As she walked toward the transport ship, Grace still couldn't help looking back at everything before her, unwilling to leave, her heart full of resentment.
She had given her career—her entire life—to this planet, but now she was being expelled because of "some experiments."
And the reason they gave was heresy?
What a joke! What age were they living in? How could scientific research still be labeled as heresy? Were these people the medieval religious inquisitors reborn?!
But she absolutely would not accept this!
Thinking of this, Grace touched the storage device hidden in her pocket. Once she returned to the homeworld, she would contact the media and reveal everything that had happened here. Before, she hadn't said anything because her research on Pandora relied on corporate funding—she couldn't afford to offend them. But now that both sides had already torn off their masks, she no longer needed to hold back!
This group leaving Pandora on the starship consisted only of Grace and her research team. Since the Na'vi had vacated their home, mining operations could resume. And clearly, this returning starship was going back only to bring more manpower and equipment. At the thought that this lush, beautiful planet was going to be destroyed, Grace couldn't help feeling heartbroken.
After all, she had lived here more than ten years, and she had deep feelings for every flower, every tree, every blade of grass.
Of course, the survival of the humans on the homeworld was not within Grace's concerns.
Dragging their feet, the group boarded the starship. Seeing several other "fellow sufferers," they exchanged bitter smiles, then followed procedure and entered their cryo-pods, quickly falling asleep—the journey home was long, and without artificial hibernation, it would be unbearable.
"Beep——!"
However, not long after Grace entered cryo-sleep, a sudden alarm sounded, pulling her back from unconsciousness. She struggled to open her eyes, looking out of the transparent pod, and saw a figure completely wrapped in protective gear. At first, Grace thought this was a crew member helping her wake up. But when she tried to leave the pod, she suddenly realized—her cryo-pod had not been opened.
"Hey! What's happening?! Let me out!!"
Grace shouted in panic, pounding on the glass. But the figure outside ignored her cries, pushing her—pod and all—into another compartment before sealing the door. Grace's expression changed drastically. But before she could figure out what was happening, rapid alarms and decompression sounds erupted—and the next moment—
Grace and her entire cryo-pod were fired out of the starship, launched into the distant void of space.
A few seconds later, a brand-new cryo-pod was fitted back into the empty slot as if nothing had happened.
When the starship returned to the homeworld, aside from the staff, there was not a single passenger aboard.
As for the fate of that research team—Duanmu Huai had no interest and did not care.
He had already ordered Dardaniel to handle it. And if that wandering trader had any sense, he would know exactly what to do.
What Duanmu Huai needed to do now was something he had done countless times before—and the Astral Marines were equally experienced at.
Dig a hole.
"Didn't think I'd be drilling into the ground on another planet too."
Staring at the terrain before him, Duanmu Huai sighed.
Yes—during his prior mental contact with Eywa, although she ultimately broke free of his grasp, she had revealed her location.
Like a girl walking alone at night grabbed by a stalker—though she escaped and ran home, she had already been followed, and the stalker now knew exactly which door was hers.
And unfortunately for her—there were no police here.
So all she could do now was cower inside her home, trembling, waiting for the stalker to arrive, smash open her door, and step in with a grin…
And that would be the end.
"Begin."
According to his psychic probe, Eywa's core body was deep underground, though not at the planet's core. In theory, Eywa was pure data consciousness and could shift herself anywhere. But theory and reality are different—just as a household PC cannot host the data flow of a major MMO server, not just any "hard drive" could hold consciousness on the scale of a planet-wide network like Eywa.
So Duanmu Huai had no worry she would "move house."
At least for now—she wasn't going anywhere.
So he gave his order.
"Do it!!!!"
"———————!!!"
With Duanmu Huai's command, a roaring energy beam fell from the sky, obliterating the Tree of Souls as it drilled straight downward, tearing toward the mantle in an attempt to reach Eywa's core.
Meanwhile, in the nearby forest, several Na'vi were watching in secret.
"What are they doing?!"
"They destroyed the Tree of Souls!"
The Na'vi were so furious they nearly charged out to fight the Astral Marines then and there—but Neytiri stopped them. Gripping her bow tightly, she stared at the sight with clenched teeth.
But then—
A low, thunderous roar echoed from all directions! The entire forest trembled like waves in a storm!
"What happened?! What's going on?!"
Before the Na'vi could understand, countless massive beasts burst out of the forest—charging directly toward Duanmu Huai and the Astral Marines!
They looked like thick-armored rhino-like creatures with horizontal shovel-like horns on their heads—charging forward like living bulldozers.
"Thanator Hammerheads!!"
The Na'vi cried out excitedly. As natives, they knew frightening well how tough these creatures were—twelve meters long, thick-skinned, difficult to wound even with human weapons. And now they were here—to destroy the invaders!
It had to be Eywa's will!
The sight of the enormous herd stampeding was indeed awe-inspiring, but Duanmu Huai had long expected something like this. In fact, this only confirmed his guess—Eywa could not only perceive all life on the planet, she could command them.
She was doomed.
Duanmu Huai gripped the Thunder Warhammer and strode forward.
"All units—kill every one of these alien beasts!"
With a roar, Duanmu Huai swung the warhammer. A violent shockwave erupted—the massive creature charging straight toward him, strong enough to flip a tank, suddenly smashed into an invisible wall. Its head exploded like a melon, its entire body bursting apart. Trees, vines, monsters—all were uprooted and hurled backward in a storm of blood and debris.
Meanwhile, the Astral Marines raised their bolters and unleashed a storm of fire. Their weapons were far beyond what ordinary soldiers wielded—each shot blasting dozens of hammerheads to pieces. Despite being called "guns," bolters were practically handheld cannons.
And there was even more.
"Vrrrrrrr——!!!"
Although many hammerheads fell to gunfire, some broke through the barrage and charged the front line. Against normal soldiers, this would mean collapse. But for Astral Marines? Laughable. They revved their chainswords and leaped forward, carving the massive beasts cleanly in half.
But the assault wasn't over. A dark cloud swept across the sky—huge winged creatures swooping in like alien pterosaurs, razor-toothed and enormous. They clearly weren't here by coincidence.
But Duanmu Huai was ready.
Sever Raven Blackstars roared overhead, spewing fire into the sky. Within moments, a blazing curtain of bullets shredded the airborne beasts into raining chunks.
And that was only the beginning.
Eywa clearly would not let Duanmu Huai reach her front door. More and more monsters surged—flying, crawling, running—forming an army of countless beasts, determined to drown the invaders in sheer numbers.
But—
Before absolute power, numbers mean nothing.
"Fire!"
With Duanmu Huai's command, colossal shells and lances of light rained from orbit. In seconds, the once-lush forest was blasted into smoking craters. Beams followed, igniting everything. Half the forest was consumed in blazing inferno—mountains of beasts reduced to ash.
"How could this be…"
The Na'vi hiding in the forest trembled violently. They stared in despair at the burning wilderness, at the mountains of monster corpses stacked like hills. Moments ago, they believed Eywa had shown her divine power, that the invaders would be destroyed.
But what they saw instead—
Was Eywa's failure.
And the enemy's merciless, unstoppable strength.
If their own tribe faced such power, they would stand no chance.
These terrifying warriors—just a few hundred of them—had crushed a monstrous army beyond imagining!
Even Eywa could not defeat them?
At that moment, the Na'vi sank into utter despair.
(End of Chapter)