Chapter 1144: Hopeless Situation

After transforming into his own visage, Dormammu’s two emotionless deep yellow eyes stared at the receding Milano.

The power of the two golden explosions within Dormammu’s body was indeed immense, several times greater than the most potent attack on the Milano. It took some time for Dormammu to neutralize the colossal power of those two explosions.

However, the idea of shaking off Dormammu with the force of those two explosions was undoubtedly wishful thinking. Unless they could throw a sun at Dormammu, it was impossible to stop this dark dimension’s big boss.

Just as the Milano transformed into a stream of silver-red light and sped away, Dormammu’s massive face displayed no expression as it watched.

Only when the Milano had moved far away, almost vanishing into the cosmic darkness, did Dormammu finally act. A portion of his vast mist-like body began to tremble, and suddenly, he plunged into the void.

Rip!~

Even though they were in the vacuum of space, tearing sounds faintly echoed. Under the influence of the black mist, the fabric of space was torn apart by Dormammu’s absolute power! On the other side of the ripped space, a stream of silver-red light was hurtling toward them at high speed.

…

Whoosh!

“Darn it! Even that couldn’t do anything to it! Indeed, this guy’s power has already reached super-S level!” Inside the cockpit of the speeding Milano in space, Rocket had seen Dormammu’s normal form via the detectors left behind, and he wasn’t entirely satisfied with the effects of the super energy battery’s explosion.

Originally, the two golden blocks Rocket had secretly thrown out were the ones he had stolen after completing the Grand Sowin ceremony for Ayesha. There were only five of them, and two had just been used up.

These super energy batteries were valuable, and Rocket had kept them hidden from Star-Lord and the others. If the information got out, they would undoubtedly be pursued by those golden people.

As for those small energy-filled metal spheres, Rocket had concocted them himself. Not only did these metal spheres possess potent energy themselves, but they could also enhance the power of the engines. Of course, when their energy was depleted, or if the engines were completely destroyed, the Milano would be out of luck.

However, as long as they managed to distance themselves from Dormammu for now, they could immediately engage in Warp travel. This way, they could directly jump to other places in the universe via spatial travel.

Even if the pursuing mist were powerful enough, finding them in the vast cosmos would be nearly impossible. So, they only needed a bit of time now.

“It’s good if we can get away! We’re already at a safe distance. Let’s hurry and initiate Warp travel! We can come back to Earth next time!” Hearing Rocket’s complaining with a tinge of pain, Star-Lord shouted in relief.

“It’s already started! Countdown: five seconds! Hold on tight!”

“I’ve been holding on the whole time!!”

“Four… Three… Two…”

Whoosh!

Right when the Milano was about to initiate the final second of its Warp travel, a swarm of black mist suddenly surged forth from the endless expanse of space ahead. It was the same kind of black mist they had shaken off earlier!

The Milano, which had accelerated to its limit, had no way to evade. Just in the last moment before entering Warp travel, it plunged directly into the black mist.

Dormammu hadn’t watched them depart; the previous pursuit had been half-hearted, just to devour the small thing that flew into his mouth by chance.

However, Rocket’s super energy battery explosion angered Dormammu. Seeing that the Milano was about to escape, Dormammu finally got serious, using the spatial crossing to intercept them.

The Milano, ensnared by the engulfing black mist, couldn’t initiate Warp travel anymore. The black mist that Dormammu had crossed over with was also a part of his body, possessing the same devouring power.

The Milano, which had rushed in at extreme speed, could only hold on for a moment. The energy shield that should have protected it during Warp travel was already in jeopardy.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

As the sudden appearance of the black mist enveloped them, Milano rapidly lost its energy. Alarms resounded within the ship’s interior. Inside the cockpit, Star-Lord and the others turned pale.

In this situation, they had truly begun to feel despair. Perhaps only Groot, in his adolescent phase, hadn’t grasped the immense crisis they were facing. He gazed outside with an innocent expression, observing the black mist continuously consuming the spaceship’s energy.

“Rocket! Do you have any more of those bombs? Throw them all out together!” As the engine’s power steadily decreased, Star-Lord continued to shout.

“We can’t escape the shroud of these black mists now. If we throw those out, we’ll end up blown up as well!” Hearing Star-Lord’s shout, Rocket hollered back at the top of his lungs.

Enveloped by Dormammu’s black mist, Rocket couldn’t pilot the Milano as he wished. He didn’t even know if the Milano, which had overextended its engines, was still moving forward. So, if he detonated those super energy batteries now, it was highly likely that the Milano itself would be blown up.

“Even if it’s a suicide, I won’t let this guy swallow us! Our energy shield can’t hold on any longer!” Hearing Rocket’s response, Star-Lord hesitated for a moment, then continued to shout.

“Let me go out and face it!!” Hearing the conversation between Rocket and Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, who had been sitting in the back all along, suddenly yelled.

Subsequently, he unfastened his seatbelt and leaped out of his seat. He then drew a short knife that had been tucked behind his pants and strode toward the rear compartment.

Whoosh~

However, just as Drax had taken only two steps forward, several soft yet sturdy branches had already intercepted him from behind.

These branches rapidly intertwined and entangled in front of him, swiftly blocking the exit of the cockpit. As Drax turned around, he saw Groot, who had been sitting in his place, innocently covering the cockpit with his branches.

The slender branches interwove and entwined, enclosing them all within, just like when they had protected themselves against Ronan. At this moment, Groot, who hadn’t fully matured, finally realized the danger.

Just as before, his choice was to sacrifice himself to protect his comrades. However, at this time, he was still a half-grown child, and the branches surrounding Rocket and the others were so gentle.

“Groot! Don’t!!”

…

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