The Evolutionary Path of the Lion

Chapter 118 Successfully Committed the Crime

4:20 a.m.

The last group of nocturnal animals on the grassland are finishing their work.

Chen Fei lay on the low slope on the northeast side of the pool, his chin resting on his front paws, his eyes half-open and half-closed.

The paws unconsciously scratched at the withered grass beneath it, leaving bits of dirt stuck to its paw pads, which felt a little itchy.

He wasn't asleep.

How can I possibly sleep?

Damn it, whoever wants to sleep in this lousy bed can sleep in it.

He is waiting.

[Host: Chen Fei]

[Identity: Sub-adult male lion]

[Energy Points: 1712↑]

I haven't had a moment's rest these past two days.

I chased after the slit-mouthed swarm every day, trying to remember their routes.

The investigation team's fourth wave of travel routes was being compared and compared repeatedly in my mind, almost driving me bald.

Only humans could do something like this.

What does a lion know about strategic planning?

When it's hungry, it rushes up and tears things apart; when it's tired, it lies down on the ground; and when it gets beaten up, it runs away with its tail between its legs.

What lion would lie on the hillside at four in the morning, using its pitiful geographical knowledge to haphazardly figure out where two opposing routes would collide?

Chen Fei felt that his life was a complete mess.

In my past life, I was a keyboard warrior, best at sitting in a chair and pointing fingers at other people's decisions.

Now look what's happened; he's turned himself into a project manager on the grasslands, worrying about more things than the client.

However, to be fair, this project is actually quite manageable.

Party A: The Slit-Mouthed Clan, over seventy hyenas, have been starving during the late dry season and have been heading towards the Alliance Waterhole for three days in a row, following a fairly fixed route. They set off before dawn each day, traversing the dry riverbed to the east of the low-lying area, moving slowly. The leader of the group usually walks on the left side of the group.

Party B: The fourth wave of the investigation team, with eleven armed guards, camped last night in the locust forest six kilometers southeast of the pool. Chen Fei went to confirm yesterday afternoon that this group would be heading west along the dry riverbed this morning, their goal being to photograph the hyenas and create a file.

Two routes.

My antics during this period have had a very significant effect.

The number of survey team members and the availability of firearms were increasing rapidly.

"This time we have to make sure their main force runs into us!" Chen Fei chuckled.

An intersection.

That open area in the middle of the dry riverbed.

An hour after dawn, the two sides will most likely collide there.

Chen Fei's plan was very simple: make the crash happen more precisely, so it wouldn't be a complete miss.

He stood up from the slope, shook off the dew, and the water droplets dripped down, making him shiver from the cold.

There was movement behind me.

Without turning around, I could tell who it was just by listening to their footsteps.

Those steps were so heavy, like stepping on a landmine. Before landing, they would test the ground, afraid there might be a hole under their feet.

I've been trying to correct this habit for over a year, but I just can't seem to get rid of it.

Who else could it be but that idiot Big Head?

Chen Fei stopped in his tracks.

Big Head immediately stopped, quickly lowered his head, pretended to smell the clods of dirt on the ground, and wagged his tail unnaturally twice. His expression was as innocent as a child who had just learned to lie, and it was obvious that he hadn't been holding back a fart.

Chen Fei stared at him for three seconds.

His eyes were like knives, piercing straight into Big Head's face.

Big Head raised his head, met his gaze for a second, then immediately looked away guiltily and began to seriously examine a nearly withered blade of grass to his left, as if it were some rare treasure.

"Stop pretending," Chen Fei finally spoke, his voice low and husky, tinged with impatience. "You've been following me all this way, what do you want?"

Big Head stiffened, his ears twitched down, and he hesitantly raised his head. "I...I wasn't with you. I just...I just happened to be walking this way."

"A coincidence?" Chen Fei raised an eyebrow, pointing with his paw at the road behind him. "Your house is this way? I didn't know you changed territories?"

Big Head scratched his head, his tail wagging even more enthusiastically, and said in a slightly ingratiating tone, "I was just worried about you. If you run into the hyenas of the Slit-Mouthed pack, it'll be good to have someone to look after you."

"Take care of me?" Chen Fei scoffed. "With your abilities, you'd be lucky not to wet your pants if you encountered a hyena, let alone take care of me?"

Big Head blushed, pouted, and said a little aggrievedly, "I... I'm not afraid anymore! I even chased away two stray dogs with Meimei last time!"

"That's because Meimei is amazing, what does it have to do with you?" Chen Fei bluntly exposed her. "You just made a few noises on the sidelines, and you should be thankful that you didn't cause any trouble."

Big Head stopped talking, its head drooping like a wilted eggplant, and its tail stopped wagging.

Seeing his pitiful look, Chen Fei's heart softened, and he sighed, "Alright, stop looking so long-faced. If you want to come, then come along."

Big Head's eyes lit up instantly, and he immediately came closer, wagging his tail like a rattle drum: "Really? That's great! Brother Fei, don't worry, I definitely won't cause any trouble!"

"That's for the best," Chen Fei turned and continued walking forward. "The job I'm giving you today is super simple: just simulate a sound. You don't need to get involved in anything else. Remember, don't you dare run off to the middle of the intersection at the crucial moment, or I won't be responsible for you."

