20. Predatory Bat

Ran hastily climbed up step by step. The roar behind him was pumping his adrenaline to the highest level. Ran didn't know how dangerous the flying rodent was, but he had a feeling that it would be better to avoid it quickly.

He had not reached the exit, but now he had come to an alcove which was quite gentle and spacious. The rumbling behind him grew quieter. The strange and terrible bats apparently didn't continue the pursuit.

Light! Yes, the light might scare them. This space received enough light from outside. Although it was still quite dim in the eyes of a human like him. Ran breathed a sigh of relief.

But immediately he choked up. Ran's eyes caught countless piles of bones. From a wide variety of small and large animals. Rabbits, birds, antelopes, even what looked like new tiger bones! The giant tiger he had seen on Bone Island. It was a horrific sight!

Wow, all these animals were preyed upon by the bats that chased him earlier. Luckily he quickly escaped. Ran shuddered, he couldn't imagine if he was caught by the wild and savage bats earlier. The hair on the back of his neck stood up.

He had to hurry. The exit hole at the top was big enough but still quite far. Ran didn't want to spend the night in this grave hole. Not to mention the Death Squad might be waiting for him outside. Ran gathered his willpower to beat the fatigue spreading throughout his body.

This climb wasn't too steep. Ran was almost at the entrance of the hole when he heard a commotion and noise above him. Ran pressed his body against the wall of the cave passage. He obviously didn't want to come out before knowing what was causing the commotion and noise. Ran peeked slowly.

What?! Ran's heart skipped a beat. There were two Death Squad members battling an abnormally sized bear. A giant bear that was almost three times its natural size!

The two people must have been looking for him when they encountered the giant beast. Ran thought hard. He was caught in a completely unfavorable situation. Below, the swarms of predatory bats were ready to eat him while waiting for the darkness to come. Above, the brutal and horrible Death Squad was looking for him to be captured or worse, killed!

Even if the giant bear could defeat the Death Squad, Ran was also at a loss as to how to escape from such powerful beast. If only Cindy were here. Of course, she could handle them all. The girl had turned into the deadliest weapon. Terrible, but at least she was still his best friend.

Err…was it still now? The chip inside her head had ripped out consciousness which made her one of the Death Squad as well. Ran cursed Sandra and her group in his mind.

A heart wrenching scream was heard as one of the Death Squad members was flung from the fight with a gapping belly and severed neck.

While the other one was struck by a giant bear claw and then laid helplessly on the ground near to the exit hole where Ran was hiding. Close enough. Ran could even clearly hear the soft groan from his mouth.

The giant bear let out a huge roar of victory before ambled away from the battle arena. Its body was also badly injured. The Death Squad was indeed formidable.

Ran felt his stomach churning with hunger. Good grief! He had spent more than half a day in the hole. No wonder he was starving. He ate a few biscuits from his bag before finally crawling out of the hole carefully.

Ran was stunned! Now he could clearly see how bad the body of one of the Death Squad had been. The bear apparently tore his whole body violently. The other one wasn't dead yet. He was dying. His body was still moving.

Ran didn't want to come closer. He could still be very dangerous. It would be better if he found his way to his friends who were still in the middle of the forest.

But his body was worn out. The process of escaping from the ship, swimming, climbing cliffs, being trapped in a bat cave, then watching the fierce battle between a giant bear and the Death Squad, had drained his energy and adrenaline. Ran felt exhausted.

After all, the day was getting late. It would be foolish if he entered the strange forest on this dangerous island at night. He wouldn't know what awaited him in darkness. He should rest tonight, recovering his strength while making plans.

Ran looked around. Searching for a safe place to spend the night.

Big stones were everywhere. The forest that was starting to look dark and black was meters ahead. Ran, who had experience doing many expeditions, could properly analyze which places were safe to spend the night and which were not. His eyes were drawn to a large tree not far from where he was standing.

A tree wasn't only big, it was gigantic. It was probably over 50 meters tall. The canopy was very lush with large branches.

Ran observed carefully. He feared the lush canopy was the nest of a giant bird or snake, or some other strange animal he didn't know. Hmmm…it seemed safe. There was no sign that the tree held a potential danger.

Ran decided to stay on the big tree. There was one branch that looked very sturdy and protected. He could rest there.

Before climbing the giant tree, Ran still had time to look at the Death Squad that was dying. The body was no longer moving. Maybe he was dead.

With the dexterity of an ape, thanks to his training so far, Ran managed to get to the branch where he spent the night. Its height was probably over 20 meters. Quite safe from the reach of the land animals. He was protected by two large branches that crossed each other. Ran felt that this night would pass peacefully.

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The day turned to dark quickly. Ran had finished two large pieces of biscuits and a bottle of water. He had to be frugal. Even though he knew how to survive in the wild, this was a strange territory. Tomorrow was the perfect time to explore what to eat while following the tracks of his friends.

His sleeping position was quite comfortable. Ran decided to sleep early. Previously this adventurous man had smeared his body with the leaves that he had crushed. So that his body odor wouldn't attract predators.

When he was half asleep, Ran was startled by a loud noise from below. Like the buzz of a bee approaching. The night was covered with three-quarters of the moonlight. So that in the dim moonlight Ran could see what was going on below.

From the hole exiting the cave, appeared hundreds of bats that he had seen this morning in the cave. The cauldron of bats circled like bees around the two corpses of the Death Squad. Ran opened his eyes wide. Curious what the swarm of bats would do.

Another growl was heard not far away. Uh, apparently the giant bear returned. After recovering from exhaustion and licking its wounds, the bear returned to prey on the two Death Squad members that it defeated this afternoon. The bear must be starving.

Ran felt his heart pounding wildly. He had a feeling that something big was about to happen.

Sure enough. Preceded by the command of a loud screech, hundreds of bats charged at the bear. The bear straightened its giant body trying to disperse them using its sharp claws.

Several bats fell dead torn by hooves and sharp fangs. But hundreds more managed to bite and slash the bear's body. Ran was wide-eyed! In less than fifty minutes, the bear's giant body fell and was only a skeleton!

Ran's amazement didn't end there. After devouring the bear's giant body in less than an hour, the bats charged at the corpses of the Death Squad. Because there was no resistance, the two corpses were gone in mere minutes!

Ran had goosebumps. The bats were apparently still hungry. In a coordinated rhythm of murmuring, the black predatory wave charged towards him!

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