Neo's eyes widened in alarm. He sprang towards the hole with frantic steps.
Staring at the now-sealed tunnel entrance, Neo felt so shocked he almost staggered. These damned gorillas were too intelligent!
They were nearly sentient!
Neo's mind raced as he scrambled to come up with a plan.
He had two options: escape through the normal cave entrance and hope there were no gorillas climbing up, or try to dig through the tunnel and escape that way.
The first option was too risky. Not only was it daytime, but with his terrible luck, he was certain the place would be teeming with gorillas.
In fact, Neo was sure some were climbing upwards right now!
But the second option was no easier.
Neo had no idea how deeply the gorillas had filled the tunnel or how strong the substance blocking it was.
What if he couldn't break through quickly enough? Or worse, what if it was too strong to break through at all?
'Only one way to find out!'
With a determined expression, Neo gripped his spear and thrust it at the wall.
Thud!
His full-powered thrust hit the greyish wall and stopped dead. Neo pulled out his spear and examined the damage.
A feeling of déjà vu overwhelmed him as he realised his full-powered thrust hadn't even left a scratch.
It had done absolutely nothing.
Neo quickly entered the stance for another strike. Since his normal strength wasn't enough, he'd have to go all out!
His body began to glow grey, and the spear blade glowed with the same colour. In the next moment, he thrust his spear at the wall, faster and more powerfully than before.
The concept of weightlessness enhanced his thrust speed, and the concept of sharpness increased its power and lethality.
The result was marvellous...
Puchi!
Neo's spear disappeared into the wall all the way to the shaft! He was so proud of himself that he couldn't help but laugh.
His laughter echoed in the cave for a few seconds before abruptly stopping.
He remembered his situation and immediately began digging.
Puchi! Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!
Digging with a spear was no easy task, especially since he was still gravely injured, but he managed to wear down a foot-thick layer in under three minutes!
Neo's hands blurred as he dug in a way that would put even the most experienced Old Age farmers to shame.
He was so fast!
His posture remained steady, and the barricade grew thinner. Soon, he had dug more than two feet into the wall, and he was still going!
Neo began to panic. How deep was this wall? Wasn't this the same as digging a whole new tunnel?
A terrible thought suddenly struck him, and he gasped. What if the tunnel was filled to the brim?
What if they really did that?!
Would he have to go out through the cave entrance? Could he survive among such a large number of gorillas?
Dumm!
Neo's eyes bulged. He recognised that sound!
Dumm!
Dumm!
Sweat drenched his back, and his feet grew cold with fear.
That was the unmistakable sound of a gorilla climbing up! It was getting close to the cave entrance!
He had to dig faster!
Neo's heart pounded as he prayed that the barricade wouldn't be too thick. He really needed to dig a way through now or it would be too late!
Neo was starting to get desperate.
He began pummelling the wall with such fury that his spear started to emit a tiny wisp of smoke from the intense friction!
His digging speed was astonishing!
Dumm!!!
At last, when the sound of the approaching gorilla became so loud it echoed through the cave, and the entrance began to vibrate, Neo's spear finally broke through the wall and reached a hollow space!
Neo was elated.
He had dug a way out!
He used all his remaining energy to clear the hole in seconds.
Once he had made a hole big enough to slip through, he turned around one last time. A crazy thought entered his mind just now.
He stared at the juicy yellow fruits and contemplated taking a few...
Did he still have time?
He didn't.
A huge, hairy gorilla appeared at the entrance of the cave the next moment, staring at Neo in shock.
Neo and the uncommon grade gorilla locked eyes for several seconds before the beast snapped out of its stupor, consumed by fury.
It's eyes shone with realization.
This was the puny human that had disappeared into the wall that night!
It had finally come out!
The gorilla had been so enraged at itself for not catching at least one of the two intruders that night that it hadn't slept properly for days!
In fact, it hadn't been able to 'play' properly with it's harem! All it could think of was it's failure!
And now, one of them was right in front of it! How perfect!
It was going to make this ant suffer!
Neo saw the gorilla's body begin to glow white, and his danger senses flared.
The beast was getting serious!
At once, Neo morphed his spear back into the void stone, dropped to all fours, and slipped through the hole he had dug.
He crawled as fast as he could. He had to get away! Far away!
Roar!
A furious roar echoed through the cave, and a powerful punch collided with the small wall Neo had just broken through.
The punch destroyed what was left of the wall and revealed the full tunnel hole, but it was of no use to the gorilla.
The gorilla was so large that its arm could barely squeeze into the hole. It shoved its hand as deep as it could and tried to grasp Neo, but Neo managed to crawl out of reach just in time.
His heart pounded in his chest, and his forehead was slick with sweat. He crawled for what felt like hours, moving under the cave that was bustling with activity before finally emerging at the tunnel entrance.
Neo climbed out of the hole and disappeared into the forest.
He had made it out!