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Before Quill was escorted away, he desperately winked at Darian.
"Countryman, remember to bail me out!"
Unfortunately, Darian couldn't discern any other meaning from his eyes besides a hint of lewdness, and thus watched as Quill and the "Nature Combo" were taken away by the Nova Corps.
Gamora was also categorized into the "Nature Combo," as her vibrant green appearance seemed even more lively than Groot, the plant-person.
However, Darian didn't need to worry about Quill.
Judging from the system's comments, it was highly probable that he wouldn't remain in prison for too long, and they might even meet again someday.
With Quill no longer chattering in his ear, Darian finally had some peace and decided to take a good stroll around Xandar.
As a highly advanced interstellar empire, high-tech products were virtually everywhere, but almost all of them were civilian products; he couldn't even find a decent weapon store on the street.
Occasionally, he'd spot a few security equipment stores, but they only sold non-lethal sonic guns or energy shields.
This was all due to the Nova Empire's laws, which strictly controlled weapons and equipment; on Xandar, the sale of most weapons and equipment was explicitly prohibited.
In this regard, it was far less free than the U.S.
In the U.S., you could easily get firearms from street thugs in any alley, and if you were lucky, you might even find an RPG, but here, it was difficult to even get a powerful gun.
Darian was a little disappointed but didn't dwell on the issue too much.
He immediately switched to "buy, buy, buy" mode, purchasing any high-tech product that caught his eye, from smart wearables to household robots, buying a large quantity.
After all, he had earned a huge sum of Universe Coins from the Ravagers, so it was a waste not to spend it.
After his shopping spree, Darian ambled over to the spaceport's management office, paid a management fee, and entrusted his spaceship to the Nova Empire.
Having completed all this, he directly opened his game map and selected the coordinates of the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters for teleportation.
These past few days, Darian hadn't been able to return to Earth to accept daily quests; Morag didn't even have a teleportation point, and he couldn't just teleport during spaceship travel, as he wouldn't be able to return to Earth if he did.
Now that he had set up a teleportation point on Xandar, he no longer had this concern.
Back at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Darian went directly to Director's office to accept a mission from Hill, and casually sent the mission information to Peter and Harry's X-Squad.
However, Peter and Harry did not respond as quickly as usual.
Darian was a bit puzzled, so he activated his Teleportation Orb and directly teleported himself near Peter.
As for why it was near Peter, it was because he had entrusted the Teleportation Orb to Peter for primary management.
Harry, as the sole heir of the Osborn Group, was young, rich, and handsome, with a vibrant and colorful nightlife.
Darian didn't want to suddenly teleport over and witness any R-rated scenes that would require blurring.
In contrast, Peter was much more reassuring; his nightlife was mostly dedicated to fighting various criminals on the streets of New York, so there would be no such awkwardness.
Poor Peter, he had thought Darian entrusted the Teleportation Orb to him out of special trust, and had secretly gloated about it for a long time.
As soon as Darian landed, before he could even clearly see his surroundings, he saw Peter, dressed in his Spider-Man suit, execute a somersault to dodge an attack.
Immediately after, a blinding electric light streaked past him, heading straight for his face!
Darian: "…"
He didn't even have time to complain; a dazzling white light instantly erupted around him, activating his Ward spell in a second, forming a close-fitting magic shield.
The electric light fiercely struck the magic shield, exploding into a shower of tiny electrical sparks.
Only then did Darian clearly see his surroundings.
He found himself inside the Osborn Group's power plant, where the surrounding equipment was extensively damaged.
Broken wires sporadically sparked, clearly indicating that a fierce battle had taken place here.
Peter was panting heavily on one side, his Spider-Man suit covered in scorch marks, with several areas even burned through.
In mid-air, Harry's situation wasn't much better.
He was hovering on that new glider, which resembled a graphics card, and his signature slicked-back hair had now turned into an afro, looking as if he'd been struck by lightning, which was quite comical.
And directly in front of them, a translucent blue humanoid creature floated, much like a certain Dr. Manhattan from DC works who disliked wearing clothes, except this one at least wore a black jumpsuit.
Darian glanced at the information of this blue man.
It turned out to be Max Dillon, codenamed Electro, one of the supervillains he had encountered at the Osborn Group.
Darian curiously asked, "Can anyone tell me what's going on?"
