GBP Chapter 62 The Discovery of the Little Sable
Chapter 62 The Discovery of the Little Sable
Zhizhi~!
After the family of four finished their bath and meal, they were resting in the shade of a tree when they heard the squeaking of a little sable from above.
Cang Nian looked up and saw that the little sable was very excited and asked him to climb the tree.
Cangnian was quite puzzled by this, but thinking that the little sable had nothing important to do and probably wouldn't bother him, he quickly climbed up the tree.
This is a very thick and tall pine tree, larger than any pine tree I have seen before.
In its previous habitat, the tallest pine trees were only a little over thirty meters tall.
Even after migrating over a hundred kilometers, Cangnian did not see a tree larger than this pine.
Based on his visual estimation, the pine tree was definitely over fifty meters tall.
Because of the tree's broad canopy, lush foliage, and the cool mist brought by the cascading waterfall, the tiger parents chose this place to rest.
Following the little sable upwards, we were almost at the top of the tree when the little guy stopped and pointed his paw at a huge "tumor".
Upon seeing this, Cangnian went closer to take a look and discovered that it was a pine cone growing on a pine tree. However, this pine cone was unusually large, probably even heavier than himself!
Cang Nian initially thought the little sable was just bored and had called him over for a pine cone, but upon seeing the enormous size of the pine cone, he realized that things were not so simple.
Zhizhi~!
Seeing that Cangnian had finished looking at the pine cones, the little sable quickly squeaked and began to explain.
"Is the little sable saying that this pine cone is special? It finds it very tempting and feels that eating it would be very beneficial, but it's just not ripe yet?"
Having understood what the little sable meant, Cangnian seemed to be deep in thought.
"If animals can evolve, then it's impossible that plants can't evolve."
This pine tree is much taller than the average pine tree, so it can be almost certainly concluded that it is also a... no, an evolved creature.
Could its fruit also have special effects? For example... accelerating evolution?
Because sables eat pine nuts, they are particularly sensitive to their special properties.
I wonder what changes will occur after plants evolve? Will they just grow taller?
Cang Nian pondered to himself.
Thinking of this, Cangnian reached out with its claws toward the extremely large pine cone, as if to destroy it.
Zhizhi~!
However, the pine tree did not change at all. Instead, the little sable was startled and rushed to the pine cone, begging the old man not to destroy it.
"No... there's a problem with this line of thinking. For a pine tree, a pine cone is just a swaddling cloth to hold its offspring seeds."
Moreover, plants probably don't even have the concept of protecting their offspring. It was really stupid of me to use pine cones to threaten pine trees into revealing whether they could move..."
Upon seeing this, Cangnian immediately rejected his method of probing.
"Only when the pine tree's very existence is threatened can it be forced to act. And if it does act..."
However, given the excellent ecological environment of this area, even if this pine tree could move or attack, it would likely be a relatively docile individual.
Then, Cangnian made inferences based on the information around him.
This is easy to determine.
This area is home to large populations of herbivores, and its ecosystem is well-preserved and abundant.
In that case, the pine tree most likely won't move, or if it does, it won't attack any animals passing by.
After all, if they were to actually attack, the social animals would definitely notice and run away in fear, drastically reducing the number of prey available for hunting here.
As for continuing to probe...
Cang Nian felt it was unnecessary.
Of course, there is another reason.
That is, even if he wanted to test the waters, he couldn't!
To test whether this giant pine tree can move, its life must be threatened...
No creature other than humans could kill a giant tree that is fifty meters tall and more than one meter in diameter.
"Ow~!"
Thinking of this, Cangnian called out to the little sable.
Protect this pine cone well!
Zhizhi~!
Upon hearing this, the little sable, who had just been very uneasy and afraid that Cang Nian would destroy the pine cone, was overjoyed and nodded quickly, promising that she would take good care of the pine cone!
Zhizhi~!
Then, the little sable added another sentence.
If any other guys try to steal the pine cones and I can't beat them, I'll definitely inform the king!
Cangnian naturally nodded in agreement.
Since this pine tree, which has most likely evolved, will not be a threat to my family, I'll settle down here with peace of mind.
As for the pine cones, Little Sable said they would be good to eat, and once they were ripe, he would definitely bring them to Tiger Dad, Tiger Mom, Tiger Brother, and Little Sable to eat together.
So what if tigers eat meat?
If it's beneficial, eating some vegetables won't hurt the tiger.
If it's something good that can promote evolution, then we've hit the jackpot!
"Wait a minute, the environment here is so nice, why haven't we found any powerful predators?"
Logically speaking, if this were the territory of an adult male tiger, the tiger father's previous roars would have been interpreted as an intruder's intrusion.
Even if you're a coward, shouldn't you at least come over and observe from a distance?
At this moment, Cangnian suddenly remembered a problem he had previously overlooked.
This habitat is absolutely wonderful!
Clean, flowing water, large open spaces providing good ventilation, abundant food sources, and distance from human facilities make it an ideal habitat for all wild tigers, even without considering all the factors.
But as it turned out, there wasn't a single tiger there.
This is unreasonable!
So Cangnian quickly scrambled down the tree and began searching carefully around the area.
Such an anomaly foreshadows a potential crisis that cannot be ignored.
"Have it!"
After searching for a while, Cangnian finally found a pile of small pieces next to a tree.
Based on its shape and size, it can be determined that it is tiger feces.
Based on the approximate proportions, she should be considerably smaller than Tiger Dad, and weigh no more than 250 kilograms.
However, this pile of excrement has been here for quite some time, so it has no smell and is grayish-white in color, as if it would crumble into dust at the slightest touch.
Expanding the search area further, Cangnian found several more places with such fecal accumulations, but similarly, these were also places that were a long time ago.
"Is it dead? There's suddenly no fresh feces."
Cang Nian speculated.
As for the possibility of leaving voluntarily, Cang Nian ruled it out outright.
Only someone with a mental illness would leave such a wonderful habitat.
"Did they die of old age, or were they both killed by an invading tiger?"
Cangnian continued to speculate, exploring further out in an attempt to find the carcass of the tiger that had previously inhabited the area.
But just then, a blinding reflection momentarily blinded him.
Upon closer inspection, I saw an anesthetic needle with a brittle plastic tube and a gleaming metal tip in the sunlight.
"It seems he's one of the victims of that wildlife slaughterhouse..."
Seeing this, Cang Nian remained silent for a long time, looking somewhat sorrowful.