Chen Hao's hands were still throbbing with pain. The cloth strips were wrapped tightly, and the backpack straps kept slipping down as he walked. He kept pulling it up as he walked, muttering to himself, "This lousy bag is designed to press down on the softest part of a fat person's shoulder."
Susan, who was ahead, didn't turn around, but she slowed down. She raised her hand and gestured for them to stop.
Chen Hao paused for a moment, then stopped as well. Nana stood beside him, the camera slightly rotating, emitting a soft buzzing sound.
"What's wrong?" Chen Hao asked in a low voice, "Is there an alien base ahead?"
Susan ignored him. She crouched down and touched a scratch on the ground with her finger. The soil was loose, and the edges were curved, as if something heavy had dragged across it.
Nana said, "The soil disturbance lasted no more than six hours, and the trace is about 1.8 meters long. It is speculated to be a drag track left by a large quadruped."
"Large?" Chen Hao swallowed hard. "How big is 'large'? As big as a cat? As big as a dog? Or... as big as a bear?"
“It weighs over 200 kilograms,” Nana said. “Based on the depth and spacing of the claw marks, it moved at a speed of 1.5 meters per second, moved steadily, and was not an injured individual.”
Chen Hao looked down at his feet, then at the claw marks on the ground, and realized that the other person's foot was wider than the entire sole of his shoe.
"Should we change direction then?" he said. "For example... go back the way we came?"
Susan stood up and clapped her hands: "I've been to this forest once before, and there weren't these traces then."
"When was the last time you came here?" Chen Hao asked.
“Three months ago,” she said, “there was only the sound of wind and withered leaves here.”
Chen Hao fell silent. He looked up at the treetops, the branches and leaves so dense that they almost blocked out the sunlight. The air was stifling, and even the wind seemed too lazy to make a sound.
Nana activated the thermal imaging mode, her eyes flashing blue. She paused for a few seconds, then said, "Three moving heat sources have been detected within 300 meters ahead. The temperature distribution is uneven and the movement is intermittent, unlike a patrol route."
"What do you mean?" Chen Hao asked.
“It doesn’t feel like a stroll,” Susan replied. “It’s more like a hunt.”
Chen Hao felt a chill on his back. He subconsciously touched the metal hook on the side of his backpack, afraid it would make a sound.
"How about... we go around it?" he said. "The resource point isn't much of a difference, it's just a few steps away anyway."
“There’s no way around it.” Susan pointed to the left. “The slope over there is too steep, the soil is loose, and it’s prone to collapse. The right side is a swamp, and the rainy season water hasn’t receded yet. We can only go through the middle.”
"What if we run into them?" Chen Hao asked in a lower voice, "What if we can't beat them?"
“If you don’t make a sound, you’ll be fine,” Susan said. “They rely on hearing and smell to detect threats. As long as you don’t reveal your location, they won’t actively pursue you.”
“But one of us three is really out of breath,” Chen Hao glanced at Nana. “The robot’s cooling fan is like a tractor.”
Nana adjusted the cooling power, and the fan noise instantly decreased.
“That’s more like it.” Chen Hao nodded. “It immediately goes quiet when the energy-saving mode is turned on.”
Susan had already taken a few steps forward, pressing herself against a tree trunk to observe what lay ahead. She waved, signaling the two to come closer.
Chen Hao tiptoed over, almost tripping over a tree root. He held onto the bark, feeling its rough texture against his palm.
"Be gentle," Susan whispered.
"I'm already very light!" Chen Hao protested softly. "The fact that I can walk so steadily with this weight is already the limit of what I can do."
The three huddled together, peering through the gaps in the trees. The original path had vanished, replaced by vast stretches of trampled vegetation. Broken branches lay scattered on the ground, some still adorned with tattered cloth.
Nana magnified her visual system, and the image became clearer. On a fallen log, there were several deep scratches, with remnants of hair still around the edges.
"We detected mammal hair samples, and the initial assessment is that it belongs to a large canine predator," Nana said. "Combined with footprint analysis, it may be a social hunting animal."
"Wolves?" Chen Hao's throat tightened.
“The species is uncertain,” Nana replied, “but the behavioral patterns are similar.”
Chen Hao tried to speak, but Susan pressed down on his shoulder. She pointed to a pile of things not far away—dark in color and irregularly shaped.
“That’s feces,” she said. “It was just excreted recently, and it’s still warm.”
Chen Hao froze. He stared at the pile of things, and suddenly felt his legs go weak.
"Do you think... they might prioritize feeding fat people?" he asked.
“I don’t know,” Susan said, “but the slowest ones will definitely die first.”
"I'm not fat, I'm just big!" Chen Hao exclaimed anxiously. "Big things are easy to spot and cause more disturbance; they'll target others first!"
“Then you’ll be the last one to walk behind us,” Susan said. “To cover us.”
