59: Chapter 59 Contract Scroll

Two blazing suns hung high in the sky, scorching the air until it rippled, as if it might ignite at any moment.

Chen Ze and Fatty had been lying outside the Light Barrier for over half an hour; anyone unaware might think they were just sunbathing.

"Brother Ze, do you think that group of Macaques has left yet?"

Fatty wiped away the hot sweat streaming down his face as he spoke.

"I don't know, it's too far to see clearly!"

Chen Ze squinted at the spot where the Big Male Monkey had fallen. Even though his vision now exceeded that of an ordinary person, it was still hard to make out the situation from two or three hundred meters away.

Fatty grew impatient upon hearing this.

"How about I go in and check? If the troop hasn't left, I'll retreat immediately!"

Chen Ze turned his head and stared fixedly at Fatty, making the other man feel a bit unnerved.

"What's wrong, Brother Ze? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm looking at how you never seem to learn!"

Chen Ze's expression was solemn, devoid of his previous lightheartedness.

"Your total stats are only 20 points. Do you really think you could run away if you encountered the troop?"

"But we just..."

Fatty muttered, but Chen Ze cut him off immediately.

"Just what? If the troop hadn't been worried about the Big Male Monkey's final desperate struggle, do you think they would have been running so slowly?"

Chen Ze glanced at Fatty and continued.

"My Agility is only 38 points, and there are countless monkeys with over 30 points. Plus, they are beasts by nature. Once they run at full speed, they could probably cover a hundred meters in less than 5 seconds. Do you really think you could escape?"

Fatty was rendered speechless by Chen Ze's retort, could only scratch his head in embarrassment, and didn't dare to speak again.

Seeing this, Chen Ze's tone softened slightly.

"Remember, you are no longer that dung beetle guarding a portable toilet. You are one of my own people, cultivated with my resources. If you gamble with your life on such unnecessary risks, you are simply not taking me, your boss, seriously!"

Fatty's ears burned, filled with both guilt and lingering fear, and he replied in a low voice.

"I was wrong, Brother Ze. I was impulsive and didn't think it through!"

Chen Ze nodded lightly and looked back toward the forest.

"Stay here and be sensible. My Agility is high, so I'll go in and take a look. I'll call out to you if there's any situation."

"Alright! I understand!"

The two observed quietly for another ten minutes, but the entire woodland remained deathly silent, without a sound.

Chen Ze shouldered his f-grade backpack, gripped his Tang Dao tightly, and crossed that faint Light Barrier once more.

As soon as he entered, Chen Ze crouched down, lowering his profile significantly.

(Writing this, the author couldn't help but think of their own experience playing battle royale games—you truly lower your profile automatically the moment you enter the core zone, hahaha!)

He crept forward carefully, following the tracks he had made previously.

The view was open along the way; the tree trunks and bushes on both sides were clean, with no signs of recent Macaque activity like fresh claw marks or monkey fur.

"Looks like those guys really didn't chase after us!"

Chen Ze felt slightly relieved and continued to scout ahead.

Despite it being only a short distance of just over two hundred meters, he kept his body low, stepped lightly on the fallen leaves, and repeatedly scanned the surrounding tree branches and blind spots. It took him a full ten minutes to reach the edge of the clearing.

Looking up, the center of the clearing was a mess. Dried, blackened blood had stained a large area red, and two Macaque corpses lay quietly right in the middle.

One was the one-eyed Big Male Monkey; he was now a bloody mess.

His fur was already matted against his skin by the dried blood, and hideous, deep lacerations covered his entire body, some revealing bone. In many places, the flesh was turned outward, forming a layer of dark brown scabs under the scorching heat of the two suns.

Tragic! Truly tragic!

The other body was not the Old Monkey King; it was much smaller.

Chen Ze guessed it was just some unlucky monkey from the troop that had been bitten to death during the Big Male Monkey's final struggle.

"This guy is really fierce!"

Chen Ze sighed inwardly, straightened up, and looked around. Confirming there were no signs of any other beasts, he cautiously approached.

