Chapter 71: Old Third Wants To Take Over Old Second’s Position
As for how to resolve it, this was a huge problem.
Had it been in the past, they could choose to hunt and kill them if things really didn’t work, but now, this absolutely wouldn’t work.
Once they launched a large-scale hunt and other animals caught wind of it, the animals would definitely feel the threat as if China was hunting their own even if they weren’t from the same species… because China was simply too powerful in the eyes of the animals!
The animals were naturally from the same faction during certain occasions.
This faction was known as the ‘species other than the humans’.
It was very likely that the relations that China had formed and developed so painstakingly could be destroyed overnight.
They absolutely mustn’t allow this to happen.
After a moment of musing, Dong Pingtao said, “Let the secretariat discuss this first.”
“Alright.” Li Aimin nodded.
Every man had their own strengths. They might be leaders of the country, but when it came to intelligence, they were definitely inferior to the secretariat as a whole.
Rather, their task was to pick the most appropriate solution from among the ones that the secretariat submitted.
A day later, the secretariat suggested several solutions to Dong Pingtao and Li Aimin.
Dong Pingtao mused for a moment before he said steadily, “What do you think of the second one?”
Li Aimin frowned lightly and said a little hesitantly, ” ‘Use beasts to control beasts. Convince several animal kings to head to the borders and let them resolve this issue’. This is indeed the safest solution, and we can even kill a few birds with one stone.
“But if this really succeeds, it would be tantamount to them splitting the borders into their respective territories. It’s highly likely that the animal kings will pretty much occupy and rule over an expanse of land as their territory after this.”
He paused for a moment before he went on. “This solution does indeed hold great benefits for the current situation, as well as in the future. Firstly, it can solve the animal invasion problem.
“Secondly, it’s equivalent to us gaining an additional layer of defense at the borders.
“Thirdly, it can also s.h.i.+ft powerful inland animal species to the borders, thereby preventing possible future risks from happening.
“Fourthly, it can also let the various animal species fight among themselves while we watch unaffected from the sidelines.
“However, this will become a cause for concern if we ever want to intervene with border regions in the future. Additionally, it’s highly likely that the animals will strengthen rapidly because of this. I’m afraid we’ll end up burying the seeds for some other hidden dangers if we do this. In the event that they band together…”
The second solution wasn’t a complex one. It was none other than to get the animal kings from each species to lead their clans and switch to a different environment at the borders and then let them resolve the animal invasion issue.
Convincing them to do this wasn’t actually difficult. China was confident that they could do it.
After all, all the animals were currently experiencing a shortage of food supplies. They would never think of themselves as having too much food.
It was just that this particular solution, while it brought many benefits, also had its own flaws.
Given how there was no end to the number of animals streaming into China, as well as how the animals would end up becoming nearer to China in proximity, should they significantly grow as a clan as a result, what was China to do if they were to band together and fight against China?
Dong Pingtao nodded and said unhurriedly, “That makes sense. But even if we don’t push them to migrate, won’t the animals that were originally living at the borders take the opportunity to grow anyway? In fact, they might grow at an even faster rate. Pus.h.i.+ng some to migrate may be a way to delay them from growing that quickly.”
He paused for a moment before he spoke again. “Earth is becoming bigger and bigger day by day. Our living environment is also constantly becoming bigger. n.o.body knows when it’ll stop.
“We don’t need to worry about having s.p.a.ce to live in within the foreseeable future. As the amount of living s.p.a.ce increases and the environment improves, the animals will also definitely become stronger.
“Aren’t the Tiger King, Snake King, Bear King, and the others all gathering their own? We cannot stop them from doing that… because our real enemies aren’t the animals in China but the unknown alternate worlds instead.”
Hints of gravity and solemnity surfaced in Dong Pingtao’s eyes. He was ultimately also human. No matter how calm, steady, and unfl.u.s.tered he might seem—in truth, the issue about the alternate worlds’ strength did weigh down incredibly heavily on him.
