Chapter 1676: Discovering the Intruders

In the northern part of Hui-3's Evolution Forest, wind and snow howled; in the southern part, the cold wind cut to the bone. North or south, fierce beasts lurked in sheltered spots guarding their own territories—except for two.

The Western Tiger King, who had just "seized" Mountain Zone 31, leaped to the peak and let out a deafening roar, proclaiming to all directions that this was its territory.

A mottled evolution tiger with a large but very thin frame—so its head looked especially big—walked step by step out of Mountain Zone 31 through the wind and snow. Wherever it passed, it left not only a clear trail of footprints but also scattered drops of blood.

Tang Huai, aboard the Lei Sha military aircraft, looked through his sniper scope at the drop of crimson on the snow covered by snow-hopping insects.

This was the first time he had ever seen an evolution tiger in the Evolution Forest with his own eyes—one that had been defeated, lost its territory, covered in wounds, and didn't know how many more hours it could live.

Tang Huai opened his mouth several times, then couldn't help speaking up. "Third Brother's favorite animal is cats. Sis Yan, should we ask Third Brother if he wants to raise a big cat? If he doesn't want to raise one, let's bring this tiger back and ask him to treat it. Do you think he'd agree?"

The members of Special Team One aboard the helicopter fell silent. Ask the boss to treat a defeated tiger walking toward death? Seriously? Little Boss Tang, do you know how many people are waiting to be saved at the Safe Zone hospital?

Yan Long said coldly, "I'm not on the same list as you." Go die on your own.

Tang Huai pressed his lips together, shifted his gaze away from the evolution tiger, and continued his mission—searching for suspicious targets.

The mission commander, Gao Ying, pressed the walkie-talkie again. "Alliance Squad, the defeated evolution tiger has left Mountain Zone 31. It is currently northeast of your position and moving toward your location. Straight-line distance is 2,500 meters. Stay concealed and do not engage it."

2,500 meters sounds far, but evolved animals have extremely keen senses of smell. This defeated evolution tiger, desperate to feed and restore its strength, might detect humans hiding in the Evolution Forest and launch an attack.

The wounded, defeated tiger is no match for Xia Qing's three-person team, but it is the mission's target, so conflict with it should be avoided as much as possible.

Xia Qing replied calmly, "Copy that. Odor-isolating agent has been deployed."

"Captain Gao." The helicopter's co-pilot spoke up, gesturing for Gao Ying to look at the animal moving slowly forward on the surveillance screen!

Gao Ying, who had spent years on missions in the Evolution Forest, recognized at a glance that it was an evolution wolf that was not at all scrawny. This wolf's target was clearly the wounded tiger ahead, which was not moving fast.

She had just notified Xia Qing's squad to avoid conflict with the target tiger, and the blood on this tiger had attracted an evolution wolf!

Apart from Special Team One, Azure Dragon Team Three, and Xia Qing, everyone else participating in this mission believed the mission objective was to capture intruders.

If she now ordered Xia Qing to drive off the evolution wolf and protect the evolution tiger, the concealment mission would be exposed…

Gao Ying quickly made the most reasonable decision for the current situation. She pressed the walkie-talkie and contacted Xia Qing. "Alliance Squad, an evolution wolf has been spotted in dense forest 2,200 meters northeast of your position. Its target is suspected to be that defeated evolution tiger. Judging by its movements, it's a robust evolution wolf. Stay concealed."

At Hui-3 Base, no one was more familiar with evolution wolves than Xia Qing. Among today's mission members, only she might be able to resolve the current crisis without alerting the other squads' members.

"Copy that. Increasing the dose of odor-isolating agent immediately."

Xia Qing understood Gao Ying's intention the moment she heard it. She immediately signaled Huo Zhun to step forward and block the helicopter's detection for her—she needed to contact the wolf pack.

Huo Zhun understood immediately and leaped to land beside Xia Qing.

Xia Qing ducked into cover, got through to Scarface Junior on a video call, and ordered sternly, "Scarface, tell Old Four immediately that it's been spotted by the helicopter in the air. Tell it to return to the southern wolf pack's territory right away. From here on, I'll protect Pian Hu."

What the wolf pack learned through video were techniques for evading Eagle Claw helicopters—techniques that couldn't evade the reconnaissance of this latest-generation large military helicopter in the sky.

So the old wolf, secretly protecting Pian Hu and thinking it was well concealed, had been exposed.

Before Xia Qing finished speaking, Missing-Ear Wolf leapt out of its hiding spot, quickly climbed to high ground, exposed itself beneath the helicopter, and let out a string of complex-toned howls.

It leapt out not only to deliver the message, but also to draw the helicopter's attention and create an escape opportunity for its father.

Scarface Junior was anxious too. Without even hanging up the call, it ran out and howled along. Then, on Xia Qing's phone screen, a half-grown wolf's head appeared, dotted with grass bits and snowflakes.

"Tilt-Head, long time no see." Xia Qing greeted this wolf first, then confirmed intel with it. "Have Missing-Ear and Scarface reached Old Four?"

Missing-Ear? Tilt-Head?

Hearing that the Azure Wolf Squad had gained two more members he hadn't met, Huo Zhun, with his back to Xia Qing, really wanted to turn around and take a look, say hello to his teammates. The name Missing-Ear Wolf was easy to understand—but what was the deal with this one called Tilt-Head Wolf? Was its head crooked?

The Tilt-Head Junior Wolf on screen pressed its mouth shut, looking very serious.

"Not yet? Okay." Xia Qing paused for two seconds, then asked, "How about now? Has Old Four responded?"

After another three seconds, Xia Qing asked again, "How about now?"

"How about now?"

"Aoo—woo—"

Just as Tilt-Head Junior Wolf finally nodded, Xia Qing heard Old Four's stern, long howl.

At the same time, Commander Gao Ying's voice came through her walkie-talkie. "Alliance Squad, the evolution wolf northeast of you has abandoned its pursuit of the evolution tiger and is moving rapidly toward Mountain 22. Aurora Team Two, why is the wolf pack at Mountain 22 howling?"

The captain of Aurora Squad's second team responded, "Reporting, Commander. No anomalies detected yet."

"Continue reconnaissance."

"Copy that."

Huo Zhun and Zhang Hongda, wearing single-sided light-transmitting protective masks, grinned and laughed silently. If they told the Aurora guys, they definitely wouldn't believe it—the southern wolf pack was howling because it had received a phone call from Xia Qing!

Two minutes later, Gao Ying issued an announcement. "Alliance Squad, the defeated evolution tiger has entered a cave 500 meters northeast of you. Stay concealed."

"Copy that." Xia Qing breathed a sigh of relief, immediately called Old Four, and told it that Pian Hu had reached the designated location as planned and was now within her protection range.

"Captain Gao, northeast of Mountain Zone 31, a high-grade speed-evolved macaque has appeared. Its back…"

On the Lei Sha fighter, the reconnaissance team member quickly switched imaging modes to an augmented-reality view. On screen, on the thermal-signal outline of the macaque's back, a cold, non-heat-emitting rectangular outline was conspicuously displayed! The team member immediately reported, "Suspected electronic device on its back!"

Tang Huai's ears twitched, then he blinked rapidly, commanding himself to focus on his own mission.

Gao Ying's killing intent surged. "It should be a tamed beast scout released by the intruder squad. Don't startle it for now. Use it as the center point and search within a five-kilometer radius for any human intruders."