The Evolutionary Path of the Lion

Chapter 120 I've prepared a big gift for you

The 24th day of the dry season.

The sun hadn't fully risen yet, and the light slanted across the grassland, shimmering golden. The dew on the tips of the grass gleamed like shards of glass. Chen Fei lay on a large rock by the pool, chin resting on his front paws, squinting, his mind clear... In two hours, the dew would be baked away, and the heat would be enough to steam a lion alive.

He twitched his ears, stretched, and scratched at the stone with his paws. He gathered his energy, and the warm current within him slowly circulated: starting from his lower abdomen, it surged up his spine, bypassed his shoulder blades, settled in his limbs and toes, and finally gathered in his nose before dissipating. This was his daily morning ritual, much like a human touching their face in front of a mirror to check if anything felt amiss.

No problems, it's fucking comfortable!

The panel in my mind popped up.

[Host Chen Fei]

[Sub-adult male lion]

[Energy Points 1724]

It even climbed a little higher.

"This panel is so boring, I'm getting tired of looking at it," Chen Fei thought to himself, scratching the ground with his paw as he started doing the math.

Yesterday's fight wasn't a complete rout for the investigation team's guards, but they weren't exactly unscathed either! Two of the guys got wounded, and they used up a lot of bullets; they're probably feeling uneasy, and their morale is definitely affected. The Split-Mouth gang fared even worse; Chen Fei estimates at least seven to twelve were killed, and their main force was reduced to a smaller number... When starving hyenas meet armed humans, isn't it bound to end in mutual destruction?

This is fucking hilarious.

"That's exactly the effect I wanted. Nobody's going to be comfortable!" Chen Fei smiled, his eyes narrowed, and his tail tip lightly brushed against the stone. "A fair trade is one where both sides are uncomfortable."

As for energy points.

I had a big meal yesterday, so I'll make up for it with eight o'clock.

I had a good night's sleep, and my blood pressure rose a little.

I practiced my skills during the fight, and then added three more points, making a total of twelve.

There are still 76 points needed to reach the next evolution of 1800 points.

"Tsk, seventy-six points. At the usual pace, it'll only take ten days to half a month. There's no rush." ​​He kept the number in mind, without much emotion. "Take it easy, we'll get it sooner or later."

"His split jaw must be numb by now, right?" Chen Fei thought to himself, feeling incredibly satisfied.

This guy tried to start trouble twice but failed to gain the upper hand!

The first time I was chased head-on like a stray dog, I ran away as fast as I could.

The second time, they were led into a direct confrontation with the investigation team, resulting in a bloody fight between the two sides.

It's such a disgrace for the leader of a hyena pack to lose like this twice!

So what if the hyena pack is a matriarchal society? The leader's authority is still upheld by victories, isn't it? After a series of defeats, the strong male hyenas below are bound to start wondering: "Is this leader any good? Should we replace him with someone more capable?"

"So this guy now has two choices: either hide away and recover from his injuries, and wait for new members to join him before he comes out to cause trouble again; or win another battle and secure his position."

Chen Fei drew a circle on the ground with his claws, sneered, "I bet it'll choose the second one! It's not that this thing is bold, it's that it has no choice!"

In the dry season, prey is rarer than gold. There's a whole pack of mouths waiting to be fed. If they don't attack, they'll starve. Hibernation? That's for the rich. Can it afford to risk that?

"Just wait, they'll definitely come looking for trouble again within three to five days!" Chen Fei marked this time window in his mind with a red circle. "I'm giving you this little bit of preparation time."

Now it's time to figure out what to do with it.

Those bastards with the split mouth are currently staying in the southern part of the Alliance territory, about seven kilometers away from the pool.

Seven kilometers is nothing to a hyena; at night, it can reach them in two hours.

Last time they attacked from the northeast flank, taking a huge detour, trying to sneak in from the league's side... Dream on!

"I've figured out this tactic a long time ago!" Chen Fei squinted, drawing an arc on the ground with his paw. "Hyena packs love to attack using this roundabout method, avoiding the front and targeting the flanks and rear, just like human armies use flanking maneuvers. It might work against a single prey, but against an alliance like ours with its deep defenses, it's a suicide trap!"

