Chapter 1 Stepping into the Pandora Jungle

Traveling through the primeval forests of Pandora is nothing like the picturesque scenes suggest. While Pandora's scenery is indeed stunning, with uniquely shaped leaves displaying vibrant yellow, red, purple, and blue patterns that are a feast for the eyes.

In nature, however, bright colors often signify danger and serve as warnings. Several curious Contractors had already been stung by the hidden dangers lurking beneath the beauty, suffering from troublesome after-effects like incessant bleeding, poisoning, and festering wounds. Had it not been for their resilience as Contractors, they would have been carried off on stretchers long ago.

There was hardly any wind in the primeval forest, and after the torrential rainstorm from the previous day, the sun now beat down, causing a humid, sweltering heat that drenched everyone in sweat.

To make matters worse, Pandora's air was toxic, forcing them to wear oxygen masks, which made even taking a deep breath feel suffocating.

At this point, Akafil could demonstrate his powerful resistance. He triumphantly took off his mask and walked ahead, smoking a cigar, only putting the mask back on to take a breath every five or six minutes. Zesen Yan suddenly realized that he would be the perfect match to deal with that Stallo from before. However, Akafil's weak attack power was far too insignificant, and facing that terrifying ice barrier would also be a major problem.

Even for powerful Contractors, their speed was greatly affected in this dense forest. After an hour, they had only traveled less than twenty kilometers. Fortunately, a breeze wafted from ahead, and the dense forest gave way to open space. They could hear the sound of flowing water, and their noses were filled with a floral fragrance. Emerging from the forest, they found themselves on a riverbank covered in blooming flowers.

These flowers resembled bird-of-paradise flowers from Earth, reaching a meter in height. The leaves were large, curled like lotus leaves, and the flowers were trumpet-shaped, with deep green leaves and goose-yellow petals, along with calyxes resembling delicate fingertips, making them pleasing to the eye. The air was filled with a rich, refreshing sweetness, and even with the oxygen masks filtering the air, it was invigorating.

Among the flowers were large, flat rocks that had been dried by the sun after the previous day's rain, making them perfect for sitting or lying down. The river water beside them was crystal clear, and a cool breeze blew intermittently. The order came to rest on the spot, and many Contractors immediately sat down, feeling that the command was truly welcome.

Fang Senyan then saw Yuan Zhan bend down decisively, grab a bird-of-paradise flower, tilt it towards his mouth, and make a pouring motion, with an expression of great enjoyment on his face.

Fang Senyan knew that these outstanding summoners were almost all biologists or at least biology graduate students in the real world. So he followed suit, plucked a flower, and immediately discovered that there was a fragrant nectar inside. Though only a small drop trickled into his throat, it combined the coolness of mint with an invigorating sweetness that dispelled much of the heat from the journey.

Since Fang Senyan had tasted the sweetness, he wouldn't be polite. He drank the nectar from seven or eight flowers in a row. Where there were flowers, there were naturally bees. Because of Pandora's low gravity, plants and animals were generally larger than on Earth, and even some bees were similarly amplified in size.

The most obvious of these was a fiery red bee, almost the size of a small swallow. It was like a bully, and whenever it stayed on a flower, it would aggressively drive away other butterflies and bees, biting and stinging fiercely. Fang Senyan personally saw a palm-sized, gorgeous butterfly bitten by this fire bee, its wings torn to shreds, and it died not far after flying away.

Undoubtedly, Fang Senyan's atrocious flower-picking behavior angered a fire bee. It buzzed like a bomber, diving towards Fang Senyan, seemingly wanting to teach this flower thief a lesson. But Fang Senyan was no pushover. He flicked his finger casually, but the thing nimbly dodged and angrily circled back in a wide arc.

Looking at its menacing appearance, Fang Senyan actually felt a trace of threat. He slapped it away, sending it crashing into a rock behind him, where it spun around on the ground, dazed.

At this moment, Yuan Zhan happened to turn around, and after taking a look, he said in surprise, "Isn't this a Hellfire Bee? These guys have precise positioning systems. They can detect the pheromones of nearby creatures through their olfactory organs. It is said that some Earth technologies in this world have borrowed from its positioning system. Its flight is also very agile. How did you manage to get it?"

