"All right, we're here," Adam halted the ship, heaving a sigh of exasperation at the sight of a still disoriented Quill and Rocket Raccoon.
Gripping Quill's arm, he brought him to the starship's porthole, pointing outside, "See that? That's the Kree Empire's Grand Prison."
Adam shook Quill vigorously. Shaking his head to clear it, Quill stared at Adam, "If we do as you say, can you assure Yondu's safety?"
"Yondu is not in danger. Don't you know how crafty the Ravagers' fleet is at fleeing? When Star Port fell, he jettisoned the cargo ships inside the collapse zone and made it out of the Insect Race's invasion range just in time. His ship's communication device is broken, so he's unable to contact you."
Quill let out a sigh of relief, but Rocket Raccoon narrowed his eyes at Adam, seemingly demanding verification of his words. Adam waved a hand, "I'll tell you what is inside the prison. You just do as I say and once you successfully rescue Groot, you will naturally know that I speak the truth."
Quill and Rocket Raccoon exchanged glances. They didn't want to obey Adam, but they didn't see any alternative solutions either. If Adam decides to throw them out of the ship now, how would they face the horde of Terrifying Bugs that might arrive?
Being acutely aware of their dire situation, Quill turned to Adam and said, "Alright, let us out, we'll go rescue that... Groot."
However, Adam held him back, "Don't rush. The convict you need to rescue is in Right Passage way No.2 of the 7th floor cell 302. I will pilot the ship to the elevator door nearest to that cell. Once you descend, use weapons or explosives to strike the back of the mechanical guard at the entrance. That's the hub of all the circuits, it'll go down after two shots."
"After it's down, use the guard's arm to enter the elevator but don't go directly to the seventh floor, instead, head to the ninth floor. Use the recognition code on the robot's arm to gain access to the authority system. However, do not open the prison cell door. Otherwise, it might put Groot at risk from other inmates."
"Descend to the seventh floor via the staircase on your right. Along the way, you'll face a wave of security robots and automatic turret attacks. Ignore the turrets, just lure the security robots to the far-left corridor of the eighth floor. A bug will burst into the corridor and eradicate the robots."
"Once on the seventh floor, you'll come across two injured Kree soldiers. Do not kill them. Any death of a Kree soldier will directly alert the Supreme Wisdom. If he detects your invasion of the prison, you'll be instantly within the Kree Empire's jurisdiction and our ship will lose its freedom to navigate."
"Arrive at the outside of the cell, open the door, retrieve Groot, and remember to unlock his shackles. You will run into another wave of enemies on your way back, but Groot, without his restraints, can deal with them directly."
"Exit through the nearest doorway and after circumventing part of the building, our ship will be in view. Bring Groot safely aboard, then I will immediately depart with you. Do you understand?"
Quill was completely disoriented. He tried to articulate his thoughts, pointing at Adam and then himself, shaking his head, but no words came out. Adam looked him in the eyes, saying firmly,
"Do exactly as I say. If you follow the route I planned, there is absolutely no danger and it's highly efficient."
"If you already know the future, why don't you do it yourself?"
"It's not foreseeing the future. I've merely made deductions based on a scan of the interior of the prison by the ship's scanner. It's the most flawless solution — safe, fast, and efficient. Now, no more chatter. Hurry up."
With a "bang", Quill and Rocket Raccoon were thrown out from the ship. Quill rose to his feet while his head was still spinning. He surveyed his surroundings and noticed the elevator door.
"Elevator door, elevator door… right, first step, into the elevator!" Quill repeatedly muttered to himself. He pocketed Rocket Raccoon and sprinted into the elevator.
Looking at the row of buttons in the elevator, he scratched his head, "Which floor did he say to go?"
"You idiot, he said the ninth floor," Rocket Raccoon jumped onto his chest, pressing the button for the ninth floor. He too was then confused, "What did he say to do on the ninth floor again?"
"And you dare call me an idiot, we go to the ninth floor to gain authority. Otherwise, we can't open the prison cell door… Wait, how do we gain authority?"
Just then, both he and Rocket Raccoon looked down through the see-through elevator, just as the Mechanical Guard who had just finished patrolling on the other side of the building looked up at them. No words were exchanged as they locked gazes.
His gaze landed on the Mechanical Guard's massive arm and Quill took a deep breath, "Tell me, even if we manage to break this thing off, we have no way of carrying it, right?"
"I think so too, but at least we have enemy intel. I guess we can get permission from a Kree Empire soldier or a security robot."
"So, do we still go to the ninth floor?"
"We have nothing now, no authority to open doors. What's the point of going to the ninth floor? Press the elevator again, let's go straight to the seventh floor."
After Quill had pressed the elevator, it stopped at the seventh floor. Before they could step out, they came face to face with two Kree Empire soldiers.
Quill's eyes went wide in shock, he cried out unwittingly, "How are you two still alive?!"
The two Kree Empire soldiers were also stunned. Who are the intruders? Why does it seem like the intruders are more surprised than them?
