73: The Darkest Hour of the Ape Ruler

The next few days were arguably the darkest moments of the Ape Leader's life.

Whether it was eating, sleeping, using the toilet, or trying to engage in sexual activity, that sharp pain would always strike unexpectedly. It hadn't slept for several days straight.

Even when drunk, the pain would suddenly jolt it awake, making it the strongest hangover cure.

The other party had completely given up the pretense; they had laid their cards on the table and were determined to torment it.

However, this wasn't Lin Chuan's doing; he didn't have the leisure to monitor a monkey's life 24 hours a day.

The one capable of such heinous deeds was naturally Old Black. After telling Old Black not to overdraw the Gray Snake's Soul energy, Lin Chuan left it alone.

Ever since its 'toy' was crushed by Qin Yan, it hadn't found its former joy.

Although the Gray Snake was powerful, Old Black found it not very fun.

Until Lin Chuan returned the Gray Snake's operational control to it, just as he had given it the 'toy' statue previously.

"Only Master knows how to have fun!" Old Black thought to itself.

It had had the Gray Snake for so long, yet couldn't think of anything this fun... "Ooh..."

Inside the Ape Leader's cave, another pained howl echoed.

The Ape Leader's eyes were bloodshot, saliva dripped from its mouth, its gaze was dull, and it continuously struck its own head.

Even if it didn't eat, sleep, or use the toilet... doing absolutely nothing, just sitting there, that sharp pain would still come unexpectedly.

It began to doubt again: maybe nothing was harming it; it was just sick.

Yes, it was sick, its head was sick! So, it needed to replenish its head... eat heads... As it pondered, the Ape Leader left its dwelling and entered a nearby rock cave. This was usually where its staunch supporters resided.

Inside the rock cave, a strong Ape saw its leader enter and quickly stepped forward to greet it.

These past few days, the leader's constant howling had made the monkey troop below restless, causing them to lose sleep for days.

As it approached, before it could even stand firm, it saw a fervent desire erupt in the leader's eyes... Could it be?

Subsequently, it lost consciousness.

Its head was smashed by the Ape Leader's punch, red and white, like ice cream, and was grabbed and eaten by the Ape Leader.

Perhaps it was a psychological effect, or perhaps Old Black had gone to sleep.

During this time, the headache temporarily stopped.

It works... it really works... not enough.

The Ape Leader went into one cave after another... By the time Lin Chuan finally cleared the single-player game on his phone and remembered to check the situation, the sight in the caves utterly stunned him.

As far as his eyes could see, there were Ape corpses with shattered heads everywhere. In the distance, the remaining Apes roared continuously at the Ape Leader.

Their eyes held both resentment and fear.

Their leader had gone mad, continuously devouring the heads of its own kind.

By the time some monkeys realized what was happening, no less than a hundred Apes had already met their demise.

This had completely broken their bottom line of obedience to a Commander Rank or leader, and they directly began to resist.

The resistance naturally had an effect; under the desperate attacks of hundreds of Apes, the Ape Leader suffered significant injuries, continuously coughing up fresh blood.

As for the monkey troop, it had already lost more than half its numbers.

If they continued to fight, there was a risk of the entire species dying out.

However, the monkey troop was unwilling to abandon this territory.

Now, having lost their leader, if they roamed in the wild, they would all become food for other Yao Beasts within a day.

The situation was at a stalemate until a [Soul Spike] broke the silence.

"..."

"Old Black, was that you?"

"No..."

"Don't tell me it wasn't. I only played games for two or three days, and you nearly wiped out this monkey troop."

"Just now..."

"Cough cough..."

Just now, Lin Chuan couldn't resist and habitually launched one.

"┗ | ｀ O ′ | ┛ Aooo~~"

The Ape Leader's howl completely shattered the monkey troop's psychological defense, and they scattered, fleeing out of the cave.

If they continued to fight, they would truly all be wiped out.

In a flash, the monkey troop had all fled, leaving only the Ape Leader raging impotently inside the cave.

With no monkey brains to eat, that damned headache returned.

"Eat poisonous mushrooms, eating poisonous mushrooms can relieve it..."

At this moment, such a thought inexplicably flashed through the Ape Leader's mind.

In its cognition, those poisonous mushrooms were not to be eaten; this was something the entire troop had discovered through the lives of countless monkeys. Which ones could be eaten and which could not was etched into their genes.

However, this thought kept lingering in its head, influencing it.

As long as it ate the poisonous mushrooms, its head wouldn't hurt... Fighting poison with poison, it seemed to make some sense...

Lin Chuan didn't know if it could be poisoned to death, but he had to try.

If it still couldn't be poisoned to death, Lin Chuan would let Old Black try.

Next, was the Ape Leader's weakest moment.

Its Soul was injured, its body severely wounded, and it had also eaten poisonous mushrooms.

If he didn't even try this, he would be too cowardly.

Moreover, Lin Chuan had the Gray Snake as a trump card; if he couldn't win, it could cover his retreat... Lin Chuan rushed towards the cave while observing the situation with the Ape Leader.

Seeing it truly eat a handful of poisonous mushrooms, he then brought Old Black into the cave.

Venturing alone into a Commander-level Demon Beast's cave was something Lin Chuan couldn't have imagined before.

There was no other way; the temptation was simply too great.

The moment Lin Chuan stepped into the Ape cave, the pair of bloodshot eyes underground instantly sensed him.

The master only told it to protect Lin Chuan, but if the other party sought death himself, what should it do in such a situation?

So annoying!

Thus, in a place Lin Chuan didn't notice, an ant-sized insect suddenly jumped onto his pant leg. He was completely unaware.

Inside the cave, Lin Chuan was already familiar with the path, like coming home.

Along the underground river, Lin Chuan carefully watched his surroundings.

He wasn't worried about the Ape Leader, but rather careful that other 'traitors' hadn't fled but were hiding in the rock cave.

Fortunately, everything was normal.

Arriving at the previous battlefield, the strong smell of blood almost made Lin Chuan vomit.

Forcing down his nausea, Lin Chuan quickly acted. Elite Rank Yao Beasts disappeared the moment he touched them, transforming into two kinds of fruits.

Lin Chuan didn't even have time to see how much could be transformed; he just absorbed every corpse he saw.

Even if he couldn't kill the Ape Leader later, this trip was a huge gain.

Finally, Lin Chuan arrived within a hundred meters of the Commander Rank.

At this moment, the Ape Leader's aura was weak, and it was foaming at the mouth, as if it could die at any moment.

"Old Black, go and try!"

"???"

Old Black gave Lin Chuan a look that said, 'Are you messing with me?'

"Go, kill him, and you can be promoted to Silver Rank."

Lin Chuan wasn't sure.

However, even so, Old Black still hesitated.

Ultimately, it had to obey orders.

[Hardening Armor]

[Accelerated March]

[Elemental Field]

...All useful and useless skill buffs were applied first, then Old Black directly charged towards the Ape Leader's head.

"Bang..."

The two had a solid, intimate collision.

The Ape Leader was directly knocked dozens of meters away, rolled a few times on the ground, and then, surprisingly, stumbled to its feet.

As for Old Black, for the first time, it felt like it had a concussion, feeling dizzy.

"Roar..."

The Ape Leader lowered its head, letting out a roar of unknown meaning.