129: Silverback King Kong

Pushing aside the last dense bamboo curtain, the view suddenly opened up.

This was a natural clearing on the mountainside, surrounded by towering Hagenia Trees and dense wild bamboo forests. Thick mist, like white gauze, slowly flowed through the forest, adding a touch of prehistoric mystery to the place.

"Over there..."

Lin Xia's voice was extremely low, and her finger trembled slightly as she pointed twenty meters ahead.

Among the fallen bamboo, a dozen massive black figures loomed faintly.

They were Mountain Gorillas.

And an entire large family.

Several adult female gorillas were sitting on the ground, cradling their young, leisurely peeling bamboo shoots. They had fur as black as coal and deep brown eyes, moving slowly and gracefully. Two young gorillas, no bigger than puppies, were rolling and playing on the grass, emitting soft, childish squeals.

This scene was so harmonious and peaceful, as if one had stepped into the fairy tale world of Tarzan of the Apes.

"Good luck."

Jiang Yuan stood still, his gaze sweeping over this group of jungle recluses.

"This must be the Susa family you're looking for, right? I heard they're the largest group in this area."

Lin Xia nodded, so excited she forgot to breathe. She raised her camera, the shutter sound set to silent mode, frantically capturing these precious moments.

However, just then.

Crack!

An extremely crisp, loud snapping sound came from deep within the dense forest to the side.

It wasn't the sound of bamboo breaking; it was the sound of a tree trunk as thick as a thigh being violently snapped.

The gorilla family, which had been playing, instantly fell silent. The female gorillas immediately hugged their young, their eyes showing awe and submission, and quickly retreated to the sides, clearing a path.

A suffocating sense of oppression, accompanied by heavy footsteps, approached step by step.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The ground seemed to tremble slightly.

At this moment, even the air within Jiang Yuan's "Constant Temperature and Dehumidification Force Field" seemed to become a little heavier.

A huge black shadow burst through the white mist and appeared before the two of them.

It was too big.

Standing upright, it was probably close to two meters tall, and its weight definitely exceeded two hundred and fifty kilograms. It had a chest as wide as a wall and arms as thick as hydraulic jacks. Most striking were the silver-white hairs on its back that shimmered in the dim jungle.

Silverback Gorilla.

The absolute leader of this family, and the true king of this Virunga Mountains.

Its pitch-black eyes, deeply set in their sockets, were filled with ferocity and majesty. At this moment, these eyes were fixed on the two uninvited guests who had intruded into its territory.

In its perception, any upright creature that entered this bamboo forest without permission was a potential threat.

"Don't move..."

Lin Xia's face instantly turned pale, and cold sweat trickled down her forehead.

As a professional, she knew all too well the survival rules when facing an enraged silverback.

"Jiang Yuan, whatever you do, don't make eye contact with it!"

She lowered her voice, urgent and terrified: "Lower your head! Squat down! Show submission! Let it know we're not a threat! If you provoke it, it can tear us to shreds like paper!"

As she spoke, Lin Xia instinctively tried to bend down and squat, a biological instinct for humans facing apex predators.

But the next second, she realized Jiang Yuan hadn't moved.

Not only did the man not lower his head or squat, but he even put his hands in his pockets and took a step forward.

This step directly crossed the safety distance.

"Roar—!!!"

This action instantly ignited the Silverback Gorilla's fury.

In its eyes, this was blatant provocation.

The behemoth suddenly stood upright, and in that instant, it seemed to transform into a black iron tower, blocking the faint light above.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Its two huge palms pounded its rock-hard chest like a drum.

The dull, terrifying thudding echoed through the valley, each sound like a blow to one's heart. It opened its gaping maw, revealing two rows of fangs capable of crushing bones, and let out a deafening roar.

Immediately after, it charged.

It was like a heavy tank at full speed.

Dead branches and fallen leaves were pulverized under its feet, and dirt splattered. Two hundred and fifty kilograms of kinetic energy, carrying an earth-shattering momentum, slammed straight towards Jiang Yuan.

Ten meters.

Five meters.

Three meters.

The foul stench, the violent wind pressure, was already upon them.

"Jiang Yuan!!!"

Lin Xia screamed in despair, even closing her eyes, unable to bear watching.

However.

The anticipated collision and scream did not happen.

The world, in this second, seemed to have pressed the pause button.

Lin Xia trembled as she opened her eyes.

She witnessed a scene she would never forget.

The enraged Silverback Gorilla had stopped dead in its tracks, less than half a meter from Jiang Yuan.

Its huge fist was raised in mid-air, its ferocious face mere centimeters from Jiang Yuan's nose.

And Jiang Yuan.

He still had his hands in his pockets, his posture as straight as a pine tree.

He slightly raised his head, his eyes, as deep as the night sky, calmly observing the enraged beast before him.

No fear, no retreat, not even a ripple of emotion.

Only a detached indifference, originating from a higher level of life.

[Third-Order Gene Lock: Biological Pressure: Full Activation]

At this moment, in the Silverback Gorilla's perception, this tiny human before it suddenly changed.

He was no longer a fragile prey.

But a... terrifying monster it had never seen before. That aura was ten thousand times more dangerous than the fiercest lion it had ever encountered, as if if it dared to move another millimeter forward, it would instantly turn to dust.

Animal instincts are often sharper than human ones.

In the silverback's eyes, which had originally been filled with ferocity, the red glow rapidly faded, replaced by deep fear and confusion.

A gurgling sound came from its throat; it was swallowing saliva.

Time seemed to freeze.

In the mist, one human and one beast, just stared at each other in silence.

One was a human armed with modern technology and god-tier genes. The other was the ultimate symbol of power in the primitive jungle.

"Click."

A faint click of a camera shutter broke the suffocating silence.

Lin Xia, driven by her Photographer's instinct, in extreme fear and shock, pressed that decisive shutter button.

The image froze:

The background was a vast white mist and lush green bamboo forest. On the left was a furious, massive, black gorilla with bulging veins. On the right was a small, calm human in white, hands in pockets. Their gazes met in the air, creating an incredibly tense visual impact.

Finally.

The Silverback Gorilla moved.

It slowly lowered its fist, which had been raised in mid-air, and its massive body was no longer tense. It avoided Jiang Yuan's gaze, turning its head to the side—a universal signal of "submission" in the animal kingdom.

Then, this king, who had been so arrogant just moments ago, actually shuffled sideways, carefully retreating two steps like a child who had done something wrong.

It sat down on the ground, grabbed a bamboo shoot nearby, and somewhat awkwardly stuffed it into its mouth, chewing loudly, its eyes never daring to look at Jiang Yuan again.

"Eat your food, I'm not taking it from you."

Jiang Yuan said indifferently.

He reached out, wanting to pat the big guy's head.

The silverback instinctively flinched its neck, but in the end, didn't dare to dodge, allowing the human hand to rest on its weathered silver back fur.

It felt hard, like a steel wool pad.

"Good boy."

Jiang Yuan patted its broad shoulder, then turned around to look at Lin Xia, who was completely petrified.

"Did you get the shot?"

Lin Xia nodded blankly, looking at the divine image on the camera's display, an image worthy of being inscribed in the annals of National Geographic, feeling her soul tremble.