Chapter 184: A Plot! Reshaping Pandora's "Heaven's Will"!
"Whoo-whoo!"
"Roar-roar…!"
After Eytukan finished his stirring, blood-pumping war mobilization speech, the Na'vi gathered beneath the Tree of Souls erupted in an uproar of emotions.
The calamities brought by the flames of war and their unyielding desire to defend their homeland intertwined in their hearts, forming a shared bond among the tribespeople.
Emulating their chieftain, Eytukan, they let out resounding roars of anger toward the sacred tree, expressing their rage through synchronized movements, channeling their inner turmoil.
"Revenge!"
"Revenge!!"
However, just as the Na'vi were caught up in their fervent yet inefficient ritual of preparation for war, dozens of hidden drones around the Tree of Souls were silently capturing their every move.
These drones, invisible to the naked eye, utilized optical camouflage that mimicked their surroundings to achieve near-perfect stealth.
In fact, similar scenarios of drones observing and monitoring Na'vi activities were occurring across Pandora. Under the comprehensive surveillance network deployed by the corporate fleet, these drones hovered like spectral spies around every Tree of Souls.
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High Orbit, Pandora
Above Pandora's atmosphere, aboard the flagship of the corporate fleet, the command center was a hive of focused activity. Hundreds of workers remained stationed at their respective terminals, meticulously gathering, analyzing, and compiling the Infinity flow of data streaming in from the planet's surface.
In the central hub of the command center, Li Ang stood with unwavering focus despite hours of issuing commands. Thanks to the system that granted him boundless energy and vitality, fatigue was a distant concern.
He scrutinized a highly detailed holographic map of Pandora's surface. Resembling a miniature sandbox, this map displayed every element with precise proportions and adjustable detail, alongside annotations and live data feeds.
[1086/High-Risk Creature/Black-Armored Panther]
[1131/Common Creature/Striped Ox]
[1478/Airborne/High-Risk Creature/Striped Wyvern]
The map also provided multi-angle, real-time views of key locations, including the Trees of Souls and the mobilization rituals occurring at various Na'vi settlements.
---
"Pandora has far more Trees of Souls than I anticipated," Li Ang mused with a faint smile, observing the continuous reports from aerial units marking each sacred site.
Each Tree of Souls served as a vital center for Na'vi survival and reproduction. On average, about 800 Na'vi resided near each tree. With over 2,000 Trees of Souls confirmed so far, this meant at least 1.6 million Na'vi stood between the corporate forces and their goals.
"Boss, should we deploy more ground forces from the fleet to bolster our operations?" Morgan Blackhand cautiously inquired, noting Li Ang 's contemplative expression.
The interstellar colonization war led by the LA Corporation boasted 8 million human soldiers, with the majority being clones or replicants. If pushed to full mobilization, their total manpower, including automated combat units, could exceed 20 million.
"No, that's unnecessary," Li Ang replied, dismissing the suggestion.
The current deployed forces amounted to just 5% of the LA Alliance's total resources, yet even this fraction was sufficient to ensure victory in the colonization war. Li Ang 's methodical, probing approach was not born of hesitation but a calculated effort to study "Eywa's" reactions.
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Unveiling the True Enemy
"Boss, our ground forces are encountering increasing resistance, and progress is slowing. Are you sure this is part of the plan?" Morgan Blackhand questioned, glancing between the battle reports and Li Ang 's calm demeanor.
Li Ang , known for his decisive tactics back on Earth, now seemed almost restrained. This stark contrast left Morgan puzzled.
"Our enemy isn't the Na'vi on the ground," Li Ang said, his tone measured. "They're merely pawns, driven to fight for survival. The real enemy is Eywa—Pandora's so-called deity."
As Li Ang revealed the truth, Morgan's expression shifted to shock. The real adversary was not the Na'vi tribes but the planetary consciousness itself—Eywa.
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A New Strategy
"Eywa is manipulating the Na'vi through the neural network of the Trees of Souls, guiding them to resist us," Li Ang explained, placing a firm hand on Morgan's shoulder. "But our goal isn't to fight a drawn-out war against mindless pawns. Precision, efficiency, and clean execution—that's the LA way."
Morgan pondered this revelation, realizing the implications. If Eywa could control the Na'vi, could it also direct Pandora's wildlife or even trigger environmental catastrophes to repel the invaders?
The idea of unseen dangers, from toxic flora to ancient pathogens, made Morgan shudder. Perhaps this was why Pandora, despite hosting a seemingly primitive civilization, had resisted colonization for eons.
Li Ang , noticing Morgan's unease, smiled faintly. "Relax, Morgan. Every war is a game of adaptation. And in this game, we've already set the rules."
