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"Hey, man, don't worry."
Peter Quill stepped forward and patted the space pirate on the shoulder, comforting him with a smile, "As long as we can find the annullas battery, you can sleep on a woman's belly for the rest of your life."
After a dozen minutes.
The small spaceship finally successfully landed on the huge flight deck of the cargo ship. The moment the hatch opened, an unknown stench assaulted them.
Several space pirates couldn't help but complain, "Ugh, did someone poop in my spacesuit?"
Even Peter Quill, who was wearing the more advanced nano-universe helmet, smelled the stench, but he immediately reacted, realizing something was wrong.
Because they hadn't officially entered the cargo ship's cabin yet and were still in the Universe, how could they possibly smell a stench?
What's more, they were all wearing fully sealed, specially made spacesuits that allowed them to move and fight freely in space, so it was even more impossible for them to smell that stench!
But the fact was, even though Peter Quill and Jack and the others had activated the air filtration system inside their helmets, the nauseating stench still lingered like a Shadow, as if nothing could block its penetration.
"Forget about this damn smell, let's finish this quickly, find those annullas battery, and get out!"
Jack was the first to enter the corridor below from a half-open hatch, with Peter Quill following at the rear, covering their retreat.
The passage was pitch Black, with only the emergency lights occasionally flickering in the distance, providing brief flashes of dark red light, but they quickly dimmed again.
"Cabin oxygen concentration 18.9%, slightly below average, no harmful substances detected for now…"
Jack and the others checked the data on the detector, then carefully opened their spacesuit visors.
They were not as wealthy as Peter Quill, who could afford the extremely expensive nano-universe helmet, so they could only wear the simplest type of spacesuit.
However, if they could successfully find that box of annullas battery this time, let alone a nano-universe helmet, they could even afford a more advanced Kree reconnaissance combat suit!!
The group tried it briefly. Although the oxygen concentration in the cabin was slightly lower than the normal 21%, it was not enough to cause any substantial impact on these thick-skinned space pirates in the short term.
So, after confirming everything was normal, they eagerly used the lights on their spacesuits and the tactical flashlights in their hands to move forward along the passage.
As they gradually delved deeper into the cabin, even the most basic emergency lights in the passage disappeared.
There was no light, no sound, only endless darkness.
And in the larger darkness beyond the illuminated area of the tactical flashlight, something seemed to be squirming, whispering…
Except for Peter Quill, almost everyone felt an indescribable fear.
It was as if countless eyes in the darkness were watching them closely and greedily.
And strange things kept happening.
Soon, Peter Quill noticed that their boots made a series of sticky, strange sounds as they stepped on the metal floor.
It was as if with every step they took, their soles were adhering to some unknown tissue invisible to the naked eye.
But when he shined his tactical flashlight at his feet, he found nothing there but a worn, faded metal floor!
Interesting?
Soon, as they rounded a corner, the crew member who had been following Jack suddenly seemed to be startled by something, collapsing to the ground, trembling as he pointed at the bulkhead on the other side and exclaimed:
"Damn it, those walls… they're moving!!"
Peter Quill and the others quickly shined their tactical flashlights in that direction, only to see that the wall at the end of that side of the passage was covered in squirming, vein-like tissue.
It looked as if that section of the passage was the terrifying and chilling intestine of a massive, unspeakable entity.
But the problem was, they had clearly used professional life detection equipment to scan this cargo ship before boarding, confirming there were no life signs on it!
So that means… these flesh and blood tissues are not truly living organisms?
But what exactly could they be?
Everyone's minds couldn't help but recall the 'legends' about Hyperspace and the Eye of Fear that Beckman had told them in the tavern earlier.
Everyone's breathing, unconsciously, became more rapid.
Could it be… that what that guy said was all true?
However, at this moment, Peter Quill shrugged with a relaxed expression, somewhat inappropriately quipping:
"Don't be afraid, everyone. As long as you don't actively attack it, it poses no threat to us…"
"These little things are much cuter than those huge masses of living internal organs I saw on Corbin VI in the Tayo System. You definitely don't want to know what kind of disgusting sight you'd see if you went inside them."
In the vast and boundless Universe, encountering any bizarre creatures is not uncommon.
After all, this Universe is simply too vast!
And Peter Quill's brief remark successfully diluted the fear rising in the hearts of the other rookie newcomers.
After all, only 'the unknown' is the most frightening thing.
As long as someone in the team has seen this thing, then regardless of whether others have seen it or not, it's equivalent to 'having seen it'... Since they've seen it, there's naturally nothing to be afraid of!
And Jack, whose eyes were completely blinded by money, also took the opportunity to seize the moment, fiercely urging them before anyone could back out:
"Forget about those disgusting things, let's quickly find the cargo hold…"
However, before he could finish speaking, a pale arm suddenly stretched out from the metal bulkhead to his right.
Five skeletal fingers, almost devoid of flesh and blood, covered only by a layer of skin, twisted into an extremely bizarre shape in mid-air, reaching for Jack.
Bang—
Peter Quill, quick as a flash, pulled out the blast pistol from his waist and precisely shot to interrupt the arm's attack.
(Note: In the comics, Star-Lord's weapon is called the Elemental Gun, which can infinitely create four elements: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air, which is vastly different from the movie version.)
"Fuck!!!"
Just as Jack, startled, quickly re-aimed his gun, ready to fire an energy blast at the strange hand.
He was shocked to find that the metal wall was completely empty.
