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

Chapter 108 Embarking on the Journey
Caesar lay on the ground for a while to recover. When he opened his eyes, everything in his field of vision was still swaying, so he had to close his eyes again.

When he stood up, his body swayed uncontrollably to the side for two steps. The bear, trying to maintain his composure, used all his strength to steady himself before taking the third step, his claws digging firmly into the grass beneath his feet.

Only when the dizziness gradually subsided did Caesar slowly open his eyes. Recalling his disheveled appearance just now, he secretly gritted his teeth and glared sharply at the culprit bear—

The berry grove was a mess after being trampled by the two bears, and the fruit that survived as seeds was squeezed by their massive bodies, causing the pulp to splatter everywhere.

In the flattened berry grove, a polar bear lay quietly, seemingly unconscious, its four legs in the air.

It was covered in withered branches and leaves, with ripe berry flesh clinging to its fine white fur, the soft fur matted into clumps, and it exuded a "fruity" scent.

Caesar's throat seemed to be filled with the ice and snow frozen on a winter mountain, each word carrying a chill:

"stand up."

The bear, its limbs stiff and pointing straight to the sky, remained lying motionless on the ground, as if still unconscious.

Caesar's eyes grew increasingly sinister. He took two steps toward Slok and finally slammed his paw down on Slok's ear!
All the anger was carried away by this kick, and when the claws landed heavily on the ground, they even brought a slight gust of wind, which brushed against Slok's ears, causing the fine downy hairs to tremble slightly.

Seeing the silly bear pretending to close his eyes tightly while his eyelids kept twitching, Caesar could easily guess that the lower pair of eyes were probably darting around anxiously, trying to come up with another trick to fool him.

He bared his teeth, lowered his head, and his hot, bloody breath sprayed onto Slok's face:
"Slok, if you don't want to open your eyes, then you don't have to open them at all."

Having long been observant and perceptive, the bear keenly sensed danger. It quickly opened its eyes, rolled to the side, and tightly shielded its throat and soft belly beneath itself, expertly begging Caesar for mercy:
"I saw a ground squirrel, I wanted to catch it to give you some extra food, hehe..."

Caesar remained silent, looking down at Slok with undisguised killing intent in his eyes.

Slok knew he was in trouble and immediately changed tactics. He abandoned his previous pleading and begging attitude and started throwing a tantrum on the ground:

"I'm your brother! You're not really going to kill me over something so trivial, are you? How could you do this?! No, I won't agree! You can't treat me like this!!"

Caesar sneered in anger:

"Do I need your permission to bite you to death?"

Slok wriggled on the ground, and when the opportunity arose, he clung tightly to Caesar's paws, shouting loudly:

"No, I don't care, you can't bite me to death!"

Normally, this behavior would only hasten one's own death, but if it were directed at Caesar, that might not be the case.

Trying to please him is likely to result in rejection, while throwing a tantrum will only impair his ability to think.

Slok clung to Caesar's paws, his head pressed tightly against his legs, and chattered incessantly:
“We grew up together, and we used to play like this when we were little. How can you be angry about this?”

Caesar took a deep breath and was thoroughly amused by Slok's words.

Is it the same as a cub colliding with a several-hundred-kilogram adult bear?!
Looking at his paws, which were being held tightly by the silly bear, Caesar tried to pull away, but as always, he couldn't. He could only scold in a low voice:
"release."

Slok knew immediately that he had it in the bag. A triumphant smile flashed across his eyes, which he quickly replaced with a pitiful, tearful expression. He raised his head and launched a barrage of glances at Caesar, then "cowardly" pushed his luck even further.

"Aren't you going to hit me anymore?"

Caesar pulled hard on his legs, forcing out a few words through clenched teeth:
"Let me go first."

Seeing that he had gotten away with it, Slok quickly released his claws, then raised them to protect his head, closed his eyes tightly, and waited for the next slap.

Surprisingly, this time, after waiting for a long time, Caesar's heavy claws did not fall.

He squinted his eyes and, seeing Caesar's retreating figure, felt a sense of relief and quickly lowered his paws to follow.

"Caesar, where are you going?"

Caesar didn't even turn his head:

"Go after Guo Mi."

This was the expected answer, and Slok was not surprised at all. He followed closely behind Caesar, following the scent left by Guo Mi.

However, Caesar stopped after taking only two steps.

Before chasing after Guo Mi, he had another thing to do.

Slok watched as Caesar lowered his head to sniff, then abruptly changed direction. A look of puzzlement crossed his eyes, and he lowered his head to sniff as well.
It doesn't taste like fruit juice; it has a different flavor altogether.

...Probably a bear too?

A look of confusion crossed Slok's eyes, and he called out to Caesar:
"Aren't we looking for Guo Mi? Why are we tracking the scent of another bear?"

Caesar glanced at him and briefly recounted his encounter with the black bear and his guesses.

After listening, Slok fell silent, and after a long while, he asked with difficulty:
"So, you're tracking the black bear now because you want to kill him?"

Caesar did not answer, but the intense killing intent in his eyes spoke volumes.

Slok felt a chill run down his spine; he knew that this time the killing intent was real.

"Caesar, why must we kill him?" Slok asked in a low voice.

This was a very strange question for Caesar, even somewhat inexplicable.

Caesar said coldly:
"Do we need a reason to kill him? He was prey to begin with."

