All one could hope for was that internal chaos would not affect how the nations treated mutant creatures. If it did, then in the future they would inevitably fall far behind others.
Nourished by spiritual energy, the intelligence of mutant beasts would grow rapidly—sometimes even transforming altogether. The most exceptional among them might, in the shortest span of time, achieve intelligence rivaling humanity's own.
This was no blessing for mankind. Everyone understood what it meant for mutant creatures to gain high-level intelligence.
Learning ability.
A terrifying capacity to learn.
Given enough time, they would study and master everything humanity possessed—from language, to technology, to even creating a civilization of their own.
By then, suppressing them would no longer be so simple.
Earth would become a world of many races, where countless species stood in opposition to one another.
Nor would mutants coexist peacefully among themselves. Just as before mutation, natural enemies still existed after mutation as well. The only difference was that now they shared a single, overwhelmingly powerful common foe—human civilization.
Thus, an all-out war between humans and mutants was inevitable.
Humanity possessed numbers and advanced combat power, but if the beast races truly united, their sheer population dwarfed that of humans.
For now, humanity's stance toward mutants was clear: all non-human races were considered enemies, until they posed no threat to mankind.
With the evolution of Authority of Nature, the Earth held almost no secrets from Brandon White.
If he willed it, he could know everything happening on the planet. But ordinarily he refrained. After all, even if he knew, he rarely interfered. To him, human civilization would, under the dual pressures of spiritual energy and mutant beasts, naturally develop at a rapid pace.
The beasts, in turn, would be driven by their weakness to pursue greater strength.
This formed a relatively healthy cycle. Brandon saw no reason to disrupt it.
It was, after all, an internal conflict of civilizations—humans against their own world—not an external invasion from beyond the stars. Had it been the latter, his attitude would have been very different.
As he had once said to Angel Yan: the development of civilizations across the universe should follow a course of peace and stability. Wars could exist, but they should be internal, not driven by outside interference.
And in this war of internal civilizations, the eventual victor was already clear: humanity.
No matter how strong the mutants became, even if they grew capable of crushing human civilization, Brandon White would never allow humanity to lose.
More precisely, he would never allow Huaxia's civilization to lose.
Even gods, after all, have their selfishness.
Brandon did not deny his partiality toward Huaxia. Of all the items he had manifested into reality, seventy percent were confined to Huaxia's borders. The remaining thirty percent were scattered randomly across the world—but Huaxia was included in that pool as well.
In other words, over seventy percent of manifested treasures appeared within Huaxia.
And each time one of those items was claimed, Brandon felt it.
Skyler Quinn, chosen by the Flame Dragon Armor.
Chris Frost, bearer of the terrifying Demon Manifestation: Essence of Evil.
Nathaniel Gray, who gained the Smoke-Smoke Fruit.
Ethan Yates, who inherited the Crown of Life.
Elsewhere, in the Lighthouse Nation, someone awakened magnetic powers and received the Goro Goro no Mi, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
In the Bear Nation, a berserker-type ability user was acknowledged by the Teigu Specter Possession.
In the Island Nation, a sword-wielder was chosen by the Teigu One-Cut Killer: Murasame.
And then there was the Arcle, the transformation belt of Kamen Rider Kuuga, which had found a human master. Tragically, that man had not lived long.
He had fought bravely to protect civilians during the beast tide, but with a frail body and only a weak awakened ability—one that hadn't even evolved during the second spiritual tide—he could barely muster the base Kuuga form. Protecting a handful of people was already remarkable. Injuries were inevitable.
Yet he had never expected to die not at the hands of beasts, but by the treachery of the very people he had saved.
It sounded like a cliché, but that was reality.
If nothing else, the lesson was clear: never flaunt your transformation device. Wearing it openly at your waist only invited covetous eyes, leading others to believe anyone could wield it.
The Arcle itself, perhaps disillusioned by seeing its chosen host slain by those he protected, had now returned to Brandon. For the moment, it showed no sign of seeking another master.
Other transformation devices still waited in silence, biding their time for those worthy of their power.
Brandon shook his head. With a casual wave, a pale-blue screen shimmered into view before him, displaying a hulking giant panda.
Had Skyler Quinn been here, he would have recognized it instantly as the very panda that had stood in the heart of the battlefield, fighting alongside human ability users against the beasts.
As mentioned before, the revival of spiritual energy had not only birthed hostile mutant beasts. Many pets, service animals, and even military dogs had awakened while retaining their loyalty to humans.
But they were far fewer in number than those who turned violent.
More people, in fact, were bitten by their own pets. Perhaps sterilization played some role.
Yet this panda was different. Its ferocity in battle, and the grievous wounds it had taken in defense of humans, had earned Huaxia's deep trust and affection.
Some even suggested granting it the title of "Guardian Panda of the Nation." Others proposed forming a combat unit centered around pandas.
After all, pandas were born and raised by humans, long accustomed to their handlers. Even mutated, they displayed remarkable goodwill toward people. The only visible change was their larger appetites.
But their combat strength was immense.
The proof was plain: that panda had stood against several mutant beasts at once, even suppressing them.
Though called "panda," it was no mere cat.
It was a true bear.
And bears were formidable even without mutation. As a mutated giant panda, its strength was far greater still.
With proper training, it could become a mighty force indeed.
"Ah Bao… the panda," Brandon murmured.
"This is fate of a sort. For your name and your kind, I cannot withhold its legacy."
"Kung Fu Panda… a Dragon Warrior belonging wholly to Huaxia."
(End of Chapter)
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