54: Chapter 54 Cleverly Obtaining Red Dates

Chen Ze scanned his surroundings rapidly.

He discovered that the total number of the monkey troop was far more than the seven or eight he had just seen; many more monkeys had been hiding deep within the dense, layered branches of the jujube tree, only they had been quietly lurking and hadn't shown themselves until now.

A rough glance revealed that there were over twenty mutated Macaques hiding in the entire jujube tree, and excluding the cubs, they were all E-grade mutated beasts.

At this moment, the entire monkey troop's attention was focused on the two fighting monkey kings. Dense, brownish figures clung to various branches, each one peeking and poking, with restless, low, "he-he" growls rising and falling.

And those two largest monkey kings were currently testing each other frantically; if you move forward, I retreat, and if you change branches, I immediately chase after you.

Wary of each other, neither dared to initiate a fight to the death first, relying only on intimidation to force the other back.

Seeing this, an idea suddenly came to Chen Ze's mind.

If he couldn't confront them head-on, he would outsmart them.

"You like to fight, don't you? Then I'll add some fuel to the fire and make you fight to the death!"

In an instant, a perfect plan emerged in his mind.

He wanted to provoke these two most powerful monkeys and make them fight to the death; only then could he take advantage of the chaos to take those red jujubes on the ground.

"Fatty, I'm going to change my position in a moment to see if I can make those two biggest monkey kings fight! If it succeeds, watch the situation and sneak to the bottom of the tree, then find a way to collect those red jujubes that just fell!"

Chen Ze didn't say these words out loud; he sent them using the system's private chat function.

Fatty saw the private message, his eyes lit up, and he quietly turned his head to look at the two monkey kings confronting each other in the canopy. He gently tapped his bulging backpack with his fingertips and replied to Chen Ze via private chat.

"Don't worry, Brother Ze, I understand!"

Chen Ze nodded, pointed to an ancient tree not far away to signal he was going there, and then quietly sneaked forward.

The reason he wanted to separate from Fatty and go in two different directions was simple.

If the plan didn't succeed and he was discovered, Chen Ze would only need to make a noise and flee quickly; the monkey troop on the trees would likely follow the sound and chase after him.

By then, regardless of whether Fatty needed to escape or collect red jujubes during the chaos, the difficulty would be greatly reduced.

A moment later, Chen Ze finally moved to the side of that ancient tree. The sturdy trunk was thick enough for seven or eight people to wrap their arms around; this was his best cover.

He held the F-grade crossbow in his hand, quietly poked his head out, and looked for the best moment to act.

Meanwhile, after their initial testing, the atmosphere between the two monkey kings had reached a breaking point.

The Macaque with the larger size and higher attributes was indeed the Old Monkey King. At this moment, its hind legs exerted force, and it leaped, jumping directly onto a branch in front of the Big Male Monkey that was provoking it. The two were separated by less than half a meter, fangs exposed, and their low, "he-he" growls made the surrounding branches and leaves tremble slightly.

The Big Male Monkey was not afraid in the least; it also arched its body, its stiff, brownish hair standing on end, and roared loudly.

A battle for the monkey kingship was always dangerous. Both monkeys knew that once defeated, death was inevitable, so neither was willing to make the first move.

Seeing this, a cold glint flashed in Chen Ze's eyes. He quietly reached back with one hand, drew the F-grade crossbow from his waist, and nimbly loaded an arrow.

"Then I'll help you out!"

Holding his breath, he pulled the trigger.

"Whoosh!"

A thin, light arrow, covered by the sound of the wind in the forest, silently wove through the layers of intertwined jujube branches and leaves, grazing the outside of the Old Monkey King's thigh perfectly.

The arrow only caused a flesh wound and did not remain on the monkey's body at all.

After firing this arrow, Chen Ze immediately crouched down and retreated behind the ancient tree, hiding himself completely. He only dared to slightly raise his eyes to peer at the canopy through a gap in the tree bark, not even daring to breathe.

The hasty attack just now, with the long distance and the obstruction of branches and leaves, left him with no confidence; he wasn't even sure if he had hit the target.

