Chen Hao's hand was still raised in mid-air, his whole body frozen. The bushes in front of him were swaying more and more violently, not because of the wind, which had long since stopped.

He didn't speak, but slowly raised his other hand and made a gesture of stepping back.

Carl immediately understood and gently tugged at Susan's sleeve. Susan, who was looking down at the sample bag, noticed the movement and looked up, her expression changing instantly.

"Don't move," Chen Hao said in a low voice. "And don't run."

Nana stood at the very back, her eyes already glowing blue as she activated the scanning mode. Her voice was steady: "The target ahead is approximately 3.2 meters long, with a body temperature of 41 degrees Celsius and a heart rate of 67 beats per minute. It is alert but has not yet locked onto us."

The ground shook violently as soon as he finished speaking.

A huge shadow leaped out from behind the bushes, landing with a cloud of dust. It landed on all fours, with a row of faintly glowing red bone spurs on its back. Its head resembled a lizard's, but several long, thin whiskers twitched around its mouth. Its two bright yellow eyes stared at them for two seconds before opening its mouth.

roar--

The sound hit Chen Hao directly in the chest; his ears rang, and he almost slipped. Karl retreated too quickly, stepped on a loose stone, and swayed, but luckily Nana reacted quickly and caught him.

“It’s making noise, but it’s not coming at us,” Nana continued to analyze. “The sound waves are oriented northwest and are about fifteen meters away from us. This is a warning, not a sign of an attack.”

"How did you know?" Carl asked, panting.

“When it roared just now, it didn’t extend its claws and shifted its body weight backward, which means it didn’t want to fight in close combat,” Nana said. “And it stayed in that position the whole time and didn’t chase after us.”

Chen Hao stared at the creature. It didn't move, crouching in place, its tail swaying gently, as if waiting for someone to make a mistake.

"So it's a doorman?" Chen Hao muttered to himself.

“It’s highly likely,” Nana nodded. “Combined with the previously discovered three-toed footprints and dried-up ditches, this area may be its activity center.”

"So what do we do now?" Susan gripped her backpack strap tightly. "Go around to them? Or should we retreat first?"

“We can’t go south,” Nana suddenly said. “Just now it saw us moving south and immediately jumped sideways to block our way. It won’t allow us to go that way.”

"Is that the east side?" Karl looked towards one side of the rock wall.

“There’s a group of huge rocks to the east that can block the view,” Nana said. “I have an idea.”

She took a metal piece the size of a fingernail from her side, pressed it, and threw it northwest.

A few seconds later, a short, sharp sound came from the other end, like some kind of high-frequency chirping.

The creature's ears twitched, it turned its head, hesitated for a moment, and then took two steps toward the direction of the sound.

"Let's go!" Chen Hao whispered.

The four moved quickly along the rock face, trying to make as little noise as possible. Carl helped Susan climb over a large rock, while Nana brought up the rear, constantly looking back as she went.

By the time they crawled into the pile of boulders, the creature had already returned to its original position. It didn't chase after them, but instead roared again, this time in a lower, more resonant voice, as if confirming that its territory was safe.

“It really didn’t intend to kill us.” Chen Hao leaned against a rock, catching his breath. “Otherwise, it would have rushed over long ago.”

“It’s so big, we wouldn’t be able to escape if a fight broke out.” Carl wiped his sweat. “If it pounces, it could crush a person with one slap.”

“But it chose to scare people,” Nana said. “It’s the lowest-cost defense. It shows that it cares more about protecting something than eliminating the intruder.”

"So..." Susan's eyes lit up, "the place it guards might be very important?"

"Like water sources?" Karl asked.

“Not only that.” Nana pulled up a map. “The mineral veins, orchards, and groundwater we discovered before were all on the southeast side of the island. But the location where it appeared points to the northwest. We haven’t been there yet.”

“You mean…” Chen Hao looked at her.

“There might be nests there, or food storage points,” Nana said. “It could also be some kind of resource concentration area.”

"Sounds like the final stop on the treasure map." Chen Hao grinned. "Fatty's expedition team has officially entered the core area of ​​the instance."

“Aren’t you afraid at all?” Susan looked at him.

"Yes, I'm scared," Chen Hao said honestly. "But I've discovered something—the more scared you are, the easier it is to die. It's better to pretend nothing's wrong."

“Your mindset is made of iron.” Karl shook his head.

"It's not that I have a good attitude, it's that I'm lazy." Chen Hao shrugged. "Running away is too much trouble, so I might as well think about how to solve the problem while lying down."

Nana suddenly raised her hand: "Quiet."

Everyone stopped.

Another tremor came from afar, the rhythm was very slow, as if something was moving step by step.

“It’s patrolling,” Nana said softly. “It goes about every five minutes, along a fixed route, back and forth along the edge of the bushes.”

