The ventilation duct cover wobbled again, and Ye Mo's left hand had already touched the hilt of his military knife. He didn't move, his breathing was very low, and his eyes were fixed on the gap. The sound of metal scraping earlier wasn't an illusion; something alive was moving, and it was inside.
Just then, a familiar sound of footsteps came from around the corner of the corridor, light but tinged with impatience, along with the crisp sound of metal boots crushing ice shards.
"You're still standing? Great, I thought I'd have to collect your corpse." Star-Lord rushed out from around the corner, his Element Gun in hand, but the muzzle was pointing downwards, not at Ye Mo. He caught his breath and wiped the dust off his face. "Dude, you stood like a tombstone, you scared me half to death."
Ye Mo didn't respond immediately, his gaze remaining fixed on the ventilation duct. It wasn't until Rocket Raccoon peeked out from behind Star-Lord, a miniature turret slung over his shoulder, squinted at the ruins, and muttered, "Oh, so you're still alive. I bet you could hold out until we got here."
"Stop talking nonsense," Ye Mo finally breathed a sigh of relief, slowly removing his left hand from the hidden pocket. "There's movement in the ventilation duct; you might have slipped through the net."
Rocket grinned, revealing two rows of small, sharp teeth. "Leave it to me." Before he finished speaking, he had already raised his hand and launched a homing missile. The slender missile pierced into the ventilation duct, and a few seconds later, with a muffled "boom," the monitor screen displayed an image—a burning limb hanging deep inside the pipe, billowing black smoke.
"Cleared." Rocket clapped his hands. "Those three cowardly Kree bastards should have been blown up long ago."
Ye Mo finally relaxed his shoulders completely. His tense muscles seemed to have had a main shaft suddenly pulled out, and he swayed slightly. He was still clutching the Power Stone in his right hand, his palm already soaked with sweat, the warmth still lingering, like a stone that had just been warmed.
Gamora and Groot arrived as well. Gamora knelt beside Ronan, placing two fingers on the side of his neck. After a moment, she looked up. "Unconscious, weak heartbeat, but not dead." She stood up, clapped her hands, and said, "Keep him alive; he'll be useful for interrogation."
Groot stood at the edge of the crack, a thin twig gently touching the ground, sensing the structure's stability. After a few seconds, he looked up and said in a low voice, "We're... safe."
Ye Mo nodded, finally loosening his right fist a crack and glancing at the gem in his palm. The blue light was stable, without fluctuation, as if it were asleep. He took a deep breath; his lungs still ached, but his mind was clear. He had won, but this place was still a powder keg; the spaceship's engines could self-destruct at any moment, and the system alarms hadn't been deactivated.
"Let's get away from this wrecked ship first," Star-Lord said, holding out his hand. "Give me the gem? I'll put it in the emergency kit."
"No rush." Ye Mo shook his head and took out a silver-gray protective container from the side pocket of his work pants—the spaceship's own energy sealing device, originally used to isolate high-risk experimental samples. He carefully put the gem inside, closed the lid, and locked it with a click.
"This thing almost blew up the whole galaxy, now it looks like a disco ball in a nightclub." Star-Lord leaned closer and whistled.
"Stop talking nonsense," Rocket rolled his eyes, "If it explodes, you won't even have ashes left."
Gamora didn't speak, only staring at the container, her gaze distant. After a few seconds, she whispered, "It once belonged to the Sovereign, but now it's become a toy that everyone wants to take."
Ye Mo put on gloves, locked the container in the main control cabin's vault, and set a password. "Leave it here for now, the three of us will manage it together. Me, you, and Star-Lord, none of us can be missing." He looked at Star-Lord.
"You took it, you can put it wherever you want." Star-Lord patted him on the shoulder with considerable force, causing Ye Mo's ribs to throb with pain again.
A brief silence. No cheers, no hugs, not even a smile was a mere twitch of the lips. Groot raised his small hand, his voice as soft as the wind rustling through leaves. "We... won?"
"Yeah, you stinky blockhead, we won." Rocket ruffled its hair, his tone unusually gentle.
Ye Mo leaned against the wall, finally able to catch his breath. He looked down at his hands; his fingertips were still slightly numb, a lingering tingling from the electric current he'd felt while gripping the gem. The system hadn't given any warnings, most of his abilities were cooling down, and his Self-Healing module was almost depleted. This battle had truly been fought to the last drop of blood.
Star-Lord brought up the combat log projection, which hovered in front of the main control screen. The footage replayed key moments: Ye Mo Wall Phasing alone, intercepting Ronan, the shield holding the line, the Fire Core counterattack...
"You only signaled when it was already in the third phase," Star-Lord pointed to the timestamp, "We were almost three minutes late."
"At the time, I was afraid of disrupting the rhythm, and I was also worried about the communications being intercepted," Ye Mo said frankly. "Besides... I didn't know if I could hold on."
"Next time, we can set an encrypted frequency band," Gamora interjected. "I have military protocols left behind by Nebula; they can prevent eavesdropping."
"Okay, I've got it." Ye Mo nodded. "If this happens again, send the code fifteen seconds in advance."
