Chapter 1318: Personal allies
"I’ve caught you now—"
The general’s words were suddenly drowned out by the raucous shouting and cheering from the human soldiers. He immediately went into a defensive pose, thinking that they were going to attack him.
But they didn’t. They just kept cheering and shouting. It didn’t even look like they noticed that he and the other Red Mankeys were there in the first place!
"What are they all looking at?" the Red Mankey general wondered.
He tapped on a soldier’s shoulder and presented himself. "What is happening here?"
"We’re watching the game 7 finals of the Rebornian Baseball Cup! We just scored a homerun that allowed us to tie against our opponents in the bottom of the ninth! We have a real chance of winning this cup!" said the soldier.
And of course, his words were pure gibberish to the Red Mankey general. What were they even saying? It looked like they were peering through a portal that led somewhere in the overworld or something.
"Our rivals, the Angora Shooters, are really good this season. They’ve stepped up their game!"
The general frowned. "They were making all of this noise... for a game?"
He couldn’t understand it. Neither did his soldiers. What could be so exciting about a game that didn’t even feature any fighting? It looked like they were just hitting some kind of ball toy.
"All of you humans. It is time that you return to our scheduled drinking," said the general. "This time, we will beat you and you will black out!"
However, his words were just drowned out by the words coming from the television screen. No one was even listening to him. They were all just intently focused on the game as if their lives depended on it.
They weren’t even this serious when they were fighting just a few days ago!
Angry, the Red Mankey general blurted out; "what is even with this game?! It’s childish and simple! Meant only for boys. Now why don’t we go out there and drink like men?!"
Immediately, the whole room turned ice cold. They could cut the tension with the knife. And immediately, the Red Mankey general noticed his mistake. He had plucked a sensitive nerve.
"Simple?"
"Childish?"
"Easy?!"
The human soldiers couldn’t believe what they’d heard. Baseball was the national sport of their Nation. They lived and breathed the bat. They couldn’t let the demi-humans disrespect that. And the fact that they’d been away from home for months at a time meant that they were even more passionate about baseball.
"Alright, why don’t we play and see if it’s really all that simple?
The Red Mankey general eventually nodded his head. "Sure! We’ll defeat you, and we can finally go back to drinking!"
...
...
...
It didn’t take long for the Red Mankeys to stumble onto the ground, gasping for breath, as they were defeated in baseball 100-0.
They knew the rules. They saw how it was meant to be played. However, they just can’t seem to hit any of the balls that the pitcher threw at them.
"That’s cheating! That ball is definitely filled with magic!" the general cried out.
"Oh, you haven’t even seen a ball thrown with magic," said the human soldier. "That’s just a good, old-fashioned change-up."
"Baseball isn’t just about strength. It’s about spirit!" said the human soldiers.
It was at this point that the Red Mankeys were absolutely ashamed of their humiliation. Every competition and game they played against the humans were completely one-sided. And Red Mankeys were supposed to be the superior race!
"Um sir!" said one of the Red Mankey general’s scouts. "You have an urgent message from the Kingdom. The council of Mankeys are requesting your presence."
"Damn those old fools!" the general shouted. "Do you want to go listen to another lecture from those boneheads, or do you want to go and practice baseball?"
The Red Mankeys immediately answered, "baseball."
"Good," said the general. "We aren’t leaving here until we at least score a run against them!"
One of his soldiers came up to him. "But sir. They have an extreme advantage against us. They know how experts play it. While we don’t even know how to use the proper tactics."
This made the general ponder and ruminate. "You’re right. That is unfair."
So, he walked up to one of the soldiers and said, "how can we get to see one of those baseball games in the tele... telebisyon?"
"Television?" the soldier corrected. "Well, we play regular season baseball on the TV every night. But if you want to watch other baseball games, perhaps some from previous competitions, then you’ll need your own phone."
"Phone..." the general muttered.
...
...
...
Michael was truly surprised to see that the Red Mankey general came to see him so soon.
"I need one of those... phones," said the general.
"You know about it?" Michael asked.
"I have heard of this term before," said the general. "Our monarch was able to get their hands on it. But I always thought that they were just useless pieces of junk.
I didn’t know that you can watch baseball games with it... and that it can be used to buy beer. Or food."
Smiling, Michael nodded. "That’s right. But it can do so much more than that. You’ll definitely want to purchase one for yourself."
"... how can I acquire this... phone?"
Such a fortunate turn of events for Michael. He immediately took advantage of the situation. "Well, phones are quite important for our nation. Limited quantity, you see.
That’s why we are only allowing our allies to purchase them from us."
The Red Mankey general pursed his lips. "I see..."
"You can form an alliance with us. You’ve seen our soldiers. Our men. We’re not as bad as you think we are. I hope you see that we’re different."
"I do," the Red Mankey replied. "I... I have come to appreciate your company in this jungle.
I cannot speak for the entirety of the demi-human kingdom. But... me, personally. I want to become allies with you humans."