The Natives of This World Are Fierce

"So you really were just pretending to be unconscious!"

Doudou looked furious.

"I was going to keep you as a pet, but you tricked me! You hurt my feelings! Red Demoness! I'm going to make monkey stew!"

"Alright!"

The Red Demoness answered instantly.

THWACK! A lump swelled up on Doudou's forehead at a speed visible to the naked eye. He clutched his head and glared at the monkey, still fuming as if he were adding this new injury to its tab.

"Stew my foot! You're telling me you didn't know it was faking? You're just purely trying to get the monkey killed!"

Doudou's little ploy was child's play to Qin Xiaoxia. Besides, it wasn't like Qin Xiaoxia planned on keeping the monkey as a pet anyway.

After giving Doudou a knock on the head, he offered the Monkey King a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, you're safe now. No one here can eat you except for me."

The monkey certainly wasn't yet at the god-like level of understanding human speech, but that didn't stop it from feeling an instinctive fear.

But when Qin Xiaoxia reached out, merely wanting to stroke its glossy fur, the monkey freaked out, its fur standing on end.

It didn't dare attack, but it knew when to run!

It stomped its foot, shattering the ground into a shallow crater, and transformed into a golden shadow as it fled toward the riverbank, where the bizarre vegetation was less dense.

"It got away so quickly!"

Su Su exclaimed.

The Monkey King's explosion from stillness into motion wasn't necessarily at some unbelievable speed, but the suddenness of it felt incredibly fast, like a car unexpectedly roaring past.

Because the Secret Realm was currently open and highly integrated with the real environment, light, the scent of flowers, the songs of birds, and the wind from the outside world could all pass through. The Monkey King had no idea it was trapped.

The Great Macaque fled at top speed, covering a huge distance in just a few bounds. Strangely, the group of "monsters" didn't pursue it. 'Did they give up, knowing they can't catch me?'

'All the better for me!'

It ran as if on the wind, each footfall tearing up chunks of turf. Dangerous vines snaked toward it from the front, but even at this speed, the monkey's movements remained exceptionally nimble.

SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH—

A dozen green vines whipped through the air, striking at the Monkey King from every angle.

The monkey rolled, leaped, and even used some of the vines for leverage before they could redirect, escaping the assault with little effort.

"This monkey's incredible!"

"Hmph. I wasn't allowed to move the flowers!"

Mumu muttered, looking a little peeved.

To be precise, of all the vegetation, only one type of vine had been set in motion. If the flowers had also attacked, the monkey would have been instantly overwhelmed.

The river was just ahead. To the Monkey King's eyes, the water and the opposite bank were free of these dangerous things.

The increasing number of vines closing in to block its path only reinforced the monkey's illusion: if it could just break through, it would be home free.

It leaped and dodged, only to be suddenly ensnared by two vines. The monkey grabbed one with both its hands and the other with both its feet, the muscles under its fur bulging with explosive power.

"ROAR—"

The furious roar was deafening, its power immense.

But... it didn't snap them.

With their freakishly sharp vision, Qin Xiaoxia and the others all saw the monkey visibly falter for a second.

Then the Great Macaque opened its mouth in a vicious snarl, baring its gleaming fangs.

CRUNCH, CRUNCH. With a few frenzied bites, combined with the immense strength of its limbs, it finally snapped the vines and escaped before more Demon Vines could surround it.

"Incredible, truly incredible! What a set of teeth!"

Qin Xiaoxia started to clap, and the Red Demoness followed suit with a smile. Su Su clapped in genuine admiration. The only ones not clapping were Mumu and Doudou.

Tumbling and flipping, it finally escaped the "danger zone," now just a step away from the river.

"ROOOOAR—AHHH—"

The macaque's cry had only a hint of a normal monkey in it; for the most part, it sounded as savage as a wild beast.

Its powerful leg muscles tensed and released, and with a mighty leap, it intended to jump straight across the river.

The air ahead seemed to carry the taste of freedom.

