The Evolutionary Path of the Lion

Chapter 119 Collective Enlightenment

The footsteps of the eleven people landed in an irregular rhythm. Two of them walked very softly, almost inaudibly. They were probably experienced scouts who were quite vigilant.

Chen Fei memorized the scent characteristics of these two people separately.

It's never a bad thing to memorize more things; you never know when you might need them.

He re-estimated the timeline.

The slit-mouthed group arrives at the intersection: approximately twenty minutes.

The survey team arrived at the intersection approximately 25 minutes later.

Five minutes off.

The slit-mouthed swarm will arrive first, and once in the open area, they will definitely sniff around before immediately scattering. By the time the survey team enters, the distance between the two groups will be within about fifty meters.

Fifty meters.

At such close range, did they see each other first, or heard each other first?

The survey team had rifles, while the Split-Mouthed Clan had a numerical advantage.

Seventy hungry hyenas in the dry season, encountering eleven armed humans, are unlikely to immediately back down and run away.

Chen Fei lay there quietly, his mind already going over the various possibilities over and over again.

Option A: The survey team first discovered the slit-mouthed hyenas and opened fire without hesitation. The hyenas were so frightened that they ran away. Neither side suffered significant losses, and after a brief standoff, the survey team withdrew. This outcome is the least worthwhile, a complete waste of effort.

Option B: The Slit-Mouthed Horde couldn't resist and launched a probing attack. The survey team braced themselves and fought back, resulting in a chaotic battle. Some members of the survey team were injured, and the Slit-Mouthed Horde also fared poorly, losing several members. This outcome is acceptable; it's not a complete loss.

Option C: Both sides spot each other simultaneously. The investigation team fires two shots to scare them off, but the hyenas aren't intimidated and flank from behind. The investigation team is forced to huddle together in defense, wasting a lot of ammunition. This outcome is quite ideal.

After much deliberation, Chen Fei concluded that B and C were the most likely possibilities.

Hyenas driven mad by hunger during the dry season are not so easily scared off by gunshots. They've seen rifles before and know that they only hurt when they're hit; if they miss, it's just empty chatter. There's nothing to be afraid of.

Moreover, this is the largest hyena pack on this grassland, and the leader is extremely intelligent.

The ideal outcome would be for both sides to suffer losses, allowing him to reap the benefits without having to take action himself, which would be both convenient and safe.

Big Head moved again.

This time it wasn't out of curiosity, but because the scent of the slit-mouthed horde was getting closer and closer, and I started to panic. My body stiffened slightly, and my claws unconsciously scratched at the ground, making a mess of the soil.

Chen Fei extended his front paw and pressed down on the back of Da Tou's neck without making a sound, with just the right amount of force to calm him down.

Big Head stiffened for a moment, then, feeling Chen Fei's strength, slowly relaxed, lowered its head, and obediently lay flat. However, its tail was still tucked tightly between its legs, showing that it was still a little scared.

"Don't be afraid," Chen Fei said in a low voice, "Stay by my side, no one will dare to touch you."

Big Head gave a soft "hmm" and lowered his head even further.

This simpleton, he usually seems carefree, but when things really get tough, he turns out to be a bit of a coward.

About forty meters to their left, Meimei lay motionless behind a clump of low bushes, as still as a stone.

Chen Fei didn't look at her, but he knew she was there.

Her scent hadn't changed in the past half hour, making her much more reliable than Da Tou.

After groping his way over, he immediately chose a good spot to lie down without making a sound, remaining calm and composed.

This lioness is becoming more and more incomprehensible.

"Damn, this is really weird. Last time I felt like something broke, but there was no warning. Could it be some kind of crystallization of wisdom that shattered?"

Chen Fei was a bit confused.

"Has the entire population become more intelligent?"

You know what?

This probability is as high as 99%.

He always felt that the lions around him were getting smarter and smarter, and that communication between them was basically seamless.

Sometimes it's like we're telepathically connected, it's really strange.

Sounds began to come from the east.

The distinctive giggling calls of a hyena pack, low and dense, carrying the restlessness of a moving group, are irritating to listen to.

The first few hyenas had already entered the open area, their footsteps making a clattering sound on the dry, cracked earth, which was particularly clear in the quiet morning.

