Chapter 6
After the rain, Shi Nuo felt a distinct drop in temperature. All fears had to take a backseat to hunger.
Two days later. Early morning.
He opened his optical brain and, after confirming there were no beasts within a 1,500-meter radius, set an emergency alert. If any medium or large creatures appeared nearby, his optical brain would display a warning message.
Furthermore, his optical brain could connect to the intelligent system. Although he couldn’t connect to the star network, the house’s system had a built-in small signal transmitter with a maximum coverage range of 5,000 meters. Within this range, roughly five miles, his optical brain could remotely control all the system’s functions.
He rarely ventured beyond a mile and a half from the house. Even the northwestern area where he dug potatoes was only about two and a half to three miles away.
This additional range would consume a bit more energy, but he wasn’t outside all day. He didn’t need full coverage while out; he could use his optical brain to designate the scanning area in the direction he was heading.
The rainwater nourished the young shoots. The sun was strong during the day, but there were still puddles in the low-lying areas of the grass, and his shoes and pant legs inevitably got wet with dew and mud.
Shi Nuo held a wide, flat wooden board, using it to dig up wild vegetable sprouts.
He moved the wristband-style optical brain on his wrist further up his forearm to avoid getting it dirty. He would have to clean it carefully when he returned.
The optical brain was made of waterproof and stain-resistant material, but he couldn’t get it repaired here, let alone buy a new one, so he had to take good care of it.
Before going out, he had not only set the beast alert but also a distance alert. With the house as the starting point, his optical brain would give him a voice notification every three hundred meters he traveled in a straight line.
As for the wooden board, he had made it two days ago while he was bored inside the house, whittling it from a branch with his knife.
The handle was relatively thin and wrapped with cloth. The front end was wide and thick, like a simple shovel, which he used to dig in the ground.
The roots of the young vegetables were shallow, and the soil was moist, so the wooden board was quite handy for loosening the soil.
While digging up wild vegetables, Shi Nuo also carefully looked around for mushrooms. He picked up a branch and used it to part the thick grass, peering inside.
He wasn’t sure if it was the location or something else, but he didn’t see many mushrooms. Occasionally, he would spot one or two under a tree, all with red stems and red caps, and several eye-like oval spots on the caps, a rather unsettling sight.
They looked poisonous, so he didn’t dare dig them up.
Nourished by the rain, the vines had grown rapidly, covering a large area. Several nearby trees were entangled, and the grass on the ground was also covered by the vines’ branches and leaves.
Plants, to some extent, all competed for sunlight, rain, and territory.
The vines were thick, almost as thick as his wrist, and the leaves were large enough to be used as umbrellas. However, both sides of the leaves were covered with fine white hairs, making them prickly to the touch.
Shi Nuo intended to bypass the patch of vines. As he passed the edge, a gust of wind blew, lifting a nearby vine leaf.
A round, green object was hidden beneath the large leaf. As the wind died down and the leaf fell back, it was hidden again.
Shi Nuo’s eyes didn’t miss it. He used his wooden board to lift the large leaf and clearly saw a green, round object.
A melon?
A watermelon!
The spherical green melon was hidden under the leaves. The rind had dark green, irregular stripes. It was clearly a watermelon.
This watermelon was larger than the opening of his bucket, so he couldn’t carry it back in the bucket, but he could hold it with both hands.
Shi Nuo was overjoyed, his eyes lighting up.
He didn’t bother to check if there were more growing on other parts of the vine. He placed his tools on the ground, took the knife from the side of his bucket, squatted down, and carefully touched the round melon, unable to suppress his grin.
He would have watermelon to eat!
He planned to cut it off at the stem and carry it back.
However, before he cut, he suddenly wondered what if it wasn’t ripe, and he was once again troubled.
If he cut it open and found it inedible, it would be heartbreaking. But he didn’t know when watermelons ripened.
He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but squatting close to the watermelon, he seemed to smell the sweet fragrance of ripe fruit, emanating from within the melon, making him lick his lips unconsciously.
