison for $1.2 trillion, causing the prison to vanish as the fleet watched.

After Su Ming destroyed Kyln Prison, its prisoners and guards rallied behind him, and he led their fleet toward a buyer. Ronan arrived at the prison’s former location and discovered it was gone, killing his pilot in anger.

• The escaped prisoners and guards celebrated Su Ming’s destruction of Kyln Prison and waited for his orders.
• Rocket, Drax, and Gamora showed renewed respect for Su Ming, while Gamora suggested naming their growing force.
• Su Ming ordered Gamora to lead them to the buyer and set off with the fleet, considering how the group might gain legitimacy by defeating Ronan.
• Ronan arrived aboard the Dark Aster, found Kyln Prison missing, and killed his pilot after hearing the news.

Ronan learned that Kyln Prison had vanished and ordered the search for the Orb expanded across the galaxy, while Yondu found a burned letter among the Broker’s ruins. As Quill and the others traveled toward Knowhere, Su Ming endured the ship’s noise and stench and decided to summon the Milano when they arrived.

• Nebula confirmed that Kyln Prison had disappeared, and Ronan ordered Necrocraft to search the galaxy for the Orb at any cost.
• Yondu searched the Broker’s ruined residence and received a heavily burned letter from one of his men.
• At Knowhere, the Collector threatened his maid Carina while she cleaned a display case before the guests arrived.
• Rocket assembled bombs aboard the ship, Quill complained about the mess, Gamora objected to the smell, and Drax cut a piece from Groot’s branch.
• Su Ming decided to summon the Milano when they reached Knowhere to escape the ship’s noise or stench.

Su Ming brought his followers to Knowhere and arranged for them to wait while he pursued a plan to entrust the group to someone reliable. He tempted Quill with the prospect of leading them, leaving Quill considering the offer despite the enormous costs and responsibilities.

• Su Ming's spacecraft arrived at Knowhere, where Gamora explained the lawless settlement and its trade in materials harvested from the ancient Celestial's skull.
• Su Ming brought his followers into the crowded streets, where Groot gave a flower to a young thief and Gamora led the group to Jemiah's Boot Bar to meet a buyer's agent.
• Su Ming told everyone to find food and rest nearby, then announced that Star-Lord would pay, leaving Quill horrified by the expense.
• Su Ming explained that he planned to return home and wanted to put the group under the care of someone generous and reliable.
• Quill imagined how a force of his own could help him evade Yondu and the Ravagers, and Su Ming asked whether he wanted to be their leader.

Su Ming explored Knowhere while Quill and Gamora grew closer, and he discovered that Celestial tissue fluid could enhance his abilities. The chapter ended with him scanning the city for the largest pool of the valuable substance.

• Quill agreed to treat everyone after Su Ming suggested he become captain, while Gamora left for the bar, dissatisfied with the plan.
• Drax and Rocket won at an alien-beast race, and their celebration brought them closer to Groot.
• On the rooftop, Gamora told Quill about Thanos and her past, then nearly kissed him before drawing her dagger and stopping him.
• Quill rushed away from Gamora after spotting Drax and Groot fighting inside.
• Su Ming absorbed the energy from a pool of Celestial tissue fluid, improving his Dynamic Vision to Level 3.
• Su Ming evaded the sentries, climbed to a vantage point, and searched Knowhere for the largest pool of tissue fluid.

Su Ming plunged into the Celestial tissue-fluid lake and discovered a Nightmare Crystal that overwhelmed his mind with visions of destruction. A mysterious old man silenced the psychic storm, leaving Su Ming trapped in a strange white space with him.

• Su Ming entered the largest tissue-fluid lake while Tivan watched the security footage and dismissed the danger.
• Tivan noticed that nearly a thousand Kyln Prison inmates had entered his territory and ordered Carina to keep cleaning.
• Su Ming reached the lakebed and touched a golden Nightmare Crystal that the system could not appraise.
• The crystal flooded Su Ming's mind with the despair of countless destroyed civilizations, nearly shattering his spiritual world.
• A mysterious old man stopped the storm, and Su Ming asked him who he was and where they were.

