"Shut up!"
After venting his excitement, The Other turned around and shot a vicious glare at Astra, who looked as though he was about to comment.
"What do you know?"
"This is a moment of glory for Prince Lothar. As his most loyal subordinate, it is my duty to record these moments." The Other's face was filled with unprecedented seriousness.
To achieve this goal, he was racking his brain for the perfect words of praise. After all, repeating the same phrases over and over would make him seem uncultured. As someone who prided himself on being Lothar's most devoted follower, The Other absolutely could not allow anyone to question his level of sophistication.
For this reason, he planned to learn from Ebony Maw. They were both in the business of singing praises, but Ebony Maw's flattery toward Thanos was cultured, eloquent, and never repetitive. He was a role model worth studying.
"…Whatever makes you happy."
Astra wanted to say something, but in the end, he swallowed his words.
Even he could tell that this Lothar didn't care much for The Other. There was no way The Other himself didn't realize it.
You can never wake someone who pretends to be asleep—just like how, back then, no one could stop him from acting out after drinking fake liquor.
But…
Astra's gaze shifted away from The Other and landed on the screen, where Lothar was already making his way back to the ship. For the first time, a trace of solemnity flickered in his eyes.
This was the first time he had shown such an expression since being taken hostage, though it vanished in an instant—too brief for The Other to notice.
With nothing but a single extended finger, Lothar had completely erased a high-ranking member of the Kree Accuser Corps—along with their massive warship—reducing them to mere space debris adrift in the void.
This Lothar…
Astra felt a tightness in his throat and coughed twice involuntarily.
"Woz, prepare for a space jump."
As soon as he returned from the Hatch 3, Lothar issued his command, planning to take advantage of the brief chaos within the Kree fleet to slip away and return to the Black Quadrant.
"Understood, Prince Lothar."
"Plotting route…"
"Route confirmed. We will reach the nearest jump point in three minutes."
Under Woz's control, the small battleship disengaged from the battlefield and headed toward the closest space jump point.
Leaving already?
Still slumped on the floor, Astra shifted uncomfortably. The sound drew an irritated scolding from The Other, who was stationed beside him as his guard.
"Sit still, bearded man."
"We are approaching the space jump point. Jump will initiate in five seconds."
"Five, four, three, two, one—Jump engaged."
Just as Woz finished speaking, an explosion rocked the ship!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A relentless barrage of firepower rained down from all directions. The battleship, already halfway into the jump point, was struck directly in its rear, crippling its primary engine.
With its propulsion system disabled, the ship was violently ejected from the space jump point.
"Alert! Alert! Primary engine damaged! Engaging backup power supply!"
"Alert! Alert! Primary engine damaged! Engaging backup power supply!"
"Alert! Alert—"
Woz's voice repeated the warnings in Lothar's ear. As the lights flickered and dimmed, he steadied himself and looked up—only to see a colossal armada emerging before him.
The sheer number of warships made The Other's scalp tingle with terror.
Vanas the Accuser. Dudek the Accuser.
Two heavyweights of the Kree Accuser Corps had arrived on the battlefield.
"Prince Lothar…"
The Other instinctively turned to look at the backbone of their battleship—Lothar himself. Yet, there was no sign of panic on his face.
Recalling how Lothar had descended like a god to annihilate Robb moments ago, The Other suddenly felt a surge of confidence.
What's there to fear? Prince Lothar will definitely pull it off again!
He stole another glance at the Kree warships lined up outside.
So what if you have more ships? It's just like dismantling toys! Prince Lothar already took apart a big one—what's two more?
The Other's confidence soared.
"Backup power system fully activated. Prince Lothar, shall we attempt another space jump?"
As the battleship stabilized, Lothar flexed his fingers and made his decision.
"No. We're heading into the battlefield—the chaos zone between the Skrull Empire and the Kree Empire."
Under the current circumstances, a space jump was impossible. Woz's screen clearly showed that the Kree warships had already locked their weapons onto the jump point. If he tried to return, the outcome was obvious.
Torfa was Kree territory—going there would be walking straight into a trap. That meant his best bet, the only way to take Astra back alive to his adoptive father, Thanos, was to use the battlefield's chaos to his advantage.
He no longer had enough Chitauri soldiers to disrupt the Kree fleet's formation.
Lothar glanced down at Astra, who was still lying on the floor, then granted Woz full operational control of the ship.
If it weren't for Thanos' explicit order that Astra be brought back alive, Lothar would have already left him behind. None of this trouble would have been necessary.
"Understood, Prince Lothar. Woz has located an optimal escape route within the battlefield's chaos."
"Plotting route…"
"Route confirmed—destination: Planet N52."
Under Woz's expert maneuvering, the small battleship weaved through the relentless onslaught of enemy fire. The constant sound of components being damaged didn't stop Woz from executing a series of near-impossible maneuvers.
Sidestep: ↑↗↘↓
Dodge Roll: ←↙↘→
Attack Mode: BABA
Through sheer precision and expert piloting, Woz forced the heavily damaged battleship through the Kree fleet's encirclement. The cost? 41% hull integrity.
Astra, who had been lying on the floor watching the screen, widened his eyes in disbelief.
Never in his life had he imagined that the Kree fleet's pilots would be outmatched—by a cat.
Woz, the combat AI assistant—
That blue robotic cat… was terrifying beyond belief!
After the initial shock, Astra's gaze shifted to the half-organic, half-mechanical being beside him—the one who had such an imposing title yet had proven utterly useless so far.
He couldn't help but wonder—just what gave this creature, whose only skill was running his mouth, the courage to stay on this ship?
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