The players scrambled out of the forest, and after confirming that the giant bear wasn't chasing them, they collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.
"West Wind, you're really unreliable! Always coming up with bad ideas, telling Lao Ye to climb a tree, and he ended up getting caught like a turtle in a jar!"
"I'm going to tell Lao Ye you called him a tortoise! Besides, how was I supposed to know that Pokémon could climb trees? Isn't it common knowledge that when you encounter a bear, you either play dead or climb a tree to hide?"
Xu Ruofeng looked aggrieved. He was only trying to help.
"Except for polar bears, all bears in reality can climb trees. That Pokémon looked a lot like a real-world brown bear, and brown bears are expert tree climbers among bears."
Xi Yue, standing to the side, provided some popular science.
"Ah? I really didn't know! Why didn't you remind me?"
"I did remind you, but none of you heard me."
Xi Yue felt her presence was really too low; no one listened when she spoke.
"My bad, my bad. I'll apologize to Lao Ye when I log off later. That bear's paw almost flattened him. I wonder if it hurt."
Xu Ruofeng recalled the scene of Lao Ye's death, which was truly gruesome.
"It probably didn't hurt much. This game doesn't register pain beyond a certain threshold. It's very humane."
"How do you know? When did you do a test?"
"I didn't do a test. I accidentally got scratched while chopping trees yesterday. The wound wasn't small, but I didn't feel any pain."
Chen Yan showed the scar on his arm.
"That's good then. I just don't know how long it will take for him to revive, and according to most games, there should be a penalty for dying."
"We can just ask him when he logs off later. The most important issue now is how to deal with that Pokémon."
Chen Yan was still thinking about his special reward and the farmland. If that giant bear didn't leave, how could they continue their tree-chopping endeavor?
"That Pokémon is level 33, even higher than the lord's Scyther. We definitely can't handle it with just the few of us."
Among the four of them, only Ling Dang had a level 3 Spinarak. The others didn't even have a Pokémon. Facing the giant bear, their fate wouldn't be much better than Lao Ye's, just a different degree of being flattened.
"It seems we can only go back and find Lord Ryan. Hopefully, he'll have a solution."
The players had no other choice but to get up and prepare to return to the territory.
As soon as they stood up, the surrounding Pokémon surrounded them.
Their original habitat had been occupied, and now they were homeless, so they could only place their hopes on these humans before them.
After interacting yesterday, the Pokémon had developed a certain level of trust in the players and instinctively wanted to ask for their help.
The players couldn't bear to abandon these Pokémon, so they had to bring them back to the territory together.
This scared the militiamen on guard duty. They watched a large group of Pokémon marching towards the territory and thought another beast tide was coming.
Fortunately, one sharp-eyed person saw the players among the Pokémon, which prevented them from blowing the horn.
Otherwise, blowing the horn incorrectly for two consecutive days would have earned them the scorn of the entire neighborhood.
But the militiamen didn't dare let the Pokémon into the territory. No matter how much the players pleaded, it was useless. They could only stay outside the city with the Pokémon.
After learning about the situation, White didn't dare make a decision without authorization. He only personally sent some food out and apologized in passing.
Having learned about the favorability system, the players were very enthusiastic towards White. They not only waved their hands repeatedly to indicate that no apology was needed but also pulled him into their conversation.
When Ryan returned to the territory, he saw this peculiar scene:
Four players and the Pokémon sat on the ground, eating, playing, and joking.
And Uncle White, who was usually so steady, was also amused by these players and showed a long-lost smile.
Ryan was also touched by this scene. It was a pity he didn't have a camera; otherwise, he would definitely have taken a picture as a memento.
White was the first to notice Ryan's arrival. He immediately put away his smile, got up, and reported the general situation to Ryan.
"I understand. Then let these demonic beasts stay temporarily in the castle courtyard. Go back and issue a notice to reassure the residents."
"Also, Uncle White, you look quite handsome when you smile. You should smile more often in the future," Ryan teased.
"Yes, yes, sir! I'll go take care of it right away." White nodded somewhat embarrassedly, then quickly walked away, afraid that Ryan would see the blush on his face.
Watching White's departing figure, Ryan couldn't help but chuckle.
It was rare to see Uncle White like this. These players were indeed capable; they could actually make him so happy.
Turning his head to look at the players who were staring at him, Ryan said:
"I understand the situation. Based on your description, that Pokémon should be an Ursaring."
"Ursaring are violent and easily angered, and they are very powerful. You were already very lucky to escape from it."
"However, we don't yet know what caused it to be so agitated."
Hearing Ryan's words, the Heracross who was eating paused, then hesitantly walked up to Ryan and gestured with its hands.
"Gesturing like this again! Who can understand this?" Xu Ruofeng complained from the side.
"Oh, oh, I see. It's okay, it's not your fault, you don't need to feel bad."
Ryan nodded as he watched and also comforted Heracross a few times.
"He can actually understand!"
Xu Ruofeng looked shocked. How could he understand that? Was it the game protagonist's special ability?
"Heracross said that the aroma produced when they ate Sweet Honey in the morning attracted the Ursaring."
"Although they threw the remaining Sweet Honey to the Ursaring at the first opportunity, it was clearly not enough to satisfy it. So, it attacked Heracross and also involved the surrounding Pokémon."
Ryan briefly explained what Heracross was trying to convey.
"Wow, this Ursaring is too bad. I thought all Pokémon were gentle and kind."
"Animals in reality also fight for food. That's the law of nature."
"What about our mission?"
Chen Yan raised his hand and asked, afraid that Ryan would directly say the mission was canceled.
"The mission is temporarily suspended. After we drive away the Ursaring tomorrow, we'll continue to complete the mission."
"If you don't know what to do now, you might as well go to the mission board and take a look. There are many daily missions there."
The players then remembered the existence of the mission board. They had been so focused on the internal competition of chopping wood that they had forgotten there were other missions they could complete.
After the players swarmed towards the mission board, Ryan also led the group of Pokémon back to the castle.
Along the way, they encountered many residents. Although they still didn't dare to approach and only watched curiously from a distance, they were at least not as panicked and afraid as before.
The story of Ryan hiring Heracross yesterday had spread throughout the territory, and they all felt that the new lord was a capable person.
Their trust in Ryan greatly reduced their vigilance towards Pokémon.
After returning to the castle and settling the Pokémon, Ryan began to prepare to deal with the Ursaring in the forest.
It wasn't that he hadn't thought about changing the logging area, but who knew if the Ursaring would follow the scent? That kind of Pokémon was very vengeful.
Since the feud had already been established, he could only beat it away and subdue it, so it wouldn't dare to cause trouble again.
Otherwise, if it occasionally attacked, how could the players chop trees in peace?
If the players couldn't chop trees, the houses in the territory couldn't be rebuilt.
If the houses couldn't be rebuilt, not only would his side quest be incomplete, but the Genesis Points he received daily wouldn't increase.
Looking at the few Genesis Points left on the panel, a raging fire ignited in Ryan's eyes.
"It seems this Ursaring has to be dealt with!"