"Why should I!" Chen Hao said in a low voice, "I'm the rearguard, not a meat shield!"
Nana suddenly raised her hand, and the camera focused on what was in front of her. Her voice was very soft: "The heat source is changing direction and is concentrating on an open area."
The three looked in the direction she pointed. Passing through a sparse thicket, they could see a clearing. In the center were some rusty metal frames and several damaged shipping containers, with faded numbers printed on them.
"So that's the resource point you were talking about?" Chen Hao's eyes lit up.
“Yes.” Susan nodded. “People used to use this place as a transit point.”
"Let's hurry over there!" Chen Hao took a step forward. "Maybe we can find batteries, wires, or even... a power bank!"
Just as he was about to lift his leg, Susan grabbed his wrist.
"Don't move," she said.
"What's wrong?" Chen Hao asked, puzzled.
Nana pulled up the infrared image: "There is a weak, persistent, and steady breathing thermal signal under the metal pile. It's not the equipment heating up; it's a living organism."
"There's something down there?" Chen Hao's eyes widened.
“It might be a nest,” Susan said. “The entrance is hidden under the frame, very well concealed.”
Chen Hao swallowed hard: "So what we're seeing now isn't just a junkyard, but someone's doorstep?"
"To be precise, it's the living room," Nana added.
"Whose living room is piled with so much junk?" Chen Hao said in a low voice. "That's bad taste."
“The point isn’t about taste,” Susan said. “It’s about what to do when they come back.”
The three fell silent. The wind rustled through the trees. A low, sharp cry came from afar, short and without echo.
Chen Hao shrank back: "Was that... a greeting?"
“No,” Susan said, “I was checking my companions’ location.”
"So, there are more than three?" Chen Hao asked.
“There may be more,” Nana said. “Heat sources only show individuals in motion; they cannot capture individuals that are stationary or occluded.”
Chen Hao took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. He felt his heart beating a little fast, and his palms started to sweat.
"How about... we come back tonight?" he said. "A night raid will be conducted without anyone noticing."
“It’s more dangerous at night,” Susan said. “They are active at night and have eyesight ten times better than ours.”
"What about during the day?" Chen Hao asked.
“They rest during the day, but they are more alert,” she said. “The slightest noise will startle them.”
"So no matter when you come, it's always just delivering vegetables?" Chen Hao said with a wry smile.
“Not necessarily,” Nana said. “We can set up surveillance traps, observe their patterns of appearance, and then decide whether to enter.”
"How do you make a trap?" Chen Hao asked.
“We modified vibration sensors from discarded circuit boards,” Susan said. “We connected them to alarm modules and buried them around the entrance.”
"You carry spare parts with you?" Chen Hao asked in surprise.
“It’s in my bag,” she said, “just in case.”
Chen Hao looked at her and suddenly laughed: "You really have prepared everything."
“That’s how it is for those who survive,” she said.
The three retreated behind a giant tree. The trunk was so thick that it would take two people to encircle it, and its back was covered with moss. Leaning against the tree, they held their breath and took turns observing the movements ahead.
Nana set up the miniature detector and connected it to the recovered circuit board. The screen lit up, displaying a spectrum of surrounding vibration frequencies.
Susan examined the bite marks on the edge of the metal frame: "The teeth marks are deep, indicating great strength. There are gnawed bone fragments here, all from small animals."
"Never eaten a human?" Chen Hao asked.
"There is no evidence at the moment," she said.
"That still counts as martial ethics," Chen Hao muttered.
Time passed slowly. The sky darkened, and the light in the woods grew weaker. The wind stopped, and the surroundings were so quiet you could hear each other breathing.
Chen Hao leaned against the tree, afraid to move. He felt his clothes sticking to his back, soaked with sweat.
"What time do you think they go out at night?" he asked in a low voice.
“Usually two hours after sunset,” Susan said, “but now with the changing seasons, it might be earlier.”
"How long do we have to wait?"
“At least wait until it’s completely dark,” she said. “Observe for another hour to confirm that they have left the nest.”
Nana adjusted the equipment and gently buried the sensor in the soil, leaving only a small corner exposed. She covered it with withered leaves, her movements as light as placing a piece of paper.
“Okay,” she said. “Once a pressure exceeding ten kilograms is triggered, the alarm will sound within thirty seconds.”
"Is it loud?" Chen Hao asked.
"Enough for us to hear, but not too far."
"That's good." Chen Hao breathed a sigh of relief. "Otherwise, before I even found the power bank, it would have been delivered to my door like takeout."
Susan glanced at him, her lips twitched, but she didn't smile.
The three continued to wait. No one spoke again. Chen Hao stared at the open space, his eyes stinging but he dared not rub them.
Suddenly, Nana raised her hand, and the camera turned to the right.
She said softly, "A heat source has appeared, about 400 meters away, and it's rapidly approaching."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com