Chapter 315: Demands

"I take it you two have been expecting me?" Alex asked, looking between the two pigeons.

"Yes, we have been expecting you, We would like to form an alliance with you humans," the pigeon replied, looking directly at Alex.

Its straightforward response surprised him, since he had expected to spend some time understanding the Beasts’ intentions before discussing cooperation.

Alex raised an eyebrow before asking, "An alliance? That’s interesting, but why do you think we should work together?"

"The dangers in this world are becoming greater with each passing day, and humans are naturally weaker than animals. Even as both continue gaining levels, Beasts will generally remain stronger than humans of the same level because of our superior physical abilities. That is why cooperation would benefit your kind considerably," the pigeon explained.

"That’s not entirely true anymore," Alex replied, shaking his head. "All of us now have Classes and Species Evolution, which allow us to overcome our natural limitations. Depending on their abilities, some humans can become considerably stronger than Beasts of the same level."

The pigeon remained silent, apparently considering his words. Alex wasn’t particularly interested in arguing about which species was stronger, however, since he could already see several advantages to working with intelligent Beasts.

"Anyway, I’m willing to form an alliance, but I’d like to know why you want one. You’ve explained why humans might benefit from cooperating with Beasts, but what exactly do you gain from it?" Alex asked.

The two pigeons exchanged glances before the one that had remained silent gave a short hoot. Alex noticed that the speaking pigeon waited for its companion to finish, making him suspect that the silent one was actually their leader.

"With so many deaths being caused by monsters, humans will eventually begin treating Beasts as monsters too. That would create unnecessary trouble for us, especially when we have no intention of engaging in needless war. Establishing an alliance now would help prevent such misunderstandings, and we will also need allies in Hell Difficulty," the speaking pigeon explained.

"You’re both from Hell Difficulty?" Alex asked, looking between them with renewed interest. He had suspected that the silent one was from Hell Difficulty, but he hadn’t expected both to be from there.

"Indeed, we are," the pigeon confirmed.

Alex nodded thoughtfully, since their origins made the proposal considerably more interesting.

"All right, then. I don’t have a problem with us working together, but I’ll first have to introduce you to my people. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure everyone understands that you’re intelligent Beasts and doesn’t immediately attack you. Does that sound reasonable?" Alex asked.

"Indeed, it does. Just as the King Pipi said, you’re quite calm and capable of thinking rationally. We attempted to approach other humans before, but those encounters didn’t end particularly well," the pigeon replied.

"Pipi? Is that your name?" Alex asked, glancing toward the other pigeon.

The silent pigeon gave another hoot, apparently confirming his assumption.

"And I am Hoot," the speaking pigeon added, prompting Alex to introduce himself as well.

"Alex Mercer," he replied before glancing toward the damaged high school in the distance.

"I assume you saw the monsters attacking the school earlier, but decided against intervening because you were worried about causing more confusion?" Alex asked. He was curious about their reasons, especially since both pigeons appeared to possess considerable intelligence.

"Indeed. If we had intervened, your servants would most likely have attacked us as well. The confusion caused by our appearance could have given those monsters an opportunity to eliminate everyone defending the school," Hoot explained.

Alex nodded, although he couldn’t help feeling dissatisfied with the situation. Both pigeons came from Hell Difficulty, so even without knowing their exact strength, he suspected they could have made a considerable difference during the battle.

A part of him wanted to blame them for not helping, especially after seeing how many people had been injured or killed. However, he understood that their reasoning wasn’t necessarily wrong, and their sudden appearance might genuinely have made the situation worse.

In truth, Alex wasn’t feeling much better than the people he had comforted earlier. He had told Roan and the others to appreciate the lives they had saved rather than blaming themselves for those they couldn’t protect, but he was struggling to follow his own advice.

If he had been here when the monsters appeared, things might have turned out differently. If he had prepared better defenses before leaving, a lot people might’ve survived. These thoughts made him feel increasingly frustrated with himself.

Nevertheless, he knew that someone had to remain composed when everyone else was overwhelmed by guilt and grief. That was why he had encouraged the others to move forward, even though he was having difficulty doing the same.

"They’re my friends, not my servants," Alex eventually corrected Hoot, deciding to move away from the subject.

Hoot tilted his head, seemingly confused by the distinction, before Pipi began hooting something to him.

"Understood," Hoot replied after listening to Pipi’s explanation.

Alex found their exchange rather interesting, since it seemed that Pipi understood the concept of friendship while Hoot didn’t.

’Is that simply a difference in their natural intelligence, or does the System grant different levels of intelligence to individual Beasts?’ Alex wondered. Although he wanted to investigate the matter, he decided to save those questions for another time.

"Anyway, there are two things I’d like to know, or rather, two conditions for our cooperation. In exchange, you can ask two things of me as well, or demand two things, provided they’re reasonable," Alex said.

"Go on," Hoot replied, apparently having no objections to the arrangement. Alex nodded before explaining what he wanted.

"First, I want to know what Beast Monarchs are. The second is more of a demand. You’ll eventually have to either join my faction or leave this city, although you don’t need to decide immediately. One of my Quests requires me to conquer an entire city, so I can’t have an independent faction operating here indefinitely," Alex explained.

..

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