Chapter 1 A Little Worse Than Before

"...Because we don't want to leave things in a worse state than we found them. We only killed three natives guarding the site, but at least one escaped and told the others outside what happened. If we had simply mined the ore and left without incident, that would have been fine. But after what happened with Lier and Yu Ze, I'm afraid it would have been difficult to leave."

Reef thought for a moment, then snapped the branch he was holding, took a deep breath, and said:

"You're right, that must be it! Remember that Na'vi native who charged in at the end to die? When he was riddled with holes by the a exoskeleton system controlled by Mark Gee, I noticed that he was only carrying a bone dagger and no bow and arrows! But before, the a exoskeleton system was clearly hit by three arrows!"

"This means two possibilities. The first is that this Na'vi native is only good at close combat, and there is another archer lurking in the shadows. But for the Na'vi, who are all archers like elves, this is almost impossible.

"Another possibility is that this Na'vi native gave his bow and arrows to someone else before charging out... Even in ancient human societies, weapons were symbols of inheritance, like heirlooms."

"Hmm, like a knight's sword from some century?" Fang Senyan suddenly smiled. "Was it awarded by Henry or Charles to some noble knight as an honor?"

"Hey, I don't like the expression on your face when you say that!" Reef said irritably.

"So now we can speculate that the native who tried to fight in close combat gave his bow to his child, and then charged out. The child obviously didn't have the ability to use this primitive weapon, so he escaped and went to find his tribe, telling them everything that happened here."

Mogan Sha's heart moved:

"Then what are they waiting for?"

Fang Senyan said seriously:

"Every Na'vi is an excellent hunter, and the biggest advantage of a hunter is patience. I have reason to believe that after receiving the warning from their tribesman, they must be lying in wait in the most suitable place to ambush us. If we force our way back to the spaceship through the thunder, rain, and darkness, I'm afraid we'll have to fight these guys who are good at night vision in this damn jungle..."

Reef heard Fang Senyan's analysis and immediately thought of the two-meter-long terrifying poisonous arrows that shot like thunder and lightning, and couldn't help but say:

"To be honest, I'm not confident that I can survive fighting in this place, at this time, and against these enemies. But if we stay here, we'll turn passivity into initiative. If they want to attack us, they'll have to attack this tree hole and fight us in close combat, but..."

Reef suddenly frowned:

"If these guys are all very patient, then they'll be lying in wait outside and starve us to death here. And they might call for reinforcements!"

To be honest, this problem was also one of the difficulties Fang Senyan had been considering. If there was a Na'vi native outside, shooting two-meter-long poisonous arrows straight at them, even the a exoskeleton system's bulletproof glass would immediately shatter, and these guys' intelligence was definitely no less than humans. They definitely knew the principle of "it's better to break one finger than hurt ten," and knew to focus their fire! Reef probably couldn't withstand two rounds of concentrated fire! Hiding here was not life-threatening, and they had plenty of food and water, but were they just going to hide here until the end of the world? How unwilling he was!

At this time, the black brother licked his thick lips, but smiled honestly, with a bit of gold mine-like wretchedness in his laughter:

"I have a way."

Fang Senyan asked curiously:

"Tell me about it."

Mogan Sha said:

"This place is a broken tree hole for us, but it's their home for these Na'vi natives... I think we don't need to rush at all. The Na'vi natives should be the ones who are anxious. We just need to light a fire, symbolically demolish it, and guarantee that they will rush in as if their butts are on fire!"

"Or look for any idols they have? If that doesn't work, start with their sacred tree. I think Reef's lightsaber is pretty fast at cutting trees. Boss, you use a little strength to chop firewood, it should be no problem, right...? You don't have to cut it down, just make a gesture, and these guys are guaranteed to jump in with their butts on fire. But let's wait until the rain stops and it's light. Now there's thunder and lightning and flash floods outside. Even if we solve them, we can't leave. Let them drink a bellyful of wind in the jungle outside."

Fang Senyan and Reef looked at each other and laughed loudly:

"Okay, let's do it that way."

But Reef suddenly slapped his thigh and shouted "Damn it." Seeing his frustrated look, Fang Senyan and Mogan Sha's hearts tightened at the same time, but they heard Reef say:

"We agreed with Zi that we have to go on duty tonight to guard the core engine of the crashed spaceship. Let's do it now! We have to rush back overnight. I never want to break my promise. Hey hey hey! Why are you two lying down pretending to sleep?"

