Chapter 95: Trap
Editor: Monika
The jungle was his last bet since he could never be a matched opponent for the
military and the gene-altered soldiers. Only in the jungle, where uncertainty
and hidden dangers treated invaders equally, Chang would have a chance of
exterminating them.
He returned to the jungle, holding the hope of purging his enemy. Without a
doubt, the jungle was pitted with peril. The danger within was more deadly day
by day as species were evolving. It had been a while since he got out of the
jungle, therefore, he implemented a full preparation against the dangers
before he went in.
First, he secured the “bandage” around his head so that it wouldn’t fall when
he fought.
Second, he made another batch of grass mush and smeared the mixture on his
exposed skin so that his scent was reduced to a minimum.
Third, while on his way to the jungle, for the first time he robbed someone. All
he harvested from the gang was a full water bottle and a meal that he ate
ravenously. After the robbery, he left quickly.
When he finished his preparations, he stood below the “Welcome to
Zhengzhou” billboard, which he’d visited before and which had become even
more rusty. The jungle was expanding its territory and expunging all traces of
civilisation around it.
Every inch of the jungle became more vital than it had been previously. The
trees reached their arms higher to the sky to compete with their own breeds.
By extracting an abundance of nutrient from the underground, their bodies
were more stout and solid. Their skins were made up of a thick coat of fungi
and fern, and the roots were blanketed by lush bushes. It was nothing like
before, and a variety of noises echoed in the jungle. The buzzing sounds were
the most clear, but there were many more that could be heard. Together, the
inhabitants of this jungle were composing a vivid symphony of life.
But it could also be the opera of death.
Chang took a deep breath, smoothing a wrinkle on the bandage around his
head. He cautiously chose his path, entering in his most vigilant manner to
receive the challenge from the mysterious jungle.
Half an hour later, the hooknosed woman arrived at the billboard, where Chang
had made a brief stop. She was with three gene-altered soldiers and her own
troop.
“Madam, are you sure he went in there?” The agitating buzzing that was heard
from the edge of the jungle worried the adjutant. He swallowed.
“I am 100% positive about this, don’t you trust my nose?” The woman tied her
brows. “He is a savage boy, and that I didn’t foresee… What a desperate
fightback!”
“Who do we do now? Should we follow him?” The adjutant hesitated, he seemed
terrified.
“We’ll go after him no matter what.” The woman nodded.
“Are you sure? He could have died in there already!”
“Well, in that case, we still have to check. I believe you know the consequences
of not completing this mission. Zhuo isn’t amiable on this kind of issue.” The
woman tapped on the chest of a gene-altered soldier, speaking again, “I heard
that he is still looking for human subject participants, and he can do anything
when he is unhappy. If we don’t go back with two people, I can’t assure you
that you won’t be one of those in the tanks.”
“Ah!” The gene-altered soldier roared as the hooknosed woman tapped on him,
causing the woman to retrieve her hand by reflex.
“Alright, alright.” The adjutant swallowed again when staring at these human
shaped beasts. He shouted to the troop, “Follow up! We are going into the
jungle!”
Led by the adjutant, the troop slowly entered the jungle. The concentration of
plants became thicker the deeper they went. Although the troop couldn’t see
beyond three meters, the surroundings dimmed as the lush branches blocked
the sky.
The layered tree crowns created a mottled dome, filtering the sunlight. Thus,
the soldiers’ vision was further limited, the difficulty of marching raised.
There was no path cultivated, and they had to find their own way; the ground
was slippery and bumpy as roots and fungi weaved together. Waist-high
bushes that grew in patches added another difficulty for the marching troop.
The woman was beside her adjutant, guiding the troop with her sensitive nose.
She constantly sniffed the air so that she could separate Chang’s scent from
others who lived inside the jungle. Even though her nose had become familiar
with the scent, and it was unlikely that she would lose the trail, she still
proceeded into the jungle with wariness.
“The scents and odors are mixed all together in the jungle, and most of them
are brand new to me. Even though I know his scent, it is time-consuming to
distinguish it from the rest. My ability is not helping much in this scenario.”
The woman was irritated by the speed of the troop. “And I realised that the
advantage of having a troop is dwarfed in here, these normal soldiers are
slowing us down.”
“Then what do you think we should do?” The adjutant was aware of the same
problem.
