Chapter 72: Journey to Pandora

Driven by profit, countless people are promoting and advertising Life One! Although the actual effects of Life One will never reach the heights people expect, this press conference concluded under the gaze of the world. Ma Jun’s name, along with Junma Technology and Life One, has become a household word across the globe. Many view him as a human hero, while others see him as a clown.

No matter the opinion, Ma Jun’s goal was achieved. With overwhelming publicity, Life One entered the world’s major markets, along with its production lines. Under full-scale manufacturing, sales shares climbed rapidly. Yet all this no longer concerned Ma Jun; he handed over all company affairs to Qian Mo Duo and began preparing for the Pandora expedition.

In the professional laboratory, Ma Jun trained for the Avatar link. Naturally, his Avatar was still in cultivation, so his current linking was purely virtual—using a virtual reality-like technology to control a simulated person, moving as if in a game. The first time he linked, Ma Jun struggled desperately, feeling as if he suffered partial paralysis. He couldn’t help but admire Jake, who had managed to control his Avatar so expertly on his first try.

After several days of training, matters improved, but one problem remained: when controlling the virtual figure, his martial arts energy was ineffective. This signaled to Ma Jun that, when linking to the real Avatar, he would likely be unable to use his internal energy, and all special forces skills would need to be relearned with the new body.

Fortunately, the Avatar’s body was far superior to a human’s, with opposable “thumb toes” for fast ground movement and agile navigation among branches. Large, almond-shaped feline eyes provided partial infrared vision and excellent night sight. Other senses, like smell and taste, were also heightened.

Though the Avatar appeared lean, its strength was four times that of a human! The skeletal system was incredible, with unique calcified structures and keratin forming layered, porous fiber bundles—similar to reinforced concrete. Imagine how resilient such bones would be! From the film, Jake’s Na’vi body could fall from heights without injury—not just because gravity is slightly less than on Earth, but thanks to this skeletal system.

With such a body, if Ma Jun could perfectly integrate his special forces combat skills, survival on Pandora would be much easier. So, after mastering the virtual link, Ma Jun trained various skills himself.

Months passed. Life One secured its foothold worldwide, with daily production reaching one billion units! After a series of intermediate processes, Junma Technology received a pure profit of $0.04 per unit. This meant a daily profit of $400 million—a staggering sum, and with expanding factories, it would only grow.

Such outrageous profit defied reason. After all, humans can do without many things, but not food. Life One was currently humanity’s top food choice on this ruined planet. Driven by profit, people grew increasingly frantic. Despite there being no plan to go public or disclose company earnings to the public, Junma Technology became the coveted prize in everyone’s eyes, making Qian’s workload immense. He was constantly busy.

Fortunately, Ma Jun had paved the way in advance, aligning Junma Technology with massive forces to make it unshakable. The vast funds were never left to stagnate in a bank; Qian used them, together with partners, to acquire many useful things—including advanced cloning technology. Of course, such exchanges would take time.

With everything prepared, Ma Jun was finally set to depart for Pandora.

This time, he would bring a thousand mercenaries and nearly five hundred staff. Additionally, there would be all kinds of supplies—food, ammunition, firearms, even heavy equipment. Most of these belonged to Junma Technology; only a few items were Ma Jun’s personal property. With powerful partners across industries, all supplies and personnel were gathered within half a year. For convenience, Junma Technology even purchased a space shuttle.

A space shuttle is different from a spaceship. Spaceships can transport over long distances and rarely land on planetary surfaces, with all supplies delivered by ship. Shuttles are for short-range space travel, such as between Earth and the moon. In the Avatar universe, they are known as orbital-surface transporters.

Ma Jun’s expedition incurred considerable expense. Just transporting everything to the Venture Star required ten Valkyrie-class shuttles. But, tempted by the future promise of Life One, all Junma shareholders agreed.

Before leaving, Junma Technology staff and partners—including Dawson and Harry—held several farewell parties for Ma Jun. As he headed for the spaceport, a crowd gathered to see him off.

The wind howled at Cape Canaveral Spaceport, as hundreds of shuttles took off and landed. In the VIP lounge, through massive windows, one could see many crates stamped with Junma Technology’s logo being loaded. Numerous personnel were boarding, and surprisingly, one man was in a wheelchair.