“That means there’s a pattern to it.” Chen Hao stroked his chin. “We can move as long as it’s not there.”

“But we can’t get too close,” Nana cautioned. “It’s very sensitive to sound and vibration. The bait we used earlier can only be used once; it won’t work the second time.”

"Then let's wait." Chen Hao sat down against the rock. "Anyway, it's not dark yet. It needs to rest, right?"

“Not necessarily,” Nana said. “This creature may be active both day and night.”

“But it still needs to eat, right?” Chen Hao said. “If it doesn’t eat, it still needs to poop, right? It can’t just hold it in.”

“Theoretically, it would excrete,” Nana answered seriously, “but no relevant traces have been found so far.”

“Oh, you actually answered.” Chen Hao laughed. “I thought you would say something like ‘unable to predict biological excretion time’ like a robot.”

“I’m speaking in robot language,” Nana said expressionlessly.

Everyone laughed, and the tense atmosphere eased a bit.

Susan opened her notebook and began sketching the creature's appearance. "What's with the light on its back? Is it glowing to scare people?"

“It could be thermoregulation,” Nana said. “It could also be a signaling mechanism used to communicate with other members of the same species.”

"Are there other things on the island?" Carl asked.

“It can’t be ruled out,” Nana said. “A single creature won’t act as a guardian. Unless… it’s the last one.”

These words silenced everyone for a moment.

"Don't make it sound so tragic," Chen Hao broke the silence. "Maybe they just have a bad temper and prefer to live alone."

“But what it’s guarding must be valuable.” Susan closed her notebook. “Should we go take a look?”

"Of course I'll go." Chen Hao stood up. "We're already here, it would be a waste not to go."

“Didn’t you just say you were scared?” Carl reminded him.

"I'm scared, but I'm even more curious." Chen Hao patted his pants. "Curiosity killed the cat, but even if a cat dies nine times, it still has eight lives left."

"Where did you get nine lives?" Susan laughed.

“I’m fat, I’m muscular, I’m durable.” He said, taking a step forward. “Besides, Nana’s here, she can calculate the danger level. If it really doesn’t work, we’ll just swim.”

Nana followed him: "Based on current data, the risk level in the northwest direction is moderate to high. It is recommended to keep a distance of more than 30 meters, avoid looking directly into its eyes, and do not imitate its calls."

"Got it." Chen Hao nodded. "Don't look at it, don't bark like it, and don't steal its snacks."

They slowly advanced along the group of megaliths, stopping every now and then to listen for any sounds. The creature continued its patrol, occasionally letting out a roar, as if asserting its dominance.

When they reached a high slope, Chen Hao stopped.

Ahead was a depression surrounded by giant rocks, with a narrow entrance and steep slopes on both sides. In the center of the depression, some debris could be vaguely seen, resembling a small hill made of dead branches and rubble.

"Is that where it stays?" Susan asked softly.

“It looks like a nest,” Carl said.

“It doesn’t look like it.” Nana stared at the scan results. “The structure is too neat, like it was piled up by someone. And the temperature at the center is seven degrees higher than the surrounding area.”

"What's inside that's generating heat?" Chen Hao frowned.

“I’m not sure,” Nana said, “but one thing is for sure—it doesn’t let anyone near there.”

Chen Hao looked at the depression and suddenly smiled.

"What if it's not its den inside, but something it's guarding?"

"For example?" Susan asked.

"For example... a broken machine?" Chen Hao blinked. "Or a crashed spaceship? Or perhaps a robot like you, lying inside waiting to be charged?"

“The probability is less than 0.3 percent,” Nana said.

"Didn't you guess too?" Chen Hao laughed. "Even the robots are starting to guess randomly, which means this is interesting."

“I’m just ruling out unreasonable assumptions,” Nana said, “but currently none of the data supports a conventional explanation.”

“That’s unconventional.” Chen Hao patted her shoulder. “Let’s go, let’s take a closer look.”

“We can’t go in the front.” Nana stopped him. “Its line of sight covers a forty-degree angle in front of it, so we have to go around to the back.”

“Then let’s go around.” Chen Hao turned around. “Anyway, we’re not going back to the ship tonight, so let’s find a place to spend the night nearby. We’ll see when it changes shifts tomorrow.”

They began to move north along the rock face, making very quiet movements.

Just as they were about to switch to a side view, Nana suddenly stopped.

"etc."

She stared at the scanning interface, her brows twitching slightly.

"I've discovered something."

"What?" Chen Hao turned around.

“Every time it patrols to the northernmost point, it lowers its head and touches the ground,” Nana said, “like it’s checking something.”

"Where to touch?" Susan asked.

“Coordinates have been marked.” Nana pointed to a black rock in front of her. “Right under there, there’s a metal reaction source.”