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"Damn it?!"
The opponent's speed was far beyond imagination; Peter Quill's originally robust figure, in front of that large hand, was like a helpless chick, easily lifted into the air.
Peter Quill's feet kicked uselessly in mid-air, all his strength seemingly drained in an instant, utterly unable to resist.
And he could clearly feel that if the other party wished, with just a little more force, they could snap his neck like a brittle, withered branch at any moment.
During that sudden, fierce impact, Peter Quill's tightly clutched tactical flashlight was directly flung to the ground.
The flashlight spun and rolled erratically on the ground, its beam also rotating wildly and without pattern, round after round, in this ink-black, deathly silent, and oppressive space.
Perhaps it was fate's design, but the beam from the tactical flashlight ultimately illuminated the attacker's figure.
Only then was Peter Quill able to clearly see the attacker's true appearance—it was a very tall and burly middle-aged man with a messy, dark brown mane of hair and an untamed beard, as if he hadn't groomed himself in a long time.
And deep within his sharp eyes, there was a weariness born of vast experience and an exceptionally keen vigilance.
To be precise, judging from the combat suit he wore, which was covered in various battle scars, he should be a Centurion, the highest rank in the Nova Corps!
Although the Nova Corps combat armor he wore looked dilapidated, its scratched and dented surface seemed to recount thrilling battles to Peter Quill.
The three faint blue glowing orbs that had suddenly lit up in the darkness were the weak light emitted from the circular energy rings on his chest plate, appearing like eerie ghost flames in the darkness.
The reason Peter Quill couldn't immediately identify him was entirely because the faint blue light emanating from his chest plate was different from the orange-yellow light of the Nova Corps Centurions he had seen firsthand when he was captured before.
The latter were all distinctly orange-yellow.
This subtle difference filled Peter Quill's heart with doubt.
After all, in this perilous environment, any anomaly could be a matter of life or death for him.
At the same time, he also noticed that the other party's left hand tightly gripped a thick, golden book.
Under the tactical flashlight's beam, the book emitted a faint golden glow, appearing exceptionally sacred, as if imbued with some mysterious power.
On the outer cover of the golden book, a series of ancient characters, whose origin was unknown, were engraved.
The lines of these characters were twisted and complex, each exuding an indescribable ancient charm.
However, strangely enough, as Peter Quill cast his gaze upon the gilded characters, the unfamiliar symbols, which he initially didn't recognize, began to strangely rotate before his eyes.
They intertwined and transformed as if they possessed life, evolving into words of his familiar native language in the blink of an eye.
"Imperial Truth???"
Peter Quill silently mouthed the four large characters (assuming anyone seeing the book title would automatically translate it between English and Chinese in their mind), his lips trembling slightly, his eyes filled with shock and bewilderment.
But before he could ponder further, he heard the Centurion before him ask in a hoarse voice, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing against each other:
"Who are you? Why are you on this cargo ship?"
The voice seemed to come from the depths of hell, carrying a chilling coldness.
Peter Quill could feel that if he didn't answer the question well, the other party would not hesitate to end his life.
His throat felt as if an invisible large hand was clutching it, dry and tight… well, his throat was indeed being clutched by the other party's large hand at the moment.
Peter Quill said with great difficulty, "I am… a member of The Marauders, code-named Star-Lord."
As he spoke, he cautiously observed the other party's expression, trying to find a hint of softening on that stern face.
"My companions and I came specifically to the vicinity of the Eye of Fear to salvage 'ghost ships,' but we unexpectedly encountered a group of monsters on this ship…"
"The Raiders… the Eye of Fear?"
Upon hearing this, the man's breathing seemed to stop, his entire body instantly stiffening.
After a long moment, he finally let out a long sigh of relief from his chest, a sound filled with both liberation and endless exhaustion.
And his back, which had been tense beneath his armor, instantly slumped.
The hand that had been gripping Peter Quill's throat also loosened.
Thud—
Peter Quill tumbled to the ground in a heap, gasping for air like a drowning man who had been successfully rescued, his chest heaving violently, his face filled with the relief of having survived a catastrophe.
Thankfully, his words just now had successfully moved the other party!
After a moment of silence, the Centurion, his gaze slightly unfocused, spoke again, "It seems I have finally managed to hold on until this moment of exiting the Warp…"
"Phew, I am Centurion Karson Sal, of the Nova Corps' First Combat Sequence, under Commander Roman Day.
About a year ago, I was ordered to escort this cargo ship, but during the ship's Hyperspace jump, an accident occurred, and we unexpectedly entered an unknown dimension… the Warp!!"
As the man spoke, a trace of pain and confusion flashed in his eyes, as if that experience had left him with an indelible, profound trauma.
"Wait a moment…"
Peter Quill looked at the man before him, who was in a very poor mental state and exceptionally haggard, and interrupted him with a somewhat strange expression.
He frowned slightly, his eyes filled with doubt and inquiry, "Um… Mr. Sal, although I mean no offense, if I remember correctly, the cargo ship you are on went missing three days ago, didn't it?"
As he spoke, he quickly recalled the relevant information in his mind.
"What? Three days ago?"
Karson Sal's sharp eyes swept over Peter Quill, his gaze like a keen blade, attempting to pierce Peter Quill's soul and ascertain the truthfulness of his words.
