The stamina of the Red Feathered Velociraptor was indeed remarkable. Sprinting over 150 kilometers along the concrete road, by the time they reached Masindi, it was barely breathing heavily.
Ji Xinghuo and his companions slowed down as they entered the city.
"Let’s go to the site and have a look."
Jing Ji was not very optimistic and shook his head, "The incident happened over a week ago, I’m afraid all the clues and traces have been destroyed."
Ji Xinghuo was about to speak when he saw another Hunting Team, also riding Velociraptors.
The two groups were a hundred meters apart on the street. They glanced at each other and passed by without incident.
After that, on the way to the site, they encountered several more Hunting Teams. In Masindi, a city with only a population of over two million, the frequency of foreigners, especially Mutants, was abnormally high. Everyone was on their guard, each with considerable strength, many of which were teams from Hunting Companies.
When the group arrived at the location from the video, Ji Xinghuo exchanged glances with his teammates, each of them recognizing the helplessness in the other’s eyes.
The scene was crowded with people!
The Masindi military had cordoned off the district, preventing local residents from getting close.
A car-mounted loudspeaker repeated: "Entry to the site comes with a per-person fee, 1,000 Ya Yuan or 4,000 US dollars each, War Pets are free, limited to ten minutes per visit."
Mutants from various countries were lining up to pay.
Outside the cordon, it was packed with residents who had come to see the commotion.
"So much for searching for anything."
Chi Zhonglin grumbled, "With so many people going in, any clues would have been destroyed long ago, and it’s impossible to distinguish the monster’s scent."
Ji Xinghuo looked at Lu Yunhai, sending an inquiring gaze.
"Broken Teeth can’t do it," Lu Yunhai shook his head with a look of regret. "The scene is too chaotic with scents. It doesn’t know which scent comes from the monster, making it impossible to track."
Ji Xinghuo had already communicated with Qing Hong, and it was unable to succeed either.
"You guys wait here for a bit."
The figure of Jing Ji suddenly vanished from the back of the Velociraptor, as Ji Xinghuo watched him slip into the shadows and enter a shop on the street by the site.
He returned before long and told everyone, "Leave the city, head east."
"What’s the story?" Ji Xinghuo asked.
"The owner of that shop gave me a clue. On the day of the incident, someone saw the monster by a river east of the city, and they provided me with specific navigation coordinates." Jing Ji replied, but did not go into detail about how he obtained the information.
Without asking further, Ji Xinghuo and his team immediately left the city and soon arrived at the destination.
Narrowing his eyes at the tranquil, broad river in front of him, over a hundred meters wide with undercurrents flowing beneath the seemingly peaceful surface, which extended out from an endless swamp lake, everyone was stumped.
"This must be the Nile River, right?" Ji Xinghuo took out a map to confirm, and it was indeed correct.
To the east was Kiyoga Lake, a vast swamp lake that spanned over 2,500 square kilometers. It connected to Victory Lake, its banks meandering with a proliferation of reeds and floating plants filling the lake. Although the lake itself was only four to five meters deep, its vast expanse was daunting.
Jing Ji walked around the area and found several peculiar footprints.
With a command from Lu Yunhai, the ancient tracker hound sped forward, sniffing the prints on the ground.
Ji Xinghuo and the others also came closer to observe. From the outline, it was clear that the animal that left them was enormous, with five widely spaced claws, almost half a meter in diameter, deeply impressed into the hard ground. Even after a week, they were still visibly clear, leaving behind a shallow trail as it had passed.
Following the direction of the footprints, they led into the Nile River.
After a long and intense sniffing session, the ancient tracker hound stood by the riverbank, gazing at the vast river surface, looking somewhat lost.
Lu Yunhai stood up and estimated, "Judging by the size, it’s about 10 meters in length, weighs between 3 to 4 tons, and its running speed could reach up to 160 kilometers per hour. It’s likely a mutated species of some large lizard, not a crocodile. The most well-known lizard in Africa is the Nile monitor, but I’ve never heard of one growing this large. I’m only about 60% sure."