Su Ming learned that the ancient Celestial had been killed by Knull and discovered the origins of the Nightmare Crystal, but the Celestial tried to possess him to resurrect himself. Su Ming’s Supreme Runes and Faith Energy repelled the Celestial’s consciousness, leaving him alive and the crystal shattered.

• The Celestial showed Su Ming memories of his life as a guardian of civilizations and his death at the hands of Knull, who wielded the Necrosword and took the Orb.
• Su Ming learned that the old man was the headless Celestial from Knowhere and that the Nightmare Crystal held the Celestials’ collective will and part of the old man’s consciousness.
• The Celestial revealed his desire for revenge and demanded that Su Ming become him so he could resurrect.
• The Celestial and the consciousnesses behind him enveloped Su Ming and began tearing at his soul.
• Su Ming’s Supreme Runes formed a shield, while his Faith Energy struck the Celestial’s consciousness and drove it away.
• Su Ming returned to the lake unharmed as the Nightmare Crystal cracked, and he realized his Runes and Faith Energy had defeated the ancient consciousnesses.

Gamora, Quill, Rocket, and Groot met with Taneleer Tivan to show him the Orb, while Drax left and sent a message of his own. Meanwhile, Su Ming absorbed the lake’s tissue fluid at a rapidly accelerating rate as his genes began to transform.

• Drax and Groot fought in the bar until Quill and Gamora intervened, and Rocket nearly shot Drax after being angered by his insults.
• Quill reminded Rocket of the four-billion bounty, and Drax stormed off after complaining that Ronan was still alive.
• Carina brought Gamora, Quill, Rocket, and Groot to Taneleer Tivan, who expressed interest in buying Groot’s body and examined the Orb Quill presented.
• Drax entered a communications room and ordered a worker to send a message.
• Su Ming absorbed the lake’s tissue fluid as his energy intake accelerated, his cells turned golden, and his genetic structure began changing.

The Guardians saw the Power Stone destroy Tivan’s exhibition hall, but Ronan’s forces seized the Orb after defeating Drax and capturing Gamora. As Quill and Rocket hesitated over how to save her, Su Ming arrived from the lake.

• Carina grabbed the Power Stone and exploded as its energy swept through Tivan’s exhibition hall, and Gamora sealed the gem inside the Orb.
• Gamora argued for taking the Orb to the Nova Corps, while Quill wanted to find someone trustworthy who would pay them; Drax revealed that he had summoned Ronan.
• Ronan arrived, defeated Drax, and ordered his forces to retrieve the sphere.
• Nebula destroyed Gamora’s ship, took the Orb, and left Gamora floating in space as Quill and Rocket watched from their industrial spacecraft.
• Su Ming shot out of the lake and landed before Quill and Rocket, asking what was happening.

Su Ming absorbed the Celestial’s consciousness and the lake’s energy, reaching Nascent Godhood and gaining infinite physical capacity and energy as his talents strengthened. He emerged from the lake as Ronan attacked, with Gamora unconscious and freezing after Nebula destroyed her ship.

• Ronan’s Necrocraft pursued Rocket’s Engineering Sphere Drone, terrifying the prisoners and driving them toward the harbor.
• The prisoners found that most ships had fled and the remaining vessels lacked enough space and fuel to carry everyone.
• Su Ming finished absorbing the lake’s energy and discovered that his stage had become Nascent Godhood, his physical capacity and energy were infinite, and many of his talents had improved.
• Su Ming sensed Ronan’s arrival and saw Nebula destroy Gamora’s Orb Machine, leaving Gamora unconscious and beginning to freeze.
• Su Ming leaped out of the lake, sending its water skyward as golden light shone across his body.

