"What about the corpses of those Pandora beasts from before? How were they handled?"
Marcus asked as he followed Wesker into the command tower.
"They were all buried in a giant mining pit about twenty kilometers outside the base, where a team of researchers is specifically studying the biological decomposition effects on Pandora."
Wesker replied quickly, simultaneously sending a set of coordinates and data to Marcus's RIG.
"You want the Blood Moon to grow again?"
As a high-ranking Union member, Wesker naturally knew the true nature and growth requirements of the Blood Moon.
"We need to possess a true strategic weapon. Although the ICA uploaded the Anti-matter Bomb tech tree, the research department still needs some time to independently develop it."
After receiving the data and address, Marcus did not linger. He immediately left Hell's Gate Base, using his Psionics to lift himself and fly towards the giant mining pit.
Behind him, the massive Blood Moon also slowly began to move.
Even from a great distance, Marcus in the air could still see the giant mining pit, and a super-gigantic bucket-wheel excavator still in operation within it.
"It's truly massive. It probably equals two or three Imperator-class Titans."
Flying quickly to the top of the mining pit, Marcus looked at the giant bucket-wheel excavator below, comparing it in his mind to the true God-Machines, the Imperator-class Titans.
This bucket-wheel excavator was one of the largest machines on Pandora, if not the largest.
It was over five hundred meters long, over two hundred meters wide, and over three hundred meters high. Even its two giant bucket wheels had a radius of over forty meters.
If one bucket wheel were to strike, it would likely instantly destroy a Reaver-class Titan, and even a Warlord-class Titan would be severely damaged.
"Indeed, I knew the Tech-Priest wouldn't be absent here."
After shifting his gaze from the giant bucket-wheel excavator, Marcus immediately spotted the Adeptus Mechanicus stronghold that had already been established in the mining pit.
Many Tech-Priest in red robes had already climbed onto the giant bucket-wheel excavator, eager to begin their research on it.
"I wonder where Halifax went, I didn't see him in the base either."
Marcus muttered as he began to descend.
This place was less a mining pit and more an entire open-pit mine for excavating unobtanium, covering an area several times larger than Hell's Gate Base.
And the Pandora beast corpses Marcus was looking for were piled in a relatively secluded medium-sized mining pit.
Everyone in the mining area had already noticed the Blood Moon appearing overhead, but having received the news, they showed little panic.
Especially the people of the Adeptus Mechanicus, who were instead filled with curiosity about the Blood Moon.
Some Tech-Priest had already boarded small aircraft, intending to fly next to the Blood Moon to study it thoroughly.
Seeing this, Marcus immediately stopped these audacious Tech-Priest.
Marcus and Halifax the Magos, the Tech-Priest' direct superior, were now bound allies, so he could, to a certain extent, command these people.
Otherwise, these Tech-Priest would not listen to ordinary people.
Shaking his head, Marcus, through a mental link, made the already ravenously hungry Blood Moon extend all its tentacles and insert them into the mining pit filled with Pandora beasts.
According to the data from Wesker, there were conservatively estimated to be millions of beast corpses, large and small, here.
At the ends of the Blood Moon's countless tentacles, gaping, ferocious maw opened, and it began to furiously devour the massive amount of biomass.
At the same time, the Blood Moon also lowered its altitude, slowly squeezing into the mining pit.
At the center of the Blood Moon, the red marker, enveloped in countless twisted fleshy masses, began to radiate special pulses, affecting all the surrounding beast corpses.
Just like in Raccoon City before, these corpses all melted into crimson waves of flesh, and even the Blood Moon's own twisted fleshy masses were completely dissolved.
The god seal was going to completely reshape the Blood Moon's overall structure.
Looking at this hellish, twisted scene, Marcus nodded in satisfaction.
These millions of Pandora beast corpses were enough to swell the Blood Moon's size several times over, greatly enhancing the strength of all its abilities.
"Quick, quick! Record all these images immediately! Halifax the Magos will definitely be interested in these."
Some fearless Tech-Priest had already climbed to the edge of the mining pit, using various equipment to record the scene of the Blood Moon's reshaping.
Ever since coming to Pandora and this new world, these Adeptus Mechanicus people had remained in a state of excitement. After a while, once all the corpses had dissolved, the red marker slowly began to condense these twisted fleshy masses.
And, in addition to using this flesh,
the god seal also directly dug up a huge amount of rock and soil layers containing unobtanium from the adjacent mining pit, using them as the outer shell of the nascent Blood Moon to increase its defensive power.
Countless fleshy masses and rocks intertwined and mixed together.
With countless bones and unobtanium as a framework, an incomparably vast spherical framework slowly floated in the air.
Immediately after, large amounts of rock and soil layers floated up, covering the front of the spherical framework, forming hundreds of meters of solid armor.
Countless fleshy masses, like a siphon, formed a vortex of flesh, which was sucked into the framework, and began, with the red marker as its center, to serve as the Blood Moon's muscles and various important organs.
Finally, a Blood Moon with a diameter exceeding three kilometers, larger than the Ishimura, and already reaching the standard size of an Imperium of Man light cruiser, floated in the air.
And it emitted an incomparably terrifying psychic pressure.
Everyone in this mining area, except Marcus, even the Tech-Priest who had undergone full mechanical modification, felt their minds trembling wildly.
The most primitive and instinctive fear of living beings was driving them to flee from this terrifying existence overhead.
This was an overwhelming difference in life strata, much like a mortal soldier in the Warhammer World facing a Greater Daemon, or even a Daemon Prince.
Even in Hell's Gate Base, dozens of kilometers away, the Blood Moon floating in the air could be clearly seen, and this terrifying pressure could be felt firsthand.
All living beings within a thousand-kilometer radius were affected to some extent.
Beasts with little intelligence began to scatter and flee, frantically moving away from the Blood Moon's location.
The Na'vi, who had already formed a coalition, felt fear in unison.
The Na'vi who served as shamans in the tribes were horrified to find their connection to Holy Mother Eywa had been severed and could not be restored for a long time.
Looking at the Blood Moon in the sky, Marcus's expression remained unchanged. He could feel that he could still control the red marker within the Blood Moon, and thus control the Blood Moon.
"What new contraption has your Governor come up with now?"
In a corner of Pandora's forest, Biological Magos Halifax looked up, sensing something, and gazed in the direction of the Blood Moon.
Shaking his head, Halifax refocused on the experiment before him.
Halifax was currently leading a group of Tech-Priest loyal to him, along with another group of researchers loyal to Dr. Dr. Grace, in the study of Holy Mother Eywa.
Before them was a small Pandora Sacred Tree.
A large circle of complex instruments was arranged around it.
Beside this team, there were also more than a dozen Na'vi held captive by the Custodian Guard.
"Damn Sky People! You cannot desecrate our Sacred Tree! Holy Mother Eywa will punish you desecrators!"
The Na'vi, unable to resist, continuously cursed.
"Record this. These are valuable linguistic data."
Halifax glanced at the Na'vi and ordered a nearby Tech-Priest.
"Record: 149th Connection Experiment. After 148 previous experiments, I, Halifax the Magos, have created a device capable of adapting to Pandora's biological connection interface. Now beginning the first experiment to access the Sacred Tree's neural unit."
After a brief experimental record, a Tech-Priest stepped forward, came to the center of the cluttered complex machinery, and put on a specialized helmet, connecting part of its ports to his body.
The other Tech-Priest immediately connected the remaining ports to the interfaces on the Sacred Tree's drooping branches.
As the switch was activated, amidst the expectant gazes of everyone and the angry glares of the Na'vi,
A pulse signal surged from deep underground, using the Sacred Tree as a relay, and flooded into the mind of the Tech-Priest wearing the helmet.
The pulse signal, containing a massive amount of chaotic information, immediately threw the Tech-Priest's brain into disarray, and even the helmet he wore emitted a faint wisp of black smoke.
Seeing this, the other Tech-Priest did not immediately step forward to remove the helmet and stop the experiment. Instead, under Halifax's command,
They used special equipment to analyze the meaning of this signal.
The duration of this pulse signal was very short, lasting only about ten seconds.
However, this short amount of time was enough for the equipment present to fully capture the signal and trace and analyze it.
"As I previously hypothesized, Eva's main body, or rather, her intelligent core, is located within Pandora."
Halifax immediately recorded this new discovery.
A Tech-Priest walked over.
"techpriest, this signal is very chaotic and contains a lot of information. The current equipment will need at least a week to finish analyzing it."
