Global Evolution

The monkats were raving, angrily hovering over their heads. The rustling sounds made by them caused pin and needles on the boys’ scalps. They couldn’t understand why this man who had descended from nowhere would intentionally provoke the monkats.

But one thing the boys knew was that the man came to save them. Plus, if he hadn’t come in time, they would have already been poisoned and would now be lying on the ground, twitching, jerking in this hopeless jungle until death freed them from the torture. So whatever intentions this man had, they decided to support him anyway.

The deliberate provocation worked - the monkats were enraged.

They screamed shrilly, the sound spreading through the whole area, demanding justice in anger and disappointment. Monkats didn’t seem like a species that was good at repressing its emotions.

The shrieking stopped when the monkats begun their attack on the intimidating man with the giant handgun. Spears and poison fruits were hurled toward him.

"Spread out!"

The man pushed the three survivors away. And strangely, the way he propelled them happened to help them to dodge all the spears and fruits. At the same time, the force also pushed the man backward. As soon as they had all moved out, the spears struck the ground and poison fruits exploded.

"Hold your breath!"

The poison fruits cracked and exploded one by one, releasing the gas within. After saying his piece, the man sprang up from the ground and bounced between the branches, disappearing in the tree crowns once again.

Fifteen seconds later, another desperate squeak called out from the crown, and then the man descended with a victim back down once more.

BOOM!

The man’s intentions were clear: he provoked the monkats by shooting his victim in the face again. It was done exactly like the first time.

However, the second provocation turned out to be an intimidation tactic. The screeches were significantly quieter, as if the monkats had sensed that this man was unbeatable. There was a commotion in the monkat crowd, and some of them fled. But the remaining, stubborn ones, went to attack again.

The result of this attack was a swift one.

The man captured another monkat from the tops of the trees, and with that handgun, its head was busted.

Three identical executions startled the monkats, taking away their desire of crush the humans. They stood on the branches quietly for a moment, then rushed off with fearful screams before the man could fire the handgun for the fourth time.

The man put away his weapon after confirming that the monkats were already a great distance away.

"Thank you! Thank you for saving us."

The three survivors bowed as soon as they confirmed their safety, immensely grateful to the man.

The favor of a saved life was impossible to repay. Even though Zhengzhou state had become a place where all virtues decayed, the gratefulness for saving one’s life was never forgotten here.

"No need to say thank you to me. I was just passing by this area and happened to see that you were attacked. As a matter of course, I would help anyone if it’s within my capabilities. " The man didn’t make any expression. "Do you guys have companions? Why are you hanging around the jungle this late night at night, it’s dangerous."

"We... we got lost," one of the survivors explained. "At first, a kind of strange bug assaulted us, and we lost two members who were in charge of keeping the compass. They were gnawed in front of our eyes, no bones were left... As a result, our formation was broken and we couldn’t find where they had dropped the compass, so..."

"Our companions... I think they’re poisoned, I’m not sure if there is a way to save them."

"Let me check," the man said, walking toward the trap the mercenaries had fallen for as if he knew what had happened over there.

Even though the three were suspicious about the man’s familiarity with the trap, they didn’t ask about it. They followed along, abstaining from speaking.

Corpses lay everywhere. The man went up to the bodies to check for signs of breathing. He found two still alive and took out an iron case, retrieving two vials of antidote from it.

"Antidotes, but I’m not sure if it’ll work," the man told the survivors, then injected the medicine into those men nearing death.

"Carry them, I’ll show you the way out."

Since the antidote was condensed, the process was over in a snap of the fingers. The man left those poison victims to the survivors, preparing to lead everyone to the edge of the jungle.

"Follow me."

The man turned his back to the survivors, who had no choice but to try and catch up with his figure.

It was a journey without any conversation. The man seemed extremely familiar with the jungle, and perhaps they were blessed for they didn’t encounter any more dangers along the way. One hour later, the jungle became less dense, and that was a sign that they were safe.

"We’ve arrived, I need to go now," the man said, standing at the edge of the jungle. "The Zhengzhou state is in front of you. I’m sure that you’ll know your way from here."

"We do." The survivors nodded. "Please let us do something for you for saving our lives."

"It’s not necessary. I see people die every day, my wish is just to save as many as possible." The man curved his mouth to make a smile, but his muscles were rigid; the smile was strange. "Come grab a drink at the Chortle Bar, I’m the owner."

"Chortle Bar?"

The survivors stared at the unnatural smile.

"Exactly."

"Can you tell me your name by any chance?" the boy asked

"Chang Liu." The man seemed aware of his rigid smile and put on the straight face again. "If those two survive, don’t forget to ask them to pay back in the bar. Those antidotes are expensive for their rareness, the market price is about 170 thousand state yuan. Of course, if they don’t make it, then don’t bother repaying for them."

Chang waved his hand to those survivors. "I really should go, someone is waiting for me home, see you around."

He sprinted toward the Zhengzhou state, leaving those doubtful survivors behind.

...

In the Chortle Bar.

The place gradually cooled down. Those who aimed to get drunk had achieved their goal; those who wanted to talk had become tired, resting their heads on the tables, murmuring. And that hook-nosed woman who sat in the corner checked the watch on her hand, knowing that it was time to close the bar.

A figure sneaked in when she stood up from the bar stool.

"I’m back."

What entered Chang’s sight were those drunk mercenaries, some of whom were asleep while others were murmuring about their plan. At the same time, Chang also noticed the table that was smashed by Sanpang.

"Well, well, well." Chang walked up to those drunk mercenaries, smirking. "We’ll ask them to pay for this broken table."