harleyscars Chapter 36 The Birth of a New King
Chapter 36 The Birth of a New King
The breathing continued for about two more minutes, becoming shallower and slower, until the last breath came out, and then there was no next breath.
Chen Fei sniffed it.
That burning aura is gone.
He stood in that position for about a minute, without moving or making a sound, going over the whole thing in his mind, without skipping any details.
three seconds.
He knew that those three seconds were tactically correct.
He knew he would do the same thing again if he had the chance to do it all over again.
He also knew that these two things could be true at the same time, without canceling each other out or forgiving each other.
This is a grassland.
It is not human society.
In human society, doing the right thing makes people feel better; at least it can be used as a reason to tell oneself or others.
On the grasslands, the right thing is the right thing, regardless of whether it feels good or bad.
He was familiar with both of these things.
Being clear doesn't mean being better off.
But whether he's doing well or not isn't something he needs to deal with right now.
He needs to survive.
In the canyon, the light of dawn had turned from orange-red to white, clearly illuminating the outlines of the rocky slopes. The scents of the valley began to flow in the morning breeze, slowly pushing out the bloody and adrenaline-filled smells left from last night's battle.
The moment Chen Fei stood up, he caught a whiff of a scent drifting from the edge of the territory.
He sniffed it a second time and confirmed it.
The leopard's scent was receding.
Like the tide slowly receding, the concentration gradually decreases, slowly drawing away the sharp scent of resin and shrub leaves from the canyon air until it's gone.
It's completely gone.
Is this what the animal world is like...?
Chen Fei suddenly realized something and started walking towards the canyon exit.
Outside the valley entrance, Wanderer A and Wanderer B were still guarding their respective blocking positions. The moment Chen Fei walked out of the valley entrance, the two creatures turned their heads at the same time, their nostrils flaring, and sniffed out Chen Fei's scent.
Chen Fei didn't stop, he walked forward, and when he passed the stray ape, he stopped about three meters away from it and lowered his posture slightly.
The idea is—you can make a choice now.
A power transition in a pride does not require a dedicated battle to confirm it.
Chen Fei had read relevant behavioral studies in his previous life, and the conclusion was simple: group members' judgment of power ownership depended on the level of adrenaline in their breath, the height of their posture, and whether they avoided eye contact or looked directly at each other.
This silent language constitutes a complete evaluation system, far more accurate than the human language system, because it cannot lie.
Breath doesn't lie; the true state of your body can be read by the other person's nasal cavity.
The wanderer sniffed Chen Fei's scent for about ten seconds, and then made a move.
Lower your head, press the tip of your nose to the ground, press your ears back, and lower your center of gravity slightly.
It's not about lying down; it's about voluntarily lowering yourself to a position below the other person's height. On the grasslands, this action has only one meaning.
Submission.
Chen Fei continued walking forward.
Homeless Person B reacted faster than Homeless Person A.
Before Chen Fei even reached a distance of three meters from it, it had already completed the same posture: head down, ears close to the ground, center of gravity lowered, clean and efficient, without any hesitation.
The two wandering individuals have finally found their home.
He now has his own underlings.
The pride of lionesses is in the direction of the landing site.
Chen Fei walked to his landing spot. As he entered, the lionesses already sensed him; there were five lionesses.
Sel, Meimei, and three other adult lionesses who had been observing all turned their gazes toward him.
Chen Fei stood still in the center of the landing area, without making any sound or taking any initiative to intimidate them. He just stood there, letting out his scent so that they could smell everything they wanted to.
The battle of last night left a complete record in his breath.
The adrenaline from battle stress, the dark brown mane and the faint traces of breath, the special texture of the heat that had burned through, and something that Chen Fei himself couldn't quite describe.
The three lionesses who had been watching lowered their heads one after another.
They didn't do it simultaneously, but rather one at a time, with different time intervals in between, indicating that they were each completing the assessment at their own pace.
This isn't just following the trend; it's a genuine assessment.
As the last head lowered, Big Head walked over from the flank.
Its left shoulder wound had formed a shallow scab, and it still walked with a slight limp, but much more steadily than last night. It walked towards Chen Fei, and halfway there, it lowered its head and sniffed the wound on its left shoulder. It turned its head to the left, trying to lick the spot. It stretched its neck to its longest length, but couldn't reach it. It turned to the right, but still couldn't reach it. It circled around in place for almost a whole time, but the wound didn't budge.
It stood there for two seconds, stunned, then looked up with a serious expression and continued walking towards Chen Fei, acting as if nothing had happened.
The gazes of the other lionesses on the ground shifted toward Big Head as it circled, paused for a moment, and then looked away.
Chen Fei didn't look at it.
Meimei is on the western edge of her accommodation.
She didn't come over on her own initiative, but her posture had already been adjusted the moment Chen Fei landed. Her center of gravity was stable, and her head was a fraction lower than it had been the night before.
It's not the submissive kind of humility, but a tacit composure, as if one has already chosen their place.
Chen Fei continued forward.
Mother Sel walked over from where the cubs were.
She walked over to Chen Fei and sat down to his left. She didn't sniff him, didn't bow her head, and didn't make any gesture of submission. She just sat down next to him, her head facing forward, her eyes looking at the grass in front of her, without saying a word.
If Chen Fei were still human, he would have laughed at that moment.
The moment she sat down, Chen Fei pressed his sense of smell against her scent.
There was no stress, no pain, no sadness in her breath.
Like the image Chen Fei had of her in his earliest memory: her sitting on the edge of a deserted island, looking at the water—quiet and resolute.
Chen Fei stayed with her, quietly gazing into the distance.
After circling around, Da Tou walked over and sat down to Chen Fei's right, his left shoulder wound rubbing against the ground.
It gasped, shifted its body half a position to the left, sat back down, raised its head, its expression returned to seriousness, and continued to act as if nothing had happened.
They settled down and became quiet.
[Host: Chen Fei]
[Identity: Sub-adult male lion]
[Energy Points: 730↑]
The numbers popped up.
He extended his sense of smell across the entire territory, mentally mapping out the scents he could perceive.
The scent of the dark brown mane had receded beyond the territory's borders; it lingered, but was withdrawing.
The light breath had an uncertain direction; it was receding further to the west.
He started calculating something.
Energy Points: 730
Evolution node 800, 70 points short.
Eating, fighting, and learning: three paths to accumulation.
A difference of 70 points is not a distant number.
Big Head let out a soft whimper from his right side, which it quickly suppressed.
It was its left shoulder wound that had rubbed against the ground at a certain angle. It looked down at the wound and tried to lick it again.
Chen Fei glanced sideways in the direction of the big head.
Big Head sensed that gaze and turned his head towards Chen Fei, his eyes fixed on him and his ears straight up.
He looked ready to obey orders at any time.
The wound was still oozing a little blood, staining the fur on its left shoulder red, but it sat there with its back straight, without making a sound.