Chapter Thirty-Two: The Dawn of the Unified Era of the Ancient Ape Civilization

“I even went to Zhuo Wei’s house and broke the door!” Tang Jinhua blurted out without thinking.

“Oh?” The man in the white casual suit was intrigued. “Mind if I take a look?”

“Of course,” Fang Zhuowei answered after a brief moment of thought, not refusing the request.

First of all, he wasn’t worried about outsiders discovering the fish tank. As one of the evolutionary source’s functions, the shielding effect not only worked against spore creatures from the small world but also on any intruding lifeforms or even non-living matter. With the shield in place, the fish tank was invisible and intangible—no one but Fang Zhuowei could possibly discover it.

Secondly, he genuinely wanted to know what exactly had been prowling around last night.

“Then please lead the way,” the man in white said with a polite smile.

Fang Zhuowei nodded and turned to guide them.

His mother hadn’t had a chance to speak earlier. Now, Tang Jinhua tugged at Zhang Ya as everyone followed Fang Zhuowei out. “My good girl, how come you’re mixed up with these experts from the city? And that blond little brat—he doesn’t look more than ten. Is he an expert too?”

“I just happened to run into them on the way home, Mom. As for that little kid? I have no idea if he’s an expert.” Zhang Ya waved it off. “By the way, Mom, don’t follow us. Heat up some buns for me, will you? I’m starving after all that walking…”

…

“Man, your door’s built like a tank! I can’t believe it’s still in one piece,” remarked the man in white, crouching beside the solid wooden door, examining the battered section with amazement.

“Just lucky,” Fang Zhuowei replied calmly. He didn’t feel inferior just because these people were experts sent from the city.

He had watched countless races of life rise and fall over millions of years, had seen millions of lives flicker out and turn to bone in the river of time, forgotten by all…

In Fang Zhuowei’s eyes, even an emperor was little different from a beggar.

“So, did you identify what it was? Wild boar, a bear, or something else?” Fang Zhuowei asked when he saw the man in white jotting notes for quite a while.

“That’s classified. We can’t reveal it, but rest assured, we’ll stay until the danger has passed,” the man replied before moving aside.

Next came the police officer’s questioning. After some routine inquiries and a brief statement, the group left Fang Zhuowei’s house.

“You’d best not wander around for now,” Zhang Ya said suddenly as she was about to leave, glancing back at Fang Zhuowei, her voice frosty as ever.

“Alright, I understand.” Fang Zhuowei scratched his head, a little puzzled.

But that was just his nature—he didn’t like to argue, especially not with people he was close to. Besides, it wasn’t a big deal. He agreed for now; whether he listened in the end was his own business.

No one could stop him if he set his mind to something. And if he didn’t want to do it, no one could force him.

“Zhang Ya, do you know that guy? He seems pretty close to your mother,” the man in white asked as they rounded a bend in the narrow path, glancing at Fang Zhuowei’s house, then at Zhang Ya.

“I know him. Just an ordinary person, a relative of ours,” Zhang Ya answered, her tone as glacial as ever.

“An ordinary guy? He’s got some luck, then. I wonder where he bought that door—it actually held against a class-restricted beast’s attack.” The man in white lost interest and curled his lip.

“Zhang Ya, are we playing that battle royale game again tonight?” piped up the little blond kid, who looked no more than eight or nine, running over with a serious face. “I just bought a top-tier outfit.”

“Play with your uncle! You want to ‘eat chicken’ again, so you can marry me next?” Zhang Ya’s expression turned thunderous, her icy demeanor vanishing in a flash of fury.

“Well… not impossible, I suppose. You might be old and ugly, but you’re good at games. You always carry me to victory. Come to think of it, we really do have plenty to talk about.” The kid pondered, then addressed Zhang Ya with utter seriousness.

“…” Zhang Ya was speechless.

…

After seeing the group out, Fang Zhuowei went inside and fetched the electrical wire and power strip he’d just bought.

While the light was still good, he needed to hurry and install a bulb in the yard.

Though he hadn’t studied electrical engineering in college, he’d picked up some basics during holiday jobs, and in his spare time caught a few open lectures on the subject.

Major rewiring was beyond him, but simple jobs like running a wire and connecting a bulb were second nature.

Ordinary wiring relied more on experience than skill.

In about half an hour, Fang Zhuowei had the light hooked up.

He tested it.

Not bad. It wouldn’t make the whole yard as bright as day, but at least if anything rustled out there, he’d see it right away—no more groping blindly in the dark.

With the wiring done, he patched up the broken door with a few wooden planks.

When all was finished, a wave of fatigue crashed over him.

He’d barely slept the night before, spent the whole morning busy, and even a healthy man would be exhausted—let alone Fang Zhuowei.

So he simply went indoors to take a nap.

Half-asleep, he drifted into dreams. When he next opened his eyes, it was already past nine in the evening.

Outside, darkness blanketed the distant hills and nearby gullies alike, leveling the landscape in shadow. The earth was like a swath of black cloth, pitch-dark—one couldn’t see a hand in front of one’s face.

“Nearly eight hours of sleep?” Fang Zhuowei rubbed his groggy head in surprise. He felt as if he’d barely closed his eyes, but in the blink of an eye it was nearly ten o’clock.

He splashed his face with cold water to clear his head, then quickly made himself a bowl of tomato and egg noodles.

After a hard day’s work, the few buns he’d eaten that morning were long gone. He was so hungry his stomach felt glued to his back.

Once he’d eaten, Fang Zhuowei went straight to the fish tank.

Though it had been just over a day since he last checked, the world inside the fish tank had already undergone a sea change.