Chapter 342 |
Chapter 342 Still Want Ai-chan After All...
“How could gods really exist?” Jake Sully lay on the ground, staring blankly at the sky.
However, Quaritch’s earlier words, the ever-changing sky, the howls of countless beasts, the miraculous experiences when first contacting the mother tree Ava, and the green energy emanating from the two “bull men” — all these things told him that it might all be true.
“I don’t want to admit it either, but the facts are just like that!” At some unknown moment, Quaritch came over to Jake’s side. “You might think that everything you did before was your own choice, but in reality, you were just a pawn used by the gods of Pandora...Otherwise, how could you believe that a human from several light years away would be recognized by the so-called mother tree Eywa?”
Hearing Quaritch’s words, Jake couldn’t help but recall his first confusion on Pandora, his chance encounter with Neytiri, gradually integrating into the Na’vi community, receiving Ava’s recognition, and becoming the legendary Toruk Makto.
Of course, his own efforts and persistence were part of it, but undeniably, there were also a lot of coincidences.
“What about you?” Jake lay on the ground, thinking, then sneered and asked back.
“That’s right, I’m also a pawn just like you!” Quaritch said indifferently. Indeed, being the bearer of the planar beacon, establishing contact with Josh who was like a god to him, running around for Josh’s goals—how is that different from being a pawn of the gods? But compared to Jake, who was secretly controlled by the Pandora star soul, Quaritch was much more content with his current situation.
“But compared to you, I’m a bit luckier, because the god I encountered is more generous and more powerful!” Quaritch looked at the fleet bombing the distant beast horde in the sky and the mechanical army forming an iron wall and felt immensely proud.
So at least for several thousand years, even if Earth can no longer support us, there’s no need to worry that humans will have no suitable planets to live on.
Moreover, now with Josh’s provided faster-than-light ships and planet terraforming technology, finding more habitable planets in thousands of years is not difficult—there are already more than one suitable planets in the Federation star map; the Federation just lacked the technology to terraform them before.
“…So those robot armies and fleets don’t belong to the Federation but were bestowed by your god?” Hearing Quaritch’s words, Jake Sully suddenly understood.
He thought that even the Federation army couldn’t have such powerful technology.
If, as Quaritch said, it’s a “god’s” gift, then everything makes sense.
“Looks like even the Federation has no way against you?” Jake Sully understood.
“That’s right. I will build countless new homes for humanity. Pandora is just a passing place!” Facing an enemy who had completely lost the ability to resist, Quaritch naturally had no hesitation.
“I understand…just give me a quick end…” Jake Sully sighed and pleaded.
“Quick end? You’re dreaming. You’ll just self-destruct here…Of course, you can choose to take your own life…You Na’vi, aren’t you all about returning to nature?” Hearing Jake Sully’s request, Quaritch mocked him; especially the phrase “you Na’vi” sounded very grating to Jake’s ears!
After saying that, Quaritch kicked the dagger Jake had tried to use to take him hostage to Jake’s side, then turned his back and walked toward Eywa—the Celestial Seed was now drawing the essence of Pandora’s star soul through the mother tree Eywa, glowing brighter and brighter.
Meanwhile, the mother tree Eywa, which the Na’vi considered sacred and whose size was comparable to Azeroth’s World Tree, was visibly decaying at a rapid pace.
Quaritch felt the Celestial Seed would soon mature.
Just as Josh had told him before, when the Celestial Seed is about to mature, he would naturally know.
The Shininghoof brothers who had been guarding the Celestial Seed also grew solemn.
But Jake Sully was in no mood to look. His attention was focused on the dagger by his side.
Trembling, he picked up the dagger, slowly moving it closer to his neck, closing his eyes, wanting to plunge it into his throat.
However, after hesitating for a long time, his hand holding the dagger eventually dropped weakly—the dagger fell to one side.
He didn’t have the courage to kill himself, just like when he learned he couldn’t stand up many years ago.
On the other side, Quaritch heard the movement behind him and showed a sneer, but quickly his attention returned to the Celestial Seed before him.
As the mother tree Eywa withered completely, the Celestial Seed suddenly burst forth a towering beam of light, engulfing the entire valley and breaking through the dense clouds in the atmosphere, letting the sunlight shine again upon the earth.
At the same time, the beasts on Pandora, which had been slaughtered, instantly regained clarity. After understanding their situation, they immediately scattered madly to escape.
The Celestial Seed…matured!
Pandora’s star soul had completely vanished!
Seeing this, Koruno Shininghoof solemnly stepped forward to pick it.
Just a light touch, and the Celestial Seed separated from the mother tree Eywa; the light also dimmed accordingly.
He placed the mature Celestial Seed back into the vibranium container and handed it to Quaritch.
Looking at the seemingly plain metal box before him, knowing what precious treasure it held, Quaritch swallowed hard.
But in the end, he controlled his greed, stored it in the system space, and immediately sent a communication request to Josh.
The communication connected almost instantly.
“Success?” Josh asked impatiently.
Obviously, even though he was in another world, Josh couldn’t help but be eager and concerned about the Celestial Seed, always waiting for Quaritch’s news.
“Mission accomplished!” Quaritch immediately handed over the box containing the Celestial Seed, fearing that one more second would cause him to lose control of his greed.
“Good! Good! Good!” Josh instantly agreed to the transaction, took out the box, opened it, and seeing the golden glowing god seed inside, repeated “good” three times. The excitement on his face was obvious.
It had been a long time since anything had made him so excited.
