At the critical moment, a figure darted out, delivering a powerful kick that sent the robust monkey flying into the distance, saving the child.
A loud boom echoed as the monkey made intimate contact with the distant guardrail, knocking it unconscious immediately.
On the other side, the fully-armed staff were utterly powerless against the frenzied monkeys. If not for their heavy protective suits, their fate would have been no better than that of the tourists.
"How can this be?!" A staff member watched as his companion was effortlessly toyed with by the monkeys. Even tranquilizer darts couldn't hit them, and combined with the monkeys' bizarrely immense strength, he found it hard to believe, a look of despair crossing his face.
As the personnel in front were sent flying, one monkey directly reached this staff member, showing a cruel smile as it prepared to swat him away too. However, at that moment, Takeru had arrived in this area.
With a great leap, Takeru appeared before the monkey, simultaneously extending an arm to easily block the monkey's swinging attack, followed by a shoulder throw that slammed the monkey heavily to the ground.
The immense force left these mutated monkeys struggling to get back up for a while.
The monkey not far away, seeing its companions being taken down one after another, turned its gaze onto Takeru. It stopped chasing the staff member in front of it, instead furiously charging towards Takeru with bared teeth.
The monkey was fast, at least fast enough to leave ordinary people in the dust.
But in Takeru's eyes, it seemed extremely sluggish. Facing the monkey's charge, Takeru remained completely unfazed.
"Hurry and tie up the unconscious monkeys!" After reminding the stunned staff behind him, Takeru actively charged towards the monkey.
At the instant man and monkey were about to collide, Takeru erupted with even greater speed, circling behind it, then delivering a powerful chop to the monkey's neck.
The immense force, combined with its own forward momentum, sent it tumbling head over heels several times before crashing heavily into the guardrail not far away again.
Glancing at the mutated monkey now incapacitated, Takeru's gaze swept around, quickly noticing three tourists who were taking photos. Takeru frowned, unleashing invisible telekinetic force.
Soon, the phones or cameras in the hands of the three people taking photos seemed to suffer some terrifying crushing pressure, exploding apart.
As for the surveillance camera monitoring this spot, Takeru had already destroyed it before taking action.
Wee-woo wee-woo!
At this time, Takeru also heard the sounds of police cars and ambulances. Knowing it wasn't good to linger any longer, Takeru erupted with terrifying speed, swiftly disappearing from everyone's sight.
After leaving, Takeru circled around before heading back towards the zoo entrance.
Finding Miu and Ebina, who were being held back outside, he quickly led them away from the scene.
As for what happened afterward, that was no longer Takeru's concern.
...
Inside a family restaurant, Takeru, Ebina, and Miu sat ordering food.
"Hey, Onii-chan, what exactly happened inside? And why didn't you leave with us earlier?" Sitting in her seat, Miu curiously questioned Takeru.
"Just now, there was an incident with monkeys injuring people inside. I only took a brief look. After you left, I came out too!" Hearing Miu's question, Takeru lied without changing his expression.
Hearing Takeru's words, Miu puffed her cheeks and stared at him, clearly not believing his explanation.
She didn't doubt that monkeys had hurt people, but the idea that Takeru had them leave first, then he just 'looked' before leaving too… Miu didn't buy it.
Miu understood Takeru very well. If something truly dangerous happened, Takeru wasn't the type to seek out excitement, and he certainly wouldn't ignore her to go watch the commotion.
So, naturally, Miu didn't believe Takeru's words.
"I'm so glad Nara-kun is alright!" Hearing Takeru's words, Ebina firmly believed him without a doubt, letting out a sigh of relief as she spoke.
"Mhmm, because the staff reacted very quickly and managed to restrain the monkeys soon after. But after the staff came out, I also ran out quickly!" Hearing Ebina's words, Takeru said with a smile.
At the same time, news of the monkey attack spread rapidly, with some busybodies quickly uploading their eyewitness accounts to various major platforms.
In their accounts, the monkeys, like war gods, easily beat up the staff. In the crisis, a figure like a superhero swiftly suppressed the frenzied monkeys.
Although eyewitnesses described it vividly, because there were no pictures or videos, there was simply no way to verify it...
As for the person involved, Takeru, he didn't care in the slightest, as long as it didn't trace back to him.
However, his face had been seen by quite a few people at the time, something Takeru couldn't help.
But since Takeru hadn't displayed any superpowers then, at most he would be considered someone with some combat skills. So even if someone was interested in digging deeper, they wouldn't be overly enthusiastic.
Soon, the food was served. Ebina, who was eating at a family restaurant for the first time, made a small blunder: she put her food on the plate meant for bones.
Afterward, having finished lunch, Takeru received a call from Yukino. She was calling precisely because of the incident at the zoo, as one death and five serious injuries was still a very severe situation.
But after briefly chatting with her for a couple of sentences, Takeru hung up, indicating now wasn't the time for conversation.
Seeing this, Yukino nodded understandingly. Because her father was a Diet member, Yukino could access more information than ordinary people.
As for the monkeys, they were injected with large amounts of anesthetic, confined in the sturdiest iron cages, and sent to a mysterious location.
In fact, these days, more and more animals were showing signs of such mutation. While the police were constantly suppressing these incidents, the accidents were becoming increasingly frequent, giving many leading figures an ominous premonition, a sense of oppressive feeling like the calm before the storm.