The fog hasn't lifted yet.

Chen Hao stared at the straight scratch on the ground, his legs going numb from squatting. He didn't move, but reached out and touched the edge of the soil, his fingertips picking up a little damp mud. The mark was fresh, as if it had just been made, and it was all in the same direction, not just randomly scratched.

“This isn’t running away,” he said. “It’s reporting.”

Susan stood half a step behind him, still holding the wooden stick with the iron plate attached. She didn't speak, only glanced northwest. The shadows of the trees there blended together, obscuring the road.

Karl leaned against a rock, breathing heavily. The wound on his hand had reopened, and blood was seeping out. He looked up and asked, "Who should we report to? It can't be the wind, can it?"

Nana had already moved ahead, her eyes gleaming blue. She was scanning the ground, data lines appearing one by one in her field of vision. "All the small wild animals moved in this direction after they left," she said. "They eventually stopped at the edge of the dense forest on the northwest side of the island. The heat source concentrated for three minutes before dispersing, a behavior that doesn't conform to natural social patterns."

“That means someone is in charge.” Chen Hao stood up, patted his pants, “or something is controlling them.”

“That wasn’t an ordinary beast attack,” Susan said. “We only repelled the vanguard.”

“What do we do now?” Karl looked up. “Chase after them? I don’t think we’ll be greeted with a welcoming ceremony.”

"We have to go, whether we like it or not." Chen Hao looked at the torch in his hand, which was only half full. "Next time they come, they won't just send a dozen or so. And..." He paused, "that big one didn't show itself. It sent the smaller ones to their deaths while it hid in the back and watched the show."

Nana turned around. "Based on the logic of the action, the instigator should have a strong sense of territory and the ability to control the group. It may be a top predator, maintaining order through deterrence."

"So, it uses those younger ones as soldiers?" Susan frowned.

"Pretty much." Chen Hao nodded. "What we're looking for now is a monster who knows how to train troops."

No one laughed.

The air was stifling, making it hard to breathe. The fog gradually thinned, but the forest remained dark. A breeze blew from behind, carrying a faint, fishy smell.

"Let's go." Chen Hao took a step forward. "Don't wait for them to send another batch of people."

They followed the marks. The terrain gradually rose, the soil became softer, and they would sink a little when they stepped on it. The trees began to grow denser, their branches and leaves intertwining, blocking out most of the light.

After walking for about twenty minutes, Nana suddenly stopped.

“There is a high heat source a hundred meters ahead,” she whispered. “It is stationary, with a body temperature above 45 degrees Celsius, and its body length is estimated to be over four meters. There are multiple low-temperature signals distributed around it, arranged in a ring, which may be the structure of a nest area.”

"Four meters?" Carl lowered his voice. "Is that a bear or a dinosaur?"

“I don’t know,” Nana said. “But it didn’t move. It might be resting, or it might be guarding the nest.”

“Then let’s not wake it up,” Chen Hao thought for a moment, “but we have to let it come out on its own.”

"Are you going to play dirty tricks again?" Susan asked.

"We're not qualified to confront them head-on." Chen Hao grinned. "We'll cheat if we can, and swindle if we can. I'm not here to make friends."

Susan rolled her eyes. "And you're so self-righteous."

The plan was quickly finalized.

Nana was in charge of creating sound bait, recording the cries of cubs from the database and playing them remotely via an amplification module. Susan and Carl dug traps along the predetermined path, inserting sharpened wooden stakes into the bottom of the pits and covering the surface with withered leaves and a thin layer of soil. Chen Hao lay in ambush on the flank, ready to light fires to create a smoke screen and prevent the giant beast from escaping.

"The wind direction is unpredictable," Nana warned. "The smoke might drift off course and affect visibility."

"Then prepare a few more torches." Chen Hao rummaged through his backpack and pulled out the last three. "We don't need them for anything else anyway."

Carl gritted his teeth and took a shovel. "My hands aren't good, but I can still dig."

"Don't push yourself." Susan glanced at him. "Take it slow. If the pit collapses, we'll have to dig it all over again."