This speculation immediately made everyone take notice.
To infer so much data from just footprints was not surprising for an experienced Hunter, but Lu Yunhai was just a novice.
"Why do you say it’s a large lizard and not a crocodile?" Ji Xinghuo wondered.
Confidently, Lu Yunhai pointed to the footprints and explained, "Both large lizards and crocodiles have five toes, but the claws of a crocodile are bulkier while those of a large lizard are longer and sharper. These footprints have five deep holes, and the difference is quite clear."
He projected a picture of the Nile monitor on his phone, which matched his description with its slender claws.
The shape matched the footprints on the ground perfectly.
The teammates were all invigorated by this revelation.
Lu Yunhai continued, "The Nile monitor is a semi-aquatic animal, very good at swimming, but they like to come ashore to bask in the sun and dry off. They have a diverse diet, eating almost anything, and are found all over Africa, typically living near rivers, lakes, and swamps. We can start searching these areas."
Ji Xinghuo praised, smiling, "I didn’t realize, Yunhai, that you know so much about animals."
Lu Yunhai chuckled embarrassingly, "It’s all basic skills for a Hunter. I’ve crammed a bit of knowledge over the past few years."
Opening the map and taking a glance, Jing Ji felt challenged, "It won’t be easy to find."
The water systems of East Africa were crisscrossed with numerous lakes and rivers, all interconnected, through which the giant lizard could traverse the entire African continent.
"It’s not so difficult now that we have a good idea of what the creature is like," Ji Xinghuo said with a calm smile.
Everyone looked over.
Without holding back any secrets, Ji Xinghuo explained, "We just need to find the footprints."
If Lu Yunhai’s conjecture was correct, the mutated Nile monitor would often come ashore to sunbathe.
The creature’s footprints were large and distinct; they would stand out as clear anomalies in the sensing of magnetic fields. He didn’t need to search with his eyes alone; if he followed the shoreline and looked for footprints with the right characteristics, he would be able to track down the creature.
He explained the process to his teammates.
Everyone suddenly realized and marveled at the powerful magnetic field sensing capabilities for scouting.
"Time waits for no one, let’s search upstream first."
The upstream section of the Nile River that they were searching was over twenty kilometers east towards Kiyoga Lake, and the six riders moved along the riverbank on their velociraptors.
Ji Xinghuo expanded his magnetic field sensing, meticulously searching the ground along the shore.
He didn’t miss even the shallower parts of the riverbed.
The search continued until it was dark, and by dawn, they were nearly two hundred kilometers from where they found the footprints, but still, there was no discovery.
"It must have headed downstream."
"However, it’s also possible that it swam into Kiyoga Lake and climbed out on the opposite shore," Lu Yunhai concluded.
Ji Xinghuo’s magnetic field sensing could reach up to two thousand kilometers, yet Kiyoga Lake’s widest point was nearly twenty kilometers and even its narrowest was around five kilometers, all beyond the reach of his magnetic sensing range.
"Let’s camp here for rest, and continue tomorrow."
Ji Xinghuo chose a campsite at the edge of a forest away from the riverbank, "I’ll go hunt for food for the velociraptors."
As Lu Yunhai set up the tent, he saw Ji Xinghuo walk forward a few dozen meters, raise his Invisible Stab, draw an arrow at random, and shoot it from his bow. The arrow turned invisible and disappeared into the dark forest. A second later, a wail sounded from hundreds of meters away followed by the thud of a heavy body falling to the ground.
His first Alien Species fusion was "Eagle Eye," which gave him excellent vision, but in the pitch-dark night, he couldn’t see very far and had no idea what prey Ji Xinghuo had hit.
Ji Xinghuo entered the forest, and soon came back carrying a huge wild boar.
The wild boar was thrown to the ground, making a muffled sound.