Then, for a single instant, the Great Macaque thought it saw layers of a web-like, shimmering light flash in the air not far ahead.

It had no concept of what this could be, and no time to figure it out.

"THWUMP—"

The monkey's four limbs, tail, and head were all sucked flat against the Secret Realm Wall, spread-eagled in a perfect star shape.

It was as if it had been stuck there with super glue; it couldn't budge an inch.

It tried to open its mouth to roar, but its face was pressed so tightly against the Secret Realm Wall that all it could manage was the 'Eeek! Aack!' shriek of a common monkey.

"BWAHAHAHA—"

"HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH—"

This time, it was Doudou and Mumu's turn to laugh themselves silly.

A few seconds later, the terrified Great Macaque, still frozen in the same pose, was moved back to the very spot where it had been playing dead.

"This monkey really is showing signs of a Magic Awakening. The power it just unleashed clearly isn't something a newly evolved creature should have."

Qin Xiaoxia clicked his tongue, amazed.

While he hadn't traveled all that widely, he did have high-level intelligence sources within the special divisions of two major nations.

In a world where even Evolvers were exceedingly rare, and other Magic Awakeners were nowhere to be seen, this Great Macaque was somehow showing potential.

If left to its own devices, it might awaken by chance in a few months to a year and a half, if it was lucky. If not, it might never awaken at all. But at the end of the day, it now had Hope.

"By the way, this monkey is smart enough, wouldn't you say?"

Its earlier escape attempt may have seemed a bit naive, but it was understandable. After all, any normal monkey would assume that sticking around meant certain doom.

Su Su and the Red Demoness both nodded with a smile. Doudou and Mumu didn't object, which was a tacit agreement.

The reason Qin Xiaoxia asked this was based on an interesting idea that had been floating in his mind ever since he learned of this monkey's existence.

Macaques have the vocal range to produce human-like sounds. The reason they can't speak, besides a lack of training, is a fundamental lack of the neural pathways needed to organize language.

But this monkey was smart enough that it likely didn't have that barrier.

In other words, even if the Monkey King hadn't awakened its Magic Power and couldn't master grammar like Mumu, it still had the physical requisites to speak.

"Doudou."

Hearing his older cousin call him, Doudou reluctantly walked over to the Great Macaque. He squatted down and made a few chopping gestures over the monkey's body, as if satisfying a fake craving for dicing it up.

"That's enough. With what little strength you have, you probably couldn't even break the skin if it lay there and let you chop it."

Doudou bristled.

"The Red Demoness would be glad to help me! All she has to do is move her hair!"

The Red Demoness playfully gave Doudou a salute, signaling her obedience.

"Alright, alright... I'll buy you some Golden Monkey candy and get you some lion's mane mushrooms. Now, go on, grant it the link of understanding."

Qin Xiaoxia produced a Gold Coin, pinching it in his fingers.

Then Qin Xiaoxia turned to Su Su.

"Your Magic Power's characteristics have finally 'passed muster.' I expect your long-delayed physical Spiritualization will arrive soon enough."

"I'm giving you a choice now. You can either continue to diligently learn the knowledge of Magic Patterns, one step at a time, or you can take a shortcut by using the power of a Wish to gain that understanding instantly."

Su Su froze for a moment.

"What about the others?"

"Heh, the power of a Wish is precious. Knowledge gained through study is far more valuable for being hard-won. You have this choice as a small privilege for being the first graduate I've officially recognized."

Sister Su's lips parted slightly, their color threatening to change again. But as happy as she was, she was even more determined not to lose face in front of her Mentor.

"Thank you, Mentor. As a disciple of a Sage, only a path I've forged myself, step by step, will be one that doesn't bring you shame!"

'Mm, just as I expected.'

"Good. I wasn't wrong about you!"

He smiled and nodded at Sister Su, as if his offer had merely been a small test.

Qin Xiaoxia offered Su Su one more light compliment before tossing the Gold Coin to Doudou, motioning for him to get to work.

