Chapter 1 The approach

As they drew closer, they could see the dense array of chimneys in the distance, spewing out smoke with abandon, the tops occasionally flashing with red flames. The hundreds of plumes of smoke converged, forming a gray serpent that twisted and writhed across the sky.

Without a doubt, this spectacle, typical of 18th-century British heavy industrial pollution, marked the location of Hell's Gate base. Extracting Pandora crystals from the ore involved a series of incredibly complex processes. With this iconic landmark, the group didn't have to worry about getting lost. They quickly followed the deafening roar of mechanical engines and came across a massive, grass-green machine, at least a hundred meters tall, working in a mine.

This was the largest excavation machine ever invented by mankind: the bucket-wheel excavator (Bagger).

It had a giant, toothed wheel, two kilometers long and twenty meters high, that gripped the rock face like it was chewing on it. It could easily crush plants, wood, and even rock. From a distance, it looked like a small, mountain-sized mechanical beast slowly moving. Behind it was a deep trench, fifty meters deep and a hundred meters wide.

Alongside the discharge outlet of this grass-green mechanical behemoth was a long line of gigantic, camouflage-colored Hell trucks. The backs of these trucks were entirely made up of enormous, open-air compartments for carrying the initial processed Pandora ore, appearing sturdy and durable. The driver's cab was compressed into a space the size of a telephone booth on the left and right sides of the front.

Although they seemed small compared to the bucket-wheel excavator, getting closer to these giant trucks revealed that their solid, massive wheels were as tall as two adults. This ensured they could easily traverse Pandora's thick jungle undergrowth and rocky terrain, resisting the threats of Pandora's various creatures. Scattered arrows, some two meters long, embedded in the tires attested to their reliability.

A closer look revealed that even the Hell trucks lacked armor capable of withstanding small arms fire. Larger and sharper objects or heavy firepower could likely penetrate their armor.

This suggested that, at least for now, the Omatikaya Na'vi were still relatively civilized. It seemed their means of protest was limited to shooting a few arrows at the tires, rather than aiming at the occupants of the driver's cabs.

Mogansha, the black guy, was quite sociable. As the group walked onto the earth and stone road built for the Hell trucks, he spotted a Hell truck rumbling past. He nimbly grabbed the ladder next to the cab and climbed up. The driver, a black woman with big eyes who resembled Sheva from Resident Evil 5, turned her head and gave him a puzzled look. The black guy casually knocked on the cab window and tossed in a piece of chewing gum: "Hey, beautiful, I knew you'd give me a ride. After trekking through this damned jungle for three hours and eleven minutes, you and your truck look more angelic than angels in my eyes."

To everyone's surprise, the black guy wasn't rejected. Perhaps his perpetually-touted, sexy, thick lips actually worked. He climbed into the cab triumphantly, waved to Fang Senyan and the others sitting in the dim driving position, and disappeared behind the mountain cliff with the thick smoke billowing from the Hell truck's exhaust pipe.

Inspired by his example, many contractors followed suit. However, Fang Senyan, knowing his limitations, wisely avoided courting rejection and instead quickly climbed onto the back of a Hell truck to keep company with the ore.

Because of Pandora's low gravity, these Hell trucks sped quickly along the makeshift dirt roads. The Hell's Gate base was already taking shape, and in the distance, they could see tall, reinforced concrete permanent sentry towers, their dark gun ports capable of tearing apart any ground or air threats. At the base's gate, all the contractors underwent a cursory inspection, seemingly a routine procedure to prevent the introduction of unknown infectious diseases into the base.

Hell's Gate base appeared from above to be an irregular square, with a total area of square kilometers. Ensuring the safety of the personnel inside were high, sturdy walls, 3.9333 kilometers in length, as well as various automatic gun turrets along the walls. Every fifty meters there was a permanent sentry tower, manned at all times. Fang Senyan, while waiting in line, estimated that the walls were made of approximately three meters of reinforced concrete.

