After about half an hour, Chu Ge and his three companions arrived at Antelope Forest Park.
There were seven kinds of antelopes in the zoo. The pitbull reincarnated as a springbok, with slender limbs, yellow-brown hair on the back, a white belly, and two long, sharp horns, giving it a lively appearance.
Chu Ge found a staff member and asked where the young springbok was.
The staff member did not refuse him; they led them to an enclosure.
"These antelopes are all newly born. The reason they are not let out is that we're afraid they will get injured—one young springbok does, always striking the cage, wounded and bleeding from the head."
Hearing the staff member's words, Chu Ge couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. He smiled and said, "Sister, could you take us to see that young springbok?"
The staff member smiled and said, "Sure, there are seldom students like you who want to learn about the animals. Most visitors just come to play and don't seek to understand them deeply."
Tang Xuejia and Song Xiaoyu took selfies on the side, while Chen Xunjie looked around.
Chu Ge followed the staff member to the front of a wire fence; inside the cage, there were more than a dozen springboks of various sizes, most of them sleeping.
"It's that little guy. Look at its head; the wound has just scabbed over."
The staff member pointed at the young springbok in the corner and spoke with a tone of reluctant compassion, pitying the little creature.
Chu Ge walked up to the wire fence, grabbed it with his right hand, and called into the interior, "Pitbull, undercover."
The staff found it amusing and asked, "Little brother, what are you talking about?"
Chen Xunjie, Tang Xuejia, and Song Xiaoyu came over too.
The young springbok that had been sleeping suddenly opened its eyes.
It glanced at Chu Ge, its eyes empty, showing no change.
Chu Ge continued, "Where's your pack of dogs?"
The young springbok just stared at him blankly, motionless.
"Pitbull? A pack of dogs? Are you watching too much of the Qingmei Park news?" Song Xiaoyu said with a laugh.
Finding an opportunity, Chen Xunjie interjected, "This little antelope does not resemble a pitbull at all. Look at it lying on the ground; it's more like a little lion, even the color is similar."
Suddenly, the young springbok stood up and charged over.
Bang—
The wire fence was violently shaken by the impact of the young springbok, causing Chen Xunjie to shiver in fright and instinctively jump back.
Tang Xuejia and Song Xiaoyu were also startled.
Chu Ge, however, narrowed his eyes.
"Step back; this little guy is going crazy again," the staff member hurriedly said. She stepped forward, trying to calm the young springbok.
The young springbok, like a lunatic, kept slamming into the wire fence. Its scalp soon began to bleed profusely, and the two small horns that had just emerged were broken off, a truly pitiful sight.
Chu Ge stared into the eyes of the young springbok, trying to see if it still retained human consciousness.
This was what he most wanted to know.
After becoming an animal, does it still have human consciousness?
If not, that's fine, but if it does, it would be truly horrifying.
To be an animal who can't speak and is confined in a zoo is an agonizing ordeal.
In a zoo, trying to escape is almost impossible.
Humans profess to care for animals in the name of love, with surveillance everywhere and full security measures in place. How could escape be possible?
Chu Ge once again thought of the wild boar news from a month ago.
Was that little wild boar participating in a Survival Competition, or had it already been degraded to an animal?
The more the young springbok bled, the crazier it became.
The staff member got scared and quickly went to call others for help.
Soon, five adult men came over. They entered the cage and restrained the young springbok.
The bloodied young springbok continued to struggle desperately. From beginning to end, its eyes were so empty, lacking the ferocity of a pitbull, making it hard to associate the two.
Chu Ge and his group were asked by the staff to leave.
Leaving the enclosure, they were still in shock.
"What on earth happened to it?" Chen Xunjie couldn't help but ask.
Song Xiaoyu speculated, "Maybe it didn't eat breakfast? Or perhaps it woke up on the wrong side of the bed?"
Tang Xuejia gave her a dismissive look, as if to say, are you really a high school student?
Chu Ge pondered on his own, not uttering a word.
He couldn't understand why the young springbok was so frantic.
Could it be an obsession?
The Pitbull must have wanted to tear him apart when it was alive.
"Let's go, let's check out the Lion!"
Chen Xunjie changed the subject, shivering at the thought of the scene he had witnessed and wanting to divert his attention.
Tang Xuejia and Song Xiaoyu had no objections.
But as they continued their outing, they noticed that Chu Ge seemed distracted.
They had asked Chu Ge where his animal friend was, and he simply shook his head and gave a bitter smile.
It wasn't until noon that Chu Ge's mood improved, and he started chatting with the trio, occasionally cracking jokes that revived the atmosphere.
This change in demeanor actually improved the girls' impression of him.
Without comparison, they hadn't realized how entertaining Chu Ge could be.
When Chu Ge was silent, Chen Xunjie found it hard to say anything substantial and even dared not make eye contact with the girls.
All in all, the day passed quite pleasantly.
After returning home in the afternoon, Chu Ge plunged into the Primary Training Hall.
Having witnessed the end of the Pitbull, he was greatly shocked.
He felt he must put in more effort.
He really did not want to be eliminated from the Survival Arena.
For the next week, Chu Ge took his studies seriously at school every day, and after dinner, he would train in the Primary Training Hall until two in the morning.
On Thursday night.
Gao Fei called him: "Chu Brothers, that big shot is currently planning a City Battle, he's handed over the company to others for management, I'll introduce you to him next time."
City Battle?
Chu Ge was drawn to these two words, but no matter how much he inquired, Gao Fei wouldn't divulge any details.
This time, Gao Fei ended the call quite early.
Chu Ge returned to the Survival House and asked his former Vulture teammate, Song in the Windy Night, about the City Battle.
Song in the Windy Night only responded with one line:
It's a competition only the Survival Teams can get involved in, don't ask.
...
Chu Ge was speechless, he could only continue his training.
The life of a high school student is monotonous.
No physical education class, and a pile of review books after school.
Time passed quickly.
With only five days left until the next Survival Competition, Chu Ge was finally able to preview the details of the upcoming task.
Sitting on the couch, his gaze locked onto the screen before him:
The next Survival Competition:
Mad Hunt!
Ninety-nine Survivors will first arrive at the preparatory battlefield, then, after an hour, they will be randomly dropped into the mission area. During the mission, each will battle on their own, with a continuously updated kill leaderboard.
Duration of the mission: 72 hours.
Location of the mission: Xuanjiang University.
...
Chu Ge's face turned pale.
It wasn't the rules that frightened him.
It was the location of the mission.
Xuanjiang University!
Wasn't that his sister's university?
What a coincidence!
Chu Ge's expression dropped to an icy low, with ninety-nine Survivors, wouldn't Xuanjiang University be turned upside down?
Including this time, he had participated in three Survival Competitions, and in two of those, there were people he knew.
This luck...
Xuanjiang University was very far from Nanluo City, over a thousand kilometers away, and was among the top fifty universities nationally. Its campus scenery was even more famous than its academic programs.
Could it be that it was chosen for the Survival Competition precisely because of its outstanding environment?