"Hehe, now you have three palaces and six courtyards..."
Looking at King Kong surrounded by a group of female gorillas, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but laugh. It's like he's dying of thirst when he's thirsty and drowning when he's drowning. I wonder if King Kong can handle so many concubines.
King Kong, who had ascended to the new leader of the group, was also very excited. His biological mating instincts made his sly eyes constantly scan the strong female gorillas, and he used his large hands to stroke the bodies of some of the female gorillas in a seemingly comforting but actually lewd manner.
Zhuang Rui, who was hiding behind the tree, couldn't stand it any longer. He didn't have a penchant for spying on gorillas, so he came out from behind the tree and said with a smile, "King Kong, you brat, aren't you in a hurry?"
"Awooo..."
Zhuang Rui hadn't expected that his appearance would cause such a commotion among the gorillas. Many of them opened their mouths wide and roared at Zhuang Rui. Their snow-white teeth and ugly faces would surely terrify any timid person.
The three male gorillas, seemingly wanting to demonstrate their strength to the new leader, charged at Zhuang Rui, waving their arms.
"Ouch..."
Just as the three gorillas rushed in front of Zhuang Rui, King Kong's massive body blocked them, and with a flick of his long arm, he swept the gorillas far away.
As a result, the restless creatures behind them also stopped, looking at King Kong who had squatted down in front of Zhuang Rui with confusion. Their simple wisdom was not enough to understand the friendship between humans and animals.
However, when they saw Zhuang Rui touching King Kong's head, the gorillas became angry again, seeing it as a provocation against their group.
"Who said gorillas are friendly? I didn't do anything to them, so why are they so unwelcoming to me?"
Zhuang Rui looked at the gorillas speechlessly, but he wasn't too worried. He didn't expect the gorillas to accept him for no reason; he hadn't even used his trump card yet.
"Ouch..."
Unlike Zhuang Rui, King Kong didn't have a good temper. Upon hearing the roars of the gorillas, he immediately stood up and rushed into the gorilla group, knocking down several of the loudest ones. Then, he pointed at Zhuang Rui and waved his arms at the gorillas, as if trying to communicate with them.
After King Kong's antics, the gorillas still looked at Zhuang Rui with wariness, but they dared not bare their teeth at him anymore. Being beaten up was not a pleasant experience.
"King Kong, come back. Win people over with virtue, do you understand? You must win people over with virtue!"
Zhuang Rui smiled and called King Kong back from his arrogant pose. His eyes then turned to the lonely figure of the defeated silverback gorilla.
Chapter 1258 The Golden City (Part 1)
King Kong's slap was really hard. It not only left a long gash on the silverback's face, but it also seemed to have injured its brain. The silverback gorilla sat on the ground for a while before it got up.
The struggle for tribal leadership is merely a microcosm of the law of the jungle; those who fail either die or leave, and the old tribe can no longer take in its former leader.
So at that moment, all the adult gorillas surrounded King Kong, but none of them cared about the loser. This is actually very similar to human society, where the halo always shines on the winners.
However, the wounds on Silverback's face and its desolate figure when it left stirred Zhuang Rui's heart with pity.
Zhuang Rui knew that this fierce-looking gorilla was actually kind-hearted. If it left its group and was not accepted by other gorilla groups, then death would be the only fate awaiting this silverback gorilla.
"Hey, wait a minute..."
Zhuang Rui suddenly shouted and ran towards the silverback gorilla. He wanted to keep the gorilla there, and he didn't care whether it would violate any laws of the forest.
"Awoooooo..."
Seeing that someone was blocking its way, Silverback roared loudly and waved its long arms. Although it was the loser in the battle for the king, Silverback could not tolerate the provocation of the little human in front of it.
"Aww..."
Upon seeing that Silverback dared to make a move against Zhuang Rui, King Kong roared as well.
"King Kong, stand there, this is none of your business..."
Zhuang Rui waved his hand, signaling King Kong not to come over. Just then, the long arm of the silverback covered in black hair struck Zhuang Rui's head heavily.
Gorillas are incredibly strong; they can easily break bamboo as thick as a child's arm. Therefore, they don't need any fighting skills. If this blow were to hit Zhuang Rui on the head, it would be as easy as smashing a watermelon. Blood would probably splatter everywhere.
"Brother Zhuang?"
Just as the silverback gorilla's arm was about to strike Zhuang Rui's head, Peng Fei, who was hanging behind him, caught up. Upon seeing this, he was terrified and immediately raised his submachine gun.
