It was now deep into the night.
Outside the Home Tree of the Omaticaya clan stood hundreds of Na'vi. They looked sorrowfully at the corpses on the ground—those were the Na'vi who had been killed by the Astral Marines. The bolters had blown apart their bodies, ripped off their limbs, turning them into piles of mangled flesh.
"They killed our brothers…"
One strong Na'vi closed his eyes in grief, silently mourning. Then he stood and looked to his kin.
"We must avenge them!"
"We can't!"
Another Na'vi spoke with sorrow. It was Neytiri—the one Duanmu Huai had captured and released earlier.
"We can't! You all saw it—the aliens possess power we cannot resist…"
"So you want to bow?! You want to submit to these aliens' threats?"
"What else can we do?"
Neytiri stared at him, tears welling up.
"I understand—you want to protect our home at any cost. But these aliens… these aliens are nothing like the ones we met before. Some of those humans wanted to learn about us. Some didn't want to fight us. But these ones… they… only want to wipe us out."
"Then let them come!"
The Na'vi raised his bow defiantly.
"I'll show them our strength!"
"Wake up!"
Neytiri lunged forward, grabbing him and forcing him to look toward the distant ruins—what had once been a mountain, now nothing but shattered rubble.
"Look at that! THAT is their power! You want to fight that?! Battle THAT?! Think about the others—think about the children! They would be completely destroyed by such terrible power!"
"..."
Staring at the terrifying ruins, the Na'vi opened his mouth, but no words came. They had all witnessed that earlier scene. Before Neytiri told them what happened, they hadn't known what caused the destruction. But now, everything was clear—this was power they could never oppose.
"We leave."
Finally, another Na'vi stepped forward. Hearing his command, the previous Na'vi's expression twisted with grief.
"But…"
"We cannot let the entire clan die. Neytiri is right—their power is… far too terrible."
The clan leader lifted his head to the sky, fear and unease in his eyes. He had never seen such overwhelming, horrifying force. Even he understood this was not strength they could resist. It was not like the metal beasts piloted by the previous humans. Those steel giants they could still fight in the forest. But this—this unstoppable strike from the heavens—they had no countermeasure.
"As long as the clan survives… we can grow again. We can find another Tree of Souls and seek Eywa's guidance…"
He sighed.
"Alright. We leave."
And so the Na'vi withdrew—grief-stricken, angry, but defeated. This scene, of course, was entirely visible to Duanmu Huai from the near-orbit vantage point.
"Ah, they're withdrawing! Wonderful! I knew it! With you handling this, Lord Inquisitor, success was inevitable!"
Dardaniel was ecstatic. He did not care one bit about the aliens dying. But he did care about public perception back in the civilization he controlled. If the Inquisition carried out a massacre and the media found out, he would have major trouble on his hands.
"The weak get beaten. The helpless deserve to be conquered. That is reality."
Duanmu Huai stared coldly at the screen. He felt no sympathy whatsoever for the Na'vi. Fairness and justice do not exist in the universe. Power is the only rule. If you are weak and incompetent, you have no right to complain about being invaded or slaughtered. It is all self-inflicted.
Kindness does not bring justice, nor peace.
Peace is brought only by power—absolute, overwhelming power.
Without power, there is no justice, and no peace.
Just like now. The Na'vi chose shameful submission in the face of the Inquisition's might, because they knew the enemy was something they could never fight.
But…
"No. This is not over."
Duanmu Huai interrupted Dardaniel's praise.
"The Na'vi are only a surface issue. In truth, this planet's problem is not the Na'vi alone."
"What do you mean…?"
Dardaniel looked puzzled. Duanmu Huai shook his head and opened the holographic interface.
"You've seen it. The conflict between your company and the Na'vi is because their Home Tree sits atop rich deposits of superconductive ore, correct?"
"Yes."
"Then do you truly believe finding massive ore deposits beneath their home… was a coincidence?"
"...…What do you mean?"
Dardaniel's expression grew serious.
"It's simple. I reviewed your base's research. The Na'vi possess neural-link and consciousness-transmission abilities. Not only them—every organism on this planet does. And the superconductive ore also enhances signal transmission…"
"So you mean the Na'vi didn't pick that place randomly?"
"Correct. I suspect they intentionally choose sites with rich superconductive ore. Since the ore enhances transmission, and they need to connect to their 'great deity,' they would naturally choose a location that acts as a strong signal hub. Which means… every significant ore deposit probably has another Na'vi tribe on top of it."
"..."
Dardaniel was speechless. He had assumed it was a coincidence—primitive natives building their home over a valuable resource. Driving them off once should solve the problem.
But if Duanmu Huai was right…
Then this wasn't a one-time conflict.
