Shiller thought it over and felt it made sense; no one who designed a robot would just include one charging port. They always tried to make them hybrid, with many of Stark's robots not only able to consume food but, in extremely dangerous situations, they could even extract energy by devouring rocks. The efficiency might be low, but having multiple sources of energy could mean the difference between escape and capture.
"Then what?"
"Then Half-World was invaded."
"Laira must have been happy about that, right?"
"If it were only her enemies here, she certainly would have been happy, but my little master also died, and it seemed that a kind doctor who was very kind to her also perished under gunfire. Ever since the destruction of Half-World, she's been seeking revenge, becoming a bounty hunter was also a way for her to earn money while looking for clues."
"Don't you want revenge for your little master?"
Rocket Raccoon heaved a sigh and said, "Although I can't be certain, my little master might have been a descendant of the nobility of the old Skrull Empire, who came to the Half-world Mental Hospital for some reason."
Shiller recalled the history of the Skrull Empire and felt that the "some reason" was probably not something pleasant.
As everyone knows, the old Skrull Empire was a bit like the Cosmic Soviet; they had nobles at some point in history, but not anymore. It's possible that Rocket Raccoon's little master was one of those who ended up in the mental hospital during that period.
Rocket Raccoon continued, "Since she was able to survive back then and managed to live well in Half-World, it means someone must have been protecting her. But she still died in the end, which means that whoever took action against the Half-world Insane Asylum must have been more powerful than the people protecting her."
"Dealing with those kinds of people, impulsive bravery is useless. Even if I could find out who it was, how could I possibly break through the obstacles and strike at the king himself? It's better to wait for an opportunity. Even nobles disappear one day."
Although he knew that Rocket Raccoon had a legendary past, Shiller still felt a twinge of regret.
Everything that happened at the Half-World Mental Hospital signaled the tumultuous end of an era for the Three Great Empires and the beginning of another. This seemingly ordinary raccoon and his master were remnants of history left after a great calamity.
"Laira didn't say she was going to take revenge, did she?"
"No, not exactly. The tragedy of Half-World shouldn't be related to the Mutants, but she said she's going to do something that will aid in her revenge."
"Something beneficial?"
"It means the opponent might be offering a high price." Rocket Raccoon said, "Laira needs a lot of money because many pieces of intelligence, equipment, and resources can only be bought with money, so she often takes on very dangerous jobs. But I never expected her to dare provoke even the Mutants."
"Perhaps that is precisely because she was confident she wouldn't be discovered."
"Yet you still found her, didn't you?" Rocket Raccoon approached Laira, flipped her over, and started searching her belly.
"What are you doing? Although you two are both small animals, you're still different genders. Even if she is a suspect, if you're behaving indecently, I will also..."
Rocket Raccoon rolled his eyes and said, "Do what? Accuse me of indecency? Cut it out. Do mechanical animals even have reproductive capabilities?"
Suddenly, Rocket Raccoon's hands paused, then he pressed down on Laira's right side. After a faint clicking sound, it seemed like Laira was slowly regaining her breath.
This was the hibernation function of the mechanically modified animals from Half-World. They would seal off certain modified animals that were no longer needed and reawaken them when necessary. A hibernating mechanical animal would display almost no signs of life, indistinguishable from an inanimate object, and could only be activated by someone else to resume activity.
"How did Laira know someone would come to reactivate her?"
"Do you think she sent me a message before she left for no reason?"
Shiller sighed, fed up with these love-stricken fools.
Laira slowly woke up, and upon seeing Rocket Raccoon, she breathed a sigh of relief, but she became visibly tense upon seeing Shiller.
"Don't be nervous, you haven't been captured by the Mutants." Rocket Raccoon crouched nearby, flicking his tail, and said, "But getting caught by Shiller is a lot scarier than getting caught by Mutants."
"What do you mean? Rocket, where am I now?"
"You're on Earth."
"Earth?! How did I end up on Earth?!!"
"Dr. Schiller found you on a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy. Out of respect for me, he didn't hand you directly to the Mutants and brought you back to me instead."
Laira was visibly stunned, quivered her whiskers, and then seemed to relax completely, collapsing onto the ground.
"Seriously, Laira, what's going on with you? Why would you be in the Andromeda Galaxy at this time? Does the biological unrest happening there have anything to do with you?"
"A biological disaster in the Andromeda Galaxy?" Laira asked in surprise and then whispered, "He said it wouldn't cause any major trouble, didn't he?"
"Who said that?"
"My employer."
"What did your employer hire you to do?" Rocket Raccoon asked, and before Laira could answer, Rocket immediately said, "Don't give me that confidential agreement crap. You've definitely been screwed over this time. Magneto and Professor X are searching throughout the star system for you. Without them, you'd be dead."
Laira looked bewildered, shook her head, and said, "Impossible."
"Why impossible? You go into someone's house and poison them and..."
"I didn't go there to poison anyone." Laira suddenly sat up, looked into Rocket's eyes, and said, "Indeed, that was a virus, but not intended to kill them."
"For what then?"
"To create antibodies." Laira said, "It's a vaccine, intended to make the Mutants develop antibodies against future disasters after they come into contact with them. It's meant to help them withstand what's coming."
"What?!" Rocket Raccoon said incredulously, "Are you mad? Is that how your employer convinced you?!"
"Do you remember how much I learned from that biologist? Do you think he could fool me?"
Now it was Rocket Raccoon's turn to be stunned. After a while, he looked up at Shiller and said, "Remember what I mentioned? In the Half-World Mental Hospital, besides my little master, there was also a kind doctor who treated Laira well. He was a renowned biologist who taught her all this knowledge. Laira is probably not just making it up."
Shiller confirmed his suspicion that there was something wrong with the poisoning incident, then looked at Laira and asked, "So your employer hired you to help these people?"
"Yes, because someone wants to target the Mutants."
"Who?"
"The Three Great Empires." Laira looked around cautiously before lowering her voice, "You guys should be aware of the cosmic situation. The Three Great Empires wouldn't just let the Mutants expand. I don't know what they're planning, but it's likely hard to deal with."
"Who is your employer, to be exact?" Rocket Raccoon asked, furrowing his brow.
"You guys should know him better than I do. He told me his name is Herbert Windham, codenamed 'Supreme Evolution.'"