422: Chapter 419 In the darkness of night,

On the other side, three people had been walking through the night for a long time.

The moon was obscured by clouds, leaving the forest pitch black, with only the beams of flashlights swaying among the tree shadows. Ye Ouyang let out a yawn, while Zhou Zihui followed silently behind. The Researcher walked at the very front, eyes fixed on the trees, his neck nearly snapping from looking up so much.

“How about... we call it a day?” Ye Ouyang couldn't help but speak up. “We've been searching for so long; maybe they flew somewhere else.”

The Researcher stopped in his tracks and let out a sigh.

“Let's walk a bit further,” he said. “If we really can't find them, we'll head back.”

Zhou Zihui didn't say anything, only looking up to scan the surroundings.

Just then—

A crisp birdcall drifted from the distance.

The three of them froze simultaneously.

Immediately after, a crimson glow lit up in the darkness. It wasn't dazzling, but gentle and scattered like a swarm of fireflies. Those points of light flickered on a distant cliff face, connecting into a single expanse, as if someone had hung a string of red lanterns across the mountain.

“That's...” The Researcher's voice was trembling.

The three quickened their pace, feeling their way toward that direction.

Closer, even closer.

As the flashlight beams hit it, they finally saw clearly—it wasn't some crack in the cliff, but a massive colony of nests.

Those nests clung to the nearly vertical rock wall, one after another, densely packed like a giant honeycomb. Each nest was a semi-enclosed sphere with an opening facing downward, its surface covered in a type of moss and mud that almost blended into the color of the cliff. If not for the crimson light leaking from the gaps in the nests, one might not have noticed them even standing right in front of them.

A few birds were poking their heads out of the nests, their crimson feathers glowing faintly in the night. They seemed to sense someone approaching, but they only tilted their heads to watch and didn't fly away.

The Researcher covered his mouth, nearly crying out.

“Found it... I found it!” He lowered his voice, stomping his feet in excitement. “Their habitat! It's right here!”

Ye Ouyang raised a leg to walk forward, but the Researcher grabbed him.

“Don't move!” The Researcher glared at him. “Be careful! We finally found it; don't startle them!”

Ye Ouyang blinked and pulled his foot back.

The Researcher pulled a pen and paper from his backpack, squatted on the ground, and began to draw. His hand was steady, recording the distribution, shape, and position of the nests stroke by stroke. He would occasionally look up for a glance before lowering his head to continue drawing.

Zhou Zihui stood to the side, watching his movements, and suddenly spoke.

“You have this skill too?”

The Researcher didn't look up, his pen moving rapidly across the paper.

“Hey, it's for research,” he said. “A dull pencil is better than a sharp memory; what if I need this later?”

As the Researcher was squatted there drawing, the phone in his pocket suddenly blared, sounding like thunder in the quiet forest. His hand jerked, nearly dropping the pen. He quickly pulled it out, glanced at it, and answered.

“Hello? ...Oh, okay. What? ...What happened? ...Yes, yes, yes, is that so? ...Oh okay, I understand, I'll be careful.”

He hung up the phone, the expression on his face looking off.

Zhou Zihui looked at him: “What's wrong?”

The Researcher stood up and stuffed the pen and paper into his pocket.

“I don't know how,” he lowered his voice, “but among the group that was caught earlier, one seems to have... mutated. Turned into a Dinosaur Person.”

Ye Ouyang was stunned for a moment: “What?”

“That's what they said on the phone.” The Researcher spoke very quickly. “Killed a policeman and escaped. Surveillance says it might be through some kind of reagent, but they haven't found the person who gave it to him—someone wearing a mask.”

Zhou Zihui's brow furrowed.

“A sudden mutation?”

“Yes.” The Researcher nodded, glancing into the surrounding darkness. “They told me to be careful, saying he's likely headed our way.”

Zhou Zihui did not hesitate.

“Let's go,” he said. “We're heading back now.”

The Researcher turned around, looking at the crimson birds still glowing faintly in their nests, and sighed.

“Alright... we can always come back tomorrow anyway.”

The three turned, preparing to head out of the forest.

They had just taken two steps—

Boom!

In the woods not far behind them, several trees as thick as bowls exploded simultaneously, raining wood chips and leaves down on them. A massive dark shadow crashed out from the dust and slammed into the ground, making the earth tremble.

