Clang!
The harbor erupted into absolute chaos as workers scattered in all directions. Carlo ripped open the domed roof of the central warehouse and peered inside.
A human who is very good at drawing, unrecognized dinosaurs, a very polite human, unrecognized dinosaurs, a pale woman, unrecognized dinosaurs, a human who really likes dinosaurs...
What a bizarre scene. Why can't I make sense of this?
Carlo.exe has stopped responding.
He didn't know yet that humans had successfully weaponized the Atrociraptors. From his perspective, the way the Atrociraptors completely ignored the pale woman was deeply baffling.
BANG!
With a deafening gunshot, several shotgun pellets peppered Carlo's cheek, kicking up a shower of sparks.
Tilting his head, he looked down at the creature that had dared to attack him. It was a shivering human in a security uniform, standing with his feet planted shoulder-width apart.
"Grrnnfff…"
Carlo let out a low huff at him. Thoroughly terrified, the guard clutched his firearm tightly and began a slow, staggering retreat, looking as though his entire worldview had just shattered.
Carlo didn't move. He merely waited with patience.
Three, two, one...
"Aunnng-roar!"
Katyusha blindsided the guard from the flank! Her jaws clamped down directly onto his torso from above. Whipping her head to thrash him through the air a few times, she slammed him brutally into the ground.
Classic Katyusha.
There was a certain tyrannical beauty to Katyusha's hunting style that Carlo quite enjoyed watching. Back when he was young, his own method of tearing open a Diplodocus's chest had been similarly brutal. He couldn't quite replicate that feeling nowadays, though.
Of course, that was only because it had become far too easy, robbing the act of its artistic flair.
Carlo lowered his head, sinking his teeth into the frame of the warehouse door, and ripped it away along with the adjacent walls.
Trill-whistle!
The Handler issued a sharp command, attempting to direct the Atrociraptors to attack Carlo. However, the pack merely let out high-pitched screeches around her, refusing to advance a single inch.
"Aok?"
The gaze of one Atrociraptor darted back and forth between Carlo and the Handler. A remarkably human expression of sheer bewilderment flashed across its eyes, as if to say, "You want me to fight THAT?!"
Screeech—Crunch!
The warehouse doors and the surrounding walls shattered under the strain. As the ear-piercing screech of tearing metal echoed across the harbor, the Atrociraptors' biological survival instincts finally overrode their training, and they scattered in flight.
HOOOOONNNG—
The deep blast of a large cargo ship's horn echoed from the harbor's edge. Massive propellers began to churn, kicking up violent plumes of white water.
Hmm?
"Roar…"
The freighter caught Carlo's attention. Giving a low grunt to signal Katyusha to stay alert, he dashed at full speed toward the fleeing vessel.
The thunderous impact of his massive footsteps sent tremors through the entire harbor, instantly drawing the gaze of Giga Dad, who had just freed a Pachyrhinosaurus alongside its two hatchlings.
THUD!
Carlo opened his jaws to their absolute limit and clamped down with crushing force onto the iron hull of the freighter's side, grinding the massive ship to a sudden, screeching halt!
Hooonngg—
"We're moving backward!"
Terrified shouts erupted from the humans inside the ship's bridge. Carlo lifted his left foot and took a heavy step back, his immense power gouging horrifying cracks into the concrete pier.
The ocean surged with massive waves and white frothing ripples as the cargo ship, which had been attempting to steam away, was dragged backward by several meters!
Screeech—Rip!
The familiar, agonizing sound of tearing metal rang out again. Unable to withstand the immense burden, the freighter's hull began to crack. Knowing he couldn't maintain this deadlock forever, Carlo gave his head a violent whip!
The terrifying, raw force tore a massive chunk of iron clean off the ship's side. Unbalanced, the freighter listed slightly toward Carlo before sliding and crashing heavily against the dock!
CRASH!
The shipping containers stacked on deck broke loose, rolling and slamming back onto the harbor grounds. The violent impacts instantly smashed the locking mechanisms open. As a container door swung slowly open, a somewhat dazed Tyrannotitan stepped out into the light.
Hooonngg—
Ultimately, Carlo's strength wasn't enough to capsize the ship entirely. The giant vessel righted itself after the slight tilt, but a massive fissure had opened along its waterline, making any further voyage completely impossible.