"Establish a research base centered on this area, and have the fleet in orbit air-drop more personnel and equipment."
Halifax said calmly.
"I will take a group of people back to Hell's Gate Base and connect to the equipment there to speed up the analysis. You all stay here and watch over this area."
The existence of this signal was enough to prove that Pandora itself indeed possessed a certain level of intelligence, and the Holy Mother Eywa, as spoken of by the Na'vi, truly existed.
Moreover, she had a desire to communicate with the outside world, even with outsiders like them.
Aboard the Archaeopteryx aircraft, Halifax and a portion of the Custodian Guard burst out of the rainforest below, flying towards Hell's Gate Base.
It wasn't until they crossed a majestic mountain range that Halifax saw the enormous Blood Moon suspended in the sky.
At the same time, he also received image data sent by some Tech-Priest from the mining area.
"You truly know how to give me surprises, Governor Marcus."
Looking at the Blood Moon with its wildly dancing tentacles, Halifax immediately ordered the pilot.
"Speed up, return to base immediately."
Under Marcus's command, the Blood Moon slowly retracted its mental pressure, which had radiated for thousands of kilometers.
The personnel, whose minds had been trembling wildly, finally recovered. If it had been any longer, they might not have been able to control their physiological instinct to flee.
"What a pity, the absorption started a bit late, and many bodies were decomposed. Otherwise, its size could have been even larger."
Looking at the Blood Moon, now as massive as a light cruiser, Marcus mumbled.
However, all in all, he was very satisfied with the Blood Moon's growth this time.
"I wonder if the Blood Moon can absorb Greenskins Slashers."
Marcus thought of the mountains of Greenskins Slashers piled up on Avarax, still being cleared.
"Forget it, if something goes wrong, it would be a big problem."
Shaking his head, Marcus temporarily shelved the idea of letting the Blood Moon absorb Greenskins Slashers.
The Blood Moon was not convenient to appear in the Warhammer World, and if the Greenskins Slashers were transported over, there was a risk of spreading Greenskins spores to other worlds.
If Pandora ended up with a bunch of Greenskins waiting to be fought, that would not be a good thing.
In any case, the currently sublimated Blood Moon was already sufficient for the Union.
Although its destructive power alone could not compare to the ICA's Anti-matter Bomb, it excelled in agility and its pervasive mental control abilities.
Coupled with the inherent function of the god seal, which was to mass-produce Slashers legions.
The current Blood Moon was undoubtedly a super strategic weapon, an existence capable of influencing the outcome of a battle on an entire planet.
Moreover, in addition to these existing abilities, Marcus also noticed that next to the massive Blood Moon, there were some slightly smaller giant rocks floating.
"Show me your new abilities."
Marcus flew into the air and spoke to the Blood Moon before him.
After this growth, the Blood Moon's intelligence had increased significantly, already approaching that of a normal person.
Upon receiving Marcus's command, the Blood Moon began to utilize the massive amount of superconducting ore contained within its body, as well as its inherent anti-gravity ability, to influence the ground below.
Countless layers of earth were affected, floating into the air, and then slammed down, even tearing a gap in the ground.
"Gravity manipulation."
This was the Blood Moon's new ability. Originally, the Blood Moon could only control its own gravity for movement.
Now, the Blood Moon was able to manipulate the gravity of other objects around it.
"I need to have Dugall come over and take a look. If we install a bunch of turrets on the Blood Moon, that image —"
Marcus instantly thought of a way to transform the Blood Moon into a super weapon.
If these abilities were combined properly, the Blood Moon would become even stronger, and its combat capability would definitely not be weaker than a battleship.
Just as Marcus was thinking about how to modify the Blood Moon, an Archaeopteryx aircraft hovered beside him.
Inside sat Biological Magos Halifax.
"If this creation of yours were in the Imperium of Man, it would definitely be labeled as heresy, and even the star systems under your rule would be deemed heretical territories and subjugated."
Inside Hell's Gate Base, Halifax was speaking to Marcus with a serious expression.
"But this isn't the territory of the Imperium of Man, is it? And as far as I know, the Adeptus Mechanicus hasn't exactly shied away from heretical research behind the scenes, Halifax the Magos."
Marcus said with a smile.
"Leaving aside the half of the Dark Mechanicus that sided with the Warmaster during the Horus Heresy, even some factions of the Adeptus Mechanicus that still consider the Imperium an ally have, during the Beast Arises, secretly relocated Ullanor, transforming it into the current Armageddon. And there are even more Tech-Priests on the Stygies VIII Forge World who research so-called 'heretical' and 'xenos' technological creations, yet Terra and Mars haven't done anything about them."
Marcus's perspective was very clear.
No matter which world it was, strength ultimately spoke for itself.
Overwhelming power prevented the Imperium of Man from directly commanding the Adeptus Mechanicus, its ally, and even allowed it to turn a blind eye to many of its operations.
Overwhelming power allowed the Stygies VIII Forge World to defy the orders of the Martian High Council, treating them as nothing, and freely researching whatever it wished.
"What you're saying isn't something a Planetary Governor, or even a Sector Governor, should know."
Halifax's eyes flickered.
Both the existence of the Horus Heresy and the origins of Armageddon were subjects the Imperium of Man and the Adeptus Mechanicus tried their best to conceal.
Not to mention mortals, even some lower-ranking Space Marines and Tech-Priests had no way of knowing.
"Heh heh, I know more than just that, Halifax the Magos."
Marcus said calmly.
"Perhaps you could use some of the technology you possess to exchange for information you're interested in, for example, who will be the next Son of the Emperor to awaken?"
Although his tone was calm, the words Marcus spoke were astonishing.
"That's impossible!"
Halifax's voice was slightly agitated.
Even after this period of understanding, Halifax still couldn't fully grasp Marcus's true background.
But he still somewhat disbelieved that Marcus could know information about the awakening of the Emperor's Son.
"Rogal Dorn left a severed hand, revered as a holy relic by the Imperial Fists, his own fate unknown. Vulkan disappeared after perishing with the Beast during the Beast Arises. Ferrus Manus was personally beheaded by the fallen Primarch Fulgrim on Isstvan V. Saint Giles died at the Warmaster's hands on the bridge of the Vengeful Spirit. Leman Russ and his Wolf Guard vanished into the Eye of Terror. Lion El'Jonson mysteriously disappeared after returning to Caliban. Jaghatai Khan pursued the Dark Eldar and vanished into the Webway. Corvus Corax sailed alone into the Eye of Terror and disappeared. Only Roboute Guilliman is confirmed to be alive in stasis, which made his return possible."
Listening to Halifax list the whereabouts of each loyalist Primarch like a menu, Marcus chuckled.
"As you said, with the exception of the Great Angel and the Great Father of Iron, whose deaths are confirmed, the whereabouts of the other Primarchs are all unknown. Since the Lord of the Ultramarines could return and fight for the Emperor and the Imperium once more, then the other Primarchs can too."
These words left Halifax speechless for a moment, unable to refute them.
After a moment of silence, Halifax made a decision. He stared at Marcus in front of him and said in a deep voice.
"If I upload all the technology I possess, according to the Psychic Contract signed earlier, will the Union contribution points I earn be enough to exchange for the information you have?"
"More than enough. Perhaps I could even include information about another Primarch as a bonus."
"Deal."
Halifax said immediately.
"But I need to sign the same kind of Psychic Contract with you as before."
"Naturally."
Marcus nodded, then quickly drafted a Psychic Contract.
Halifax didn't hesitate, immediately signing his name.
Immediately after, he connected to Marcus's RIG System, uploading all the technologies he possessed. As a techpriest-level individual, Halifax commanded a vast number of technologies.
The Union contribution points he could exchange were countless.
Significantly more than the combined contribution points of the United Government and the ICA.
Watching the contribution points steadily rise, Halifax felt a surge of excitement.
He was indeed interested in the Gene-Seed Primarchs, or rather, the Emperor's technology for creating Gene-Seed Primarchs.
But a single Gene-Seed Primarch alone wouldn't make him willing to hand over various technical documents he had treasured for years.
What truly made him decide to exchange technology for information was the immense benefit brought by the awakening of another Gene-Seed Primarch.
Archmagos Cawl's status within the Imperium and the Adeptus Mechanicus had steadily risen, even subtly surpassing that of the Fabricator-General, precisely because he aided in the awakening of the Lord of the Ultramarines, Roboute Guilliman.
If Halifax could effectively utilize the intelligence of another Primarch's awakening, he would become the next "Cawl," the next "Archmagos."
