Super Zoo-Chapter 659 - 605: The Invitation to a Duel
"The Mountain Elves King must die!"
After Park Young-myeong expressed his distress that his brother had to die, Panda Yingying and Lele also waved their fists, emitting the strongest cry of rage!
Mountain Elves, the world's largest primate and one of the smartest, are known for their green skin and bright red along their spines. With their faces as red as a leading female character in Peking opera and vibrant special patterns, they appear quite ghoulish at first glance, hence the name Mountain Elves.
As primates, the Mountain Elves, other than having a big colorful face, are actually similar to baboons and gorillas in appearance; but when it comes to fighting abilities, they even surpass these two.
They also have a more volatile character! Monkeys, gorillas, and baboons can be irritable, but most of the time, it's more appropriate to describe them as mischievous.
However, Mountain Elves are fierce and combative, almost cruel. If gorillas and baboons are like naughty children who grow up to be unruly street punks, then Mountain Elves are bona fide members of a criminal gang, cold and heartless with brutal methods...
The most direct proof: adult Mountain Elves are brave and warlike, with long and sharp teeth, razor-like claws, and immense arm strength; they actively hunt fierce predators like tigers!
Actively hunting tigers... Apart from humans, probably only Mountain Elves are capable of such a feat. Even pythons and crocodiles wouldn't attempt this unless they were starving to death.
Visit freёnovelkiss.com for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience.
Of course, Mountain Elves aren't without natural enemies. Leopards are the Mountain Elves' predators, but they pose a threat only to young Mountain Elves. Once the Mountain Elves reach adulthood, even the females, leopards don't dare to attack them—that would be asking for trouble.
In many modern records, Mountain Elves are considered to be African animals, but this is not the case. Huaxia has records of Mountain Elves, or wood guests, since ancient times. This strange-looking, irritable, and as intelligent as humans creature often lurked in the mountains, interacting with humans not infrequently. In many stories, they are even worshipped as Mountain Gods.
One Mountain Elf isn't terrifying, its combat power slightly stronger than a baboon's, but only slightly. Ten Mountain Elves aren't terrifying... But the thing about Mountain Elves is that they are large-scale social animals. According to records, the largest observed Mountain Elves tribe numbered 1,200...
The fleeing animals had encountered a tough nut to crack this time: a Mountain Elves Tribe of about 400 individuals, including at least fifty to sixty adult male Mountain Elves with the strongest combat ability. Plus several dozen females and two to three hundred juveniles and elderly Mountain Elves whose combat power should not be underestimated.
An adult male Mountain Elf could slightly outmatch a leopard in a face-to-face fight. The females were weaker, but two or three together could easily kill a leopard.
Large numbers, strong individuals, and capable of simple coordinated cooperation!
The animal army led by the pandas had run into a solid wall for the first time. Several battles had taken a toll on their forces.
After continuous fighting and recruitment over this period, the panda's troops were not vegetarians... There were herbivores, and there were carnivores.
The two pandas rode on stubby-legged horses, slowly walking through the throng of beasts as if they were inspecting the troops.
After relentless campaigning, the initial group of fleeing animals that ate both meat and greens had expanded to a surprisingly large size.
Dozens of different birds and beasts densely occupied half a valley on the grassland, as if the animals of the entire mountain were gathered here.
In terms of the number of animals alone, the current scale of subordinates under the two pandas had almost surpassed Yangchuan City Zoo!
If someone were to invest, these animals could immediately form the base for a mid-sized zoo!
After several vicious fights over the past few days, both sides had sustained injuries, and the animal army realized they had stirred up trouble with a tough foe.
Mountain Elves were both fierce and barbaric, with domineering personalities. Now, even if they wanted a truce, the hundreds of Mountain Elves wouldn't stand for it.
A major confrontation between the two sides was imminent.
Thousands of animals, including harmless herbivores like wild rabbits and ferocious leaders like grizzly bears and cheetahs, came together, all looking at their commanders, the two pandas, in unison.
The atmosphere was somewhat oppressive, like the calm before a storm.
Panda Lele and Yingying felt the pressure of a mountain!
If there were a head-on clash, the animal army had a stable numerical advantage over the enemy and had all types of troops—it could very well stand up to the Mountain Elves Tribe!
But facing hundreds of strong Mountain Elves, even if they won, it would be a pyrrhic victory!
After a major battle, out of all these comrades who had fought side by side, entrusting their lives to one another, how many would survive, and how many would die?
No, no, no!
Both pandas understood the look in each other's eyes; they enjoyed playing, but they certainly didn't want to send their companions off to certain death.
But now they had provoked the Mountain Elves, and not far away, hundreds of Mountain Elves were eyeing the large group of animals with a death grip, leaving no chance for retreat.
They didn't want to fight, but the Mountain Elves would have none of it.
To fight or not? The grizzly bear leader was rubbing his hands in eagerness!
Let's go for it! The lynx Sun grinned viciously with a fierce smile!
My king, kill, kill, kill! The crocodiles slapped their tails in the mud, letting out silent roars.
