Chapter 341 |
“All of you, please listen to me. I know everyone feels sorrow for the sacrifice of the warriors, but precisely because of that, we cannot let their deaths be in vain. Only by living and leaving this place can we keep the flame of resistance alive!” Standing before the Mother Tree in the Ancient Tree Land, Jake Sully was still doing his utmost to try to persuade the remaining Na’vi to relocate.
“Why did everyone die, and only you are still alive?” But in response, came this nearly unanswerable question.
The first to ask was a relatively young Na’vi.
Jake knew him—his name was Rota. He was a younger generation compared to Neytiri and Tsu’tey, but like them, he had once studied at the human school run by Dr. Grace.
Because he was relatively young, he had not become an official tribe warrior but stayed within the tribe as a guard.
Now, he was one of the few remaining young leaders in the whole tribe.
Previously, he had shown great respect for Jake, the tribe leader.
So Jake never expected this person to be the first to stand up and challenge him.
“Rota, listen to me!” Jake hurriedly tried to calm him.
“What are you doing?” Jake was both angry and anxious.
“You’re no longer fit to be our leader. We have reason to suspect that, like the other humans, you betrayed our warriors to side with the Sky People!” Rota pointed into the distance coldly.
“What?” Jake followed the direction he pointed and saw the humans who had once helped the Na’vi, now all hanging from a tree, not knowing since when.
“What did you do to them?” Jake asked angrily.
“This is the fate of traitors!” Rota yelled back angrily.
Previously, when Jake led the Na’vi warriors to battle Quaritch, just like with Norm, two human scientists during their work had received Quaritch all-channel surrender message. Feeling the Na’vi were doomed to lose, they tried to return to the human side.
Many young Na’vi, already unhappy about Norm being let go, were even more furious when they discovered this.
With Jake Sully absent, they immediately captured all the remaining humans living within the Na’vi tribal area and hung them from the trees.
If Jake Sully had been able to return safely with the tribe’s main forces today, it might have been acceptable.
But the result was that, except for Jake Sully himself, all the Na’vi warriors were completely wiped out.
This directly became the outlet for these young Na’vi’s dissatisfaction, creating a situation where they wanted to overthrow Jake Sully as their leader.
“Oh ho ho, let me see what kind of good show is about to happen!” At the moment Jake was surrounded by several young Na’vi, a mocking voice came from the nearby jungle.
All the Na’vi, including Jake, turned toward the sound, and they saw Quaritch in full armor, pushing aside the dense jungle branches, appearing in the Ancient Tree Land.
“Quaritch!” Seeing Quaritch appear, Jake’s heart was filled with horror. How had he come here so silently?
“Hmph, another human coming to die. Capture him!” But Rota, having never dealt with Quaritch before, didn’t know that this suddenly appearing human was their biggest enemy—not only to the Na’vi but the entire planet Pandora. He also didn’t consider why this human wasn’t wearing a mask, and immediately ordered his men forward.
But before his men could take a few steps, a huge head suddenly emerged from the jungle behind Quaritch—it was a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Then two yak-men and a large group of robot soldiers emerged one by one from the jungle, completely surrounding the entire Ancient Tree Land.
The Na’vi immediately panicked, and Jake Sully was filled with despair.
“Kill them! Avenge our people!” Rota steeled himself and charged at Quaritch with his weapon.
But what greeted them was the energy guns held by the robots.
With beams of energy flashing by, all the Na’vi who dared to resist instantly fell to the ground.
The remaining Na’vi were furious but mostly filled with fear.
“Stop, damn it, stop!” Seeing the Na’vi fall one by one, Jake Sully was shocked and furious.
Quaritch lightly waved his hand, and all the robot soldiers immediately put away their weapons but this time, not a single Na’vi dared to resist.
“Jake, we meet again. Seems you really like your current life. Too bad, judging by their expressions just now, they don’t really accept you!” Quaritch, accompanied by the two yak-men, slowly walked up to the altar of the Mother Tree Eywa, mockingly addressing Jake Sully.
“You madman, executioner, butcher! You will get what’s coming to you!” Jake Sully cursed Quaritch wildly, but did not dare to make any rash move—after all, he was still afraid of dying.
However, Quaritch noticed that Jake’s gaze kept flicking around his body.
That kind of gaze was familiar to Quaritch... Jake was searching for a weakness, probably hoping to take Quaritch hostage to make him retreat.
After all, the Na’vi’s nervous system reaction speed was many times that of humans, and at close range, a normal human would never be a match for a Na’vi.
Yet Quaritch showed no caution and even took a few steps closer to Jake Sully.
Jake was secretly delighted by this strange behavior but showed no sign of it on his face, continuing to curse madly.
“You’re right, I don’t deny that morally, my actions are heinous... but so what? The victor is king, the loser a bandit! History is only written by the victors—that’s the eternal truth.
I have won. I will transform Pandora into a new world suitable for human survival. Then, centuries later, books will record my achievements, and I will be revered by humans like Washington...as for you, you will only be labeled a ‘human traitor’.” Quaritch said indifferently in response to Jake’s curses.
Faced with such shameless words from Quaritch, Jake had no reply because Quaritch was right.
Many people on Earth only know Washington as the founder of the strongest independent country on Earth, but how many know he led countless massacres of indigenous peoples?
There are too many similar examples in human history.
Civilization is never as civilized as it seems on the surface.
“Masters, this is the Na’vi Mother Tree Eywa. From here on, I leave it to you two!” Quaritch no longer paid attention to Jake but turned and pointed to Mother Tree Eywa, speaking to the Shininghoof brothers.
It was at this moment Jake launched a surprise attack, drawing a dagger and stepping forward to stab at Quaritch.