At the very least, this would elevate his status within the Adeptus Mechanicus and grant him more resources to conduct his various researches.
"These are all the technologies I possess."
Halifax stared into Marcus's eyes and said in a deep voice.
He didn't hold anything back, nor did he omit uploading any specific technology.
Firstly, it was due to the requirements of the Psychic Contract, and secondly, there was no need; he now had a relationship with the Union where they would prosper or suffer together.
"As you wish."
Marcus said, sending a newly compiled document to Halifax.
"In the not-so-distant future, the Son of the Forest, the Lion, will return on a planet named 'Kamas' and lead his sons to thwart a conspiracy by the Chaos Warmaster Abaddon."
According to Marcus's understanding during this period, the Warhammer World's timeline was currently after Guilliman's return and the initiation of the Indomitus Crusade, but before the Lion King's awakening.
This piece of information he provided could be said to be one of the most valuable pieces of information in the current Warhammer World.
"The Lion King…"
Halifax whispered the Lion King's name, then looked up.
"And what about the whereabouts of the other Gene-Seed Primarch you mentioned?"
"Don't be so impatient, Halifax the Magos."
Marcus said casually.
"The Lord of the Raven Guard is still alive, currently hunting Chaos traitors in the Warp. His primary target right now is the Gene-Seed Primarch of the Word Bearers, Lorgar Aurelian."
Upon hearing these two explosive pieces of information, Halifax finally couldn't sit still.
He continuously murmured the names of the two Gene-Seed Primarchs.
A moment later, Halifax abruptly looked up at Marcus.
"I need to return to the Imperium of Man. These two pieces of news must be put to use immediately."
At the same time, Halifax also guessed the reason why Marcus told him such important information.
"You just want to leverage my power to maximize the impact of these two pieces of information and gain more benefits for the Union, right?"
"This is called win-win cooperation, isn't it?"
Marcus also stood up, not denying Halifax's conjecture.
"It's time to move, techpriest. The entire Imperium of Man will be shaken by your influence. I believe you will make good use of these two pieces of information."
Hours later, Marcus, who had sent Halifax the Sage and a portion of his fleet back to the Warhammer World, returned to the Hell's Gate Base on Pandora.
"Pulse signals? It seems that the so-called 'Eywa' isn't entirely unresponsive to our actions."
Before leaving, Halifax had informed him about the experiment where he previously received special pulse signals from deep within Pandora.
He also temporarily transferred command of all Adeptus Mechanicus personnel on Pandora to Marcus.
"I hope Halifax has smooth sailing. I'm quite curious to see what major changes will occur in the Imperium of Man."
Marcus mumbled to himself as he walked towards the base's command tower.
With his influence, Halifax would undoubtedly create a huge stir in the Imperium of Man, and the subsequent direction of the Warhammer Universe would be vastly different.
After entering the command tower, Marcus found Wesker, who was organizing data.
He inquired about the Isaac Team and the infiltration plan. Since the Ork War began, Marcus had rarely paid attention to the Na'vi situation on Pandora. Now was a good opportunity to complete the system task that had largely been untouched.
"Currently, most of the Na'vi tribes on Pandora have joined the allied forces: the Forest Clan, Ocean Clan, Ash Clan, Wind Clan—"
Wesker introduced Marcus to the current situation of the Na'vi allied forces and briefly outlined the upcoming plan.
"Our plan is to temporarily abandon Hell's Gate Base when the Na'vi allied forces launch their attack, using this to further elevate Isaac's status, directly promoting him to the leader of the Na'vi allied forces. Afterwards, we will launch a counterattack, reclaim Hell's Gate Base, inflict heavy losses on the Na'vi allied forces, and then propose a cooperation request to bring them into the Union."
The core of the plan was quite simple: first, to give Isaac enough influence among the Na'vi, making him their "leader."
Second, after giving the Na'vi some hope, to demonstrate overwhelming power, making them despair and forcing them to accept cooperation and join the Union.
Isaac's role as leader would be to minimize the Na'vi's rebellious sentiments after joining the Union.
Marcus wanted a race that possessed autonomy, had innovative capabilities, and also knew how to obey.
Otherwise, he could have simply used the Blood Moon to mind-control all the Na'vi and quickly complete the system task.
But doing so would only yield a bunch of mindless puppets and stifle the potential of a civilization.
"There are about three days until the Na'vi launch their general offensive. We have been preparing for temporary evacuation during this time, and some important assets are being transferred."
"Hmm, I'll have the ICA troops cooperate with you."
Marcus nodded, no longer asking questions.
"It's amazing! Although the content of this signal is generally consistent with the previous one, there are subtle differences."
Next to the small Tree of Souls, the research team conducted another connection experiment and received a slightly different signal than the previous one.
The area where Halifax had previously stayed was now heavily fortified.
More personnel and equipment had been transported, forming an experimental base with strong defensive capabilities.
Before leaving, Halifax left behind a Cobra-class destroyer.
The ship had sustained some damage during the previous battle against the Ork fleet, making it suitable for repair in the safe orbit of Pandora.
In addition to this ship, about a quarter of the personnel were also left behind.
They were to maintain Halifax's research progress on Pandora.
Although he had returned to the Imperium of Man, Halifax was still concerned about various research projects on Pandora.
"Dr. Grace, you should calm down. Excessive excitement is not beneficial to research work; on the contrary, it makes you prone to overlooking details."
A Tech-Priest reminded her coldly. The cold logic gears made most Tech-Priests accustomed to calm thinking and experimentation, rarely exhibiting overly emotional situations.
"Oh, alright."
Dr. Grace had been researching "Eywa" with Halifax the Sage for several days, and during this time, she had gained a general understanding of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Grace held a certain reverence for these madmen who had transformed themselves into mechanical bodies.
"We need to mark all the differences between the two signals so that we can analyze them more easily."
"It's already being done. Although our hardware reserves have improved, analysis still requires some time."
Another Tech-Priest said.
"Perhaps next time we shouldn't just be limited to receiving signals, but also try to send them out."
Grace proposed a rather bold idea.
However, a voice interrupted her further thoughts.
"That would be a very dangerous move, Dr. Grace. We still don't know what 'Eywa's attitude towards us is."
Marcus walked into the laboratory and examined the faintly glowing Tree of Souls before him.
"Dangerous? If 'Eywa' truly harbored ill will towards us, then those who received signals before would absolutely not have survived."
Grace instinctively retorted.
"'Eywa's existence spans tens of thousands of years. Any intelligent being with the capacity for thought, through the accumulation of vast amounts of time, will possess wisdom beyond ordinary people. 'Eywa', as a planetary-level organism, is even more so."
Marcus explained.
"The Union maintains a cautious attitude towards an as-yet-unknown intelligent being. Rashly initiating connection and communication will only leak our intelligence."
"But the signal analysis speed is still too slow. We need a more efficient way of communication."
Grace remained persistent, still hoping to communicate directly with "Eywa" through the Tree of Souls. Marcus did not mind Grace's slightly offensive words.
"So I brought you the Blood Moon."
Marcus looked up at the Blood Moon, which was silently floating above the area, obscuring the light.
Even with its life-pressure turned off, simply its enormous size caused all the Pandora beasts in the surrounding area to scatter and flee at the Blood Moon's appearance.
"This can establish a connection between us and 'Eywa'?"
Looking at the Blood Moon in the sky, Grace's tone was full of doubt. This time, Marcus didn't explain much; he preferred to take practical action.
The Blood Moon extended its thinnest, yet still adult-torso-thick, tentacle downwards, letting it droop beside the small Tree of Souls.
Immediately after, using the neural interface common to most creatures on Pandora as a blueprint.
This tentacle began to twist and reshape continuously, finally forming a crimson neural interface.
It directly inserted itself into a branch of the Tree of Souls.
After Blood Moon connected with the Sacred Tree, the instruments on site immediately detected a large number of pulse signals emanating from deep underground again.
Their density far exceeded the total of the previous two experiments.
If it were a normal human, the intense signals would undoubtedly cause their brain to explode.
But for Blood Moon, these signals were merely faint whispers.
"Blood Moon's computational ability is at least a hundred times stronger than your equipment. We'll have results very soon."
Marcus said casually.
"It seems 'Eywa' has a lot to say."
Unlike the previous two experiments, this time, the signals from the Sacred Tree were continuous, showing no signs of stopping.
Dr. Grace and the Tech-Priests immediately recorded all the characteristics of these signals.