“Well, it’s time for me to go,” Ma Jun said, turning to the crowd, smiling at their warm gazes.

“When you come back, we’ll play golf on the moon together!” Dawson said.

“Don’t let those Na’vi monkey girls seduce you!” Jaster chuckled.

“I’ll wait for your return, Jun!” Lisa stepped forward, hugged Ma Jun tightly, and kissed him on the cheek.

“And me—I might come looking for you, Ma Jun!” Amanda said, grinning. This time, Ma Jun went over, hugged her, and kissed her gently on the forehead.

Jaster and Dawson exchanged glances, as if sparks flew between them.

Ma Jun smiled inwardly, pleased with his mischief. Waving to everyone, he said, “Alright, I’m off! Qian, I hope everything’s ready when I return. Goodbye!”

“Don’t worry, boss!”

Some cargo and personnel had already boarded the shuttles to the Venture Star. Ma Jun was among the last group to leave. The ship couldn’t carry ten shuttles, but the central section had dedicated cargo and living zones to meet the needs of this transport.

The ship sped through the atmosphere, entering space. Passing near Mars, Ma Jun finally saw the Venture Star. It might not match the public’s imagination nor possess aesthetic appeal, but its technology was incredibly complex.

The Venture Star was enormous—fifteen kilometers long! Its two striking engine radiators stretched nearly six hundred meters.

The shuttle docked smoothly with the ship, no crisis occurred. Led by several staff, Ma Jun entered, traversed the narrow corridors, and reached the living quarters, where he would undergo low-temperature cryogenic hibernation.

The benefit was reduced resource consumption. Even with the Venture Star capable of traveling at seventy percent of light speed, it would still take over five years to reach Pandora! Imagine the supplies needed to sustain nearly a thousand people for five years, including oxygen—how much space would that require?

“Mr. Ma Jun, have a pleasant journey. When you open your eyes again, you’ll see beautiful Pandora!” the staff said with a smile after everything was prepared.

Ma Jun nodded, and the staff closed the capsule. His final thought was, “This hibernation chamber feels just like a morgue’s cold storage.”

The massive Venture Star was but a speck in the vastness of space. The ship carried matter-antimatter fusion engines, but these wouldn’t be used until leaving the solar system; otherwise, the medium required to convert thermal and mechanical energy would need to be quadrupled, taking up far too much cargo space.

In the tranquil void, suddenly, a colossal laser appeared, instantly striking the Venture Star’s sixteen-kilometer-wide light sail at the bow! The laser’s energy accelerated the ship, applying fifteen times Earth’s gravity for nearly half a year. It seemed exaggerated—such a laser, sustained, could destroy Earth—but in the Avatar universe, this was the setting.

Silent and swift, the Venture Star raced away, vanishing from the naked eye.

During the long journey, the Venture Star occasionally experienced slight turbulence, caused by collisions with cosmic dust at high speed. At seventy percent of light speed, even invisible motes were equivalent to dozens of kilograms of explosives. Fortunately, the ship had a special shield to protect the hull.

Yet none of this concerned Ma Jun. If the ship exploded, the hibernation system would not awaken him, but administer euthanasia directly. If he knew this, he might panic.

In the cosmos, beautiful and dreamlike giant planets appeared. As the Venture Star approached, a smaller world covered in green, blue, and white came into view—Pandora!

The Venture Star activated two matter-antimatter fusion engines and gradually decelerated. After about half a year, it stopped above Pandora.

“Mr. Ma Jun, we’ve arrived! How are you feeling?”

Ma Jun woke groggily, his head aching. A staff member’s smiling face appeared before him.

“I’m alright.” Ma Jun replied, climbing out of the hibernation chamber, as others emerged around him.

“These are your clothes and personal items. If you feel nauseous, the vomit bags are over there,” the staff said helpfully.

“Thank you.” Ma Jun retrieved his belongings and glanced into the distance, where a slender-legged man was also busy unpacking.

“I’ll take you to the changing room,” the staff said softly.

After dressing and boarding the shuttle, Ma Jun sat in one of the rare seats on the upper deck, gazing out at the scene unfolding in space.

Pandora was now close enough to touch.