Chapter 138: The Racial Generation Gap...

The gazes directed at her were utterly explicit, reeking of raw, unadulterated mating desire. Unlike the lecherous looks some human males cast at women, the eyes of these dark apes were remarkably pure. They resembled kindergartners looking at another child with innocent wonder, as if saying, "I want to be friends with you!"

Standing right in the center of the clearing, Catherine was tense and on high alert. She had no intention of falling into the harrowing scenario Ling Mo had described. Touching the snakeskin shorts hugging her thighs, she felt a bittersweet urge to cry. So this pair of chastity shorts was her final line of defense? In the worst-case scenario that she was subdued by the pack of apes, at least they wouldn't know how to take off her pants. Given the patience and intelligence of apes, they would probably give up before long, right?

Oh, how considerate! How touching! She felt a sudden, overwhelming urge to thank her master—to thank every single member of her master's entire extended family!

While these thoughts raced through her mind, after quite a long wait, the dark apes watching from various paths and ledges finally made a move. Seventeen or eighteen massive apes, noticeably taller than the rest, stepped forward from the crowd. Some swung directly down from the trees, while others leaped in a single bound from tree hollows. Though their postures varied, they all fully displayed their robust physiques and agile movements. Catherine knew very well that this was likely the first step of courtship in the natural world: the males showing off their physical assets.

These apes approached to within ten meters of Catherine, stopping dead in unison. One by one, they stood upright, crossing their arms over their chests as they began to look Catherine up and down from head to toe. Setting aside her prejudices, every single one of these apes was undoubtedly a dashing hunk in the ape community—massive hands and feet, explosive muscles, an inverted-triangle chest, and eyes as big as brass bells. They were prime specimens, especially their dense, jet-black, and glossy fur, which loudly proclaimed that they were successful elites of the ape world.

As they scrutinized Catherine, they chattered away in a language she could not understand, sounding as though they were critiquing her and exchanging opinions. After roughly thirty seconds, the dozen or so apes fell silent. They exchanged glances, shook their heads in unison, sighed, and then turned their backs simultaneously. Without sparing Catherine another glance, each leaped back into the foliage and vanished in the blink of an eye.

"What is going on?!" Seeing this unfold, Catherine was dumbfounded. These apes had swarmed her just to take a look? And then they had simply walked away?

"Senior Sister! Don't be so surprised!" Vayne's suppressed giggling voice floated over from not far away. Seeing Catherine glare at her, Vayne solemnly began to mimic the tone of the apes:

"Hey Blockhead, look at this stinky dame! Why is her body so weak? She barely has any muscles! If I put any real strength into it, wouldn't I just snap her in half?"

"You're right, Scruffy! Look at that butt of hers—it's not even half the size of Salamistova's rear! She definitely wouldn't be good for bearing offspring!"

"Spot! Did you notice? This tribe member's legs are actually longer than her arms. Is that a deformity? Could she have some kind of disease?"

"She's definitely sick! Look at that disgusting pale skin of hers! All her fur has fallen out! It's worse than that moldy old scab of an ape on the crooked-neck tree to the west, shedding its fur when it's on the verge of death! If she has a young one, it'd be fine if it dies early, but what if it turns out crippled? How are you supposed to raise a thing like that?"

"Can't you guys show a little sympathy? We're higher animals; we ought to have a bit more fraternal love for our own kind than other magical beasts! Seeing how badly she's shedding, she must have been starving while living alone! Not getting enough to eat or wear naturally causes fur loss and mange! Once she joins our big family and gets plenty of good food, her fur will grow right back within two months! By then, she'll definitely be a fine, handsome female ape!"

"Lefty! You're so full of love and charity, why don't you take her in and raise her family? Let me state this clearly beforehand—if you end up fathering a deformed kid, I am not letting it call me Third Uncle!"

"Eat dirt! Seven-Coin, you're trying to take advantage of me again! Even though we're brothers, by seniority you're supposed to call me Second Uncle!"

"Stop bickering, all of you! You talk a big game, but who's actually planning to take her in? You're all shaking your heads? Lefty, you're shaking your head too? If you damned well don't plan to step up, why are you preaching such high morals? Scatter, scatter!"

By this point, Vayne was laughing uncontrollably. Leaning against a nearby tree, she gasped for breath between fits of laughter. Catching sight of Catherine's expression, which was a mix of helplessness and fury, she wiped a tear of mirth from her eye and added, "That's basically the gist of it. All the names used in the dialogue were made up on the spot, so just bear with it... Haha, hahaha!"

Catherine felt a surge of annoyance, but beneath the irritation, she was mostly consumed by confusion. Vayne had been shouting quite loudly not far away, and her voice surely must have reached the ears of those dark apes. Yet the apes hadn't shown even the slightest inclination to look back, acting as though they hadn't noticed her at all. The situation was bizarre, but recalling that Ling Mo had once referred to Vayne as a "Beast Spirit Envoy"—a profession that sounded intimately tied to magical beasts—it wasn't entirely surprising that she possessed a secret art or two.

Right in the middle of Vayne's "translation," a second batch of apes emerged from various corners and approached Catherine. This group was noticeably less robust than the first batch of dark apes, and their fur was slightly disheveled. However, their behavior was an exact carbon copy of the previous group: sizing her up, communicating, shaking their heads, sighing, and turning away without a second glance, acting as though Catherine were nothing more than a pile of filth. Then came the third batch, the fourth batch...

It wasn't until the fifth batch of dark apes appeared that a male finally bucked the trend. Instead of turning away, he actually lingered and sidled up to Catherine. Even without any understanding of ape aesthetics, Catherine could tell this fellow was utterly hideous, with slack, weak muscles, mismatched legs that made him limp when he walked, and patchy black fur missing in clumps. To use a human societal parallel, this ape possessed the exact social standing of a fifty-year-old unmarried village bachelor living alone in a dilapidated shack.

Despite this, the wretched bachelor still acted completely arrogant in front of Catherine. Carrying a bunch of overripe, black-tipped bananas, he swaggered over and tossed them carelessly at Catherine's feet, signaling her to hurry up and eat what his lordship had bestowed upon her.

With a blank expression, Catherine looked down, picked up a bruised banana, examined it in her hand, and then beckoned to the bachelor ape, signaling it to come closer. A fleeting flash of delight crossed the bachelor's eyes as it hurriedly shuffled over. Before its blackened paw could even reach out, it heard the "female ape" before it draw a sharp breath and unleash a thunderous roar!

Startled out of its wits by the sudden shout, before it could even react, the bachelor felt a violent gust of wind hit its face. Numbness spread across its features, and it felt as though it were flying through the clouds. Then, absolute darkness consumed its vision, and it knew nothing more.

Accompanied by a deafening crash, all the apes present collectively gasped. Clear as day, they watched as the 'female ape,' previously deemed utterly weak, sent the bachelor ape flying dozens of meters with a single punch. Like a cannonball, it slammed into a banana tree, coughing up a massive spray of blood. Its neck crooked awkwardly, making it glaringly obvious that it was beyond saving!