But unexpectedly, his luck was excellent; not only did he successfully graze the Old Monkey King, but he also left no trace.

In the canopy, severe pain swept through the Old Monkey King's limbs. It let out a piercing "he-he" roar, its hind leg curled subconsciously, and its scarlet gaze was locked tightly onto the Big Male Monkey in front of it.

This challenger was the only one confronting it on the entire branch; given the sudden stinging pain and bleeding, it instinctively assumed the Big Male Monkey had done it.

In an instant, the Old Monkey King could no longer restrain itself and lunged fiercely at the Big Male Monkey.

The Old Monkey King's fifty points of Agility exploded completely; its figure flashed as it charged straight at the Big Male Monkey, its sharp claws mercilessly clawing at the opponent's head.

Seeing the Old Monkey King pounce over like a madman without any warning, the Big Male Monkey's hair stood on end and it roared, kicking off the branch to meet the attack head-on.

"Bang!"

The two overlord-level Macaques immediately wrestled and fought, claws tearing at fur, sharp teeth clashing and biting. The thick branches were shaken violently by the impact, causing masses of spiritual jujubes hanging on the branches to fall, hitting the pile of rotting leaves under the tree with a pattering sound, covering the ground in red.

"Awoo! Awooo! Awoo!~"

The twenty-plus mutated Macaques on the tree instantly became restless and began to clamor, all gathering around the branch where the fighting was happening. Their attention was completely captured by this fight to the death between the monkey kings; not a single mutated beast looked down to check for movement on the ground.

Then again, even if they discovered other animals, they wouldn't deliberately provoke them at this moment.

The monkey kingship battle was currently underway, and this was the most important matter deciding the development of the troop. Whoever won concerned the survival of all mutated Macaques.

Seeing this, Chen Ze, who was hiding behind the ancient tree cover, was overjoyed and immediately gave an OK sign in Fatty's direction.

The latter had been on standby the whole time; upon receiving the order, he didn't hesitate at all and immediately crouched down, moving toward the base of the large jujube tree.

Fatty was still tense at first, guarding against the Macaques overhead at all times. Every time he moved forward a step, he would pause for a moment, looking up to scan overhead to confirm there was no activity.

But after he had sneaked forward a bit while hugging the rotting leaves, he was surprised to find that although many of the Macaques on the tree had already discovered him, the monkey king battle was so intense that not a single monkey was willing to spare the attention to come down and drive him away.

A few young monkeys on the lower branches just glanced at Fatty, let out two faint "he-he" sounds, and immediately turned their eyes back to the two monkey kings fighting above.

"Damn it! Forget it!"

Seeing this, how could Fatty hesitate? He strode directly toward the jujube tree, and suddenly, the ground full of red jujubes appeared before him.

[Ding! e-grade red jujube detected! Consuming it can increase all attributes by 1 point, up to a limit of 8. Do you want to collect it?]

"Holy crap! Good stuff!"

Fatty's eyes instantly went wide, and he was ecstatic.

E-grade fruit? Each one increases all attributes by one point? This thing would be worth at least two or three hundred survival coins at the Trading House, right?

Looking at the ground again, it was densely covered with a thick layer; glowing red spiritual jujubes were rolling everywhere. A rough glance showed at least a hundred of them!

Fatty felt that he was a big fat mouse at this moment; he had fallen headfirst into a rice jar!

[Ding! Collected e-grade red jujube * 1]

[Ding! Collected e-grade red jujube * 1]

[Ding! Collected e-grade red jujube * 3, rotten e-grade red jujube * 2!]

Fatty's brain hadn't quite switched gears at first, and he only picked the fresh red jujubes to collect, but after picking a few, he realized.

What time is it now? Who cares if they are good or rotten, just take them all first!

As for those Macaques overhead, he felt very secure; he believed that Chen Ze would definitely keep an eye on things for him.

This time, Fatty really didn't care about anything else; he scooped them into his backpack by the handful, grabbing five or six at a time, and the system notification sound rang incessantly.

He shouted in his heart.

"Mine! Mine! They're all mine!"