Strictly speaking, this was the first time Su Su had witnessed Doudou's power and observed Wish Magic Power up close.

'The little guy I thought was just a troublemaker is actually this strong,' she thought. 'As the Mentor's younger cousin, he's the real deal!'

The Gold Coin was tossed into the air, where it hovered.

"Eemodo fasaluruman~"

As the Magic Language was spoken, the wondrous Gold Coin instantly dissipated, forging a link between Doudou and the Monkey King.

The Great Macaque felt a vibration that seemed to originate from the depths of its soul, spreading from its heart throughout its body. A wave of dizziness washed over it, and when it passed, the world seemed to have become much clearer.

Many new concepts had faintly taken root in its mind, waiting to be triggered by a specific event.

'What just happened?'

The monkey shook its head and realized it could move again, but it didn't get up.

The grass smelled fresher, its vision was sharper, and the wind seemed to whisper in its ear. Everything was different.

"So, monkey," Qin Xiaoxia asked with a smile, "can you understand what I'm saying now?"

The macaque on the ground shuddered, got up from its prone position, and stared dumbfounded at Qin Xiaoxia.

The Monkey King was clearly stunned by this sudden change and hadn't fully processed it yet. But the shock of being able to understand human speech was greater than all the other new sensations combined!

"How am I..."

The monkey started to speak but stopped immediately, its expression one of pure astonishment. Its limbs went rigid. Like a puppet, it pointed to its own mouth, then at Qin Xiaoxia.

"That's right. You can speak now. Feels pretty good, doesn't it?"

With this second confirmation, its expression rapidly shifted into a mixture of astonishment, excitement, and pure joy. Even its fur trembled as if it had been zapped by electricity.

"I can speak? I can speak! Bwahahaha... I can speak!!!"

A monkey is a monkey, after all. Overcome with excitement, it forgot all about its fear. It leaped thirty feet straight up, flailing its arms and legs wildly in midair.

But as it landed, its shrewdness returned. It dropped to its knees before Qin Xiaoxia, imitating the prostrations it had seen humans perform at certain spots in the Baiyun Mountain scenic area.

An animal's spirit knows gratitude. Everyone present could sense its genuine joy and thankfulness, even though it was mingled with fear.

"What's wrong? Still scared? Do you want to leave or not? If you want to return to the mountains, I can let you go."

Qin Xiaoxia put on a profound, inscrutable expression.

"Someone in my position wouldn't deign to lie to you."

The entire Secret Realm was trembling slightly, and the surrounding flowers, grass, and trees were all swaying gently, as if the environment itself was responding to his words.

Doudou stared at the ground as if deep in meditation, the Red Demoness toyed with her hair, and Su Su and Mumu just kept nodding emphatically.

'Go back? Back to that mountain? My Monkey Race is in those mountains!'

It was impossible for the Monkey King not to be tempted. But then it remembered the powerful monster that had nearly killed it, the people who had captured it, and the terror it had felt upon arriving here.

It was the king of the Baiyun Mountain monkeys, but in reality, it was nothing!

"I... I want to stay!"

The monkey gritted its teeth. Instinct told it that only here could it gain true freedom—and the power to protect it!

"Excellent! So a monkey can be taught after all!"

Qin Xiaoxia was very happy.

"Since you can speak and your intelligence is no different from a human's, you can't go without a name."

Thinking of the designation the Special Security Team had given this anomaly, he felt a sense of destiny at play. Qin Xiaoxia broke into a knowing smile.

"A monkey... a monkey... since you are a monkey, your surname shall be Sun. The people who captured you gave you a codename, and I think it makes for a fine name. It marks a new beginning for you. How about it... shall we call you Sun Wukong?"

The muscles around the monkey's mouth quivered with excitement, and its breath came in rapid, shuddering gasps.

'Does this mean I can stay? With a proper identity? Without being threatened by that little brat! This means... future possibilities!'

"Sun Wukong? Sun Wukong! I have a name—!!"

The monkey's roar echoed throughout the entire Secret Realm.