Knowhere floated alone in the vastness of space.
From the outside, it appeared to be a massive skull, dozens of kilometers in diameter—the skull of some ancient colossal being.
Those who saw it could hardly imagine just how massive this creature's original body must have been.
Even after this colossal creature died many years ago, its skull still houses many being, busy like ants, mining away.
For the interstellar races, everything left behind by this creature—even its saliva—was a usable resource.
In the cosmic environment, such places were not tightly controlled by powerful space authorities but instead became dens of outlaws, pirates, and lawless scum.
Here, there are cosmic resource developers, pirates, galactic fugitives, and bounty hunters. Almost every profession in the universe can be found here.
There was virtually no order. Power was the only law.
And just as Su Ye and his group arrived, a new group had shown up—recently escaped convicts.
Klyn Prison, under the jurisdiction of the Nova Corps from Xandar, was a space prison built on an asteroid belt—a nightmare and graveyard for countless cosmic criminals.
Yet, from this very prison, five fugitives managed to escape all at once.
Led by the so-called "Star-Lord," the Guardians of the Galaxy officially make their appearance.
Knowhere was vast, and Su Ye's group didn't run into the Guardians directly.
However, their destination was the same: the Collector's museum. So, it was only a matter of time.
Su Ye had long anticipated this.
Every plot he experiences would happen ahead of time, and he always seemed to encounter the most iconic scenes, as this is an inevitable rule for travelers from other worlds.
"Let's try to stick together as much as possible. Even if we split up, let's have as many people together as we can. This place is full of all kinds of people, so it's safer to go together!"
Their guide, Sif, warned them before disembarking.
That's right, the guide is Sif again, but this time, it wasn't arranged by Thor; she volunteered for it herself.
Jane had gone to Asgard, and after meeting her, Odin never mentioned marrying Thor to Sif again. The whole thing had become a memory everyone tried to avoid.
In the past, Sif might have been upset—she had considered herself a crown princess-in-waiting for over a thousand years, only to be quietly replaced without anyone asking her.
But now, Sif no longer cares about such matters.
Thor was no longer the only man in her eyes. She had found better. What was Thor compared to that?
Su Ye was handsome, charming, and most importantly, highly capable in both skill and strength. Sif loved being in his team—it felt like home.
Even more so, Su Ye's official girlfriend Gwen and his personal secretary Sharon were leading a major initiative.
They were organizing an all-female team within the Great Wall Guardians.
This wasn't a split—it was to give their sisters more visibility and opportunities.
Feminism wasn't just trending on Earth. Across the universe, it was a rising force.
What men can do, women can do, and what women can do, men may not necessarily be able to do, like having children.
Therefore, the existence of matriarchal societies in ancient times wasn't without reason.
Men should respect women—more than they respect themselves.
The new team was tentatively named: United Female Superheroes • For a Loving World • No Bullying, No Hegemony, No Discrimination • Protecting Legal Rights for All Women in the Universe • New Era Great Wall Guardians Alliance.
Aka, the Women's League.
The purpose of the Women's League is exactly as its full name suggests: to protect the interests of women across the universe, so it naturally welcomes female heroes from all corners of the universe.
There might even be potential recruits in Knowhere.
Following Sif's suggestion, the superheroes were split into two groups based on gender. The women went shopping to see if there were any trendy clothes in the universe that Earth and Asgard didn't have.
The men... went to places better left unspoken—those who know, know.
"I wonder how alien women differ from Earth women?"
"Maybe one could take on seven or eight males at once!"
"Males? That's an interesting choice of words. What are you implying? You want to ride a horse or a cow?"
"Can I ride a dragon? I've wanted to be a dragon knight forever!"
"Surtur from Muspelheim has a fire-breathing dragon—massive, temperamental, and a real pain in the ass. Feel free to give it a shot!"
Tony, who was speaking, smiled and glanced at everyone, finally settling his gaze on Abomination.
"However, here, even Abomination might not be big enough. Stirring a giant pot with a toothpick isn't exactly ideal."
"I'll stir it to death!"
Abomination yelled, unwilling to back down.
Everyone cheered with admiration.
Sometimes, a man's joy is simple and unpretentious—a simple dirty joke or an innocent suggestive image is enough to excite them for half the day.
"Hey, where's Uncle Su?"
Suddenly, someone realized that Su Ye was missing, along with his brother, Su Ruiwen.
Everyone instantly understood.
"Looks like they're using the bathroom again. Does Uncle Su Ye's brother have kidney or digestive problems? He takes forever in the bathroom, and insists on dragging Uncle Su Ye along. Is he afraid that if he squats too long, his legs will go numb and he'll fall into the toilet with no one to help him?"
"Quite likely..."
Making fun of Su Ye was a little taboo, but no one cared about Su Ruiwen. He was just someone leeching off his brother's name in the Great Wall Guardians, so what's wrong with making a few jokes?
What they didn't know was that Su Ruiwen's legs were really getting weak from squatting.
If it weren't for Su Ye supporting her, she might have fallen straight down.
"Letting you show off again, with bad legs, and still insisting on using the bathroom for so long!"
Su Ye couldn't help but complain aloud.
Su Ruiwen felt a bit embarrassed, even feeling too shy to face anyone, and she directly transformed into Jane's form.
It felt like, in doing so, the embarrassment would be attributed to Jane instead.
Seeing the transformation, Su Ye immediately lost his composure.
This was like a guilt-free NTR scenario—how could he resist?
"Hah, men…"
Ruiwen gave Su Ye a scornful look and, ten minutes later, used her mutant power again.
Jane turned into long-faced Daisy Louise—complete with matching figure.
