nycdaug Chapter 84 Can this be called evidence?
Chapter 84 Can this be called evidence?
It knew there was a pack of more than fifty hyenas to the south, and that these guys had been crossing the line recently. The upstream area was farther from the southern boundary than Chen Fei's landing spot, but the hyena pack's reconnaissance range had already reached the outer edge of the upstream territory.
It also felt the pressure.
Chen Fei slowly stood up, walked ten meters forward, and sat down again forty meters away. His movements were calm and showed no hostility.
The one-legged man didn't move, he just stared at him.
Chen Fei raised his right forepaw, gently pressing the tip onto the soft ground, leaving a shallow but clear mark. Then, with a flick of his claw, he pointed south, before slamming it down onto the center of his landing spot, connecting the two directions in one movement.
We'll shoulder the pressure from the south together.
The one-legged creature stared at the claw mark for a long time.
Its tail twitched stiffly twice behind it, hesitantly, before finally hanging down heavily to the ground, where it remained motionless.
Then, it raised its right forelimb and gently stomped it on the ground.
Chen Fei understood.
The two male lions sat facing each other on the north side of their enclosure for nearly fifteen minutes without making a sound.
The wind blew from the northwest, carrying the scent of withered grass from Dujiao's body, and carried it to the place where they landed. It mingled with Chen Fei's scent, swirled in the grass, and then drifted away with the wind.
Finally, he stood up on one leg, turned and walked northwest without looking back.
Chen Fei watched it walk into the reeds beside the river, the scent growing fainter and fainter until it finally dissipated in the wind.
The place where we had settled down became quiet again.
Big Head immediately came over, put its head on Chen Fei's shoulder, sniffed in the northwest direction, then raised its head and stared at Chen Fei with its eyes that seemed to say, "What is it here for?"
Chen Fei ignored him and turned to walk towards the center of the landing area.
Big Head quickly followed, but stopped after taking two steps. He looked down at the ground and saw that the grass where he had walked on his one leg was still flattened. The direction of the grass stems' bends was clearly visible. The footprints were shallower than those of a typical male lion, and the landing point of his right forelimb was noticeably off.
Big Head squatted down and sniffed the footprint almost touching his nose.
He suddenly raised his head, his expression serious for a second, then immediately placed his front paw next to him and looked down to compare. Finding that his paw print was almost a third smaller than his single paw, he quickly turned his head away, pretending he hadn't seen anything.
[Host: Chen Fei]
[Identity: Sub-adult male lion]
[Energy Points: 912↑]
The survey team's camp held an emergency meeting at nine o'clock in the morning, which was urgently notified by Morris via walkie-talkie.
The four people sat down around the folding table. Morris pressed his fingertip against the edge of the satellite communication device and pushed it forward sharply. The light from the screen illuminated everyone's faces. "Sent from London last night."
The screen displayed an email with only two paragraphs, and Linton's signature at the end exuded an unquestionable seriousness.
Kaller placed his hands on the table and read it word by word.
Ella quickly glanced through the list, then looked up, her brow furrowing slightly. "Another budget cut?"
"It's not the budget." Morris pulled the device back in front of him, tapping the screen with his fingertip. "It's the timeline. Linton wants me to go back to London for a progress report, face-to-face, and I have to leave next week."
Kenneth crossed his arms over his chest on the other side of the table and leaned back in his chair. "So what do we do on the spot?"
"Marcus is stationed here." Morris's voice was flat and without any pause. "While I'm away, the project is on hold. Marcus will be in charge of routine equipment maintenance and data recording. We'll decide on the next steps when I return."
Kenneth opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he swallowed it back.
Ella flipped through the notebook beside her, her fingertips rustling as they ran across the pages. "How many days are left in the window?"
"Nine days," Morris said. "I'll be traveling to and from London for meetings, which will take at least five days, and I'll have four days left when I get back."
"Four days isn't enough to make systematic progress." Ella slammed her notebook shut.
"I know." Morris's voice was flat. "So the core of this report is to try to extend the window of opportunity, get London's support, and then come back to push things forward."
Kaller put down the kettle, looked up, and scanned everyone's faces. "What are you planning to show Linton?"
"Data from the advance on the east side, the concentration curve from the odor collector, and three anomaly records from thermal imaging." Morriston paused, his gaze falling on Marcus, "and Marcus's findings from last night."
Ella immediately looked up. "That inscription?"
"Yes, that line of inscription."
Kenneth abruptly lowered his arms, leaned forward, and braced his elbows on the table. "Maurice, the source of that text hasn't been confirmed at all! If you put it in the report, Linton will definitely ask about the source. What will you say then?"
"Origin unknown, found at the scene, already archived." Morris looked directly at him, his gaze firm. "I don't need to explain the origin, I just need to present the evidence."
"A line of illegible inscription, plus three instances of intermittent equipment malfunctions?" Kenneth's voice lowered, tinged with skepticism. "Can this be called evidence?"
"This is a record," Ella said, her voice calm yet firm. "Evidence and records are two different things, Kenneth. What we're doing now is recording the facts, not making a conviction."
Kenneth's gaze shifted from Maurice to Ella, then he suddenly pushed his chair back, the legs scraping against the floor with a screeching sound. He stood up, his hands gripping the table, his face as dark as a storm cloud. "I'll go pack up the equipment."
He lifted the tent flap and then let it fall back down with a "snap".
There were three people left around the folding table, and no one spoke for a moment.
Marcus picked up the water glass, swirled it around, and water droplets slid down the glass. "I can hold the fort by myself, but if the concentration at the cracked mouth continues to rise, I need a clear standard for judging whether to retreat."
"If the number exceeds forty percent of this week's peak, immediately retreat to the backup camp on the north side. Don't wait for my orders." After Morris finished speaking, he turned to look at Kaller. "Kaller, do you have anything to say?"
Kaller placed his hands on the table, his knuckles slightly white. "We went to the east side twice. The first time, the thermal imaging was malfunctioning, and the second time, the odor tracking failed." He paused, his tone inquisitive. "Kenneth said both times it was an equipment problem."
"Yes." Morris nodded.
"But the inscription Marcus found last night on the eastern boundary marker reads 'Avoid Equipment Failure Area.'" Kaller's gaze fell on the center of the table. "If it really was an equipment problem, who would know in advance that there was equipment failure here, and specifically leave a note to warn us before we even started moving in?"
The wind outside the camp suddenly picked up, carrying sand that lashed against the tent fabric with a soft crackling sound. The canvas was pressed into a deep arc, then bounced back, making a slight vibration.
Morris stared at the table for a long time, then reached for the satellite communication device, his fingertips rapidly tapping on the screen. "I've made a note of it, Culler. I'll take this question to London."