Shi Nuo picked up the branch from the ground and parted other vine leaves—no, he should call them watermelon vines now.
He found four or five more round melons hidden under other leaves, and his eyes curved into a smile, his clear eyes filled with delight.
He made up his mind to pick the first melon he had found. It looked large, and the stripes were dark, and it emitted a sweet fragrance. It might actually be ripe.
The vine was sturdy. The first chop only left a shallow mark, so he put more force into his next swing.
Suddenly, everything changed.
The “watermelon,” which had been lying motionless on the ground, suddenly split open horizontally, making a soft cracking sound.
The rind transformed into green fangs, snapping shut as it rolled towards Shi Nuo’s feet. The jaws opened wide and lunged at his foot.
The joy in his eyes turned to bewilderment. Faced with danger, Shi Nuo’s squatting body reacted instinctively, falling backward onto his backside.
He braced himself with one hand, pulling his foot back, avoiding the bite. He scrambled to his feet and quickly retreated.
The “watermelon,” having missed its prey, extended a long, bright red tongue from its “flesh” and licked its lips. The red tongue flicked in the air a few times. Small sucker-like bumps covered its surface, seemingly trying to pinpoint the prey’s location.
Seeing that the “melon” was attached to the vine and couldn’t move, Shi Nuo gripped his knife tightly, his expression fearful. Who would have thought that the watermelons here could bite?
He didn’t hesitate. He picked up the branch from the ground, threaded the other end through the handles of his two buckets, pulled them over, and ran.
Rustling sounds came from behind him. Shi Nuo looked back and saw several earth-brown creatures, resembling a cross between a small dog and a rat, emerging from the ground around the vine.
They were small, about twenty centimeters long, curled into balls as they emerged from the soil. They had long, pointed snouts and thin tails, but their eyes were tiny, seemingly atrophied.
Shi Nuo ran fast, but he couldn’t outrun the six or seven small creatures. They sniffed the air a few times, identified his scent, and, dropping to all fours, quickly chased after him.
His sixth sense made him glance back. Two larger ones had closed the distance. One of them kicked off the ground and leaped, aiming for his back.
He instinctively swung the knife in his hand.
The creature, sensing the threat of the gleaming blade, twisted its body, avoiding the knife and falling to the ground.
It seemed extremely unwilling, chattering and revealing its sharp teeth.
As Shi Nuo fended off one, the others closed in. He threw the two buckets in his left hand, which clattered to the ground. The pursuing creatures nimbly dodged them.
He dodged desperately. He had originally intended to run towards the house, but the seven creatures surrounded him, forcing him to flee in another direction.
He stumbled, his mind blank, focused only on running forward, until a sudden pain shot through his calf.
Shi Nuo cried out in pain and stopped, looking down. One of the creatures had leaped onto his leg, biting it fiercely. He gritted his teeth and swung his knife.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
The creature with the sharp snout released its bite and dodged the knife just before it struck, but the others leaped, attempting to pounce and bite him.
Shi Nuo didn’t dare stop. He ran, but after a few steps, his foot landed on nothing, and a sense of weightlessness overwhelmed him. When he came to his senses, he had fallen into a large pit.
His whole body ached from the fall. He sat up and immediately grabbed the knife that had fallen beside him, looking warily at the top of the pit.
As the small, sharp-snouted creatures peered down at him, sniffing the air, Shi Nuo saw claw marks on the walls of the pit, very similar to the claws of the creatures above.
A cold sweat broke out on his back. He realized that this pit, taller than him, was a trap dug by these creatures.
They not only designed traps but also drove their prey into them.
The small creatures chattered.
Shi Nuo’s face was pale. Judging by the creatures’ intelligence, for a moment, he thought they were discussing how to eat him.
He gripped the knife handle tightly. Facing death, a surge of courage coursed through him. He braced himself with one hand and shifted backward, pressing his back against the wall of the pit to avoid being attacked from behind.
No matter how sharp these creatures’ teeth were, they would have to get close to him to eat him. He had a weapon, and these creatures, only the size of puppies, no matter how intelligent, couldn’t withstand a sharp blade.
