My Apocalypse System Arrives 10 Years Early

Older bull elephants are also driven out of the herd once they reach a certain age. This happens when an outside bull who has joined the herd gets old, and the young females have already matured. New, younger bulls join the herd, and to avoid conflict between them and prevent inbreeding, the old bull must be driven away.

Furthermore, an old bull is frail and may have lost its ability to reproduce or protect the herd. Its status within the herd is low, which is another reason it gets kicked out.

Li Xiang tested them one by one. After trying a few elephants, he targeted Xiaobai’s mother.

’It couldn’t be this one, could it?’

With a flash, he snatched the female elephant away. And sure enough, a system notification confirmed it was the right one.

What Li Xiang didn’t know, however, was that this female was the matriarch of the herd.

The other elephants, including Xiaobai, all charged toward Li Xiang to rescue their leader.

Li Xiang smiled faintly and set the Tier Sixteen Silver-tusked Mammoth down. He figured that once this Silver-tusked Mammoth truly mutated, its "silver tusks" would probably grow in.

The herd was a little afraid of Li Xiang. After regrouping, the matriarch led them away in the opposite direction, intending to put a great distance between them.

The black Face Armor on Li Xiang’s face retracted, revealing his features. He circulated his Breathing Technique and let out a call, "HUUUUUU~"

His voice was loud and clear, echoing through the mountains. His imitation of an elephant’s call was perfect.

The entire herd turned to look, likely surprised that a human could produce a call so powerful and clear it surpassed even that of their largest bull.

"Haha, since fate brought us together, Xiaobai, here’s a treat for you!" Li Xiang said, taking out a fist-sized Low Tier Spirit Fruit and waving it.

Xiaobai’s eyes lit up, and it started to move forward, but its mother held it back with her trunk.

"I’ll toss it to you. Catch!" Li Xiang threw the fruit. His aim was, of course, perfect. The fruit slowed its arc and dropped right in front of Xiaobai. The little elephant curled its trunk around the fruit and popped it into its mouth.

It took one bite, and its eyes lit up as a wonderful fragrance filled its mouth!

"SQUEAK, SQUEAK~" Xiaobai flapped its ears, wagged its little tail, and stomped its feet in excitement.

’What the—’ Li Xiang was stunned. ’Pandas squeak, and elephants do too? I thought they only made one kind of sound.’

In truth, most intelligent animals can make a wide variety of sounds. Newborn elephant calves are even known to bark.

"I have more, come on over!" Li Xiang took out another fruit, holding it out temptingly in his palm.

Xiaobai started to move forward, only to be stopped by its mother once again.

"Don’t worry, your mom gets one too." Li Xiang took out another fruit and, with a flick of his wrist, tossed it right by the mother’s trunk. She reflexively wrapped her trunk around it and found herself unable to resist.

The exotic fragrance was simply too much to resist. She popped it into her mouth. CRUNCH, CRUNCH. The delightful flavor filled her senses.

The other elephants looked on with incredible envy, their gazes fixed hopefully on Li Xiang.

Seeing as he had two elephants with High Tier Extraordinary potential here, Li Xiang took out a large number of Low Tier Spirit Fruits, one for each member of the herd.

This sent the entire herd into a state of excitement.

"Here, Xiaobai, I like you the best, so you can have a few more!" Li Xiang walked over and kept feeding Xiaobai. He then turned to the mother, his "wife-by-association," and fed her a few as well. After all, she was a High Tier Exotic Beast with Tier Sixteen potential.

By calling himself Xiaobai’s father, he was, by extension, playfully claiming the mother elephant as his own.

Thanks to the Spirit Fruits, the herd no longer regarded him with hostility. In fact, they became quite affectionate. Even the older bull that had attacked him more than ten times earlier came over to nuzzle against him.

The older bull had been exhausted and panting, but after eating one of Li Xiang’s Spirit Fruits, it was instantly refreshed, all its fatigue gone.

Unfortunately for them, Li Xiang didn’t give out any more Spirit Fruits.

With a light leap, Li Xiang landed on the mother elephant’s back. She carried him as she led the herd back toward their habitat.

Many animals follow a regular schedule—some sleep during the day and hunt at night, while others are active by day and sleep in their dens. Elephants, however, are an exception; their activity follows no discernible pattern.

An elephant’s sleeping habits differ from those of other animals. In the wild, they typically sleep for only about two hours at night. They can sleep at any time, unrestricted by the cycle of day and night. Furthermore, their total sleep time is relatively short, usually only four to six hours per day.

There have even been news reports of elephants visiting human homes at night, possibly in search of food or to escape from predators.

Li Xiang rode on the matriarch’s back for some time. Seeing that dawn was approaching, he patted her, and she came to a halt. The rest of the herd stopped with her.

"See you later, little guy." Li Xiang jumped down, stroking Xiaobai and then its mother in farewell.

Xiaobai reached out with its trunk to grab Li Xiang’s hand, but grasped only empty air. Li Xiang had already reappeared thirty meters away. He gave a wave, and with a faint sonic boom, he was gone.

"WHOOOO~" Xiaobai called out in the direction Li Xiang had vanished. Its mother comforted it with her trunk, then resumed leading the herd back to their habitat.

’I hope that little guy will be okay. But even if something happens, don’t worry. I’ll come and save you.’

As Li Xiang sped away like a bolt of lightning, his mind raced. He was actually quite worried about Xiaobai. White Elephants were considered Auspicious Beasts in this region. If discovered, the little one would almost certainly be captured. As for its mother, she would likely end up in a zoo or be forced to work as a beast of burden.

The elephants were too large for Li Xiang to take back with him. Over three thousand years ago, the Rongcheng Plains had been teeming with elephants, but now they were a rare sight.

Having both pandas and elephants would be too suspicious. The pandas were defensible—wild pandas appearing in Sichuan Province was perfectly normal, and there was even a Bamboo Mountain near his home. But the elephants would be impossible to explain.

Therefore, Li Xiang could only reluctantly leave them to roam free here for the time being.

’Actually, there’s another way. I’ll have to try it next time.’ A flash of inspiration struck Li Xiang, and he marveled at his own brilliant idea.

It was still early when he returned to the hotel—not yet five in the morning—so he quickly caught up on some sleep.

As an Extraordinary Being, two or three hours of sleep per night was more than enough for him.

「After daybreak.」

Li Xiang and the three girls set out for Pattaya and Gelan Island. They planned to stay for two days, spending one day in Pattaya and the other on Gelan Island.

Afterward, they would return to Bangkok to visit the attractions they had missed. They would also experience some activities at a pre-booked manor and pay their respects to the Four-Faced Buddha. Then, after a final shopping spree, they would fly to Singapore.

Gelan Island, also known as Jinsha Island, was only seven or eight kilometers from Pattaya. The sand there was incredibly white and fine. While you might find crabs, snails, or even starfish on other beaches, this one had nothing but smooth, soft, white sand that felt amazing to walk on.

Leaving their belongings at the hotel, the four of them traveled light. The three girls, in particular, were dressed in swimsuits that showed off their captivating curves.

They were having a great time playing in the water and had just finished a game of beach volleyball, but a sudden news report spoiled their fun.

Zhao Xueqing said, "Hey, look at this. Something big happened."

The others gathered around to see, quickly learning the details of the event.