But it must be admitted that all the speculations Morgan imagined had also crossed Li Ang 's mind in his many considerations.
Although some of these speculations were a bit exaggerated, even bordering on the absurd and completely contrary to the details portrayed in the original movie, the Pandora planet Li Ang was on was not entirely the same as the one depicted in the original story. Who could guarantee that these speculative scenarios wouldn't occur?
Therefore, making the worst assumptions and preparing contingency plans in advance was far better than foolishly sticking to the plotline of the original work.
"Morgan, your speculations aren't entirely baseless, but for such extreme, catastrophic scenarios to occur, it's still unlikely for now," Li Ang remarked.
First, he praised Morgan for his imaginative and detailed theories, then supplemented them with some critical information about "Eywa."
Based on Eywa's demonstrated abilities in the original movie and the current situation with the ground troops, it seemed that Eywa excelled primarily in the realm of consciousness manipulation—perhaps even extending to controlling the minds of alien life forms.
However, the notion of her releasing some kind of ancient virus, microbial bacteria, or similar pathogens was a bit far-fetched.
For Eywa, the most crucial thing was expanding her consciousness network by assimilating the minds of Pandora's creatures.
This meant that if human forces invaded or encroached too deeply into the territory of the sacred trees, disrupting Eywa's ability to "feed," a full-scale conflict might indeed ensue.
The instinct to seek benefits and avoid harm is embedded in the genetic nature of all life forms; it is not subject to individual will.
Eywa's top priority for survival was to consume more consciousness entities!
For now, Eywa had only mobilized the native Na'vi people through the sacred trees to engage in minor skirmishes with the human soldiers—a move that appeared to be more of a tentative probe than a decisive action.
The scale and intensity of the conflict between the two sides were far from reaching a life-or-death battle, let alone a critical moment where all cards would be laid on the table.
"So, is our next objective to fully occupy all the sacred tree territories on Pandora?"
"Or should we send a single elite advance team to test the waters and attempt to connect the Matrix to the sacred tree?" Morgan asked, suddenly enlightened.
After Li Ang 's thorough explanation, Morgan finally understood what they had been working towards all this time.
No wonder Li Ang had ordered the ground forces to conduct such detailed and comprehensive explorations of the sacred trees on Pandora.
It turned out they intended to hack into the so-called "Eywa," a super planetary database, and pull its natural AI into the Matrix!
Moreover, to ensure there were no significant differences among the Na'vi tribes' sacred trees, Li Ang had sent teams to conduct meticulous observations of each one to check for any distinctive features.
Because they only had one shot at using the Matrix to capture Eywa, Li Ang had to ensure a 100% success rate.
If one of the sacred trees turned out to have a weak connection to Eywa's main server and Eywa detected the Matrix program before it reached its destination, things could get troublesome.
After all, Li Ang could only guarantee that the Matrix in his possession could pull Eywa out of Pandora's consciousness network and integrate her into the electric grid.
But he couldn't rule out the possibility that Eywa might have other means of Eywading the Matrix's capture.
To ensure everything went perfectly, Li Ang ordered the aerial units to conduct large-scale surveillance and observation of each sacred tree.
From the results so far, the sacred trees on Pandora didn't show any significant variations.
This meant that no matter which sacred tree Li Ang chose to connect the Matrix to and directly access the depths of Pandora's Eywa, success was highly likely.
"The time has come. The army marches today!"
After making his final decision, Li Ang immediately ordered Morgan to proceed with their advance.
He instructed the Iron Hands Astartes Legion's advance team, led by V, to take the Matrix device to the sacred tree of the Etukan tribe and connect it to the tree's roots.
To avoid alerting Eywa, Li Ang also deployed several other units as decoys, launching attacks on other resource areas, such as the floating stone region, plant sanctuaries, and animal territories.
This was to obscure their true intentions and prevent Eywa from noticing their plan.
"Yes, sir!"
Upon receiving Li Ang 's definitive command, Morgan promptly relayed the crucial assassination mission to V and his team.
When the Iron Hands Astartes soldiers learned that their next task wasn't to confront the enemy's main forces but simply to occupy a sacred tree, their reaction was somewhat underwhelming.
"Is that it? There's no thrill in this! Completely ruins the joy of crushing a primitive civilization!"
Jack Wells laughed heartily, patting his bear-like chest and joking with the soldiers around him.
"Jack, quit complaining. Every time we get leave, you're the first to bolt back to see Misty," Johnny Silverhand retorted, exposing Jack's habits without hesitation.
"Pfft! Like you're any better," Jack countered. "Flirting with girls at clubs when you've got Alt Cunningham? That's some nerve."
Johnny: "..."