Slok struggled and said:

"But you know he knows Guo Mi, maybe they're friends..."

"Then they should be killed even more."

Caesar interrupted him, his tone matter-of-fact:

“If it weren’t for the fact that Guo Mi didn’t want to go to any forest, she would have come back to the snow mountain with us.”

Slok's mind went blank. If he had previously thought the problem between Caesar and Gomi was a lack of communication, he now completely changed his mind. The biggest problem between Caesar and Gomi was a fundamental rupture in their understanding and thinking.

Even if they reconcile this time, the conflict will resurface soon. If this continues, there will never be a day when things will finally settle down!
With that thought in mind, Slok steeled himself and shouted loudly at Caesar:
“That’s Guo Mi’s friend. If you kill him, Guo Mi will be sad and heartbroken. If Guo Mi finds out, how will she be able to get along with you?”

Caesar paused in his pursuit of the brown bear, glanced back at him, his eyes expressionless.

Slok felt that he seemed quite dismissive, and in a moment of impulsiveness, he couldn't help but continue shouting:

"You want to be friends with Guo Mi, so why do something that makes her unhappy? Or do you think that just because you're friends, you don't need to consider the other person's feelings?!"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, and finally even went so far as to say something outrageous:

"If that's the case, you'd better not bother Guo Mi. She won't be friends with you, and I don't want to make things difficult for her with you!"

Slok only realized what he'd said after the words were already out of his mouth, his fur standing on end. Finally, facing Caesar's emotionless gaze, he stubbornly stuck out his tongue:

"I... even if you bite me to death, I won't take back what I said. If you continue like this, Guo Mi will completely ignore you!"

Rather than simply standing up for Guo Mi, it was more about his anxiety for Caesar and some complaints about the grievances he usually felt.

Caesar himself was strong-willed and extremely domineering.

He fed Slok and kept him safe, but in return, he was irritable and impatient with Slok.

Most of the time, he doesn't care what Slok is thinking, let alone consider his feelings.

So even Slok, who grew up with him since he was a cub and is the bear who has spent the most time with him, sometimes feels a lot of pressure.

Although Guo Mi was wary of Caesar, she didn't fall for his act at all. If he were to be forceful towards her, the result would only be an even more intense conflict.

Caesar realized this during their first few conflicts, which is why he naturally began to conceal his true nature.

But no matter how much you try to cover it up, it will eventually be exposed.

Slok, deep down, still harbored a fear of his cold-blooded older brother. His "toughness" faltered after a short while, his imposing presence dwindling to a mere half-meter. Under Caesar's unwavering gaze, he sheepishly said:
"I... I mean, you can't just do things your own way. Maybe... maybe you should reconsider?"

He swallowed hard and asked softly:

"Caesar, if, if I were killed by another male bear, would you become his friend?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Caesar's eyes darken, and Slok shamelessly lowered his head and avoided his gaze in one smooth motion!
He didn't really expect Caesar to listen to him, since Caesar never took his words to heart.

When the sound of the bushes breaking broke rang out again, Slok looked up and was surprised to find that Caesar had changed direction again and was heading back in the direction he had originally been following Guo Mi!
He was overjoyed and quickly jogged a few steps to catch up with Caesar, his body brushing heavily against Caesar's as he walked lightly.

After a while, a bear's question echoed across the vast tundra:
"Caesar, if I really get killed by the other bears, you'll avenge me, right?"

"..." No bear answered the question.

However, the bear's interest in asking the question remained undiminished:
Will you be sad? Will you be upset?

There was still no response from the bear.

The bear kept asking questions with great enthusiasm:

"Really? You actually care about your younger brother a lot, don't you?"

I know, you're just too embarrassed to say it!

"I care about you a lot too! I would be devastated if you died!"

"Ouch—!! I won't say anything anymore, please don't hit me, please don't hit me!!!"

After another long silence, the bear who had asked the question still hadn't given up:
"...So, will you be sad for me?"

This time, Xiong answered him. His answer was:

"Shut up."

……

When the sun was high in the sky, Guo Mi embarked on a new journey with her two little bears.

Before leaving, she invited Bada to travel south with her before the end of summer.

However, after some thought, Badas still refused.

"I still want to go find Dian Dian. I want to keep trying before the deadline."

Bada's eyes showed regret:

"We'll just have to wait for the next opportunity to travel together."

Guo Mi respected his choice and instructed him to return to a place where he could safely spend the winter before the end of summer.

After saying goodbye to Bada, she set off with the little bear without stopping for a moment.

There was no waiting for Caesar; Gomi was already in a helpless situation regarding Caesar.

Since there's no way to stop him, let's just leave it at that. Maybe Caesar will stop on his own because of the weather, or he'll just get bored and stop.

In short, leave everything to nature.

The vast tundra covered most of the journey, but fortunately, the terrain was mostly flat, which saved Guo Mi a lot of effort in traveling.

Nothing unusual happened during the first two days of their journey. Thanks to the torrential rain, they were able to find many puddles that hadn't dried up, allowing them to replenish their freshwater supply.

They even encountered a herd of reindeer that was also staying at the water source. Guo Mi, who hadn't eaten meat for a long time, had a gleam in her eyes. She used all her strength and finally pounced on a female deer before the herd ran away, and had a hearty meal with the bear cub.

On the fourth day, Guo Mi met the first human she had been sent to the Arctic.