Chapter 17: The Hunt for the Mutant Leopard (5)

Every group needs a spiritual leader, a backbone to hold it together. Without their chief, Le Ka, the community of wild men was already teetering on the edge of collapse. With everyone acting on their own, even if no one attacked, the group likely wouldn’t last much longer.

A formidable figure who could take on a mutant leopard single-handedly would easily dominate the entire B Zone. With such a powerful presence, who would dare provoke them? Even though Le Ka was now unconscious, his life hanging by a thread and vulnerable to a single knife or bullet, only a fool would try to end him. The transformation from a hunted target to a revered hero may seem incredible, but it happened naturally and inevitably.

Once Le Ka fell into a coma, the sensor attached to him automatically stopped working. On the professor’s screen, only darkness remained. The professor hadn’t expected events to escalate this far. That boy—wouldn’t he ever save some strength for himself? All or nothing, he’d gambled everything on a single strike. How decisive!

The professor paced anxiously, his brows knotted in worry. After a long hesitation, he finally gritted his teeth and retrieved a gun with a bizarre, futuristic design, hurrying outside. But as he climbed down the cliff, he saw from afar the two wild brothers carrying Le Ka back. The professor’s face instantly turned pale, his body trembling violently, and his eyes flashed with a fearful light as he shakily raised his weapon.

Please, please let them not have done anything foolish! The professor prayed silently. If they had, he would be forced to break his oath and deal with them himself.

Le Ka’s condition made it impossible to tell if he was alive or dead. The professor didn’t dare confirm either way; he wasn’t reckless like Old Third, so he hid behind a rock, waiting until the two wild brothers placed Le Ka on the ground and began tying him up to hoist him, before suddenly leaping out.

“Raise your hands—no tricks! My gun doesn’t discriminate,” the professor demanded, brandishing the cartoonish, mysterious weapon at them. Yet his eyes lacked the true intent to kill, betraying a hint of bluff.

“So it’s you, old man. Why aren’t you back in your sanctuary? What are you doing here? Get out of our way before I lose my temper. If you mess up our business, you’re finished!” Old Third laughed when he saw the professor. Did the old man think he was a fool? Picking up a toy gun from the trash and trying to threaten him—ridiculous. If he wasn’t in a good mood today, he’d send the professor straight to the grave.

“Did you hear me? Don’t move, or I’ll shoot,” the professor said solemnly, gripping his gun tighter as if about to pull the trigger.

Old Third burst out laughing, “Enough with the jokes, we don’t have time to play with you.”

The elder brother frowned, “Sir, don’t worry, we won’t hurt you today. Just leave. Our friend is injured and we need to get him back. We don’t care about your fate.”

The professor flew into a rage, “You two barbarians are truly reckless. If it weren’t for you bringing Le Ka back, I’d shoot you both right now.” He fired a shot into the distance. A faint hiss sounded, and five hundred meters away, a trash hill erupted in a violent explosion.

After the dust settled, the two brothers stared in disbelief—a massive pit, several meters across, had been blasted through the trash heap.

Good heavens, what kind of gun was this? It was terrifying!

Old Third, a firearms enthusiast, looked at the professor with newfound excitement.

“Sir, please—please don’t get upset. Don’t misunderstand. We really mean no harm,” the elder brother said, swallowing hard in fear. With a weapon like that, a single shot would wipe out both of them, no matter how many lives they had.

Who would have guessed that this scholarly old man possessed such power?

“If not for you returning Le Ka, I’d have executed you two idiots by now,” the professor grumbled.

“Yes, yes, you’re right. Le Ka is our leader, bringing him back is our duty, nothing special,” the elder brother quickly replied with a smile.

“Enough useless chatter. Hurry up and get him up there.”

The professor stepped forward to check Le Ka, finally relaxing. Despite his severe injuries, he still had a breath left. As far as the professor was concerned, as long as there was a breath, it wasn’t a fatal crisis.

The two brothers helped hoist Le Ka up the cliff. They had hoped to visit Le Ka’s home, but the professor flatly refused. Old Third tried to plead, but the professor raised his weapon with a cold expression.

Having witnessed the immense power of the seemingly toy-like gun, the two brothers turned pale and fled without further protest.

The professor laid Le Ka on the stone platform and carefully took out a box from a case. Inside were several small bottles inscribed with strange runes, each containing blue pills that glowed with a green light, resembling candy beans.

He poured a handful out, not bothering to count, pried open Le Ka’s mouth, and dumped them in, then patted his body a few times. Next, he produced a tangle of wires and needles, inserting them into Le Ka’s acupuncture points.

Before long, Le Ka looked like a toy covered in wires.

“Hahaha, the meridians haven’t yet shrunk back after the berserk transformation—this is the perfect time to expand them. Painful, yes, but isn’t life always full of suffering? You’ll get used to it,” the professor cackled, pressing a button.

Time passed—how long, he couldn’t tell—before Le Ka finally regained consciousness. Along with awakening came a wave of weakness spreading through his body, leaving him numb and utterly powerless. His head felt as heavy as lead.

“What…what happened to me?” Le Ka abandoned the idea of getting up, turning his head to look at the professor.

The professor answered naturally, “Nothing unusual. Perfectly normal.”

Barely able to lift a finger—this was supposed to be normal?

Le Ka stared at the professor in bewilderment, but the latter only smiled mysteriously, offering no explanation.

Le Ka’s constitution was extraordinary; after three days of recuperation, he regained some strength and could walk again. The professor’s brow never seemed to relax from that day forward. Le Ka didn’t know what troubled the professor, but sensed it had something to do with him.

“Teacher, you’ve been troubled lately. Is it about me? If there’s a problem, please tell me directly—I can handle it,” Le Ka finally couldn’t hold back and asked.

The professor was silent for a long time, his deep eyes meeting Le Ka’s innocent gaze. At length, he surrendered, touching his sparse hair.

“Le Ka, you’re an optimistic child, but I’m not sure you’ll remain so after hearing this news. Are you sure you want to know?”