"Ben! Watch your right!"
"On it!"
On the winding mountain highway, Ben floored the accelerator of his van, speeding through the pre-dawn darkness. Darius sat in the passenger seat, keeping a frantic watch on three Atrociraptors hot on their tail.
One of them attempted to flank them from the right, but Darius spotted it just in time in the side mirror.
Ben yanked the steering wheel, throwing the van into a sharp slide. The chassis slammed hard into the Atrociraptor, forcing the predator off balance.
The Atrociraptor tumbled backward across the asphalt, tripping its companions in the process.
The shrill blast of a whistle echoed.
A melodious tone suddenly drifted from the distance. The Atrociraptors pursuing Darius and Ben skidded to a halt, tilting their heads toward the sky.
The other two slowly scrambled to their feet. The three raptors exchanged a brief look before turning on their heels and sprinting in the opposite direction of their targets.
"Phew... I think we lost them."
Darius exhaled a ragged breath, the sheer relief of survival washing over him. He exchanged a look with Ben. For a moment, it felt exactly like their old days on Isla Nublar.
Both of them shared a subconscious smile. After all, once hardships become a thing of the past, memory tends to hold onto the fonder fragments.
Darius sank comfortably back into his seat. He watched the morning sun gradually cresting over the horizon, then glanced at the dashboard clock: 5:04 AM. Suddenly, a realization struck him.
"Holy shit!"
"What's wrong?"
"The livestream!"
Darius whipped out his phone and rapidly pulled up Whitemask's livestream channel. A "10k+" viewer icon flashed in the top right corner.
The account had previously gained a modest following by posting dinosaur hunting videos. While the initial numbers were small, it was more than enough for Lucian.
Carlo's fanbase spanned almost the entirety of the former Jurassic World audience. If Lucian managed to kill him, the recorded stream would undoubtedly spread like wildfire.
He wanted to prove to everyone that dinosaurs were nothing more than an insignificant footnote in human history, nothing more.
The screech of brakes.The metallic clank of shells chambering.
Because the Mojave Preserve was located at a lower latitude, and it was currently winter, the sky over Carlo's position was already nearing daybreak.
Out on the wasteland, the slayers' vehicles formed a single, imposing line. The team members disembarked with synchronized precision, retrieving their weapons and falling into formation.
They were Lucian's true ace in the hole: two neat rows of rocket launcher units, boasting a staggering ten RPGs per squad.
Heavy, thudding footsteps.
"Roar—"
The earth trembled relentlessly. Carlo stepped forward alone to intercept these slaughterers. He recognized those weapons, but he had absolutely no intention of backing down.
Glancing back, the Dreadnoughtus Oasis had shrunk into a football-shaped speck in the distance.
At this distance, they should be safe, Carlo thought.
Previously, when he had entered his frenzied state, his family had lost their sanity right along with him. But looking back at his duel with the Indominus rex, that hadn't happened. Carlo deduced it was a matter of proximity.
Unless absolutely forced to, he did not want to see Giga Dad and the others get hurt again.
Carlo snapped his head back, facing the executioner brigade and Lucian, who was currently delivering a speech to the broadcasting equipment.
"Ever since dinosaurs integrated into the human world, we have done nothing but tolerate them. We have stood by and watched our fellow humans get slaughtered by these beasts, completely paralyzed by inaction."
"Are we really going to... just hand over our hard-earned position at the top of the food chain to them?"
"They are nothing but dead rulers of a bygone era. Earth abandoned them long ago. And we… we are the true rulers of this planet today!"
Lucian spun around, aiming the camera squarely at Carlo, while raising a hand to signal his men.
"Go back to hell, you son of a bitch."
Boom!
A single rocket propelled grenade shot forth, scoring a direct hit on Carlo's skull. Sparks and debris erupted as searing heat washed over his body. Gray smoke instantly choked out his vision.
Whoosh—Boom!
Immediately after, a second and third rocket fired in rapid succession! Heavy ordnance rained down relentlessly upon Carlo's arms, torso, and thighs, as if munitions cost nothing at all!
The acrid stench of gunpowder filled the air. A thick shroud of gray smoke enveloped his entire massive frame, yet the bombardment showed no signs of stopping.
Once we film his corpse, the Dreadnoughtus is next, Lucian reasoned. Feeling that the job was sufficiently done, he waved his hand to order a ceasefire.
Boom—
With one final explosion, silence reclaimed the wasteland.
"The king is dead—"
Thud!
Before Lucian could finish his sentence, a heavy, muffled impact reverberated through the smoke. It certainly didn't sound like the noise of a collapsing body.
"RoOARR—"
If the prior silence had merely kept everyone on edge, this sky-rending roar completely shattered the men's psychological defenses.
"Keep firing! Fire!"
The mercenaries frantically scrambled to reload, but a colossal, pitch-black foot burst through the gray fog first, stomping violently into the dirt!
Thump!
The ground instantly fractured. Giant fissures snaked rapidly toward the convoy like striking serpents!
