Zerra was a little astonished, especially when she saw the baby tiger jump off its mother’s back with familiarity, as if it had done it countless times. The baby tiger headed toward her with its short legs, but... Derek jumped in front of her and gritted his teeth. "We have to run..." She suddenly felt a little sorry. The baby tiger wobbled a little, not expecting that a strange monkey was blocking its road when it was about to reach its fox friend! The baby tiger growled at Derek, hoping to be as menacing as its mother when it did so. Unable to resist, Zerra walked from behind Derek’s body and briskly headed to the baby tiger, swooping its tiny figure. "Zerra, you..." Derek’s shocked voice rang out. His eyes moved from her and vigilantly turned to the quiet grown tiger. He considered grabbing the baby tiger, tossed it back to its mother and dragged Zerra to run. However, before it could execute the plan, Zerra’s voice shook him back to reality. "It’s fine. The tiger is now... my friend," She muttered slowly. He almost choked when he heard that. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Your friend...?" As if agreeing with her claim, the gigantic tiger let out a soft growl. The baby tiger echoed its mother’s growl, looking at Derek with a tilted head. Zerra glanced at the baby tiger thoughtfully. It looked like a normal tiger, but its intelligence seemed to be higher than that of a mere baby tiger. How old was it? Perhaps a few months? "Don’t joke like that... it’s not funny," Derek said. "You don’t believe me?" She pinched the baby tiger’s ears softly, making it bite her fingers playfully. She considered it; looking at Derek’s petrified look, it seemed the trauma inflicted by the tiger was quite strong. While she was playing with the baby tiger, she also communicated with its mother. The tiger, which regarded humans as having ill-will toward it, wasn’t being kind when it met Derek. It hadn’t bitten him, but it had thrown him into the trees repeatedly. Zerra coughed, feeling a little sorry for him. Still, in order to prove her words, she approached the tiger and stroked its head. The tiger licked her hand in return, much to Derek’s small heart’s dismay, which nearly jumped out of his chest. His lips parted, yet no words came out. The tiger looked so docile around Zerra. It was hard to imagine that it was the same tiger that had been torturing him to near death. If not for the sudden earthquake, it might even not have let go of him at all! "It’s safe. The tiger won’t attack you anymore." She coughed. Derek sighed, not saying anything. She could sense that the way he was looking at her had turned strange now. Hurriedly, she added. "Don’t think of doing something about me just because I get along well with a tiger." His lips twitched at her guarded expression. "What sort of person am I in your mind?" She pursed her lips and shook her head. "Let’s just go now. Don’t you want to find those people?" "Alright..." He agreed, yet the gaze he cast toward the tiger still carried a hint of vigilance. Zerra hugged the baby tiger, who was nestled comfortably in her embrace, very obedient without making any ruckus. Behind them, the tiger followed, causing Derek’s heart to feel a little restless. However, just like Zerra said, the tiger was now acting very well-behaved. Not once did it try to bite him despite its occasional intense gaze on him? "How did you get along so well with this dangerous thing?" He cleared his throat and asked with curiosity. No matter how he tried to wrap his head around it, he couldn’t find a plausible reason. "It just likes me, I guess." She smiled smugly. Derek threw her a look. She coughed. "When I met the tiger, your people were chasing after it. I felt pity, so I helped it to hide in my inner space. It didn’t attack me when I let it out, and I thought it should be safe then. The tiger appreciated my help." Whether it was a lie, Derek wouldn’t be able to confirm it anyway. Even if he finally met with those people, the wounds from yesterday’s fight were still obvious on the tiger’s body. He had a look of disbelief on his face. When he glanced at the tiger, it was also looking at him. Their eyes met, and then the tiger let out a loud roar. He grimaced, but then an idea popped into his mind. "You say that those people were going after the tiger, right? Can you make it roar occasionally? Who knows if they will come for us when they hear it?" Zerra stared at him and bluntly replied, "No." "Why not?" He frowned. "I only know when it’s being friendly, but I can’t order it around. Have you seen someone ordering a mutated animal around? Even if they have gained intelligence, do you think they like to be ordered around?" She rolled her eyes. She wouldn’t fall for his easy trick. He wanted her to reveal more about how far her influence on the tiger . So, instead of ordering it to make noises, she told the tiger to be more quiet. No one would know the attitude of those people when they see Derek. "You are right." He let out a breath. His face held a hint of contemplation before he decided, "Wouldn’t it be better if we left this forest first? We don’t have a lot of power with just the two of us." She considered his words briefly. "How about checking them? If you recognize some people you can trust, you can approach them. Likewise, if they are all foreign to you, we will just see what they are doing here before leaving." If those people were really sent to find Derek, he should be able to recognize some of them at least. Otherwise, they really had ulterior motives for being in this forest. Besides, it was still puzzling for her. Derek only had wood power, didn’t he? But he still survived for more than a week in the forest. "That’s also a good idea." He nodded to Zerra’s idea. For the next few hours, they walked around the forest. She showed the place where she had met the men. The traces of fighting were still apparent there. Destroyed plants and even smaller trees had fallen down. There were also dents on the ground, from footsteps or unleashed abilities. Since the men were no longer there, they tried to follow the traces of the footsteps, yet only a few hundred meters later, those were also gone. After going around the forest for a few hours like a headless chicken, they hadn’t found anyone so far. "Maybe they had left..." Derek trailed off, unsure. She didn’t miss the yearning look in his eyes as he stared at each peculiar mutated plant they passed by. "Look ahead. You are going to stumble." Zerra warned him, a little helpless. However, she also understood how he felt. It must have been the same feeling when she saw a lot of crystal cores yet she couldn’t possess or eat them. "They couldn’t have left so soon," she muttered, feeling it a little strange. "If they could find a way out, why can’t we?" While they were looking for those men, Zerra had agreed they were also going to find a way out. Unfortunately, even if they currently had the will, the correct way refused to show itself. The tiger was also very loyal, still following them until now even if it expressed a little confusion at Zerra’s action. Even Derek had no more energy to be wary of it, losing his vigilance little by little. "This tiger must have held a grudge against them too." He suddenly commented. "Animals’ senses are better than ours. It has shown no signs of recognizing another human so far." He glanced at the baby tiger in Zerra’s arms. It had fallen asleep. Fresh chapters posted on novelFɪre.net At some point, Derek couldn’t hold himself back any longer and started digging some mutated plants for himself. He taught her along the way, like the mutated plants’ properties and how to care for them. Until the day nearly turned dark again, their search still had yielded no results. They decided to find another cave for that night. When the morning came, they quickly prepared themselves and went out again. The tiger still followed them, but Zerra detected some confusion in its eyes. She didn’t know what it was confused about. Even until it was noon, the search proved to be futile. It seemed like they were the only humans in the unending forest. She couldn’t help but also feel a sense of loss. There were no traces of her teammates so far. Could they also have given up on her? Or was the loss so disastrous that they couldn’t spare the energy to find her? "We have passed this place..." Derek mumbled under his breath. "You thought so too?" She widened her eyes. As she thought of something, her breath hitched. "Do you think we have been going around in circles all this time?" That was why they never found a way out.