Chapter 16: Things have changed, and the world has changed

"Is this the place?"

Mark asked.

After walking and stopping in the forest for more than three hours, Caterpie finally arrived at the place in his memory.

Caterpie looked around and suddenly noticed something. It moved to the bottom of a banyan tree and used its forelimbs to tear off some weeds, revealing a green stone covered with moss underneath.

Caterpie has a deep memory of this bluestone.

When it failed in its competition for the position of chief's guard, it fell beside this bluestone.

At that time, it seemed that its head was hit by the stone.

Originally, it was thinking of waiting until it recovered from its injuries before competing for other positions as the leader's guards. After all, a Caterpie leader has several leader's guards.

As a result, it was directly expelled by the victorious leader's guards and forced to leave the home where it had lived since childhood...

Caterpie came back to his senses.

It no longer looked at the bluestone, but glanced around.

"Ss ...

Mark asked in confusion, "You mean, there used to be a lot of Caterpies here, and you don't know why they disappeared?"

Caterpie nodded.

It grew up here in the past, and it still remembers a fruit tree with red fruits. The fruits were sweet and spicy, and it liked the taste very much.

Following the direction it remembered, Caterpie quickly found the fruit tree.

It was midsummer and the fruits should have been ripe, but when he looked up at the fruits on the tree, they were almost all green and very few in number, as if they had all been eaten.

——Eat all?

Caterpie suddenly woke up, and the antennae on its forehead smelled a scent, which was the scent of a Caterpie of the same kind.

The tentacles on Caterpie's forehead opened further and rotated like antennas.

More Caterpie scents were smelled by it.

Like a frightened rabbit, Caterpie scurried up to Mark's side and looked around warily.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss!"

"You mean those Caterpies are hiding nearby, hiding, and may be watching us in the dark right now?"

"Hiss!"

Caterpie nodded continuously.

Mark thought for a moment and said, "No wonder we didn't get any news from the village chief. It seems that neither the village chief nor the insect catchers in the village know that there are wild Caterpies in the forest. Otherwise, they could just organize people to come here and catch them. Do you know why Caterpies here are hiding from us?"

"Hiss." Caterpie shook its head. It had been away from Caterpie group for several years and could not remember many things. However, it quickly recalled something and said, "Hiss, hiss."

Mark raised his eyebrows and said, "You mean, Caterpies hate humans? Why do they hate humans?"

Caterpie shook his head.

It doesn't know why it hates humans, it's just what other Caterpies say.

In fact, when it first met Mark, it was also distrustful, but it really had no choice at that time.

Later, as time went by, as the dog gradually got to know Mark and came into contact with the villagers of Clear Creek Village, it eliminated its prejudice against humans.

To this day, if Mark hadn't asked it specifically, it would have even forgotten that it once hated humans.

Mark frowned and thought for a while before saying, "It seems that if I am here, these Caterpies will not show up. I will leave for a while, and these Caterpies may come out. You wait here, I will not leave too far, and I will come to support you at any time if there is any problem."

"hiss?"

Before Caterpies could figure out what was going on, it saw Mark crawling into the grass and running away. In less than two breaths, he had disappeared.

Mark left it here?

Caterpie looked around, his body trembling slightly.

For several years, it has been inseparable from Mark, and in some ways, it has come to regard Mark as its support.

At this moment, Mark disappeared from its sight, and Caterpie felt inexplicably terrified.

Inexplicably, a terrifying scene of hundreds of Caterpies attacking and driving it away appeared in its mind.

Then, there was a rustling sound.

Those Caterpies really came over...

…

One after another, Caterpie emerged from the grass in the distance and appeared in Caterpie's sight.

It subconsciously retreated, only to find some Caterpies crawling out from behind.

It wanted to escape directly, but it suddenly thought of Mark's words.

Mark told it to stay here, it couldn't leave.

Caterpie was struggling in his heart, and suddenly he discovered something.

In its sight, an extremely large Caterpie emerged from the grass in front of it. It was over one meter long, almost one meter and two meters long.

It is the leader of Caterpie swarm.

However, he is not the leader of Caterpie swarm.

The reason why it is the leader is very simple, because this huge Caterpie is the real Caterpie leader.

As for the reason why it is not Caterpie leader, the appearance of this Caterpie leader is completely different from the leader in its memory.

As I recall, the former Caterpie leader had two majestic black spots on his forehead, and his body was smaller than this one.

Caterpie leader that appeared at this time looked like an ordinary Caterpie, with no spots on its forehead and nothing special about the patterns on its body. Instead, sharp blades grew at the ends of its four spherical forelimbs.

Caterpie did not continue to look at Caterpie leader. Instead, it looked at the leader's guards, who were larger than ordinary Caterpies, next to the leader, which were the leader's lackeys as Mark called them.

These chief guards were of similar size to it, about 60 to 70 centimeters, and were looking at it with hostility.

However, these are not the point.

The point is that it doesn't recognize any of these leader guards!

Yes, it doesn't recognize any of them!

Caterpie widened its eyes, looking confused.

Things have changed, and the world has changed dramatically.

After a few years, the forest is still the same forest as before, but the group of Caterpies living in the forest has actually changed more than twice.

To the swarm of Caterpies in the forest at this time, Caterpie that appeared at this time was a Caterpie traitor who succumbed to humans.

"Hiss!" (Betrayer!)

"Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss!" (Human, bred, slave!)

"Hiss, hiss!" (Human, bred, slave!)

"Hiss!" (Betrayal!)

The angry hissing sounds of Caterpies continued to be heard.

The curses were not smooth.

I inexplicably feel that these Caterpies have low intelligence and don't seem to be able to communicate well. They feel a bit stupid.

Although it always didn't understand what Mark said these two days and was a bit stupid, the Caterpies felt that these caterpillars were even stupider than it.

No overthinking.

"Hiss!" (Quiet!)

Caterpie leader growled, and the entire swarm of insects quieted down.

It walked out from the swarm of insects and looked down from above.

Although this Caterpie is very close to the human, it does not have the smell of being tamed. It is not a slave of humans, nor a traitor. However, the smell on its body clearly does not belong here.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!" (Outsider, please leave!)

The majestic voice of the insect leader came, and Caterpie subconsciously took a few steps back, but soon realized something - it was not an outsider!

"Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss..."

Caterpie tried to defend himself.

It is not an outsider. It was born here and grew up here. It just left here for a long time, so the smell has changed a little. It still remembers the fruit of that tree. The taste of that fruit is not only sweet but also...

Caterpie's defense did not continue.

Because what greeted it was the extremely cold eyes of Caterpie leader.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!" (Outsiders, get out!)

With another word from Caterpie leader, the entire group of Caterpies began to make sounds like a boiling pot.

"Hiss, hiss!" (Outsiders, not welcome!)

"Hiss!" (Get out!)

"Hiss!" (Get out!)

"Hiss, hiss!" (Outsiders, get out!)

"Hiss, hiss!" (Not welcome, leave!)

...

The hostile gaze and words made Caterpieretreat unconsciously. Then it saw Caterpie leader waving his forelimbs, and dense swarms of Caterpies rushed towards it from all directions!

Caterpie stood there in a daze, bewildered, when a blue-white figure rushed out, reached out and scooped it up and held it under its armpit. It was Mark who had left it there not long ago.

Mark ran quickly in the forest with Caterpies, and behind him, a group of Caterpies had already started to hit and bite Mark's back.

In general, the impact and bite power are not very strong.

Mark felt he could still bear it. As for Wimpod's egg backpack, he had already carried it on his chest, so he didn't have to worry about being attacked.

Finding the situation to be alright, Mark also turned his attention to Caterpie tucked under his armpit.

Mark said helplessly: "It's like this, why don't you fight back and break through!"

"hiss?"

Mark said: "Yes, you have to fight back. How can you not fight back when you encounter danger?

Moreover, this is only the first step. You have to use the skills you usually practice to hone your [impact].

Don't be afraid, there's nothing to be afraid of. Didn't I say before that at most the two of us will get beaten up, it's no big deal, we can just run away!

Believe me, we can run away, look, haven't we run away now?"

Caterpie looked up at Mark.

As Mark said this, his back and thighs were still suffering continuous attacks.

In sight, one of the leader's guards bit Mark's arm.

Mark frowned slightly.

As Mark reached out and tore it open, a streak of bright red blood spilled out and dripped right into Caterpie's eyes.

Mark is injured! ?

It's all its fault...

The memories of living with Mark and practicing hitting the dead wood together flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern...

Caterpie suddenly understood something.

It is no longer the powerless self, it is now its turn to help Mark!

By the time Caterpie realized something, it had already twisted its body and broke free from Mark's arms.

[Impact (Powerful Attack)]!

Boom!!

In an instant, Caterpies turned into cannonballs and blasted out, and more than a dozen Caterpies were blasted into the sky...

Caterpie did not stop. After landing, it found the right angle and planned to attack the densely populated area of ​​Caterpies again. It wanted to make those guys who hurt Mark pay the price! !

However, just as Caterpies was about to attack again, Mark's voice came from a distance.

"Caterpie, don't let your anger and hatred cloud your mind. I know you attacked out of anger because I was injured, but this is not reason for us to fight here.

We came here and were attacked, but it was actually our own fault. We provoked Caterpies here, so even if we were attacked, we can't blame them.

Don't forget our purpose.

We need to accumulate experience faster in actual combat, grow and become stronger faster!

Recall and use the [collision] techniques we once practiced together, and then adjust and perfect them over and over again..."

Mark's voice became smaller and smaller, and seemed to be farther away.

Caterpies heart gradually calmed down.

Yes, hone your skills, accumulate experience, and continue to grow.

Mark had said similar words many times before, but it had never fully understood them. But now, it seemed to understand.

In an instant, everything was completely different.

It no longer gets angry when its owner is injured, nor does it get timid when its owner is away.

Suddenly, Caterpie seemed to have returned to the past three and a half years when it had been ramming against the dead tree stump...

Caterpie stretched out its front legs and unconsciously imitated Mark's movements, lightly pinching its chin.

The [Impact (Charged Power Strike)] that it had just used in anger seemed to be very powerful, but in fact its power was only average. Because it was too angry, there were some deviations in the power it exerted, and the power consumption was increased by nearly half.

It actually made such a low-level mistake, it really shouldn't have...

While thinking, Caterpie twisted its head, nimbly dodged the attack of two Caterpies, and looked towards a direction where the caterpillars were more densely packed.

Whoosh——

[Impact (Powerful Attack)]!

Caterpies adjusted its muscles and the warm current, and after a short period of charging, it flew out again...