The Evolutionary Path of the Lion

Chapter 52 You've Gone Mad

"I've highlighted the stress characteristics of zebra swarming separately." Marcus turned a page. "Swarming is triggered synchronously at multiple points, with a high frequency and dispersed stress values, making its characteristics very obvious. The data from these three points are triggered sequentially at single points, with consistent strides, indicating individual movement."

Ella leaned back in her chair, placing her hands crossed on the table. "So we're discussing a single individual whose weight is estimated to be over 200 kilograms and whose movement speed is close to 200 kilometers per hour."

"The weight range is 160 to 240 kilograms, with a confidence level of 78%," Marcus said. "As for the speed figure... I'm not sure how to express it properly."

"That's how it's phrased," Ella said.

Kaller put down the water bottle, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, looked out of the tent, and said nothing.

Morris looked at him. "Caller, what animal have you ever seen that can run that fast?"

Kaller thought for a moment, "A cheetah's top speed is about 110 kilometers per hour, which it maintains for 300 to 400 meters, and its weight is generally no more than 70 kilograms." He paused, "I have never seen an animal that weighs more than 160 kilograms and moves at a speed close to 200 kilometers per hour."

"Never seen it, or does it not exist?"

Kaller answered directly, "I don't know."

This is the longest thing he said today.

Outside the tent, two weaverbirds were fighting over a blade of grass in an acacia tree. They fought for a long time before finally falling down together. They stood there for a second, stunned, before flying away again.

The meeting inside the tent continued.

"Paw prints." Morris steered the conversation downwards. "Let's go over yesterday's measurements again."

Ella pulled a printed form from her bag and laid it flat on the table.

The above is a set of measurement data for claw prints.

Width, depth, forefoot-to-hindfoot ratio, and calculated individual weight and stride.

"The width is roughly the same as that of an adult male lion, or even slightly larger," Ella said. "The problem is the depth. The paw prints of an adult male lion on soft ground are usually two to three centimeters deep. The deepest record in our database is 3.8 centimeters, which belonged to an unusually large individual weighing nearly 250 kilograms."

"How much did we measure?"

"5.2 centimeters."

"Under the same soil conditions?"

"Under the same soil conditions," Ella paused, "and the stride length doesn't match the depth of the paw prints! With such a great depth, the weight should normally be close to 350 kilograms or more, but the stride length is slightly shorter than that of an adult male lion, indicating that the body size isn't particularly large. Putting these two pieces of data together, according to existing biomechanical models, it doesn't make sense."

Kenneth turned the form over and glanced at it. "What do you mean?"

“What I mean is,” Ella said, “the depth of the paw prints doesn’t come from body weight, but from some kind of force that we can’t currently quantify. Simply put, the impact force generated when this individual landed far exceeded the value corresponding to its static weight.”

The tent fell silent again.

"You're saying it had an unusually high acceleration when it landed," Kenneth said.

"right."

"That's the movement speed recorded by the pressure gauge—"

"It's consistent." Ella placed her hand on the table. "High-speed movement, sudden stop, and an unusually large impact upon landing. It's a complete behavioral pattern."

Morris looked at her. "When did you connect these two sets of data?"

"This afternoon, when the people from the protection organization stopped us, I kept thinking about this." Ella paused for a moment. "Maurice, have you considered that this individual might be consciously guiding us?"

The atmosphere inside the tent changed slightly.

Kenneth looked away from the data sheet and at Ella.

Morris didn't immediately refute, but simply tapped his fingers lightly on the table twice, "Go on."

"The poacher incident," Ella cut straight to the point. "Three people, each in a different location, each armed, yet none of them fired. This doesn't make sense according to the hunting patterns of any known large predator. Large felines attack with high speed, giving the target time to react, and the probability of weapons firing is not low. Unless—"

"Unless the attack is completed before the weapon's reaction time," Kenneth continued.

"Yes. Three targets, in different locations, were all dealt with in a very short time without a single weapon firing," Ella said. "What does this require? It requires precise prediction of the positions of the three targets, reaction times, and the sequence of weapon operations, and then executing the optimal path."

Marcus looked up. "You mean it can plan tactics?"

"I'm saying its behavior goes beyond instinctual drive," Ella said. "And then there's today's zebra herd scattering. Why did the zebras scatter? What triggered it? We didn't find any obvious external stimuli, and the instruments didn't detect any large predators approaching the herd. But the herd just happened to scatter right in front of us, completely disrupting our trajectory, and then we walked into the conservation organization's monitoring area."

No one spoke inside the tent.

The generator outside the window continued to hum.

Kaller picked up the kettle, then put it down again without drinking.

"You mean the zebra herd explosion was deliberately triggered?" Morris said.

“I can’t prove it,” Ella said, “but if it were, this individual would not only have tactical planning capabilities, but also the ability to proactively intervene in ecological behavior on a larger scale. It knows that zebras will trigger our course deviations, it knows where the conservation organization’s monitoring area is, and it knows how the conservation organization will react.”

"It's a lion," Kenneth said flatly. "A lion on the African savanna."

"I know," Ella said.

"A lion's brain does not have this level of planning ability."

"I know," Ella said, "that's why I think there's a problem."

"It's not just a problem, it's utterly absurd! You've gone mad!"

"Well, if this path doesn't work, then it means someone else is deliberately trying to mislead us."

"If it's a murder case classified as a criminal case, then it's beyond our ability to handle..."

[Host: Chen Fei]

[Identity: Sub-adult male lion]

[Energy Points: 876↑]

The landing site is a sandstone platform on the east side.

Chen Fei lay on the edge of the sandstone, his chin resting on his two front paws, his gaze passing over the low tree canopy three kilometers away and landing on a cluster of orange light sources to the north.

That's the survey team's tent.

The light from the generator.

He obviously couldn't see what was being discussed inside the tent. But he didn't need to.

He had taken in everything: the location of that tent, the number of people inside, and their movements throughout the day.

Things went quite smoothly this afternoon.

The protection organization reacted about fifteen minutes faster than he had anticipated. The walkie-talkie crackled to life just as the survey team's equipment reached the edge of the monitoring area. He watched from afar on the sandstone platform as the survey team's formation halted, then retreated, leaving a thin trail of dust in the distance from the protection organization's off-road vehicles.

Two clues, converging once, required absolutely no personal appearance from him.

He liked this feeling.

The person who runs the betting operation never appears at the gambling table.

Chen Fei turned his gaze away from the distant tent and looked down at the grass beneath his feet.

The shadows cast by the sandstone platform had grown long, and the evening wind carried the pungent smell of wildebeest from the east, mixed with the damp scent of trampled low grass. His nostrils twitched slightly.