Chapter 523: The Giant Bear

The Small Team leader said to him very sternly: "What is the use of you going now, to throw your life away? In this environment, what can you even see? Have you forgotten everything you were taught? And how are you so sure that the bear came alone? Could it have other companions? Do you know what a bear this big signifies? You young people have been protected too well since childhood; you haven't truly struggled in the wilderness, so you don't know how formidable wild beasts are!"

The young Soldier did not dare to refute, only asking anxiously: "Then what should we do now? Listen, he is still alive!"

Indeed, the evening wind carried miserable screams that kept drifting toward the camp, making everyone's scalp tingle. A few women even began to dry-heave, and the screams were accompanied by terrified pleas.

The Small Team leader sighed and said: "Bears, no matter what prey they catch, like to eat it alive. They often torture people for a long time, basically starting from the legs. It seems they really like the miserable screams of their prey."

"Furthermore, they will hide. You think it has left, but in reality, it is still in some place secretly watching you."

"In the forest, what we fear most is meeting a bear. Wang Ye once said, first the boar, second the bear, third the tiger. Actually, with wild boars, as long as you have many people, meeting them is just meeting meat. But bears and tigers, really... tigers are still better; at least one bite to break your neck and you suffer less. If you are ever accidentally snatched away by a bear, remember to give your neck a knife first to suffer less torture."

The Small Team leader spoke of the most terrifying things in a very flat tone. Those without such experiences began to tremble, looking around in panic, fearing that a bear was hiding in some bush watching them in the dark. Those new recruits also felt fear from the depths of their hearts, but they still gripped their Weapon tightly in their hands.

Everyone in the entire camp was awake, and Torches began to be lit one by one. The commander in charge of this troop, Chibing, also hurriedly put on his clothes after hearing the commotion, and came over with a serious face, holding his Weapon.

All the Soldiers who should have been resting were now fully armed and on guard. From the moment the sound was heard to the emergency assembly and appearing before everyone now, the time did not exceed ten minutes, which could be said to be very swift.

The Soldiers executing this protection mission totaled five hundred. They were executing the mission normally, and it was not certain they would go to Xiao Town to garrison in the future.

Although Chibing did not know what had happened, after hearing the miserable screams from afar, he could roughly guess a few points. Coupled with the fact that the entire camp was now in a state of panic and chaos, he had to pacify them immediately.

Under Chibing's command, all the Soldiers immediately dispersed and arrived at the edge of the camp to begin guarding. Chibing then found the Small Team leader of the night-watch team for this period tonight, and also saw the destroyed Tent and the blood on the ground.

Chibing was a veteran and also an old hunter with outstanding ability. He looked at the few people trembling and first asked them softly: "Did you see how many bears there were?"

After a moment of calm, and with the Soldiers by their side, the emotions of the few had eased slightly. Facing Chibing's inquiry, they all tremblingly held up one finger: "Only... only saw one bear, it was too big."

Chibing squatted on the ground and used his own palm to compare it with the paw print, his expression growing increasingly gloomy. At this time, the voice of the person who had been dragged away could no longer be heard. Perhaps they had not died yet; they might have fainted from the pain or lacked the strength to scream.

Chibing arranged for the Soldiers to send these few people to their houses to rest. Now these people were near collapse, and only a house could give them a sense of security.

The Small Team leader asked Chibing in a low voice: "Squad leader, do we have the confidence to take this bear down? I estimate that with this size, it could probably eat a person clean in one day. If it has any companions, I fear that having gained the advantage, it will come again tomorrow."

Chibing's expression was extremely gloomy: "No confidence. To kill it, we can certainly kill it, but our Soldiers will likely suffer losses. Such a big bear is likely a hegemon in these mountains. Now that it has discovered so much prey here, it will definitely come again."

The Small Team leader looked at the mountain forest, feeling somewhat unconfident: "We are not familiar enough with this forest, and large Weapons cannot enter. Now we don't know where it is. Even if we search the mountains, our manpower is not enough, and we must keep the majority of the people to protect the camp."

Chibing was silent for a few seconds before saying: "Have all the Small Team leaders come over to hold a meeting together and discuss a strategy."

The Small Team leader said he understood, then trotted off to find the other Small Team leaders who were patrolling.

The five hundred people were divided into ten Small Teams, with each person managing fifty people. The current military system of Huaxia was still relatively simple, with only the management layer being relatively clear. Baifeng had originally intended to establish the military system after recruiting a large number of soldiers this year; otherwise, with too few people, management would become chaotic. Now, they were just randomly drawing people to form teams, then arranging veterans to manage them and temporarily delegating power. If the team was large, an officer would be arranged to control it.

The ten Small Team leaders were all hunters by origin. Chibing only described the size of the bear's footprints, and everyone's expression instantly turned gloomy. They had originally thought it was just a black bear. According to their experience, an ordinary black bear was the size of two people put together, and its courage was not very great, so its threat was considered very average.

However, according to Chibing's description, the one that came this time was a large brown bear, weighing over a thousand catties. Standing up, it was estimated to be two people tall, and its temperament was extremely irritable. To it, people were just the most ordinary prey. No matter how many people gathered, it was not afraid. Its combat power was no longer as simple as a few black bears added together.

Chibing asked them: "How do you think we should handle this? There are only three ways now: one, take some Soldiers tomorrow to search the mountains for the bear, then at all costs, surround and kill it. Two, set Traps around the camp, lie in ambush, and ambush it when it comes. The last one is to ask for reinforcements from Lema City. Everyone, state your opinions. If there are better methods, propose them as well."

The Small Team leaders thought in silence. Afterward, the majority's opinion was to ambush, because the risk of searching the mountains was too great. Even if they found the bear, there would definitely be Soldier casualties. The difficulty with an ambush was that it was impossible to judge from which direction it would come.

Only three people felt they should ask for reinforcements, the reason being that there were too many people here, and they simply did not have the ability to protect everyone well. In any case, not a single person chose to search the mountains. Searching the mountains was the most irrational choice, because they had also discovered wolf packs and other wild beasts here.