Su Ming discovered that his Glazed Physique absorbed cosmic radiation and let him fly effortlessly, then used his powers to help Rocket and rescue Gamora. He left Yondu's ship badly damaged after destroying an energy blast aimed at Quill.

• Su Ming found that his Glazed Physique continuously absorbed cosmic radiation, gave him seemingly limitless energy, and let him fly through space.
• Su Ming summoned Rocket an upgraded Milano, and Rocket eagerly decided to switch ships.
• Quill tried to save Gamora, and Su Ming pulled her back with an energy whip as Yondu's men fired on Quill's Orb Machine.
• Su Ming scattered Yondu's energy blast before it could hit Quill, then cut away a third of Yondu's ship with his eye beams.
• Yondu ordered his men to save those drifting in space and regarded Su Ming with deep wariness.

Nebula defeated Gamora and took the Orb, but Su Ming turned the prisoners’ fear into a call for revenge against Ronan using the White Gourd’s Faith Energy. Ronan launched an attack, leaving Su Ming and his allies facing a charging fleet.

• Nebula landed behind Ronan with the Orb after defeating Gamora, while Ronan recognized Su Ming as the powerful figure he had once fled from and ordered his forces to prepare for battle.
• Su Ming destroyed Yondu’s ship, descended with unconscious Gamora, and reunited with Rocket, Quill, and Groot as Ronan’s Necrocraft gathered overhead.
• Su Ming sensed panic among the prisoners, connected their thoughts through the White Gourd, and calmed them before reminding them of the families and homes they had lost.
• Rocket shouted for Ronan to be killed, and the prisoners joined him in chanting for revenge as Su Ming’s words united their anger.
• Ronan ordered his Necrocraft to attack, and Rocket called out to Su Ming as the fleet charged toward them.

Su Ming summoned a fleet of fighters to arm the prisoners and protect them from Ronan’s attack. The prisoners boarded the ships and launched an assault on the Necrocraft, while the revived Drax objected to Su Ming’s order.

• Su Ming blocked the Necrocraft’s bombardment with Shield of the Seraphim, and the prisoners cheered when he emerged unharmed.
• Su Ming used the Grand Summoning Art to summon hundreds of fighters, then shielded the prisoners as they boarded them.
• Ronan ordered the Necrocraft to attack before the prisoners could board, but Su Ming held off the barrage.
• Su Ming told the prisoners, “Let him kill,” and they led by the Milano in an assault on the Necrocraft.
• Groot revived Drax by stabbing him in the chest, and Drax objected when he heard Su Ming’s order.

Su Ming's Galaxy Squad fought Ronan's Necrocraft while Su Ming subdued Drax and repelled Ronan's attack. Ronan took the Power Stone from the Orb and set it in his scepter, then prepared to face Su Ming with his new power.

• Groot jabbed Drax with a needle-like finger, and Su Ming used Word Becomes Law to send Drax rolling away while Groot chased after him.
• Rocket and Quill piloted the Milano as Su Ming's prisoners rammed their summoned fighters into the Necrocraft, inflicting heavy losses on Ronan's fleet.
• Ronan attacked Su Ming with an energy wave, but Su Ming's Freeze Breath froze him until Ronan broke free of the ice.
• Ronan demanded the Orb from Nebula, removed the Power Stone, and embedded it in his scepter.
• Ronan taunted Su Ming and struck the ground with his empowered scepter, declaring himself Su Ming's killer.

Su Ming used a sword forged from four Infinity Stone energies to split Ronan’s Power Stone attack and drive him from Knowhere, securing victory for the prisoners. As they celebrated and asked for ships, Su Ming watched the fighters disappear and could only explain that he lacked the strength to equip them all.

