Humans are also a kind of animal. When they encounter real danger, their alertness is not weaker than any other animal. In the moment when the two beasts around them turned into their animal forms, Happiness desperately swam towards the center of the lake. She didn't even see what attacked them, and relied solely on instinct to swim deeper into the water to escape.
Strangely enough, these ghost-like ancient beings seemed to be afraid of water and didn't pursue Happiness who was so close.
Lionel and Abyssyus were the fastest and had already sprinted to the east bank, taking over the positions of Ben and Eliot who were exhausted from dealing with the situation. The tiger tribe roared and approached, but the ancient beings, like having someone commanding them, disappeared into the dense forest. Compared to the size of the wild beasts, the ancient beings clearly had the advantage in the forest. These mechanical monsters didn't breathe or have a scent. If they stayed still and jumped to the treetops, they could easily conceal their footprints. In this dark jungle, the beasts couldn't find their traces at all.
Andy quietly went underwater without changing his animal form and chased after Happiness. Fortunately, some of the tiger tribe had already fallen into the water at this moment, splashing water everywhere, and no one noticed a small figure moving not far away. Andy stared at that small figure, took a deep breath, and suddenly dived into the water. With just a few strokes, he caught up with Happiness. He grabbed her arm and pulled her forward, greatly increasing their speed. They could see the small island in the middle of the lake not far ahead.
The tiger tribe had already rushed into the forest, and the angry roars and sounds of tearing and biting were continuous and unending. Happiness was so nervous that her calf cramped, and she relied on tightly holding onto Andy's arm to prevent herself from sinking into the water. She gritted her teeth and didn't make a sound of pain. Andy jumped onto the shore of the small island and gently pulled Happiness up. Only then did he notice that her face was pale, her eyebrows were furrowed, and she was rubbing her calf. Andy took a look from afar and saw that Alexander and the others didn't follow. He also smelled the increasingly strong stench in the air and knew something was wrong. He quickly picked up Happiness, crouched down and gathered strength, and jumped into the forest.
"H-h-h-happiness, don't be afraid." Andy took off his soaked outer garment, wrung it out, and draped it over Happiness's shoulders. He then pressed her under him to shield her from the night wind.
"I'm not afraid!" Happiness trembled and said, "Andy, thanks to you, otherwise I would have drowned halfway when my leg cramped."
"I-i-i-i won't come, t-t-t-there will still be people coming." Andy said, his gaze across the lake filled with anxiety due to the uncertain situation. Happiness also worried about the safety of Alexander and the other beasts. Although her vision was not as good, she tried her best to look over there. She felt uneasy, recalling the scene of the previous attack. How did she feel that those humanoid monsters were coming towards her?! The starry sky at this moment was still so brilliant, but Happiness changed her previous state of mind, hoping the stars would dim a little so that she and Andy could hide better in the darkness.
"D-d-d-damian is here." Suddenly, Andy breathed a sigh of relief. Happiness took a look and indeed saw Damian swimming quietly with something on his head. When he climbed ashore, he sniffed the air and walked directly towards Happiness and Andy.
"Damian, over here." Happiness shouted unnecessarily. Damian smiled, his eyes glowing green in the darkness, which looked a bit terrifying.
"Andy, you're still quick to react. How about Happiness? Wasn't she scared?" Damian unpacked the bag, revealing Happiness's home dress inside. "Change into this quickly. When we go back, you can sit on my back so you don't catch a cold."
No need for Damian to explain, Happiness knew that she couldn't wear the Hunter uniform now. She might be mistaken for an ancient species and be killed by the lurking beasts at any time.
Now was not the time to be shy. Happiness didn't dare to change clothes by herself in the dark forest, so she turned to the side and took off her swimsuit, wiped the water off her body, and put on the cotton dress. Now she finally felt comfortable. She turned around and smiled at Damian. "Luckily, I was quick-witted and realized that we should swim this way." After saying that, she looked worried again. "How are Alexander and the others doing? Did they win?"
"I don't know," Damian said, "But with the Tiger Clan there, Alexander and the others won't suffer. Fortunately, they didn't discover you."
"Damian, Andy, speaking of discovery... I feel like those monsters were coming after me!" Happiness said.
"There is a possibility," Damian nodded. "Whether as the only humanoid female beast or as an ancient human, you have great value to the ancient species. We underestimated the intelligence of the mutated ancient species. It seems that their actions are always planned and organized. District Two is no longer safe. Tonight, we'll take you to District Ten."
"They... they... they want to capture Happiness for research," Andy summed up.
