"Place this crate of eggs here. Remember to leave the lid open."
By the Great Lake of the Primeval Ecological Zone, Dr. Wu led two teams: one responsible for transporting crates of dinosaur eggs, the other tasked with pulling security.
"Doctor, there are no Parasaurolophus herds left here," a refined, muscular man noted as he stepped off the vehicle. He was reminding Wu that the Parasaurolophus populations had been slaughtered by the Indominus rex; there were no adults left to foster a new generation.
"I am aware. But this is the safest place."
Dr. Wu was not in the habit of explaining his motives to others. He typically only issued directives, just as he did in the laboratory.
"Fine."
The refined muscle-man didn't push further. He was a dinosaur enthusiast, not a professional, and he wasn't foolish enough to contradict a geneticist of Wu's stature.
Click.
The latch on the crate of Parasaurolophus eggs was flipped. Dr. Wu grabbed a bundle of hay from the truck and knelt beside the crate, meticulously tucking the straw around each egg to ensure they were shielded.
He didn't speak. He simply stroked the shells lightly, feeling the faint pulse of life within. These eggs were near hatching. Other Parasaurolophus herds were too large and currently migrating; there would be little chance for them to care for hatchlings. The low-hanging foliage near the Great Lake was sufficient for these younglings to survive. Leaving them here was the best choice.
Wu stared at the eggs, his thoughts unreadable. As a scientist, he possessed an obsession with his creations that bordered on the fanatical, whether for better or worse remained to be seen.
A moment later, he stood up, about to signal the team to move out, when a shout from a team member beat him to it.
"Southwest! Threat Level 3!"
The sentry who called it out seemed to have originally been stationed in the Primeval Ecological Zone, using a code the others didn't recognize. When the group turned around, they were instantly drenched in a cold sweat. A pair of yellow pupils shimmered in the darkness like the eyes of a soul-reaping demon.
Rifles were raised. Countless infrared beams danced across Carlo.
"Hey! Lower your weapons! Do not fire!"
Dr. Wu immediately stepped into the center of the group to issue the warning, but the men didn't relax. If anything, their bodies grew more tense.
"You... you are a total fucking madman," one of them hissed.
In their eyes, the previous team had failed because they brought non-lethal weapons to a fight against three Giganotosaurus. This time, they were packed with "Great Equalizers."
"Lower your guns," the refined muscle-man told the group. He lowered his own first, setting the example.
"Are you fucking kidding me? Is the 'Crazy Virus' contagious?!"
"Lower your guns," the man repeated, his voice firm as the others hesitated.
Dr. Wu had now slowly walked to the front of the line, placing himself in a position where he could easily be hit by friendly fire. Because of this, more and more members finally lowered their muzzles.
"Doctor! What are you doing?! Get back here!"
The refined muscle-man knew Carlo and understood some of his behavioral patterns, but Dr. Wu's current stunt still shocked him.
"Dammit! Why are these scientists always so eccentric?!"
Perhaps because he had already tasted a "one-click triple-shot" from a shotgun before, Carlo didn't seem to care whether they would fire. He stepped slowly out of the woods.
Shhh... shhh... shhh... Thud. Thud. Thud.
Dr. Wu's footsteps were light, pressing down the grass of the lawn; Carlo's footsteps were heavy, making the very earth groan with every stride.
After a moment, Wu stopped. Carlo stopped as well. Man and dinosaur stood on the grass, staring at one another.
Carlo lowered his head, looking at this human who felt both familiar and strange. Dr. Wu slowly raised his hand, palm open, gradually moving it toward Carlo's snout.
Carlo let out a sharp, sudden snort of breath that made the scientist stagger. Wu instinctively shielded himself with his hand and took two steps back, chuckling softly.
"I know. You don't like being touched by humans."
He turned to look at the surroundings, the dead silence where there should have been Parasaurolophus herds, a few wandering strays, and... oh, the Stegosaurus brother was still there.
His smile vanished. He closed his eyes and whispered a single phrase:
"I'm sorry... for everything."