This was a war against the planet's entire native population.
Would it ever end?!
"So that's why I'm here—to solve the real problem."
Fortunately, Duanmu Huai's low, steady tone calmed him.
"What do you intend to do, Inquisitor?"
"It's simple."
Duanmu Huai examined the holographic map.
"This planet's unique nature implies a global network transmitting consciousness. Such a network must have a core—what the Na'vi call Eywa. So, if I find Eywa and destroy it, the planetary consciousness network will collapse, and the Na'vi will no longer cling to the ore."
"Ohhhhhh!!"
Dardaniel gasped in awe. The Inquisition lived up to its reputation—acting on a wholly different scale. Directly destroy the enemy's god, shatter their spirit and resolve! He would never have even imagined such a thing!
"Oh, right."
Duanmu Huai glanced at him.
"In your base, I discovered individuals abusing this neural-link feature, transferring their consciousness into cloned Na'vi bodies, pretending to be aliens and living among them."
"Uh…"
Dardaniel froze.
"Er… Lord Inquisitor, I wasn't fully aware of that. You know me—I'm a wandering trader, I manage many things…"
"Any abandonment of human identity is blasphemy—unforgivable heresy. Do not let me see it again."
"Y…yes, sir."
Dardaniel nodded vigorously.
"I understand."
"Good."
Duanmu Huai cut the transmission and gave his order.
"Move out."
When the first rays of sunlight crossed the horizon, Duanmu Huai and the Astral Marines arrived once more at the Home Tree. It was already deserted. The enormous home was empty, abandoned. Some belongings remained on the ground—too little time to retrieve them—making the place feel desolate.
Duanmu Huai felt nothing. He was a pure human supremacist—even when he was a player in his previous world. He had always held contempt for foolish environmentalists and vegetarians. Their slogans meant nothing to him. In his view, environmentalism and veganism weren't about saving nature. They were simply a way to claim moral superiority:
"We are more noble than you barbaric, meat-eating, nature-destroying primitives. We are the morally superior class."
That was why militant environmental and animal-rights groups attacked ordinary people—because they saw themselves as superior.
They were no different than colonial-era whites with guns hunting African tribes.
A "civilized" elite versus "savage, primitive natives."
Exactly the same dynamic as modern eco-fanatics.
To Duanmu Huai, these idiots were laughable. If they truly wanted to be "environmentally pure," they shouldn't wear clothes, ride cars, drink wine from glass, or wear shoes—since none of those are environmentally friendly.
They should be naked in public, eating weeds off the roadside.
Or if they hated humanity so much, they should kill themselves—to reduce their carbon footprint. Practice what you preach.
Humans spent countless years, countless deaths, to reach the top of the food chain. And they would throw that away for some clownish, worthless vanity? What a joke. Humanity marches forward, toward the stars, not backward because of someone's fragile ego.
Grace, too, angered him.
She claimed she hid the data because humanity had already destroyed their home planet, and she didn't want humanity to destroy a second beautiful world.
So according to her, humanity deserves to go extinct?
That was pure heresy. Unforgivable. Duanmu Huai already hinted at what Dardaniel needed to do.
Many people forget where they came from. They forget that their safe homes, rich food, and peaceful lives weren't bestowed by gods, but bought with blood—millions of ancestors dying, conquering predators, climbing the ladder of evolution.
Those fools think our ancestors were wrong—that humanity should have stayed in caves, living day-to-day, at nature's mercy.
Hmph.
Humans never bow to heaven.
Any god or alien blocking humanity's path… dies.
Duanmu Huai looked around, then approached the Tree of Souls—a willow-like plant with glowing pink tendrils. According to the intel, it was the Na'vi's most sacred relic. That meant it was one of the "core server nodes" of the planetary network.
And now… it was time to catch a rat.
He closed his eyes. His mental power slowly expanded outward. Though he wasn't Na'vi and had no braid, he was a god of destruction—probing with his mind was trivial.
Sure enough, soon he sensed a powerful spiritual presence emanating from the tree. It seemed curious about Duanmu Huai's presence, with a tinge of caution. Understandable—this Eywa was likely a native consciousness that had never encountered anything like him.
If Eywa were personified, it would be like a sheltered noble lady peeking through a door crack, observing a dangerous stranger.
Unfortunately for Eywa, Duanmu Huai was no gentleman.
He was a bandit kicking the door open—charging in to seize Eywa's spiritual link. Eywa recoiled in shock, trying to flee, but Duanmu Huai held it firmly, shattered its defenses, and entered the untouched inner consciousness—
"———————!"
The ground trembled.
And Duanmu Huai opened his eyes, lips curling into a ferocious smile.
"Got you."
(End of Chapter)