Unknown Dimension, Andromeda Galaxy, Xandar, Nova Corps Headquarters.
"Buzz!!! Buzz!!!" At this moment, the piercing sound of alarms echoed throughout the entire base.
In the aftermath of a bombing by Kree Empire warships, amidst the rubble of the ruined base, a blonde-haired girl of around 15 or 16 pushed aside the debris covering her body and struggled to stand up.
A horrifying wound on her forehead continued to bleed profusely, staining half of her face red. It was hard to believe this girl was still alive.
"So much pain! What happened to me? Where am I?"
Clutching the wound on her forehead, she looked around in confusion. Smoke filled the corridors, red warning lights on the walls flashed incessantly, sparks from short-circuited wires crackled and flew everywhere, and the sharp sound of alarms rang in her ears.
Looking down, she saw several injured people in strange uniforms lying on the ground, groaning in pain.
"Did I… transmigrate?"
Li Bo had originally been a field supervisor for an advertising company, responsible for setting up a promotional billboard for Avengers: Endgame outside a movie theater. He hadn't expected a strange gust of wind to blow through, causing the massive billboard—which workers had just installed and hadn't fully secured yet—to fall from a height of ten meters.
Li Bo, who had been idly smoking beneath the billboard, heard the workers shouting and instinctively looked up, only to see Thanos's grim purple face on the heavy billboard growing larger and larger in his eyes.
Everything went black, and he fell unconscious. It was just as the saying went: Unsafe practices lead to tragedy for everyone involved.
"My god, Princess Aira, you're injured…!"
A peculiar voice reached her ears, speaking a language she'd never heard before, yet somehow, she understood it perfectly—as though it were her native tongue. Probably a perk of transmigration.
Aira turned around to see a young female warrior in a similarly styled uniform approaching her. The warrior's chest was adorned with three glowing orange discs, and atop her head was a golden Spartan-style helmet marked with a red hexagram symbol.
The young warrior reached out, placing her hand on Aira's bleeding forehead. A golden glow emanated from her palm, and the terrifying wound on Aira's forehead began to heal.
"Atwater, hurry and launch the ship! We must get the Infinity Stone and the princess off Xandar!"
"Yes, Commander Bakan!"
As she healed Aira's wound, the female warrior gritted her teeth and muttered, "Damn the Kree Empire! How did they find out the Infinity Stone was brought to Xandar?"
The Infinity Stone! Xandar!
Hearing this, Aira, a half-baked Marvel fan, was instantly stunned. Xandar, the Nova Corps insignia on the helmets—this was the headquarters of the Nova Corps, Xandar.
Aira timidly probed, "Are you Anwen Bakan?"
Anwen froze for a moment before replying, "Yes, Princess Aira. Why do you ask?"
Aira hurriedly explained, "Uh! It's nothing. I got hit on the head, and I'm a bit disoriented right now."
Damn it! She had transmigrated into the Marvel Universe! But if transmigrating wasn't bad enough, why did she have to transform into someone else? And if transformation wasn't bad enough, why throw her straight into a desperate situation?!
In Guardians of the Galaxy, Xandar was almost destroyed during the Kree Empire's invasion. And judging by the uniforms of the Nova Corps around her, this clearly wasn't the Xandar from the movie universe.
Could it be that she had transmigrated into the Marvel Comics Universe? Marvel's comics were thick enough to stack several floors high—who could possibly know which Marvel universe this was?!
Transmigration + transformation + getting ambushed—was this a hell-level quest?
Just as Anwen was about to say something, a deafening explosion reverberated through the air. The entire corridor shook violently. If Anwen hadn't grabbed Aira's arm in time, she would have been flung against the wall.
This body was way too weak! It barely seemed stronger than an ordinary human. Other transmigrators got cheats, superpowers, and the ability to destroy worlds, while her transmigration seemed destined for tragedy. Was she about to set the record for the shortest survival time of a transmigrator?
"There's no time to discuss this now! Get on the ship and escape!" Anwen shouted at Aira urgently, not having a moment to waste.
Grabbing Aira's arm, she half-dragged, half-supported her through the flickering corridor. Suddenly, the scene before Aira widened. They had run into a hidden hangar bay.
Inside was a brand-new, large starship over forty meters long, parked neatly on the runway. Its streamlined design was entirely different from the standard Nova Corps starfighters, which unfolded into a star-shaped layout. Instead, it looked more like an enlarged version of Star-Lord's Milano.
The ship was at least three times the size of the standard Nova Corps fighters and was large enough to be classified as a small battleship.
When they reached the hatch, Anwen didn't hesitate. She pushed Aira onto the starship and said gravely, "Xandar… it's almost finished."
Through the hatch, Aira saw towering skyscrapers collapsing one by one amidst the constant explosions, and the sky was filled with Kree warships wreaking havoc.
Anwen knew that Xandar was likely doomed this time.
The Kree Empire's attack had been meticulously planned. They struck when the Nova Corps' main fleet and its most powerful warriors, the Centurions, had been deployed elsewhere. This was no coincidence—it was an impeccably executed ambush.
Anwen Bakan took a palm-sized silver metallic box from her pocket and shoved it into Aira's hand. With a solemn expression, she said, "Your Highness, the Infinity Stone must not fall into the hands of the Kree Empire. Go to Rejek Star. Queen Adora's fleet is currently there. Give her the stone and avenge us."
Then, with a resolute "bang," Anwen closed the hatch without hesitation.
Aira pounded on the glass of the hatch and shouted, "Hey, hey! Anwen, what are you doing? Why aren't you escaping with me?"
Anwen gave a bitter smile and said, "Xandar may be destroyed, but before that happens, I'm going to make them pay the price."
"Your Highness, I'll divert their attention. Nova Corps Eternal!"
With that, Anwen stepped back a few paces. Red light surged from her body, and with a "whoosh," she shot out of the hangar through the exit at the far end of the runway.
"Wait! Anwen! What I wanted to say was—you didn't leave me a pilot, dammit!" Aira banged on the glass of the window, shouting anxiously.
But Anwen was already far gone. Helpless, Aira rushed to the cockpit, staring at the bewildering array of control screens and buttons. Overwhelmed and on the verge of tears, she exclaimed, "Are you kidding me?"
She pinched her arm hard, and the sharp pain reminded her this wasn't a dream.
Expecting someone who had been a regular person on Earth just minutes ago to pilot a high-tech spaceship straight out of a sci-fi movie was as absurd as asking a monkey to learn to drive a car in one minute.
"Greetings, Princess Aira. I am the Nova X-class fighter's auxiliary navigation system. It's a pleasure to assist you," a soft, pleasant female voice suddenly echoed in the cockpit.
Hearing the sound of the onboard AI, Aira felt like she'd found her savior. She immediately shouted, "Yes! Get us airborne right now! I need to get out of here!"