novelhk Chapter 33: The Deployment Was Not in Vain
Chapter 33: The Deployment Was Not in Vain
The way the dark brown mane entered the fray was just like the way it declared war: unhurried.
Chen Fei first heard the movement in the bushes.
It wasn't the chaotic sound of prey scrambling through grass as it fled; it was a rhythmic, evenly pressing sound of progress, each step landing firmly and solidly, not fast, even a little slow, as if conveying a message through the very act of walking: I don't need to run, I'll just walk in like this.
Large male lions rarely run when entering a territorial battle, contrary to human intuition.
Running implies urgency, urgency implies uncertainty, and uncertainty implies weakness.
Walking in is the way true powerhouses enter.
Every step is a way of telling the other person: I'm giving you time to see me clearly, because once you see me clearly, you'll know what will happen next.
This is pure psychological suppression.
Zero cost, perfect results.
Chen Fei gently stepped on the ground to confirm one thing: the heat had covered his entire forefoot, and even the pads of his feet felt slightly warm.
The preparation status is stable.
A dark brown mane emerged from the edge of the grass directly east of their landing spot.
In the twilight, its size was even more imposing than when it appeared at dawn. At dawn, it was backlit, and its outline was softened by the light. Now, it was sidelit, and the remaining orange-red light of the grassland shone down from the west, illuminating every line of its mane clearly. It was dark brown, thick, and stretched from its forehead to its belly, covering an area larger than any lion Chen Fei had ever seen.
After it came into view of the landing site, it did not rush straight towards it, but instead began to circle in an arc.
This is the standard roaming of a lion before a head-on confrontation.
It's not hesitation, it's evaluation.
Both sides have the same goal at this stage.
Analyze the opponent's physique, condition, and position clearly, and accurately calculate the angle and timing of your frontal charge.
This back-and-forth usually lasts three to five minutes, during which both sides keep moving, following each other's curves, like two people with abacuses, walking while mentally calculating each other's strengths before making a move.
The large radius of the arc in which the dark brown bristles move indicates that it is not in a hurry and has enough patience to complete the process.
Chen Fei followed its arc and began to move sideways.
Instead of confronting them head-on, they cut in from the flank, moving diagonally to shift their position from the center of their landing area to a location slightly to the south.
This position precisely blocks a gap at the southern end of the flowing arc of the dark brown mane.
No signal was sent.
Sel's footsteps followed from his left rear, automatically filling the empty space on his flank.
Meimei started moving from the edge of the grass on the other side, her arc direction opposite to Chen Fei's, opening up the view in the northeast corner.
Big Head stood still for about two seconds, turned its head twice as if calculating where it should go, and finally took a few steps back, retreating to the position between the cub and Sel, standing firmly on all fours, blocking that direction.
It didn't rush forward, didn't follow the wrong direction, and chose a position that Chen Fei hadn't assigned but that most needed someone to guard.
Chen Fei glanced back, his gaze lingering on Da Tou for less than a second before returning to his original position.
The entire group's stance was synchronized without any verbal commands.
The Lion King stood on the earthen platform, looking down and watching the whole process unfold.
He didn't move.
It's not that I don't want to, it's that I don't know where to go from here.
Chen Fei cuts in from the flank, Sai'er covers, Meimei launches an arc shot, and Da Tou retreats to defend the cubs.
The entire sequence of actions was executed so cleanly that when the Lion King stood on the platform and looked around, he found that every position was already occupied. His position was the highest point in the entire formation, not because he held the highest authority, but because all the other positions had been filled, leaving only this spot.
The Lion King's gaze lingered on Chen Fei's back for a second before stopping.
Chen Fei did not turn around.
The dark brown mane gradually narrowed its gait as it walked along the outer edge of its landing area. Its pace remained the same, but the direction of its nose was constantly being subtly adjusted. It was sniffing and counting, marking the location of every lion in the area with its scent.
Chen Fei was also sniffing.
The scent of dark brown mane grew closer, its concentration rising steadily and continuously, without any hint of urgency. The big guy's heartbeat hadn't faltered from the moment it stepped into the edge of the grass.
Keep your composure.
Chen Fei mentally added one point to it, and then continued calculating his own.
The distance between the two sides, which was about 80 meters at the beginning, gradually compressed to 50 meters, 40 meters, and 35 meters as the arc of their movements tightened.
At this distance, the dark brown mane stopped for the first time while it was wandering.
It turned its body to the side, its head facing Chen Fei's direction, its nostrils flared twice, it took a deep breath, and then remained still.
Chen Fei felt that attention was focused on him.
It's not about watching the Lion King, it's not about watching Sael, it's about watching him.
The large creature locked its sights on the sub-adult male lion standing to the side of the landing site, and spent about three seconds scanning Chen Fei's size, posture, and aura.
