Chapter 132: Discovered

"I don't care what kind of shady business you have with the company; I am the one in charge here. Is that clear?" Grace stared at Ada Wong and demanded.

"Understood!" Ada Wong played the part of a startled, wide-eyed journalist perfectly.

Observing her expression, Grace nodded with satisfaction and called over a young researcher. "If you have any questions, you can ask him. Just make sure you don't interrupt our work."

"Got it, thank you so much!" Ada Wong said with a cheerful, slight bow.

"Hi, my name is Kevin. You can ask me anything you want to know!" the young researcher said enthusiastically. After all, acting as a guide for a beautiful woman was the best job imaginable.

Ada Wong smiled and nodded at the researcher, who looked to be in his early twenties, all while calculating in her mind exactly how to squeeze every bit of value out of him. Seeing her charming smile, the young researcher immediately went into a daze, completely mesmerized.

On the other side, Jake Sully, having just awakened from cryosleep, followed the troops in his wheelchair to receive Colonel Quaritch’s recruitment briefing. On his way to the laboratory, he ran into Norm Spellman, another avatar driver like himself.

Guided by Norm, he arrived at the biological laboratory. Just as Norm was introducing the avatars suspended in their culture tanks, Jake’s attention was captured by Ada Wong, who was standing nearby holding a camera.

It was inevitable. Ever since she had been bitten by a spider, Ada Wong’s already stunning charm had been amplified by changes to her physique and skin, turning her into a human pheromone magnet. Any normal man would be drawn to her, with the exception of special cases like Norm, who was busy enthusiastically explaining the avatars to Jake.

Seeing that Jake wasn't listening to him at all, Norm looked up to see what had caught his attention. When he saw the other male colleagues casting glances at Ada Wong as she listened intently, Norm curled his lip in annoyance and muttered "vixen" under his breath. He didn't dwell on it, though; he was new to Pandora himself and wasn't in a position to judge others.

Just then, a bearded researcher holding a tablet walked over and said to Norm, "She’s a war correspondent. I don't know why she’d want to come here. The previous reporters were all greenhorns who got talked into it; they couldn't last a few days before running back to the ship to hibernate. But seriously, she has a great body!"

"Let me show you the equipment here!" he said, walking toward the adjacent control room.

Norm tapped Jake, who was still unable to tear his eyes away from Ada. "Jake, stop staring!"

Jake, nudged, reluctantly followed Norm as he wheeled himself toward the nearby avatar link room.

Ada Wong, having noticed the man in the wheelchair, interrupted Kevin to ask, "Do you recruit disabled people here, too?"

Kevin looked in the direction Ada was pointing and said, "His brother was an avatar driver, but unfortunately, he was shot and killed by a criminal. Since they were twins, the company decided to let him pilot his brother's avatar. After all, you can't just let an avatar worth hundreds of millions of dollars go to waste."

"Oh! That’s truly unfortunate!" Ada said, watching Jake greet Grace.

"I suppose. For him, it might actually be a good thing."

Three days later, an intelligence officer hurried into the command center. "Colonel, you need to see this."

The soldier, clearly agitated, handed his tablet to Colonel Quaritch, who was currently planning to bulldoze the Na'vi settlement.

Colonel Quaritch, who bore three scars on his right forehead, took the tablet and glanced at it. His eyes widened in disbelief, and he turned to the soldier, demanding, "Are you kidding me? Since when has the industrial level of those blue-skinned monkeys reached the point where they can craft recurve bows?"

"I was shocked too, but these photos were taken during a routine drone patrol."

"Could those environmentalists have supplied them with weapons?" the soldier speculated.

Colonel Quaritch nodded, handed the tablet back, and said, "Keep monitoring them. I’ll send a recon squad to investigate the situation."

"Yes, sir!" The soldier saluted and left.

After the soldier departed, Colonel Quaritch stood in silence for a moment before seeking out Dr. Grace.

"Dr. Grace!" Quaritch called out to her as she took a drag from a cigarette, having just disconnected from her avatar.

Seeing it was Quaritch, Grace asked impatiently, "What do you want now?"

"Take a look at this." Quaritch held up a photo of a Na'vi carrying an exquisitely crafted recurve bow.

Seeing the image, Grace looked at Quaritch in surprise. "When did you start providing them with weapons?"

"I didn't. This was taken by a drone. We suspect those environmental groups on Earth might be providing them with weaponry," Quaritch explained.

"Then why come to me? Isn't this something your department should handle?" Grace asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"It is our business, but Parker wants you to go check out what's really happening. If possible, cooperate with those environmentalists and convince them to leave the area."

"And what if they won't negotiate? You know how extreme the views of those groups can be."

"Then that makes it easier. I can just have the military wipe them all out, and I won't have to worry about public opinion," Quaritch said dismissively. It was clear that this was the outcome he hoped for.

Watching his expression, Grace took a long drag of her cigarette and said, "I'll try my best to talk to them, but I need to handpick a few people."

"Fine. Pick whoever you want. I'll be here waiting for your good news!" With that, Quaritch placed the photo on a nearby table and walked away.

Grace picked up the photo, her face becoming increasingly grave.

Two hours later, Grace, Jake, Norm, and two human soldiers boarded an "SA-2 Samson" utility helicopter and flew toward the Na'vi tribe.

Except for Grace and Norm, everyone was armed. Jake, in particular, being a former Marine, naturally took on the role of the squad’s heavy weapons specialist once linked to his avatar, carrying a general-purpose machine gun.

Once on the chopper, Grace warned Jake, who was cradling his machine gun, "Soldier, follow orders during the operation. Do not fire unless instructed!"

"Understood!" Jake nodded, though he thought to himself, "Unless there's no other choice."