"Whew..."
Strange looked like a drowning man who had just surfaced, gasping for air before collapsing into the mud, wiping the waterfall of cold sweat from his forehead.
"God, was that real?" His voice was still trembling.
Alice slid down from the tree as lightly as a leaf, landing without a sound.
She looked in the direction where the Tyrannosaurus Rex had disappeared and answered calmly: "That is a Tyrannosaurus, or what you know as a Tyrannosaurus Rex. It is quite high up on the food chain of this island. By comparison, the Pterosaur from yesterday was like a fragile sparrow in front of it—completely vulnerable."
"Quite high up?"
Hughes keenly caught this term, his teeth still chattering uncontrollably: "Are you saying the Tyrannosaurus isn't even the apex predator on the food chain? Could there be something even more terrifying than a Tyrannosaurus?"
"Does such a monster really exist?" Banner asked in disbelief.
Alice was silent for a moment, not answering directly.
In her mind, the shadow beneath the abyss appeared, an existence she didn't even dare to look at directly.
"You'll know when the time comes," she simply said.
"If possible, I hope I never know." Strange, who had no religious faith, subconsciously made a perfect sign of the cross on his chest: "In this godforsaken place, the more you know, the faster you die."
Banner and Hughes nodded in unison, deeply agreeing.
They were so tiny they wouldn't even be enough to get stuck in a Tyrannosaurus's teeth; something more terrifying than a Tyrannosaurus?
That must be a demon from mythology.
It was simply unimaginable.
"If you don't want to run into it again, then get moving and leave here."
Alice clapped her hands, breaking the atmosphere of fear.
"The Tyrannosaurus Rex has a strong sense of territory. Since it just passed by here, it means no other large predators dare to approach this area for the time being. This is a good opportunity for us to travel."
The three had nothing to pack except for the bag containing the transmitter.
Everyone brushed the mud off their bottoms and fled like refugees from the giant rock where they had hidden from the rain for half the day.
The morning sun finally pierced through the clouds and shone down, but it didn't bring much warmth to the group.
The mountain forest was already dense and difficult to navigate, and after half a day of heavy rain, the ground was as muddy and slippery as if it had been greased.
The four of them found progress very difficult; for every step taken, they slid half a step back, and everyone fell several times, turning into mud-caked figures.
Plus, the food had run out yesterday, and everyone's stomachs were empty. Gulping down a stomach full of cold water didn't help with hunger; instead, it sloshed around inside with every step, making them feel nauseous.
Before they even reached the mountaintop, everyone was exhausted and weak, their legs feeling like lead.
And worse, that nightmarish sound came again.
"Caw—caw—"
A sharp, piercing screech came from overhead, like a death knell.
Everyone looked up.
The wind whistled, and that persistent Pterosaur suddenly attacked again.
It was unclear if this was the same one from yesterday that hadn't eaten its fill, or a new God of Death.
It stared down from the sky with a sinister gaze at the four people struggling to trek across the ground, its pair of golden eyes filled with mockery and cruelty.
It didn't dive down immediately but circled at a low altitude, the airflow from its massive wings sending leaves flying.
It was like a picky diner observing a menu, undecided on which one to eat first, or perhaps it was simply enjoying the process of the prey's fear.
"Damn featherless bird, got addicted to eating people, huh."
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