"That's settled then." Rocket jumped onto the control panel. "Now, let's get down to business—can this crappy ship still fly?"
He pulled up the engine status diagram and frowned. "The main reactor has a crack, and half the coolant has leaked out, but it can still hold on. We just have to get around the Kree patrol area, otherwise, if we go into warp, we'll be the ones who get blown up."
"Back to the Knowhere?" Star-Lord looked at Ye Mo. "Or should we go to the Knowhere first?"
" The Knowhere," Ye Mo said, "And there's a shielding array, suitable for temporarily storing gems. We can transfer them later once the information confirms safety."
"Agreed." Gamora nodded.
"Me too." Rocket shrugged. "Anyway, you guys can take a nap while I'm repairing the ship, I don't want to be woken up in the middle of the night to put out a fire."
Groot chuckled softly. "Sleep... good."
The atmosphere in the control room finally relaxed. Although no one was truly at ease, at least they no longer had to risk their lives. Star-Lord began inputting the flight path, Rocket crawled under the control panel to check the wiring, and Gamora switched radar modes to scan the surrounding airspace for any unusual signals.
Ye Mo sat in the passenger seat, watching the star map ahead gradually light up. Blue dots marked safe routes, like a winding path leading to the unknown. He took off his silver half-rimmed glasses and rubbed his temples. There was a crack on the lens, caused by a shard of debris that had been thrown during the battle.
"System, are you still alive?" he asked in his mind.
There was no response. There was never a response. That cold, impersonal presence would only appear briefly when he was on the verge of death; otherwise, it was as if it didn't exist.
He put his glasses back on, his gaze sharpening behind the lenses. The battle was over, but the trouble wouldn't be over. Having the Power Stone was like holding a hot potato. Hydra, the Kree leadership, and even Asgard —who wouldn't want a piece of the action?
But I can't think about that now. The most important thing right now is to get out of this hellhole, repair the ship, rest, and then--
"Hey, Yezi!" Rocket suddenly poked his head out from under the control panel. "You burned a hole in the sleeve of your hoodie. Want me to sew it up for you? It's free, consider it a victory celebration."
"Get out." Ye Mo said expressionlessly.
"Tsk, ungrateful." Rocket pulled back, muttering, "I even brought black thread to match your clothes."
Star-Lord chuckled. "He's just worried about you, Rocket. You know, his way of showing concern is by teasing you."
"My way of showing concern is to keep him from dying on the ship," Rocket muttered, continuing to tighten the screws.
Groot hummed a song softly, the tune strange, like it had been ripped from an old music player. Ye Mo listened for a while and actually recognized it—"Come and Get Your Love," Star-Lord's favorite song.
He tugged at the corner of his mouth, and this time it was a genuine smile.
Gamora stood in front of the tactical screen, her finger swiping across the radar interface, then suddenly stopped. "Northwest quadrant, 300,000 kilometers away, there is a slow-moving mobile signal, model unidentified."
"Don't panic," Star-Lord said without looking up. "It might be an abandoned probe or a wandering merchant ship. Let's take a closer look."
"Stay alert." Gamora didn't let her guard down.
"Understood." Rocket pulled an antenna from his toolkit. "I'll add a filter to the radar while I'm at it, to prevent it from being interfered with by junk signals."
Ye Mo stared at the star map, his fingers unconsciously tapping the armrest of his chair. He knew that the peace was only temporary. He might be able to acquire the gem today, but tomorrow he might be surrounded and attacked. But with this team around, at least he wouldn't have to carry the burden alone.
The spaceship's engines emitted a deep hum, the lights in the main control room switched from red to green, and a system notification sounded, "Warp preparation complete, countdown sixty seconds."
Star-Lord turned to look at him. "Ready?"
Ye Mo nodded, placing his hand on the seatbelt.
"Let's go then." Star-Lord pressed the start button.
The data stream on the console began to scroll, and the external camera switched to a rear view—the dilapidated Kree warship floated silently in the darkness, like an abandoned steel corpse. The wreckage of the ventilation ducts was still smoking, Ronan's scepter lay in the ruins, and the purple flames had been completely extinguished.
The spaceship slowly changed direction, its thrusters spewing blue flames.
Groot clung to the base of the bulkhead, humming softly, his voice growing ever fainter.
Rocket, hunched over the control panel, muttered to himself as he tweaked the equipment, "Don't make me fix such a lousy ship next time. I'm a weapons expert, not a janitor."
Gamora stared at the radar screen, her finger hovering over the alarm button.
Star-Lord placed his hands on the steering wheel and whistled.
Ye Mo sat in the passenger seat, gazing at the star map ahead, his fingers gently stroking the ripped holes in his work pants. A breeze blew in from the air conditioning vent, carrying a faint smell of metal and engine oil.
Countdown to zero.
The spaceship shuddered violently, the starry sky stretched into a band of light, and the jump was initiated.
The next second, all the lights flickered.
Ye Mo's eyelids twitched, and he immediately looked up.
On the radar screen, the slowly moving signal suddenly accelerated.