But he soon realized that the creatures’ chattering had changed, becoming sharp and panicked.
A trembling cry rang out, and Shi Nuo saw the creatures above turn and flee. He didn’t know what was happening, momentarily stunned, but he didn’t dare let down his guard, staring intently at the top of the pit.
His optical brain had given him a voice notification while he was being chased, indicating he had run three hundred meters in a straight line.
A gust of wind blew, rustling the grass at the edge of the pit. Although he heard no other sound, Shi Nuo felt a sense of unease.
A massive creature appeared above.
A shadow fell over him, engulfing him completely. He saw a giant wolf with snow-white fur.
Its blue eyes narrowed slightly, calm and deep, radiating an icy coldness that seemed to look down on all living things.
The beast, over three meters tall at the shoulder, seemed to be assessing its prey, its nose twitching.
Shi Nuo belatedly remembered the bleeding wound on his leg. His body, frozen in fear, couldn’t move. He understood now: the scent of blood had attracted this giant beast.
As if confirming something, the white wolf’s narrowed eyes relaxed, its eyelids drooping slightly.
Although it was just a wild animal, it exuded a cold, aloof handsomeness.
But that wasn’t how Shi Nuo saw it.
He was terrified, unable to make a sound. Seeing the white wolf move, he instinctively tried to retreat, but his back was against the wall of the pit. There was nowhere to go.
As the giant wolf lowered its head, the already small pit felt even smaller.
Facing the warm breath of the massive beast at such close range, Shi Nuo’s meager courage crumbled. He was frozen, unable to resist.
His body lifted into the air as the wolf grabbed his clothes and pulled him out of the pit. The sheer terror made him tremble, and he couldn’t even hold onto the knife, which fell from his hand.
The giant wolf placed him on the ground.
Shi Nuo, his courage gone, curled up on the ground.
Realizing he no longer had to struggle for survival on this planet, he closed his eyes, waiting for death.
He lay curled on his side when he suddenly felt something against his back. The beast flipped him over. He couldn’t resist, landing on his stomach, his back exposed.
Warm, undeniable breath brushed against the back of his neck.
Shi Nuo rested his cheek on his arm, motionless, waiting for death. His mind, blank and numb, inexplicably thought of something irrelevant at this moment: he had always thought wild animals would have a musky smell, but this one didn’t smell bad at all.
The back of his neck was suddenly licked a few times, wet and warm.
He opened his eyes, his pupils trembling. The spot the wolf had licked was where his scent gland was located.
As an Omega, this action instinctively terrified him. He couldn’t fathom what a wild beast wanted to do to his scent gland.
Then, he felt something sharp against his neck. He knew it was the giant wolf’s teeth.
Shi Nuo shuddered. With the wolf’s size, if it bit down, its fangs would pierce his neck, and he would die instantly.
Better than being torn apart alive.
The difference in size was too great. In the white wolf’s eyes, the Omega was small and fragile, unable to withstand even the fangs of a beast in its full form.
Behind Shi Nuo, where he couldn’t see, a shimmering outline flickered around the white wolf, and its form solidified, now half its original size, only about a meter and a half tall at the shoulder.
Shi Nuo, waiting for death, felt the sharp teeth pierce his skin. The fangs sank into his scent gland but didn’t go through as he had expected.
A soft sucking sound reached his ears as the liquid pheromones in his gland were drawn out. The Omega’s sweet pheromones released a rich fragrance, growing stronger.
In his shock, Shi Nuo involuntarily released even more pheromones, his entire being exuding the scent of tea olive blossoms.
The white wolf’s throat moved as it swallowed the sweet pheromones, then injected its own Alpha pheromones into the Omega’s gland through its fangs.
Shi Nuo finally smelled the Alpha’s pheromones, dominant and powerful, flooding into his body, as if branding him, making him tremble uncontrollably.
The overwhelming influx of potent Alpha pheromones triggered the onset of heat, and he felt a growing wetness between his legs.