But just as Quaritch had guessed, Jake had no intention of killing him—because in his old impression, Quaritch was just an ordinary officer of the Sky People. Killing him outright would only lead to more slaughter of the Na’vi by the Sky People’s forces, with no other benefit.
It was better to take him hostage, forcing Quaritch to retreat and get through the current crisis.
Unfortunately, Jake completely misjudged his opponent’s strength.
Although he was puzzled how Quaritch could be exposed to Pandora’s atmosphere without a breathing mask, due to the situation, he had no time to investigate and assumed the Sky People had some new technology.
He never imagined that Quaritch now was no longer comparable to an ordinary human’s physical constitution.
In response to Jake’s sudden attack, Quaritch merely shifted slightly to the side and easily dodged, then spun around and punched Jake hard in the stomach.
Jack, feeling the pain, immediately stepped back several meters and sat down heavily on the ground.
Before he could react further, Quaritch was already close behind and delivered a fierce whip kick to Jack’s right calf.
With a crisp crack, Jack’s leg bone instantly snapped.
Although the Na’vi’s bones are very tough, Quaritch’s current strength was too great, and under his full-force attack, the bone break was inevitable.
Jack let out a miserable scream but before he could react any further, Quaritch delivered another whip kick, this time to Jack’s left leg.
Jack’s left leg also broke with a snap.
In just a few seconds, Jack Sully had again become the lower limb paralysis patient he was when he first arrived on Pandora!
“Hmph, this state really suits you better, looks a lot more pleasing!” Quaritch said leisurely, looking at Jack curled up on the ground holding his legs and screaming in pain.
Once, he had high hopes for Jack, this young sergeant, and admired him greatly.
He even promised to restore Jack’s legs—earth technology from this world was actually capable of helping Jack stand again, but the medical costs were prohibitively high, far beyond what an ordinary marine like Jack Sully could afford.
But Jack Sully ultimately betrayed their agreement, chose to stand with the Na’vi, helped them fight against him, and nearly killed him.
That was why Quaritch held such a deep grudge against Jack Sully.
Only those you care about can betray you and make you angry.
If Jack Sully were just another scientist, Quaritch wouldn’t care so much.
“Just lie there and rest…” Having said that, Quaritch didn’t look at Jack again but turned to the Shininghoof Brothers. “Masters, let’s begin!”
“What exactly are they? What do you want to do?” Jack, still groaning on the ground, asked when he saw two bulky, fierce-looking yak-men.
“Hey, you’d better show some respect to these two! They come from a highly advanced civilization and are powerful beings—not like your savage friends!” Quaritch said, kicking Jack in the stomach.
His words were harsh and cruel.
In Northrend, the yak-men’s status was not much better than the Na’vi’s.
But after joining the Ouroboros and becoming Josh’s subordinates, before other lower civilizations or those who knew Josh’s true identity, the Shininghoof Brothers instantly became superior beings.
So power speaks—the eternal theme of civilization’s progress.
If you want to reason with someone, you first need the power to reason!
Otherwise, no matter how civilized you are, the savage will easily destroy you!
“As for what we’re doing? It’s an honor to inform you all that your mother tree has been chosen by an even greater being… Now, kneel and give thanks!” Quaritch said proudly, raising his head to the surviving Na’vi present.
But the Shininghoof Brothers had no time for Quaritch’s performance. After Quaritch finished speaking, they solemnly took out a box containing the Celestial Seed.
The moment the box opened, golden light shone forth, making the mountain ancient tree where mother tree Eywa stood even brighter.
But the Na’vi present, upon seeing the light, felt a complex mix of fear, supplication, and anger rise in their hearts.
“Alert!” Quaritch, who was watching all the Na’vi closely, immediately noticed their abnormal reactions and quickly ordered the mechanical legion.
“What is going on? What exactly is that thing?” Jack Sully also sensed the emotions and saw his tribesmen acting strangely. But after all, he was just an avatar with a human soul, not a real Na’vi, so the influence on him was less severe than on the others.
At this moment, no one paid him any attention. As the Shininghoof Brothers brought the Celestial Seed close to Eywa’s branches, all the Na’vi present were influenced by Eywa, instantly losing all fear, their eyes turning blood-red as they charged toward the Celestial Seed.
They seemed determined not to rest until the Celestial Seed was destroyed.
During the last riot, the Na’vi were unaffected because their evolution had reached a certain level. Pandora still influenced them, but not as strongly as animals.
Moreover, the anomalies appearing were just a few proto-dragons and the like, not enough to cause Pandora to go into complete frenzy.
But this time, the event took place in the sacred land of mother tree Eywa, and Pandora sensed a deadly threat from the Celestial Seed, causing Pandora’s influence over the Na’vi to reach its peak.
Unfortunately, it was all useless.
What awaited the Na’vi were ruthless robots and their weapons.
“No…don’t do this!” Jack Sully tried to stop them again, but no one listened.
“It’s useless. Want to know why? Because it’s your so-called mother tree that’s sending them to their deaths!” Quaritch snorted coldly. “This is no longer a war between humans and Na’vi. It’s a war of gods. Against gods, you and I are insignificant!”
As he finished speaking, the Shininghoof Brothers behind him pressed the Celestial Seed against Eywa.
The moment it touched Eywa, countless golden threads flowed out of the Celestial Seed, penetrating the trunk of mother tree Eywa and extending deep underground along its roots.
Mother tree Eywa is merely Pandora’s outward conduit. Its true core, like Tiamut and Azeroth, lies deep within the planet’s interior core!
“General, countless native beasts are approaching the outskirts!” As the Celestial Seed began absorbing the essence of Pandora’s planetary soul through Eywa, an even stronger uprising began.
Not only the animals but even Pandora’s climate started to be affected!