"Get down!"
Yasmina yanked Ben down just as he was halfway up the railing, and together with Sammy, dragged him back between the shipping containers.
"But what about Bumpy?"
"She'll be fine! Probably..."
Yasmina's tone wavered from certainty to hesitation. She recognized the figure emerging from the mist, but this wasn't the large lake, after all.
"Aunnng—"
CLANG—CLANG—
Bumpy's voice echoed through the fog. To the Camp Cretaceous crew, she had long been nothing short of family, though in Ben's eyes, Bumpy was probably more like his own child.
THUD... THUD...
The heavy tremors vibrating through the ground gradually calmed Ben down. Bumpy was safe for now; if he kept acting recklessly, he might actually put her in danger.
The mist swirled, but no towering monolith of a creature appeared from above. Carlo, who had just dynamic-loaded into the area and violently totaled a large truck, unhesitatingly activated his stealth mode.
Slinking low, Carlo tilted his massive head forward to peer into the secure perimeter of the dinosaur transfer hub. His family was right here, so overly aggressive tactics wouldn't suit them.
"All units, listen up! Bring out the lethal weapons! Gas grenades! Get the gas grenades ready!"
Dudley had seemingly flown the coop. The officer currently seizing command was the same operative who had previously beaten down the unconscious Concavenator. He didn't care about the asset value of the dinosaurs; his career and his skin were all that mattered.
Low, vibrating growl...
A spine-chilling, ominous threat rippled through the hearts of everyone present. Carlo used this audio cue to briefly paralyze the humans with fear, stepping back slightly to proceed with caution.
"Roar~"
A soft grunt from a companion sounded right by his ear. The vocalization felt a bit peculiar, though, it sounded like Katyusha calling out to him?
Turning his head to look at the family members beside him, Carlo realized they were all mimicking his posture, hunkering down in stealth mode, each clutching a stone perfectly proportioned to their size in their jaws.
Carlo blinked in a brief daze, then let out a silent, internal chuckle. He followed suit and scooped up a boulder, except his piece of rock was almost as large as Ben's cargo van.
"Fire the moment you see movement—"
CRASH—
A medium-sized stone cut a graceful parabola through the air and smashed dead into the utility pole hosting one of the floodlights. Accompanied by the screech of buckling metal, the slender pole groaned and bent double.
"What the hell..."
SMASH!
Another rock sailed in, successfully obliterating the light fixture and instantly dropping the illumination within the sector by a noticeable degree.
"Everyone! Stick to the light zones!"
The clever humans realized what the stupid dinosaurs were trying to do. If you have the guts, keep throwing them…
CRUNCH!
A third rock hit the bulb with near-pinpoint accuracy, snuffs out another floodlight in a flash. A fourth rock duplicated the trajectory of the third almost perfectly, extinguishing yet another.
Oh crap, you guys are actually serious?
The acting security captain finally realized they were dealing with more than one dinosaur and whipped his head around.
"Uh... head for the main spotlight! They can't break that pole, and they can't—"
Before the words could leave his mouth, a colossal boulder, resembling a fallen meteor cutting through the night, burst through the mist. Spinning violently, it violently slammed into the massive structural pole, causing a violent shower of sparks before snapping it right in half!
BOOM...
The light vanished instantly. Aside from the crude, makeshift ecological zone where the dinosaurs were penned, which still retained a few flickering rays, the entirety of the human operational space was plunged into total darkness.
"Groups of three... stay alert, we're pulling out... good luck!"
The acting commander barked his final order, ditched the main force, and bolted with two of his closest squadmates.
There was no helping it! It was one thing for the entities on the other side to be smart and utilize tactics, but a rock larger than his car had just been effortlessly hurled across the yard like it was nothing! How the fuck was he supposed to fight that?!
SLAM!
The door to the staff breakroom slammed shut and locked tightly. The acting commander hid inside with his two best buddies, completely ignoring the rest of the personnel pounding frantically on the door outside.
"You absolute son of a *****, I will literally ***** your entire ***** today."
Muffled human gasps of terror...
Flesh tearing and swallowing sounds...