The tense atmosphere among the Astartes Legion dissipated with their playful banter.
Still, work was work. After receiving Li Ang 's orders, V promptly responded on behalf of the Astartes with unwavering resolve: "Understood!"
Aboard the Infinity Fleet, Li Ang smiled with satisfaction upon hearing V's confident reply.
He trusted his people the most. Handing this pivotal assassination mission to any other unit wouldn't have given him the same confidence. But with V in charge, success was assured!
"Boss, if Eywa does get pulled into our servers through the Matrix, won't the planet experience some kind of catastrophic upheaval? Or could it lead to unimaginable turmoil?"
At that moment, Song Zhaomei, who managed the Matrix's daily operations, couldn't help but voice her concerns to Li Ang .
"Moreover...what should we do with the native Na'vi? Should we use them for biological research or integrate them all into the Matrix for energy production?"
Although Song Zhaomei thought the LA Corporation's actions on Pandora bore some resemblance to the events in 17th- to 19th-century North America, she didn't see much of a problem with it.
After all, in interstellar civilization struggles, survival often hinged on the whims of the dominant civilization.
In other words, "Your destruction is none of my concern."
Lower civilizations had no bargaining power. The moral framework that appeared so noble yet was fundamentally fragile held no weight in the cold void of space.
From the perspective of brutal game theory, leaving the chance to pull the trigger to another civilization was a luxury long buried in the annals of time.
Now, Song Zhaomei's primary concern was whether the loss of Eywa—a macro-systemic lifeform—would cause unpredictable destruction on Pandora, such as earthquakes or other natural disasters.
Indeed, her concerns weren't unfounded, and they were something Li Ang had carefully considered before.
But now, Li Ang had fully grasped the essence of Eywa.
"Eywa is merely a collective consciousness lifeform that Pandora happened to develop. Even if one Eywa disappears, another will eventually emerge!"
Li Ang 's groundbreaking theory redefined Eywa, the once-revered deity of Pandora, as nothing more than a coincidental byproduct of consciousness life.
And this was indeed the truth behind Eywa's origin!
Eywa and Pandora shared a symbiotic relationship.
Eywa needed the life-consciousness of Pandora's creatures to expand her network of collective consciousness, while Pandora required Eywa's unique existence to guard against alien invaders.
Debating which depended more on the other was unnecessary—life's continuity has never depended on a single entity.
As long as Pandora's sacred trees endured, as long as the Na'vi continued their traditions of uploading the consciousness of their deceased, and as long as the pathways for uploading life-consciousness persisted, the deity Eywa—however vanished—would eventually return!
"So... Eywa could essentially be mass-produced like AI on Pandora?"
Li Ang 's theory sent shivers down Song Zhaomei's spine as she began to grasp his ultimate goal.
Capturing Eywa and controlling the Na'vi to serve their purposes wasn't the endgame. This was clearly a plan to cultivate a second Matrix generator!
"Song, you're catching on quickly."
Seeing that Song Zhaomei had pieced together his intentions, Li Ang decided to reveal the rest of his plan.
Yes, by controlling the sacred trees, Pandora, Eywa, and the Na'vi's customs, they could Infinitely produce collective consciousness lifeforms like Eywa.
This was all part of Li Ang 's grand design!
In fact, when the Infinity Fleet of the LA Corporation first arrived on Pandora, Li Ang had already said something to his team:
"Pandora itself is a natural Matrix server, and Eywa is just one of its programs!"
Unfortunately, apart from Li Ang , no one else realized the immense feasibility of this developmental path. Everyone else merely saw Li Ang as a destructive tyrant bent on destruction.
But in truth, extracting Pandora's floating stone resources was only the surface of his plan.
Reshaping Pandora's natural order was the real objective of Li Ang 's grand ultimate planning.
"This...!"
After finally understanding Li Ang 's ultimate vision, Song Zhaomei suddenly recalled how Li Ang would often spend long periods contemplating in front of the control console.
At first, she thought Li Ang was just as anxious as the rest of them, worried about making a wrong move that would jeopardize the ground forces.
But in reality, this high-dimensional strategist had already envisioned hundreds of moves ahead from that single initial step.
"Now that's what you call true foresight!"
Realizing Li Ang 's profound strategic thinking, even Song Zhaomei, the former top strategist of the Central Intelligence Bureau, couldn't help but feel awe and admiration.
No wonder people like V, Morgan, Alt Cunningham, and countless others were so loyal to Li Ang and the LA Corporation.
With such an all-knowing and all-capable leader, no matter what they did, they could achieve maximum efficiency and the greatest possible benefits.
Given the choice between eating scraps and feasting, who wouldn't choose the latter?
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