"Yondu, you're running out of time," Superman states, looking at Yondu team who are bound hand and foot, sitting on the ground unable to move.
His tone is calm but carries a subtle hint of menace "If Star-Lord doesn't show up soon, your lives are over."
Beside him, Carol and Nick Fury remain silent, sharing Superman sentiment.
The three of them are not old-fashioned.
In this matter, the fault originally lies with Star-Lord, and Yondu and his team are not entirely innocent either.
Would Star-Lord have dared to defy his employer if not for the upbringing he received from Yondu and his crew?
Remember, Star-Lord remained with Yondu Ravager crew partly because Yondu ignored the mission given by Ego, Star-Lord father, accepting payment without fulfilling the task—a common vice among the Ravagers.
A week has passed since they captured Yondu.
During this week, Carol and Nick Fury have been constantly guarding Yondu and his men, with Anton stopping by only occasionally, not standing guard continuously due to the high regard he has for Superman.
However, throughout it all, Star-Lord has not made an appearance, seemingly having no intention of rescuing Yondu and the others.
This has been a disappointment for Carol and the others.
They begin to suspect that Yondu might have used some code words when contacting Star-Lord.
Naturally, Yondu and his crew vehemently deny this.
Who wouldn't want to live a few more days?
Perhaps there might still be a chance.
"We have indeed contacted Peter, but whether he plans to come to rescue us, we don't know," Yondu says helplessly, trying to explain.
"My patience is nearly exhausted," Superman remarks coolly.
"No matter where Star-Lord is, he could at least send a message. But from start to finish, there has been no word from him... It seems you've raised a fine son he really doesn't care about your lives."
As Yondu is about to speak, Superman eyes suddenly turn red. His heat vision bursts forth, emitting a terrifying beam of energy that pierces through one of Yondu men standing beside him.
The man, struck by the heat vision, has a huge hole blasted through his chest, his blood evaporated by the intense heat before he can even scream, dying instantly with a look of disbelief on his face.
"You!!" Yondu exclaims in shock.
"I've been too kind to you," Superman interjects, cutting off what Yondu was about to say.
Beside him, Carol and Nick Fury wear strange expressions.
Superman sudden action was not communicated to them beforehand, and they are unclear about what Superman intends to do.
However, they are not overly concerned about Superman actions.
Killing is a normal occurrence in this part of the universe, especially in this knowhere, a gathering place for alien wanderers.
In this chaotic area, every place sees death daily.
Fights, robberies, vendettas, and so on, are commonplace, and they are used to it.
Moreover, Yondu and his Ravagers are not considered friends to them, and are even regarded as enemies.
"What are you doing?"
Yondu clenches his fists.
If his Yaka Arrow hadn't been broken by Superman, and if his limbs hadn't been tightly bound, he would have already stood up to fight Superman head-on.
Watching a longtime member of his crew die at the hands of another, even though he was accustomed to life and death, was still hard to accept.
The years of camaraderie were not just for show.
Meanwhile, Yondu team looked on nervously, fearing they might meet the same fate. They dared not utter a word, worried about provoking Superman further.
"From now on, I will kill one person every day," Superman declared, his expression indifferent and chilling, his hands stained with blood,
"If I have killed all of you and Star-Lord still hasn't appeared, then I will have to find another way to reach him."
As he spoke, Superman picked up Yondu communicator, took a photo, and sent it to him.
The moment the words fell, a deathly silence enveloped the area. Everyone heart sank as they watched Superman actions.
They knew their chances of survival were diminishing.
Yondu bit down hard on his teeth.
He was not afraid of death, but facing it head-on was never easy.
Upon receiving the message on Yondu communicator, Star-Lord clenched his fists, his teeth gritted.
Seeing Superman warning, he knew he didn't have much time left.
Fortunately, he had already drawn the attention he needed.
Soon, he would arrive in the knowhere to negotiate with Superman.
The Orb of the Universe was still in his possession.
This was his bargaining chip to free Yondu and the others.
