To be honest, Duanmu Huai knew his explanation would definitely bring unease and fear to the girls — but he also had to explain it.
Because it was the truth.
The universe was not a romantic place. It was like a jungle. When you first entered a jungle, you would be amazed at its splendor, its beauty, its mystery.
And then, immediately, you would feel what the law of the jungle truly was.
The strong prey upon the weak.
Yes — a beautiful jungle was never peaceful. Carnivores lurked in the depths, waiting to pounce on their prey. Herbivores devoured beautiful plants for nourishment. Fireflies dancing in the night sky were eaten by birds, and birds in turn became meals for other animals.
The strong devoured the weak. Power was law.
That was the law of the jungle.
And the universe was the same.
Duanmu Huai rarely used words like "justice" to describe himself or the Inquisition, because in essence, so-called justice was simply the violence of the majority. "Justice triumphs over evil" meant the majority crushed the minority. And in that process, the nature of justice was always changing. As civilizations progressed and eras evolved, the definition of justice changed as well.
For example, slavery — modern people would certainly see it as barbaric, backward, and evil. And things like human sacrifice? Brutal, inhumane, savage beyond belief.
Yet how long did slavery exist? 1,500 years.
Feudal society? Ignorant, backward, corrupt, full of superstition, rigid hierarchy.
But it lasted 2,000 years.
If reality were a fairy tale, evil would never last so long — because justice would always triumph… heh. Nonsense.
The reason such systems lasted so long was simple: people supported them. Once the majority no longer supported those systems, they would inevitably be overturned. At that point, what was once justice became evil, and what was once evil became justice.
Like in ancient times — when the emperor suppressed peasant uprisings, he issued proclamations denouncing rebels as traitors bringing chaos, greedy villains, disloyal criminals, spreaders of lies. Meanwhile, the rebels denounced the court as corrupt, the emperor as immoral, officials as greedy, and the people as suffering…
To each side, they themselves were justice, and the other was evil.
Yet in the end, only one version of justice survived.
Looking at history, in the early stages of dynasties, the "justice" defending imperial authority usually won. But in the late dynasties, that justice failed, and those "rebels" — the so-called evil — won.
It all came down to the shift of majority power.
"Those who gain the support of the people succeed; those who lose it fail."
When most people were beneficiaries of a system, of course they maintained it. Those who rebelled failed.
But when most people became victims, naturally they rebelled and toppled the system.
That was why slavery and feudalism lasted for thousands of years — and why they were eventually destroyed.
As productivity advanced and society progressed, rigid systems failed to adapt, resources became unevenly distributed, and the majority who were exploited inevitably rebelled.
In the end, what the majority recognized was justice — in ancient times and today.
Numbers were justice. Firepower was truth.
No beautiful rhetoric could resist reality.
Like in the Three Kingdoms era, Yuan Shao issued the famous manifesto against Cao Cao, passionately calling him the Zhao Gao of Qin or the Lü family schemers of Han, calling on everyone to "raise troops and exterminate the villain." Even Cao Cao himself broke into a cold sweat reading it, jumping out of bed despite his headache.
But that changed nothing. Everyone knew who laughed last in the Three Kingdoms.
This was also why Duanmu Huai decided the Inquisition would never intervene in human internal wars. Human civil wars were merely system purges and evolutions. What kind of system allowed humanity to advance — humans themselves must decide. Claiming to "help justice defeat evil" was meaningless. If systemic reform was historically inevitable, the Inquisition's interference could only delay it, not stop it.
So even if humans turned their brains into dog food fighting each other, Duanmu Huai wouldn't interfere.
If you want to prove your system and beliefs are superior, then you prove it by winning.
Losers never shape human history — ancient or modern.
But for external threats, that was different.
As Duanmu Huai told Anne — this was like humans expanding farmland when their population grew too large, then being attacked by native wildlife. Aliens were such threats. Humanity's survival depended on the development of productivity. So to protect humanity, the Inquisition had to eliminate or expel such threats.
In games, plots like this were common and always sparked discussions. Many players disliked them, saying it was like white colonizers killing Native Americans to steal land — evil and unacceptable.
But other players argued the comparison was wrong. Native Americans were human — aliens weren't. Not the same species, how could you compare? If you argued that aliens shouldn't be harmed, then what — pigs are smart, cows have emotions — should humans stop eating them? Stop using cattle for work? Was that different from enslaving aliens? Should we give leniency just because the aliens look humanoid?
Furthermore, the humans in such stories weren't acting for personal greed — but for humanity's survival. So what, should they sacrifice humanity to uphold some vague idea of justice? That made people happy? That was hypocrisy! Humanity would do whatever it took to live. Letting humans die for "morality" meant you didn't deserve to be human. You were a traitor!
No matter the reason — betraying humanity was unforgivable!
If Duanmu Huai posted his mission on a forum, it'd easily get hundreds of pages of arguments.
But he didn't need that. He had already made his choice.
So Duanmu Huai brought several hundred Astral Marines aboard a Luna-class cruiser and arrived at Dardaniel's coordinates. Upon learning the Inquisition had agreed to help, Dardaniel was overjoyed.
"Thank you so much, Inquisitor. I never expected—"
"Spare me."
Duanmu Huai cut him off.