“Can you take the troop back to the city? I will pursue him with three genealtered
soldiers.” The hooknosed woman’s expression changed as her nose
caught an unusual smell. “Where does this heavy blood smell come from?”
“Where?”
“It is about 100 meters ahead of us.”
“It’s normal for there to be a heavy smell of blood in the jungle, I guess, since
animals predate upon each other, resulting in bloody residue.”
“No, this is different. Animals barely waste their food, and even if they were to
predate, they would finish their dead prey as soon as possible to reduce the
spread of blood scent.” The blood smell obviously overwhelmed the woman’s
nose. She said, “This smells like an animal was dismembered. and its blood
was deliberately splashed around. Animals won’t risk their lives to do this, it
must be made by a human.”
“You mean this was made by our target?”
“Yes! It’s him!” The hooknosed raised her pitch, screaming, “The smell is fresh,
I didn’t sense it until just now, but it means he’s nearby!”
“Wait, what do we do now? This must be a trap that he setup for us!”
“Of course we’ll catch up with him!” she bellowed, waving her hands to the
gene-altered soldiers. “The longer we stay in the jungle, the lower our chances
of leaving safely get. We have these gene-altered soldiers with us, what are
you afraid of when it’s just him alone?”
“Number One, Number Two and Number Three, the target is that way!” The
woman ran briskly while commanding the creatures. As if concerned that the
gene-altered soldiers would be unable to understand her order, she added
gestures to show them the direction.
The gene-altered soldiers were killing machines as Zhuo had made them to be.
They passed the woman with a burst of speed.
A trail was blazed through brambles. The creatures were so fast that they
forged ahead for over a hundred meters even where the surface was slippery.
Soon, they arrived at the area where fresh blood dripped from the branches.
The creatures went in different directions to search for Chang, their uniforms
dampened by jumping up and down among the branches.
Chang was hiding behind a tree on the far side, squatting on one of its thickest
branches. His mouth was set in a broad grin—the smell of blood was
irresistible to the animals that lurked in the jungle. He’d learned this with his
own sweat and blood. Therefore, when he saw the blood gradually stain their
clothing, he knew that trouble was coming for them.
As he expected, in less than three minutes, the first wave of predators arrived.
The first wave was obviously the most speedy. They were a group of beetles,
but their size wasn’t enlarged through evolution. By estimation, they were
only as big as a human nail but their elytra were hardened to an iron’s. Given
their miniscule size, they were flying at a tremendous speed. The tense
buzzing made Chang’s scalp feel pin and needles.
The beatles showered the gene-altered soldiers while they were still looking
for Chang. Hundreds and thousands of beatles constituted a falling dome, its
shadow diving sharply towards the scaled skin of the creatures, venomous
mandibles eager to bite into their muscles.
“Ah! Ah!” Soon the gene-altered soldiers were covered by these miniscule
beatles, making them into “bugmen”.
Although the scaled skin provided protection against the beatles, they were
still troubled. They waved their hands to try and brush off the swarm, yet their
efforts were barely effective. Later, as more beatles landed on them, the force
pushed them down from the tree crowns.
The beatles constantly attempted to bite through the scaled skin but failed.
They soon realised, though, that they could enter their bodies through
olfactory and auditory holes. The bugs even bit into their eyes so that the
gene-altered soldiers would lose their vision.
Even though the beatles didn’t get any fresh flesh out of this attack, the genealtered
soldiers lost their rationale as the buzzing sound and the itching of
their bodies would not go away. They acted on instinct and started running
away in anxiousness.
Some other beetles that arrived later lost the share of the great meal, but they
kept circling around to await for something else.
Bang!
A gunshot blasted through the buzzing noise, cueing the lost beatles on their
next target. A stream of fresh smell of blood quietly suffused the air. As if they
had received an order, all the beatles turned to the same direction and dived
down.
The distance was only about one hundred meters, which only took Chang less
than ten seconds to cover and find the troop. As soon as he guided the beatles
to the gene-altered soldiers, he jumped between trees to find the best sniping
spot.
Without hesitation, Chang shot the first soldier he saw. The mechanism of the
handgun provided a great deal of kinetic energy to the bullet, which penetrated
through his chest, making a giant see-through blood hole. Blood splashed, and
Chang’s second bait was successfully dropped.
Before the troop could notice him, Chang ran away from this battlefield.
He didn’t look back for even a second, because he had confidence in the savage
predators being able to solve his problem.