Thinking of the terrifying power of the Judicator Arishem he had seen in movies in his previous life, Josh’s heart surged.
But that was only a thought, because Arishem was the First God, even Tiamut couldn’t compare.
In the entire Marvel MCU universe, only a few legendary creator gods could surpass Arishem.
And Pandora’s star soul was just a weakling seed casually slaughtered by Tiamut.
So even though the Celestial Seed contained part of Tiamut’s essence, plus all the star soul essence of Pandora, enough to let Josh ascend, it would only make him the weakest god…probably at the level of Ego.
Thinking this way, Josh’s initial excitement quickly cooled.
“Damn, I still want Ai-chan after all…” Looking again at the god seed in his hand, Josh couldn’t help but think of the strongest star soul in the Warcraft universe—Azeroth, rated by Tiamut as no weaker than herself.
“Mr. Kane, is something wrong?” On the other side, Quaritch noticed Josh’s hopeful expression change to disdain, and instantly became alert. Was there a problem?
“Oh, nothing, just suddenly feeling sentimental…” Josh suddenly remembered the trading communication was still open. “As previously agreed, everything I traded to you before is yours now. In the future, I will also buy all your valuable resources like superconducting ore at 50% above the agreed price. The Shininghoof brothers can stay with you to help for the time being!”
“Thank you very much for your generosity!” Hearing Josh’s words, Quaritch couldn’t help but smile with joy, feeling all his previous effort was totally worth it!
“Well, I have some things to handle, so I’ll end the conversation here!” Josh nodded and ended the communication.
After hanging up, Josh looked at the Celestial Seed again and fell into deep thought.
Should he use it or not?
If he uses it, he might become the weakest Celestial in history—but of course, he wouldn’t pass up a snack.
Even the weakest Celestial would belong to the top tier in the MCU universe besides the creator gods.
At that time, in terms of raw power, even the Ancient One and Odin wouldn’t be his match.
But if he didn’t use it…according to Tiamut’s previous words, if this thing was not used by himself, then over time, it would soon give birth to a new consciousness and become a newly born Celestial.
So he had to make a decision as soon as possible!
After a brief moment of contemplation, Josh made his decision.
He took the box and left the study, soon arriving at Margot’s workshop. Ignoring the magical seal at the door, he directly pushed the door open and walked in.
At this moment, Margot was making a magical necklace. Because of Josh’s sudden arrival, there was a loud bang, and the extremely precious Azeroth diamond on the necklace instantly exploded into a cloud of powder.
“Josh! I need an explanation!” Seeing her painstaking work vanish at the final moment, even the usually gentle Margot couldn’t help but get angry. Material damage was a small matter, but the key was that she had wasted several hours of hard work.
But Josh obviously had no intention to explain. Amid Margot’s exclamation, he directly lifted her up and then teleported back to the bedroom, throwing her onto their large bed several meters long.
After more than ten hours of chaotic struggle, the fight finally ended with Margot’s pleading.
Although Margot now was also considered a divine body, Josh’s aggressiveness was too strong, and after a long time, she still couldn’t hold on.
“What’s wrong with you? Suddenly so fierce!” After catching her breath, Margot asked.
After all, the two had been married for over a decade. Although neither was tired of the other, compared to before, their passion was indeed not as strong.
So Josh’s sudden fierceness immediately made Margot realize something had happened.
“Nothing much, but for a long time to come, I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold you down anymore, so while there’s still a chance, I naturally have to assert myself a bit!” Josh said lazily.
???
Josh’s words left Margot utterly confused.
What the heck?
Then Josh took out the Celestial Seed and spoke about the star soul essence and the possibility of ascension.
“You want me to use this Celestial Seed?” After hearing this, Margot suddenly understood. She was very touched, but couldn’t help but feel a little amused.
So Josh was afraid that after she became stronger than him, he wouldn’t be able to “hold her down”!
In their forties, and still thinking so immaturely.
But when facing such a treasured item, the first thought was still about himself. That was nice…even if it was just because he thought it wasn’t the best for the other.
“Of course, you are my wife. If there’s something good, naturally you come first!” Josh said matter-of-factly.
As for the three kids? That was just an accident.
“Josh!” Margot gently stroked Josh’s chest, looking at his still incredibly young face as she called out.
“What?” Josh was puzzled.
“How about we have another child?” Margot asked.
“... That’s not easy...after all, we are no longer mortal bodies, and the Celestial Seed must be used as soon as possible. After using it, if you want to get pregnant, it will be even more difficult!” Josh frowned upon hearing this.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want more children. For him, there was no issue of whether they could afford to raise them, nor the usual human concerns about age.
The key now was that they were no longer ordinary people.
At their level, reproduction also becomes more difficult. Various conditions required are extremely high, and the gestation period would be very, very long.
Just like Odin, whose two wives only bore one child each—Thor was born of Frigga; who gave birth to Hela is unknown.
Neither Loki nor the Ancient One knew this.
And as for Frigga and Odin themselves…Josh certainly wouldn’t ask.
Reproduction among the Celestials was even more difficult. The gods themselves had to split off the Celestial Seed and sow it on a suitable planet, where after an extremely long evolution, it would take form.
So Josh wasn’t sure if after Margot’s ascension, normal reproduction would still be possible!
“Difficulty doesn’t mean impossible, right?” Margot was very philosophical about this.
“Of course, if that’s your wish…but I think it’s better to wait until you complete the ascension, after all, this thing won’t wait for anyone!” Josh shook the Celestial Seed in his hand.