Doomsday Revenge: Payback Time (Josie) novel Chapter 420

< Chapter 420.

Chapter 420.

“Okay!” The socially anxious Ivy immediately hopped down from Josie’s body. She trembled for a long time before finally gathering enough com place her tendrils on the old goat.

A moment later, a voice echoed clearly in Josie’s mind. It was the voice of the old goat.””Hello, human “*

Wow! It actually worked!

Josie hadn’t expected the shy Ivy to have such a useful talent. She really hadn’t wasted her time rescuing that little plant.

Josie nodded. “This is my first time actually conversing with a mutant animal.”

In her previous life, she had fought countless battles against them, but there had never been a conversation. There was nothing to talk about. With common language, how could they? Back then, she didn’t have superpowers or contracted plants, so communication was impossible. Meeting me fighting to the death.

So, in two lifetimes, talking to a goat was indeed a first.

*”And it is my first time communicating with a human in this manner,”* Sage’s voice replied.

Though everyone called him “the old goat,” his voice didn’t sound particularly aged. Age was hard to determine with goats anyway, especially since one knew the lifespan of a mutant animal yet.

“So, what do you want?” Josie asked.

*”Human, let us call a truce,” Sage said. “You have slaughtered many of my kin. Let us call it even.’

“Even?” Josie let out a mocking laugh. “If our combat power hadn’t been this high, what would the result have been? We would have been surrounded and turned into your dinner. Now that you can’t beat us, you want to call it even? It’s not that simple.”

Sage went silent for a moment. “Then what do you want? We may not be your match right now, but in a fight to the death, you wouldn’t walk away

unscathed.”*

**Different species fighting for territory… that is simply the law of nature. We lost, and we have no complaints about that.”

“However, I believe we can still negotiate. I can provide the information or the items you desire in exchange for the freedom of the survivors.“

Josie looked at Sage with surprise. “Well, look at you! You even know how to barter! Is the evolution of mutant animals really this fast?”

*”I do not know. The moment I gained enlightenment, a vast amount of knowledge suddenly filled my mind,** Sage answered. Yes, it was as if a veil was lifted. Things I didn’t understand before suddenly became clear.”*

Josie thought of something, and her expression turned grim. “Tell me–is every mutant animal gaining enlightenment and tactical wisdom like you, of it just you?”

Sage considered this. *”Currently, in my herd, only I have awakened this wisdom. The other goats merely understand my words and follow my commands. Nothing more.”

Josie couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

Γ

It seemed that this “enlightenment” and data dump were limited to rare individuals. Thank goodness. If every single goat possessed this level of intelligence, humanity wouldn’t even need to struggle; they could just go ahead and go extince!

Humanity’s wisdom was the result of thousands of years of cultural accumulation, lessons learned one drop at a time through blood and sacrifice. would be incredibly unfair if mutant animals could simply “awaken” and inherit a treasury of experience that took humans millennia to build.

< Chapter 421.

Chapter 421.

“So, what are you offering in exchange?” Josie Quinn asked. “If the price isn’t right, I’m going to say no.”

“What if I give you the secret of all Mutant animals?” The old goat looked at Josie, his horizontal pupils reflecting a mysterious, ancient wisdo

Josie arched an eyebrow. “Interesting. The secret of all mutant animals? Every single one?”

“Yes.” Sage nodded.

“Why would you betray your own kind’s secret?” Josie’s interest was piqued. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll use it to wipe you all out?”

“I am afraid, but it doesn’t matter. You humans would have discovered it eventually. I’d rather trade the secret for our freedom now while it still value,” Sage replied. “I think you’ll want to hear this.”

“Talk,” Josie nodded, her interest genuinely piqued. To show she was truly interested, she pulled a chair from her spatial storage and sat down, lo completely relaxed.

Aside from the sight of Ivy trembling as she linked the minds of the old goat and Josie-which looked a bit comical-the meeting was actually ver

solemn.

“You’ve likely noticed that while animals and plants awakened their intelligence at the same time, the Mutant Fauna are at a clear disadvantage,” Sa horizontal pupils filled with a deep sorrow. “We are no match for the Mutant Flora. And if we leave the forests, we face a double threat from both Undead and humanity.”

“Wait a second,” Josie interrupted. “Let me correct you. You aren’t at a disadvantage. In fact, you’re in a great position.”

“After mutating, you gained stronger bodies and intelligence similar to humans. That’s a massive cheat code you’ve been given!”

To you, both the Undead and humans are just food, aren’t they?”

Sage shook his head. “No, no, that’s not it. We don’t eat the Undead. They’re too foul-smelling and taste terrible. We do eat humans and ordinary pla and animals, but humans aren’t that easy to catch. And against a Super like you, we don’t have a single bit of power to fight back.”

“Keep going.” Josie didn’t bother arguing over meaningless semantics.

“The secret of our species is that reproduction has become nearly impossible,” Sage revealed. “In our goat herd, in almost an entire year, only two kids have been born.”

“In the past, breeding was easy for us. But ever since we gained intelligence, reproduction has become an ordeal.”

Josie was definitely interested now. “Oh? Is it just your herd, or is it all Mutant Fauna?”

“It’s all of us,” Sage answered. “I’ve encountered other mutant animals, and they all say the same: continuing the bloodline has become incredibly difficult.”

To reproduce successfully, we *must* eat humans. But humans are all huddled inside the bases now. With walls that high, we can’t get in.”

“So, if humans stay hidden forever, the fate of the Mutant Fauna is sealed. We will eventually go extinct.”

Josie nodded thoughtfully. “That is interesting.”

“As far as I know, an entire swarm of mutant snakes has already gone extinct,” Sage said. “They tried to crawl into a human settlement looking for food, but they were discovered. Only two snakes escaped, the rest were killed.”

“Human weapons are effective against us.”

“No matter how tough we are, we’re still flesh and blood. How can we stand against your weapons?”

“When those two snakes retuned, their mating failed, their eggs failed to hatch, and that was the end of a

“Attacking you today was a move born of desperation. If we don’t cat some humans soon, our herd will die out as well

“This is likely the world’s way of keeping all life in check,”

“Heaven gave us intelligence and powerful bodies, but forced us to coeunte humans to complete our reproductive cyde

“Every cause has its effect. It was all destined.

< Chapter 421

Josie pondered Sage’s words. If he was telling the truth, it was a fascinating revelation.

Mutant Flora, Mutant Fauna, and the Undead all viewed humans as a food source.

The Undead couldn’t reproduce at all.

Plants reproduced slowly, and most Mutant Flora were immobile, stuck in one spot.

Mutant Fauna couldn’t breed if they didn’t eat humans.

And humans, while at the bottom of the food chain, had the advantage of easy reproduction. Plus, humans had Supers. Powerful Supers could punc above their weight and take out creatures higher up the food chain.

It was a perfect, vicious cycle.

It was as if the world had given every species a chance but denied them ultimate hope.

Stepping back to look at the big picture, the entire Earth was like one massive gladiator arena. Every species was fighting tooth and nail for survival. The victors are kings, and the losers are outcasts. Ultimately, the winning species would reign supreme over the planet.

< Chapter 422.

Chapter 422.

But that raised a question. Why was the world filtering for the strongest species? What was the strongest species supposed to “do”?

If the ultimate victor remained humanity, then the fate of the Mutant Fauna was obvious. They would either die out naturally-losing their intell and regressing back into ordinary animals or they would become human subordinates or enforcers.

The Undead and humans? Only one could survive the end.

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