There was still no sound coming from the west side.

Five minutes are left.

Chen Fei reassessed the situation.

no problem.

Once the slit-mouthed swarm enters the open area, they will definitely sniff around first, rather than immediately scattering. When the survey team enters, the confrontation between the two sides will be closer, and the conflict will be more intense, which suits his purposes perfectly.

Time passed second by second.

Twenty-three minutes later.

Finally, a sound came from the west.

It was a series of short, hushed commands from humans, their voices babbling and you could sense their wariness.

Then came the sound of boots treading on hay, the rhythmic footsteps of seven or eight people, and two others walking particularly lightly, like cats—the two old scouts whose scent he had previously noted down.

Then there was a brief pause.

It's estimated that the survey team discovered a pack of hyenas.

Then came a short, sharp curse in English, which sounded quite angry.

Then came the metallic sound of the bolt being pulled back, a "click" that was particularly jarring on the grassland in the early morning.

Chen Fei lifted his chin off his front paws, tilted his ear slightly, and listened carefully to the sounds coming from the open area.

The hyena pack in the open area also stirred.

The low, dense hissing suddenly stopped, replaced by a higher frequency and more urgent, overlapping call. This is a common way for hyena packs to exchange information when assessing the level of threat, much like humans holding a meeting to discuss matters.

Chen Fei waited for about three seconds.

Then the first gunshot shattered the morning grassland.

It wasn't one sound, but two, less than half a second apart, two loud "bangs" that made people's ears ring.

What followed was chaos.

The sounds of numerous hyenas howling, heart-wrenching screams, the scratching of their claws as they ran, and the shouts of English commands from the survey team members created a chaotic scene, like a bustling market.

Chen Fei put his chin back on his front paws, a smile playing on his lips.

It's done, as planned.

He turned his head and glanced at Big Head beside him.

The silly dog ​​was so scared that it buried its head between its two front paws, its whole body tense like a stone, its ears pressed flat, and its tail tucked straight between its legs. It looked just like a large dog hiding under a table and refusing to come out, so cowardly.

Chen Fei decided not to laugh at him at this moment.

After all, he was actually a little nervous when he first heard gunshots.

The melee in the open field lasted for about eleven minutes.

The gunshots were intermittent, sometimes two shots, sometimes a pause, but the hyenas' howls never stopped, sharp and piercing, interspersed with two human cries of pain, one high and one low, which sounded quite painful.

Chen Fei mentally reviewed the tone and intensity of those two cries of pain.

It wasn't a fatal wound.

One sounded like it had been shot in the arm, its cry was sharp and long, with a hint of malice; the other probably had a leg injury, its cry was a bit muffled, but it still lasted quite a while.

He understood.

People with fatal wounds are often in so much pain that they can't even scream. If they can scream so loudly and for so long, it means that the injury is not fatal, but it's still enough to give them a hard time.

These bastards are already getting hurt; next they'll run out of ammunition.

I'm keeping track of the time; it's only been eleven minutes, we're nowhere in sight.

Chen Fei sniffed, a fishy smell rushing straight to his head.

Two flavors, human blood mixed with hyena blood, roughly one to three. Well, the hyena side has lost a lot of money.

He jumped to his feet, brushed the morning dew off his body—it was icy cold—and strode toward the Alliance.

The big head behind him slowly raised its head from between its claws, looked left and right to make sure there was no danger, and then followed with its wobbly legs, step by step, like a startled big fool.

"Keep up, stop dawdling." Chen Fei said in a low voice without turning his head.

...

The generator in the camp started blasting precisely at 5:30 a.m.

Ella was stunned for three seconds in her sleeping bag, her mind like a gear that wouldn't turn, before she realized what day it was.

"Ugh, this noise is making it impossible to sleep." She muttered as she sat up, casually pulling her hair into a messy bun. Her hand groped for the thermos on the table, and she took a sip of cold coffee, which made her grimace from the bitterness.

It was already noisy outside the tent; the camp was awake.

The armed escort team slipped away at four in the morning, and according to regulations, they didn't reveal their route to the researchers. Now, only two logistics personnel remain in the camp: Morris, and herself and Caller.