Chapter 95: Trap
Editor: Monika
The jungle was his last bet since he could never be a matched opponent for the
military and the gene-altered soldiers. Only in the jungle, where uncertainty
and hidden dangers treated invaders equally, Chang would have a chance of
exterminating them.
He returned to the jungle, holding the hope of purging his enemy. Without a
doubt, the jungle was pitted with peril. The danger within was more deadly day
by day as species were evolving. It had been a while since he got out of the
jungle, therefore, he implemented a full preparation against the dangers
before he went in.
First, he secured the “bandage” around his head so that it wouldn’t fall when
he fought.
Second, he made another batch of grass mush and smeared the mixture on his
exposed skin so that his scent was reduced to a minimum.
Third, while on his way to the jungle, for the first time he robbed someone. All
he harvested from the gang was a full water bottle and a meal that he ate
ravenously. After the robbery, he left quickly.
When he finished his preparations, he stood below the “Welcome to
Zhengzhou” billboard, which he’d visited before and which had become even
more rusty. The jungle was expanding its territory and expunging all traces of
civilisation around it.
Every inch of the jungle became more vital than it had been previously. The
trees reached their arms higher to the sky to compete with their own breeds.
By extracting an abundance of nutrient from the underground, their bodies
were more stout and solid. Their skins were made up of a thick coat of fungi
and fern, and the roots were blanketed by lush bushes. It was nothing like
before, and a variety of noises echoed in the jungle. The buzzing sounds were
the most clear, but there were many more that could be heard. Together, the
inhabitants of this jungle were composing a vivid symphony of life.
But it could also be the opera of death.
Chang took a deep breath, smoothing a wrinkle on the bandage around his
head. He cautiously chose his path, entering in his most vigilant manner to
receive the challenge from the mysterious jungle.
Half an hour later, the hooknosed woman arrived at the billboard, where Chang
had made a brief stop. She was with three gene-altered soldiers and her own
troop.
“Madam, are you sure he went in there?” The agitating buzzing that was heard
from the edge of the jungle worried the adjutant. He swallowed.
“I am 100% positive about this, don’t you trust my nose?” The woman tied her
brows. “He is a savage boy, and that I didn’t foresee… What a desperate
fightback!”
“Who do we do now? Should we follow him?” The adjutant hesitated, he seemed
terrified.
“We’ll go after him no matter what.” The woman nodded.
“Are you sure? He could have died in there already!”
“Well, in that case, we still have to check. I believe you know the consequences
of not completing this mission. Zhuo isn’t amiable on this kind of issue.” The
woman tapped on the chest of a gene-altered soldier, speaking again, “I heard
that he is still looking for human subject participants, and he can do anything
when he is unhappy. If we don’t go back with two people, I can’t assure you
that you won’t be one of those in the tanks.”
“Ah!” The gene-altered soldier roared as the hooknosed woman tapped on him,
causing the woman to retrieve her hand by reflex.
“Alright, alright.” The adjutant swallowed again when staring at these human
shaped beasts. He shouted to the troop, “Follow up! We are going into the
jungle!”
Led by the adjutant, the troop slowly entered the jungle. The concentration of
plants became thicker the deeper they went. Although the troop couldn’t see
beyond three meters, the surroundings dimmed as the lush branches blocked
the sky.
The layered tree crowns created a mottled dome, filtering the sunlight. Thus,
the soldiers’ vision was further limited, the difficulty of marching raised.
There was no path cultivated, and they had to find their own way; the ground
was slippery and bumpy as roots and fungi weaved together. Waist-high
bushes that grew in patches added another difficulty for the marching troop.
The woman was beside her adjutant, guiding the troop with her sensitive nose.
She constantly sniffed the air so that she could separate Chang’s scent from
others who lived inside the jungle. Even though her nose had become familiar
with the scent, and it was unlikely that she would lose the trail, she still
proceeded into the jungle with wariness.
“The scents and odors are mixed all together in the jungle, and most of them
are brand new to me. Even though I know his scent, it is time-consuming to
distinguish it from the rest. My ability is not helping much in this scenario.”
The woman was irritated by the speed of the troop. “And I realised that the
advantage of having a troop is dwarfed in here, these normal soldiers are
slowing us down.”
“Then what do you think we should do?” The adjutant was aware of the same
problem.