As the freighter began showing signs of sinking, Carlo didn't panic. He took two steps forward, acting as a living crane, and began picking up the remaining containers one by one with his teeth, swinging them safely back onto the dock.
Seeing that Carlo was fine, Giga Dad retracted its gaze. Flanked by Kafka and Karl, and a newly rejoined Katyusha, they continued their crusade of liberating the dinosaurs.
They had already figured out the trick: as long as they rammed the smallest side of a shipping container, the door controlled by the simple mechanical lock would pop right open, though they had no idea why.
Clang!
For most of the dinosaurs, the moment the iron doors swung open, they didn't feel a sense of freedom; rather, they felt overwhelming fear. However, there was one notable exception.
"Aunnng-roar!"
Big Eatie roared mightily as she stepped out of her container. She was a Jurassic World Tyrannosaurus rex of the exact same model as old grandma Rexy, her body heavily marred by horrific scars.
But unlike Rexy, those scars were not medals of honor from a lifetime of combat, they were the handiwork of humanity's hybrid creations.
"Aunnng—"
The one responding to her wasn't Kafka, who had just broken her iron door, but rather the Tyrannotitan that had just escaped the freighter. After all, the Giganotosaurus family was a very busy group.
The two apex predators stood face-to-face. Carnivorous dinosaurs were eternally restless creatures; even if they didn't fight to the death, they always had to roar at each other upon meeting to assert their dominance.
And if the opponent refused to back down... well, then it would be time for a thrilling, high-stakes duel!
…
"Roar—"
An Acrocanthosaurus roared in fury, slamming its flank hard against the ruined wall of the warehouse. The Atrociraptor that had been clinging to its high, ridged back was crushed by the immense force, dropping to the ground with the sickening crunch of breaking bones, utterly incapacitated.
The clever Darius knew that if they wanted to extract themselves from this chaos, they had to create an even greater distraction.
Though Carlo had inadvertently solved their Atrociraptor problem, the Handler had spotted them, and it was only a matter of time before the remaining raptors regrouped.
Under the circumstances, spawning a few neutral creatures here shouldn't be considered cheating, right?
"Look out!"
Kenji acted fast, shoving Darius down just in time as a fleeing, one-eyed Allosaurus nearly slapped Darius across the face with its tail.
Okay, maybe it was a little much.
Unlike the calculated approach of the Giganotosaurus family, the dinosaurs inside the warehouse bolted out the absolute second their doors cracked open, plunging the entire dock into a massive, free-for-all prehistoric brawl.
Some were starving after a day without food and wanted to hunt; some were frantic, looking for their lost offspring; others were trying to mate, fight, or chase fleeing humans... for a moment, it was a grand gathering of chaos.
But with things pushed to this extreme, there was no way the Atrociraptors could single them out again, right?
Thud!
"Eeek!"
An Atrociraptor was flung through the air by the Acrocanthosaurus, landing squarely right in front of the four teenagers. Talk about terrible luck!
"Aok-roar!"
The Atrociraptor staggered to its feet, looking somewhat weakened, perhaps its bones were fractured? Still, it wasn't injured badly enough to prevent it from standing, and it was more than capable of killing these few…
CRASH!
A red van drifted wildly into the scene, striking the freshly risen Atrociraptor dead-on and sending it flying!
Well, it definitely wasn't just fractured anymore. It was completely broken.
"Am I right on time?"
"Ben!"
The moment Darius and the others saw the van, they knew exactly who it was and scrambled inside without a moment's hesitation.
Click.
The instant Darius buckled his seatbelt, Ben slammed on the gas. Peering through the rearview mirror at the rioting harbor, Darius voiced a suggestion that would likely get him clocked by the rest of the group.
"We have to tranquilize them. Otherwise, they're going to fight each other to the death out there."
"Leave professional jobs to the professionals," Ben said, seemingly anticipating Darius's reaction while keeping things cryptic.
"What do you—"
Thump-thump-thump-thump!
A dark silhouette rapidly expanded in the sky ahead. A helicopter bearing a distinct skull insignia roared into the harbor, flying past them in the opposite direction.
Immediately following it, convoy after convoy of armored jeeps brushed past their van, speeding directly toward the chaotic docks.
It was the Primeval Organization.
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