Several operatives were thrown off balance. Someone even misfired in the chaos, sending a rocket blasting straight into one of their own vehicles.
The livestream equipment collapsed under the violent tremors, its lens shattering as the feed dissolved into static.
"ROAR—"
Carlo's form gradually materialized from the smoke. His towering silhouette still stood completely unyielding, completely unfazed.
Thump!
His eyes flared with a faint, amber glow. His other foot slammed into the ground, forcing another agonized groan from the earth.
The slayers lay sprawled on the ground, staring blankly up at the monolith before them.
"He's... completely unharmed..."
Carlo's body bore no lacerations, no bleeding, not even a single trace of scorching.
They felt their entire worldview crumble. The weapons humanity took such pride in couldn't inflict a single scratch on their enemy.
"Run, you foolish kids... just run..."
"The scent-masking operation is a success! Move, move, move!"
Three Jeeps, accompanied by four flatbeds and a mobile crane, roared down the hillside, speeding directly toward the Dreadnoughtus Oasis!
"Roar!"
Giga Dad had been monitoring the commotion from Carlo's direction when he noticed the arrival of these uninvited guests.
Because he and his family had easily dispatched similar pests before, his guard was significantly lowered!
Whoosh—
The mercenary squad didn't hesitate for a fraction of a second, firing three tranquilizer darts squarely into his flank.
"Roar..."
The potent sedative surged through his bloodstream, and Giga Dad crashed heavily to the ground.
"Load him up, fast!"
The vehicles operated with mechanical efficiency. The crane truck parked immediately alongside the fallen Giga Dad. A team of men leaped off a flatbed, rushing forward with heavy-duty cargo straps to secure his massive body.
"Aunnng—"
Katyusha realized something was terribly wrong. She lunged forward to stop them, but a net gun fired from a nearby Jeep caught her square in the face. A muzzle-like restraint instantly deployed, clamping her gaping jaws tightly shut.
"I'll tranquilize the larger female! The rest of you secure the other one!"
"Copy th—Crash!"
A vehicle was flipped completely upside down by a tremendous force. The white king stepped into the fray, standing firmly before the humans to shield his prehistoric companions.
But this time, fortune would not favor him.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Another Jeep swiftly moved into position. A barrage of assault rifle rounds peppered the White King's neck, causing his breath to catch.
Staggering unsteadily, he slowly collapsed to the ground, coughing up pools of crimson blood.
The clatter of containment crates.The mechanical lock of the crane.The heavy thuds of giants falling.
The seemingly invincible dinosaur defense line crumbled in an instant. Giga Dad was loaded onto a flatbed, Katyusha was hoisted into the air, Kafka collapsed under the weight of the sedatives, and Karl's jaws were clamped shut by a muzzle-net while heavy chains wrapped around his torso.
Were they really about to be taken away?
Whoosh—
The distinct whistle of a tranquilizer dart cutting through the air echoed. Time seemed to freeze for a brief instant. Karl's pupils dilated, reflecting the sight of his captured family and the dying White King. A faint, golden light began to flicker in his eyes.
Snap...
The moment the tranquilizer dart struck his hide, Carlo's long-dormant status panel, the one that barely appeared once every fifty chapters, flashed into existence after a prolonged absence.
[Karl]
[Health: 8989.6 / 9999]
[Melee Damage: 105%]
[Scholar]: Synthesizes a trait previously witnessed from an ally, allowing perfect execution for a limited duration.
[Group Rage 1:00]
[0:59]
[0:58]
Crack!
"ROAR—"
The restraints clamping his jaws burst into frayed pieces in a split second, unleashing a piercing, deafening roar!
Kafka, who was in the middle of being strapped down, snapped his eyes open. Glancing at the oblivious technician standing right next to his head, he ripped violently through the fabric straps and tore the unfortunate soul to shreds.
The heavily reinforced shipping container that had just been sealed suddenly buckled out of shape as its entire steel roof was blown clean off!
A flatbed truck that had already begun to accelerate was yanked backward by a violent upheaval from its cargo bed, flipping onto its side with a screeching crash!
[0:32]
"What the..."
Despite taking three additional tranquilizer darts directly to his body, Karl showed absolutely no signs of succumbing. He snapped a thick chain near him with a single bite, turning his glaring eyes toward the vehicle that had tried to bind him.
"Oh God... Drive! Drive!"
The Jeep's tires spun furiously in the dirt, burning rubber but gaining no traction. Karl clamped his jaws tightly onto the vehicle's rear bumper. Ignoring the tranquilizer darts still pelting his hide, he channeled every ounce of his explosive strength and hurled the entire vehicle directly across the clearing.
The screech of scraping metal.
The violently tossed Jeep spun through the air, smashing dead into its companion vehicle. A massive, fiery explosion followed instantly.
Kafka tore down the towering crane arm; Katyusha ripped apart the transport truck holding her captive; Giga Dad snapped up the fleeing mercenaries, swallowing them whole.
[0:05]
In the blink of an eye, the tides of battle had completely turned.
———————
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