"Roar roar roar!"
A strong adult howler monkey let out a muffled roar and rushed toward Pi fiercely.
"Eek! Eek! "
The howler monkey was much stronger than itself. Pi was so scared that it hid in the corner, holding its head helplessly.
"Eek!"
Pi made a cry for help to the other monkeys around it. Maybe it was because they were not of the same species and could not understand its cry, or because they heard it but did not want to offend this howler monkey, none of the monkeys stood up to help it.
"Roar roar roar!"
The howler monkey roared even louder, its huge nostrils pointing upward. Its head was as big as both of Pi's heads.
Pi didn't know how it got there, but when it opened its eyes, it was in a large group of monkeys. There were hundreds of them, distributed in a large space, and spontaneously divided into different small groups.
These monkeys belonged to different species, and no two were the same. Some of them were extremely rare and even extinct. If a human zoologist saw this scene, he would be so excited that he would have a brain hemorrhage.
The monkeys were of different species and sizes. The smallest one was only the size of a human palm, and the biggest one was the size of a short adult.
After staying in the pet shop for so long, Pi had learned a lot of things, especially a saying that people often said — barking dogs don't bite, and biting dogs don't bark. It meant that barking dogs often didn't bite easily, but silent dogs might suddenly pounce on you and bite you.
As a folk proverb, of course, this sentence was neither rigorous nor scientific, but as the crystallization of the wisdom of the masses, it had a certain universality. For example, the small dogs that barked at the slightest sign of trouble were indeed less likely to bite, but the silent, large dogs were more dangerous.
Among the group of monkeys, the one that scared Pi the most was not the howling monkey that was bluffing, but the other Ghostface Mandrill.
The Ghostface Mandrill was huge, and its head was even bigger than the head of the howler monkey. Its highly developed jaw muscles were strong enough to crush the bones of other monkeys. Its face was mainly blue and red, and its dim yellow eyes were ferocious. When it walked on all fours, it looked like a small lion.
This Ghost-faced Mandrill almost never made a sound, but if it found someone displeasing to the eye, it would pounce on them while they were unprepared and bite them into a bloody mess.
In the middle of the field, there was a huge keyboard that was more than one meter long. With the monkeys in different shapes and sizes around it, Pi knew that it was back in the test.
In the previous tests, after a long period of hard work, it finally managed to type out meaningful sentences and stand out from the crowd of monkeys. Therefore, as long as it did the same thing this time, it would probably not have a problem. It was confident.
The only problem was that the Ghostface Mountain Demon had occupied the keyboard and was furiously typing away.
If it had been an ordinary keyboard, it would have smashed the keyboard with its fists. However, the keyboard remained intact no matter how it smashed it, so it must be an extremely special keyboard.
Pi looked around and didn't find a second keyboard. This was different from the previous tests. It seemed to be more difficult.
As for the host of the test …
Pi held its head and peeked at the sky. Right above the keyboard, an erratic light floated, as if it was monitoring them.
Most of the monkeys were cowering in the corner like Pi, angry but not daring to say anything. There were also idiots like the howling monkeys that bullied the weak and feared the strong.
"Eek?"
When the howling monkeys went to bully other monkeys, Pi quietly elbowed a golden monkey next to it, pointed at the Ghost-faced Mandrill, then pointed at itself, and finally made a typing gesture.
What it meant was, could it help it distract the Ghost-faced Mandrill? It wanted to use that keyboard to type.
"Eek."
The golden monkey waved its hand and moved its face away. It was dismissive of Pi's plan. The plan did not benefit the golden monkey at all, but it had to bear a huge risk. Only an idiot would help it.
"Eek?"
Pi struck up a conversation with a short-tailed monkey next to it and made the same request.
This short-tailed monkey had a goatee and looked very sophisticated. It didn't reject Pi immediately, but made a few gestures, as if to ask what benefits it could get.
Pi scratched its ears. The plan seemed to only benefit itself. Why would the other monkeys help it? If it were them, it might also reject the idea.
But it had to escape, because it hadn't finished writing its novel yet.
It sighed, extremely envious of Vladimir's persuasive speech. If Vladimir was here, it might be able to convince the other monkeys.