He hadn't been there to watch Carlo grow up, hadn't noticed the anomalies in the Primeval Ecological Zone in time, and had even created the very culprit that had turned this place into a slaughterhouse.
Carlo tilted his head. This time, Dr. Wu wasn't speaking English, and he understood.
Dr. Wu looked back up at Carlo. Seeing the creature's adorable head-tilt, he couldn't help but laugh again.
"One day, my creations will be like you, gentle yet powerful."
He turned and headed back toward the human squad. Carlo straightened his posture, momentarily failing to grasp the man's meaning.
Gentle yet powerful? Me? The one who killed all those dinosaurs?
In a sense, a canary is relative, a cat is relative, and gentleness and power are equally relative. Carlo had simply gained the recognition of the majority within those "relatives."
"I fucking give up. I can't deal with this mad scientist anymore. Get a chopper and fly him out of here."
Under the watchful eyes of the team, Dr. Wu boarded the vehicle. The driver immediately engaged the door locks.
As the two vehicles drove away one after the other, Carlo slowly stepped forward to inspect what they had left behind.
Whoa, these things in here look a lot like Parasaurolophus eggs. Wait. Eggs??? You bastards came here to abandon your kids?!
Carlo felt like cursing. Abandoning kids on my doorstep, seriously? I'm still a kid myself! There's no way I can raise children!!
Carlo scanned the area and found the humans had long since vanished. He let out a silent sigh. He couldn't just leave them to rot.
He snatched a cluster of leaves from a nearby tree and draped them over the eggs to help maintain their warmth.
…
Inside the Control Room, Lowery finished his cold cup of instant noodles and straightened the dinosaur figurines on his desk.
"Goodbye, my—"
Ding~
The elevator doors behind him chimed, making him jump.
"I didn't expect anyone to still be here at 3:00 AM."
The silhouette seemed a bit surprised as it moved toward Lowery's station.
"Who are you?"
"Like you, a former employee."
Lowery questioned him, but the man made no effort to hide. He openly began to manipulate the paddock control console.
"What are you..."
Lowery saw that the man was attempting to open the paddocks and hesitated over whether to stop him.
"The ferry has docked. Don't worry, we're evacuating soon anyway. Jurassic World is finished; there's no harm in making things a little easier for these creatures, right?"
The figure sensed Lowery's hesitation and offered an explanation. He pressed a sequence of buttons, triggering alarms at multiple containment zones simultaneously.
Beep— Beep— Beep!
The gate of an unreleased paddock slid open. Three Allosaurus peered out curiously. They were about to step out when a roar from behind stopped them. They froze and backed into the shadows, making way for a much larger Allosaurus. The big one didn't rush; he paused at the threshold, scanning for potential threats.
Beep— Beep— Beep!
Another gate opened. A sleeping Datanglong (a dinosaur discovered in China) lifted its head toward the sound. After confirming there was no threat, it lazily flopped back down.
Beep— Beep— ROAR!
An Acrocanthosaurus didn't even wait for the gate to fully retract before charging out with a roar. It looked around and found no enemies. Compared to the inside of the paddock, it seemed far more interested in the world outside, beginning a slow trek into the deep jungle.
Beep— Beep— Beep!
A paddock gate opened to reveal what looked like nothing at all. Only the slight rustling of the grass gave it away as a Tyrannotitan slowly manifested. It appeared irritable, letting out a furious roar at the gate as if mistaking the mechanical door for a rival predator.
Beep— Beep— Beep!
Inside a paddock filled with snapped branches, a "duck" peered out curiously. But soon, a sodden behemoth blocked its view—a Deinocheirus. Water dripped from its thick coat of proto-feathers, and it stared at the gate in confusion, still chewing on a mouthful of aquatic plants.
Beep— CRASH!
A one-eyed Carcharodontosaurus, covered in scars, began slamming into the gate the moment the alarm sounded. Faint cracks appeared on the barrier as it struggled to lift. The moment the gap was wide enough, the shark-toothed lizard lunged out. Two other heavily scarred Carcharodontosaurus stood behind him, though they chose not to follow.
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