Marvel : Super Soldier at the Start

Blake was completely caught off guard. First, he was fully focused on talking to Tony, and second, he genuinely didn't expect Rocket to suddenly open fire in the middle of the street. 

Most importantly, Blake had subconsciously started treating these two as allies. 

As a result, Rocket brazenly fired two shots right into his face. 

Two bright bursts of energy exploded on Blake's face. 

"Phew!~" 

Exhaling a puff of slightly black smoke, Blake turned to Rocket with a cold expression and said, 

"Damn it, why the hell did you start shooting right off the bat?" 

As he spoke, his grip involuntarily tightened. 

The two shots did nothing but make Blake's face a little darker, which surprised Rocket. Staring at Blake, Rocket blurted out, 

"What the hell are you made of? How can you take hits like that? Damn it, Groot, stop chatting with the little guy and hit him with something serious!" 

*Whoosh! Whoosh!* 

At Rocket's loud command, Groot extended his arms, which instantly turned into long vines. Swinging them in both directions, he lashed out at Blake. 

"I am Groot!" 

A soft, childlike voice rang out. 

Before the two thick vine whips could strike, they were intercepted midair by two smaller vines. 

Compared to Groot's massive vines, the smaller ones were like chair legs compared to pillars. 

Despite the massive difference in size, the "chair legs" easily stopped the "pillars." 

*Zzzzt!* 

The crackle of electricity echoed as lightning coursed through the smaller vines. High-voltage currents surged along them and reached Groot. 

In an instant, the two extended vines turned to ash. 

The little one had clearly held back, as the electricity stopped after destroying the vines and didn't harm Groot's main body. 

For a tree-being like Groot, losing a couple of limbs was no big deal—they would grow back with a bit of time. 

"I am Groot!" 

Big Groot, staring at his now bare shoulders, looked at the little one in confusion, as if asking why a member of their near-extinct species would attack him. 

Rocket's expression was even more incredulous. 

"Damn it! How did I not know tree-people could do that? Groot, I'm starting to think your mom cheated with a regular tree!" 

Even in this chaotic moment, Rocket couldn't resist his snarky commentary. 

Blake grabbed Rocket's weapon, crushing its energy core with one hand. 

He then placed Rocket on the edge of a nearby flowerbed and pressed a hand firmly on his shoulder to prevent any further antics. 

"Now, can we have a proper conversation?" 

Before Blake finished speaking, several small Nova Corps ships appeared, surrounding the group from all directions. Over a dozen ships hovered overhead, casting a soft yellow glow. 

"This is the Nova Corps. Your actions have violated the laws of Xandar. You are hereby—" 

"It's not my fault!" Blake interrupted loudly, cutting off the officer's announcement. "Nova Corps, open your eyes and look carefully. That guy attacked me and even broke my pet's arm. Arrest them already!" 

Rocket, standing in the flowerbed, waved his arms and shouted, 

"Hey, he's lying! It's not like that!" 

Tony rolled his eyes, casually pulling out an ID and waving it at the ships above. 

The Nova Corps officers, who already had photos of these Earth VIPs, immediately recognized the group when they saw Tony's ID. Remembering their status as honored guests, they quickly adjusted their aim. 

Most of the glowing yellow beams now targeted Rocket, while a few pointed at Groot. 

"Alright, fine! Can we talk properly now?" Rocket shrugged in defeat, mimicking Blake's earlier words. 

... 

In a luxurious suite at a Xandarian hotel, a temporary residence prepared by the Nova Corps for Blake and his companions, the group had gathered to discuss recent revelations. 

Little Groot hadn't lied to his fellow tree-being, and Blake didn't intend to hide anything either. He repeated what he had told the Avengers: the time loop, Conqueror Kang, the Time Variance Authority, and more. 

"You're telling me that my past—being experimented on, getting called 'trash,' and all of that—was predetermined? And if I somehow manage to escape that cursed fate, they'd come after me, toss me in some so-called garbage heap?" 

Rocket's fur stood on end, every strand bristling with anger. 

"Mm, you could put it that way." 

Blake nodded calmly in affirmation. 

"Alright, I'll join you. But on one condition—if the day comes, I want to personally put a hundred holes in that bastard. A hundred!" 

Rocket growled through clenched teeth. 

"I am Groot!" 

"He means he wants to personally snap the neck of every single version of Kang the Conqueror," Little Groot translated in his sweet, childlike voice. 

"Huh?" 

Rocket was briefly thrown off, unused to someone else translating Groot's words. After a moment of surprise, he shrugged it off and added, 

"Well, finally, someone else understands him! Feels great not having to be the translator. But don't steal my job, Groot. From now on, this is my goal!" 

"I am Groot!" 

"This time?" Little Groot translated again. "Of course, we can't just let it go. We're already here, so we might as well grab that guy on Xandar. He's worth forty thousand units—that's a fortune! Besides, we're not afraid of the Nova Corps anymore, are we?" 

Rocket and Groot's reason for coming here was the same as in the movie: Yondu had placed a forty-thousand-unit bounty on Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord. 

They didn't have concrete intel confirming Quill's presence on Xandar, but they knew he had something others were after. Whether to sell the item or hide himself, a diverse place like Xandar was the perfect refuge. 

As expected, with the Nova Corps' help, surveillance equipment in Xandar's atmosphere pinpointed Quill's location. 

... 

It was a small shop that sold souvenirs from neighboring star systems, but secretly, it was Xandar's largest hub for fencing stolen goods and brokering shady deals. 

About twenty meters away from the shop, across the street, was a decorative flowerbed. 

Blake, Tony, and Rocket were disguised as tourists, casually sitting on the flowerbed's edge. 

Meanwhile, Natasha had taken both versions of Groot shopping. One served as a cute pet, and the other was reduced to a bag-carrying workhorse. 

The trio by the flowerbed had just received intel from the Nova Corps: Quill had entered the shop not long ago. 

The hotel they were staying at was nearby, so they had walked over without delay. 

"How long has that guy been in there? Shouldn't we go in and check?" 

Rocket fiddled impatiently with the safety of his newly acquired gun, clearly itching for action. 

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