“Can you take the troop back to the city? I will pursue him with three genealtered
soldiers.” The hooknosed woman’s expression changed as her nose
caught an unusual smell. “Where does this heavy blood smell come from?”
“Where?”
“It is about 100 meters ahead of us.”
“It’s normal for there to be a heavy smell of blood in the jungle, I guess, since
animals predate upon each other, resulting in bloody residue.”
“No, this is different. Animals barely waste their food, and even if they were to
predate, they would finish their dead prey as soon as possible to reduce the
spread of blood scent.” The blood smell obviously overwhelmed the woman’s
nose. She said, “This smells like an animal was dismembered. and its blood
was deliberately splashed around. Animals won’t risk their lives to do this, it
must be made by a human.”
“You mean this was made by our target?”
“Yes! It’s him!” The hooknosed raised her pitch, screaming, “The smell is fresh,
I didn’t sense it until just now, but it means he’s nearby!”
“Wait, what do we do now? This must be a trap that he setup for us!”
“Of course we’ll catch up with him!” she bellowed, waving her hands to the
gene-altered soldiers. “The longer we stay in the jungle, the lower our chances
of leaving safely get. We have these gene-altered soldiers with us, what are
you afraid of when it’s just him alone?”
“Number One, Number Two and Number Three, the target is that way!” The
woman ran briskly while commanding the creatures. As if concerned that the
gene-altered soldiers would be unable to understand her order, she added
gestures to show them the direction.
The gene-altered soldiers were killing machines as Zhuo had made them to be.
They passed the woman with a burst of speed.
A trail was blazed through brambles. The creatures were so fast that they
forged ahead for over a hundred meters even where the surface was slippery.
Soon, they arrived at the area where fresh blood dripped from the branches.
The creatures went in different directions to search for Chang, their uniforms
dampened by jumping up and down among the branches.
Chang was hiding behind a tree on the far side, squatting on one of its thickest
branches. His mouth was set in a broad grin—the smell of blood was
irresistible to the animals that lurked in the jungle. He’d learned this with his
own sweat and blood. Therefore, when he saw the blood gradually stain their
clothing, he knew that trouble was coming for them.
As he expected, in less than three minutes, the first wave of predators arrived.
The first wave was obviously the most speedy. They were a group of beetles,
but their size wasn’t enlarged through evolution. By estimation, they were
only as big as a human nail but their elytra were hardened to an iron’s. Given
their miniscule size, they were flying at a tremendous speed. The tense
buzzing made Chang’s scalp feel pin and needles.
The beatles showered the gene-altered soldiers while they were still looking
for Chang. Hundreds and thousands of beatles constituted a falling dome, its
shadow diving sharply towards the scaled skin of the creatures, venomous
mandibles eager to bite into their muscles.
“Ah! Ah!” Soon the gene-altered soldiers were covered by these miniscule
beatles, making them into “bugmen”.
Although the scaled skin provided protection against the beatles, they were
still troubled. They waved their hands to try and brush off the swarm, yet their
efforts were barely effective. Later, as more beatles landed on them, the force
pushed them down from the tree crowns.
The beatles constantly attempted to bite through the scaled skin but failed.
They soon realised, though, that they could enter their bodies through
olfactory and auditory holes. The bugs even bit into their eyes so that the
gene-altered soldiers would lose their vision.
Even though the beatles didn’t get any fresh flesh out of this attack, the genealtered
soldiers lost their rationale as the buzzing sound and the itching of
their bodies would not go away. They acted on instinct and started running
away in anxiousness.
Some other beetles that arrived later lost the share of the great meal, but they
kept circling around to await for something else.
Bang!
A gunshot blasted through the buzzing noise, cueing the lost beatles on their
next target. A stream of fresh smell of blood quietly suffused the air. As if they
had received an order, all the beatles turned to the same direction and dived
down.
The distance was only about one hundred meters, which only took Chang less
than ten seconds to cover and find the troop. As soon as he guided the beatles
to the gene-altered soldiers, he jumped between trees to find the best sniping
spot.
Without hesitation, Chang shot the first soldier he saw. The mechanism of the
handgun provided a great deal of kinetic energy to the bullet, which penetrated
through his chest, making a giant see-through blood hole. Blood splashed, and
Chang’s second bait was successfully dropped.
Before the troop could notice him, Chang ran away from this battlefield.
He didn’t look back for even a second, because he had confidence in the savage
predators being able to solve his problem.
