Anxious, angry, greedy, and convinced of its victory... is there any better time to fall into a trap?
Raymond spent three days drawing out the little monkey's inner agitation bit by bit.
If it weren't for its fear of Ben Mao, it might have already lashed out violently!
Three days ago, when the little monkey was harassing and teasing Raymond, it was smug but still maintained a necessary level of vigilance. But three days later, its emotions were out of control, on the verge of erupting.
Then, Raymond took Ben Mao out, timely giving it a false sense of victory, while also luring it to the bathroom on its own.
People often believe deeply in things they have found through their own efforts.
Monkeys are no different.
Irritation, anger, pride, excitement, impatience...
When the little monkey eagerly jumped in through the bathroom window, its excitement was palpable, to the point that it didn't notice—or even if it did, it wouldn't have thought much of it—that the bathroom floor was covered in water...
And in the water, electricity flowed, high-voltage electricity transformed by a transformer that Raymond had set up.
As for the transformer, it was something Raymond picked up while getting the small speakers from the electronics market. The little monkey, proud after smashing Raymond's sound system and leaving, didn't notice it.
Even if it had, it probably wouldn't have known what it was. To enhance conductivity, Raymond had even sprinkled salt in the water. He had also set up some hidden measures to ensure it would be electrocuted long enough but not too long.
Raymond poked the little monkey, muttering to himself, "Still alive, as expected. Let's tie it up first!"
Considering that the big dog didn't die even with a knife in its neck, this stubborn monkey wouldn't die so easily either.
Raymond found two thick ropes and tied up the little monkey's hands and feet. After tying it up, he still felt uneasy, so he instructed Ben Mao to keep an eye on it and not let it escape.
This monkey was quite tricky to catch.
Its ability to sneak in and out of his house multiple times without leaving a trace showed its caution. Trying to set a trap for it while it was vigilant would have a very low success rate, but "after all, it's just a slightly intelligent monkey," Raymond thought.
He had considered letting Ben Mao catch it directly, but after some thought, he decided not to take the risk.
After all, capturing alive is much harder than defeating.
Ben Mao could defeat it, maybe even kill it, but capturing it alive was uncertain due to lack of information.
If Ben Mao failed to catch it and scared it off for good, all efforts would be in vain.
In the absence of other animals with meteorites appearing, this monkey was an important source of information.
Therefore, in this plan to capture the little monkey alive, Raymond did take a bit of a risk when he first brought Ben Mao to the balcony to change the speakers. If the little monkey had been scared off permanently, all subsequent plans would have failed.
But fortunately, the monkey, as Raymond had guessed, perfectly illustrated what it meant to "avoid unnecessary risks."
"Zhi zhi..."
Raymond was watching TV, an old movie, "Roman Holiday."
Of course, it was on a DVD player.
After all, there's no TV signal now.
Suddenly, he heard a weak monkey's call, turned his head, and smiled slightly, "Awake?"
"Zhi zhi..."
The little monkey opened its eyes, glanced at Raymond weakly, and then closed them again.
Although it had woken up, it felt like its insides had been burned, its skin and muscles were exceptionally painful, and it had no strength at all. It didn't want to deal with the human in front of it.
Moreover, it couldn't understand what he was saying.
But it knew that its current predicament was caused by this human. How hateful!!
Seeing the little monkey only weakly glance at him before closing its eyes, Raymond was a bit surprised.
He had expected it to angrily yell at him given its usual temperament!
It seemed it was really badly injured. Additionally, this showed it indeed had high intelligence, not just a mindless beast.
"Alright, you seem to be seriously injured, so I'll let you rest for now," Raymond said. "After all, I'm a good person. Wait, do you expect me to give you medicine and apply ointment? Can't you just die once and revive? Oh, right, you probably can't understand me."
Feeling a bit troublesome but seeing the monkey seriously injured, Raymond went to the pharmacy, got some ointment for burns and scalds, applied it, and wrapped it up like a mummy.
"Hahaha..." Raymond couldn't help but laugh, "Sorry, you just look too funny."
The little monkey, with its hands and feet bound and wrapped up, opened its eyes and glared at him weakly.
Although it couldn't understand what the human was saying, did it need to?
It was definitely mocking it!
"Hahaha..." Raymond found it amusing and casually wrapped it a bit more. "Oops, I covered your eyes..."
He loosened the bandage, adjusted it so the monkey could barely see.
What surprised Raymond was that despite the serious injuries, the little monkey recovered at an incredible speed.
Two days later, it could already hop onto the sofa to watch TV!
(With its hands and feet bound, it could only hop around.)
Indeed, its recovery ability was extraordinary.
Seeing the mummified little monkey sitting on the sofa watching TV as if it were natural, Raymond said, "Since you're feeling better, I have some questions for you."
The mummified monkey ignored him, continuing to stare at the TV.
"I know you can hear me, even if you can't understand," Raymond said.
The monkey remained unresponsive.
Raymond: "Don't play deaf with me."
The monkey still didn't react.
"Slap!"
Raymond smacked its head: "Stop pretending!"
The mummified monkey, caught off guard, tumbled off the sofa and hit its face on the coffee table.
"Zhi zhi——! Zhi zhi——!"
It turned its head angrily and yelled at Raymond before hopping back onto the sofa.
"Zhi zhi——!"**Chapter 11: The Cat Interpreter**
"Zhi what! I don't understand!"
At this moment, Raymond deeply understood how important it is to know a foreign language.
If monkey language counts as a foreign language.
He helplessly turned to look at Ben Mao on the other side and asked casually, "Ben Mao, can you translate for it?"
"Meow~" Ben Mao meowed and nodded.