Su Ye: "Hsss!"
No wonder Mystique (Raven) was considered the most powerful mutant.
To have her was to have the whole world.
This statement is absolutely true.
Seafood is delicious, no doubt, but eating too much can lead to gout. So, Su Ye had only a little, then took Raven, who had transformed back into Su Ruiwen, to meet up with the Great Wall Guardians at the nightclub.
Meanwhile, Tony and the others had also gathered some information.
"Uncle Su Ye, we just found out that the mining operations here are contracted out to a company called 'Shinra'. We can buy a little on the black market for research, but for large-scale purchases, we can only buy from Shinra."
"Shinra?"
At the mention of this name, Su Ye raised an eyebrow.
This name didn't belong to the Marvel universe; it was a large energy development company from the Final Fantasy world, with power that even surpassed nations.
In the original story, they developed an energy source from within planets, called "Mako," also known as "The Lifestream," which is the source of life for planets and the life forms on them.
Thanks to their development of Mako, Shinra Corporation not only made a large profit but also created their own powerful super soldiers.
The Final Fantasy VII series' main villain, Sephiroth, was Shinra's top-ranked super soldier.
Even the protagonist Cloud and others were former Shinra soldiers.
After Su Ye's "girlfriend card" for Tifa was revealed, he had specifically asked someone on Earth to investigate, but no company named "Shinra" was found, nor was there any trace of Tifa.
Originally, he thought Tifa would also appear like Saber, waiting for special conditions to be triggered to enter a dungeon and be "summoned."
But unexpectedly, she was waiting here instead.
The system's abilities are certainly a bit overpowered.
It's not limited to Earth, beyond the Nine Realms, and even in the universe, it can have an effect.
Su Ye grew more curious—what was this system's true origin?
This also led him to another thought: just how strong is Old Su?
Su Ye remembered when Old Su casually sent the Frost Giants back to Jotunheim—it was like he wasn't transporting monsters but delivering chickens to villagers for the holidays.
When Su Ye mentioned that he had gone to Jotunheim and planned to explore beyond the Nine Realms, Old Su didn't say a word.
What does this mean?
It meant that Old Su had no worries about Su Ye leaving Earth.
It meant Old Su had connections across the universe.
Su Ye sighed once more: no matter how powerful your cheat ability is, it can't compare to having a good dad!
Moreover, what if this golden finger was given to him by Old Su?
He didn't dare think further—it was terrifying to consider.
Upon hearing that Shinra was developing Knowhere, Su Ye became excited.
He was looking forward to the appearance of one of the most stylish and handsome villains in CG history—Sephiroth.
And to Tifa—the goddess of 3D, the Jerusalem of anime fandom.
After asking around through some locals at the nightclub, they confirmed Sephiroth's name.
Sephiroth, Shinra's number one super soldier, had quite a powerful deterrent even in this chaotic place.
To these bloodthirsty pirates, Sephiroth was even more terrifying than the galactic police.
When facing the galactic police, they might end up in prison, but crossing Sephiroth only meant one thing—death.
No exceptions.
To pirates, Sephiroth was the Grim Reaper. His single black wing was an angel to some—a demon to many.
But Sephiroth wasn't in Knowhere.
He was at Shinra's headquarters—on Xandar.
Yes, Xandar—the capital of the Nova Empire and future battlefield of the Guardians.
When he heard this news, for some reason, Su Ye suddenly thought of Ronan the Accuser.
Ronan's Kree Empire was a sworn enemy of the Nova Corps, and destroying Xandar was his lifelong wish.
In the future, he would also pilot the ship given to him by Thanos and launch an attack on Xandar.
But if Shinra was stationed there too—would Ronan's invasion be as smooth as in the movie?
Sephiroth's weapon, the Masamune, was a 40-meter-long ship-cleaving sword.
And he could fly.
Just how many ships could he cut through?
The question now: what was Shinra's stance on Xandar?
When Ronan attacked, would they defend the planet or side with the invaders?
That would determine the outcome of the invasion.
If Shinra sides with Ronan, both Xandar and the Guardians of the Galaxy will likely be doomed!
Su Ye guessed that if he hadn't come, Shinra's stance might be unclear.
But now that he had come, the chance of Shinra siding with Ronan was over 99.99%.
While the Great Wall Guardians partied in the club, elsewhere, the Collector's Museum welcomed some new visitors.
Star-Lord and his crew, after escaping the Kyln, had arrived.
The Collector—a smoky-eyed white-bearded old man.
Typically, in literary works, a person dressed like this would be portrayed as an otherworldly figure, like a sweeping monk, who could easily defeat those who think of themselves as experts.
The Cosmic Collector standing before Star-Lord and his group should have been like that.
Without some serious skills, it would be impossible to have created a huge treasure vault in this chaotic place filled with pirates and criminals, and yet having no one cause any trouble.
Without powerful protection, he would just be a treasure chest monster.
But the problem was, the Cosmic Collector's performance behind the scenes really only lived up to the level of a treasure chest monster.
The treasures being appraised were casually taken away by one of his maidservants. Despite possessed the Reality Stone and a series of other powerful items, when facing Thanos, he was easily killed, and Knowhere itself turned into nothingness.
His behavior really didn't match his image.
He wasted the title of the Cosmic Collector.
Meanwhile, as Su Ye and the Guardians partied, a loud boom echoed outside.
At that moment, Su Ye felt something subtle.
The Infinity Stones had a mysterious link between them—they would resonate.
When two stones were near each other, they would give off noticeable signals.
It wasn't as flashy as Dragon Balls lighting up—but it was real.
"Let's go, something might have happened outside. Let's check it out!"