The thing stood upright, over two meters tall, covered in dark green scales. A row of hideous bone spikes lined its back, its head jutted forward, and its mouth was filled with sharp teeth. Standing in the moonlight, its ugly lizard face turned toward the three, nostrils twitching as if scenting something.

A Dinosaur Person.

It had found them.

After the massive figure landed, it didn't pause for a second.

Its vertical pupils, glowing with a dull yellow light, instantly locked onto the weakest target among the three—the Researcher. Its massive body lunged forward, a claw swiping directly down at the Researcher's head!

“Watch out!”

Zhou Zihui's reaction was startlingly fast. He grabbed the Researcher by the waist and rolled to the side. The claw grazed their backs and slammed into the ground, blasting a crater and showering them with rocks and dirt.

Ye Ouyang's reaction was equally swift.

He took a step back and pressed both hands to his waist—golden fluid surged from his belt, instantly covering his entire body. The warm golden armor flowed under the moonlight, its white and ice-blue energy patterns glowing faintly.

But he didn't have time to dodge.

The Dinosaur Person's second claw was already sweeping across. Ye Ouyang had just finished his transformation and had no time to evade. He could only cross his arms and tank the blow!

Bang—!

The massive force sent him flying like a cannonball, snapping three or four trees in a row before finally stopping when he slammed into the trunk of an old tree.

The Dinosaur Person retracted its claw, a low growl emerging from its throat as if in mockery.

But a second later, the golden figure rose from the wood debris.

Ye Ouyang looked down at his arms—the armor was intact, but the impact of that strike had left his arms numb. He rolled his shoulders, and the golden fluid began to flow over him, the area that had been hit smoothing over at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“That's it?” He looked up at the Dinosaur Person, the corner of his mouth twitching into a smirk.

The Dinosaur Person's vertical pupils constricted slightly.

On the other side, Zhou Zihui had already helped the Researcher behind a large tree.

“Mr. Researcher, please stay here and keep your distance,” he whispered, then stood up and turned around.

He raised his hand and unfastened the hidden buckle of his specially-made Inspector Uniform at his waist.

The long tail that had been wrapped around his waist, covered in dull greenish-gray fine scales, loosened and unfurled like a waking giant python.

The tail, over three meters long, stretched out in the moonlight, the scales making a faint rustling sound as they rubbed together. The sharp, conical tip, shaped like a spearhead, now glowed with a faint red hue—its color had changed slightly compared to before, as if stained with a thin layer of blood.

The Dinosaur Person looked at that tail, then at the opponent in golden armor, and let out a low roar from its throat.

It did not hesitate.

It lunged toward where the Researcher was hiding—

Zhou Zihui's tail moved first.

The tail's speed was incredible, like a bolt of greenish-gray lightning, its tip stabbing straight for the Dinosaur Person's heart from behind! The Dinosaur Person was forced to sidestep to dodge, and the thrust grazed its ribs, leaving a shallow white mark on its scales.

The moment it turned, Ye Ouyang had already rushed in front of it.

Golden claws were raised high and swung down fiercely!

Squelch—!

The claw landed solidly on the Dinosaur Person's flank, slicing right through the seemingly hard dark green scales and leaving a large gash from which dark red blood surged.

The Dinosaur Person let out a roar of pain, its tail whipping toward Ye Ouyang! Ye Ouyang pushed off the ground and leaned back, the thick tail sweeping past the tip of his nose.

Another tail strike came!

Zhou Zihui's tail intercepted it, the two tails colliding in mid-air with a dull thud. Zhou Zihui's tail took the opportunity to coil around, tightly binding the Dinosaur Person's tail, their scales grinding together with a piercing screech.

He put power into his legs and twisted his waist violently—

“Up!”

The two-meter-tall Dinosaur Person was actually swung up by him, tracing an arc through the air before being slammed hard into the nearby woods!

Boom—!

The Dinosaur Person hit the ground, snapping several more trees as dust billowed up.

It scrambled up, grabbed a broken tree, and hurled it at Zhou Zihui. With a flick of his tail, Zhou Zihui snapped the tree into two pieces with a loud crack.

Ye Ouyang had already charged forward again.

His golden claws swung repeatedly, strike after strike, leaving more and more wounds on the Dinosaur Person. The Dinosaur Person dodged left and right, trying to close in for a counterattack, but every time it drew near, it had to simultaneously face those golden claws and that elusive long tail.