Panic. Cold, sharp, and absolute. It threatened to swallow Lin Ke whole, a suffocating wave that tightened his chest and made his own breathing roar in his ears. He was trapped. The only way out was blocked by a mountain of muscle and incandescent rage, its glowing purple eyes burning holes in the gloom, fixed on him and the stolen prize in his arms. A low, guttural growl rumbled in the Alpha's chest, a deep, vibrating promise of a violent, imminent death.
For a split second, a flash of suicidal bravado seized him. Fight. Go down swinging. But the cold, hard numbers from the Gene Editor crushed the thought instantly, a splash of icy water on a foolish spark. A quick, clinical overlay in his vision confirmed it: Direct Confrontation. Probability of Survival: 0.0%. Estimated time to annihilation: <10 seconds.
But as the seconds stretched, taut and electric, Lin Ke noticed something bizarre. The Alpha wasn't lunging. It took a menacing step, then another, but its advance was hesitant. Its furious gaze kept darting from his face to the pulsating purple egg in his arms. And in that strange hesitation, an insane spark of hope ignited in Lin Ke's chest. It's not afraid of me. It's afraid of hurting the egg.
His Editor confirmed it with a flicker of data: [Behavioral State: Conflicted. Primary Objective: Reclaim Offspring. Secondary Objective: Neutralize Threat. Result: Tactical Paralysis.]
The prize in his arms wasn't just a treasure anymore. It was a shield. His only shield.
Tightening his grip on the warm, heavy shell, he deliberately held it out higher, a human shield presented to a monster.
"Hssssssss!" The Alpha hissed, smoke-like fumes of pure, impotent rage wafting from its nostrils. It understood the hostage situation perfectly.
But this couldn't last. This delicate, insane standoff could shatter at any moment. He had to get out. His eyes, now adjusted to the dim, pulsating light of the fungi, darted around the cavern, desperately searching. And he saw it. At the very back of the cave, almost hidden in shadow, was a narrow, vertical fissure. A crack in the mountain itself. Far too small for the Alpha, but for him… just maybe.
A new, desperate plan—a gamble born of sheer, pants-wetting terror—flashed into his mind. He needed one more distraction. One big one. He looked down at the precious, pulsating egg in his arms. He was about to do something unthinkable.
"Forgive me," he whispered to the dormant life within.
With his free hand, he snatched a sharp-edged shard of rock from the cave floor. Then, in one swift, deliberate motion, he scraped it firmly against the side of the egg's warm, leathery shell.
SKREEE!
The sound was a high-pitched, grating vibration, a sound of violation that was designed to drive a parent insane. A puff of concentrated, corrupt scent filled the air.
To the Alpha, this was the final straw. The intruder was harming its young. Its massive, reptilian brain short-circuited. Parental panic completely overwhelmed tactical caution. With a deafening roar of pure, unadulterated fury, it lunged—not at Lin Ke, but at the egg, its massive claws extended to gently, desperately snatch its baby back from this defiler.
That was the single, fatal mistake Lin Ke needed.
"Rock Vole, NOW! DUST CLOUD!" he screamed.
In the split second the Alpha was blinded by its own rage, Lin Ke spun and sprinted for the back of the cave, the heavy egg clutched to his chest. His Rock Vole slammed its paws on the ground, kicking up a thick, choking cloud of dust and debris, buying him a precious, fleeting moment of cover.
He reached the fissure and threw himself into the narrow opening, the rough rock scraping at his clothes and skin as he scrambled into the tight, suffocating darkness of the mountain's guts. The enraged roar of the Alpha echoed right behind him, so close it felt like it was inside his own skull. He heard its massive claws, each the size of a dagger, scrabbling against the rock face, trying to rip the mountain apart to get to him.
He had escaped the cave. But now he was trapped within the stone itself, his lungs burning, the weight of the mountain pressing in on him. Buried alive, with a demon guarding the other side of the wall.