Chen Fei didn't move. The heat in his limbs burned steadily as he received the attention, neither avoiding it nor responding proactively.
The two sides remained stationary and faced each other at a distance of thirty-five meters.
Then, the west wind brought another smell.
Lightweight.
From the west, bypassing the bushes, it quietly seeped into Chen Fei's nasal cavity from the side and rear of the landing spot.
It has a light, not strong, scent.
This was the first piece of information that Chen Fei received from his nasal cavity the moment he smelled it.
The lack of intensity indicates a long distance, means it hasn't entered the attack radius, and that it's currently in a state of reconnaissance on the move, rather than a hunter with its spring compressed and ready to fire.
Chen Fei combined this information with another: the light scent concentration, from the first second he smelled it until now, has increased at a very slow rate, so slow that it's like deliberately controlling the pace of movement.
It's rubbing against something.
It wasn't a rush, it was a stealthy advance, the kind of reconnaissance-style advance where you take one step, stop, take two steps, and sniff again, trying to suppress your scent as much as possible and slow down your movement, trying to figure out the strength of your footing outside the western bushes before deciding on your next move.
Chen Fei locked onto this judgment in his mind, and then took another step forward: the light attack was a feint.
Not the main attack.
The main target is still dark brown mane.
The basis for this judgment is not complicated.
The usual pattern of a two-horsepower joint operation is that one side applies pressure from the front, while the other side flanks and creates chaos, diverting the defender's attention from the main attack direction, and then the frontal side takes advantage of the chaos to charge forward.
The light and agile movement rhythm perfectly matches the behavioral characteristics of "flank control," while the dark brown mane wandering thirty-five meters to the east is the variable that really needs to be monitored.
Two against one – this scenario has been playing out on the grasslands for countless millennia, and they're too lazy to even change the routine.
Chen Fei mentally reviewed the sentence and didn't find it funny, because an old script doesn't mean it's easy to deal with. These two big guys combined could crush him five times over with their combined energy points.
He didn't move.
Standing still, I maintained my attention on the east side while diverting 30% of my perception to the west. I slightly tilted my left ear half a grid to the west and began tracking both directions simultaneously.
Once they landed, the others sensed it too.
Sel made the first move.
She didn't walk west; instead, she moved about two steps to Chen Fei's right, shifting her position from Chen Fei's left to his right rear. This position conveniently filled in a gap in her view to the southeast.
She didn't look west; her eyes were still facing east, but her ears were tilted to the west.
Both directions are taken care of at the same time.
Chen Fei didn't turn around. He reconstructed Sai'er's movement trajectory through the sound of her footsteps, confirmed her new landing point, and marked the location in his mind.
Meimei's reaction was about three seconds slower than Berl's. Then she moved to the west, walking in a diagonal arc, bypassing the low grass on the west side of the landing spot, and stopped at the edge of the shrubbery, bringing the entire western entrance into view.
The position she chose perfectly covered Chen Fei's blind spot on the west side.
It wasn't arranged by Chen Fei; she went there herself.
Chen Fei kept this detail in mind and continued to keep an eye on the east side.
[Host: Chen Fei]
[Identity: Sub-adult male lion]
[Energy Points: 527↑]
The number was still 527, but the heat from his limbs had burned through his entire forefoot. From the palm to the knuckles, every part had a continuous burning warmth. It wasn't hot or stinging; it was the kind of ready-to-explode state that was steadily pressing down, ready to explode at any moment.
When faced with multiple threats, a typical pride of lions will almost inevitably encounter a problem: confusion about direction.
Lions' collective defense relies on clear signals from their leader. Without signals, there is no coordination; without coordination, if one goes east and another goes west, the entire formation will fall apart.
In his previous life, Chen Fei had read several analyses of cases where lion packs failed in their collective defense, and almost every one of them came to the same conclusion: they were not defeated, but rather they themselves fell into disarray.
In this place where he's staying now, there's one variable that makes him feel he can hold on: no one is causing trouble.
Sel filled the southeast, Meimei guarded the west side, Da Tou remained in the rear where the cubs were, and the wandering individuals stayed in the northeast corner as planned. Everyone went in the direction they were supposed to go, and no one needed him to speak.
He didn't know if it was luck, but he knew it wasn't free.
Da Tou received the mission to go to the west side to assist Mei Mei.
It wasn't a password; Chen Fei simply tilted his head slightly to the west, his gaze lingering on Da Tou for less than a second, and Da Tou understood.
It took a step and walked towards Meimei, its expression serious and its steps steady. For a couple of seconds, it looked quite like a reliable warrior.
Then it stepped into a patch of soft mud with its front paws.