...
You can't kill!
The two pandas eventually made a decision.
You can't have a large-scale firefight!
Since the opponent was determined to fight, they would have to solve the problem using a method learned from humans.
The leaders of both sides would engage in single combat!
In the animal kingdom, raw strength commands respect, and the Clan Leader of a tribe is naturally the strongest in combat, relying on that strength to command the group.
The authority of the Clan Leader within the tribe is also unique, with priority rights to food and mating, while all other members must unconditionally obey the Clan Leader's arrangements: unless there is a new challenger to take their place.
Therefore, if they could defeat the other clan's leader in single combat, the Mountain Elves King, who was as tall as a man, they could resolve the conflict peacefully and subdue the Mountain Elves Tribe.
When this proposal was made, there was an uproar among the animal army.
Single combat, are you joking? Aren't they just serving up an easy victory?
Typically, among animal tribes, the strongest is king, but this animal army is quite different. From the beginning, it was led by two pandas whose intelligence surpassed that of other animals by a whole era.
Surviving out here depends on brains.
Although the two pandas were smart, they had never demonstrated any actual combat prowess, even depending on short-legged horse mounts for walking.
Were these two chubby, rolly-polly pandas, with their comically amusing faces, going to fight the Mountain Elves King, who was almost as tall as a human, in single combat? That just seemed like a joke.
Everyone knew that pandas are actually not weak in combat; when they get serious, they can have humans standing on their fists and horses running on their arms with ease, punching the South Mountain senior home and kicking the North Sea kindergarten as if it were nothing—facing even a squad of city management officers with stark resistance...
But the thing is, a panda's strength is in comparison to humans; against weaker bipeds, bullying them is no issue, but when compared to other strong animals, pandas are at no particular advantage.
There are many animals on the scene far stronger than pandas. For example, take the bear lord: against ordinary pandas, one slap could send one flying, and two would take two slaps to send both off flying.
Even crocodiles, leopards, and even lynx descendants vaguely felt that they respected the pandas as their leaders, but if it were strictly about fighting, they thought they were just a bit stronger than the panda leaders.
And since it was a duel, only one could step forward, and neither Yingying nor Lele could both fight.
Having analyzed their own side, they then looked at the opponent they were about to face: the Mountain Elves King!
What is the concept of a Mountain Elves King who could rely on brute force to subdue hundreds of Mountain Elves and become their Clan Leader?
Just thinking about that creature they had clashed with a few times made even the bear lord feel a bit faint-hearted, standing almost as tall as the bear lord when upright—slightly less strong, but so remarkably agile that, amidst the trees of the mountain, the Mountain Elves King flitted about like a ghost, elusive and unpredictable.
The bear lord was known as the "Invincible Iron Paw," whose single slap could make a dragon coil and a tiger lie down. The fiercest of beasts would vomit blood from such a hit.
But the problem was, if you couldn't land a hit, those skills were useless.
On the other hand, the Mountain Elves King, with long arms and legs and an agile movement, had claws sharp as knives, launching surprise strikes ruthlessly. The bear lord had faced him three times and was outplayed each time.
If scars are the medals of masculinity, then the Mountain Elves King had certainly bestowed the bear lord with endless 'glory'; his body was riddled with wounds.
By the same logic, other powerful animals in the troop were not as agile as the Mountain Elves King.
As for the nimble ones like the lynx descendants and leopards... Oh, just look at the lynx patriarch. Last time, thinking he could approach without a sound, he tried to sneak up behind the Mountain Elves King for a surprise attack. Instead, the Mountain Elves King spun around, grabbed him by the thigh, and threw him several meters away, causing him to crash into a rock and knock out a tooth.
Now when the lynx patriarch calls out, the wind whistles through his missing tooth.
Those with strength lacked his agility; those as agile as him lacked his ferocity; and those as fierce as him, or even with tempers more volatile than the Mountain Elves, did exist in the animal army. Take, for instance, the relative of the lynx, a British Shorthair cat: it was one of the original members of the fleeing army, likely a pet of some lady of high standing, with a round face as big as a pancake, short legs which made it look a bit like Garfield.
In the eyes of their own species, cats believe they are the supreme rulers of the world and the universe, with all other species being mere trifles, lowly trash.
The British Shorthair was unafraid to face the Mountain Elves King and was commendable for its fighting spirit. However, it was obvious that if it were sent to battle, the only outcome would be the Mountain Elves King flattening it into a real 'cat meat paste,' so to speak.
Moreover, this duel was a method of resolving disputes between two tribes, so only the clan leader of the tribe could go into battle to settle the matter once and for all; otherwise, it would be an endless series of successive fights.
In the end, it was decided that Panda Yingying would fight. This fellow had spent the most time with Suming and was even smarter than Lele.
Animals have their own ways of communication, and before long, the 'challenge' had reached the Mountain Elves Tribe.
With bright red paint on his face, the Mountain Elves King rose to his full height, towering over the other male Mountain Elves by a full half, and roared angrily in the direction of the distant animal troop.