Even the severed hand that Star-Lord had shot off earlier had vanished as if it had evaporated into thin air.
"Was it an illusion just now?!"
Beneath Peter Quill's mask, the relaxed smile on his face gradually solidified.
He also began to realize that this cargo ship might be a little different from the 'ghost ships' he had previously encountered up close.
However, this 'minor incident' was not enough to scare off a seasoned veteran like him, who had experienced many trials and tribulations. At most, it would just slightly quicken his steps and heartbeat.
"This is truly messed up, everyone stay… stay alert… this place is definitely a bit spooky."
Jack's voice was clearly trembling now, but with a certain desire in his heart infinitely magnified, he was stubbornly unwilling to abandon this immense wealth within reach.
Moreover, with Star-Lord, a famous big shot, present, he absolutely couldn't back down, or he would truly lose face in The Marauders.
Fortunately, the group quickly found the entrance to the cargo hold, but unfortunately, the hatch was blocked by the same disgusting flesh and blood tissue they had seen in the corridor earlier.
Facing the trembling crew, Jack had no choice but to brace himself, snatch the plasma cutter, and personally cut open a heavy hatch, along with the flesh and blood tissue, creating an opening large enough for an adult to pass through normally.
However, the scene inside the cargo hold once again made everyone gasp—the originally spacious cargo hold had almost transformed into a massive, disgusting chamber overgrown with flesh and blood tissue.
Rows of cargo shelves were covered with strange, pulsating fleshy growths like hearts, while countless writhing tentacles hung from the ceiling, which was covered in a spiderweb-like network of blood vessels.
In this dark and confined environment, the group's vision was almost entirely limited to the extremely narrow illumination range provided by their tactical flashlights.
So, at first glance, it seemed as if the entire cargo hold was alive!
"Look over there!!"
A space pirate suddenly pointed to a corner on one side. With the flashlight's beam, they could see several twisted corpses piled there.
But strangely, half of these bodies, for some unknown reason, had fused with the bulkhead, as if they had been forcibly pressed into the metal bulkhead by some mysterious and powerful force.
And on one of the corpses, whose lower half was completely fused into the bulkhead and only the upper half was exposed, there was even a set of high-tech armor.
In the very center of the metal helmet it wore, there was a very striking red triangular star emblem resembling a 'T'.
When the space pirates saw the red triangular star emblem on the helmet and the circular energy ring on the chest plate, which had long since dimmed, they couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"That emblem… there's no mistaking it, that person is a member of the Nova Corps, a Millenian!!"
"Damn it, what happened on this ship that even a powerful Nova Corps member died here?"
"Wait a minute, you're saying… could this cargo ship have just come out of the Eye of Fear?"
"Are you saying it, like Beckman and them, accidentally got caught in the Warp during a Hyperspace jump?"
Just then, a strange whispering sound suddenly echoed in the minds of everyone except Peter Quill.
They were certain that it was definitely not a sound received through hearing, but rather a whisper that seemed to resonate directly in their consciousness—sometimes like a thousand voices speaking at once, and sometimes like an unspeakable creature emitting evil murmurs.
"Damn it, we need to get out of here immediately."
Several space pirates screamed, clutching their heads. On their spacesuits, the data panels displaying their various body indicators began to jump wildly.
But what was baffling was that Peter Quill seemed unaffected by the 'mysterious whisper'.
More precisely, a mysterious power within Peter Quill, which had been 'sleeping,' unexpectedly 'awakened' the moment it was corrupted by Warp energy, thereby protecting his consciousness from invasion.
However, Peter Quill was completely unaware of the change that had just occurred within him, and he had no idea that he had just walked a circle around the gates of hell.
Peter Quill ignored the 'crazy' people and instead raised his hand to gently tap his nano-universe helmet, activating its built-in 'energy spectrum scanning function'.
As his gaze swept back and forth, he quickly discovered a signal source with extremely high energy readings on a shelf that had not yet been completely covered by flesh and blood tissue.
"Haha, look what I found?"
Peter Quill took a briefcase from the shelf, then used his exquisite lock-picking skills to easily open the encrypted lock in less than ten seconds.
"Ho ho, it seems Lady Luck is still on my side this time!"
Peter Quill took out a annullas battery, glowing with golden light, from the briefcase—its composition could be roughly divided into two parts: an outer transparent crystal wall, roughly the size of a human index finger, and an inner golden 'energy liquid' that could continuously release powerful energy to the outside world.
"Tsk tsk, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, it would be really hard to believe that such a small one can power a city for an entire year?"
Peter Quill quickly counted. Including the one in his hand, there were a total of 9 annullas battery in the briefcase, which was 3 more than the number of people in their temporarily formed team.
Peter Quill directly took out 3 annullas battery from it and put them in his pocket.
This way, everyone would get one, and they wouldn't have to worry about uneven distribution of spoils later.
However, when he saw the desperate situation of the other old guys, who were almost driven insane by fear, he suddenly felt that these people might not last until the time for distribution?
How about…
I take all the goods this time?
Hmm, I'm sure they won't have any objections, right, gentlemen?
However, just as Peter Quill was about to abandon the suddenly 'crazy' people and sneak away alone, a shrill scream suddenly came from behind him.
He quickly shone his tactical flashlight on the space pirate who had screamed, only to see a slender, eerie figure slowly passing through the metal wall on one side.
It was a… monster whose body was pieced together from twisted tentacles and humanoid limbs!!