With its right forepaw sinking into the mud, which was more than twice as loose as expected, Big Head suddenly shifted its center of gravity and staggered half a step to the right. It then pulled its forepaw up, and the mud pit emitted a muffled sound with bubbles, which was too clear in the dead silence of the night.
Da Tou steadied himself, paused for a second, quickly scanned the area to make sure everyone was focused on their assigned direction and no one was looking at him, before continuing forward. His steps were much more steady than before. He carefully placed his feet on solid ground, finished the rest of the way, and found a spot next to Mei Mei to stand.
His head was facing west, his ears were straight, and his expression was serious, as if nothing had happened.
The mud puddle remains in place, bearing a clear paw print.
The Lion King did not move during this time.
He stood on the earthen platform, staring at the dark brown mane to the east. He sensed the movement to the west, turned his head to the west, then turned back, finally choosing to continue watching the east, leaving the handling of the west side to others.
It wasn't a tactical decision; he simply had no better options.
The dark brown mane lingered thirty-five meters to the east, its presence unwavering for a single second. The lion king's attention was firmly pinned to it, leaving him unable to coordinate the overall situation.
Then, the dark brown mane let out a second low growl.
It wasn't the kind of all-out push that's like a declaration of war; it was a low, short, urgent sound squeezed out from the throat, as if saying: That's enough, it's time to make a statement.
The Lion King responded.
He raised his head, pressed his strength into his dantian, and let out a roar, shorter and weaker than the one he had used when declaring war. He still lost his breath at the end, but the sound still came out.
The problem occurs after the sound ends.
The Lion King's right hind leg injury was subjected to a concentrated force when his muscles tensed up during his roar. The pain traveled up his spine, and his center of gravity instinctively shifted to the left. His right hind leg relaxed slightly, and he took a half step back.
It's just half a step, so small it's almost negligible.
But there is no "almost" on the grasslands.
Sel's ears twitched slightly toward the Lion King, then retracted.
Meimei's tail stopped wagging, paused for about two seconds, and then started again.
Big Head didn't turn around, but its erect ears tilted slightly towards the Lion King, sniffed it, and then turned back.
Even the homeless individuals in the northeast corner, from such a distance, felt a slight fluctuation in the stress components emanating from their scent at this moment.
No one said anything, no one did anything, but everyone sensed it.
The Lion King took a half step back.
Chen Fei took this detail into his peripheral vision, but without turning his head or reacting, he kept his gaze fixed on the dark brown mane.
He knew better than anyone what this half-step meant, and he knew better than anyone that he couldn't say anything now.
The remaining cohesion within the pride is largely maintained by the lion king's lingering authority, which is beginning to crumble but has not yet completely dissipated.
At this point, any action that could be interpreted as "Chen Fei replacing the Lion King" would be shattering this last buffer with his own hands.
The enemy is outside, not inside.
He repeated the words to himself, his body still burning with heat, and he didn't move.
The dark brown mane stopped moving the moment the lion stepped back.
It stood at the edge of the grass on the east side, its head facing the direction where it had landed. Its nostrils flared dramatically as it sniffed through all the information in the air again. Then it did one thing: it took two steps forward and started wandering again, but the radius of its arc was smaller than before.
Chen Fei's left ear paused for two seconds on the subtle odor concentration data from the west.
It remained motionless, and the scent concentration continued to rise at the same slow rate, indicating that it was still nudging, still waiting, waiting for the dark brown mane to give a signal.
Between the two lines, there is an invisible coordination mechanism at work. Chen Fei mentally went through the logical chain of this mechanism and calculated the next node.
The dark brown mane continues to narrow its arc, pressing down to a critical value at equal distances, at which point the light-footed scout will switch to charging.
Both ends start simultaneously.
He mentally marked the new arc of the dark brown mane on the east side and the current light distance on the west side simultaneously, and began to wait for that critical value to appear.
He understood the science: when a stray lion is scouting unfamiliar territory, it is extremely sensitive to the scent of "hidden individuals." The scent of the two stray individuals in the northeast corner should have already entered Qingxiao's nostrils. This unfamiliar scent caused it to pause at least once while scouting on the west side. That pause disrupted its pace, and it has not yet fully recovered.
The deployment in the northeast corner was worthwhile.
The footsteps of the dark brown mane began to advance step by step from a position of thirty-five meters toward the landing point, the arc getting smaller and smaller, the distance getting closer and closer, the rhythm of the steps steady and heavy.
Thirty meters.
Twenty-eight meters.
Twenty-five meters.
The heat from Chen Fei's forefoot converged at his fingertips, burning through every toe bone. The claws inside the claw sheaths instinctively sprang out halfway the instant the heat passed through, touching the edge of the claw sheaths before retracting.
Twenty meters!