"Discomfort"

As a moon of a gas giant twice the size of Jupiter, Pandora's night sky held more than one moon.

The ground was also filled with countless plants, flowers, and even creatures capable of glowing on their own.

As far as the eye could see, Pandora seemed to have nothing but rainforests, grasslands, and a tropical climate. There were no deserts or barren soil anywhere.

Setting aside all other factors, this place was indeed more fantastical and dazzling than Earth.

Yet somewhere deep within the rainforest, a raging fire was burning.

Zooming in, one could see that a towering tree that should have stood a thousand meters tall now lay tilted on the ground, its roots and nearby vegetation continuously scorched by flames.

It appeared to be the aftermath and ruins left by a low- or medium-intensity bombardment.

About ten kilometers to the north stood another giant tree, roughly a hundred meters tall.

Unlike the charred towering tree, this one showed no trace of green. Its branches and twigs resembled Earth's willow trees, except they were a glowing version.

The willow branches hanging toward the ground emitted a bright pinkish-purple glow. Unlike ordinary plant branches and roots, their material more closely resembled fiber optics and optical cables.

Beneath this unusual giant tree gathered hundreds of humanoid creatures.

Zooming in again.

It became clear that these hundreds of humanoids were slender, standing between 2.8 and 3.2 meters tall, with some individuals even taller.

Their ears were pointed, but they were not as beautiful as the Elves imagined by humans. They had four fingers, bluish skin marked with dark-blue stripes, dreadlock-like hair, and facial features that did not conform to conventional human beauty standards.

These blue-skinned humanoids were Pandora's intelligent lifeforms, the Na'vi.

At that moment, the Na'vi wore solemn expressions and remained silent, their attention focused on a line of "leaders" beneath the giant tree.

One of those "leaders" had five fingers, and his pupils were extremely similar to a human's. Suddenly, he spoke.

"Though I am Toruk Makto, I will never forget that all of you are my brothers and sisters! So we must act at once! Follow me!"

He was actually speaking a human language, while a Na'vi beside him translated as he spoke.

"The day before yesterday, those Sky People burned down our homeland! But tomorrow, we will show those Sky People that they cannot do whatever they please! Ahhh!!!"

As he reached the end, he raised his voice to its highest pitch.

"Woo! Woo!"

"Oh! Oh!"

That "impassioned" speech immediately drew responses from all the Na'vi, who raised their hands and shouted, venting their emotions.

However, none of them noticed the drone high overhead, invisible to the naked eye, recording everything from beginning to end.

It was not the only "invisible" presence. One kilometer south of this location, there were also two "invisible men."

Looking around, there was no way to tell where anyone might be.

Yet at the top of the tallest and most luxuriant giant tree growing on higher ground stood two scouts equipped with special combat suits and Exoskeletons.

If they actively deactivated the "invisibility" provided by their combat suits, the red "Λ" insignias on their shoulders would reveal that they belonged to Atlas.

That so-called "invisibility" was actually Optical Camouflage that imitated the surrounding environment.

Meanwhile.

A hundred kilometers away, the terrain was somewhat higher than the area occupied by the Na'vi.

The trees here averaged around a hundred meters tall as well, making it impossible to see the ground beneath the forest from the air, let alone observe activity on the ground. Only military satellites in low orbit could possibly detect heat sources on the surface.

However, this place was a little too... "square."

From afar, it looked little different from the surrounding environment. But upon closer inspection, its sharp edges and corners made it obvious that it was not naturally formed, but man-made.

Beneath this "square" forest, there was no longer any natural scenery.

The area that should have been filled with dense trunks and vegetation had now been replaced by clean, level roads and numerous buildings.

At the easternmost edge of the area was even an eight-hundred-meter runway, making it resemble a medium-sized military base.

At its center stood the 14-by-14-meter Space Gate that represented Sui Yang and Atlas Corporation.

In fact, exactly forty days had passed since the Space Gate opened.

The Main Universe's date had advanced from July 23, 1994, to September 1, 1994. Universe 02 shared the same month and day, but its year was 2154.

Over those forty days, the Atlas Engineering Department had first erected Optical Camouflage screens covering the entire area, along with measures to block heat signatures and prevent detection by RDA satellites deployed in low orbit. After that, they continued improving the forward base until now.

A hundred meters north of the Space Gate stood a two-story building that also served as the forward base's command center.

At that moment.

Inside the command center.

Dozens of staff members still sat behind their respective consoles, gathering the latest information through countless displays, compiling it, and uploading it.

On the second floor of the command center, beside the central console.

Sui Yang, who seemed to always dress in relaxed business attire, gripped the edge of the console with both hands to support his upper body, his gaze fixed on the three-dimensional holographic map displayed above it.

This scaled-down map was also covered in dense annotations, such as "1052/Ground/Large numbers of Hammerhead Titanotheres and Thanators appearing to the east/High risk" and "1101/Air/Large numbers of Banshees harassing aerial units/High risk."

At the same time, numerous holographic screens floated above the map. Several of them showed, from multiple perspectives and angles, the giant tree with its "Fiber Optic Willow" branches and the mobilizing Na'vi.

"..."

Seeing this, Sui Yang understood that they had completed their first round of assembly, expanding from several hundred to two thousand.

That Fiber Optic Willow and the nearby area were the Na'vi's Tree of Souls and Sanctuary.

As for the five-fingered man speaking human language, he was Jake Sully, an Avatar operator and the male lead of the film.

Chosen by Eywa as a "savior," Jake Sully had successfully tamed a Leonopteryx more than four times larger than an ordinary Banshee, becoming Toruk Makto and inciting every nearby Na'vi tribe to oppose the RDA.

If left unchecked, their numbers would grow to twenty thousand within one Earth week. To protect itself, the RDA would launch a proactive attack on the Na'vi's Tree of Souls and Sanctuary tomorrow morning.

Knowing the timing, Sui Yang intended to have Atlas enter the fray at the right moment while the RDA and the Na'vi clashed, maximizing their gains.

"Father, forgive my bluntness..."

Standing beside Sui Yang at the central console, Sanguinius stared intently at Jake Sully, his eyes filled with undisguised disgust as he said, "Why does that man's speech give me such a strong sense of discomfort?"

Atlas's activities on Pandora had not yet been detected by Eywa.

Tomorrow's chapter will explain this in greater detail. It isn't a bug, haha~

Lastly, thank you all for your support. Thank you for the recommendation votes, monthly votes, and tips!

(End of chapter)