However, before Peng Fei could pull the trigger, he saw that Zhuang Rui easily blocked the thick arm with one hand, and then Zhuang Rui grabbed the arm and threw it forward, actually throwing the gorilla, which weighed several hundred pounds, far away.
Peng Fei then remembered that Zhuang Rui was stronger than King Kong and had even practiced wrestling with Timur. If these gorillas didn't use their teeth to bite, they might not be a match for Zhuang Rui.
Upon seeing Peng Fei arrive, Zhuang Rui waved his hand and said, "Peng Fei, stand there and don't move. Let your brother stretch his arms and legs..."
But when Zhuang Rui walked towards the silverback again, the guy immediately put his hands on his head and collapsed to the ground.
It's important to know that a gorilla's intelligence is equivalent to that of a seven or eight-year-old human child, and they can even use simple tools such as stones. In addition, gorillas don't like fighting in the first place, so when the silverback realized that it couldn't beat Zhuang Rui, it simply stopped fighting.
"You're quite clever, kid..."
Zhuang Rui smiled and walked to the silverback's side, reaching out to pat its head. A surge of spiritual energy seeped into the silverback's body with the movement of his hand.
As the spiritual energy entered its body, the silverback trembled violently, then raised its head and looked at Zhuang Rui with a somewhat blank expression. The shocking wound on its face had already stopped bleeding and begun to shrink.
Only the gorillas knew about Silverback's injury. Peng Fei, who was later present, did not witness what had just happened. Therefore, Zhuang Rui was not afraid that the gorillas would reveal his secret, which is why he treated Silverback.
Gorillas are naturally intelligent beings. After feeling its dazed mind clear up and the pain on its face disappear, Silverback knew it was Zhuang Rui's doing. It immediately closed its eyes and let Zhuang Rui's large hand stroke its head.
"Brother Zhuang, you're really something! Even the most formidable animals become docile in your presence..."
Seeing that the crisis had passed, Peng Fei took a few steps toward Zhuang Rui, but unexpectedly, several gorillas surrounding King Kong suddenly bared their teeth at him. Startled, Peng Fei quickly raised his hands and said, "Hey, I said, I meant no harm, King Kong, stop them!"
Zhuang Rui could compete with these behemoths in strength, but Peng Fei wouldn't dare. Let alone the silverback gorilla, whose size was second only to King Kong, even one of the females here would probably be no match for Peng Fei.
"Awooo!"
King Kong and Peng Fei had no connection. After Peng Fei urged him several times, King Kong lazily roared and summoned the gorillas back.
However, the gorilla troop was clearly uneasy about Peng Fei and Zhuang Rui's presence. Several baby gorillas, escorted by their mothers, secretly slipped back to where they had just come from.
After treating Silverback's wounds, Zhuang Rui said, "King Kong, let it stay with this gorilla group..."
Given King Kong's size and strength, even if he were old and nearly immobile, his authority would not be challenged by these gorillas. Therefore, it would be impossible for the losers to seize power under King Kong's rule.
Moreover, Zhuang Rui had another idea: he wanted to transfer the entire population of over forty gorillas to his "Xuanrui Island".
Therefore, there needs to be a suitable number of male gorillas; otherwise, the gorilla bloodline will be cut off after a few generations. The mutation of the gorillas on Pirate Island may be related to this.
"Awooo!"
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, King Kong roared at Silverback.
"Waaah..."
Upon hearing King Kong's roar, the silverback gorilla quickly crawled to King Kong's side and sniffed him, a gesture of submission from the gorilla.
Only now did the gorillas who were previously too afraid to approach the silverback come up one by one and touch it with their bodies, showing that the former leader was quite popular.
However, the gorillas still dared not approach Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei. Some curious little gorillas that crawled a little closer to Zhuang Rui were immediately picked up and taken back by the female gorillas.
However, such a small matter was naturally no challenge for Zhuang Rui. After diverting some of his spiritual energy into the bodies of these apes, the ape group's attitude towards Zhuang Rui immediately changed.
Several female gorillas, displaying strong maternal instincts, even ran up to Zhuang Rui to help him pick his lice, leaving him in a sorry state. Of course, Peng Fei could only watch with envy, as none of the gorillas showed him any kindness!
After all this commotion, the sky gradually darkened, and the afterglow of the setting sun made the forest appear even more mysterious. However, the days are long in Central Africa, and it is estimated that the afterglow will not dissipate for another two hours.
