POLAR BEAR ARC CHAPTER 8

After being repeatedly refused by the little polar bear to eat walrus fat, Otis finally seemed to understand that the young bear really didn't want to eat it. He might find it puzzling how a bear wouldn't like walrus fat.

To him, it was the best food, but the young bear seemed to prefer other parts. Respecting his preference, Otis ate the fat himself.

During his time back in the wild, Qiao Qixi had indeed lost some weight. However, he had the foresight to eat himself into a ball while at the rescue center. Although he had burned some fat, he still had a considerable reserve.

He wouldn't force himself to align with Otis's tastes unless absolutely necessary.

Overall, walrus meat didn't taste as good as seal meat. Qiao Qixi thought about it, scratching his head, wondering how to suggest to Otis that they should hunt seals next time.

As for sympathy.

Sorry, he was just an emotionless eating machine at the moment.

Happily eating, a large seabird swooped down over Qiao Qixi, almost snatching the food from his paws.

Qiao Qixi was startled. What was that?

A flock of seabirds circled in the sky, clearly attracted by the scent of blood from the shore.

Most seabirds had already laid their eggs this season, and like all animals, they had a pressing need for food.

Even if it meant trying to steal from a polar bear's mouth.

Otis also encountered these annoying seabirds while eating, but at least they didn't dare steal directly from him. Standing at two or three meters tall, he could easily kill a bird for a snack with an explosive attack.

"Roar..." Otis growled to scare away the seabirds, preventing them from disturbing the young bear's meal.

The hungry seabirds wanted to approach but feared the polar bear's attack power.

So they lingered nearby, waiting for the two bears to finish eating and leave, then they would quickly swoop down to scavenge the remains.

Otis continued to drive away the birds while slowly tearing at the food. Only when Qiao Qixi burped and sat aside, licking his paws, did Otis go all out, finishing the remaining walrus meat.

A walrus weighs more than a seal, this one weighing about 250 kilograms. Otis and the young bear ate about 80 kilograms. After they left, the seabirds swooped in to fight over the remains.

The little bear, just having eaten, walked with labored breaths, the noise behind him drawing his attention, causing him to look back as he walked.

Countless seabirds fought over the walrus carcass, the scene was particularly spectacular and intense.

For a moment, Qiao Qixi was awestruck, survival in nature was truly brutal, direct, and bloody.

If one didn't try hard enough or was slightly unlucky, missing a meal could mean death.

Compared to the other wild animals struggling to find food every day, Qiao Qixi felt increasingly lucky to have Otis.

However, he also needed to grow up quickly!

So now, let's go get some oysters.

What's the secret to growing tall, strong, and fierce?

Eating!

But Otis clearly didn't want to take him to the reef area. After just eating, Otis led the young bear downstream along the coast.

The polar kings' post-meal steps were lazy and leisurely, lacking the vigilance and urgency of moving while looking for food. Their laziness was visibly evident.

Especially Qiao Qixi, his round eyes narrowing to ovals, almost turning into slits.

It wasn't that he was particularly tired, just that the sun felt so comfortable, and he didn't need to watch the road. As long as he could see Otis's big butt, he wouldn't get lost.

In May, the shoreline had various traps, such as seemingly thick ice that could be very fragile when stepped on.

Polar bears could swim and didn't care if they fell into the water. They would just jump back up.

But Qiao Qixi was different. When he broke through the ice and fell into the water, his first instinct was to cry for help.

Hearing the ice crack, Otis looked back and immediately ran over, diving into the water without hesitation, pushing Qiao Qixi back to the shore from below.

Humans couldn't overcome the fear of breaking through ice and falling into the sea. When Qiao Qixi came to his senses, he felt like a child, realizing he wasn't afraid of the cold, his thick fur didn't let water in, he could swim and dive, and he had Otis.

The ice hole was just a trivial issue.

But then again, why did the ice break when he stepped on it after Otis had crossed?

Did Otis intend to harm him? No, the animal world didn't have such schemes. It seemed purely unlucky...

On the shore, with a breeze blowing, Qiao Qixi glanced at his wet self in the water, realizing he wasn't just fat on the outside.

Otis climbed up, sniffing the still-sitting, somewhat frightened young bear.

He gently nudged Qiao Qixi, a gesture that was both gentle and comforting.

Feeling Otis's apology and concern, Qiao Qixi immediately felt guilty. He quickly stood up, shook off the water, and helped lick the water off Otis's eyebrows.

Oh, if only he could talk, he would tell Otis it wasn't his fault. Everyone makes mistakes when taking care of children.

Although it was because he cracked the ice first...

But I also didn't watch my step, so I share some responsibility, thought Qiao Qixi.

Otis seemed to realize that walking on the ice near the shore was unsafe, so he led Qiao Qixi to a more solid ice surface to sunbathe.

It was still one of Otis's favorite spots, with some icebergs for shelter.

Qiao Qixi didn't like being wet either, preferring the feeling of dry, fluffy fur.

