"You want to make me your king?" Simon Stone suddenly felt his mind struggling to keep up.
"There can only be one Monkey King," an old monkey leapt in front of Simon Stone and said.
"You argued all night just to figure that out?" Simon Stone slapped his forehead, speechless.
"Then how should we choose the Monkey King?" the old monkey asked.
This question was a bit too profound for them. Since 'Monkey King' was Simon Stone's idea, they decided to ask him.
"Didn't I say it yesterday?" Simon Stone asked, expressionless.
"Did you?" The old monkey turned to the left, and the monkey on the left shook his head.
"Did you?" The old monkey turned to the right, and the monkey on the right shook his head.
They were probably too excited and forgot... Damn, what a bunch of idiots.
Simon Stone sighed and casually pointed at the waterfall. "There's a cave behind the waterfall. Whoever can go in and come out safely will be the Monkey King."
"But... can we even get in?" the old monkey asked.
The monkeys shivered at the sight of the rushing water. "We'll die," they said.
"If it wasn't dangerous, wouldn't every monkey be the Monkey King?" Simon Stone said, exasperated.
To Simon Stone's surprise, the monkeys all nodded, apparently finding his logic sound.
History seemed to have returned to its proper course. Though the connections were different, the destination was the same.
The monkeys began chattering again, enthusiastically discussing ways to get into the cave, never once doubting whether the cave really existed.
Clearly, a monkey's brain isn't much better than a pig's.
Of course, no amount of discussion led anywhere. If humans couldn't figure it out, monkeys certainly couldn't. Still, they refused to give up.
After all, every monkey dreamed of a life where they didn't have to pick their own fruit, someone else would pick out their lice, and any female monkey they wanted was theirs for the asking.
Among the monkeys discussing, the old monkey who had just spoken with Simon Stone was, of course, present.
The old monkey piled a bunch of fruit by the edge of the deep pool, looking determined not to give up until he became Monkey King. Taking advantage of their brief acquaintance, Simon Stone shamelessly went over to mooch a meal, making up for missing breakfast, lunch, and dinner from the previous day. As Simon Stone, who had sworn not to die of starvation, started planning how to get his hands on tonight's dinner, the old monkey finally couldn't take it anymore and kicked him away, pretending not to know him.
So, for the first time since arriving in this world, Simon Stone ate his fill and began plotting how to become the Monkey King—the one who wouldn't have to pick his own fruit, would have someone to pick his lice, and could... ahem... have any female monkey he wanted.
When the midday sun blazed down on the earth, all the monkeys hid in the shade to cool off. It was then that Simon Stone finally came up with a plan that was both safe and reliable.
But this plan couldn't be done alone. Thus, the first politician in monkey history was born, and he began to make wild promises.
"Do you want to be a Monkey General?" Simon Stone asked, grabbing a strong-looking monkey.
A new term was born among the monkey tribe.
"What's a Monkey General?" the monkey asked, scratching his head.
"It's... almost like the Monkey King. You don't have to pick your own fruit, someone helps pick your lice, you can make other monkeys obey you, but you only have to listen to the Monkey King," Simon Stone explained.
"Can I have any female monkey I want?" the monkey asked.
"Ahem... Normally, no. But you're in luck, brother. If you become my Monkey General, you can." Simon Stone stared intently at the monkey, placing both hands on his shoulders and said sincerely, "Come on, as long as I become Monkey King, you'll be Monkey General!"
"Do we have to jump through the waterfall?" the monkey asked.
"No need. Just do as I say and I guarantee you'll become a Monkey General," Simon Stone grinned.
Soon, he had successfully recruited nine strong monkeys. Just as he was about to recruit the tenth, another monkey grabbed him.
"Brother, want to be a Monkey General? It's just like being the Monkey King, but you don't have to jump through the waterfall!" the monkey said.
Simon Stone was speechless.
These days, there's competition in everything. The monkeys clearly had no idea what they wanted, but by now, they'd already formed their own little factions.
Looking at the groups of monkeys, then at the nine behind him, Simon Stone gave up on recruiting another.