Lu Yunhai was dumbfounded. It was the first time he had seen Ji Xinghuo take action in the wild, and it far exceeded his expectations. He thought that if Ji Xinghuo were the enemy, he would have no clue how he might die.
Zhuolige Tu’s expression also grew solemn.
Skilled in healing and melee combat, he most feared these kinds of precision marksmen.
Jing Ji, Yuan Chongzhen, and Chi Zhonglin were already used to it. Jing Ji glanced once and couldn’t help saying, "This boar must weigh at least a ton, right? If we’re lucky, it might evolve into a monster." He took out his scimitar and quickly chopped a few times, dividing the boar into more than a dozen pieces.
They kept only a front leg for roasting, and fed the remaining parts to the velociraptors and the Fierce Battle Bear.
The sounds of tearing and eating flesh echoed around the campsite.
After eating and drinking their fill, everyone went to their tents to rest.
"Yunhai, you go rest, I’ll keep watch tonight," Ji Xinghuo said, walking up to Lu Yunhai.
Lu Yunhai shook his head, "But we agreed before we left that I would keep watch."
"I’m not tired, and you don’t need to worry about me," Lu Yunhai insisted, "I fused with the Headhunter Tribe blood source last month. I’ve gained tremendous strength and recovery power, and I can self-heal. Even if I don’t sleep for three days and nights, it’s no problem."
Ji Xinghuo was somewhat surprised.
The Headhunter Tribe was a very common race in the Star Realm, mostly living in the harshest environments. Killing them could sometimes grant their Alien Species talents. After assimilation, it could greatly enhance the Mutant’s overall physical condition, making it a superior Alien Species.
"Call me immediately if you find anything." Ji Xinghuo said, before also going to rest.
But he didn’t fully entrust the safety of the team to a novice; he secretly kept Qing Hong alert as a precaution.
The night passed without incident.
The next morning, after packing up, they continued their search for the monster’s footprints.
After two days of searching around Kiyoga Lake without finding any trace, they finally returned to the riverside where the footprints were discovered.
Caught between entering the lake and heading downstream, Ji Xinghuo chose the latter.
After searching more than a hundred kilometers downstream along the Nile River, Ji Xinghuo suddenly perked up as his magnetic field sensing finally found new footprints.
Everyone was excited.
Ji Xinghuo led the group to a thick bush a thousand meters away from the river, where he spotted several familiar footprints.
The Tracker Hound immediately sniffed the footprints. Lu Yunhai’s face lit up with joy as he announced loudly, "These footprints are still very fresh, no more than three days old."
The teammates searched the surrounding area but found no other prints.
"It can definitely fly!" Ji Xinghuo said with a grave expression, confirming this as the magnetic field sensing revealed nothing else, supporting the deduction.
A flying monster was ten times more difficult to track and hunt.
"Broken Teeth has locked onto the scent direction," Lu Yunhai said happily, petting his War Pet and calming it with food, letting it lead the way.
The Tracker Hound confirmed a direction and started running; Ji Xinghuo and his companions followed closely on their velociraptors, with the dog occasionally stopping to turn a few circles before continuing.
This pursuit continued for two whole days.
Heading west, they crossed north of Albert Lake, through the East Africa Rift Valley, and entered the Congo Basin. The vegetation grew denser as they descended from the East Africa Plateau, with short mountains appearing around them, and several monster and wild beast attacks along the way, though none posed a real threat.
They had now left the borders of the East Africa Kingdom and entered the territory of the Zaier United Emirates, about five hundred kilometers away from Masindi.
In the afternoon, the Tracker Hound suddenly stopped and let out a low howl.
Lu Yunhai turned to say, "We’re very close to the source of the scent, no more than ten kilometers away."
"Continue moving forward," Ji Xinghuo ordered, following the Tracker Hound’s lead.
Moments later, he raised his hand to halt the velociraptors, whispering, "We’ve found it."