Deep affection knows no origin; remember the polar bear's love for you.

Chapter 107 Slok's Berry Grove

Slok lowered his head, twitched his nose twice, and secretly observed Caesar's movements out of the corner of his eye. Then, he quietly opened his mouth and quickly bit into two fruits.

The plump peel breaks as soon as it touches your teeth, and the sweet flesh bursts in your mouth.

The male bear squinted contentedly, then couldn't resist lowering its head and eating two more.

The sweet fruit slid down my throat and into my stomach, and when I opened my eyes again, I was met with a pair of chilling eyes.

Slok jolted, and the berry he hadn't even had a chance to bite into slid down his throat, making him gag twice.

Even without looking up, he could keenly sense that the gazes falling upon him had grown even colder.

Caesar coldly watched as the bear, who had just offered to help him detect the scent of fruit, was now stealing food, and a chilling aura emanated from his eyes.

Slok forced himself to stop gagging, turned to look at his cold-blooded older brother who was on the verge of exploding with rage, chuckled dryly, and received a chilling glare from the other's eyes that seemed to solidify into reality. He could only awkwardly withdraw his fawning smile and mutter:

"What? You've been eating berries here for days, and I've only had one or two..."

Caesar sneered, then ignored him and turned to sniff the scents left in the berry grove.

Seeing that Caesar ignored him, Slok ran wild in the berry grove, eating like crazy!

Eat any fruit you see!

However, before I could even take two bites, I was slapped hard on the back of the head!
Caesar's cold voice came from above:

"Who told you to eat like that?"

Slok was stunned. What did that mean? How else could berries be eaten if not this way?
If it's not stuffed into the mouth, then is it from...?

...Huh? Really?
Caesar knew with a glance that Slok was acting strangely again, and his voice suddenly dropped eight octaves:

"If you keep eating like this, you'll eat the whole forest bald. What will we eat next year?"

Slok obediently agreed:
"……Oh."

But I was even more confused:
next year?!
Will they stay on the island next year?! Why are we thinking about next year when we're eating this year?!
But no matter how much he protested in his heart, it didn't stop Slok from outwardly yielding and, in a flattering and tactful manner, asking:
"So, how should I eat the nuts here?"

The voice sounded somewhat strange and unpleasant.

Caesar exhaled hot breath from his nostrils, held his head high, and repeated to Slok what he had heard from Gomi.

Slok: "..."

Hmm, I don't understand it, but for some reason I think it's amazing.

The silly bear had developed a good habit of listening to advice when he couldn't understand something, and obediently assured Caesar:
"I understand, I will definitely follow the rules when eating berries."

Caesar snorted and turned back to smell the scent left by Guo Mi.

Slok stood there, making sure he didn't turn back to pay any more attention to him, before letting out a sigh of relief and turning to continue enjoying his delicious meal.

Before me is a bright red, glossy berry with plump, full flesh.

Slok recalled Caesar's words, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly until his teeth touched the fruit peel, but finally he closed his mouth, looking at the delicious-looking fruit with some regret.

...Never mind, I'll keep that seed and not eat it. Not tasting the fruit I wanted was enough to make a bear depressed.

Slok had long lost his earlier excitement and turned around listlessly. He hadn't taken two steps when he suddenly heard the sound of grass rustling behind him.

He turned around abruptly and saw that the branches that had been hanging with bear-attracting fruits were now completely bare!

The bear's head went blank for a moment, then its anger surged!
Who did it? Who was it?!

Slok was even audacious enough to cast a suspicious glance at Caesar, until he was certain that his cold-blooded brother could not possibly run over from five meters away and eat the fruit in an instant, before reluctantly withdrawing his suspicions.

So who is it?!

Slok pressed his nose to the ground, frantically gasping for air, finally finding a faint breath.

He forced his way into the dense bushes following the scent, where a rodent-like creature stood at the base of the bushes, holding something high above its head!
Upon closer inspection, wasn't this the very fruit of his dreams?!
The ground squirrel had finally picked a perfect fruit and was hiding in the bushes, ready to admire it properly, when it had no idea that the next second a huge bear head would forcefully break through the bushes and stick its whole head in!

The poor little guy froze for a second before letting out a terrifying scream!
Noticing the bad bear staring intently at the berries in its paws, it immediately thought of the strange bear that had dug up its den a couple of days ago!

Seeing that little thing turn around and run away with his dream fruit in his arms, Slok's fierce eyes suddenly flashed, and he rushed into the bushes without hesitation!
……

Caesar lowered his head and carefully discerned the scents: Guo Mi's, the two little cubs', and...

Black bear's?
His gaze darkened. He had smelled the scent of a black bear in the berry grove yesterday, but at the time Guo Mi said she was going to some forest, and he hadn't bothered to investigate.

Today, the smell of black bear has only intensified, not diminished.

This indicates that the black bear appeared in the berry grove for two consecutive nights and stayed there for a considerable amount of time.

Guo Mi has been sleeping in the forest with the bear cub for the past few days. There's no reason why the black bear could stay here indefinitely, unless they know each other.

……know?
Caesar suddenly realized that this was the first time he had seen a bear other than a polar bear, which meant that the black bear probably hadn't lived there for a long time.

Then I thought about how Guo Mi suddenly wanted to go to some forest.

So, it was that black bear that bewitched her?
The male bear immediately exuded a dangerous aura, its nose sweeping among the branches and leaves of the berry vines, taking in the black bear's scent.

If I had known that I should have killed that black bear that day, none of these accidents would have happened.

Caesar's murderous intent toward the unknown black bear grew stronger.

Just as he was following the scent and preparing to delve deeper into the investigation, the bushes beside him suddenly shook!
The first thing to dart out was a small figure, moving very fast, and it disappeared in a flash, leaving only a blur.

...It seemed to have let out a startled scream as it passed by?

Caesar stared in the direction where the unknown creature had disappeared, his eyes filled with doubt, when the bushes beside him shook violently once more!

As soon as he turned his head, Slok burst out of the bushes with a ferocious expression, baring his teeth and brandishing his claws!
The male bear, covered in twigs and leaves, widened its eyes in terror the moment it saw Caesar standing before it. The claw marks left by its desperate grip on the ground proved that it had struggled in its final moments.

—But it was just a struggle.

Caesar's eyes widened slightly, and then everything went blurry before his eyes, followed by a powerful shock!
Two adult male bears collided and rolled around in the berry grove before both collapsing and briefly losing consciousness!

(End of this chapter)