However, seeing that the other party did not seem to be lying, his eyes gradually softened again, and he said in a deep voice:
"After entering the Warp, all the timing devices on the spaceship experienced irreparable malfunctions, so I used the most primitive method of timekeeping to record… As of now, a total of 9999 hours have passed, which is approximately one year and two months (automatically assuming alien civilizations also use the 365-day and 24-hour timekeeping rules, otherwise the conversion would be too cumbersome)."
When stating this number, Karson Sal appeared extremely certain; as a member of the elite Centurion, he absolutely could not make such a huge, basic mistake in something as simple as 'timekeeping.'
His gaze was firm, his tone beyond doubt, as if he was emphasizing his authority to Peter Quill.
Bang—!!!
Just as Peter Quill was thinking about how to prove to the other party that only three days had passed, and incidentally ask how the other party survived in the Warp.
A loud thud first came from the location of the hatch behind them, the sound like muffled thunder, echoing continuously in the enclosed space.
Clearly, something was hitting the hatch.
And that pounding sound was like an iron hammer striking a heart, impacting the sensitive nerves of both men, making the recently eased atmosphere tense again.
Bang bang—bang bang bang—
After a brief silence, the banging suddenly became more frequent, and the heavy metal hatch also emitted a series of grating metal deformation sounds under the continuous impact of the monster outside the door.
The sound was sharp and piercing, like countless fingernails scratching across a metal surface, making one feel utterly uncomfortable.
"Oh no, it must be those monsters…"
Peter Quill keenly sensed the abnormality; his eyes instantly became vigilant, and he turned to Karson Sal, asking:
"But they clearly have the ability to penetrate walls, so why are they bothering to bang on the door now? What exactly is going on with this ship?"
As he spoke, he picked up the blast pistol he had dropped earlier from the ground and quickly adjusted his posture, ready to face danger at any moment.
"To be precise, this cargo ship can no longer be called a ship!"
Karson Sal shook his head with an extremely solemn expression, his eyes filled with deep worry and fear.
"After entering the Warp, this cargo ship, as well as all living organisms on board, were all corrupted by Warp energy.
Now, this ship has gradually transformed from a simple steel construct into a complex, 'living' sentient demon…
So, to be precise, we are currently inside the belly of this ship-shaped demon, and those monsters outside are merely the intestinal cells it 'secretes' during its growth."
Karson Sal attempted to explain the complex and terrifying anomaly occurring on the cargo ship in his own way, hoping Peter Quill would better understand.
Although the other party spoke in a vivid and interesting manner, Peter Quill couldn't laugh at all at this moment, because he had already realized another very serious problem.
That is… since others who were corrupted by Warp energy had already died, how did this Centurion in front of him survive?
And he seemed to know a lot about the Warp.
This was clearly not normal!
A trace of suspicion flashed in his eyes, and his gaze towards Karson Sal became more wary.
But before Peter Quill could subtly inquire, Karson Sal had already raised the golden Imperial Truth in his hand, "The reason those Warp demons outside cannot penetrate the walls of this dining room is entirely because… they fear the power contained within this book!"
Karson Sal held the book to his chest, his eyes filled with the piety of a loyal believer, as if it were his faith, his only hope in this Dark Dimension.
"This 'holy book,' named Imperial Truth, I found when I was drifting with the cargo ship in the Warp, from the corpse of an alien priest from an interstellar empire called Holy Terra, who had accidentally crashed onto the deck."
Karson Sal spoke slowly, his voice deep and hoarse, as if telling a distant and mysterious story.
"Over the past year or so, this demon has constantly tried to corrupt me, devour me, using illusions, fear, and those monsters and fleshy tissues to make me succumb, but I have persevered in the Warp with this 'holy book' and an iron will, but everyone else…"
Karson Sal turned his head to look in the direction of the Millenian Warrior corpses in the darkness, his voice filled with endless sorrow.
His eyes dimmed, and the muscles in his face twitched slightly, as if recalling those painful past events was unbearable for him.
However, he clearly did not wish to say more about what had happened there.
Taking a deep breath, Karson Sal tried to compose himself, then once again turned his gaze to Peter Quill.
"Imperial Truth? Holy Terra? Alien priest?"
Peter Quill's face showed a strange expression; if Karson Sal hadn't spoken so earnestly, he would definitely suspect that this Nova Corps Centurion in front of him had gone mad? To imagine such an absurd plot.
Because even a 'know-it-all' like him, who had frequented various star systems for years, had never heard of an interstellar empire called Holy Terra!
"That's right."
Karson Sal automatically ignored Peter Quill's strange look, because he too had questioned it in the past, just like the other party.
"Although before this, I had never heard of Holy Terra…"
Karson Sal said with utmost certainty, like the most devout believer, "But I think it must have been a truly existing great empire, because this Imperial Truth, which can directly counteract Warp demons, was personally compiled by the supreme ruler of Holy Terra—the Emperor!!"
Karson Sal caressed the Imperial Truth in his hand, his eyes filled with awe and reverence.
In fact, for him, whether Holy Terra was powerful, or in which star system it was located, or even whether Holy Terra truly existed… these questions no longer mattered!
Because over the past year or so of drifting in the Warp, he had countless times personally witnessed the miraculous suppressive effect of this Imperial Truth on Warp energy corruption and Warp demons!!
It's no exaggeration to say that if he hadn't fortunately 'found' this Imperial Truth, even if he were a Centurion, he wouldn't have made it to now!
So, through countless transitions between despair and hope, Karson Sal completely became a loyal follower of the Emperor and the Imperial Truth…
Bang—!!!