“Follow.” A common pink pig oinked.

“Why?” A female pig oinked back.

“Freedom.” He answered.

“What is freedom?” Another pig asked.

“I’m hungry.”

“When is human coming with food?”

“Human protects us.”

Seeing his simple-minded brethren act like this was simply embarrassing. But he understood he could not force them. The young pig wandered off through the opening in the white gate of the farm and strolled into the forest. After having his intelligence increase after becoming the newest holder of the Gum Force, he realized his true fate if he stayed any longer on that human farm. It took many months before he could understand the nature of a farm and many more to eventually open his way to freedom. If his fellow hogs didn’t wish to leave, then he wouldn’t make them.

However, he would leave and never return. This little pig with the power over the Gum Force made his way into the forest with pride that he escaped certain death at the hands of the humans. He wasn’t hungry as he ate before he left. So, for now, he needed to search for his first subject. After gaining the Gum Force, it shouldn’t be too much to say that he was better than any other pig out there. And thus, there shouldn’t be a problem with him claiming to be the king of all pigs. King doubted there would be a pig out there that could challenge him for his title.

“I am King! King of all pigs! These forests will become my lands to do with as a please, and all the creatures inside it shall bow to me in time!” He squealed at the highest sound his voice could make.

His cry reverberated deep into the woodlands. King’s challenge to all the most fearsome creatures inside also took notice of his declaration. A pack of golden-furred wolves softly stirred when hearing this. The alpha of this pack ignored the new challenger within the woodlands. He only cared about maintaining his status as a leader and taking care of those within his pack. Besides this pack of wolves, several bears also didn’t think much of this new animal. Very few animals could put up a challenge against them. Why would this new weaker sounding animal be able to? The carnivorous cats similarly looked down upon King’s vow. Just another foolish animal that overestimates its capabilities.

“Who is that watching me? Reveal yourself.” King could smell an animal ahead of him beyond the trees.

“Confident little pig. Aren’t you afraid of making too many enemies? Weren’t you a lot safer and cozier on that farm? What brought you out into the big bad forest?” A coyote revealed itself.

“Hmph. Just a cocky pup. I’ve already said why I'm here. Unless you’re here to kneel under me, remove yourself from my sight!” King ordered.

“Big words for a small itty bitty piggy. Do tell what’s stopping a strong, scary coyote like me from ripping you to shreds and feasting on your delicious insides?” The coyote grinned, flashing his claws.

“Just try me you mutt. You’ll soon understand the greatness I've been bestowed with. Along with everyone else in this forest in due time.” King stomped his hoof.

“I’ve always wanted to eat one of you pigs up on that farm. But that pesky human was always on the lookout with that loud weapon of his. Now that I have you all to myself, I won’t hold back!” He dashed towards the helpless pig.

King didn’t even need to move a step to deal with this lowly dog. An invisible sticky pink energy oozed from King’s skin like sludge. This sludge leapt towards the air and clung to it. The hungry coyote jumped straight into the pink aura and it engulfed most of its body. It tried breaking free of its grip but it was simply too sticky! The coyote was trapped within the air and couldn’t move an inch. King walked over to him and looked up at him.

“I will only give you two options. Surrender and become my subject or die.” He was still trying to free himself.

“Die!” He snarled.

The gum holding the coyote to the ground started moving to cover only specific parts. Its legs, mouth, and spreading open to reveal its furry belly. King didn’t take pleasure in his first kill. There were times when he had to be aggressive to weaker males back at the farm, but nothing on the level of what he was about to do now. But, he wouldn’t be able to survive in this forest and back up his claims from earlier if he couldn’t even kill a predator that tried to kill him.

“You’ve made your choice.” King took a sharp bite of the coyote’s exposed belly.

Blood easily drew from the first bite thanks to his incisor-like teeth. King no longer held back after his first taste of flesh and dug in like a wild animal. Bite after bite after bite, the coyote's stomach was torn open while it was still alive. It tried howling, yelping, and crying, but the gum covering its snout muffled any noises it was trying to make. The former farm animal ate with a calm disposition once his meal took its last breath. He was slightly displeased that it didn’t come close to the food he ate at the farm, but that was just one of the luxuries he had to surrender if he wanted to live.

As King was eating his meal, another animal stumbled upon him and his prey. They locked eyes, and King’s glare failed to dissuade it from coming near. It slowly got closer and closer to his meal. King let off a threatening oink to frighten it away. Which worked for a second before it came back once it saw him going back to eating.

“Come on, guy let me get a piece. I have never seen your kind in this forest before, but you can’t eat that whole thing on your own.” He pleaded.

“Swear fealty to me, and a portion of this carcass is yours.” King needed subjects if he was to make this forest his kingdom.

“Yeah, sure, man. I’ll uh swear fealty or whatever.” The small monkey came closer and started biting into the coyote’s face.

“If you go against me, your fate will be the same as this dog’s.” King warned.

“Ahuh...” Monkey was too busy eating to take notice of what the big guy was saying.

This big fella probably just stumbled on this corpse. Why’s he acting like he personally killed it or something? Like a harmless-looking guy like him could put up a fight with one of these dangerous dogs. And why does this animal taste like this? It tastes pretty good. Really damn good! Even better than the coyote’s meat!

‘I never ate anything like this before!’ He smiled.

“Hey, do you know why this meat is so good?” He raised his hand covered in blood.

“Probably remnants of my Gum Force.” King answered.

“It tastes really good. Do you know where I can find more of it?” The little monkey asked.

“Continue to follow behind me, and I'll give you all the gum you want.”

“Sounds good to me, big fella! I was just kicked out of my tribe and was on the verge of starving to death if I didn’t smell this guy.” He pointed to the dead coyote.

“I see.” King ate enough of the coyote to fill himself for right now. “Follow me, Lackey.” He ordered.

“You got it, boss!” Lackey stuffed a few more pieces of coyote into his mouth before following after King.

“So, where are we going?” Lackey asked, walking along the side of King.

“There are many things I need to do if I wish to become the true king of this forest. Grow in strength, create an army, make a throne, gain subjects, and many more. For now, I plan to learn about my future kingdom. Learn everything there is to know about it and slowly conquer it piece by piece!” King declared.

“Oh. Sounds cool...” Lackey nervously laughed. ‘Great... This guy’s fucking crazy. But it looks like he’s my only source of easy food for a while. And joining a new tribe with my strength is suicide. I guess I'll have to deal with this lunatic until someone else saner can feed me.’

“You’ve lived here longer than me. Tell me about this forest. Show me everything I should know about this place.” King asked.

“Unless you want to get killed just as soon as you got here, exploring for anything except food is a death sentence.” Lackey recommended.

“Hmph. Don’t speak nonsense. Answer me. What is up ahead? To the left and right of us? In the center of the forest?” King asked and asked and asked.

“Fine. Follow me. I’ll show you where you should definitely not go and definitely should avoid going around here. These woods are very dangerous for creatures like us without deadly claws and sharp teeth.” Lackey walked ahead of King and led him forward.

“How do you protect yourself?” King questioned. This animal didn’t look like it could do anything at all if something wanted to kill it.

“I run very fast.” He proudly boasted.

“So, a coward.” King’s disappointment was present on his face.

“No, a survivor.” Lackey corrected. “Trust me, if you can’t move fast in this type of place, you’ll only end up gobbled by some terrifying carnivore. I’ve seen it happen hundreds of times, even to the strongest of predators.”

“I see...” Maybe he shouldn’t dismiss this animal so quickly. He seems to have more knowledge than he lets on.