Suddenly his eyes shone with unfounded determination while looking at John and said to himself maniacally(No! I won't bet the chances of humanity's safety on the snake's mercy. Only humans should hold a human fate.)
Then the old man took one of the best boats and strong men from the tribe and sailed towards the largest tribe in the surroundings with a determined expression on his face. John also traveled at the fastest speed possible with his maximum physical strength.
...
On a mountain, beside the river, a group of primitive people thrived depending on hunting and gathering. There are thousands of people. Their houses are all made of mud & stones.
In one of the large buildings, a group of middle-aged and old-aged people in luxurious animal wear with majestic looks all looked at the old man with a haggard look, in torn animal skin with a scrutinized look.
The old man in torn clothes stood firmly with a resolved expression on his face. Others took back their doubts about what the old man had said and one of the middle-aged men with a well-developed body and a tattoo of a ferocious tiger asked the old man with torn clothes "Are you sure, that the huge snake is looking for the location of the Kingdom."
The old man replied hastily with a tired expression "I am sure chief, the snake used its tail to read all of our memories and specifically asked an old man, Tim, about kingdom details. That's why I came here, chief. Please inform the kingdom about the snake, my lord."
The old man came here with the sole purpose of informing the kingdom about the snake's details. But he didn't know where the kingdom was and could not travel such a long distance. But he knows that this large tribe has a connection with the people of the kingdom. This tribe occasionally sold unique items of the kingdom to the nearby tribes.
So the old man chose this tribe to contact the kingdom. After hearing what the old man said all the people in the tribe remained silent and discussed with each other. Later, the chief said to the old man "We will inform the kingdom, old man. In the meantime, you take a rest."
The old man nodded and departed from there saying "Thanks for your hospitality. But it's best if you inform the kingdom faster, as it's been a month. Since the snake left my tribe."
The chief nodded his head at him. After the old man departed from there, others in the room began to speak.
"Chief, we don't even know, if what he said is true. So, it's best to investigate thoroughly and then contact the people of the kingdom."
"Yes, chief."
The chief looked aggressively at the people who were speaking which made them silent. After that, the chief said to them with a cunning expression "You all, be calm. I already taught about what you are all thinking about and more. I have already verified the presence of the gigantic snake with our beast tamers. The only thing remaining is how we use this information for our benefit. Let's talk about that."
Hearing the last sentence of the chief, the eyes of everyone in the hall sparkled, and evil grins appeared on their faces. They all constructed a plan and steps for their next course of action.
...
With the sun on top of his head, John traveled at a steady pace while avoiding the dangerous zones and animals like land-dwelling beasts. On his journey, he also came across humans and flying beasts that came looking for him specifically.
He used his tail and read their memories and found they were all from one large tribe and spying on him. But he didn't care, he left them after using a technique to make them forget about what happened to them. John isn't impressed with their ability to control abilities, which same as the people from the settlement.
But they seemed to be called beast masters here and specialized in controlling and commanding beasts. Even though they seem to have no other abilities, the number of beastmasters seems to be very rare in the tribes from the memories he read of the people who stalked him.
John also found that he could make people forget about what happened in a short time, after meeting him making them think about what happened as a dream or illusion by manipulating a certain hormone in their body. If their will is strong, they can break the illusion placed on them.
John continued his travel after solving these unnecessary troubles. He faced many challenges on his path but he didn’t become bored, as nature showed many things he had never seen, and with time he loved exploring nature in its naked form. With his wisdom as a human and what he experienced in this world, he concluded a certain truth according to his experience.
“Everything in existence is trying to survive at the end of the day, be it an existence with consciousness or without consciousness. To survive be tolerant, to thrive be intolerant.”
He concluded that everything is trying to live one more day, If a being adapted to its environment, it will survive. If a being wants to thrive, it needs to change the environment for its survivability. At the end of the day, beings without consciousness and thought processes will adapt to the environment to survive and a being with thought processes & consciousness would not have the necessary tools for its ambition and desire. Only some would get both, chance and wisdom to make the right choice it considers.
John skipped these thoughts with a smile as he's one of the few people who have both a thought process & consciousness and choice as to how he wants to live, even if it is for a limited period and comes with various restrictions. It’s still better than being not able to choose what he wants to do.
