Chapter Four: The Mutated Cat

The deeper Long Yu and his group ventured, the more mutated animals they encountered. First, there were insects several times larger than normal, then rats the size of housecats... At the beginning, Professor Wang was still fascinated, instructing the armed police to kill some of these bizarre creatures for him to take back and study. But as the mutations they encountered grew more extreme, his curiosity faded.

With mutated creatures everywhere, the initial sense of novelty quickly vanished.

“A tiger…” Suddenly, a student shouted in terror and began to run back the way they’d come. A member of the armed police quickly grabbed him—getting lost alone in these perilous mountains could be fatal.

Everyone looked ahead. “Is that really a tiger?”

No, someone with sharp eyes soon realized that this wasn’t a tiger—tigers were much larger than this animal.

It was clearly a cat, but now it was as big as a full-grown Tibetan mastiff.

Kittens are certainly adorable when they’re small, but now not a trace of cuteness could be seen in the eyes of Long Yu and his companions. Indeed, being glared at with murderous intent by a carnivore the size of a Tibetan mastiff would make it impossible for anyone to feel charmed.

The great cat had sleek black fur, its coat bristling with tension, back arched high, several canines—five or six centimeters long—bared as it growled menacingly.

“Is that cat planning to eat us?”

A male student in Professor Wang’s group stammered out the question, his voice trembling.

“Don’t be afraid, everyone. We have guns! And there are so many of us, it won’t dare attack. If we panic and scatter in these mountains, that’s when we’ll really be in danger,” Captain Li’s voice cut through the tension, calming the anxious crowd.

Only then did people remember—they had guns! There was no reason to fear this cat.

The natural terror of large carnivores like tigers had instinctively triggered the urge to flee in these people who had known only peace. Even the armed police, in the perilous mountain environment, had felt the same urge.

It was only after Captain Li’s reminder that they realized there was no need to fear this mutant cat.

The mutant cat only growled at them, never daring to get close. Deep in its genes, there remained an instinctive fear of humans.

After all, humanity had ruled this planet for hundreds of thousands of years, standing unchallenged atop the food chain. Even mutated, animals retained a primal terror of mankind.

Once it was clear the mutant cat posed no threat, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Professor Wang, in particular, began to observe the cat’s extraordinary changes with keen interest.

“Captain, should we shoot it?” asked one of the armed police in a low voice.

Before Captain Li could reply, Professor Wang interjected, “Wait, let me observe this mutant cat for a while first.”

“We’ll follow Professor Wang’s lead,” Captain Li signaled to his men.

Professor Wang studied the mutant cat intently, while the armed police stood guard, guns at the ready. The male student seemed to understand and cautiously took out his camera to snap photos.

Time seemed to stand still as the two sides faced off, the mutant cat continually threatening them with growls, but never daring to attack.

“Professor, can we go now?” the female student pleaded, her face full of distress.

“Just a bit longer. This is the most highly mutated animal we’ve seen so far. Let me study it a while more. In a moment, I’ll have the armed police kill it and bring it back for research…” Professor Wang spoke without taking his eyes off the cat.

Upon hearing this, the girl’s eyes grew misty, her lips trembling, but she said nothing more.

Several minutes passed before Professor Wang finally stopped his observations and addressed the nearby armed police. “I’m afraid I must trouble you once again…”

Gunfire erupted. In an instant, several bloody holes appeared in the mutant cat’s body. With a heartrending shriek, the cat collapsed in a pool of blood.

Moments after the cat fell, plaintive mewling could be heard nearby.

“What’s that…”

Several armed police quickly moved toward the source of the sound. It turned out to be a few kittens hiding not far from where the group stood.

Only now did everyone realize why the mutant cat had been so agitated…

A sudden wave of sympathy swept over Long Yu. This cat had been living its life here, only to be killed by intruding humans…

But then another thought struck him. If he’d been alone and unarmed when he encountered this cat, wouldn’t he have been doomed?

What was wrong with killing an animal that threatened your safety?

When Professor Wang saw the mutant kittens, his face lit up with delight. His main interest during the earlier observation had been to see how the cat’s movement and habits had changed following its mutation, compared to ordinary cats.

But capturing a full-grown mutant cat would have been far too dangerous for his group, so he had settled for observation and then research on the carcass. Now, with several live specimens, his research would be much easier.

“Professor Wang, shall we continue searching for the cause of these rapid mutations among the animals here?” Captain Li asked, clearly eager to leave. The animals’ aggression seemed to be escalating, filling him with an unshakable sense of impending danger. All he wanted now was to get out of this place.

“No, we’re done…” The mutant cat had shaken even Professor Wang. As passionate as he was about research, he was not reckless—he valued his own life, and even if he didn’t, the people with him certainly did.

Professor Wang decided it was time to return.

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Long Yu wiped the sweat from his brow—sweat born of tension—and exhaled heavily. At last, they could leave. He had no desire to end his young life here; he still had parents and a younger sister to care for.

He thought of the six thousand yuan he was about to earn, plus the guide’s commission—he’d make over seven thousand on this trip. Suddenly, Long Yu felt almost cheerful, forgetting the recent danger, even calculating how profitable a few more trips like this could be…

They hadn’t gone far on the way back when suddenly a piercing scream rang out from among the armed police: “Snake, there’s a snake!”

One of the police had seized the snake’s head, but the serpent’s jaws were still clamped tightly onto his calf.

Professor Wang took one look and his face turned pale. “Oh no, that’s a banded krait—highly venomous!”

The policeman’s angry expression instantly changed to one of despair.

“Captain, I have a five-year-old child at home—I don’t want to die!”

“Don’t talk like that; you won’t die. We’ll save you, brother,” Captain Li said, quickly cutting a strip from his own shirt with a knife and tying it around the man’s leg to slow the spread of the venom.