Blood Moon's body integrated the flesh and blood of millions of corpses, enough to construct a vast number of neural computing units, essentially a giant flesh and blood computer.
With full Analysis, Blood Moon quickly deciphered the greeting from 'Eywa'.
Blood Moon lowered a tentacle, from which a vocal organ grew, and spoke in a deep voice.
"Who are you?
Why have you come here?"
Contrary to everyone's previous conjectures, despite the pulse signals being very strong and continuous, the deciphered content was very short.
After a moment of thought, everyone understood the reason.
"The thought patterns of this planetary-level organism are completely different from ours. A single thought from them is enough to generate a massive amount of pulse signals."
Everyone looked at Marcus in unison.
Only Marcus had the right to decide what response to give, as this would concern the Union's future attitude towards 'Eywa'.
"We are the Universal Union, from another world. In our language, you are called Pandora. We came here to explore territory needed for survival."
After a brief thought, Marcus said.
This message, relayed by Blood Moon as an intermediary, was finally converted into pulse signals that 'Eywa' could directly understand and transmitted underground through the Sacred Tree.
After a brief pause, another pulse signal was received by Blood Moon and relayed.
"I can feel that you harbor ill will towards the children."
Hearing this, Marcus raised an eyebrow.
It was clear that the 'children' 'Eywa' referred to were the Na'vi.
It seemed 'Eywa' considered herself the matriarch of the Na'vi.
"If the Union harbored ill will towards your children, believe me, all the Na'vi on this planet would be extinct within one day and night cycle."
Marcus said calmly.
"The Union has always developed Pandora with the concept of cooperation and win-win. According to our statistics, during this period,
fewer than a hundred Na'vi lost their lives in our reasonable self-defense."
Indeed, as Marcus said, under his command, the soldiers in Hell's Gate Base would not actively launch lethal attacks against the Na'vi.
They would only retaliate if the other side attacked first.
"The small creatures you spread took a long time to clear."
Whether it was 'Eywa's own habit, or the result of the Sacred Tree and Blood Moon's joint relay, 'Eywa's words were intermittent and composed of short phrases.
Besides this, Marcus also keenly noticed that 'Eywa' did not seem to refer to herself as 'I'.
"Just a small experiment, and besides, no Na'vi died because of it, right?"
Marcus knew that the 'small creatures' 'Eywa' was referring to were the T-Virus and parasites spread during the previous beast tide.
After receiving Marcus's reply, 'Eywa' fell into a brief silence.
Marcus then raised his hand and played a video.
A video of the Ishimura using gravity cables to release its payload, destroying the Aegis V's planetary surface.
This was to corroborate that his statement about being able to destroy all Na'vi on Pandora at any time was not false.
Anti-matter Bombs, Blood Moon's Slashers army, the Ishimura's planetary explosion.
The Union possessed many means to exterminate Pandora's surface ecology in a short time.
"What do you want?"
After a moment, 'Eywa' asked again.
Marcus cleared his throat, then said.
"I need you, and all the Na'vi on Pandora, to join the Universal Union. In exchange, the Union will not over-exploit Pandora, and the Na'vi will still retain thirty-three percent ownership of Pandora."
Marcus was very interested in 'Eywa', this planetary-level life form.
In comparison, the Na'vi seemed less important.
"Need a guarantee."
Marcus immediately drafted a Psychic Contract, clearly listing all the terms on it.
To be honest, Marcus was not entirely sure if the Psychic Contract's breach-of-contract death effect would work on 'Eywa'.
This kind of planetary-level life form definitely had many methods Marcus didn't know about, and perhaps could even withstand the psychic backlash.
He pressed the contract against a branch of the Sacred Tree, and a strange sensation flowed through the Sacred Tree into the ground.
'Eywa' understood the efficacy of this Psychic Contract.
At the same time, she also became interested in these people who called themselves the Universal Union.
The branches of the Sacred Tree moved on their own, and 'Eywa' signed her name, "Eywa," in Na'vi on the contract.
Feeling the contract being established, Marcus nodded in satisfaction.
'Eywa' accepted the invitation to join the Union much faster than Marcus had anticipated.
However, since the contract was formed, and with Blood Moon's existence, Marcus was not afraid that 'Eywa' would tear up the contract.
Marcus glanced at the Tech-Priests and other personnel present.
These people were not considered core members of the Union.
Marcus was thinking about whom from the Ishimura to send to negotiate with 'Eywa'.
"Forget it, I'll just have Wesker come over. He's close anyway."
After making a decision in his heart, Marcus gave a few casual instructions and left the area.
Wesker's cautious personality was perfectly suited for communicating with 'Eywa'.
Moreover, Wesker was also the leader of the 'Infiltration Plan'.
Now that 'Eywa', the Holy Mother worshipped by the Na'vi, was on the Union's side, it was only a matter of time before the Na'vi were subdued.
"I wonder what the next stage of the mission is."
Flying towards Hell's Gate Base, Marcus shook his head in the air.
Soon, Marcus returned to Hell's Gate Base and found Wesker.
He informed him of the latest news about 'Eywa' joining the Union.
"So, you're saying our biggest threat is now our ally?"
Wesker, who had just extricated himself from complex affairs, was still a bit confused. He never imagined things would develop this way.
"Then, should our plan still proceed?"
Upon learning that Eywa had joined the Union, Wesker immediately inquired.
This sudden news made his painstakingly long 'infiltration plan' seem utterly ridiculous now.
Now that even the deity the Na'vi believed in was on their side, was there really any need for the infiltration plan to continue?
"Of course, it must proceed. The triple pressure of external enemies, leaders, and faith will make the Na'vi collectively realize their current predicament even better,"
Marcus said.
"In short, everything will proceed according to the original plan. When you communicate with Eywa later, you can appropriately reveal some details of the plan to get its cooperation."
Wesker nodded, then put on his oxygen mask, boarded an assault ship, and quickly flew towards the area of the Blood Moon and the Sacred Tree.
"This truly is a case of 'while your subjects wish to fight to the death, why has your Majesty already surrendered?"'
After lamenting the tragic fate the Na'vi were about to face, Marcus contacted the ICA fleet and ground forces commander.
Since the matters on Pandora were mostly handled, Marcus no longer intended to stay.
After instructing the ICA to temporarily consolidate its forces and await Wesker's command, Marcus opened his system panel and disappeared from his original location.
Deep within the distant Home Tree, a vast number of Na'vi had already gathered.
However, at this moment, the atmosphere among this unprecedentedly large allied army in Na'vi history was very low.
"The shamans of all tribes are temporarily unable to sense the presence of Mother Eywa, Shadow Rider. Perhaps our operation should be paused."
The leader of the Ocean Clan looked at Isaac, who was meditating with his eyes closed, and said in a deep voice.
At the same time, the leader of the Wind Clan added,
"The top priority now is to boost the morale of the allied army. And without Mother Eywa's help, even with those deployment details, we cannot severely damage the Sky People."
The Wind Clan was the newest tribe to join the Na'vi allied army. Their figures were more slender and streamlined, excelling at building and piloting various large aerial vehicles. Their civilization level was higher than that of the Forest Clan and Ocean Clan, but their numbers were relatively small.
Isaac, who was surrounded, opened his eyes and gazed in the direction where he had previously felt the life-threatening pressure.
He felt the familiar god seal aura.
"Is it necessary to use the Blood Moon?"
After secretly complaining to himself, Isaac looked at the various tribal leaders sitting around him.
"The Sky People have already discovered some of our movements. The latest reports from the forward scouts indicate that the defenses around that base are slowly changing."
At this point, Isaac paused slightly.
"If we don't attack according to the plan, we will only miss the opportunity, and that valuable deployment data will become useless."
"But the problem of Mother Eywa must be resolved."
The other leaders still stuck to their opinions.
While secretly cursing these superstitious fellows, Isaac's expression remained unchanged.
"Are we incapable of doing anything without Mother Eywa?"
Isaac said in a somewhat sarcastic tone.
"Don't forget your identity, Dreamwalker! You cannot fully understand our faith yet!"
The Wind Clan leader spoke agitatedly, while the leaders of the other tribes remained silent.
The belief in Eywa was the fundamental basis of the entire Na'vi people, a unified consensus.
To some extent, for the Na'vi, Eywa was no longer just an object of worship.
Just like the title "Mother," the Na'vi regarded Eywa more as a figure akin to a Mother Nature.
The scene fell into a brief stalemate and silence. Finally, the leader of the Ocean Clan broke the silence.