It was just that he was shouldering too many responsibilities so he wasn’t allowed to show it.
Li Aimin couldn’t help but nod. The issue weighed down just as heavily on him.
“The direction in which we should advance has already been set. Individual strength is the rising trend. Even the overall strength of a species will have to bow down to individual strength. It’s fine no matter how each animal species grows as a clan because what’s important in the end is still strong and powerful individuals.
“We, China, will be stronger than them. After all, we hold so many advantages. If we can’t do it, we’ll be screwed either way when we have to face our real enemies. Conversely, the animals are actually a great help because we have a common real enemy.
“Besides, even if we don’t do this and forcefully split up the strong in each species instead, does that mean they won’t band together anymore? They’ll ultimately still band together one day because we, China, are simply too powerful. The Tiger King and the others gathering their own kind is precisely a display of their intelligence and concerns.
“However, we mustn’t really see them as a single unit; they are separate ent.i.ties, and they’re ultimately also different species that see one another as food.
“In truth, there’ll always only be one kind of relations.h.i.+p between us and them—making use of each other while being wary at the same time. To a certain extent, this is more or less the same as our relations with other countries. It’s just that there’s a little more distance between the two. After all, we and the people in the other countries are all humans. There’s still a chance that we can thoroughly merge with one another.
“At the end of it all, everything ultimately still depends on how strong one is. The animals are neighbors with one another at the borders. When they strengthen to a certain extent, one party will eventually fall into decline while the other party continues to strengthen even further.
“As long as we continue to be stronger than them, we definitely won’t lose out to them. Moreover, with China sitting in the center and the borders facing four different directions, no matter how strong a species grows, they can ultimately only unify and rule over one.”
Dong Pingtao nearly said all these in one breath after he readjusted his emotions. While it seemed like he was saying it to Li Aimin, it also seemed like he was saying it to himself.
His words convinced Li Aimin.
When one compared how strong the unknown alternate worlds were to how the animals would eventually rise, become stronger, and band together to some extent; his worries about the animals becoming forces to be reckoned with and banding together to resist China weren’t as big a threat.
Li Aimin nodded. He said a little gravely, “You’re right. I was too narrow-minded. The number of animals pouring into the borders this time is far beyond what one can count, however. There’s also a limit to how many clansmen each animal king can gather. Will they be able to resolve this?”
“Hah.” Dong Pingtao revealed a small smile and said meaningfully, “Don’t underestimate the animal kings. Those that can reach the Second Realm at this point in time are no ordinary figures. Bloodline legacies are extremely mysterious. It’s possible that they have means that far surpa.s.s what we can imagine.
“Taking into consideration those 100-odd tigers that the Tiger King has gathered—as well as the several hundred others that he hasn’t yet, even taking over one-fifth of the northern borders wouldn’t be an issue for him.
“There’s a limit to the number of clansmen that the other animal kings can gather so they aren’t that greedy. It’s just as well that they can always look for more.”
“I’ll start making the necessary arrangements now,” said Li Aimin decisively after pondering over it for a moment.
Dong Pingtao raised a hand and said, “There’s no hurry. Let’s have the cabinet hold a meeting and officially confirm it first.”
Li Aimin raised an eyebrow, though he did it so lightly that it was almost indiscernible, and nodded as he responded.
While Dong Pingtao and Li Aimin were discussing this important matter that could potentially affect how all the animal species were operating, w.a.n.g Hu was in a state of surprise.
About a month had gone by since the spiritual energy nourishment. On this day, he was cultivating as usual when a tiger’s roar traveled over from afar. A tiger of shoulder height four-meters-tall ran over from the north.
Joy filled w.a.n.g Hu the moment he looked over—it was Old Third!
He had actually already broken through!
He went forward with a few leaps. In the blink of an eye, the two tigers were already next to each other.
w.a.n.g Hu raised his paw and touched Old Third on the head in delight.