…
At the largest tribe besides the river, the chief and important members of the tribe concluded a plan of how to benefit from the snake’s information. The people in the tribe wanted to become a member of the kingdom for a long time, after finding out the advantages of the citizens in the kingdom of Vika.
They tried numerous ways to enter the city and become a citizen, but the financial and cultural differences between the tribe’s people and the city people made things very hard for them. The city people aren't that much interested in tribe people becoming a part of the city. For which they sacrificed immensely.
So the tribes decided to use news of the large snake to abandon a life of hunting, gathering, and frequent death of the people due to unknown diseases, and at the hands of animals. Mainly the people of the tribe are pretty tired of the life of casualty at any moment.
The tribe leader took the tribe’s largest fastest four-legged beast to travel to the city of Black Bear's outpost which was the nearest and also the only city he knew and had some contact with.
The animal he's riding is conquered with his natural strength and with the help of some of the beastmasters. It is a black-colored creature with a streamlined body and flexible body. The chief specifically made this animal his companion for its speed and endurance.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The tribal chief chose a path that was unobstructed by the small creatures and had several gigantic trees that covered the sky and made it impossible for sunlight to fall. Inadvertently, he chose a different path than John, thus escaping a deadly situation.
John chose a different route because these gigantic trees made it impossible for small animals to survive without any edible plants, trees, and animals in the ecosystem.
John needed to eat larger amounts of food to replenish his energy loss and he also needed to look at various animals to find unique abilities and the evolutionary traits he was looking for. This all made it easy for the tribal chief to travel faster than John and he avoided facing John in his travel.
The Tribal Chief is naturally stronger than the average human and his experience in traveling this area made him avoid various dangers and travel for a long time without taking long rest in the middle of the journey.
Even these many advantages didn't let the tribal chief travel ahead of John. A behemoth the size of a hundred meters along with its strong muscles and control over it allowed John to travel at a much faster speed. He left the tribal chief in the dust with his speed, but on a different path, in the same direction.
The tribal chief traveled at his maximum speed, caring about the consequence of letting the snake reach the city first. John traversed faster with every passing day, he even began to skip looking at other animals with traits he needed.
…
A few weeks later.
The tribal chief with small wounds on his body, stopped before a group of people in uniformed clothes carrying various weapons with serious expressions on their faces. They all looked at the tribal chief and stood motionless. One of them asked sternly "Who are you? And what's your business here?"
The tribal chief replied with a humble attitude "My lord, I'm here to meet and inform the leader about an important matter."
Hearing this, most of them began to laugh hilariously.
"HaHaHa, what do you know about important things? Have you met a mutated animal that you can't beat with the tribe's strength and came here to use us for your benefit?"
"Do you even know the distinction between mutated and normal animals?"
"Hahaha.."
Some of the soldiers laughed and mocked the tribal chief for their amusement. Seeing this, the captain of the team said in a commanding tone "Okay, stop! All of your nonsense and do your duties."
The soldiers stopped laughing and departed from there. After they departed, the captain took the tribal chief and walked toward their camping site. Within a few instances, both of them reached a camping site surrounded by various animals. The buildings in the camp are made of wood.
In the camp, nobody paid any heed to the captain and chief. The soldiers in the camp only need to obey their captain and Major. They had seen the tribal chief many times in the past, so they also ignored him.
With no one to disturb, both of them arrived at the luxurious wooden building and entered. Inside the building, a middle-aged man in his forties with dark hair and skin, looked at the two and asked in a majestic voice "What brings you two here?"
The Captain lowered his head and reported to the Major "Leader, the tribal chief requested to meet you. He informed us, that he has an important matter to inform you."
The Major nodded his head and said to him "Then return to your duty. I will talk to him."
The captain departed from there and the tribal chief looked at the leader and said straightforwardly "My lord, our tribe encountered a giant snake that's longer than most of the trees and can swallow ten to twenty people in a mouthful. I think that the snake is moving towards the nearest city, my lord."
The Major didn't react much, as he couldn't recognize the threat level of John from this limited explanation. But he didn't think much about it, as the most dangerous threat he faced was all very simple, which he solved with the help of other squads in the forest.
So he looked at the tribal chief with cunning eyes and said with a grin "Oh! If that's all, we can handle that. You can leave."
He knows that this tribal chief is trying to get into the city and become a citizen of the kingdom for a long time. The Major doesn't respect these types of people. The kingdom recruited the tribe's people in the beginning but these tribes declined the offer and suffered the consequences and living in a forest for hundreds of years.