Where is the loophole? Chen Fei knew it perfectly well.

There was a patch of low thorn bushes in the middle of the arc, three kilometers long, which the hyena pack couldn't avoid and had to pass by.

Go around to the other side and you'll find an open area of ​​800 meters, completely bare with no obstructions, stretching as far as the eye can see.

"This place is practically a graveyard made for its gaping jaws!"

Chen Fei's eyes lit up, and he slammed his claws down heavily on an open area.

He went through the terrain in his mind over and over again.

The north side is a thorn belt, which would block the hyena pack's retreat if they entered.

To the east is a low, flat hill, not fast enough to run in.

The south side is the direction from which the slit-mouthed group came, making it difficult to turn back;

The west side...

There is a dry riverbed on the west side, 1.5 meters deep. The hyenas, with their short legs, would have a hard time crossing it, but for Chen Fei, it was flat ground!

"Trapped like a turtle in a jar, a sure thing!"

Chen Fei licked his paws. "But the condition is that these idiots have to follow my plan."

How to get them to come in willingly? Chen Fei pondered for a while, going through several ideas in his mind, and finally settled on one: "Lure them with scent!"

Where the thorny path meets the open ground, let's leave a touch of the Alliance's spirit.

Don't leave too many; make the lion with the split beak think it's a small group of lions passing by, not a large group.

"A hyena driven mad by hunger during the dry season, upon seeing a lone squad, wouldn't it be like a cat seeing a fish? It'd definitely follow them!"

He grew increasingly smug, his tail practically wagging. "Then it'll be my turn to shine!"

He looked up and glanced to the south. Seven kilometers away, he couldn't see anything but grass, light, and wind. It was eerily quiet, as if nothing was happening.

"Smirk, you just wait and see, I've prepared a big gift for you!"

Fifteen meters behind him, in the low bushes, Big Head was practicing stealth with his butt sticking out.

This was a task Chen Fei had assigned a few days ago: walk around the edge of the grass without making a sound, and don't stand up until you get back.

"Big Brother said that we can't make a sound while stealthing, otherwise all the training will be for nothing." Big Head muttered to himself. At first, he was quite attentive, lowering his body, landing his paws lightly, and moving step by step, looking quite professional.

"I absolutely must resist the urge this time and not repeat the mistake I made last time!"

Before they had gone far, there was a crisp snap!

It was so quiet in the early morning, but this sound was like a thunderclap. The two wildebeests dozing nearby suddenly raised their heads, their eyes wide like copper bells, staring straight this way.

"Oh no! We're doomed!"

Big Head's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately froze, his whole body standing still, his eyes staring straight ahead, his expression saying "I didn't do it, it has nothing to do with me," completely denying any involvement in breaking the tree branch.

Chen Fei didn't turn around, but his ears twitched.

"This idiot!" He rolled his eyes inwardly, continuing to stare at the south side, too lazy to bother with him. Last time this guy broke a tree branch and got scolded, he thought he would learn his lesson, but it turns out he's still the same old guy.

Behind him came the sound of Big Head carefully moving his feet. This time, he clearly cleared away the grass before stepping down, making sure there were no obstacles before daring to step on it.

"At least he has some sense; the tuition wasn't wasted." Chen Fei muttered to himself as he brushed the tip of his tail against the stone.

The morning light spread wider and wider, and the reeds by the pond rustled. Chen Fei rested his chin on his forepaws again; seven kilometers away, the direction remained quiet.

Three to five days.

We can only wait and see.

The patrol drills on the west side of the alliance are conducted every morning without fail; this rule was set by Chen Fei two weeks ago.

The corridor inside the big tube, the old scar guarding the outer depth, and Meimei relaying messages in the middle, the three lines intersect, theoretically not even a rabbit could get in.

"Theory is theory, but whether we can actually hold the line with that idiot is another matter entirely." Chen Fei thought about the patrol while calculating his next move that morning. "Hopefully, that blockhead won't cause any trouble."