As Yuan Zhan spoke, he came forward to grab the Hellfire Bee. Its appearance was similar to a wasp, but it was quite large. Yuan Zhan decisively tore off its head, wings, and six long legs, and then smiled, "Of course, in my opinion, the most important use of Hellfire Bees is to eat them. I have to thank you for stunning this guy. To be honest, these guys are very agile, and I can't catch them."

As he spoke, he threw the unlucky creature directly into his mouth, and the sound of chewing its exoskeleton could even be heard. Then, like spitting out melon seeds, he spat it out. Faced with such a fierce act, Fang Senyan was stunned and couldn't help but say, "Aren't you afraid of being poisoned?"

Yuan Zhan revealed a intoxicated expression, saying, "These guys don't have venom glands or stingers. For them, sharp mouthparts and extraordinary brute force are enough to run rampant."

Fang Senyan was not one to suffer losses. Seeing Yuan Zhan eating with relish, he immediately searched around. These Hellfire Bees were different from other bees, seemingly preferring to act alone and demarcate their territory, not allowing other creatures to invade. So it took some effort. After finally finding a Hellfire Bee, Fang Senyan chased after it. Just as he was about to catch it, he suddenly felt uneven ground under his feet and almost fell.

Fortunately, Fang Senyan had good balance and reacted instantly. He supported himself with his hand and did a somersault, managing to avoid embarrassment. Finally, he caught the unlucky fire bee and, following Yuan Zhan's example, boldly threw the insect into his mouth. Who knew that with one chew, he heard a cracking sound as the exoskeleton broke. The Hellfire Bee's large, fat abdomen immediately burst with liquid, which was a very fragrant nectar.

The muscles inside the fire bee were delicious and chewy, like the meat on a chicken drumstick, with a slightly elastic feeling when bitten into, completely devoid of the fishy or foul taste Fang Senyan had expected. If he had to compare it to something, it would be the feeling of biting into the claw of a large sea crab.

At this moment, Fang Senyan remembered the strange unevenness on the ground earlier, so while chewing on the Hellfire Bee in his mouth, he went over to see what was going on. After parting the dense grass, he immediately discovered that the uneven pits were actually a dozen huge hoof prints, and these hoof prints looked familiar. They should have been left by those huge armored horses.

Fang Senyan's heart stirred, and he immediately asked Mogansha and Reef to investigate nearby. They soon discovered a large number of hoof prints appearing in this flower sea. Their actions did not escape the eyes of the others, and everyone who could survive here was a clever person. Gradually, their discoveries increased. Yuan Zhan first estimated that the herd of horses here was at least three hundred strong, while a normal herd of armored horses would not exceed a hundred.

Secondly, under the roots of these bird-of-paradise flowers, there were traces of freshly dug soil. Turning it over, they could see buried animal corpses, which were obviously artificially planted.

Combining these two factors, it could be basically inferred that this "riverbank,"

Accurately speaking, it should be called a "flower field," and was artificially cultivated by some intelligent beings to raise armored horses. If eating grass was the staple food of armored horses, then sucking nectar was their entertainment and seasoning. And these intelligent beings who raised armored horses were very likely to be Na'vi. Judging from the size of this herd of horses, this Na'vi tribe most likely had a well-established cavalry of more than two hundred people!

At the thought of this, all the Contractors dared not stay any longer. The Na'vi were fine, and the armored horses were not strong, but the combination of the two was a complement of speed and archery skills. To put it bluntly, it was mounted archery, the ultimate skill that Genghis Khan used to sweep across Eurasia! To start a war with such a large-scale tribe of Na'vi without preparation was obviously an extremely irrational thing.

Next, the group naturally did not dare to linger. The Illuminati began to take out the prepared inflatable rafts, and then drifted down the river. Those who had not prepared could only make their own rafts.

The river water was crystal clear along the way, and they could occasionally see strangely shaped fish swimming in the river. The vanguard would also startle a large number of purple stingbats from time to time, which looked like purple clouds scattering.

The rafting lasted for less than half an hour, and in the distance, they could see thick, gray smoke rising into the sky, sketching out an ugly stroke in the sky, which was completely out of place with Pandora's clear, white sky and clouds.

Those who witnessed this scene immediately understood that their destination was ahead.