However, after they saw the successful establishment of the kingdom and the benefits. They are trying to get into the kingdom by any means possible. But the kingdom doesn't want them, as they only cause trouble in the city they are introduced to. Their only chance is when the new city is being constructed or they can join as a village under the city's ruling.
The tribal chief knew about this, but he still chose to look for the best way possible and the presence of John also provided him with the chance he was looking for. So he said to the Major resolutely "My lord, the gigantic snake isn't a normal animal."
For this, the Major asked him with an interesting expression on his face "Oh! What's so special about this snake?"
The tribal chief replied with a solemn expression on his face "My lord, this snake is smarter. It can read the memory of humans, and I suspect it is as smart as humans."
Listening to this, the Major got angry and said "Ridiculous! For your benefit. You even began to create a story. Do you think you can get into the kingdom with this kind of approach? Get out!"
Hearing this, the tribal chief lost his composure. He took out a black colored scale the size of a hand length and said in a panic "My lord, Look! I didn't lie. It's the scale of a gigantic snake."
The Major calmed down, took the scale from the chief's hand, and caressed it. Then his expression became serious, as he asked seriously "Where did you get this scale from?"
Seeing that the Major finally understood what he was trying to say. The tribal chief began to narrate what he heard from the old man along with his details and ended with "That all, my lord."
The Major remained calm for a moment and said to him seriously "If what you said is true, I'll let you and your tribe become citizens of the kingdom. But if it proved to be false, there will be no contact with you from now on and you will also have to face my wrath. Do you understand?"
The Major promised only the citizenship of the kingdom not the place in the city cunningly. As he doesn't have that much authority.
Hearing this, the tribe's chief began to sweat, and upon thinking about everything and the evidence that provided for the snake's existence. He decided to sacrifice himself for the tribe's future even if it was false. He gritted his teeth and said, "I understand, my lord."
The Major nodded his head and said unhurriedly "I hope so."
Then the Major began to call a snake expert to identify the scale and also called team captains to increase the patrol range and see if he could find the gigantic snake. The tribal chief temporarily lived in the camp till the army confirmed the gigantic snake's presence.
…
On the other side of the forest, John looked at the group of people in uniformed dresses with cold weapons standing opposite him with nervous and fearful expressions on their faces. John decided to test the full capabilities of the people from the kingdom of Vika which gathers the strength of humanity in this world.
John grinned his teeth maliciously at them and swung his tail at them. The tail smashed at an unbelievable speed making it almost impossible to react in a short time. Most of them didn't move in fear, and even those who wanted to move couldn't react to John's speed.
~Boom~
John's tail-moving momentum alone produced a sonic boom in the atmosphere, which made it much harder for them to react and at the same time damaged their sensitive hearing sense.
~Crash~
The destructive power of his tail made people's bodies explode. More than half of the people died violently. The remaining humans looked at the destruction caused by John with despair and thought about how to survive this massacre and inform the higher-ups and others about this moving disaster.
Even so, some of the remaining humans who survived the onslaught of John successfully ran toward him with a determined expression and pointed their spears at him.
John looked at the incoming group and didn't do anything. Let the humans do their best, but to their disappointment, they couldn't do anything to him.
The soldiers also despaired at this insane advantage the snake had over them and couldn't think of any way a human could inflict damage on this snake according to their knowledge.
So with despair and disappointment, they waited for death. John didn't disappoint them, as he poisoned and killed all of them within moments.
After doing all of this John looked at the remaining group of people out of his poisonous range with a curious expression. As they are all very fast and got out of his poison range at the last moment.
The remaining humans also glanced at this giant snake with various expressions. This may be the most disastrous defeat they faced at the hands of beasts, after a long time.
Only the Major and some of the captains with obvious animal traits on their bodies escaped from John's onslaught. The Major said with a resolute expression "Mark, when we distract the snake's attention, use this chance and escape."
Mark replied to the Major with a painful expression "But.. "
Major cut him down and said seriously "No, but. Only you are uninjured and can reach the other camp and deliver the information about this snake. Only then our sacrifice will mean anything."
Mark gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, leader."
After finalizing things in a few moments, all of them looked at John with malicious intent that couldn't do anything other than make them feel a little more brave in this desperate situation.