However, it was hard to say. As the primates closest to humans, monkeys were as cunning and selfish as humans, and even more short-sighted. In terms of closeness to humans, they might not even be as close as cats. After all, cats often caught small animals such as mosquitoes and geckos for the slaves, so that the slaves who were too stupid to hunt would not starve to death.
So if there were no benefits, it was impossible to get these selfish monkeys to help.
In fact, with so many monkeys, even if there were a few Ghost-faced Mandrills, they would still be beaten to a pulp. But it was better to hope that the monkeys would evolve into humans than to hope that they would be united.
Pi clenched its fists regretfully. It was a pity that it didn't have the Jingu Bang with it. Otherwise, it might really have the courage to rush up and challenge the Ghost-faced Mandrill. Now that it was bare-handed, rushing up was equivalent to suicide.
"Eek?"
Pi made a new gesture to the short-tailed monkey, which meant, Do you want to play a game?
"Eek?" What game?
The short-tailed monkey was interested.
Pi glanced at the howling monkeys and the Ghost-faced Mandrill. Seeing that they weren't looking at it, it carefully stood up.
"The first thing you say when you wake up every day is to give yourself a pep talk!
"Every time you miss a word, you have to say sorry!"
It started to hum the brainwashing song of humans. The rhythmic rhythm immediately attracted the attention of the nearby monkeys.
Not only did it hum well, but it also kept squatting, standing up, squatting, and standing up straight with the rhythm.
Monkeys naturally liked to play, and they liked to imitate. Their bodies involuntarily swayed with the rhythm, squatting, and standing up straight like Pi, just like some people who especially liked to dance at the sound of the rooster.
“Pose！ Pose！”
Pi grinned, beating the beat like a DJ, correcting the monkeys' movements and quietly fine-tuning their positions.
The monkeys were getting more and more excited, swaying like a group of drunkards.
It was very hard work to make a group of undisciplined monkeys squat and stand up straight according to its instructions, but this was the only way Pi could come up with. Fortunately, the monkeys didn't even realize what they were doing, and only thought they were playing.
More and more monkeys joined Pi's dance group, and their movements became louder and louder, finally attracting the attention of the Ghost-faced Mandrill. It was annoyed and glared at them fiercely.
The big keyboard in the middle was fixed to the ground and couldn't be moved. If the Ghost-faced Mandrill wanted the noisy monkeys to shut up, it had to leave the keyboard.
It seemed to vaguely know the importance of the keyboard, and that it was the key to escape from here. The other monkeys also knew, so once it left, other monkeys might take advantage of the situation.
Therefore, the Ghost-faced Mandrill was hesitant.
Pi felt the danger. The Ghost-faced Mandrill could rush over at any time after it was provoked, and it, as the leader, had to bear the brunt. It couldn't count on the disorderly group of monkeys to help it. When the tree fell, the monkeys would scatter, and its efforts to escape from here would also be for naught.
Besides, it didn't know if this plan would work, because it was obviously not within the rules.
Even if its plan succeeded, would "breaking the rules" be recognized?
It had no confidence at all, but this was the only way.
The light floating in the sky seemed to have noticed the situation here, and slowly floated over, looking down at the group of smiling monkeys.
The monkeys didn't know that they had been quietly arranged by Pi to a specific position. Although it wasn't "vertical," it was at least "horizontal."
From the point of view of the light, the monkeys formed a mini keyboard with only alphabetic keys and a few control keys. There were no numeric keys or function keys.
And the way they squatted and stood up straight, didn't it look like the keycaps were pressed and then bounced back?
The monkeys thought they were singing and dancing, but all this could only be seen from a certain height.
Pi believed that the orb of light would be able to tell, because the purpose of these monkeys, including itself, was to hit the keyboard correctly.
But did it have to be that keyboard?
What if it created a "keyboard"?
Breaking the rules.
[Navigation Elf]: Detected the behavior of creating and using advanced tools. Redetermining the level of this elfin, as well as … the species this elfin belongs to.
[Navigation Elf]: Elfins have the possibility of self-evolution. It is recommended to save this information and add it to the log.
What did creating and using advanced tools mean?