Unfortunately, Chen Fei was overthinking things.

Big Head's task today is to walk around the inner corridor, passing three marked points. He has to stop and sniff around each point to make sure there are no unusual smells before continuing. The whole process cannot take more than forty minutes.

The process wasn't complicated; he went through it twice last week and there were basically no problems.

He walked much faster today than last week. Why? He sniffed at the second marker and, hey, the smell of wildebeest! It was only about 200 meters to the northwest, and the aroma almost made his mouth water.

"Wildflower?"

Big Head raised his head and looked in that direction, then glanced again, his eyes shining like light bulbs. "It's lame? This is good stuff, much more interesting than patrolling!"

His mind was in turmoil for only two seconds, but the outcome was never in doubt... Mission? Mission is nothing! Let's grab some food first!

"The task can be completed later, but a lame wildebeest is a rare find!"

With a flick of its tail, it left the marker and stealthily made its way towards the wildebeest scent, its steps becoming much larger, its ears perked up like radar, and its eyes fixed intently ahead.

Two hundred meters west-northwest, there is a low-lying area.

Three wildebeest were munching on grass, but one of them clearly had a problem with its right foreleg. It landed lightly and with much less force than its left foreleg... definitely a lame animal!

"Hey, lame guy! Isn't this a perfect opportunity delivered right to your doorstep?"

Big Head was overjoyed, a surge of professional satisfaction welling up inside him. "My judgment was absolutely brilliant!"

He quickly crouched down, following the pattern Chen Fei had taught him: walk with the wind, don't let the wildebeest smell the scent beforehand; only increase speed when you're within thirty meters, be steady, be steady, don't rush...

As a result, one of the normal wildebeests suddenly raised its head!

"Oh no, we've been found out?"

Big Head shuddered in fright and immediately lay flat on his stomach in the grass, pressing his body so low he barely dared to breathe. "You can't see me! You can't see me! You're both nearsighted; you can't see anything!"

The wildebeest looked around but found nothing unusual, so it lowered its head and continued grazing.

"Phew..." Big Head breathed a sigh of relief, patting his chest in relief, "Thank goodness, I wasn't discovered."

He continued inching forward, this time more cautiously, his eyes fixed on the lame animal, muttering to himself, "Thirty meters, twenty-five meters, twenty meters...almost there!"

But he was so focused on the lame one that he didn't notice the direction the other wildebeest was grazing in, which was at an angle to the path he was approaching! By the time he realized what was happening, the wildebeest's head was only four meters away from him, and the two of them stared at each other, frozen in place.

Big Head froze for half a second, only one thought in his mind: Big Brother said to accelerate after thirty meters, and now they're almost face to face, if he doesn't rush, he'll just get beaten up!

With a loud "Awooo!" he charged forward, his paws stomping across the grass. "Stop right there, Grandpa! Why are you running away!"

The wildebeest didn't hesitate either; as soon as it charged, the three animals immediately turned and ran!

The lame one ran much faster than Big Head expected, and the other two were like they had springs in their bodies, darting off in three different directions.

Big Head kept chasing after the limping man. After running fifty meters, he stepped on something and suddenly stumbled, almost falling flat on his face!

"Damn! This lousy grass is so slippery!"

He cursed, quickly steadied himself, and looked up again... the lame wildebeest had already run a hundred meters away, almost out of sight!

Big Head stood there, panting heavily, staring in the direction where the wildebeest had disappeared, his face almost falling to the ground.

"The prize I was about to get slipped away, what bad luck!"

He looked down at his paws, as if blaming them for being useless, then looked back at the patrol route, where the markers stood alone, as if staring at him.

"Damn it, I've run over fifty meters, way out of the corridor." Big Head thought to himself, "If my brother finds out, he'll beat me up!"

He swept his tail across the ground, cheering himself up, and slowly walked back, his steps steady and his head held high, his expression as if to say, "That was just a tactical maneuver, deliberately luring away the prey, all within Grandpa's plan," as if it were the real deal.