Peter and Harry had already noticed Darian's arrival; upon seeing a glowing humanoid, they almost thought another Electro had appeared, only to breathe a sigh of relief when they heard a familiar voice.
"Darian, why are you here!?" Peter exclaimed in surprise.
Darian replied, "I sent you messages with no response, so I just teleported over.
What's up with this guy?"
Harry controlled his glider to descend and explained, "He's Max, an employee of the Osborn Group.
He turned into this after an accident and gained the ability to control electricity."
"But a few shareholders in the group, fearing that the incident's exposure would affect stock prices, secretly imprisoned him behind my back and conducted research."
Since Norman Osborn's disappearance, although Harry nominally took over the Osborn Group, not all shareholders obeyed him, the young heir.
Some old-timers had been secretly playing tricks, trying every means to seize control of the group from him.
"Until today, Max suddenly went berserk, killed the shareholders who imprisoned him, and then escaped here, intending to absorb all the electricity from the power plant."
Harry feigned a sorrowful expression, but the upward curve of his lips was harder to suppress than an AK.
Because the shareholders who died were precisely the old fogeys who constantly tripped him up in board meetings and tried to suppress him to seize power.
Harry wasn't like Peter, who would feel sympathy and pity for his enemies; he pretended to be heartbroken on the surface, but inwardly, he was overjoyed.
Peter, however, didn't have as much internal drama as Harry; he stared intently at Electro and said, "We must stop Max as soon as possible, otherwise large areas of the city will lose power, especially hospitals and transportation, which would truly descend into chaos."
[NPC Peter Parker has issued you a new quest]
[Quest: You are Electricity, You are Light, You are the Only Myth]
[Objective: Defeat Electro and thwart his conspiracy]
[Reward: EXP + 3000, Random Equipment 1, Random Item 2]
It has to be this kid Peter; not only can he help me grind daily quests, but he can also issue me side quests.
Max also noticed Darian's appearance and was momentarily stunned: "Who are you? Are you also an ordinary person harmed by the Osborn Group, just like me?"
Darian was glowing all over, looking even brighter than Max, leading Max to mistake him for one of his kind.
"This is magic; it's just a little bright," Darian immediately corrected.
This was important, as it concerned his reputation as a mage.
Max didn't believe in so-called magic, but he indeed couldn't feel any electricity from Darian, so his expression shifted from anticipation to disappointment, then quickly to anger.
"So you're with them! You all want to stop me! You're all henchmen of the Osborn Group!"
Max erupted in dazzling electrical light, and powerful energy rapidly converged in his arms, sending several thick arcs of electricity towards the three of them!
Seeing this, the three immediately dodged.
Harry ascended on his glider, Peter shot out webs to swing away, and Darian, with a rustic broom appearing out of thin air in his hand, gripped the handle with one hand and instantly soared into the sky.
[Equipment: Flying Broom (Boys are best off sitting sideways or adding a bicycle seat, otherwise there will be a faint sense of melancholy)]
Darian didn't sit on the broom; instead, he directly held onto the handle.
Since Thor could fly by holding his hammer, he could also fly by holding a broom.
With his arm strength and stamina, he didn't have to worry about letting go and falling.
In fact, Darian also had the Green Goblin glider for flight, but unfortunately, Little Goblin Harry was present, and to avoid a father-son reunion on the spot, using the Flying Broom was better.
Darian landed on a high ground, switched his Flying Broom to a Golden Desert Eagle, raised his hand, aimed at Max, and repeatedly pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Energy-infused bullets whistled out, precisely hitting Max.
However, the energy bullets passed directly through his body, leaving a bullet hole in the thick detonator behind him.
Harry quickly reminded, "We've already tried; all physical attacks can't cause him real damage.
His body has been quantumized."
Good heavens, he's actually a natural ability user!
Darian raised an eyebrow; if physical attacks were ineffective, many of his methods would be useless now.
He quickly scrolled through his game inventory and then said, "I have a plan, but he needs to be temporarily incapacitated first."
Peter jumped to Darian's side and whispered, "I have an idea.
We found out before that he's especially afraid of Water; he short-circuits temporarily whenever he encounters Water."
A natural type being afraid of Water, that's very reasonable!
"Alright, I'll leave it to you; I'll distract this guy."
Darian didn't intend to actively attract aggro; it was mainly because Max's glowing eyes were staring intently at him, and his gaze seemed to want to devour him alive.