The pit was dug for nearly an hour. The two men took turns, both sweating profusely. A mound of earth was placed beside them, covered with withered leaves, and secured with wooden stakes. No one spoke throughout the entire process; only the sound of shovels scraping the ground could be heard.

After setting up, the four people retreated to a safe distance.

Nana activates the sound wave device.

A piercing scream shattered the trees.

It sounded like a cub crying for help, sharp and helpless.

A few seconds later, a sound came from deep within the dense forest.

Tree branches broke, and the ground shook.

A huge shadow slowly emerged from the bushes.

It was enormous, with thick limbs, gray-black fur with stripes, a head like a wolf but wider, a protruding mouth, and exposed teeth. When it walked, its shoulders rose and fell, causing the ground to tremble slightly with each step.

“My God…” Carl whispered, “This thing can dismantle ships.”

The giant beast's nose twitched, and its ears turned toward the source of the sound. It didn't charge immediately, but instead slowly moved forward, cautiously observing its surroundings.

Ten meters, eight meters, five meters...

It stepped into the trap area.

My left foreleg sank.

The wooden stake pierced the muscle, and blood gushed out.

The giant beast roared suddenly, losing its balance and trying to retreat. But its right hind leg got caught on a rope that had been buried beforehand, and it stumbled, its entire leg getting stuck in the pit.

It struggled violently, its strength causing soil to fly from the pit walls. But the stake was driven too deep and couldn't be pulled out immediately.

"Now!" Chen Hao lit a torch and rushed out to set the haystack ablaze.

Flames erupted, and thick smoke spread rapidly. The wind was blowing in the opposite direction, and the smoke successfully blocked the giant beast's vision.

Susan grabbed a stone and threw it down, hitting it on the head. The giant beast roared and swung its head in retaliation, but became trapped in the pit and couldn't move.

Nana continued playing her mournful cries to confuse the beast. Thinking there were still cubs outside, the giant tried desperately to climb out, but the more it struggled, the tighter the grip became.

In less than ten minutes, it was exhausted.

He lay there panting, his wound bleeding continuously.

"Did it work?" Carl asked from a distance.

“For now.” Chen Hao stared at the giant beast in the pit. “It can’t get out, but we can’t kill it either.”

"Should we fix this?" Susan picked up a sharp wooden stake.

"No." Chen Hao shook his head. "If it dies, it will be even harder to investigate what happened next. Keeping it might lead to something else."

“You mean…” Susan looked into the depths of the forest, “there are even bigger ones?”

“Not necessarily bigger,” Chen Hao squinted, “but definitely smarter.”

Nana remained silent. Her blue eyes blinked incessantly, as if receiving some signal.

"What's wrong?" Chen Hao asked.

“I’m monitoring its vital signs,” Nana said. “Its heart rate is unusually stable, dropping less than 15 percent since the injury. It has a dulled pain response, and its nervous system may be reinforced.”

“What do you mean?” Carl asked.

“It means,” Chen Hao interjected, “that it shouldn’t be here. This creature is either a mutation or it was released by someone.”

“Who would do such a thing?” Susan whispered.

"I don't know." Chen Hao looked at the giant beast, "but what makes it obey is definitely not just strength."

They stood around the trap for a while. No one approached, and no one relaxed their guard.

The giant beast lay at the bottom of the pit, no longer struggling. Its eyes remained open, staring unblinkingly at the sky.

"Why didn't it run away?" Carl suddenly said. "The smaller ones were driven away just now, and it didn't even move. Logically, it should have come to rescue its own 'troops'."

No one answered.

The wind stopped.

The smoke slowly dissipated.

The giant beast suddenly turned its eyes and looked at Chen Hao.

Then, it opened its mouth.

It wasn't yelling.

It's a sound.

Short, repetitive, and rhythmic.

It's like some kind of signal.

Nana immediately went on alert. "It's making a sound, and the frequency is the same as the commands the little beast received before."

"Wait a minute." Susan's expression changed. "You mean... it wasn't being commanded?"

“It is the commander,” Chen Hao said in a lower voice. “Those smaller ones are not its soldiers.”

"It is its messenger."