The world has turned into Hell's Game, why should I stay human?!

"Stop the car!"

Just as the path leading up the mountain was starting to emerge, a shout exploded in the air, like a clap of thunder.

"I knew something was going to happen."

Liu Zheng remained calm and drew his rusty knife.

The other three also prepared for battle.

As for Niu Daji, well, it just stayed lying down obediently.

However, after Lao Si braked, the person shouting didn't appear, and there was no movement around. It was as if what they heard was just a hallucination.

"Doctor?"

Liu Zheng nodded towards Doctor Nile.

Doctor Nile understood and got out of the car with him.

"Don't move! I already told you to stop the car!"

A booming voice came again from the sky.

"Uh, yeah, we're walking, not driving."

Liu Zheng argued.

"Uh... walking also doesn't work. In short, you can't move!"

The voice hesitated for a moment and then angrily shouted.

"Fine, but you should at least show up and tell us what's going on, right? Otherwise, it's just wasting both your time and ours."

"Alright. Give me five more minutes, no, ten minutes."

The voice seemed to accept the logic and replied.

"Okay, I'm starting the timer now."

Liu Zheng took out his phone and started the timer.

"Brother Bai San, does this voice sound familiar to you?"

He asked Bai San at the same time.

"Never heard it before."

Bai San shook his head.

"Well, that's a problem."

Liu Zheng sighed.

Time ticked by, and ten minutes quickly passed.

"Here I come!"

The voice rang out again.

Then, a black dot in the sky grew larger and flew over.

"Boom!"

A giant creature landed with a thud.

"Wow, such a big one!"

He exclaimed as he looked at the black and white giant in front of him.

"A panda, huh."

"Panda? What's a panda?"

The black and white giant got up, scratched its backside, and asked in confusion.

"You are,"

Liu Zheng said matter-of-factly.

The giant beast before them had black-and-white fur, black bird-like eye circles, short and round limbs – it was undoubtedly a standard giant panda.

Moreover, it had scallop-like ears, a smoothly rounded head, a hamster-like face, and charming smiley lips. Even among pandas, it was a top-notch looker, much like the real-life panda "cutie" representative, Fei Yun.

"A bear is a bear, a cat is a cat. What's this panda business? I'm not some mixed breed,"

The black and white giant did not approve of this name.

"Okay, then how should I address you? Mr. Black and White Bear?"

Liu Zheng replied smoothly.

"What black and white bear, it sounds awful. I'm a 'Iron Eater,'"

The black and white giant said disdainfully.

"Iron Eater? Oh, I think there's a name like that."

He recalled hearing that pandas were once called Iron Eaters in ancient times and were supposedly the mounts of Chi You, though he hadn't seen the original texts.

"So, do you actually eat iron?"

He asked curiously.

"I don't eat that stuff, though sometimes I gnaw on it to exercise my teeth,"

The black and white giant replied.

"Well, since you don't eat iron, calling you an Iron Eater doesn't exactly fit. You ought to be called a panda, combining the strength of a bear with the agility of a cat."

Liu Zheng said as he eyed its body, which was bigger than an armored car.

"And since you're so robust, we should add a 'giant' in there, making you a 'giant panda.' Doesn't that sound much better than Iron Eater?"

"You make a good point. Alright, from now on, call me Giant Panda,"

The black and white giant thought it over for a moment and said cheerfully.

"Not you called Giant Panda, but your kind is called Giant Panda,"

Liu Zheng clarified.

"I've never seen another creature like me,"

The Giant Panda shook its head.

"No way. You've seen your mom, right?"

He knew after mating, a male panda would leave or be chased away by the female.

But this Giant Panda, even if it hadn't seen its father, must have seen its mother.

"Never seen her,"

The Giant Panda shook its head again.

"Then how did you survive to become this big?"

"I was found by my master. My master is a human. Oh, not like you, he's fully human, no tentacles or hooves,"

The Giant Panda emphasized.