"I'm not doing this for you, nor for profit. I'm doing it for humanity. To the Inquisition, humanity is our eternal priority. So if I find out you are doing anything harmful to humanity… you know what I mean."
"...Of course, Inquisitor, I understand."
"Good."
Duanmu Huai nodded.
"You don't mind leaving everything to us, right?"
"Of course. I've already ordered the frontline base to follow all your commands. If you need anything, just contact me."
"Good."
Duanmu Huai ended the call and looked at the planet ahead.
"Let's move."
Meanwhile, at the Pandora frontline base—
"Hey, today feels weird, doesn't it?"
A patrolling soldier stared at the newly delivered supplies and personnel, puzzled. They'd all been woken early for inspections to welcome some big shot.
"You didn't hear?"
Another soldier curled his lip.
"HQ is unhappy with our lack of progress. They're sending newcomers to take over."
"You're kidding."
The soldier's expression darkened.
"They don't know how dangerous this place is. What, they want to send us to the jungle to die?"
"That's not for you to think about."
An older veteran walked over, sternly sweeping his gaze across them.
"Orders are orders. Just follow them. Relax — I heard HQ knows we can't handle those blue jungle freaks, so they're sending a stronger force."
"Stronger? What, actual troops? No way."
"You never know… hey! Everyone on alert, they're here!"
The veteran shouted, and soldiers rushed to assemble. The next moment, several strange black aircraft roared through the sky, descending toward the landing pad.
"What the hell is that?"
Everyone gawked. The aircraft looked nothing like their atmospheric transports — even the weapons were strange. And each one bore golden skull-and-hammer emblems.
"Dude, this looks like the villains' robots from the cartoons I watched as a kid."
"Shut up."
But when the doors opened and towering, black armored giants — 2.5 meters tall — stepped out, everyone fell silent.
"What… what the hell are these?!"
Their exosuits were nothing compared to these massive warriors holding terrifying weapons, with the glowing skull-and-hammer insignia burning on their chests.
Then Duanmu Huai entered the base, and a smiling man quickly greeted him.
"Hello, sir. I'm Parker, commander of the base. Welcome to Hell's Gate—"
"Hell's Gate?"
Duanmu Huai snorted.
"This place doesn't even come close to hell."
"Uh… well…"
"I'm not here for chit-chat. You know why I'm here."
"Yes, sir. From this moment, the entire base is under your control…"
Parker looked relieved. Being a commander of an alien-world base was prestigious.
But being a commander with no results was another matter entirely — it meant becoming the scapegoat.
Now at least he wouldn't take the blame.
"The logistics stay under your management. I'm not here to play house. Start by showing me around."
"Of course…"
Parker began guiding him through the base — launch center, equipment center, residential blocks, and finally, the research center.
Inside—
"What the hell is this?"
Duanmu Huai frowned at the long, blue bodies floating in the tanks.
"Oh, that's one of the Life Lab's major projects — Na'vi clones."
Seeing his interest, Parker quickly explained.
"Since we can't communicate with the Na'vi, the Life Lab created this plan. They want to use the neural-link system to project their consciousness into cloned Na'vi bodies, blend into Na'vi society, and convince them to—"
"Hmph!"
Duanmu Huai cut him off with a cold snort. He glared at the clones with disgust.
"Dispose of these damn alien abominations immediately. We don't need this pointless garbage."
"Eh?"
Before Parker could react—
"What did you say?! How dare you!"
A woman stormed in, fury burning in her eyes.
"And you are?"
"She is Dr. Grace Augustine," Parker explained quickly. "Head of the Life Lab and director of the Avatar Program…"
"For God's sake, what are you gun-toting idiots doing here?!"
Grace marched right up to Duanmu Huai. He stared back coldly.
"We're here to complete our mission. Your twisted research is meaningless and will be eliminated."
"Twisted? You don't understand anything!"
"Oh, I understand."
Duanmu Huai reached out, grabbed her by the throat, and lifted her off the ground. He glared into her eyes.
"You push your consciousness into a disgusting alien body, live with them, feel what they feel — tell me, woman, do you still consider yourself human?"
"...…"
Grace was speechless.
"Remember this — we're here not to study ecosystems, but for humanity's survival. Yet you're obsessed with role-playing aliens, living with them, forgetting that billions on your homeworld are still suffering."
He flung her aside and turned to Parker.
"From now on, the Life Lab is shut down. Throw this woman and her team onto the outbound ship. They've lived too comfortably here and forgotten what life on their dying planet looks like. Let them go back to that polluted world and remember."
He glanced at the Na'vi clones.
"As for these filthy alien creatures…"
He gestured.
Two Night Guardians stepped forward and fired.
"Bang bang bang bang bang bang!!!"
The tanks burst in blood and gore. Researchers screamed and fell to the floor. Grace lay trembling, pale with fury.
Duanmu Huai glanced at her.
"Communicate? You don't even have the courage to speak to them as a human, resorting to such nonsense. Pathetic. You've abandoned the pride of humanity for delusions. Get out."
He turned to Parker.
Parker shivered.
"I—I understand. I'll send Dr. Grace and her team back immediately…"
"Good."
Duanmu Huai nodded.
"Tell your company — next time, choose staff carefully. Don't send anti-human traitors here."
He left with the Night Guards.
Behind him, Grace glared at his back, eyes burning with hatred.
But…
She was powerless.
(End of Chapter)