The Black Iron Bears became furious when they saw Ethan eat two Gold Spirit Fruits at once!
The two sides entered the final life-or-death battle.
But the Black Iron Bears didn’t know that Ethan was just a decoy. The real danger was Emily, whom they hadn’t even focused on.
While the left bear ran toward Ethan, Emily quickly fired several arrows.
Ethan smirked. "I’ve never eaten bear meat before, but bear hide is pretty good too."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Four arrows directly hit the left bear, riddling its body with bloody craters and leaving it barely clinging to life.
The advanced right bear was stronger than the left one, but it was still no match for the continuous arrows striking it and exploding.
Its hide was blown open, revealing the white bone beneath.
Emily gave it no chance to catch its breath.
Divine Archery!
An arrow drawn to its fullest extent flew toward the right bear’s tattered chest, which was so badly damaged that the bone beneath was exposed.
It pierced through and struck its heart.
Boom!!!
The internal explosion would have blown the Black Iron Bear into fragments if not for its tough hide and flesh.
Otherwise, the power of the internal explosion would have been enough to turn it into Black Iron Bear shrapnel.
As the right bear died, the left bear slowly lost its life as well.
The two bears vanished into the Misty Jungle.
[Fine-Grade Black Iron Bear Hide × 2]
[Fine-Grade Black Iron Bear Meat × 2]
The three girls hid behind a large tree in the jungle, shaken by the sound of the explosions.
When the battle ended, they looked over and saw Ethan standing there unharmed, while Emily was still standing in her shooting stance with her bow.
Elena was the first to rush over and hug him, tears streaming down her face.
"I’m just glad you’re okay. You scared me to death."
"You, favoring an idiot over your aunt, who killed the bears," Emily murmured angrily as she watched her niece run to Ethan, even though he had only distracted the bears.
"Aunt, you were fabulous, amazing!" Ethan quickly understood the situation and started praising Emily.
"Tch, it doesn’t look like you’re saying that from the heart," Emily murmured.
"No, no, Aunt. If you hadn’t killed both bears, I don’t know what would have happened to me. I can’t describe how thankful I am," Ethan said. Thinking of something, he quickly took out two Gold Spirit Fruits and presented them to her.
"Aunt, you can eat this and upgrade your Talent."
Emily looked at the Gold Spirit Fruit, then took one and said, "At least you know how to be thankful."
She swallowed the fruit in a few bites and quietly sensed the changes within her body.
A moment passed.
Nothing happened.
Emily frowned slightly. "Looks like one isn’t enough."
Her gaze fell on the remaining Gold Spirit Fruit, but after a brief hesitation, she picked it up and handed it to Elena.
"You eat it."
Elena looked at the remaining Gold Spirit Fruit and said, "Aunt, you can eat it. Maybe this time your Talent will upgrade."
Emily shook her head.
"You eat it. I think my upgrade requires consuming a large amount of Spirit Fruits. This one probably won’t be enough, but it is enough for you to reach Tier 2."
Elena originally didn’t want to eat it, but Ethan walked over and forcefully fed it to her.
Finally, the Gold Spirit Fruit was swallowed.
Her body emitted a faint golden light.
After closing her eyes for a moment, a new Divination card appeared before her eyes.
[3-Star Event (Great Fortune): Continue heading north. There seems to be something beneath a large tree that is different from the surrounding ones.]
"My Divination has upgraded to Tier 2! A new 3-Star Event, and it’s Great Fortune!" Elena exclaimed happily. "I can now predict higher-star events."
[SS-Rank Talent: Divination (Special). Divination at Tier 2 or higher can predict 3-Star or higher events. Events of 3 Stars or above are considered Heavenly Secrets.]
"Wow," Ethan murmured, while the other girls also looked on in amazement.
"Divination turned into a Special Talent too," Ethan said, a grin spreading across his face. Elena was already important to the tribe, now her value would only rise even higher.
Elena stayed quiet for a moment, then silently slipped her hand into his. She leaned in close, her lips brushing near his ear.
"Tonight," she whispered, voice soft and teasing, "I’ll reward you properly... for everything."
Emily, who had been standing nearby, immediately smacked Ethan on the back of the head.
"What was that for?" Ethan asked, looking genuinely shocked. He’d even given Aunt Emily the Golden Fruit earlier—why was she hitting him now?
Emily turned her face away, arms crossed, and muttered under her breath, "I solved all the problems... and somehow someone else is the one getting rewarded."
Ethan smirked, unable to resist. "Aunt, if you also want to sleep with me, you can just say so. No need to get jealous."
Emily’s face turned bright red in an instant, the color rushing all the way to her ears. She spun around and smacked him again, harder this time.