Wow! It actually can?!
Raymond was very surprised and quickly had Ben Mao convey his message to the little monkey.
Thus, he heard the following conversation:
"Meow meow meow!" "Zhi zhi!" "Meow meow!" "Zhi zhi zhi!" "Meow meow meow meow!" "Zhi zhi zhi!"
...
After a while, the translation was complete. Ben Mao turned its head and looked at Raymond: "Meow meow~ meow meow~~"
"..." Raymond's face went dark. He said irritably, "Meow what meow! I can't understand cat language!"
Before the apocalypse, he was proficient in several foreign languages. Why did he suddenly feel like he didn't understand anything now?
Where can one learn cat language?
Is it still possible to sign up for a language course now?
"Meow..." Ben Mao covered its little head, feeling a bit wronged.
Meanwhile, seeing Ben Mao seemingly getting scolded, the mummified little monkey grinned.
This cat emitted an aura that made the monkey feel reverence, giving it an impression of being untouchable.
But now it seemed even cats could be scolded!
"There's a chance to escape," the monkey calculated in its mind.
Moreover, the relationship between this human and the cat didn't seem very good. If used properly, it could escape.
As the little monkey schemed in its heart, it laughed gleefully.
Raymond's face darkened. He raised his hand and slapped the monkey on its head: "Who the hell allowed you to laugh at it?!"
The little monkey tumbled off the sofa again.
Of course, it immediately hopped back onto the sofa, looking confused.
What did I do to offend you again?!
See! Language barriers sometimes lead to being hit without even knowing the reason.
Even though Ben Mao helped with translation, communication was still troublesome because Raymond didn't understand monkey language, nor cat language! Conveying Raymond's words to the monkey was easy with Ben Mao's help, but relaying the monkey's words back to Raymond was still difficult.
Luckily, Ben Mao had awakened its intelligence and could understand Raymond. So, it used various tools and actions to express itself, and Raymond started a guessing game.
Playing a guessing game with a cat was probably a unique experience.
After much effort, Raymond finally got some information from the monkey.
Firstly, the hostility he sensed from evolved animals.
Previously, it was the big dog, and now, this monkey.
Though there was intense conflict between them, Raymond sensed hostility from the monkey even before the conflict, during its nightly harassment.
That feeling was strange, something he never experienced before.
But he could instinctively feel that the monkey harbored strong hostility towards him, just like the big dog did.
Raymond couldn't understand why.
And the monkey's answer was—it didn't know either. Ever since its mind got smarter, it felt deep hatred towards him, wanting to bite him to death.
What?!
Raymond was puzzled.
Could it be that animals, after gaining wisdom, hate humans and transfer this hatred to the only surviving human?
It shouldn't be! If that were the case, it should say "because it hates humans," not "it doesn't know."
According to the monkey, it felt like a deep-seated hatred, engraved in its bones and soul, surfacing only after its mind became smarter (gaining wisdom).
Raymond was confused.
This is so bizarre!
Did I do something to you?
He felt very wronged.
The monkey's answer seemed to solve Raymond's doubt, but actually, it resolved nothing.
He still didn't know why they hated him, only that he understood more about this groundless hostility.
Of course, Raymond considered the possibility that the monkey was lying.
It's not impossible, but unlikely.
The monkey had no reason to lie about this, and even if it did, it wouldn't use such an absurd reason.
So, Raymond decided to accept this explanation for now.
He touched his chin, looking at the mummified monkey watching TV with great interest, thinking to himself.
The monkey's behavior was clearly different from the big dog's back then. The big dog, after dropping its disguise, showed blatant, intense hostility, with no concealment. But the monkey never displayed such aggressive hostility.
The difference, Raymond thought, might be related to the awakening of intelligence.
Freud divided the personality into three parts: Id, Ego, and Superego.
The Id is basically instinct, the part of humans most similar to animals.
The Ego is the awakening of self-awareness, the beginning of self-exploration.
The Superego, simply put, is moral and ethical standards.
A newborn baby is not much different from an animal, as it only has the Id, not the Ego. Only when it starts to explore "who am I" does it truly become a "person."
The essential difference between humans and animals lies in self-awareness.
Humans have a high level of self-awareness, can clearly identify the existence of "I," and continuously explore and understand themselves. Animals, on the other hand, mostly act on instinct. Even those with some self-awareness don't reach human levels.
Raymond guessed that the awakening of intelligence meant the emergence of high self-awareness, leading to high intelligence and complex personalities.
After gaining intelligence, animals would no longer be driven solely by instinct.
They would clearly recognize their own existence.
In that case, the inexplicable hatred that even they found puzzling and confusing, could influence them to varying degrees, depending on the individual.
Maybe the big dog was easily controlled by emotions, or its level of intelligence awakening wasn't as high as the monkey's. Hence, the monkey's hostility wasn't as aggressive as the dog's, and it could even sit with him watching TV now, though partly due to the circumstances.
But on the flip side, even with high self-awareness, and despite the confusion, their hatred for him couldn't be dispelled.
"...Did I kill your entire family?" Raymond was speechless.
He suddenly felt he couldn't understand this world anymore.
After all, why did humanity suddenly perish half a year ago?
Raymond had always avoided thinking about this question.
First, according to his analysis, humanity perished simultaneously in an instant, and only humans were affected, not other living or non-living things.
This situation was too bizarre to explain.
Second, with humanity already extinct, what's the point of thinking about it?
So, Raymond never pondered the cause of human extinction, treating it as a given fact.
But recently, one mystery after another swirled around him, making him think again—what caused the sudden extinction of humanity? Was there any meaning behind it?