However, in the next second, instead of shooting, the two Kree Empire soldiers fled towards the staircase next to the elevator. Quill just wanted to step forward and see why they fled, when he saw a massive bug squeezing through the window frame at the far end of the corridor.
Its upper abdomen consists of two sections and resembles a flat beetle, but its front two pairs of clawed legs are as long as a praying mantis, equipped with mustaches and sharp teeth. Eight pairs of compound eyes were neatly arranged on its shield-like head, radiating a fierce red light.
"What's going on? Didn't they say the bugs broke out from the eighth-level corridor?!" Quill ran out of the elevator with Rocket Raccoon and started to dash away, shouting while running.
"We've arrived too early; the bugs haven't reached the eighth level yet!" Rocket Raccoon was running wildly while being dragged by Quill, his fur and voice fluttering in the wind.
At this point, Quill started thinking furiously, he spoke rapidly as he thought: "So, the bugs will definitely run upwards, right? Then we'll head down, we'll definitely be able to avoid them."
As he came to the corner of the stairwell, Quill immediately dashed downwards. However, as the giant bug last saw the two of them, it quickly moved its centipede-like legs to chase them.
Quill rushed to the lower floor, but to his dismay, the bug was still chasing him. Anxiously, he charged into the corridor without looking downstairs, and ended up rushing headlong into a riot of prisoners.
Of course, the heavy-duty prison of the Kree Empire don't confine well-behaved individuals. The moment the bugs invaded the prison and started killing the guards, some inmates immediately thought of jailbreak. By now, all the cells on the sixth floor were unlocked, and a variety of inmates were constantly fighting amidst the chaos.
But even the fiercest prisoners couldn't compare to the Destroying Worms. Prisoners who were fighting turned their heads only to see a person carrying a small animal rushing towards them. They wanted to turn their guns around, but the next second, the terrifying bugs were already at the end of the corridor.
When an inmate's abdomen was pierced by a sharp hooked leg, blood splattering everywhere, the other prisoners began to scream and flee. At that moment, Quill suddenly shouted, "Run upstairs, there're security robots and automatic turrets in the corridor!"
The inmates, being long-term residents, knew the structure of the building better, of course, they knew where to run for safety. Thus, the crowd being chased by the bugs started running to the seventh level.
There indeed were automatic turrets in the corridor from the sixth to the seventh level, but they had no effect on the bugs. Instead, they wiped out a bunch of prisoners. Quill and the Rocket Raccoon, who were hiding in the middle of the prisoners, were not hit. However, when they got to the seventh level, the bug was still chasing them.
At this moment, security robots coming from the other side of the corridor arrived. Quill rolled sideways to dodge the laser, tossing Rocket Raccoon onto a ledge on the opposite side. Understand his intention, Rocket Raccoon drew out his rocket launcher and aimed straight at the bug's eyes.
"Boom!!!"
"Hiss!!!!!"
The bug let out a sharp hiss and rushed forward recklessly. Soon it tangled with the security robot, lasers from weapon firing and bug-spewed mucus filled every space in the corridor.
Quill and Rocket Raccoon hid on the turn of the stairs. Suddenly, they heard a roar from the cell. They didn't understand the meaning of the roar, but they could faintly hear the pronunciation of one word, which was "Groot".
"Is someone in the farthest cell shouting he's Groot? Do he know we're here to rescue him?" Quill poked his head out to look around. As expected, he saw a giant figure in the deepest cell.
"Even if he's Groot, we can't open..."
"Zizz — Bang!"
A security robot's laser beam blew a big hole in the door of the cell, causing Rocket Raccoon to swallow the rest of his words. Rocket Raccoon gritted his teeth, spat and said, "Lucky for him."
"Boom — Bang! I'm Groot!!!!!!!!"
The moment door was blown away, the security robot was directly smashed onto the wall. The bug, heavily injured by the laser, wanted to turn around and escape but was immediately knocked away by a pair of huge fists.
The silhouette that rushed out from the cell was much larger than expected. It saw him punch away the bug, smashed the security robot with another punch, and constantly roared "I'm Groot".
With a whizz, two thick tendrils rooted straight into the wall in front of Quill. He and Rocket Raccoon on his shoulder stared blankly at the tendrils for two seconds before uttering an earth-shattering scream and running haphazardly down the stairs.
Adam, who was observing the situation through the ship's window, saw Quill and Rocket Raccoon be the first run out of the entrance, closely followed by Groot. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the plan was proceeding smoothly.
Quill and Rocket Raccoon rushed into the spaceship like their butts had caught fire, and shouted at Adam in the cockpit: "Close the door! Close the door quickly! He's coming in."
"Wha..."
"Bang!" As Adam turned his head, he found himself locking eyes with the huge tree man. Groot's eyes were red, clearly out of control.
Meanwhile, in the barren land at the end of time, Shiller finally couldn't bear the boredom of sitting and drinking tea with Strange. He looked at Strange and said.
"Your hand has disappeared, but your magic hasn't. Cast a spell and see how our friends are doing?"