Gathering

A few young and beautiful elves, exuding a natural aura, respectfully placed plates of fruit in front of Bastis. Just as Bastis was about to dismiss them as usual, the communicator hanging around her neck lit up.

After seeing the message, Bastis's beastly eyes narrowed to pinpoints, and her sleek black fur stood on end. Centered around Bastis, the sky for thousands of miles turned dark with thunderclouds due to her anger.

"From now on, the elf tribe will hide and seal themselves off!" Bastis, suppressing her urge to kill and her anxiety, commanded the Queen of the Elf tribe standing before her.

"Yes, we obey the divine decree!" the elves said, trembling as they knelt before Bastis.

The next moment, the communicator around Bastis's neck shattered...

----xxx-----

Meanwhile, in the void, the figure known by the galaxy's dark forces as the "Hell Skeleton," Bones, had just received the message as well. She had been using golden hellfire to burn a marauder fleet to ashes.

Suddenly, everyone on the remaining marauder ships within thousands of miles heard a furious roar in their souls. Their final conscious thought was a vision of a tsunami-like golden flame...

----xxx-----

Compared to the others, Rocket and Groot were living relatively comfortably. On a planet filled with lava, a patch of vibrant green stood out strikingly. It was hard to imagine such a towering tree existing on a planet resembling a hellscape.

Note that "towering" is not an exaggeration; it literally reached the sky. Some branches had even broken through the planet's atmosphere, extending into space. Its complex root system absorbed nutrients from the molten lava, and its massive canopy blocked out the starlight over half the planet.

In the middle of this giant tree, Rocket was lounging with sunglasses on, drinking juice, enjoying the warm, non-scorching sunlight filtered through the tree's canopy. At that moment, the communicator on Rocket's waist lit up, as expected.

Upon reading the message, Rocket dropped his cup, which shattered on the ground. "Groot, let's go! Zane is in trouble!" Rocket shouted anxiously at the tree. Then he climbed into a nearby spacecraft.

The towering tree began to shrink rapidly the moment Rocket finished speaking, eventually becoming an 11-centimeter-tall adorable creature. It's hard to imagine that a natural wonder covering half a planet could shrink to such a small size in mere seconds. Anyone witnessing this would think they were dreaming.

However, Rocket, accustomed to this sight, unhesitatingly grabbed the tiny Groot and put him into the spacecraft. "I am Groot," the little Groot asked worriedly.

"I don't know what's happened exactly, but if anyone wants to harm Zane, they'll have to go through me first!" Rocket said with murderous intent. As he spoke, he crushed the communicator in his paw. Then, placing little Groot on his shoulder, he stepped through the portal...

----xxx-----

"Madam," Skynet said with a slight bow to Lorna, whose image and temperament had completely transformed.

Although there had long been rumors of a newly rising Caesar civilization in the galaxy ruled by an iron-blooded queen, Skynet found it hard to connect the innocent girl from a few years ago with the person standing before him now.

Soon after, Bastis, Bones, Rocket, and Groot all stepped through the portal, arriving in front of Skynet.

"Skynet, explain what happened," Lorna asked, trying to suppress her anxiety.

Everyone else also focused their attention on Skynet.

Without further ado, Skynet played the last footage captured by the surveillance device. Everyone instinctively held their breath, except for Bastis, who exhaled deeply in relief.

"Everyone, there's no need to worry. Master is fine," Bastis said joyfully.

"Bastis, what's going on?" Lorna asked, staring intently at Bastis.

"This is the prelude to the Master's ascension to Godhood. Two years ago, when I became a Goddess, it was the same," Bastis explained quickly, sensing everyone's anxious gazes.

Indeed, Bastis had ascended to Godhood before Zane. Four years ago, during her solo journey through the universe after parting ways with Zane, Bastis encountered a young elf girl who had been abducted by interstellar traffickers.

This girl was now the Queen of the Elf tribe. The ensuing events were predictable: Bastis became the Guardian Deity of the Elf tribe and soon after ignited the divine fire, successfully ascending to godhood.

When she ascended, a space-time storm also raged around her, which is why Bastis reassured everyone not to worry.

Hearing Bastis's words, everyone felt somewhat reassured. However, seeing is believing; without witnessing Zane safe and sound, they couldn't fully calm down. Thus, the group quickly urged Skynet to head to Zane's location.

Skynet didn't hesitate. Ignoring the resources and technological data prepared by the civilization he had invaded, he activated the space teleportation device, locking onto a planet near Zane's retreat.

Directly teleporting to Zane's location was too risky. If they did so recklessly, the newly gathered group would meet one fate: being shredded into dust by the space-time storm. Even Bastis, now a guardian deity, wouldn't be spared.

The mechanical octopus entrenched on the planet suddenly contracted and then plunged straight into a space wormhole, leaving the bewildered leader of the civilization and a mountain of resources behind.

"What just happened? Does the Mechanical Emperor disdain our resources? Or does he see us as obedient and decide to spare us?" The leader was left in confusion, while Skynet and the group warped to a position near Zane's retreat.

----xxx-----

From a distance, they saw the sky-reaching, earth-shaking cosmic storm exuding an aura of endless destruction. Everyone couldn't help but gasp, including Bastis. According to the elf tribe's records, when Bastis ascended, the cosmic storm barely stirred, merely destroying a few mountains. Compared to the current storm, hers was nothing more than a gentle breeze.

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