manynovel Chapter 60 Unfavorable Situation
Chapter 60 Unfavorable Situation
This was not unexpected, but the intensity of the disagreement was higher than he had anticipated.
He turned his right ear toward the camp. The thickness of the tent fabric cut off most of the sound, leaving only indistinct pitches and variations, making it impossible to discern the specific content. But the pitch was sufficient.
High-pitched voices, short sentences, and frequent pauses are characteristic of arguments.
A low, continuous tone with even pauses indicates a statement or analysis.
Some people are arguing, some are talking, and the voice that is talking appears more frequently.
The leader is in control, but it's not a one-sided affair.
[Host: Chen Fei]
[Identity: Sub-adult male lion]
[Energy Points: 879↑]
Chen Fei turned his attention halfway back from the camp.
He has two things to deal with at the same time.
The first thing is to determine the direction the investigation team will take tomorrow.
This afternoon they brought all three devices back to the camp. The thermal imaging device on the east side and the two pressure gauges on the north and south sides are both in Marcus's possession.
Equipment recycling usually means that the site layout plan needs to be changed the next day.
They made two records on the east side, but the subject of both records was Big Head. He knew this, and the investigation team knew it too, so they were arguing.
The direction will change.
Where to move to is a problem.
The south side is the hyena pack's territory, and they won't go there on their own. The west side has complex terrain, with low grass interspersed with two rocks, making it inconvenient to set up equipment.
The most likely direction is the north, or pushing inwards along the western boundary of the territory.
The second thing is the south side.
The hyena's scent became stronger in the evening.
This wasn't the first time he'd smelled it. Since that night when he confirmed it, the scent had been moving north, not fast, but in a stable direction, never veering off course.
It is about two kilometers from the southern boundary of the territory.
This evening I weighed about 20% more than yesterday.
A 20% change in concentration means that the population size is increasing, or the overall movement speed is accelerating, or both.
He didn't know which was right, but he knew things were moving in one direction.
He gently placed his right forepaw on the edge of the rock, tucking the claw tip in.
Deal with the investigation team first!
The argument inside the tent ended before the lights went out.
In the end, it was Morris who made the final decision.
Ella repeated the last paragraph, "If that cub isn't the target, where exactly is our blind spot?"
Morris spread out a hand-drawn topographical sketch on the table and marked a few points on it with a pencil. "North side. Near the upstream water source, high vegetation density, frequent activity of large animals, highest thermal imaging efficiency."
"We've been to the north side once before," Kenneth said.
"Last time it was around the water source," Morris said, pointing to a spot in the middle of the sketch with a pencil. "This time, we'll go straight in and cover the core area."
Kenneth glanced at the spot. "How far is this from the protection organization's patrol route?"
"About two kilometers," Kaller said from the corner of the tent. He had been sitting there the whole time, not participating in the earlier argument. "But the protection organization's patrol frequency has decreased recently, averaging once every three days. Today is the second day."
Maurice looked up. "How did you know?"
"I counted their tire tracks when I was outside," Kaller said. "There was a new set three days ago, but not today."
There was a three-second silence inside the tent.
"Okay." Morris drew a circle on the sketch. "Depart at six tomorrow morning, target the core area of the northern water source. Set up the thermal imaging as the main position, and use the pressure gauge for peripheral support." He looked up and scanned the area. "Any objections?"
Kenneth paused for two seconds, then said, "No."
Ella closed her notebook. "I need to organize the new framework before I leave."
“You have time,” Morris said. “We’ll organize it tonight and check it as we go tomorrow.”
The lights went out.
On the sandstone platform, Chen Fei retracted his forelimbs and stood up.
He took one last look at the camp in the darkness.
One by one, the lights in the tent went out, until only the low-frequency hum of the generator remained, mingling with the occasional rustling of a nocturnal animal stepping on the grass in the distance.
The water source is located on the north side.
He mentally went through this judgment.
wrong.
To be precise, he didn't hear their decisions directly; he deduced them from their behavioral patterns.
Marcus moved all the equipment into the middle tent before the lights went out, which, as was his usual practice, meant he would have to do a full check before setting off the next day.
If it's just a matter of changing the location of the equipment, there's no need to move all the equipment in. Moving everything in indicates a fundamental change in the route.
The terrain on the north side is completely different from that on the east side.
The east side is an open hunting ground, where pressure gauges can be deployed over a large area, and thermal imaging can cover the area outside the boundary.
The water source area on the north side is densely vegetated, so thermal imaging requires a higher position, pressure gauges need to be spaced closer together, and equipment configuration needs to be recalculated.
He locked onto this deduction, took two steps back, jumped off the sandstone platform, and landed on the grass.
He landed on all fours without making a sound.
The heat flowed slightly to the extremities, causing a slight warming sensation.
He turned his gaze northward and mentally reviewed the terrain of the water source.
Dense vegetation limits visibility, making thermal imaging highly efficient.
This is not good news for him.
His exceptional long-range vision is an overwhelming advantage in open terrain.
No movement from three kilometers away can escape his notice.
But in the dense vegetation, the view is fragmented by the plants.
The advantage of three kilometers has been reduced to less than one kilometer, or even less.
He needs to accomplish two things before they arrive.
First, retrace the terrain of the water source area on the north side to identify which locations are blind spots for thermal imaging.
Second, confirm the location of the large head tomorrow morning to avoid triggering thermal imaging again.
Big Head has appeared in the picture twice in a row.
The first time might be accidental, the second time might be due to probability, but the third time will attract excessive attention.
While the investigation team's current analytical framework has strayed somewhat from the main focus, they will eventually overturn this deviation themselves. Tonight's debate has already demonstrated this. Once the framework is overturned, where will they look?
Look towards the areas that are not fully covered.
That area is exactly to the north.
Chen Fei started walking towards his destination.
After walking about two hundred meters, my nose twitched.
The smell from the south side.
He stopped and turned his head to the south.
It wasn't the same background concentration as before; it was a more specific scent, carrying a fresh, distinctive aroma, a mixture of sour and fishy notes, carried on the night breeze, drifting past his left.
No more than one kilometer.
He stood still.
From two kilometers in the evening to less than one kilometer now.
Only about three hours had passed in between.
He tightened his hind legs, took a step, and walked towards his landing spot at a pace half a beat faster than before.
A place to settle down.
Sel lay prone at the outermost edge of the bushes.
She didn't sleep.
The ears were erect, and the nostrils were slowly opening and closing.
She could also smell the scent from the south side.
She recognized the smell; it wasn't the first time she'd smelled it.
When she was young, her pride of lions encountered a large-scale disturbance from a pack of hyenas. It happened during a dry season when water sources shrank and herbivores migrated south in large numbers. The lion pride and the hyena pack lost their food sources in the same area at the same time and were locked in a standoff for nearly two months.
Three adult lionesses died in two months.