"I know, I know!" Big Head nodded hurriedly, following behind Chen Fei with much lighter steps. "I promise I'll stay put and won't run around!"

Chen Fei walked towards the dry riverbed, his steps not slow.

Big Head followed behind, muttering to himself, "Brother Fei, where are we going? Are we going to deal with those hyenas from the Slit-Mouthed pack? Let me tell you, I still remember the last time they stole my prey!"

"Stop talking nonsense," Chen Fei said without turning his head. "Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask, just follow me."

"Oh." Big Head shut his mouth, but after a couple of seconds he couldn't help but ask, "Brother Fei, do you think the investigation team will fire their guns? I've never heard gunshots before, are they really loud?"

Chen Fei stopped and glared at him: "Can you be quiet? If you keep nagging, I'll leave you here."

Startled, Big Head shrank back, quickly covered his mouth, and shook his head, indicating that he would no longer speak.

Chen Fei then continued walking forward.

After walking for about twenty minutes, we stopped behind a low acacia tree.

This spot is about 300 meters from the intersection, with a wide field of vision, upwind, and with escape routes on both sides, making it an excellent observation point.

He lay down, stretched out his front paws, and rested his chin on them.

Big Head also lay down, and within two seconds he rested his head on Chen Fei's back, closed his eyes, and looked like he was going to catch up on his sleep. His lips were slightly parted, as if he was having a sweet dream.

Chen Fei didn't move.

He focused his attention on his nose and began to analyze the various smells in the air.

The scent of the slit-mouthed swarm has already drifted over.

On the east side of the dry riverbed, about 800 meters from the intersection.

The scents of seventy hyenas mingled together, drifting slowly in the morning breeze. The sour smell of rotting flesh mixed with the urine they used to mark their territory was pungent and distinctly layered.

The leader's scent was at the very front, slightly to the left, and he was walking a bit faster than yesterday.

Chen Fei thought to himself: Judging from this, they definitely didn't eat enough last night.

A hungry hyena will move much faster, but it will be less quick-witted and its judgment will be greatly impaired.

This variable needs to be noted down, so that the plan can be adjusted in time if there are any changes later.

There was no human scent detected on the west side.

He mentally estimated the time.

The investigation team will have about forty minutes before they can enter his sensory range.

He needs to finish what he needs to do before that.

Chen Fei slowly introduced the warm fluid into his throat.

He took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and let out a hyena howl.

It wasn't the voiceprint of the slit-mouthed leader, but a short call from a low-ranking male hyena when it spotted food. It was filled with excitement and urgency, with the last syllable rising in pitch, making it sound incredibly real.

He adjusted the frequency twice, shouted twice into the air to make sure the tone was similar enough and wouldn't give him away, and then lowered the volume to just enough to carry for 400 meters.

The distance is just right; it's enough for the slit-mouthed horde to hear it on the east side, but not enough to reach the survey team's encampment on the west side—perfect.

He called out three times in a row, pointing northwest.

"Awoo... Awoo... Awoo—"

The call wasn't loud, but it was quite penetrating, drifting across the grassland in the early morning.

After he finished calling out, he immediately stopped, pricked up his ears to listen, and stared intently at the east side.

Before long, the smell on the east side changed.

The overall aura of the slit-mouthed group began to shift to the left, and their movement speed also increased significantly, with the direction and angle deviating by about fifteen degrees.

Chen Fei was overjoyed: It's done!

This 15-degree angle is exactly the effect he wanted.

The original route of the slit-mouthed swarm would have grazed the south side of the intersection, about 200 meters away from the survey team's route, so they might not have collided head-on.

Now things are different. They will go further north, right in the middle of the open area, and it will be hard to avoid a collision.

Chen Fei stopped the heat flow, put his chin back on his front paws, narrowed his eyes, and stared at the intersection.

You don't need to do anything else now, just wait and watch the show.

Big Head stirred slightly, removing its head from Chen Fei's back. It slowly stood up, stretched, kicked its front paws into the air, arched its body like a shrimp, and made a "humming" sound, seemingly having slept comfortably.

After stretching, he curiously looked to the east, his nose twitching, clearly having smelled the hyena.

"Don't look around," Chen Fei growled, his tone laced with warning. "Lie still and don't move."

Big Head trembled at his shout, gave him a wronged look, his eyes like those of a large dog that had been wronged, and slowly lay down, but his head was still tilted to the east, his ears standing up high, like a middle school student whose phone had been confiscated but who was still listening to the noise with his ears turned up, his curiosity was too strong.

Chen Fei ignored him and let him be, as long as he didn't wander off.

As dawn broke and the horizon began to lighten, visibility on the grassland increased.

The morning breeze from the west brought a fresh scent.

It smelled of human sweat, the pungent smell of insect repellent spray, the metallic smell of rifle lubricant, and the plastic smell of compressed biscuit packaging bags—a jumbled mess that was easy to identify.

The survey team set off.

Chen Fei listened intently. Their speed was a bit faster than yesterday, probably because they received new satellite images last night and were more confident about their route.