199: Chapter 199 Driving a Tiger to Devour a Wolf, A Perilous Situation

Cold light flickered in Ling Ye's eyes.

Step 1: Create a "Super Lure".

A lure is needed that can continuously and strongly attract the Mutant swarm and guide them toward the "Danger Zone". Combining their habits, the lure must include:

Continuous vibration: Stronger and more irregular than the previous clockwork device, simulating a "large living creature" or a "valuable target".

Obvious heat source: Emitting stable heat, simulating biological body temperature.

Strong "pheromones" or "homologous scent": Utilizing the Mutant's own blood, tissue, or even that corpse to create signals of an "injured kin," "prey," "intruder," or "special resource."

Placement location: Must be located within the East Passage, near the "Danger Zone," and be easily perceivable by the Mutants, convincing them it is worth investigating deeply.

Ling Ye quickly took stock of available resources:

Vibration source: The clockwork device is destroyed. I can try to make a more durable vibrator driven by gravity or elastic potential energy. For example, use paracord and a heavy object to make a large pendulum to strike a metal plate? Or, utilize a discarded small motor in the Warehouse (if available, and if a power source can be found)?

Heat source: Combustion is the most direct heat source. But it requires a controllable, continuous combustible material. I can try using found waste cotton yarn, engine oil, and a small amount of wood shavings to make a slow-burning tinder, placed in a metal container to control the burning speed.

Pheromones/Scent: There are readily available Mutant corpses, blood, and tissue samples. I can crush them, smear them, or heat them to vaporize and enhance the scent dispersion.

Placement and guidance: The lure needs to be safely placed at the target location. I could utilize ventilation ducts or personally risk infiltrating (extremely dangerous).

Step 2: Choose the "Tiger" and the "Wolf".

The "Tiger" is naturally the Mutant swarm. The "Wolf" is the "Danger Zone" (Strange Sound) marked on the map deep in the East Passage. Regarding the "Strange Sound," information is lacking, but according to the mapmaker's notes and previous survivors' warnings, some kind of continuous or intermittent danger definitely exists there. It could be another type of mutated creature, special geological activity (such as airflow or water sounds), or even trapped automatic defense facilities? Regardless, as long as it can react to the intruding Mutants, the plan is half successful.

Step 3: Personal actions and contingency plans.

Placing the lure: Need to wait for the next patrol gap of the Mutant swarm, or utilize their activity patterns (such as "sentry" shift changes?), to quickly infiltrate the East Passage, place, and activate the lure. Then immediately evacuate, returning to the Safe Zone or moving to an alternative observation point.

Observation and response: Observe the situation from a safe position. Once the Mutant swarm is successfully drawn toward the "Danger Zone" and a conflict occurs, then:

If the conflict is intense, I can consider taking the opportunity to explore or reinforce key points like the Generator Room shaft, or even attempt to counter-explore the Canvas Area nest (if guards are significantly reduced).

If one side wins the conflict, I need to evaluate the victor's threat to me and be prepared to respond.

If the lure fails, or the "Danger Zone" does not react, I need to initiate a backup plan (such as direct evacuation or preparing for a defensive battle).

Evacuation preparation: Regardless of whether the plan succeeds or fails, I must be ready to evacuate at any time from the Generator Room shaft or ventilation ducts. Organize all important supplies and plan the evacuation route.

Risk assessment:

The process of placing the lure is extremely high-risk; I might encounter patrolling Mutants.

The danger of the "Danger Zone" might far exceed expectations and could even affect me.

The Mutant swarm might see through the lure or only send a few individuals to investigate.

The plan might create an even more powerful and troublesome "synthetic" threat.

Expected benefits:

Significantly weaken or eliminate the Mutant swarm.

Clearly investigate the truth of the "Danger Zone."

Gain freedom of action and a window of safety.

Possibly discover new paths or resources.

Weighing the pros and cons, although there are risks, this is the best opportunity to break the stalemate and strive for the initiative. Ling Ye no longer hesitated and began preparations.