"We can now dispatch a portion of our forces to investigate what that previous pressure was about, and then resolve the source that is blocking our connection with Eywa."
"Resolve? How will you resolve it? Go and offer yourselves to the Blood Moon?"
Isaac complained wildly in his heart.
However, to temporarily stabilize these tribal leaders who were not yet obeying his commands, Isaac still nodded in agreement with the plan.
Currently, Isaac was only the leader of the Na'vi allied army, and along with the leader of the Forest Clan, the other tribes in the allied army still maintained a high degree of independence and would not fully obey Isaac's orders.
"I will lead this portion of the forces and complete the mission as quickly as possible."
Isaac stood up and said.
The other tribal leaders could only nod in agreement. Isaac was, after all, the Shadow Rider, the strongest fighter among the Na'vi, if not the strongest.
Leading the army personally would greatly boost morale.
Stepping out of the tent, Isaac immediately gathered his people.
The vast majority were his trusted subordinates he had developed within the Forest Clan during this time, including Jill and Carlos.
He certainly wouldn't take a group of Ocean Clan, Wind Clan, or Ash Clan members who didn't obey him to carry out the mission.
Before departing, Isaac specifically called Jill and Carlos to his side to secretly discuss the objectives of this mission.
He couldn't possibly rely on these Na'vi to actually take down the Blood Moon; that was pure fantasy.
"I will secretly contact Wesker and have him dispatch a portion of his forces to attack us. You two will disappear in the chaos, find Captain Marcus, ask him to disable the Blood Moon's shielding effect on Eywa, and report the latest situation here."
Isaac didn't know yet that Marcus had already left Pandora—
After briefly explaining some matters to Jill and Carlos, Isaac returned to the Na'vi.
After brief preparations, a Na'vi force of several hundred was assembled.
Isaac announced the objective of this operation and emphasized that its purpose was to re-establish contact with Mother Eywa.
This immediately boosted the previously low morale of the Na'vi.
"Depart!"
Isaac mounted the back of a Leonopteryx, then flapped its wings and took flight.
Behind him, hundreds of Na'vi also mounted Banshees and soared into the sky.
They flew past the Wind Clan aerial vehicles parked outside the Home Tree, heading in the direction of the Blood Moon.
The secret contact method Isaac spoke of was actually very simple.
It was through the Leonopteryx he rode, which was parasitized by a good strain of Las Plagas Parasite.
A consciousness network existed between the Dominant Plaga and its subordinate subservient Plaga and good strain Plaga.
And Isaac's method of controlling the Leonopteryx was to connect a neural interface on his whip into its body.
This meant that Isaac and Krauser, who had a Dominant Plaga Parasite implanted, could communicate to a certain extent through this consciousness network.
And then contact Wesker, who was far away in Hell's Gate Base.
However, this communication had certain limitations; it couldn't convey overly complex information.
Otherwise, Isaac wouldn't have had Jill and Carlos play dead to find Wesker and Marcus.
Inside the Death Squad, which had just destroyed a Na'vi stronghold and returned to Hell's Gate Base for repairs.
Krauser, bare-chested, suddenly closed his eyes, sensing the vague message from Isaac.
After a moment, he opened his eyes and said in a deep voice,
"Latest news from Isaac Team, we need to find Wesker."
"Elaborate."
Hank, the captain, spoke.
Krauser shook his head.
"The neural network of the Las Plagas Parasite is not yet mature. The message from Isaac is very brief, just telling us to find Wesker and then dispatch troops to ambush a Na'vi force."
Hank nodded upon hearing this, not pressing for more details.
"Another mission already?"
Leon, who had just taken off his gear, complained a little.
Since joining the Death Squad, he was either on a mission or on his way to one.
It was like a 007 work schedule.
"Get ready, we leave in five minutes."
Hank ignored Leon, grabbed his weapon, and walked out of the room with Krauser. Although Leon complained verbally, his hands didn't stop, quickly re-equipping himself and checking his weapon.
"This mission might not be simple."
Ada Wong, standing nearby, suddenly said coolly.
"Isaac Team wouldn't contact us out of the blue."
Putting on his full-face helmet, Leon shook his head.
"When has any mission on Pandora ever been simple? Anyway, just like before, be extra careful."
With that, Leon stepped forward, catching up with Ada Wong, Hank, and Krauser, who had already reached the flight runway.
During their time on Pandora, the Death Squad had encountered many dangerous situations.
Sometimes they were overwhelmed by sudden, raging beast tides, other times they were besieged by the Na'vi.
And after Leon, still a young hothead, risked his life to save Ada several times, the emotional temperature between the two began to rise.
After all, the other two teammates, Hank, wore a mask all day, and Krauser wasn't even acting human anymore.
It made sense that Ada eventually chose Leon.
"Are you two done being lovey-dovey?"
Krauser said with a slightly playful tone, his gaze shifting between Leon and Ada.
Just as Leon was about to defend himself, Ada made her move first.
A very thin alloy needle was silently hovering by Krauser's ear, ready to strike.
"Think carefully about who you're talking to next time."
Ada said in a cold voice.
Hank, as captain, watched all of this with a cold gaze, showing no intention of intervening.
At Leon's urging, Ada eventually put away the needle.
She knew that this thing couldn't harm Krauser, who had been implanted with a Dominant Plaga, and her move was just a warning.
"Board the ship."
Seeing the brief conflict end, Hank was the first to board a Dragon Assault Ship docked in front of them.
The others followed closely.
The assault ship immediately took off, flying directly towards Wesker's location.
Upon finding Wesker, Krauser immediately relayed Isaac's message.
Wesker listened, then looked up at the massive Blood Moon suspended in the sky.
"The Na'vi are coming for the Blood Moon."
Wesker briefly explained to Hank and the others.
"We discovered that the Blood Moon can sever the connection between the Na'vi and the Mother 'Eywa'. They must be attacking because of this."
The Na'vi previously captured by Halifax the Sage were the subjects Wesker used to test this blocking effect.
"Do we still need to deploy troops?"
Looking at the Blood Moon above, Leon couldn't help but ask.
He didn't think the indigenous Na'vi could deal with something as massive as the Blood Moon, which resembled a space battleship.
"Since Isaac has such a request, there must be a reason. I will allocate three Dragon Assault Ships and corresponding Red Collection Gunboats."
Wesker temporarily put aside his communication with 'Eywa' and immediately contacted Hell's Gate Base.
Soon, a fully armed unit flew in. After completing the message relay.
The members of the Death Squad looked curiously at the connection point between the Blood Moon and the Sacred Tree.
They still didn't know that 'Eywa' had joined the Union.
So, upon hearing this news from Wesker, their reaction was the same as Wesker's initial reaction.
They were all dumbfounded.
The same question popped into their minds:
"Is the infiltration plan still necessary?"
After a light cough, Wesker repeated Marcus's previous statement.
The triple pressure of 'enemy + leader + faith' would better make the Na'vi collectively realize their current situation and eventually integrate into the Union.
"So, this is communicating with 'Eywa'?"
Looking at the Sacred Tree connected to the Blood Moon, Leon asked curiously.
All of them were very interested in the mysterious 'Eywa'.
Wesker glanced at Leon, but didn't speak, instead turning to look at the Sacred Tree.
He had only just arrived and hadn't yet spoken with 'Eywa'.
"Feeling, children, are, approaching."
Before Wesker could speak, 'Eywa' first sent out a pulse signal, which was translated by the Blood Moon.
After a brief moment of surprise, Wesker spoke.
"The Na'vi, your children, are coming for the creation connected to you, called the Blood Moon. It has severed your connection with your children."
However, 'Eywa's' subsequent answer stunned Wesker and everyone present.
"No, severance, already, faded, now, recovering."
Wesker and the others truly hadn't expected that the so-called 'severance' from the Blood Moon had actually faded long ago under Marcus's command.
It was just that due to the wide-area pressure emitted when the Blood Moon ascended, this influence hadn't completely dissipated yet.
So, in fact, even if the Na'vi had taken no action, they would have been able to feel 'Eywa's' presence again after some time.
After a brief thought.
Wesker immediately contacted Hell's Gate Base, confirming the Na'vi's position via orbital satellites.
He then deployed all the soldiers from the three recently landed assault ships to ambush the Na'vi along their route.
Wesker also didn't want a conflict between the soldiers and the Na'vi to erupt in front of 'Eywa'.
After all, 'Eywa' was now a member of the Union, and beating up the Na'vi would be like beating 'Eywa's' children, which felt strangely like bullying.