"You idiot!" she snapped, though her voice was a little too flustered to sound truly angry. "Who would ever want to sleep with you? Keep dreaming." She turned her back on him completely, but the tips of her ears were still burning.
Elena covered her mouth with a soft laugh, her fingers still intertwined with Ethan’s. She squeezed his hand lightly and leaned in once more, whispering just loud enough for him to hear:
"Don’t tease her too much... or I might start getting jealous myself."
Ethan nodded, but the thought lingered. After everything that had happened, after sleeping with so many women, he found himself wanting Aunt Emily as well. He wanted her to become his wife too. He was just about to tease her further when Christy appeared.
"Chief’s Husband," Christy said with a soft smile, "if you want... I can sleep with you tonight."
Ethan’s smile widened. He reached out and lightly poked her waist, nodding in clear agreement. He was already preparing to flirt more when—
Emily looked at Christy and handed her the Black Iron Bear Hide. "Christy, can this make a set of black iron bear hide armor?"
Ethan instantly felt irritated. She had ruined a perfectly good moment. He glanced at her, a dark thought flashing through his mind:
’Aunt Emily... if you keep interrupting me like this, one of these nights I’ll end up in your bed. And once that happens, you won’t be able to push me away anymore.’
"Did you want to say something?" Emily asked, noticing his stare.
"No, no," Ethan replied quickly.
Christy activated her Talent to examine the hide. "Yes. Making simple armor from this raw leather is as easy as making clothes. I can produce this basic type directly. But specialized defensive gear would need blueprints. Maybe I’ll be able to once my Talent upgrades."
"Good," Ethan said, looking at Christy with clear meaning in his eyes. He had already decided, tonight he would make her moan his name. "And if Grace activates her Talent, we’ll have five hides. How many sets of clothing can we make?"
"These bear hides are quite large," Christy answered. "Five hides should make five full sets. But since this is fine-grade fur, five sets will take a little over an hour."
"Then pack them up. We’ll make them when we get back to the tribe. We’re heading north now."
On the other side.
Grace’s team passed the Western Logging Team and entered the Misty Jungle, with the other girls closely following behind her.
"There’s no honey here; we’ve been walking for so long and haven’t seen any," a timid girl spoke up.
Grace calmly reassured her, "Don’t panic. Let’s walk a bit farther; maybe we’ll find it."
Whoosh—
It sounded like several small things were moving quickly through the grass ahead of them. Judging by the sound, they were coming from four different directions.
"Jessica, take care of them."
"Yes, Chief," Jessica nodded. Jessica enjoyed throwing things when she was a college teacher. Whenever a student wasn’t paying attention in class, a piece of chalk would accurately fly toward their head.
In this other world, she had awakened a Talent related to her hobby. She took out four stones that had already been turned into explosives.
This was something she wouldn’t have dared to imagine before, hitting four targets at once, like a dream.
But now she not only dared to imagine it but also dared to do it.
Especially after Ethan mated with her, the blessing granted by his Talent had improved her aim and increased the power of her attacks.
She had to become strong to protect the Tribe.
When four clusters of black shadows quickly darted out, she threw all four stones simultaneously.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Four explosions echoed through the Misty Jungle, scattering dirt, leaves, and grass in every direction.
Walking closer, they saw they were four large rats.
There was one small rat in the middle that wasn’t hit, trembling fearfully.
[Forest Mouse]
The four large rats instantly turned into [Forest Mouse Meat × 4].
Jessica was about to hit it but was stopped by Emma.
"Teacher Jessica, wait a moment. It’s begging for mercy."
Jessica looked toward Grace, since she was the Tribe Chief.
Grace thought for a moment, remembering Emma’s SS-Rank Talent: Myriad Spirits, which allowed her to communicate with animals.
Seeing such a small creature begging for its life, and since it hadn’t threatened them, she decided to spare it.
Emma gently picked up the little Stuart (Forest Mouse) into her palm and asked, "Little mouse, we didn’t mean to kill your family. We were just protecting ourselves."
The little Stuart let out a "Squeak, squeak, squeak."
"What did it say?"
Emma was silent for a moment before translating, her expression turning a little strange. "It said the ones who died just now were its 12th Uncle, 17th Uncle, 9th Brother, and 7th Sister. It has many family members, so it’s fine. It forgives us, as long as we don’t kill it."
The other girls looked at Emma in stunned silence.
Emma continued speaking to the little mouse in a gentle voice. "Little mouse, we can spare you. But you have to lead the way for us. We are looking for honey. Do you know where there is honey around here? Lead us to the honey, and you will be free."
The little Stuart thought for a moment.
"Squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak."
Emma frowned, glanced back in the direction they had come from, and her expression became strange.
Grace asked, "What’s wrong? What did it say this time?"
"It said we... already passed it."