The elfins in this game were all pets, in theory. But if … a certain elfin began to evolve into a more advanced species, would it still be considered a pet?
Even the designer of this game probably didn't think of this possibility. After all, species evolution often took thousands of years, and the possibility of it happening to an individual was really negligible.
If this continued … the logic of the game itself might face challenges.
The nearby monkeys were squeaking, playing in full swing. Pi didn't hear the light talking to itself. Even if it did, it wouldn't care. It just wanted to go home, a warm and secure home.
Pi felt very guilty. It felt that it was essentially no different from the other monkeys. They were all very selfish and only wanted to escape. If it was Vladimir, it would definitely think of other ways, such as leading the group of monkeys to beat up the Ghostface Mountain Demon, then trying to attack the ball of light high up in the sky. Then, it would lead everyone to escape together.
But it knew that it didn't have Vladimir's ability. If only one of these monkeys could escape, it would seize this opportunity at all costs, no matter how selfish it was.
The monkeys were almost going crazy from playing. The monkeys scattered in the other corners also ran over to watch enviously, twisting their bodies randomly. Some even wanted to join them, but Pi politely pushed them aside, letting them play by themselves.
Although the other monkeys were dissatisfied, there was nothing they could do, because only Pi could hum. It couldn't speak, but the melody it hummed fascinated them. It was like magic, making their bodies twist along with it.
There were even a few monkeys who had nothing to do spontaneously maintaining order, not letting other monkeys get too close.
Seeing that its authority was being silently challenged, the Grimace Mountain Demon finally couldn't take it anymore. After observing, it found that it was a new monkey leading the way.
A newcomer dared to rebel? They really didn't know their place!
Its dim yellow eyes stared at Pi's figure, gradually filled with a murderous aura.
Pi felt its gaze, and felt like it was being stared at by a poisonous snake. Fortunately, after its continuous rehearsal, the monkeys' movements finally had a certain standard.
"Mirror, mirror, tell me, where is my way out?"
"Try, I have to try, I have to escape!"
The other monkeys had their backs to the Grimace Mountain Demon. They were all staring at Pi. Only Pi saw that the furious Grimace Mountain Demon abandoned the big keyboard and madly rushed over.
The dog that bit didn't bark, the dog that barked didn't bite. The Grimace Mountain Demon didn't bark, it just wanted to tear Pi into pieces.
"The first sentence every day when you wake up is to give yourself a pep talk!"
Pi seemed to be racing with the Grim Reaper. Although the monkeys hadn't fully practiced, time waited for no one. It decisively started humming from the beginning.
The monkeys reflexively squatted down, stood up, squatted down, stood up …
It was over! It was too late!
The Grimace Mountain Demon's speed was too fast, but the monkeys' movements were not fast or slow. Pi calculated and knew that it wouldn't be able to finish a complete and meaningful sentence before the Grimace Mountain Demon rushed over and tore it into pieces.
It was too late to change to something shorter at the last minute. The monkeys didn't have that ability.
Just as Pi was about to close its eyes and wait for death, it suddenly heard the sound of typing on the keyboard and a muffled roar like thunder.
It turned out that the howling monkey had been pretending to be weak. Seeing that the Grimace Mountain Demon had left the big keyboard, it rushed over to the big keyboard and started typing. It actually typed well.
The Grimace Mountain Demon stopped and angrily rushed back, pouncing on the howling monkey. The two different kinds of monkeys fought for the only chance to escape, biting each other to death.
Using this precious opportunity, Pi hummed even louder, trying its best to cover up the sound of fighting. The monkeys finally finished squatting down and standing up according to its plan. Pi, who was standing at the "period" key, was the last to squat down. It didn't stand up straight, but looked up at the ball of light anxiously.
Could the ball of light understand it?
The keyboard formed by the monkeys didn't have any letters, but if you were familiar with the layout of the keyboard and knew that it was a "keyboard," you should be able to see that the sentence that the monkeys typed was — I want to go home.
Including the wounded howling monkey and the Grimace Mountain Demon, the other monkeys had all disappeared.
It suddenly became quiet.
[Navigation Elf]: You can go home. We've arranged a new home for you. Someone will be coming to adopt you soon.
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