"'Eywa', we need you to restore your connection with the Na'vi when we fight them. Of course, we will try our best to ensure no casualties."
Wesker looked at the Sacred Tree and said in a deep voice.
His plan was simple: the base here and the Blood Moon in the sky certainly couldn't be withdrawn. The research base here had just been set up.
And the connection with 'Eywa' should not be interrupted if possible.
Allowing 'Eywa' to restore her connection with the Na'vi would, while repelling the Na'vi, further enhance Isaac's status within the Na'vi allied forces.
"Understood."
'Eywa's' reply was brief, agreeing to Wesker's request.
After the most crucial step was achieved, Wesker continued his communication with 'Eywa'.
Because of the arrival of Hank, Krauser, and the others, he hadn't yet properly explained the specifics of the Union to 'Eywa'.
Some basic things still needed to be known by this ally.
As soon as Marcus returned to the Ishimura and took his captain's seat, he received a RIG message from Dugall.
"The Ishimura's improvement blueprints have been completed."
"Oh, that efficient?"
Marcus raised an eyebrow, then followed the location to find Dugall on the flight deck.
Standing beside him were a group of engineering personnel, led by Chief Engineer Jacob.
Dugall was responsible for inspecting the Ishimura's structural deficiencies and proposing modifications.
The actual blueprint drawing was handled by these engineers.
"The blueprints? Let me see."
Marcus rubbed his hands, eager to see what the Ishimura would look like after modifications by Dugall, a renowned UED general.
Jacob's expression was peculiar as he sent the completed blueprints to Marcus's RIG.
After looking at the structure on the blueprints, Marcus couldn't help but exclaim, "What have you done to it? Is this still the Ishimura?"
His strong reaction was understandable, as the modifications on the blueprints were indeed extensive.
"The Ishimura was previously a planet cracker used for mining.
To serve as the Union's temporary flagship, we need to make significant changes," Dugall explained.
The Ishimura's exterior was far from slender.
The main body of the ship was roughly a triangular prism, with numerous ribs extending outwards from the front and middle sections of the hull.
These ribs served many purposes: stabilizing the Ishimura's center of gravity, acting as a communication array, and even collecting stellar radiation to convert into energy.
The Ishimura's stern had extremely large propulsion sections on both sides, equipped with pulse engines for conventional travel and Shockpoint Engines for faster-than-light travel.
At the top of the engine sections were hydroponic areas for growing crops, utilizing the heat emitted by the engines to cultivate produce.
Thus, the Ishimura's overall shape was narrow at the front and wide at the back.
Furthermore, in the Ishimura's belly, there were the ship's most important mining facilities and gravity tether generators.
Eight massive suspension arms, four long and four short, extended from the Ishimura's belly, with gravity tethers installed at their ends.
"We plan to retain the current bridge, hydroponics, residential, medical, and engine sections, only giving them appropriate modernization and adding more tram tracks.
Then, we will expand the remaining flight deck to accommodate more carrier-based aircraft, convert the cargo hold into an armory, and for the mining deck, we will only keep the gravity tether generator, removing all other general mining facilities, and construct a weapon array centered around the gravity tether generator," Dugall said, pointing at the designed Ishimura blueprint and speaking eloquently.
"The only drawback is that we currently lack truly sustained, high-power conventional weapons.
Laser cannon arrays will struggle to damage ships in this world, and missile arrays will quickly deplete their ammunition in intense space battles."
Listening to Dugall's explanation, Marcus put down the blueprint and manipulated the RIG System, transmitting some technological data from Halifax the Sage to Dugall and the numerous engineers present.
"These are some weapon data uploaded by Halifax the Sage, including conventional macro cannons, small lance weapons, and the manufacturing methods for melta torpedoes.
You can try to install them on the Ishimura."
At this point, Marcus added, "Don't let the weapon systems affect the normal operation of other areas of the Ishimura.
I'm not trying to build the Ishimura into a true warship, but a multi-functional flagship."
Dugall and Jacob immediately nodded, indicating their understanding.
They then began to research the manufacturing technologies for macro cannons, lance weapons, and melta torpedoes with the other engineers.
Watching the heated discussion, Marcus quietly turned and left.
He began to ponder the future development direction of the Universal Union.
The current Union structure was actually very simple.
The core members were the Ishimura's crew, who knew about the existence of other worlds and the truth about the Blood Moon, and could also directly browse some of the technological data uploaded by Union members according to their authority.
These people were Marcus's trusted subordinates, all having signed a strict Psychic Contract, making betrayal impossible.
This included original Ishimura crew members like Isaac and Jacob, as well as later additions like Alexia, Wesker, and Alix.
There was no hierarchy between them; they were simply assigned appropriate positions based on their individual abilities.
Outside the Union core were various subordinate Union members.
For example, the United Government of the Resident Evil World, the ICA of the Avatar World, Biological Sage Halifas and his numerous Tech-Priests, and the Mother 'Eywa'.
The situation with Avarax was somewhat special; it was considered the Union's de facto territory and not an Union member.
The Union currently faced many problems.
First and foremost, the number of core members, meaning the Ishimura's crew, was too small.
Whether it was the Ishimura's modification project, researching the ICA's Anti-matter Bomb technology, or the Mycelium's consciousness preservation technology, all required a large number of high-level engineering and scientific personnel.
"I need to consider recruiting more people," Marcus thought, returning to the captain's quarters.
He had already set his sights on the ICA.
As a semi-interstellar civilization, the ICA's talent reserves far exceeded those of the United Government in the Resident Evil World.
Recruiting a large number of mid-to-high-level personnel from them could effectively solve the Ishimura's current manpower shortage.
However, since the Ishimura was still receiving wounded from Avarax's surface, it was temporarily unable to personally travel to the Avatar World.
Marcus assigned the task of recruiting talent to the slightly smaller Courage.
The Courage was also equipped with a Shockpoint Engine, allowing it to quickly travel to Earth in the Avatar World.
"I didn't expect you to become the captain of the Courage," Marcus said, a little surprised, looking at Daniels who stood before him inside the Courage half an hour later.
Marcus didn't really manage the talent selection and position allocation on the Ishimura; he mostly issued a command and then let the Ishimura's integrated T'au Empire AI handle the fully automated selection.
Marcus only needed to glance at the personnel changes afterward.
The biggest advantage of this approach was that it saved time and effort, and also prevented incompetent individuals from holding important positions.
"I had to work very hard to defeat the other competitors."
Daniels took the pilot's seat of the spaceship and began to adjust the takeoff posture.
With the ignition of the engines, the Courage quickly departed from the Ishimura's flight deck.
Enveloped in white light, the Courage then disappeared.
Appearing in Pandora's orbit, the Courage did not rush to activate its Shockpoint Engine, but first sent Marcus to the surface.
For this mission, Marcus did not intend to personally travel to the Avatar World's Earth, as it was merely a task of picking up people.
Smoke and gunfire, these two things were originally far removed from the Na'vi's lives.
But now, they had become the most familiar things to the Na'vi.
"Retreat!"
Amidst the smoke, Isaac, riding a Leonopteryx, loudly commanded the remaining Na'vi warriors.
Having achieved their goal, the Na'vi, feeling the reconnection with Mother "Eywa" and moved to tears, rapidly flew away on their Banshees from the three Dragon Assault Ships behind them.
"This really is, unexpected."
Isaac turned his head to look at the faint blood moon on the distant horizon, thinking to himself.
Before the brief battle just now, he had already received some information from Krauser through the Leonopteryx, which was parasitized by a good breed of Plaka.
For example, "Eywa" was already a member of the Union.
And after the war began, or rather, after being ambushed by the soldiers sent by Wesker, Jill and Carlos, who had disappeared for a while amidst the chaos, brought back more specific news.
The infiltration plan was still to continue. "Eywa" and the Union would cooperate with Isaac, who had already become a leader with immense prestige, to put pressure on the Na'vi.
Theocracy, monarchy, and foreign enemies.
With these three forces working together, the Na'vi would inevitably yield.
"I hope fewer people die, whether they are Union soldiers or Na'vi."
Isaac sighed.
After quickly returning to the Home Tree, the scene inside the Home Tree was one of joy.
The Na'vi had re-established their connection with Mother "Eywa." Although the intensity was not as strong as before, the most senior tribal priests could feel that the connection's strength was slowly recovering.
Undoubtedly, Isaac, who personally led this operation, had reached the pinnacle of his prestige within the allied forces.
His prestige in various tribes had subtly begun to surpass that of the original tribal leaders.
