Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 183: Chapter 173: Grumpy Old Father

”Has anyone been here recently?”

Tang Mo decided to try communicating with the little chimp.

But the little chimp acted as if it hadn’t heard her, just tilting its head up to look at Tang Mo.

After a moment’s thought, Tang Mo took a fresh banana from her Space, which she had stored earlier.

She had stocked up on a lot of fruit when she was gathering supplies.

”This is for you.”

Tang Mo held out the hand with the banana.

Clutching its fruit, the little chimp hopped over to Tang Mo’s side, completely unafraid, and took the banana from her hand.

Then it sniffed the banana, and then it sniffed the fruit in its other hand.

A few seconds later, the banana Tang Mo had offered was lying mercilessly on the ground.

Clearly, the fruit from this tree was far tastier than the banana; it had completely failed to win the little chimp’s heart.

’What a waste.’

Not the least bit discouraged, Tang Mo picked the banana up off the ground, dusted it off, and put it back in her Space.

”Want some milk? It’s delicious.”

Tang Mo pulled out a carton of milk. Neither Xianxian nor any of the other children she had met before could resist the temptation of milk.

The little chimp tilted its head, looking at the object in Tang Mo’s hand, but didn’t reach out for it.

Tang Mo helped poke the straw in and then handed it to the little chimp.

The chimp, which was wearing a wreath of flowers, took a tentative sip. Its eyes lit up, and it immediately tossed aside its fruit, clutching the milk and refusing to let go.

”So, have you seen other people here before? If you tell me, I’ll get you more milk to drink.”

Tang Mo put on her best ’coaxing a child’ voice.

’Sure enough, no young creature can escape the temptation of milk.’

”Yes.”

The allure of milk was immense. The little chimp nodded.

But then it quickly shook its head.

”They were taken.”

Hearing that, Tang Mo’s heart skipped a beat.

”Who took them? Where were they taken?”

Tang Mo had a feeling that the people the little chimp was talking about were Qin Ling and his group.

But this was just a baby chimp, after all. Getting one answer out of it was already a feat; it didn’t respond to her subsequent questions at all.

It just hugged the empty milk carton, its eyes sparkling as it stared at Tang Mo, waiting for her to pull out another one.

Seeing no reaction from Tang Mo, the little chimp grabbed her pant leg and started shaking it insistently.

’Acting cute seems to be an innate skill for all young creatures.’

”Let go of Xiao Hua!!”

Tang Mo heard the THUMP-THUMP of footsteps in the distance, as if some behemoth was rushing toward her at great speed.

In just a few seconds, a figure loomed from far to near.

A massive chimpanzee over two meters tall came charging over, sometimes running on all fours, sometimes on two legs, until it stood right in front of Tang Mo.

Tang Mo sized up the biceps on the chimp’s arms. ’If a punch from that lands,’ she thought, ’it’ll be a critical injury, if not instant death.’

Chimpanzees were a freakishly powerful species, possessing not only immense Strength but also incredible speed.

Tang Mo recalled the crocodile’s wary eyes when it looked this way. She certainly wouldn’t underestimate a creature that even a massive crocodile was afraid of.

The large chimpanzee snatched up the little one, which was about to climb onto Tang Mo, tossed it onto its back, and glared at her ferociously.

’That look... yup, that’s the look people give a kidnapper.’

Being stared at with such ferocity gave Tang Mo goosebumps. Her whole body tensed, ready to deal with an imminent attack.

Xiao Hua was the little chimp’s name.

”Hey, let me explain!”

’This is a total setup,’ Tang Mo thought, looking despairingly at the little chimp.

She couldn’t help but facepalm in frustration. Unfortunately, the big chimpanzee had no patience to listen. It charged toward Tang Mo as if its feet were riding the wind, its gaze intense enough to bore holes through her.

But just as the chimp was about to reach her, Tang Mo had already released her spiritual power. Detecting the chimp’s movements, she reacted instantly, swiftly dodging aside. She had also drawn her Wind Breaker, ready for a fight.

’This is a huge misunderstanding.’

But at a time like this, all she could do was prepare for battle.

Against a single chimpanzee, Tang Mo could give it a shot if she went all out.

But... chimpanzees are social animals!

Unless it was absolutely necessary, Tang Mo really didn’t want to make enemies of them and stir up trouble.

She still had to find people in the rainforest; being surrounded by enemies was not a good omen.

Tang Mo’s successful dodge enraged the chimpanzee even more. It pounded the ground with its long arms, making the earth BOOM and sending a shower of fruit clattering down from the nearby trees. The scene was quite terrifying.

The long arms swung at Tang Mo again, but this time, before she could even move, the little chimp leaped off its father’s back and jumped right onto her.

It wrapped its arms tightly around Tang Mo, then turned its head to the big chimpanzee and said, ”No, no.”

Then it looked at Tang Mo and held up the empty milk carton.

”Mi... lk.”

This human had such a delicious drink; Xiao Hua couldn’t bear to let her papa pummel the woman into paste with a single punch.

”Xiao Hua... want... drink... milk.”

The little chimp looked at its father—who was so worried he was baring his teeth—and spoke word by word in a babyish voice.

Seeing its little treasure acting like this, the big chimpanzee’s fiery anger was instantly extinguished.

It extended two fingers, picked up the milk carton, and brought it before its eyes, examining it cautiously.

It was afraid the human had poisoned Xiao Hua.

But even if chimpanzees were the most intelligent of all mutant beasts, they had never been to school, after all. There was no way it could read.

So, after looking and looking, it couldn’t make any sense of it.

It could only toss the milk carton aside and continue roaring at Tang Mo.

”Give Xiao Hua the milk.”

”I have a few friends who wandered in here by mistake a few days ago. I just heard from Xiao Hua that they were taken by someone. I hope you can tell me about their situation.”

Since the other party wanted something from her, Tang Mo naturally began to bargain.

She had sized up the chimpanzee’s power. If they fought head-on, she would most likely be toast, but she was confident she could escape if she needed to.

Hearing Tang Mo’s words, the big chimpanzee thought for a moment, and its already unpleasant face turned even uglier.

”We didn’t take them. Now give me the milk.”

”Then I’ll have to trouble you to tell me what you know about them.”

Tang Mo could tell the chimpanzee had only told her half the story and was holding something back.

’It seems Qin Ling’s group has definitely run into trouble. I have to rescue them as soon as possible.’

”You’re in no position to negotiate.”

The big chimpanzee was no dumb brute.

In an instant, dozens of huge, black, furry heads popped up from the fruit grove around Tang Mo.

The big chimp’s ground-pounding earlier had clearly summoned its companions.

Tang Mo calmly scanned her surroundings.

And came to a conclusion:

OK. No way out.