73: Chapter 73 The Pilgrim Sun

After a thorough wash, Chen Ze felt much more relaxed.

Just then, Wang Yalan's voice came from downstairs.

"Brother Ze, the Big Male Monkey is awake!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Ze paused, a flash of excitement in his eyes, and immediately rushed downstairs.

In the first-floor hall of the Blockhouse, the Big Male Monkey's bed was placed right next to Fatty's, intended for Fatty to take care of it.

At this moment, the Big Male Monkey was still lying limply on the bed, covered from head to toe in medical gauze.

Compared to yesterday, when it was on the verge of death with only shallow breaths, its condition had clearly improved significantly.

Its originally dull and lifeless single eye was much clearer, and its chest rose and fell evenly, no longer having that weak, precarious breathing that seemed like it could stop at any moment.

However, the guy was currently staring vigilantly at Fatty, occasionally making "Woo-woo!" sounds, as if warning Fatty.

Seeing Chen Ze come down, Fatty immediately started complaining.

"Brother Ze, look at this guy. I didn't get any sleep all night yesterday, I took care of it the whole night, and yet the moment it wakes up, it bares its fangs and snarls at me! It's so ungrateful!"

Chen Ze chuckled.

"This is my contracted beast; isn't it normal for it to be fierce towards you?"

"Huh? Brother Ze, that's so hurtful. Aren't I your contracted human? In terms of seniority, we should be good brothers!"

Wang Yalan, who was holding a water bowl nearby, couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle, standing quietly on the side to watch the fun.

The Big Male Monkey seemed to understand their conversation; it stole a glance at the complaining Fatty, then quickly looked at Chen Ze, letting out a small whimper in its throat as if trying to curry favor.

Chen Ze took the water bowl from Wang Yalan and slowly brought it to the Big Male Monkey's mouth, and the latter began to drink in small sips.

"Big Male Monkey, everyone in this Fortress is on our side. You can't attack them, you understand?"

Chen Ze spoke earnestly, sounding just like a kindergarten teacher.

The Big Male Monkey stopped drinking upon hearing this, lifted its single eye, and scrutinized the aggrieved-looking Fatty and then Wang Yalan on the side.

At first, there was still a hint of an unwilling low grunt in its throat, but meeting Chen Ze's calm gaze, its resistance instantly vanished.

It lifted its head and cautiously rubbed against the back of Chen Ze's hand, whimpering softly in its throat, and nodded its head twice, looking as if it understood and had taken note, responding to Chen Ze's instructions.

Seeing it yield, Fatty cautiously leaned in.

He took an e-grade red jujube out of his pocket and held it to the Big Male Monkey's mouth.

"Eat up!"

"From now on, we're good brothers, you know? Don't always glare at me with that single eye of yours. Behave, and Fatty will give you good food!"

The Big Male Monkey looked at Fatty with its single eye, appearing to half-understand, its nose twitching. It was clearly eyeing the e-grade red jujube greedily, but it refused to take a bite, looking completely guarded.

Only when Chen Ze nodded slightly towards it, signaling that it could accept it, did it tentatively lean forward and begin to nibble on the red jujube in his hand in small bites.

As the sweet flesh went down its throat, the Big Male Monkey ate with great satisfaction, but it kept close to Chen Ze's hand the entire time, completely ignoring the attentive Fatty on the side.

Seeing this, Fatty's face instantly fell, and he began to complain aggrievedly.

"Damn! This ungrateful beast, I tried to please it with food and tried my best to build a relationship with it, but it was all a waste of effort! So this monkey only cares about you and doesn't acknowledge anyone else, right?"

Chen Ze patted Fatty's shoulder and said with a smile.

"Of course. The Big Male Monkey is my contracted beast, so naturally, it's closest to me!"

"Fine! It's your contracted beast, you can sleep with it tomorrow. I'm hurt, I'm done serving it!"

Fatty flicked his hand, plopped down heavily onto his bed, turned his back entirely to the Big Male Monkey, and sulked. That aggrieved and petulant look was exactly like Zhu Bajie trying to break up the team.

Chen Ze couldn't help but laugh. He looked down at the Big Male Monkey by his feet and gestured with his chin towards Fatty, signaling it to go over and coax him.

The Big Male Monkey had a passive telepathic connection with Chen Ze and naturally understood what he meant.

It tilted its head, its remaining single eye darting left and right, and on its scar-covered monkey face, a look similar to human helplessness clearly appeared.

Finally, the Big Male Monkey turned to look at Fatty and whimpered softly twice, effectively yielding and showing goodwill.

Upon hearing this, Fatty immediately beamed, turned around, and reached out his chubby hand to stroke the Big Male Monkey's head.

"Hehe! A monkey that corrects its mistakes is still a good monkey. From now on, we're still good brothers!"

Even with its high intelligence, the Big Male Monkey had never seen a human who flipped their mood faster than turning a page.

Just a moment ago, he was full of grievances and throwing a tantrum, and in the blink of an eye, he was affectionately petting its head. It stared straight at Fatty with its single eye, as if carefully trying to figure out what kind of strange creature this person in front of it was, and froze in place, motionless.

Chen Ze and Wang Yalan, watching this comical scene, couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing simultaneously.

"Chen Ze, the Big Male Monkey is awake now. Shouldn't we give it a name so it's easier to call it?"

Wang Yalan suggested.

Chen Ze thought for a moment, and an idea instantly came to mind.

"How about Traveler Sun?"

"Traveler Sun? Like Sun Wukong?"

Fatty subconsciously recited it, and the more he thought about it, the more it rolled off the tongue, so he immediately nodded heavily in agreement.

"That's a great name! Dominating and fitting, perfectly suited for the Big Male Monkey!"

Chen Ze leaned over, stroked the Big Male Monkey's head, and taught it, enunciating each word.

"Remember, from now on, your name is Traveler Sun!"

The Big Male Monkey's ears twitched lightly; it imitated Fatty's previous action, nodded, and then bared its teeth in a grin, indicating that it liked the name.

Chen Ze gently rubbed his forehead.

It's over. With Traveler Sun spending every day with Fatty, who knows what it will turn into~

After taking care of Traveler Sun, the group prepared to eat.

After the commotion last night, Chen Ze thought Wang Yalan had only made something simple, but to his surprise, it was still four dishes and one soup.

Stir-fried seasonal vegetables, lettuce with oyster sauce, dry-pot potato slices, stir-fried meat with chili peppers, and in the middle, a steaming pot of pork rib and tofu pudding soup, smelling fresh and fragrant.

"Sister-in-law, your cooking is absolutely amazing! I feel like the skills of those chefs before the apocalypse weren't even as good as yours."

Fatty had just taken a bite of the lettuce with oyster sauce and immediately gave a thumbs up.

"Not at all, the main reason this dish tastes good is because the ingredients are good!"

Hearing Wang Yalan say this, Chen Ze immediately thought of the f-grade lettuce seeds they had planted earlier.

"Do you mean the f-grade lettuce we planted has matured?"

"Mmhmm! They grew very big! If we ration them, it should be enough for us to eat for several days!"

Wang Yalan used her hands to gesture the size of the lettuce and shared the attributes of the f-grade lettuce with the two of them.

[Item Name: f-grade Lettuce]

[Item Description: Delicious and nutritious, consumption increases all attributes by 2 points! Only effective once!]

Overall, the attributes of the f-grade lettuce are considered quite average, but the texture is exceptionally good!

It has a faint, natural fragrance when eaten, and is incredibly crisp and tender; it absolutely belongs to top-tier ingredients, and it is most suitable to keep for themselves to eat.