It wasn't nighttime for the gorillas, so with the silverback's gesturing, Zhuang Rui decided to stay at their roost for the night. The silverback led the way, while Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei followed closely behind.
"Huh? Why is there a lake? This...this..."
After walking for about ten minutes, they passed through a dense jungle and Zhuang Rui suddenly discovered that there was a sizable lake behind the jungle.
The existence of a lake in the forest is rare enough, but what surprised Zhuang Rui even more was that this lake seemed to be man-made. The neatly stacked stones along the lake shore were something that these gorillas could never have done.
The lake, covering nearly a thousand square meters, shimmered with the glow of the setting sun. Occasionally, fish over a meter long could be seen leaping out of the water, splashing ripples.
"Damn it, are there any prehistoric creatures here?"
Looking at the lake, Zhuang Rui felt a chill run down his spine. He knew that a giant crocodile measuring fifteen meters long had once been found in the Amazon rainforest, and who knew what kind of monster might be lurking in these lakes.
"Awooo!"
Just as Zhuang Rui was about to use his spiritual energy to explore the lake, the troop of gorillas walking in front of him suddenly let out a joyful cheer and ran forward on all fours.
"Hmm? We've reached their lair? These guys are quite interesting, a bit different from ordinary gorillas?"
The gorillas' behavior caught Zhuang Rui's attention. He had previously asked domestic zoologists to study King Kong's phenomenon and knew some about the gorillas' habits.
Normally, gorillas do not build nests. Their groups mostly move around and forage in a certain area, and at night they gather together to rest, going wherever they feel like.
Even if they have nests, they are mostly temporary structures built in trees, and they are abandoned after one night. At least Zhuang Rui had never heard of gorillas having fixed resting places.
This piqued Zhuang Rui's interest in the gorillas' habitat, and when he looked up, he was taken aback again.
The direction the gorillas were running towards had no trees; instead, it resembled an oval hillside covered with various forest vines, the entire hillside being entirely covered in green vegetation.
"Huh? What's that?"
Just as a gorilla parted a vine and crawled into the plant-covered area, Zhuang Rui suddenly felt a blur before his eyes, as if someone had shone a mirror into them. The glare made Zhuang Rui instinctively close his eyes.
"Is that the reflection of metal? Did people really live here before?"
Zhuang Rui reacted quickly, immediately connecting the dots to the rocks by the lake. "Peng Fei, let's go take a look. Something seems off over there. Did you spot any flashes of light from anything?"
Zhuang Rui no longer cared about exploring the lake. He followed the silverback beside him toward the place covered by vines, releasing the spiritual energy in his eyes as he ran.
Chapter 1259 The Golden City (Part 2)
The hillside covered with green vines was just over thirty meters directly in front of the lake. As Zhuang Rui ran, he suddenly noticed that there were wide and long bluestone paths leading from the lake to the hillside. The traces of human construction were already very obvious.
The distance of more than thirty meters was nothing more than a blink of an eye for the spiritual energy in Zhuang Rui's eyes. Before Zhuang Rui could even marvel at the wide bluestone steps, the spiritual energy had already covered the entire hillside in front of him.
"I...I...Damn it!" Just as the spiritual energy enveloped the hillside, Zhuang Rui, who was running forward, suddenly stumbled, tripped over a vine, and fell to the ground.
However, Zhuang Rui, lying on the ground, was no longer concerned about the pain in his arm. His eyes were wide open, staring at the hillside in front of him with disbelief.
No… that’s not a hillside. It’s a castle, but it’s covered by wild vines in the forest. More importantly, much of the castle is made of gold.
Inside and outside the main body of the wooden and stone castle, there is a very thin wall made of pure gold. Countless pieces of furniture and decorations inside the castle are all made of gold and silver, with silver making up a larger proportion.
This castle, which can be described as a golden city, contains enormous energy. As soon as Zhuang Rui's spiritual energy came into contact with it, he was nourished by that energy and felt comfortable all over. Of course, he could not feel the pain of falling.
"Brother Zhuang, what's wrong? What's making you so agitated?"
Peng Fei, who was following behind Zhuang Rui, reached out and helped Zhuang Rui up. He had followed Zhuang Rui for so many years and had never seen Zhuang Rui like this before.
"Hmm? Is there something strange about that hillside?"
Peng Fei saw that Zhuang Rui completely ignored him, his eyes fixed on the hillside in front of him, and couldn't help but look over as well.