……………

In the dark night, several slender blue figures leaped through the mountains and forests, as mysterious and swift as phantoms of the night. From time to time, lightning flashed in fright across the sky, and the wind and rain were still strong. From time to time, sharp and shrill screams were heard in the forest. That was the sound of a beast of prey succeeding in its hunt.

Under the snow-bright lightning that occasionally scanned across the sky, the lead-gray swirling clouds could be vaguely seen pressing down on the ground, so the distance between the sky and the earth seemed very close, giving people an extra sense of low depression. For a moment, people would have a subtle illusion that only they existed in the vast world, thus setting off a particularly cold and tense atmosphere.

In the distance, you could see the "Giant Crown" Home Tree. As soon as Ya Keli saw this giant tree that had begun to slowly wither, he couldn't help but think of its former glory. Even the vast and long-lived Home Tree would have a day of fall.

After the vitality of all the Home Trees was exhausted, they did not wither, but gradually degenerated, slowly becoming shorter and smaller in a few decades, and finally degenerating back into saplings, seeds, and finally disappearing!

For the Home Tree's long lifespan of up to ten thousand years, a few decades of degeneration was nothing. Looking at the "Giant Crown" Home Tree, which had already appeared in the darkness, Ya Keli, who had not been here for nearly ten years, couldn't help but sigh in his heart:

"This mother has become at least twenty meters shorter again. I really miss her former glory. When she had not yet exhausted her vitality, the "Illinois" tribe that originally lived here even exceeded three hundred people, and even had powerful Banshee Riders. They were the pride of our Ya Nuo De area! It's a pity that terrible plague..." And that ruthless invasion. Although the later Qi Wa Tai Qin tribe took the opportunity to annex the Illinois tribe, they have now withered to the point that even the Home Tree has been occupied by that group of outsiders, and they are even unable to recover it. They can only ask our Ta Qi tribe for help..."

Several subtle insect chirps were heard from the distant dense forest. It was the Na'vi's secret code for communication. Ya Keli led three warriors of the tribe and quickly ran over to join the five remaining adult hunters of the Qi Wa Tai Qin tribe.

These barbaric Na'vi tribes were in a state of extreme anxiety because their homes had been occupied, far more anxious than Fang Senyan and the others had imagined. They quickly decided on a plan of action, which, to put it bluntly, was to swarm forward... It is worth mentioning that the remaining Na'vi of the Qi Wa Tai Qin tribe had obviously suffered from the Earthlings, and repeatedly emphasized that their "bows and arrows" were very strange and powerful, and that they must fight them in close combat!

Five minutes later, eight fully armed Na'vi people began to quietly approach the Home Tree shrouded in darkness. Their eyes were very special. The entire eyeball was like a clear water droplet, and the pupils, which could freely contract and expand, were like yellow-green gems. They were greatly enlarged at night and could capture any subtle light.

But even though these powerful guys had night vision, the people inside were hiding quite well, and they couldn't see any trace of these guys from the outside. Just as they began to approach the Home Tree in the wind and rain, suddenly, a tongue of fire spewed out from the tree hole. It was the "tat tat ou" burst of gunfire!

The timing and position of this attack were excellent. It was precisely stuck at the point where these Na'vi felt that retreating would be too disadvantageous, but advancing felt that the distance was still quite far.

Although Fang Senyan and the others did not have any night vision ability, Fang Senyan's perception was close to the edge point. If they were approached by the Na'vi within a few dozen meters without noticing, then his perception would be useless. When he saw these guys not holding bows and arrows but holding daggers made of beast teeth and trying to sneak in, and then thought of the head hanging above the fire pit, he immediately analyzed that these Na'vi natives must have regarded them as ordinary Earthlings who were weak in close combat... So he immediately warned his companions.

But then again, the three of them were shrinking in the spacious tree hole under the Home Tree, like a hall. The Na'vi were archers, not Amazonian warriors. They probably hadn't mastered advanced arrow techniques such as homing arrows that could turn back halfway, so even if they wanted to exert the advantages of their tribe's long-range firepower, they couldn't.