He first tried to find a usable motor. In a pile of discarded electronic trash deep in the Warehouse, he actually found an old-fashioned portable blower with a DC motor! The motor was rusted, but the structure was basically intact, and it came with a detachable lead-acid battery of unknown charge! The battery was heavy, but the indicator light showed it still had a faint charge!

Great! The motor + battery can provide continuous power and vibration! He carefully removed the motor and tested it. After connecting the battery, the motor emitted a dull "buzzing" sound and began to rotate slowly. Although the torque wasn't high, it was more than enough to drive an eccentric weight to create vibration!

Regarding the heat source, he found a damaged metal lunchbox, placed oil-soaked cotton yarn and a small amount of wood shavings inside, and made it into a slow-burning tinder. After lighting it, he covered it with a perforated metal plate to control air intake, allowing it to burn for a long time and emit stable heat.

Regarding pheromones, he crushed some soft tissue from the Mutant corpse, mixed it with its blood, and smeared it on several pieces of canvas. He then wrapped the remaining corpse with canvas, intending to use it as the "lure core."

Vibration device: He fixed the motor onto a thin iron plate removed from a shelf, and then used wire to fix an unbalanced metal nut onto the motor shaft. After starting it, the rotating nut caused the entire iron plate to produce violent, continuous vibration and a "buzzing" sound.

Finally, he tied the vibrating iron plate, the slow-burning tinder lunchbox, and the pheromone-smeared canvas, along with the wrapped corpse, onto a makeshift trolley temporarily lashed together with wooden strips and paracord. Several small wheels (removed from discarded equipment) were installed under the trolley to facilitate dragging on flat ground.

A crude but effective "Super Lure" that combined vibration, heat, and a strong homologous scent was completed! Once started, it was like a living target constantly emitting signals of "Come eat me/Save me/Investigate me."

Next was to scout the best location to place the lure and plan the infiltration/evacuation routes.

He studied the map again. After the East Passage extended about fifty meters eastward from the Warehouse, there was a fork to the right, and at the end of the fork was the location marked "Danger Zone (Strange Sound)." The main passage continued forward, seemingly leading to other areas.

The best placement point should be before the fork, but close to the fork, and in a place where the "Danger Zone" could perceive it. This way, whether the Mutants came from the main passage or the fork, they would be attracted and very likely led into the "Danger Zone" deep in the fork.

He needed to personally scout the situation near that fork, confirm it was safe, and find a suitable, concealed placement point.

This was a dangerous preliminary task. But he had to do it.

He brought a crowbar, a pipe wrench, and a high-intensity flashlight, and temporarily hid the "Super Lure" trolley near the Safe Zone. Then, he took a deep breath and, like the most cautious scout, silently crept toward the entrance of the East Passage.

The passage was pitch black, with only faint light occasionally filtering in from cracks high above. The ground was covered in dust and scattered trash. He turned on the high-intensity flashlight to its lowest setting, quickly scanned ahead, then turned it off, advancing by relying on his memory and "Energy Perception."

After walking about thirty meters, a fork appeared ahead. The right fork was narrower and lower, emitting a faint, strange odor similar to a mixture of sulfur and ozone, and there was a vaguely extremely low "woo-woo" sound, as if air was whistling through some huge pipe—was this the "Strange Sound"?

The main passage continued forward, with darkness deep ahead.

Scattered near the fork were some broken bricks and discarded pipelines, and there was a half-collapsed niche that seemed to have originally held some equipment but was now empty. The niche was relatively concealed, not easily visible directly from the main passage or the fork, but the vibration and scent could spread out.

This is the place!

Ling Ye quickly checked the niche and its surroundings, finding no traces of recent biological activity. He noted the location and the retreat route (return the way he came, or explore forward a bit if necessary? The risk was unknown).

After the investigation was complete, he didn't linger and immediately retreated back to the Warehouse along the original path.

Now, everything was ready; only the east wind was missing.

He needed to wait for an opportunity—a gap in the Mutant swarm's patrol, or a moment when their attention was distracted by other things.

He returned to the Safe Zone, resting and recovering while closely monitoring the movements in the Canvas Area and the entrance to the East Passage through observation posts and "Energy Perception."

Time, in the waiting, slowly pointed toward the moment to execute the plan...