Meanwhile, the two major forces pursuing him, Ronan Kree minions, and that woman , had followed him to the knowhere.
Once a three-way battle ensued, Star-Lord planned to help Yondu and his crew escape amidst the chaos.
As he contemplated, his spaceship cut through the starry sky.
Two hours later, Star-Lord finally arrived at a starport in the knowhere.
Behind him, a fleet of spaceships, pursuing Star-Lord ship, descended into the knowhere.
"Hmm?"
Superman raised an eyebrow.
His senses covered a large area around him, and he could distinctly feel something was off.
From beyond the cosmos, a massive armed force had arrived.
"The Kree?"
He glanced upward, identifying the figures on the ships.
Having spent so much time with Carol, Superman had improved his ability to recognize Kree individuals.
Moreover, Superman not only spotted the Kree ships but also saw the person he had been waiting for.
Star-Lord, Peter Quill.
"You finally arrived."
Superman muttered, his gaze sweeping over Star-Lord spaceship and then landing on the pursuing Kree ships, suddenly realizing the situation.
"Is this your plan?"
He chuckled coldly, "Such a naive fellow."
"What are you looking at?"
Suddenly, Carol voice came from beside him.
She was very curious.
Ever since a moment ago, Superman had been staring at the sky, as if he had seen something.
Knowing Superman as well as she did, Carol understood that he must have observed something unusual to behave this way.
"Star-Lord has arrived," Superman turned his head and said softly,
"But he not the only one who came."
"Did he bring reinforcements?"
Carol brow furrowed as she glanced at Yondu and his team, making a threatening gesture: "Should we...?"
"No need for now," Superman shook his head.
"He didn't bring reinforcements, he brought pursuers."
"What do you mean?"
Carol was puzzled, not quite understanding.
"Don't forget, we're not the only ones who want the Orb," Superman explained.
"I've told you this from the start."
"Wait, you mean to say..."
Carol face darkened as she finally realized what Star-Lord had done: "That damn scoundrel!"
"Let go."
Superman suddenly stood up from his chair, instructing Carol, "Since he here, it time for us to act."
"What should we do?" Carol asked, glancing at Yondu, "Now that Star-Lord is here, they're useless to us."
As these words left her mouth, a chill went down the spines of Yondu and his team, fearing they were about to meet the same fate as their previously deceased comrade.
"No, don't kill them yet," Superman instructed.
"We need them to willingly exchange the Orb. It'll prevent Star-Lord from playing any tricks, keep them for now."
"Alright."
Carol nodded.
Yondu and his team breathed a sigh of relief.
In the knowhere.
Above.
One spaceship dashed across the sky as if fleeing for its life, followed closely by a series of larger, more menacing ships that relentlessly pursued it.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Continuous blasts from energy cannons targeted the small spacecraft in front, yet it narrowly dodged each attack.
The cannon fire hit buildings in the knowhere, causing numerous people to scream in terror.
At the same time.
Someone was about to retaliate in anger when piloting their spaceship.
However, upon recognizing that the spaceship came from the Kree Empire, their expression drastically changed, and they suppressed their anger.
The Kree are a dominant force in the universe, not to be provoked lightly.
The knowhere is merely a gathering place for alien wanderers, a notorious black market in the universe. It stands in stark contrast to the Kree Empire represented by the spacecraft, a chasm that cannot be bridged.
Even Taneleer Tivan, the most renowned figure in the knowhere, wouldn't dare oppose the Kree, let alone these lone wanderers.
These alien wanderers could only watch in horror as numerous ships flew overhead.
Cannon fire flew indiscriminately.
Fortunately, the city in the knowhere was designed with bunkers or safe houses where a group of people hid, observing the external chaos through monitors, planning to investigate once things calmed down.
It was evident that the pilot of the small spacecraft was Star-Lord.
The Kree ship pursuing him was just one of the forces after him.
There were other forces, currently hidden among the Kree or boldly allied with them.
Star-Lord had a vague sense of this.
However, that wasn't the key issue.
As long as someone was after him, it would lead these people to clash with the group that had kidnapped Yondu and others.