"Our mindset needs to change. The inherent thinking of the beast clan always thinks that ancient species are easy to deal with. Now it seems that they have evolved faster than we imagined. There must be highly intelligent individuals behind these mechanical ancient species, controlling the overall situation.
"If I had known, I wouldn't have come out to play, and wouldn't have given them the chance to attack!" Happiness said bitterly.
Perhaps things were not as easy as Damian described. Without receiving Alexander's signal for a long time, Damian's expression also became gloomy. Both wolves were worried. Although they wanted to go back and find out what happened, they couldn't leave Happiness even for a step. Since entering the Hunter profession, they had never been so frustrated before. They had actually come to the point of avoiding ancient species! It was a great shame!
Happiness was even more anxious, scratching her head in frustration. Although Damian tried to reassure her, but... they hadn't all made it across! There were so many tigers over there, they were all kings of beasts, did they need them, these little cats and dogs? Happiness didn't dare to express this thought, after all, it would hurt the man's pride. But honestly, she didn't have the slightest intention of flattery towards the tigers.
No matter how worried she was, Happiness could only keep her eyes open and wait for the dawn. She continuously prayed in her heart for everyone's safety. She used to rely on Damian's side, but suddenly felt his body trembling. How could Damian tremble? He has always been healthy and strong, never trembling even in the icy snow! Happiness turned her head and was shocked to see that Damian's face was pale as paper, and his eyes were very unfocused, lacking the sharpness he had before. Happiness called out, "Andy!" but there was no response. Andy had actually fallen to the side, with his chest still rising and falling, but he was completely unresponsive!
"It must be... the drug from before... Happiness, don't resist... you have to, you have to stay alive..." Damian managed to say before losing consciousness in front of Happiness. He had obviously prepared himself for death, not caring about his own life, but worried about Happiness, urging her to survive.
Happiness clenched her fist and stood up, looking up at the sky. She could already hear the voice above her head. The man in the air, with metal wings stretching out on both sides of his body, each about thirty meters long, looked at her with no surprise or heat, like he was looking at a corpse, a dead person.
The man descended from the sky, and Happiness saw that he had a gun in his hand. The dark muzzle was aimed at Andy's head. In a moment of desperation, Happiness mustered the courage to rush forward and shouted, "Don't touch them!" After shouting, she realized that she had used Chinese and quickly translated it into the language of this world and shouted again.
"So you are indeed an ancient human." The man remained in the same posture and waved his finger at Happiness. "Since you are human, why do you care so much about these monsters evolved from wild beasts? What does it have to do with you whether they live or die?" Before Happiness could answer, he suddenly realized, "Oh, could it be that you already have a special relationship with them? Ancient women always attach great importance to marriage partners." Although the man's words seemed sarcastic, his tone and attitude indicated that he was seriously analyzing Happiness's twisted psychology.
"You, you're speaking Chinese?!" Happiness couldn't believe it. "You're an evolved zombie. Why do you speak a language from a thousand years ago? I don't understand anything. It's meaningless to capture me!"
"Don't know, Moses taught me." The man returned to his cold and icy appearance. He moved his finger, and a flexible steel cable, like a snake, extended from his elbow, tightly binding Happiness. He effortlessly dragged her away from the beast's side. In a state of emergency, Happiness shouted, "You dare! Kill one and see what happens?! Infect the virus or jump into the river! I'll die! Let's see what you can research then!"
If it were any other man, being provoked by this foolish girl, even if he didn't want to kill, he would have to kill one to "try it out." After killing, he would proudly say, "Without my permission, you can't die." But Noah was not any other man. His thinking had already become calm and rational to the point where anger or embarrassment didn't exist. Noah turned his head slightly and carefully considered Happiness's words, making precise calculations about the possibilities in her words. The final result made him decide not to take the risk. After all, their goal today was just this living ancient human, not to kill more male beasts and seize their active cells. They already had enough active cells in their cold storage, enough to last a long time.
"Okay." Noah reluctantly surrendered. Before Happiness could even be happy, the steel cable at his elbow slid into his palm, and then his body tightened and sank, lifting Happiness into the air. Noah carried Happiness like a tied-up dumpling, without any thought of cherishing or pampering her. He didn't even take this opportunity to hold her. Happiness swayed in the air, her arms being painfully constricted by the steel cable. Even if she wanted to scream for help, she couldn't, because her mouth was also sealed by the steel cable. Fortunately, he hadn't done this earlier, otherwise Andy would have already become a corpse.
Even Noah didn't notice that there was a white shadow moving extremely fast in the dense forest by the lake, hanging far behind him.