With his nine monkeys, Simon Stone got to work.
First, he found some rocks and started grinding them. The crude stone knives began to take shape. Then, he taught the monkeys to use the knives to cut the longest, thickest vines, which they braided together like whips, quickly creating two long, thick ropes.
"Boss, what do we do next?" one monkey asked.
At this moment, not only the nine monkeys following him were amazed—every monkey craned their necks in curiosity.
"Let's head up the mountain!" Simon Stone said, raising both hands.
The nine monkeys bounced after him up the mountain, and the other monkeys followed out of curiosity.
At the summit, Simon Stone tied one rope to the middle of the other, then fastened one end of the second rope to a large rock and the other end to a big tree atop the mountain.
"Smart idea!" The canary, still nearby, tilted its head and swallowed the bug in its beak, exclaiming, "This is the cleverest monkey I've ever seen—almost as smart as a human."
Under Simon Stone's command, the nine monkeys and Simon Stone carried the large rock step by step to the edge of the waterfall and tossed it down along the falls.
"Boom!" A thunderous crash erupted, huge splashes of water soared, and all the monkeys screamed.
Simon Stone tugged the rope. "It's tight—saves us from having to redo the knots."
Next, he led the whole troop of monkeys back down the mountain to the edge of the deep pool, pulling down the other end of the rope that hung over the pool and tying it to a tree trunk.
With that, the suspended arrangement of two ropes and a rock was complete.
All the monkeys watched in silence, eyes fixed on the scene.
Under the gaze of every monkey, Simon Stone grabbed another vine, tied it around himself, and knotted the other end to the thick rope.
It was a safety rope; even if something went wrong, it would keep him from dying.
With everything ready, Simon Stone tucked a stone knife into the vine at his waist and climbed onto the horizontal rope.
"Ooo-woo, ooo-woo~" The monkeys cheered in unison, waving their arms in excitement. Here, monkeys didn't worry about much—when excited, they just howled loudly.
Soon, Simon Stone climbed along the twenty-degree sloping rope to the edge of the waterfall. The wind blew mist in his face, the rope vibrated with the rush of water, and droplets splashed onto him, making his heart race.
His eye twitched—a sign of involuntary fear—but he had no way out.
Here, he could only follow this path. Otherwise, as a monkey, what else could he do?
He was barely even a monkey—he couldn't climb trees, couldn't hunt, and relied on the charity of other monkeys. If one day the tiger at the foot of the mountain stopped fearing him, it would be all too easy for the tiger to swallow a monkey who couldn't climb.
Behind him, the monkeys howled; in front, the waterfall roared. He closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and kept climbing, bracing himself for the waterfall's baptism.
The thunderous roar of the water drowned out the monkeys' howls—now it felt like he was the only one left in the world. The force of the falling water struck him, chilling him to the bone.
But even more terrifying was that force!
He'd braced himself mentally, but it wasn't enough. The impact sent him tumbling downward when he lost his grip.
"So this is how hard it was for Sun Wukong to jump through the waterfall," he thought at that moment.
The safety rope saved his life. He hung in midair, and the loop on the thick rope slid quickly, pulling him away from the waterfall until he stopped halfway.
It took a long time for him to catch his breath.
He wiped the water from his face, and after a while, his ears stopped ringing and he could hear the monkeys howling again. That calmed him down a bit.
"Damn it, I can't give up." He said, tugged the safety rope, and climbed back onto the thick rope, inching toward the waterfall again.
The icy water struck him once more. It felt less like water and more like hailstones pounding his body. The hail didn't just batter his body—it struck his heart, washing it clean until only the will to press forward remained.
In the end, he failed again. This time, exhaustion left him dangling motionless halfway down, just hanging there.
The monkeys in the distance stopped howling, maybe thinking Simon Stone was dead.
A long time passed—no one remembered exactly how long, since everyone held their breath and time seemed to slow. Then Simon Stone moved again, climbing the thick rope, gritting his teeth, still heading for the waterfall.