• Ronan unleashed the Power Stone’s destructive wave, but Su Ming formed a four-colored sword and split the attack apart.
• Su Ming’s sword struck Ronan, splitting his helmet and wounding his forehead, so Ronan fled with Nebula and the remaining Necrocraft retreated.
• Rocket, Quill, and the prisoners realized Su Ming had won the battle and gathered around him to celebrate.
• The prisoners asked Su Ming for fighters and praised him as their leader, while Su Ming said he could not equip them all.
• The fighters began disappearing, and the prisoners cried out over their missing ships as Drax rolled past with Groot following him.

Tivan watched Su Ming battle Ronan as Knowhere was devastated by the Power Stone, then recognized Faith Energy and other extraordinary forces gathering around Su Ming. The Collector’s fear turned to excitement as he realized the mysterious Terran wielded powers he had never seen.

• After the exhibit hall was destroyed, Tivan learned that Biofluid Lake had gone dark and saw Ronan’s Necrocraft attacking Knowhere.
• Tivan watched Su Ming emerge unharmed from the lake, gather the prisoners, destroy a spacecraft, and shield them from the Necrocraft.
• Su Ming froze Ronan, but Ronan escaped and struck his warhammer with the Power Stone, unleashing energy that began consuming Knowhere.
• Tivan despaired as the Power Stone’s energy destroyed districts, fearing that Knowhere would be erased.
• Tivan spotted Faith Energy on Su Ming and excitedly recognized it as Su Ming summoned several kinds of energy into a radiant treasure sword marked with Supreme Runes.

Su Ming stopped Ronan’s purple energy with a single sword strike, and the freed prisoners gathered around him as Yondu and Tivan approached. After Drax stopped rolling and shared his grief, Tivan suggested naming the group, and Su Ming called them the Galaxy Guard Corps.

• Su Ming split Ronan’s purple energy with a sword strike, sparing Ronan and causing him to flee.
• Yondu and the Ravagers ran from the purple energy, then stopped when Su Ming’s strike ended the storm; Yondu decided to approach him peacefully.
• Groot dragged Drax back after he had been rolling, and Su Ming used Word Becomes Law to make him stop.
• Drax admitted that his anger and hatred concealed his grief, moving the gathered prisoners.
• Tivan praised the group and asked Su Ming to give them a new name, and Su Ming named them the Galaxy Guard Corps.

Su Ming formed the Galaxy Guard Corps and defended Quill when Yondu and his Ravagers arrived. After Su Ming overwhelmed Yondu’s men with psychic energy, Yondu dropped his threat and warmly greeted Quill, thanking Su Ming for saving him.

• Su Ming’s prisoners and allies pledged themselves to him as the Galaxy Guard Corps, and the White Gourd glowed brighter from their faith.
• Yondu arrived and questioned Su Ming about the new corps while Quill feared he would be taken back.
• Yondu’s Ravagers threatened Quill, but Su Ming sensed Yondu’s disdain and pressed him with psychic energy.
• Su Ming’s psychic attack staggered Yondu and knocked down his Ravagers, while Quill’s respect for Su Ming grew.
• Su Ming called Quill his vice-captain and demanded to know what Yondu intended to do to him.
• Yondu embraced Quill, praised his new rank, thanked Su Ming for saving him, and invited everyone to drink.

Ronan kept the Power Stone for himself and vowed to destroy Xandar before turning against Thanos. At a victory banquet on Knowhere, Su Ming accepted the Collector’s invitation and asked him about the Starcore Fragment, but the Collector set a condition.

• Ronan refused to hand the Power Stone to Thanos, unleashed its power, and declared that he would destroy Xandar and then come for Thanos.
• Nebula offered to help Ronan destroy a thousand planets if he killed her father.
• On Knowhere, Su Ming accepted the Collector’s invitation to a banquet, and the Guardian Corps and Ravagers celebrated together.
• At the banquet, Yondu reminisced with Quill, Drax and Groot competed at drinking, Rocket joined Groot, and Gamora felt at peace with the Galaxy Guard Corps.
• In a private room, Su Ming asked the Collector about the Starcore Fragment, and the Collector said he would answer on one condition.