Chapter 837: Bargains and Beasts

“Copy that.”

Huo Zhun immediately took out his phone, typed out a message, and showed it to Xia Qing: “Yan Long spotted six giant bears charging toward Hill Sixty-One. One of them is a Speed Evolver. At its current pace, it’ll arrive in fifteen minutes. Should we use the helicopter to intercept them?”

Interception now would mean an outright war with the Bear Pack.

Xia Qing asked, “Is the Wolf Pack heading out to meet them?”

After checking in over the walkie-talkie, Huo Zhun shook his head. “No.”

Glancing at the brown bear hooked up to an IV, Xia Qing turned to Zhang Song. “Brother Song, can you finish treating this bear within ten minutes? You won’t have to move it, right?”

Zhang Song turned up the drip speed, tending to the snub-nosed monkey as he replied, “I’ll get it done. No need to move the bear. In twenty minutes, it should be able to move again—there shouldn’t be any lasting effects. The monkey’s trickier though. The medicine seems to have affected its brain, so it’ll need follow-up care. Should we take it with us?”

After reading what Huo Zhun typed, Xia Qing gave the order. “Leave it. Huo, have Sister Yan come back for us in nine minutes.”

“Got it.” Huo Zhun quickly relayed the order to Yan Long circling above.

No sense wasting a second. Xia Qing lowered her head and gently patted the brown bear on its massive head. “If you’re awake, open your eyes.”

How did Xia Qing know it was awake? Even with its eyes closed, that bear’s eyeballs were spinning faster than a top!

The brown bear slowly opened its eyes and looked straight at Xia Qing. Maybe the anesthesia hadn’t worn off yet—its gaze was still a little vacant. Xia Qing, however, was certain of one thing:

After the cosmic rays twelve years ago, Blue Star’s brains weren’t quite right anymore, and now another powerful Brain Evolution mutant had been born!

Once she confirmed it was a Brain Evolver, Xia Qing decided to try communicating. With a head that big, even if it couldn’t match Alpha or Crippled Wolf in smarts, it had to outthink White Weasel and Little Fei Mao!

Still, it probably hadn’t been around humans much and wouldn’t understand their language. So Xia Qing slowed her speech, gesturing as she spoke: “You and this monkey got sick. We humans and the Wolf Pack saved you. We—humans—awoo—Wolf Pack—saved you. These medicines saved you. We need to trade for supplies. Exchange. Like this…”

Huo Zhun was floored. Was this seriously working?

“Xia Qing, does it get what you’re saying?” Zhang Song, still tending to the monkey, wished he had a third hand to grab his phone and record the historic moment.

Huo Zhun chimed in, “Brother Song, Xia Qing’s ears were injured—she can’t hear you.”

Xia Qing spent a few focused minutes using both words and gestures with the massive Brain Evolver bear. Then she looked over at the dazed monkey on the side. “You too, Mr. White Face. I know you can’t understand now, but you also owe humanity your life. When your head clears up, we’ll settle the score.”

Honestly, if this monkey hadn’t been hanging around with the bear, if the Queen ignored it and Crippled Wolf cracked up every time he met its gaze, Xia Qing might’ve already sent it to meet its great-grandmonkey.

Monkeys are humanity’s main competitors in the Evolved Forest. With monkeys here, all sorts of wild food—especially fruit—become much harder for humans to collect.

And it’s not just picking wild fruit. Monkeys are expert climbers, lightning fast, clever, and they’ll attack humans and steal their stuff. There’s no guarding against them.

On past missions, Xia Qing had been pelted with rocks by a troop of evolved macaques. Their strength was crazy after evolution—when they attacked from all sides, Xia Qing took more than twenty hits, and even her protective mask got cracked.

So she definitely didn’t feel warm and fuzzy about monkeys.

Casting a glance back and forth between the gormless monkey and Xia Qing, Huo Zhun hesitated, then quietly snapped a close-up shot of the monkey’s face with his phone.

“All done! We’ve done our best, now it’s up to fate!” Zhang Song stood, shaking out his hands.

“Let’s go.” Xia Qing shielded Zhang Song as they headed for the helicopter. Huo Zhun took one last look at the silly monkey and the vacant bear lying side by side, then hurried after them.

After the helicopter lifted off, the paralyzed brown bear struggled to roll over and crawled slowly toward a stone den nearby.

The white-faced snub-nosed monkey still lay on the ground, staring up at the sky, unmoving.

A circling eagle spotted this easy prey from above and started its dive—until it heard a bear’s roar coming from the stones by its target.

“Raaawr…”

The bear’s cry was weak, yet as the eagle readied itself for a feast, another bear’s roar echoed in response.

“ROAAAR—”

The shockwave from that roar made the eagle screech with frustration. It flapped hard and climbed back into the sky.

“Raaawr…”

A little one inside the Bear Cave answered and contentedly closed its eyes.

The white-faced snub-nosed monkey? Still lying motionless, eyes glazed at the clouds above.

“What the heck!”

After takeoff, glancing down at the giant bear tearing through the woods below, Huo Zhun swore in shock.

“Speed Evolver,” Xin Yu said flatly, hoping he wouldn’t freak out every time.

“It’s even faster than the top human Speed Evolvers!” Zhang Song blurted out, eyes locked on the radar. He spoke so fast it was almost a single breath.

“The average evolved human runs at 24 kilometers per hour. Right now, our top athletes can hit 120 kilometers per hour, but only for up to five minutes or they risk permanent damage. That bear below is clocking 130—and it’s been running at that speed for… how long?”

Meeting Zhang Song’s excited gaze, Xin Yu winced through the pain. “Over eighteen minutes, at least.”

“Unbelievable! Blue Star is incredible!” Zhang Song almost wanted that bear on the helicopter right now for immediate dissection—muscles, bones, nervous system, the works!

Those muscles must be a work of art…

Yan Long’s aura grew sharper. Brain Evolver Zhang Song’s presence was off the charts. Xin Yu, pale-faced and shaking, clenched her fists and forced herself to hold on.

Thinking Xin Yu was scared, Huo Zhun tried to comfort their ally who kept birds trained to drop explosive payloads. “Bears have four legs and massive bodies. They leap several meters at once—makes sense they’re fast. Besides, we’re in a helicopter. They can’t touch us up here.”

“Understood.” Xin Yu choked down the urge to lob a bomb just to clear some space, instead inching closer to Xia Qing, whose mood radiated sheer happiness. Finally, her mind felt clearer.

Not missing a beat, Xia Qing shifted closer to Xin Yu, still staring out the window.

Unlike Zhang Song and Huo Zhun, Xia Qing wasn’t watching the giant bear carving a straight path through the Evolved Forest or the five charging close behind it. Her focus was on the western edge, where a silver-gray beast led a pack of wolves, running even faster.

Big Wolf on a full sprint—now that was a sight to behold.

And standing tall atop the mountain, summoning allies with her howl, the Queen looked absolutely regal.

With the most dashing wolves on the move, Alpha had clearly decided: if talks broke down, it’d be all-out war.