He poked the two corpses with his Tang Dao and found no reaction at all.

Well, they must be dead through and through.

Having made his assessment, he acted quickly. It would be a real shame if the smell of blood attracted large carnivores.

Chen Ze walked up to the corpses, and as his hand touched the small monkey, the system prompt rang out immediately.

[Ding, E-grade mutant Macaque corpse detected!]

[Harvesting can yield E-grade beast meat * 10, E-grade beast tendon * 5, E-grade beast hide * 1, E-grade beast bone * 8, E-grade beast core * 1]

[Harvest?]

"Harvest!"

Chen Ze didn't hesitate and clicked confirm.

Instantly, several types of materials appeared in his backpack.

"Whoa, a huge drop!"

He hadn't expected one Macaque to drop so many materials. Compared to the E-grade flying ants from last time, it was like night and day.

Not daring to delay, he proceeded to harvest the Big Male Monkey's corpse.

Chen Ze reached out to touch the latter, but unexpectedly, the system prompt did not sound.

He thought there might be a bug at first, so he tried touching its shoulders, limbs, and head several times, but still, there was no reaction.

While puzzled, he moved his palm down, and his fingertips accidentally touched the area of the Big Male Monkey's heart.

"Thump... thump..."

It was an extremely faint heartbeat!

"Holy crap! This beast is still alive!"

Chen Ze's hair stood on end. He took a massive step back, and his Tang Dao was unsheathed in an instant.

Perhaps because Chen Ze's movement was too abrupt, the Big Male Monkey's eyelids twitched slightly, and then it struggled to open a slit.

It just looked at Chen Ze calmly, without baring its teeth or making any other movements.

[Ding! E-grade Macaque with strong intent to submit detected. Contract?]

[Note! Contracting requires a Taming Scroll * 1]

Chen Ze was stunned. He subconsciously pulled back the Tang Dao he had been holding in front of him, his eyes filled with astonishment.

He never imagined that such a ferocious Big Male Monkey would voluntarily offer to submit to him.

But he didn't have a Taming Scroll!

Chen Ze remembered that the one he used for Fatty was called an "Affiliation Scroll." As for this "Taming Scroll," he had never even heard of it.

He opened the system Trading House and searched for "Taming Scroll."

The result was as Chen Ze expected: nothing!

Thinking about it, it made sense. Who would easily part with something that was obviously a treasure?

"Such a good pet, can it only be killed for materials?"

Chen Ze scratched his head, his brain whirring as he desperately tried to think of any other channel to obtain a Taming Scroll.

Right now, the Big Male Monkey was critically injured, its heartbeat weak, and it wouldn't last long. If he missed this opportunity, it would be impossible to tame such a powerful mutant beast again.

Just as he was at his wit's end, a private chat window suddenly popped up.

AAA Building Materials Boss Gao: "Brother Yunlong, do you have any food with stats on hand? If you do, please sell some more to your brother. A big client needs it urgently; I'm really out of options."

Oh, isn't this "Honest Merchant" Old Gao? He hoards all kinds of goods; maybe he really is hiding a Taming Scroll!

Shanghai Li Yunlong: "Manager Gao, stat fruits are easy to talk about, but do you have a "Taming Scroll"? The kind that can sign a contract with a mutant beast?"

The message was sent, and the reply came almost instantly.

AAA Building Materials Boss Gao: "Thanks, Brother Yunlong! I've never even heard of that 'Taming Scroll' you mentioned. I do have a few 'Affiliation Scrolls', though."

Seeing the reply, Chen Ze's heart went completely cold.

"Sigh, Big Male Monkey, oh Big Male Monkey, I have no choice, don't blame me!"

Chen Ze sighed, walked slowly toward the Big Male Monkey, and raised his Tang Dao high.

The second before the blade was about to fall, the private chat notification rang urgently once more.

AAA Building Materials Boss Gao: "Brother! I just asked that big client, he has it! He has a Taming Scroll in his hand!"