Chapter 138: Good News, Bad News

"What on earth are you people?" demanded the captain of the interstellar starship Venture as he was being forced aboard the dropship.

"Cut the chatter, you'll find out when the time comes!" replied the Interplanar Expeditionary Force soldier in charge of the escort.

The dropship descended onto Pandora. Under the watchful eyes of the Interplanar Expeditionary Force guards, all RDA employees and surviving mercenaries were rounded up into an open area at the base.

Looking at the heavily armored soldiers and the towering Transformers surrounding them, the gathered people wept anxiously, all believing they were about to be silenced.

However, they were completely mistaken. The United Government merely intended to send them to the Resident Evil universe.

Wang Jing followed the last batch of captives off the dropship, walked to the periphery of the crowd, and nodded to the nearby commander of the Interplanar Expeditionary Force.

Then, the surrounding soldiers began to close in on the crowd, pressing people closer together until everyone was packed tightly against one another.

Judging that the time was right, Wang Jing stepped forward, grabbed one person's hand, and activated the teleportation. The massive energy provided by the second-generation Ark Reactor allowed Wang Jing to transport everyone to the Resident Evil universe without relying on external power sources.

Faced with the suddenly transformed surroundings, everyone panicked. Some believed they had died and arrived in hell, while others thought they were merely hallucinating.

It was not until a twenty-meter-tall holographic projection appeared in the sky, explaining what had just happened and the United Government's arrangements for them, that the crowd finally calmed down.

After listening to the projection's explanation, everyone settled down, for the United Government merely required them to build their own homes here and promised to send them back once they reached a consensus with the world's governments.

As for their food, drinks, and daily necessities during this period, the United Government would cover all expenses, which was practically negligible to them anyway.

Of course, this cross-universe transit also served as a test of Wang Jing's abilities, though the effects of the Time Stone far exceeded the expectations of the Quantum Research Institute professors. Wang Jing had successfully transported everyone to the Resident Evil universe in a single attempt.

Having delivered everyone to the Resident Evil universe, Wang Jing returned directly to the Avatar universe. Matters here would be handled by designated personnel, and Wang Jing had more important tasks to attend to—namely, sending the neural link units back to the prime universe.

There was also the endeavor to teleport the Venture starship from space back to the prime universe, which would serve as another test of his abilities.

Upon arriving at the Venture starship, Wang Jing met Jiang Ning, who was already waiting at the entrance. "I have some bad news and some good news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

"Such a cliché trope!"

"But the news is explosive!"

"Then let's hear the good news first!"

"The good news is that we found an antimatter engine and ten kilograms of antimatter inside the Venture starship," Jiang Ning said with a smile.

"Antimatter!"

"That's right. Aside from receiving laser energy, the other purpose of the red solar sail at the rear of the Venture starship is to provide cooling for the antimatter engine," Jiang Ning explained to Wang Jing.

Wang Jing nodded. "That is indeed good news. What's the bad news?"

"The bad news is that before you seized control of the ship, they sent a distress signal to Earth. Reinforcements are expected to arrive at Pandora in 6.5 years."

"That's fine; it's not really bad news yet." Upon hearing that there were still six and a half years left, Wang Jing couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"You call that not bad news? Keep in mind they possess intergalactic warfare capabilities, whereas we don't even have a single ship capable of flying out of the solar system yet," Jiang Ning said worriedly.

"Don't worry, the alien starships in the Marvel universe are far superior to the human ships of this world. Just a single one of theirs could easily crush all of theirs combined."

Jiang Ning looked at Wang Jing skeptically. "Really?"

"Of course it's real. The technology of aliens in the Marvel universe has reached the level of spatial jumping; how could they possibly lose to human spacecraft that lack even light-speed travel and anti-gravity devices?" Wang Jing pointed to himself and Jiang Ning, who were floating in mid-air, and smiled confidently.

"Then how are we supposed to get those fighter craft? We don't have anything valuable enough to purchase an interstellar starship."

"If you can't afford to buy, you can just take them by force. Who says we have to buy them?" Wang Jing said with a mischievous grin.

"The way you say that makes you sound like a sinister major villain." Jiang Ning gave Wang Jing a peculiar look.

Ahem! Wang Jing gave a couple of awkward dry coughs and steered the conversation back on track. "Has the ship's preparation for teleportation been completed?"

Seeing Wang Jing return to business, Jiang Ning answered formally, "Everything is ready. The cargo hold, cryo-pods, and solar sail are all prepped and ready for detachment at any moment."

"Good, then take me to the engine room. Once we're set, we'll execute the wholesale teleportation of the ship."

"Follow me!" Jiang Ning said, turning around and walking toward the rear of the ship.

Following closely behind Jiang Ning, Wang Jing arrived at the engine room and saw the antimatter engine Jiang Ning had described—a massive iron sphere fixed in mid-air. Had it not been for the various metal piping systems connected to its surface, Wang Jing would never have guessed this was an antimatter engine.

Once inside the engine room, Wang Jing returned once more to the prime universe. This time, he rode Optimus Prime up to Earth's synchronous orbit, then crossed over into the Avatar universe alone within the vast, pitch-black expanse of space.

With the assistance of the staff, Wang Jing's combat suit was connected to the antimatter engine.

Instantly, Wang Jing felt a surge of immense energy flowing through his suit and into his body.

In just two seconds, Wang Jing felt he had absorbed enough energy to teleport the entire Venture starship back to the prime universe.

Activating his teleportation ability, Wang Jing watched as the entire starship instantly materialized in the space of the prime universe.

As soon as they arrived in the prime universe, Wang Jing felt the entire hull vibrate slightly. Looking at Jiang Ning beside him, he asked quizzically, "What's going on? Has the ship started up?"

"Yes, the ship is currently docking with the 'Dutchman' space station, after which it will await subsequent research and dismantling."

Wang Jing nodded. Once the Venture starship had slowly completed its docking with the newly constructed weather-control satellite space station, Wang Jing rode Optimus Prime back down to Earth. He then arranged for the subsequent deployment of botanists, neurologists, and cleanup engineering corps to the planet Pandora.

"The scientists heading to Pandora were dispatched by the United Government to study Eywa, the planetary consciousness. Now that she has fulfilled the tasks requested of her, it is time for her to honor her promises."

Wang Jing looked forward with anticipation to discovering whether Earth in the prime universe also harbored a planetary consciousness.

However, finding out the answer would require waiting a little longer. Fortuitously, taking advantage of this opportunity, Wang Jing could fulfill his promise to Neytiri to show her around the prime universe and other realms.

Naturally, Wang Jing had no intention of wasting this rare opportunity solely on Neytiri. After consulting Neytiri's clansmen, it was ultimately decided that Neytiri and her entire tribe would be brought along to tour the prime universe and other dimensions.

However, because Neytiri and her people looked vastly different from humans, the United Government had to coordinate with the governments of various dimensions regarding the tour sequence, travel routes, and security measures along the way.

After all, not everyone could accept communication between humans and aliens—just as humans were quite capable of fighting each other to the death over skin color alone, let alone encountering a group of alien Na'vi whose technological level was still stuck in the tribal cold-weapon era.