The bloodstains and bullet holes around the walls indicated that the towers were equipped not only with machine guns but also with automatic heavy weapons for both ground and air defense, used to deal with Pandora's unfriendly wildlife. In addition, small towers every 50 meters were used to eliminate small creatures that invaded. Outside the walls, a 30-meter clearing was regularly and automatically cleared by machines, with deep trenches dug and landmines laid to prevent burrowing Pandora creatures from infiltrating.

When the contractors' feet touched the ground of Hell's Gate base, the Nightmare Imprint finally gave a notification: "You have successfully arrived at Hell's Gate base."

"Warning: Using violence within Hell's Gate base is extremely dangerous. It is best not to do so. Please remember every word of the above."

"You have received a follow-up battlefield side mission: Trust of Hell's Gate."

"Mission Objective: Within seventy-two hours, raise your reputation within the RDA base to Respected." (Your current reputation is: Neutral. Reputation levels are: Neutral, Friendly, Respected, Revered, Adored)

"Hint: During battlefield side missions, if items that can quickly increase reputation are used, their effect will be reduced by 50%."

"Hint: The first three contractors to complete this mission early will receive additional rewards."

"Warning: Failure of this mission will result in a deduction of 8 points of merit!"

"Warning: If you refuse this mission, you will receive a certain reward and immediately return."

"Do you want to accept this mission: Yes/No?"

Once inside the base, Fang Senyan was pleased to find that the base exhibited a phenomenon of being tight on the outside but loose on the inside. After all, if one committed a crime in this place, there was nowhere to run. The outer perimeter was heavily guarded, with soldiers on patrol 24 (Pandora's hours) to guard against dangerous creatures that might cross the walls or burrow underground. The inside, however, was very relaxed... which meant that if Fang Senyan was forced to sneak into a laboratory to do the bad deed of taking blood from an experimental subject, the chances of escape would be quite high.

At this time, the construction of the base's interior was already taking shape. In the distance, several officers with typical American soldier styles were already shouting loudly, telling the group to gather. Fang Senyan immediately recognized Colonel Miles Quaritch, with the three distinct red scars on the right side of his head successfully betraying his identity.

In that instant, Fang Senyan even speculated maliciously that if he killed him, he would most likely drop the "AMP Suit Piloting Advanced Mastery Scroll LV7." Once this colonel sat in the AMP exoskeletal system mech, his power in melee combat was beyond doubt. In that battle, he even completely overwhelmed the heroine riding what was likely a seventh-order legendary creature, the Direhorse. In the end, it took both the hero and heroine together to kill him.

After everyone stood at attention with their feet apart and their backs straight, the colonel didn't speak, but instead used his sharp, raptor-like eyes to look at everyone, as if scanning them with X-rays. After a full two minutes, he said, "Perhaps I should call my old friend on the Venture Star and praise him for his efficiency this time, sending us enough manpower... Now my only question is: I don't know if you're the fine young men we desperately need!"

Here, the colonel paused, put his hands behind his back, and walked back and forth a few steps, then said, "Only those who obey orders, endure hardships, and work hard will receive high salaries, benefits, and my favor. Listen, if any of you are supporters of that Grace Augustine, that peace-loving woman who only knows how to nag, then I will generously give you thirty seconds to disappear from my sight."

"So, now we have to choose a camp." Fang Senyan thought to himself.

Obviously, although the entire Hell's Gate was almost completely controlled by the RDA Corporation, it was divided into two distinct factions. One faction was led by Dr. Grace Augustine, the advocate and host of the Avatar Program, who had been on this planet for ten years. The vast majority of this faction were scientific researchers. The other faction was the hawkish faction led by Colonel Miles Quaritch, who believed that bullets, high explosives, and fighter jets could solve all problems.

At this time, Yuan Zhan took the lead and bowed slightly to Colonel Miles Quaritch: "Colonel, although I may cause your revulsion by saying this, my heart and conscience tell me that we should protect this beautiful planet while excavating underground wealth, rather than recklessly destroying it. If you don't mind, could you tell me where I can find Dr. Grace Augustine?"