Though the sounds were faint, they cut through the air with terrifying clarity, making everyone's hairs stand on end.
"Who... who died?"
"Surviving squads! Report in by numbers!"
"One!"
"Two!"
"Roar!"
A light, high-pitched roar suddenly echoed through the vicinity. Kafka tilted her head, throwing her massive jaws open as she sprinted silently through the pitch-black night, scooping up three operatives in a single bite!
Does that count as helping them count off?
Thud... thud...
The heavy footsteps gradually faded into the distance. Kafka glanced back, her vision piercing right through the dense fog and absolute darkness to clearly see Carlo walking toward the low-grade ecological zone.
As for this place? Just leave it to her.
Metal tearing sounds...
Even though he had never dismantled a perimeter fence this massive before, Carlo seemed exceptionally well-acquainted with the procedure, as if he had practiced it countless times.
"Aunnng!"
The massive commotion drew the attention of numerous dinosaurs inside the zone. A Brachiosaurus craned its long neck high, letting out a resonant cry as it stared at the newcomer in the mist.
Carlo's entry made the already cramped, low-grade containment area even tighter. His massive silhouette slowly stepped into the remaining light, his heavy footsteps causing every dinosaur on the scene to involuntarily freeze.
To a dinosaur, they all turned to look at Carlo. But as his form fully materialized, they... they... acted as if absolutely nothing had happened and went right back to drinking water?!
Carlo stood frozen for a second, feeling as if every single dinosaur present had conspired together to collectively ostracize him.
Come on, you can't play me like this...
"Grrrnng…"
Carlo huffed a soft growl, but this time it barely drew a glance from any of them, as if they were entirely used to his presence.
Suppressed reptilian snickering...
Hearing the noise, Carlo turned his head to look at Katyusha beside him, only to find her expression completely blank and neutral, showing no signs of mocking him.
Right... it must have been an auditory hallucination. Fortunately, a certain recorder of dark histories wasn't around.
Carlo squared his head back around and looked at the indifferent herd of herbivores, a bit bewildered.
Have I been kicked out of the predator guild or something... wait, you look a bit familiar.
Carlo took two steps forward, approaching the lake's edge. The two Triceratops originally standing there naturally and smoothly stepped aside to make room, showing a level of courtesy that felt incredibly alien to him.
Lowering his frame, Carlo peered at a Sinoceratops. The latter noticed his gaze and cooperatively paused its movements, seemingly curious as to what Carlo was trying to pull this time.
That scar on the frill... so familiar. It really is you, the Sinoceratops from the Primeval Ecological Zone.
Recognizing the animal, Carlo lifted his torso back up in satisfaction, but the realization clicked a second later.
Wait! Don't tell me you guys are all...
Glancing over at the Brachiosaurus that was completely ignoring him, Carlo leaned in and took a sniff. The giant sauropod reacted with an air of complete habituation to his pestering... did he even need to doubt it at this point?
He lowered his head and locked eyes with an Ornithomimus. As if suffering from some form of lingering psychological trauma, the moment its eyes met Carlo's, it fainted flat onto the dirt.
This looked exactly like the one Carlo used to terrorize when he was a hatchling... though Carlo truly hadn't expected it to survive until now.
So this place is entirely filled with old acquaintances?!
"Aunnng~"
Perhaps due to the distance, the Dreadnoughtus Little White finally recognized Carlo and came trotting over toward him joyfully.
Alright, so it wasn't entirely all of them.
Inhaling scents...
Carlo didn't lower his head to interact with Little White. Instead, he lifted his snout slightly, tracking the scent to locate the rest of the Dreadnoughtus herd that had been captured alongside her.
Low growl...
With his jaws slightly parted, he let out a low rumble, his gaze gradually shifting toward the direction of the harbor.
The White King had essentially died to protect his family, so naturally, not a single Dreadnoughtus could be left behind. But before that...
"ROAR—"
Kafka's booming roar echoed from a distance. Carlo set off toward her position at a deliberate, unhurried pace.
Time to go handle a few pests that Kafka couldn't easily clean up on her own.
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