Overall, the objective of Wesker's plan had been achieved.
"Notify everyone in all tribes that in three days, we will launch a full-scale assault on the Sky People."
Leaping off the Leonopteryx, Isaac looked at several Forest Clan confidants beside him.
"Let those Sky People taste our wrath!"
The Forest Clan members excitedly ran off.
"I hope these guys can still be so optimistic when facing the Blood Moon."
Looking at the peaceful scene inside and outside the Home Tree, Isaac secretly shook his head.
Three days passed in a flash.
At this time, the Home Tree, and the sky outside, were already packed with Na'vi from various tribes.
The Forest Clan, Ocean Clan, Wind Clan, and Ash Clan—all distinct tribes—had united in an unprecedented way.
And the one who brought all this about was the Phantom Rider, Isaac.
The process of uniting so many Na'vi tribes was not easy; Isaac put in a great deal of effort.
He leveraged the common hatred all Na'vi held for the Sky People, promised great benefits to the leaders of various tribes, and used various overt and covert means to forge the current massive allied army.
Sitting atop the massive Leonopteryx, Isaac raised the spear in his hand and shouted, raising his arm.
"Drive out all the Sky People! Leave none behind!"
All the Na'vi raised their various weapons and let out their unique war cries.
"All forces, attack!"
At Isaac's command, countless Banshees soared into the sky, each carrying at least two Na'vi warriors.
To prepare for this battle, the various tribes even violated their long-held tradition of preserving the natural environment, capturing all the Banshees in the surrounding area.
Besides the overwhelming number of Banshees, there was another striking force in the allied army.
That was nearly a hundred Wind Clan warships, inlaid with superconducting ore, capable of floating and sailing in the air. These aerial warships were all about dozens of meters in size, equipped with long-range weapons like crossbows, and their cabins were filled with fully armed Na'vi warriors.
The movement of this massive force quickly caught the attention of Wesker at Hell's Gate Base.
"They're finally here. This long plan is finally coming to an end."
Through satellite monitoring, Wesker could clearly see all the Na'vi's troop deployments.
"Get everyone ready for battle."
Large numbers of PDF Soldiers were already standing by around Hell's Gate Base, forming lines of defense.
However, in Wesker's plan, the mission of these soldiers was not to defeat the Na'vi allied army, but merely to hold out for a period of time and then retreat.
They needed to first give the Na'vi the illusion of victory, and then crush them with overwhelming power.
Only then would the Na'vi truly feel the despair brought by the disparity in strength.
"To be honest, I'm itching for some action."
In the command tower, Marcus came to Wesker's side, looking at the massive Na'vi allied army on the screen, and couldn't help but take out his Sunflare Sword and idly play with it.
"But since I promised 'Eywa' not to cause too many casualties, then forget it."
Wesker subtly shifted his body, dodging the psionic blade of the Sunflare Sword.
On the screen, the Na'vi allied army had already crossed several majestic mountain ranges, charging directly towards Hell's Gate Base.
Some laser cannon groups on the high walls outside the base immediately locked onto the large aerial warships in the allied army.
After a brief charge, they opened fire with a roar.
Although he had promised Eywa to avoid too many casualties, this was war after all, and war could not be without casualties.
Several thick laser beams streaked across the sky, and all the Na'vi riding Banshees along the way shouted loudly, dodging them.
The locked-on aerial warships also began slow evasive maneuvers.
But the next second, the laser beams hit their targets.
The warship armor, made of Pandora's toughest wood, clearly could not withstand a direct hit from the laser beams.
Instantly, several warships were directly pierced through.
The Na'vi warriors inside the cabins, who happened to be in the path of the laser beam attack, were directly vaporized.
For the Na'vi, the only good news was that these Wind Clan warships did not have traditional engine parts.
Their ability to float in the air relied entirely on the large amount of superconducting ore throughout the hull.
Their mobility came from the huge sails on the hull.
Therefore, even if the hull was pierced, these warships only swayed and slightly lowered their altitude, without directly exploding or crashing.
"Charge!"
Isaac, leading the charge at the very front of the allied army, roared, urging the Leonopteryx beneath him to accelerate towards Hell's Gate Base.
A large part of Isaac's bravery was due to his current Avatar body.
Since it wasn't his main body, if he encountered a fatal danger, he could simply disconnect and his consciousness would return to his main body far away in the Home Tree.
Moreover, such courageous behavior could better inspire the Na'vi warriors behind him, further elevating Isaac's status.
The Na'vi did not have many attacking methods; most Na'vi riding Banshees used long spears and bows and arrows as long-range attack methods.
These seemingly primitive attack methods, powered by the Na'vi's strength, which far exceeded that of ordinary humans, could still exert considerable power.
In addition, some Na'vi carried small-caliber firearms that had been captured in many previous conflicts.
However, due to their scarcity, they could hardly play a significant role in the battle.
"Prioritize attacking those turrets!"
Isaac shouted loudly, while piloting his Leonopteryx to roll and dodge a laser beam.
At this moment, Isaac had completely immersed himself in the role of the Na'vi allied forces leader.
Otherwise, being indecisive would only reduce his prestige among the allied forces.
Large numbers of Na'vi swooped down, enduring fierce anti-aircraft fire and incoming bullets, approaching the laser cannon arrays positioned on the high walls.
However, the primitive weapons in the Na'vi's hands could not affect the laser cannons, which were covered in thick armor.
Even the power supply lines were buried in concrete, with no part exposed.
Seeing this, Isaac immediately turned his head.
"Where are those priests!? Where is the beast tide!?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a vast number of Pandora's various wild beasts immediately surged from the distant horizon where the sky met the land, rushing towards Hell's Gate Base.
Due to only having re-established the connection with "Eywa" a few days prior.
Therefore, to gather such a massive beast tide, even with the concerted efforts of the priests from various tribes, the beast tide only barely arrived now.
The seemingly endless beast tide immediately used their flesh and blood to absorb a large amount of firepower.
Even the continuously firing anti-aircraft guns had their barrels twisted by the suicidal attacks of numerous aerial beasts, temporarily falling silent.
On the ground battlefield, to the Na'vi's confusion, they did not encounter those heavily armored units, nor the giant Tyrants and Pursuers.
Only a small number of light infantry were in the trenches, continuously firing at the Na'vi.
Under the cover of the beast tide, the Wind Clan's aerial warships slowly descended, opening their belly hatches, and large numbers of Na'vi warriors rushed into the beast tide from within, using the cover to quickly advance towards the front-line positions.
And according to that valuable defensive deployment information, they prioritized attacking heavy firepower strongholds in various locations.
Some aerial warships aimed the crossbows on both sides of their hulls downwards, waiting for an opportunity to attack any exposed soldiers.
However, almost all the crossbow bolts were destroyed by concentrated fire while in the air, failing to hit their targets.
"Initiate withdrawal procedure."
The soldiers who received Wesker's command began to evacuate in an orderly fashion through secret underground passages, avoiding exposing themselves to the Na'vi, who had already gained air superiority.
The remaining suppressing fire was left to some automatic turrets and machine guns.
"Won't this act be a bit too fake?"
Marcus said, looking at the situation of the offensive and defensive battle outside the base.
Up to this point, excluding the Pandora beasts, the total number of casualties on both sides might not even reach three digits, and there were no human soldier deaths, making it seem like child's play.
"During this period, we have intentionally and unintentionally leaked some information to the Na'vi about the main forces of the base being transferred away. This is a major reason why the Na'vi chose to attack at this time, and Isaac will find a way to make it believable for us."
Wesker had already put on his respirator, preparing to temporarily withdraw.
Soon, several Dragon Assault Ships, fully loaded with soldiers, hastily took off from the runway, their reinforced fuselages crashing through countless flying creatures, moving away from the battlefield.
More soldiers, under the cover of the remaining anti-aircraft fire, boarded transport ships specially built for this mission.
These ships had specially reinforced external armor, and unlike ICA's assault ships, they did not have exposed turbofans, but relied on engine propulsion for takeoff.
The emphasis was on being robust, ensuring that they would not be shot down by attacks from the Na'vi or aerial creatures after takeoff, as much as possible.
Watching the Sky People's hurried retreat, the Na'vi warriors' morale immediately soared.
They quickly destroyed the automatic weapons that were still firing.
Soon, in conjunction with the beast tide, they completely swept clean all the positions outside Hell's Gate Base.
However, they naturally did not find any Sky People soldiers, only discovering scattered bloodstains left by some wounded at some tunnel entrances.