She opened her laptop; the data she hadn't finished working on last night was still on the screen... the metallographic analysis results of the steel cable fragments.

She stared at the picture for a while, focusing on the cross-section.

"Have you ever thought," she said slowly, her voice still a little hoarse, "that this guy isn't just protecting his territory."

Kaller frowned, tapping his fingers on the edge of the table, and remained silent for a long time.

"I'll put this thing into a data packet and send it to Linton again," he finally said.

"Even if I send it, my hair will turn white, and that old guy won't reply at all." Ella rolled her eyes.

"I know, but I have to write it down and keep a record." Kaller carefully stuffed the fragment into the sample bag, his movements as gentle as if he were handling a precious treasure.

A corner of the tent flap was lifted, and Maurice's head peeked in.

He woke up unusually early today, his dark circles under his eyes resembling a panda's, clearly indicating he hadn't slept well. He glanced at Ella's computer screen, then plopped down on the folding chair, draped his hands over his knees, and leaned forward.

"The security team left a while ago, and they should be back in about three hours," he said.

Ella nodded without saying a word.

His tent was less than eight meters from where we were talking; it would be hard for him not to hear us.

"I heard everything you talked about with Caller yesterday," Morriston paused, his tone turning a little somber.

Ella remained silent, picked up her thermos, and took another sip.

"I signed that report for you, but Ella, you have to understand," Morris rubbed his hands together, "there's a lot of pressure from Linton, and Kenneth's nonsense works all the time at headquarters. Even if your judgment is correct, you need stronger physical evidence, otherwise it won't hold water."

"Isn't that piece of steel cable enough solid evidence?" Ella raised an eyebrow, her voice a little sharp.

"Scrap metal? They have plenty of explanations!" Morris shrugged, his tone calm. "What do you mean by an unusually large individual, bones growing crooked, or the tropical weather fatigued the metal... Kenneth has prepared three explanations, I've looked at them all, and they all seem plausible on paper."

Ella slammed the thermos down on the table with a thud.

"So you mean," she stared at Maurice, "that we have to wait for physical evidence they can't fabricate? Real footage of a lion writing?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean; otherwise, it's all just guesswork."

Suddenly, the image of the cub's eyes popped into her mind; they were frighteningly bright.

That day, the cub was surrounded by hyenas. She shot four of them with three shots, and the little guy just sat on the ground, not running away, staring straight at her.

That look in his eyes wasn't fear at all. It was indescribable, too clear-headed, like a little adult. A cub shouldn't look like that.

Suddenly! Gunshots rang out outside, muffled and deep. The wind direction was wrong; it was from the northeast.

The three of them fell silent instantly, as if the air had frozen.

Morris jumped up and rushed to the tent entrance, yanking the curtain open to peer outside.

Gunshots rang out again, a series of crackling sounds, followed by a chaotic cacophony of shouts.

"It's the guard team!" Morris turned around, his tone calm, but his hand was already reaching for the walkie-talkie on his waist. "They must have run into something."

A voice suddenly burst from the walkie-talkie; it was the guard team leader, his voice filled with panic, accompanied by the chaotic howling of hyenas in the background: "Camp! Camp! We've run into a pack of hyenas! At least fifty! We need backup! Location—"

Then came a burst of shouting and the thumping of running footsteps. The sounds from the walkie-talkie grew more and more distant and indistinct.

Ella suddenly stood up, nearly tripping over the folding chair.

She stood there motionless, her ears perked up like radar, listening to the voice on the walkie-talkie gradually fade away, and the distant gunfire also subsided. Suddenly, the words that Caller had said yesterday popped into her mind.

"What is it showing us?"

She stepped out of the tent.

On the grassland at dawn, the light has just spread out, shimmering and low, and the dew on the tips of the grass reflects the light like shattered diamonds.

The open area to the northeast was eerily quiet; nothing was moving around.

She poked around outside the tent for a long time, the wind rustling the grass.

Then he slowly raised his head and looked into the depths of the grassland.

There's nothing there.

Only light.

There was only grass.

Only the wind.

Ella felt a chill run down her spine, and a strong sense of unease suddenly rose in her heart.