Old Third let out a low roar and twisted his head to the side reluctantly, but he nevertheless didn’t manage to escape the paw.
w.a.n.g Hu became even happier after giving him a series of rubs. He activated his mental power and imparted the telepathy communication technique to him.
He didn’t impart Tiger Language to him, however. After all, Old Third had only just broken through and gained human intelligence. Imparting him too much wasn’t good for him.
After a few seconds’ wait, Old Third gave a soft roar.
Roar~!
“Big Brother!”
There was a sense of novelty and some fear in his voice.
His voice made w.a.n.g Hu’s eyes light up. After more than ten years, he had finally managed to hear someone call him ‘Big Brother’.
In his joy, he couldn’t help but think back to the tigress mother from back then. She was the first person in both his lifetimes to have ever really treated him well.
He blinked a couple of times and suppressed his feelings. Then, he clapped Old Third hard with his paw.
Roar~!
“Good job, boy!”
The force made Old Third buckle intensely, and the fear in his eyes intensified.
w.a.n.g Hu was rather embarra.s.sed. He had accidentally used too much force just now.
As for the fear in Old Third’s eyes, it didn’t strike him as anything strange. He had beaten up Old Second and Old Third so much since they were children that they had already become fearful of him. Coupled with his overly huge size now, it was normal that they would fear him.
Perhaps it would be alright once enough time went by.
Roar~!
“Not bad. You’re stronger than your second brother. Old Second’s probably nowhere near breaking through yet.”
w.a.n.g Hu’s gaze swept across Old Third, and he nodded in satisfaction.
Old Third had been the weakest physically when they were young. Little did he think that Old Third would actually firmly hold an upper hand over Old Second after they started to cultivate.
Old Third’s eyes brightened a little. Joy also welled up in him.
Roar~!
“Did I break through first, Big Brother?”
w.a.n.g Hu nodded in response.
Old Third blinked a couple of times. Something started to obviously stir within him, and he spoke with great antic.i.p.ation.
Roar~!
“In that case, can I be second in position? And let Second Brother be third instead.”
His question startled w.a.n.g Hu, and the look in his eyes turned somewhat strange. Old Third had always been relatively quiet since they were children. Never would he have ever expected that he would actually make such a request!
Roar~!
“Why do you want to be second in position?”
Old Third answered honestly.
Roar~!
“He frequently beat me up when we were young. Now that I’ve broken through first, he won’t be able to beat me in a fight anymore. It’s time that I take the second position and beat him up.”
He sounded as if this was a matter of course, and there was even a unique sense of simplicity and straightforwardness in his voice.
His reply amused w.a.n.g Hu. Old Second was indeed relatively mischievous when they were young. When w.a.n.g Hu beat Old Second and Old Third up, Old Second would then beat Old Third up. He raised his paw and gave Old Third another round of rubs and gently chided him in amus.e.m.e.nt.
Roar~!
“Alright, so many years have already pa.s.sed, and yet you still remember something like that so clearly. We’re tigers. How can you be so petty? Besides, if you can beat your big brother, then are you going to want to be the boss?”
A puzzled Old Third raised his head and looked at his eldest brother before he replied honestly.
Roar~!
“But it’s not like I can’t beat you anyway, Big Brother…”
w.a.n.g Hu’s smile froze. That b.a.s.t.a.r.d! He really was harboring such thoughts!
He must have skipped beating this Old Third up for too many years!
He smacked Old Third on the head and barked softly.
Roar~!
“Alright, just stay in the third position obediently and stop thinking about all these nonsensical thoughts.”
Not daring to rebut w.a.n.g Hu, a dejected look took over Old Third’s expression as he gave a sound of acknowledgment.
Roar~!
“Let’s go. Let me show you your niece and nephew, as well as your sister-in-law.”
Old Third nodded.
Roar~!
“Remember, no matter what, you must call her Sister-in-law. Your sister-in-law will always be your sister-in-law. Also, don’t mention that I said this. Understand?” w.a.n.g Hu instructed.