Dozens of Thunder Hammer Beasts continuously rammed the base gate, eventually collapsing it.
Accompanied by the lingering smoke of gunpowder, large numbers of Na'vi warriors rushed into the base.
And quickly began searching the entire base,
But they only found a pile of traces left during the evacuation,
Not even a single living person was found.
"This isn't right. How could the Sky People only have such a small defensive force?"
The Forest Clan Na'vi, who had participated in the first assault on Hell's Gate Base, instinctively felt that something was amiss.
Even according to the intelligence they received, even if most of the base's defensive forces had been dispatched, it shouldn't have been to this extent.
However, before these Na'vi could think further, the cheers from the nearby Ocean Clan, Wind Clan, Ash Clan, and other tribes interrupted their thoughts. These newly joined tribes had not truly experienced the terror of the Sky People; they simply believed that they had truly achieved victory and driven out the arrogant Sky People.
"The first phase of the mission is complete, but I wonder when the subsequent absolute strike will come."
Unlike the celebrating Na'vi below, Isaac was still riding on the back of his Leonopteryx, looking up at the sky.
After a while, Isaac slowly descended and arrived at the base's command tower.
He still had to play the role of "leader" for a while longer.
"The Sky People still have many armed forces scattered across the planet. We must quickly collect the various weapons and equipment here to arm ourselves, and then defeat them one by one."
Isaac said to the other tribal leaders in a serious and unquestionable tone.
Having just led his troops to a "victory," he indeed had the confidence to do so.
Considering that Isaac's words were indeed very reasonable, the leaders of several tribes no longer argued about whether using the Sky People's weapons violated tradition.
Large numbers of Na'vi warriors, in cooperation with some Pandora beasts, began to transport various weapons, equipment, and other supplies from within the base.
And curiously began to try out the weapons, which were considered high-tech to them.
"We cannot stay here long; the Sky People will soon return."
Isaac organized a small post-battle meeting.
"Hmph, then let those Sky People come and see how powerful we are."
A slightly overconfident Ash Clan Na'vi clearly had his self-esteem boosted.
Isaac was about to retort when a familiar sensation swept through his entire body.
That was the aura of the god seal and the Blood Moon.
With the arrival of the Blood Moon, even the originally azure sky began to turn crimson.
That absolute pressure from a higher life-form once again descended upon every Na'vi in Hell's Gate Base.
Fear is the most primitive and instinctive emotion in living beings.
And now, all the Na'vi in the allied forces felt an unprecedented fear firsthand.
It was as if they were in the boundless deep sea, and in that profound darkness, some colossal entity had already set its sights on them.
"Heavens, up there!"
Finally, a Na'vi warrior with stronger willpower trembled, looked up, and saw the truly sky-obscuring Blood Moon.
The countless twisted flesh on it caused all Na'vi who witnessed the true face of the Blood Moon to rapidly lose their sanity.
Merely by its arrival, the Blood Moon had already caused the Na'vi allied forces, who had just won a "victory" and were full of arrogance, to completely collapse.
The instinct of fear made them not even dare to harbor the slightest thought of resistance.
"Run!"
Some Na'vi warriors who still retained their sanity shouted loudly, trying to awaken their tribesmen who had already lost their minds.
But it was ultimately futile.
On a tentacle of the Blood Moon, Marcus and Wesker overlooked everything below.
Beside the Blood Moon, a large number of ICA orbital drop pods were rapidly falling.
Numerous powered exoskeleton mechs and various war machines poured out, quickly taking control of the scene.
The Na'vi who still had their sanity and attempted to escape were hit by tranquilizer guns and fell into a coma.
"It's your turn to make an appearance."
Marcus looked at Wesker beside him and said indifferently.
Wesker leaped down from the Blood Moon, then used Psionics to lift himself, slowly descending in front of Isaac, who was atop the command tower.
Isaac himself was not among the targets selected for suppression by the Blood Moon, so he could still move freely and was unaffected.
At the same time, Marcus controlled the Blood Moon to slightly ease its suppression on the Na'vi.
"I didn't expect that you, a traitor, would become the leader of these natives."
Wesker, wearing a breathing mask, recited the pre-prepared lines expressionlessly.
After a brief silence, Isaac spoke.
"What will it take for you to spare them?"
"Spare them? Haha, you should know that the Blood Moon has many other functions."
Saying this, the Blood Moon immediately mind-controlled some Na'vi warriors with weaker wills.
A crimson glow appeared in the eyes of these controlled individuals, and like manipulated puppets, they struck various twisted poses.
"The art style feels a bit strange, like an NTR scene involving Pandora."
Marcus, standing on a tentacle of the Blood Moon, secretly complained internally.
Below, Wesker and Isaac continued to recite their pre-prepared lines.
As the "leader" of the Na'vi, Isaac's task was to try his best to secure more rights for the Na'vi who had already lost all ability to resist.
And Wesker's role was to make appropriate compromises and concessions.
"It's not impossible to spare these natives."
Wesker's current image was very much like that of an evil supervillain.
At least, that's how it appeared in the eyes of the Na'vi.
"You, and the other two traitors, must face judgment."
"As long as the Union can guarantee their basic rights, I am willing to accept judgment."
Isaac showed a heroic expression of self-sacrifice.
As expected, all the Na'vi below looked indignant.
They felt immense anger at their leader's sacrifice, yet their bodies were unable to move.
A perfect image of a wronged party.
Although Isaac had not been in the position of leader of the Na'vi allied forces for very long.
However, all Na'vi, from the most basic soldiers to the leaders of various tribes, held Isaac in great respect for leading them to many victories.
"Good, I guarantee you, in the name of the Union, that these Na'vi natives' basic rights will be ensured, but on the condition that these Na'vi natives join the Union and serve the Union."
"This is impossible! You have already damaged Pandora's environment, and now you want to interfere with the autonomous development of primitive civilizations?"
Isaac feigned opposition, vehemently objecting.
"You seem to be mistaken about the current situation, traitor. You, and these Na'vi natives of yours, now have only two choices."
Wesker's eyes were cold, clearly a genuine expression of emotion.
He felt he had already spent too much time on the plan to subdue the Na'vi.
"Either accept these terms and become one of the Union's subordinate forces, or all of you become the Blood Moon's food. The Union would then have a batch of laborers instead of a group of burdens."
Wesker completely disregarded the almost erupting anger in the eyes of the Na'vi below.
"I need to talk to them."
Isaac said with some difficulty.
After receiving Wesker's permission, Isaac leaped down from the command tower and approached several tribal leaders whose suppression had been temporarily lifted.
"I am very sorry, I did not expect the Sky People to bring such a super-large-scale weapon of mass destruction as the Blood Moon."
Isaac said apologetically.
His acting skills now were enough to make even an Oscar-winning actor feel inferior.
"What exactly is that?"
The leaders of the various tribes all looked up at the Blood Moon in the sky with reverence.
"The Blood Moon, you don't need to know the specific principles, but it alone is enough to wipe out all life on Pandora, not to mention the soldiers who have already come as reinforcements."
Isaac did not elaborate on the Blood Moon but immediately focused on Wesker's proposal.
"To keep everyone alive, we can only accept the proposal."
Isaac said in a deep voice.
"No! Let's just fight those Sky People!"
The hot-tempered leader of the Gray Clan raised an objection.
The remaining Ocean Clan and Wind Clan leaders remained silent.
"Resistance will turn everyone into puppets, making life worse than death. Compliance will preserve basic rights, and only by living on is there hope."
Isaac said earnestly with an extremely sincere tone.
"Hoo—"
After a long sigh, the leaders of the Ocean Clan and Wind Clan made their decision.
They decided to accept Wesker's proposal.
With a three-to-one ratio, the resolution passed.
But a leader is, after all, just a leader and cannot represent the opinions of all Na'vi in the tribe.
Some Na'vi warriors still harbored a desire to resist.
At this point, it was time for the Holy Mother "Pandora" to make her appearance.
A large number of Sacred Tree seeds, like jellyfish, drifted with the wind, landing on every Na'vi present.
These seeds carried the will of the Holy Mother "Pandora."
The will for the Na'vi to choose to accept the terms and join the Union.
All Na'vi were in shock, especially the tribal shamans.
This was the first time they had so clearly felt the will of the Holy Mother "Pandora."
And it appeared in such a situation.
Under the will of the deity they worshipped, even those Na'vi who harbored the most hatred for the Sky People fell into confusion.
Ultimately, they could only lower their proud heads and choose to comply.