If it came down to it, he could give up the Orb.
Success would mean rescuing the people.
As he pondered this,
suddenly, a figure appeared before him like lightning, and a massive sonic boom erupted by his ears.
The next moment, the glass of his spaceship cockpit shattered under the impact of a fist.
Shards flew everywhere.
The entire spacecraft wing seemed to have taken a heavy blow.
The turbine exploded.
The spacecraft lost lift and plummeted from the sky like a seagull shot mid-flight.
Star-Lord panicked.
He hadn't fully grasped what had happened, only aware that someone had attacked the ship, and it had lost control.
What had the attacker done?
A fist?
Had someone dismantled a spacecraft with their fist?
The bewildered Star-Lord didn't realize that those who had seen the incident and knew what had happened were even more confused than he was.
Especially the residents of the knowhere in the underground safe houses.
They clearly saw a man in battle attire, with a cape fluttering behind him, fly up to the small spacecraft at an unbelievable speed and collide with it head-on amid a terrifying sonic boom.
The next moment, under the shocked gazes of all, the man in battle attire swung his fist just as he was about to hit the small spacecraft.
Crack, crack, crack!
The front section of the small spacecraft was violently caved in.
The man in battle attire stood mid-air, unmovable, like a majestic mountain, emitting an indescribable powerful aura.
Then, the airflow from the back of the spacecraft made it spiral out of control.
The man eyes turned red, and from them, energy beams shot out, destroying the spacecraft engine.
The small spacecraft was completely incapacitated, falling like a meteor.
On the ground, not far from Superman.
Carol and the others stood still, watching everything unfold in the sky above them.
Especially Yondu and his crew.
When they learned that Star-Lord was coming and had brought a group of pursuers, they instantly understood his purpose and silently praised Star-Lord for his clever move.
However, when Superman took to the sky and charged toward the small spacecraft, displaying his superhuman combat abilities in what seemed a suicidal charge, they truly realized how futile their previous scheming had been.
Against absolute power, all tactics are redundant.
Others simply don't care about your actions.
Because no matter how you counter, it cannot match the simplicity of their single punch.
At this moment.
Superman demonstrated such power.
With his fist alone, he crushed the hopes of Yondu and his people.
"We're in trouble!" Yondu exclaimed as he watched the falling spacecraft, his heart sinking, "Peter..."
At that moment.
The Kree spaceships pursuing the small craft were also in shock.
They communicated over their comms.
Uncertain of the identity and allegiance of the man in battle attire.
Given this person capabilities, if they were to engage him in combat, they feared it would come at a great cost to bring him down.
Although he had downed the spacecraft piloted by Star-Lord, it didn't necessarily mean he bore no malice, at least not in the eyes of these Kree.
"Sir, we have no intention of being your enemy."
At this point, the leading Kree commander spoke from their ship: "Our target is the pilot of the downed spacecraft, Star-Lord, Peter Quill... Whatever grievances you have with him, we hope you will hand him over to us Kree."
"For this, you can gain the friendship of the Kree, and, we are willing to offer you a substantial reward," the Kree said.
Suddenly, an escape pod appeared in their view.
Naturally, the person inside was Star-Lord.
Superman also spotted him.
Star-Lord, of course, wouldn't die so easily, a fact Superman was well aware of.
Subsequently.
Star-Lord landed on the rooftop of a high-rise building in the city of the knowhere and pulled a spherical object from his jacket, shouting loudly.
"Isn't this what you all want?"
Gritting his teeth, he threw it with all his might: "Here, take it! Fight over it, I don't want it anymore!!"
Star-Lord hurled the Orb of the Universe into the air.
At the same time.
Superman took to the air.
The Kree ships lined up in formation.
All eyes, from both sides, fixed on the Orb of the Universe hurled by Star-Lord.
In this moment, the Kree also instantly understood.
The objective of the other party was also the Orb of the Universe.
Thus,
they were not allies, but enemies.
"Attack!"
The Kree commander bellowed, issuing the command.