After some deliberation, Vajra quickly made his decision. He turned and ran toward the jungle behind him...

Although Fang Chenyi was reluctant to see him go, he could accept the decision. After all, it was Vajra’s own choice.

He took one last, deep look at the spot where Vajra had disappeared, then sighed, turned around, and boarded the lift of the *Ocean Harmony*.

The rescue he had awaited for a week had finally arrived. After days of sleeping in the wild, Fang Chenyi didn’t want to spend another second here.

Although his parents didn’t know what had happened to him, having just survived a life-and-death ordeal, Fang Chenyi missed them terribly.

Perhaps, if his ’brother’ Vajra hadn’t been here, he wouldn’t have stayed for even a second longer.

He felt a pang of unease at the thought that once he left, Vajra would have to go back to eating raw meat every day, just like before.

"Oh, Boss, it’s a real shame. Bringing that gorilla along would’ve been so badass."

Demo Did said with a regretful shrug after boarding the lift.

In their circle, after all, it was common practice to keep dangerous beasts as pets.

He himself was raising a leopard and a lion cub.

The only problem was that neither of them was particularly friendly toward him, so he’d never even been able to take them out for a walk.

Fang Chenyi didn’t reply to Demo Did, merely offering a faint smile. His feelings were complicated. After all the time they had spent together, he had come to see Vajra as a true friend.

DING~

The lift rose to the deck. With a soft "ding," everyone filed out.

Seeing that everyone was aboard, Liu Yishou’s voice crackled through the walkie-talkie on Qi Xiaotian’s hip:

"Reporting. All crew are in position. All systems check out normal. We are ready to depart on your command."

Upon hearing this, Qi Xiaotian walked over to Fang Chenyi and said:

"Brother Fang, we’re ready to depart."

Fang Chenyi kept his eyes fixed on the island before him, not turning around, but gave a slight nod.

Seeing Fang Chenyi’s nod, Qi Xiaotian spoke the order to depart into his walkie-talkie. A moment later, the ship’s massive horn blared, and the vessel began to slowly pull away.

Taking one last look at the island that had been his home for a week, Fang Chenyi resolutely turned away, praying in his heart that his brother, Vajra, would live a healthy and happy life.

Bai Menghan, who had been by his side the whole time, knew her man was hurting. She gently took Fang Chenyi’s arm and whispered:

"Chenyi, this was Vajra’s own choice. Maybe this place is better for him. Bringing him back with us might have just been caging him for real."

Fang Chenyi said nothing, simply pulling Bai Menghan gently into his arms.

OOH! OOH! OOH!

However, just as the ship was slowly leaving the shore and Fang Chenyi was letting out a long sigh in Bai Menghan’s arms, a loud roar made his body jolt.

He spun around and saw a massive figure on the shore, roaring and carrying half a roast lamb.

It was waving its arms frantically as it roared, looking as if it were about to jump into the sea.

Seeing this, Fang Chenyi burst out laughing and quickly told Qi Xiaotian to have Liu Yishou stop the ship and pull back to shore.

Liu Yishou didn’t dare hesitate upon receiving the command and quickly brought the ship back to the shore.

With a DING, the lift slowly descended. Fang Chenyi strode toward Vajra on the shore.

OOH! OOH! OOH!

Seeing Fang Chenyi come down from the huge vessel, Vajra roared with excitement, pounding his chest with a loud THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.

Fang Chenyi walked up and playfully punched the big guy on the shoulder.

"I thought you didn’t want to come with me! Where the hell did you run off to?"

It was a wonderful surprise. Seeing how excited Vajra was, Fang Chenyi felt a thrill himself.

Hearing Fang Chenyi’s question, Vajra looked aggrieved and pointed to the half-eaten roast lamb in his hand, letting out a couple of sad-sounding roars.

’So the big fella was just worried about his food this whole time.’

Led by Fang Chenyi, the man and the gorilla boarded the lift. As the doors closed with a DING, Vajra excitedly shoved the half-eaten roast lamb into Fang Chenyi’s arms and began to look around with intense curiosity.

Once Fang Chenyi and Vajra were aboard, the *Ocean Harmony* sounded its horn once more and slowly pulled away from the shore. The smaller transport vessel had already been tethered to its stern.

After a week of living like a wild man, seeing all the modern comforts on the cruise ship felt wonderfully familiar to Fang Chenyi.

Vajra, on the other hand, was like a kid in a candy store, his eyes wide with wonder. One moment he was at the railing, peering at the churning sea; the next, he was running over to a crew member, snatching the man’s hat, and plopping it on his own head.

Thanks to Fang Chenyi’s influence, Vajra now considered humans to be friends and had no intention of hurting them.

Besides, he was naturally sociable. He’d "chat" with anyone he met with a few friendly roars, and before long, he was having a grand time playing with the crew.

Fang Chenyi smiled, relieved to see him fitting in.

’My Lotus Peak Mountain is every bit as large as this island,’ Fang Chenyi thought. ’I’ll settle him there. It won’t feel like a cage to him at all.’

Just then, an interior elevator opened with a DING, and an ecstatic Fang Jinjin came running out.

Though she was smiling, tears streamed down her face. As everyone watched, she threw herself into Fang Chenyi’s arms.

"SOB... Brother... SOB... We finally found you."

Apparently, after hearing that Fang Chenyi had been found, the girl had been beside herself with excitement. She’d been too worked up to sleep for the first two days of the three-day voyage. Last night, she had finally crashed, and she’d been asleep until this very moment.

When she woke up, she had no idea where they were. She got dressed and went to the bridge, only to learn that Fang Chenyi had just come aboard, which was why she had immediately run down.

He comforted his sister for a long while before she finally stopped crying. He reached out and gently pinched her cheeks, which had clearly thinned over the past few days.

"Alright, alright. Our little princess has turned into a little messy-faced kitten."