"Right, thank you very much, sir. It's been an honor."
Owen spoke with a respectful tone as he stepped out of Masrani's office and gently closed the door.
Turning to face Barry, he threw his hands up, eyes wide, making a silent shouting motion. To avoid disturbing the other executives, he didn't let a sound escape.
"Nice!"
Barry lowered his voice, pumping his fist and driving his elbow down through the air in a victory gesture.
Things were looking up! Everything was looking up!
A larger paddock! More staff! Promotions! Raises!
It was all… locked in!
…
That afternoon, at the airport.
"I am truly grateful for your help. Really, this means a great deal to me."
Masrani shook hands with Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler respectively. As for Malcolm? He was already on the plane.
"I will arrange the transfer of my company's paleontological dig site in Argentina to you via digital contract shortly, Dr. Grant."
"And of course, for you, Dr. Sattler, the ancient plant fossils and all the proprietary botanical data from this park."
Masrani expressed his gratitude once more. As for Malcolm? Masrani had paid a premium just to get him here.
Dr. Grant's team had completed their mission, transforming the Primeval Ecological Zone into a stable dinosaur ecosystem and fulfilling Masrani's vision. Now, they were preparing to depart.
Naturally, Masrani would have loved to keep the two of them on. However, Dr. Sattler needed to return to her children, and Dr. Grant didn't want any more midnight trysts with Raptors in his dreams. As for Malcolm? He was an oppositionist; why keep him around?
Dr. Grant boarded the plane but paused at the hatch, looking back at the island one last time. For some reason, he felt a twinge of nostalgia. In a daze, he seemed to hear that voice again, the voice of the big black Raptor.
"Alan! Don't leave me! Come back!"
Damn it. Nostalgia my foot. Let's go.
Dr. Grant moved quickly into the cabin, ignoring the odd looks from others as he helped the crew pull the hatch shut.
"Whew…"
Letting out a long sigh, he headed toward his seat. Beside him, Malcolm had already reclined his chair, a magazine draped over his face as he prepared for a nap. This guy, despite having the easiest job, was the most eager to leave.
Grant picked up his thermos from the table.
"Alan."
Ellie's voice made Grant pause just as he was unscrewing the lid.
"What is it?"
"Your dig site... you won't be struggling for funding anymore, will you?"
Hearing this, Grant gave a soft chuckle and shook his head.
"No. Definitely not." He took a sip of water and continued, "And even if I were really strapped for cash, I wouldn't follow two fake billionaires to a dinosaur-infested island to find a missing kid ever again."
Ellie couldn't help but laugh along.
"I have to go to The New York Times tomorrow. They've invited me for an interview regarding the safety of Jurassic World. Do you want to come?"
Dr. Grant hesitated, tightening the lid of his thermos and placing it back on the table. After a long silence, he spoke with a smile:
"I think I'd rather go back to digging in the dirt."
Ellie's smile remained as she watched the scenery outside the window rush past. "I see."
No one knew what the two were really thinking, nor what their words truly implied.
Wait... maybe someone did?
Grant suddenly noticed something off about Ian next to him. The man seemed to twitch. He lifted a corner of the magazine, only to find Ian's eyes wide and sparkling with curiosity.
Grant didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he slapped the magazine back down, shaking his head helplessly.
…
Carnotaurus One crept through the tall grass, moving slowly to ensure he didn't make a sound.
He could smell the blood in the air, that heart-pounding aroma awakened his primal urge to feed. He hadn't eaten in three days. Those Parasaurolophus were incredibly clever; once they realized the Stegosaurus herd couldn't guarantee their safety, they all bolted. Now they were off looking for a new "partner."
This meant the Carnotaurus could no longer simply find the Stegosauruses to locate his prey. It wasn't that he couldn't eat a Stegosaurus, it was just that... well, those guys had too much guts.
Among modern animals, many large creatures like moose or wild yaks react to predators by fleeing. In reality, their body size often dwarfs the local predators; if they dared to face them head-on, they could easily intimidate them. This is why you shouldn't turn your back and run when encountering a beast in the wild, you need to make yourself look bigger and more terrifying.
If you're brave enough, you can even try to chase the predator to make it think it's on your menu. (Just kidding, don't actually try that!)
The dinosaur world operated on the same logic. A bold Stegosaurus would love nothing more than to introduce its tail to a Carnotaurus's face, leaving the predator wondering if he was the one being hunted. Thus, he had decisively abandoned the idea of hunting Stegosaurus, choosing instead to travel further afield for prey.
But this came with a greater hidden danger. That crazy Ceratosaurus was one thing, but the key threat was the massive predator he had never met. According to Carnotaurus Two's description, there were at least two big ones and one small one.
Judging by the incredibly thick scent of blood in the air, this was undoubtedly the handiwork of those giants. The Parasaurolophus he used to hunt never smelled this strongly; this was almost certainly not the work of a Ceratosaurus.
Breaking through the jungle and stepping onto the grassland, Carnotaurus One saw the most spectacular sight of his life.
A mountain of meat.
With a body that large, how many days could he eat? He couldn't even imagine it. He had to feed on this carcass before the large predators returned, as much as possible.
Changing his skin patterns to drop his camouflage, he sprinted toward the Diplodocus corpse.
30 meters... 20 meters... 10 meters...
The Carnotaurus came to a dead stop. He sensed something.
Carlo, who was still busy dismembering the Diplodocus, pulled his head away from the spine. A massive head popped up from behind "Miss Diplodocus."
This made the Carnotaurus hesitate to charge blindly.
Carlo was somewhat speechless. This Diplodocus was a real magnet, drawing in a Carnotaurus from so far away. He wanted to try communicating with the Carnotaurus using the same method he used with the Ceratosauruses. But he failed; the temperamental Carnotaurus One wasn't in a mood to play nice.
"ROAR!"
Before Carlo could even move, Carnotaurus One let out a high-pitched, threatening roar. The Carnotaurus decided to gamble on his own strength to seize the feeding rights.
Seeing this, Carlo stopped being polite. He planted his legs firmly, drawing in a deep breath.
"ROAR—!!!"
From behind the Diplodocus carcass, he unleashed a roar far louder and more menacing than that of Carnotaurus One.
He wasn't bloodthirsty, but he didn't fear a fight. At the very least, he had to accumulate more combat experience before that "man-made monster" made its debut.
Last time, Carnotaurus Two had outsmarted Carlo with a clever ploy. He was looking forward to seeing what Carnotaurus One had to offer.
———————
P.S.: Here's a joke—an ARK Giganotosaurus isn't aggressive.
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over here ——— pa-tre-on.c-om/AlexandrusTL [remove the hyphen for normal access]