Evidently, those few energy bullets, while not causing substantial damage, had thoroughly enraged the opponent.
"You are dead ~!"
Max roared.
Due to being electrified all over, even his voice had a strong auto-tune effect.
In today's rap scene, he'd be years ahead of the trend, with built-in auto-tune, saving the sound engineer's job.
Plus, with his skin enhancement, if he were in the rap scene, he might become the next top star.
Max raised his palm, and countless dazzling electric arcs furiously converged in his palm, emitting a spine-tingling crackle, as if a thousand birds were chirping simultaneously.
"Is that you, Chidori!?"
This familiar sense of déjà vu made Darian unable to resist complaining.
The next moment, Max thrust his arms forward, and a bucket-thick, searing white current tore through the air, rushing straight towards Darian with astonishing speed!
Darian reacted swiftly, flashing out of his original spot, and once again took out his Flying Broom to soar into the air.
Boom!!
Amidst a deafening explosion, Darian's original position was engulfed by the electric current, leaving a large scorched mark on the ground, with small electric snakes merrily dancing on it.
Max showed no sign of stopping, continuously waving his arms, sending one blinding electric flash after another streaking into the sky.
But Darian, controlling the Flying Broom, maneuvered and dodged nimbly in the air, effortlessly evading all the electric attacks, not even a corner of his clothes was touched.
As a magic user's dedicated mode of transportation, Darian's old driver's soul naturally came into play, making the controls incredibly intuitive.
"You damn fly ~!"
The continuous misses had Max seeing red, but he was a blue man, so he didn't easily show it.
Darian advised, "Max, I see you have potential.
It's not too late to stop now!"
"Impossible The Osborn Group owes me and must repay me double !"
Max roared, his hands beginning to gather even more powerful electrical energy.
Darian proposed, "Then how about you work for me? I'm willing to hire you at double your previous salary, with five insurances and one fund, plus annual paid leave!"
Max let out a series of cold laughs accompanied by electric crackles: "Who do you think I am ? Mere money won't make me give up ! Impossible !"
"Triple salary!"
"Don't even dream of it ~!"
"Five times salary!"
"Never ~!"
"Ten times salary!"
"…"
Max's movements in his hands paused, but then he became even angrier.
He actually hesitated!
Mere money actually made his vengeful spirit waver!
Unforgivable!
Max regained his composure, decided to ignore Darian's words, and furiously gathered electricity in his hands!
Just as his energy was about to erupt, a sudden splash sounded from behind him.
Max turned his head and saw Peter, with his bare hands, tearing off the water pipe of the reservoir.
A thick stream of Water surged towards him, leaving him no time to dodge!
Whoosh—!
The high-pressure water stream instantly engulfed him, his entire body's electric light furiously flickering in the Water, and he then crashed heavily to the ground from the air.
The electric light on his body flickered rapidly a few times, then finally dimmed completely.
"Bastard, you tricked me!"
Max gritted his teeth, his voice no longer electrified.
However, even though he was slumped on the ground, he remained confident: "Even so, what can you do? I can only temporarily not use my abilities, but your attacks still have no effect on me."
"Is that so?"
Darian grinned, and a pitch-black spherical object appeared out of thin air in his hand.
His right arm muscles bulged and tensed, and his waist twisted sharply, driving his entire arm to whip out like a lash, throwing it with all his might!
"Go, Poké Ball!"
The moment it left his hand, the pitch-black sphere transformed into a Black Shadow, carrying a terrifying whooshing sound, and flew straight towards Max!
Before the opponent could even react, the pitch-black sphere heavily struck his head!
Bang!!
Max's head snapped sideways, and half of it shattered in response, turning into scattered electrical sparks.
But Max was still alive, laughing maniacally with half a head.
"Hahaha, I told you there was no…"
His wild laughter abruptly ceased.
The pitch-black sphere eerily stopped in mid-air, and the crack in its center instantly opened, creating an irresistible suction force at its opening.
Max's quantum body was pulled as if by an invisible hand, twisting as it was sucked into the small spherical object.
The next moment, the pitch-black sphere closed again, dropped to the ground, and began to sway from side to side.
One sway, two sways, three sways.
After swaying a few times like this, the pitch-black sphere stopped.
At the same time, everyone felt as if a sound echoed in their ears.
Ding!