While Otis lay nearby, quietly sleeping, Qiao Qixi spent the afternoon flipping over, trying to let the sun dry his fur from all angles.

Flipping over was tiring. By the time he lay on his back to sun his belly, Qiao Qixi couldn't hold out and fell asleep.

Otis woke up early. When he woke, the little bear was sprawled out next to him, one leg draped over his neck.

Exposing the belly while sleeping was dangerous. Wild animals rarely did this.

Otis thought this was too risky. Using a bit of force, he changed the young bear's sleeping position, thinking it would wake him, but it didn't. The little bear continued to sleep soundly.

Otis approached Qiao Qixi's face. From his breathing, he could tell the young bear was still in a deep sleep and wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

There were no other polar bears within a 30-kilometer radius, nor were there any land predators like foxes or wolves. Otis temporarily left Qiao Qixi to forage elsewhere.

This process might take an hour, maybe two, or even longer.

Whether he could bring food back early depended on his hunting skills and luck.

Otis was skilled. As long as he had good luck, he could quickly bring food back to share with the young bear.

But life is full of surprises.

An hour after Otis left, the piece of floating ice where Qiao Qixi slept separated from the land and drifted out to sea.

How to put it, together they weighed about 2,000 pounds. The ice wasn't strong enough to support this weight, so it breaking was expected.

Poor Qiao Qixi woke up with his furry face full of question marks.

Who am I?

Where am I?

Why do I feel like I'm moving?

Where's Otis?

The four questions of the soul brought fear and trembling.

Looking back at the land, okay, not too far away.

Sacrificing his newly dried fur to swim back wasn't an issue. The issue was, where was Otis?

At this rate, Qiao Qixi felt he would develop PTSD, always living in fear that Otis might abandon him.

Fortunately, when Qiao Qixi was about to jump into the sea, he saw Otis rushing back from the opposite shore with food in his mouth.

Oh, so he went to get food.

Abandonment crisis averted, the young bear excitedly jumped on the floating ice. Luckily, it was large enough to withstand his excitement.

The one who couldn't withstand it was Otis. He dropped the food and chased along the shore downstream.

Qiao Qixi also targeted a protruding piece of floating ice downstream, found his spot, and jumped into the sea, hoping to reach the shore in the shortest distance.

On the sea, you couldn't judge distances with the naked eye. What looked like a short distance might be much farther when swimming.

If a human saw this scene, they would be worried for the young bear struggling in the deep sea.

People living on land have a natural fear of the deep sea because they can't conquer it, nor the forces of nature like ice and snow storms.

Otis jumped into the sea and swam towards Qiao Qixi. As a true wild polar bear, he swam three times faster than Qiao Qixi.

Honestly, struggling alone in the sea was frightening, but with Otis beside him, Qiao Qixi immediately felt less scared.

Not that Otis was helping; this time, he didn't push him. He just accompanied him, seemingly ensuring he didn't drown.

Basically, it was like a parent watching a child, hoping they would strive on their own when facing difficulties.

Little did he know, the child didn't want to strive.

Qiao Qixi was chubby, and swimming made him

tired. When tired, he got cranky, and when cranky, he got angry.

The last time he fell into an ice hole, it could be said he wasn't watching his step, his fault, which could be overlooked.

But this time, it was clearly Otis's carelessness.

Knowing the ice was dangerous, he still led him to such strange places.

This parent wasn't very responsible.

Qiao Qixi paddled hard, huffing and puffing towards the shore, occasionally opening his eyes to check the distance. Still far?

If there was a weak point on a polar bear, it was their eyes. They were vulnerable in wind and snow and in seawater.

Falling into the water twice in one day, inexperienced Qiao Qixi had seawater soaking his eyes, which became uncomfortable after a while.

With impaired vision, his swimming speed slowed.

Otis sensed the young bear's fatigue and, without hesitation, changed position, diving under Qiao Qixi's belly, surfacing to carry him and quickly swimming forward.

Just as Qiao Qixi was cursing the irresponsibility of this parent, the next moment, lying on Otis's back, he was moved to tears. Otis was great.

At the same time, he worried he was too heavy for Otis.

Luckily, despite his current weight, Otis could still carry him without much effort.

As a swimming champion, Otis managed with ease. This was nothing.

Qiao Qixi climbed ashore with some struggle, lying there panting like a worn-out rag doll. Having soaked for so long, he shivered slightly.

If only there was a fire.

The high-achieving student disguised as a polar bear had these strange thoughts.

Dripping with water, Otis seemed to want to dry off quickly.

Lying by his feet, Qiao Qixi felt something bad coming. No.

He shouted in his mind: Stop, bear brother, don't!

It was too late. Just as he thought of getting up to avoid the disaster, the nightmare struck.

Otis shook off the water.

The downpour felt like a heavy rainstorm to Qiao Qixi.

Damn, his fur was in clumps.

New grudges added to old ones, fully igniting the innocent bear's inner hatred.

Qiao Qixi bit Otis's arm.

Revised ✔