"Thanks for reminding me I'm not human,"

Liu Zheng grumbled.

"At first, I didn't even know what I was. Later, my master taught me Meditation Technique. Through meditation, I gained some Bloodline memories and learned what I actually was,"

The Giant Panda continued.

"Didn't you try looking for others like you?"

"I did. After my master died, I went down the mountain to look for others like me. I've been searching for years, but haven't found any. I got tired and decided to take a mountain and be a Demon King for a while,"

The Giant Panda explained.

"So you're the Demon King of Qingzhu Mountain. Didn't the Bai Family pay you protection fees? Why are you blocking us then? Isn't there any code of honor?"

He frowned.

"What Bai Family? When did they ever pay me protection fees?"

The Giant Panda was first confused, then understood.

"Oh, I know what you're talking about. You mean the Horse Bear Spirit, right? I already got rid of it."

"Then you must have taken over its assets too, right? So the previous protection fees were essentially paid to you."

Liu Zheng hesitated for a moment but quickly came up with a response.

"Nonsense assets!"

His mention ignited the Giant Panda's anger instead.

"That Horse Bear Spirit not only had no money but also owed a large gambling debt to Demon Kings of nearby mountains. As soon as I got rid of it, those Demon Kings came knocking for debts."

"I told them that its debts had nothing to do with me, but the Demon Kings said that's fine if I don't pay off the debts, but this mountain should be taken as collateral."

"The mountain itself doesn't matter much, but I can't bear to lose all these green bamboos, so I had to come out and make some money,"

The Giant Panda cursed.

"Damned Horse Bear Spirit, if I had known, I'd have cooked it alive and eaten it."

"So you're here to rob us?"

Liu Zheng honed in on the key point.

"Yes. In consideration of you giving my species a nice name, hand over fifty thousand, and I'll let you go. If you don't have that much, then leave the car,"

The Giant Panda gave the armored car a once-over and said.

Though it didn't know the price of vehicles, it could tell it was something valuable.

"Oh, and leave the cow too. It's fat enough to feed me for days,"

The Giant Panda eyed Niu Daji in the car and licked its nose.

"That's not going to work, it's my only sidekick. If you eat him, whom would I use?"

Liu Zheng shook his head in refusal.

"Fine, then add another ten thousand to buy its life,"

The Giant Panda said regretfully.

"Deal,"

He readily counted out one hundred ten thousand.

Watching the stacks of hundred-yuan notes on the ground, the Giant Panda's eyes widened.

"Wow, you're really wealthy."

"Now can I pass?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"I've changed my mind. Give me another million, and then I'll let you go,"

The Giant Panda rolled its black eyes and said.

"Hey, you're raising the price, aren't you?"

He said discontented.

"What I asked for before was a toll fee; this new one is an environmental protection fee. With such a big vehicle and so many heavy people crossing the mountain, it will surely have a bad impact on the environment," said the Giant Panda righteously.

"Raised by humans, you're truly devious,"

Liu Zheng sneered.

"Cut the nonsense, hurry up and pay,"

The Giant Panda said impatiently.

"Hold on a second. Doctor, can we beat it?"

He turned to ask Doctor Nile.

"Shouldn't be a big problem,"

Doctor Nile sensed and replied.

"Alright. Lao Si, Bai San, let's take it down!"

With a roar, Liu Zheng took the knife and charged at the Giant Panda.

Those who are untrustworthy will never be trustworthy; he couldn't believe this creature would let them go even if paid a million.

Given that, there's no point in talking. Time to join forces and cut down this demonic creature.

"Hey! Why are you attacking all of a sudden? If the price is too high, we could negotiate!"

The Giant Panda was also surprised by the sudden change, shouting as it blocked.

"I don't do business with the untrustworthy. Die!"

Liu Zheng's eyes turned red, his face menacing, even more bandit-like than a bandit.