Xiao Bai roared to the heavens, his body shining like a star, thunder booming inside his abdomen. The green air spraying under his paws changed into resplendent silver. Now Xiao Bai grew as big as fifteen meters tall, almost like that golden tiger.
Gradually, the silver light disappeared and his body returned to its original white color, the bright and smooth fur waving gently in the wind. The 'King' character on his forehead became gave Xiao Bai a dignified appearance.
"Wow, what a big change! You've upgraded all three life rings to silver with only that little piece of the fruit!" Jiang Shaoliu gleefully stroked Xiao Bai's fur. "You're so soft and cozy now..."
After his transformation, Xiao Bai lay on the ground and happily rubbed his head on Jiang Shaoliu.
The Monkey King patted the tiger's head and appeared satisfied.
"Now even Xiao Bai has become silvered, but why can't I even be bronzed?" Jiang Shaoliu pouted. After a moment, he looked up at the Monkey King and said, "I've been meaning to ask - what is the golden band in my head? It's always pressing down my life rings! It's a real pain in the butt and all I ever got from it was the Ape Fist."
The Monkey King thought for a while, slowly shaking its head, then raised its fists and began beating itself on the chest, first gently, then fiercely. Suddenly, it leaped from a standing start high into the air, to an astounding sixty meters.
Jiang Shaoliu was blown away.
When the monkey landed with an immense crash, he ventured, "Do you mean I have to be patient and I can become strong like you?"
The Monkey King nodded at first, then shook its head, pressed its strong legs together and pointed a finger to the sky, then quickly spread its legs and threw up a fist with a roar.
Then it sat down, looking at Jiang Shaoliu expectantly as if to say, "Got it?"
Jiang Shaoliu blinked. "You mean, it's Heaven's will to press me down with that golden band, even you cannot remove it, and you just want me to forget about it?"
The Monkey King wore a woebegone expression.
Jiang Shaoliu scratched his scalp helplessly and hazarded, "Well, it's been a while since we've been together; I guess my pantomime is a bit rusty. Hopefully, you can learn to speak like those two giants one day."
The Monkey King abruptly stiffened and blinked at him. Its mouth slowly opened.
"Oh…" Jiang Shaoliu held his breath with anticipation.
As the Monkey King stared intently at Jiang Shaoliu, its adam's apple trembled, followed by a rumble in its chest. Then two vague syllables squeezed out of its throat, "Gold… band..."
Jiang Shaoliu's jaw dropped. Even Xiao Bai perked up his head at the Monkey King, wide-eyed like he'd just witnessed a miracle.
"Press…" The Monkey King formed a circle with its thumb and index finger, sliding it over Jiang Shaoliu. "Good."
Jiang Shaoliu was speechless.
"That can't be right. How is it good that my life rings are pressed by the golden band? I'd rather not learn the Ape fist if I had the chance to transform all my life rings to gold quality instead."
The monkey shook its head wildly, and reached out with a finger to poke Jiang Shaoliu's head. "Ape… Fist… Good.
"All right, I will practice the Ape Fist… Maybe I'll really find its advantages."
Then Jiang Shaoliu straddled Xiao Bai and waved to the Monkey King: "Let's go to the city. I've got an urgent issue to deal with."
The Monkey King nodded, jumped up from the ground, and rushed out towards the mouth of the gorge.
"Hey, slow down! You don't even know where we're going!"
…
The video of what happened on Liang Duan Mountain spread quickly on the internet. In less than a day, Ruo Feng's livestream had 300 million views and people were hotly debating it on every forum and social network.
"Can anyone explain to me what those two giant demons that came down from the floating mountain over Yungang are?"
"I've watched the video three times already. Those two giants were talking about 'Pariahs'. Did they mean we humans are all pariahs?"
"Jiang Shaoliu and Lion Warrior are so powerful, especially Jiang Shaoliu. He never even metalized but he seemed much stronger than Lion Warrior. Well, we have to admit that there're still so many incredibly talented people laying low in the city."
"And what about that golden monkey? Even those two giants couldn't defeat it. And the white tiger? You think the masters caught it? I'm dying to know…"
"Did anyone see where the two giants went after the fight? Is there anyone here who was part of the battle on Liang Duan Mountain?"
…
On the top floor of the military headquarters building in the city center of Yungang.
General General Xu somberly watched the large screen on the wall opposite him. "Captain Lin, I need to confirm with you that the video and audio files from Liang Duan Mountain are genuine and nothing is missing. This is the first time we've seen any changes in the sky since the Cataclysm and I'll be reporting it to High Command soon, so no mistake is allowed."
"The video didn't miss anything." Lin Yuetao handed him a flash drive with a serious expression. "It's all in these files, including my own reports about Jiang Shaoliu and the golden ape."
General Xu nodded and plugged the flash drive into a computer, quickly sending the data onwards on an encrypted military network.
Lin Yuetao glanced around uncomfortably. "Sir, should I leave once High Command contacts you?"
General Xu turned round slowly and looked at Lin Yuetao. "No, stick around. You'll get to meet one of our military legends in about ten minutes. His codename is Flying General."
Lin Yuetao's jaw dropped…
…
On the outskirts of Sector 2, Jiang Shaoliu was holding on tightly to Xiao Bai's fur as the scenery on both sides flew past them.
The Monkey King strode behind them, its massive leaps easily enough to keep up with the tiger's breakneck pace. It even urged Xiao Bai to go faster.
Jiang Shaoliu turned back and shouted to the Monkey King, "What's the hurry? Xiao Bai is all wet and slippery with sweat anyway. If he runs any harder I'll slide right off! Besides, people in the residential areas will freak out when they see you, so please keep quiet when we get there, and… try to look friendly. I will get you extra hooch if you don't cause a panic!"
At the prospect of more booze, the Monkey King excitedly picked up the pace, shooting far ahead of Xiao Bai, who had to speed up to his limit just to keep up.
"Wow, Xiao Bai, you're a lot faster than I remember!" Jiang Shaoliu grinned and pointed to the front: "We'll get there in no time at this rate. Come on!"
Beep beep beep…
The smart watch on his wrist rang. It was from Lin Yuetao.
Jiang Shaoliu patted Xiao Bai's back, "Hey, slow down a bit." As the deafening roar of rushing wind in his ears abated, he raised the smart watch up to his face.
"Lin Yuetao?"
"Doctor Jiang, did you eat the fruit yet? What's it taste like?"
"Sweet, thick and juicy," Jiang Shaoliu said. "I'd have given you some, but you disappeared without a word, so Xiao Bai and I finished it."
Lin Yuetao laughed, "That's okay. Next time we collect an extremely rare heavenly fruit, I'll definitely have some too."
Jiang Shaoliu chuckled. "You're in a good mood. What's up?"
"I am, and it's about you. HQ has decided to award you a luxury villa in the center of Yungang City, guarded 24/7 by silver-ringed masters. There's also a medal - they let me do the honors of giving it to you."