OneArmedImmortal
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The Devouring Menace - 004
🕑 Added 2023-08-25 15:08:18 +0000 UTCI didn't know anything. Absolutely nothing.
I could no longer use the conventional way of gaining information like any other modern human would. I couldn't access the net and surf whatever I wanted to supplement my deficit of knowledge.
My current environment wasn't exactly a 'zootopia' and went by the ironclad rule of the jungle and universally known as "Survival of the fittest.".
I could literally die in thousand ways.
The information I currently had was my current identity as a rogue wolf in another pack and my location was an unknown dreary forest that teemed with a variety of flora and fauna.
I had little to no hope when it came to the 'cheats' department considering the unpredictability of the one responsible for my current human-to-wolf scenario.
I had once had the idea that I was a shifter but it honestly had felt silly since I already had all the memories of my predecessor.
I simply had no boons but that hadn't barred me from thinking about the lines of many transmigrators with astonishing levels of hope and surety for their so-called 'golden finger.'
'Status, open!' That had been the first thought but it had been fruitless.
'System!'
'Great Sage!' That had been said due to my non-human identity.
'Load system!'
I had used various phrases with the hopes of unlocking the ultimate cheat that could defy the very fabric of reality and overturn logic.
When I realized that all had been utter futility, I had given up right there and then without second thoughts.
There had been nothing that I could do except for continuing with what had been handed over on my plate.
I had decided to resolutely live as a wolf while surviving to the best of my abilities till I died.
I had been pissed off, of course, since I had fantasized about being a phenomenal existence.
The Evil supreme douchebag messed up big time on his own.
He had wanted me to be his source of entertainment but how was I going to do that when I was just as normal as I was back on earth?
My situation reminded me of a regression manhwa that I had read with a main character called Zephyr who was also a victim of the gods' selfish games. After being killed by the Demon God, Zephyr's soul had been lucky enough to catch the interest of divinities who altered the timeline and regressed him to the past while bestowing him with different 'cheat' blessings.
But something had happened during his grand quest and picking up of competent allies which had caused Zephyr to revolt and assume a salted fish tendency instead of entertaining the heartless divine gods.
I had resolved to follow such a path – to exist as a regular wolf and strive to survive to the best of my abilities. Even though I hadn't relinquished my hold on life, I intended to carry on until the day I was taken by the natural embrace of old age or succumbed to unfortunate happenstances like a hungry tiger's attack (though I had no intention of sending myself to death's door).
My intelligence as a human being was surely going to be helpful in the long run to thrive in the jungle. But it would only take me so far.
Time passed and due to me keeping track of it by clawing tally marks on a specific tree whenever day and night passed, I found that I had already stayed in the new world for two weeks.
The two weeks had been quite interesting due to having a firsthand visual experience of the intricate social dynamics in a wolf pack. I had hunted deer through wits and isolation to save up on stamina and overall strength. To bleed deer was a simple trick, leave alone biting chunks of their underbellies, mammaries, or balls.
The neck was the sweetest spot of them all. I unsurprisingly didn't find it nauseating or disgusting to eat raw meat after breaking through the psychological hurdle.
Confronting a formidable adversary like a fully grown muscular stag required a strategic approach. I would collaborate closely with Bob to wear down the enemy through coordinated efforts. Our carefulness in avoiding injuries remained paramount.
We selected prey that posed manageable challenges, ensuring we could handle them without undue risk. If our quarry proved overly resilient and fiercely defiant, I saw no qualms in abandoning the pursuit. Most of the focus was directed toward those on the brink of death due to old age or hidden injuries.
The wisdom to realize that not every prey could be taken down effortlessly even when wits, coordination, and other external factors were involved, was what I had abided in.
I remembered one of Sun Tzu's quotes which stated, "So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak."
Anyways, I didn't have to worry about food and water at the moment except for Bob who always liked to annoy me into playing with him. He liked messing with me especially when I was just relaxing on my own. I honestly didn't understand why a grown-ass male wolf was behaving like a pup. I had been forced to discipline him on multiple occasions before he ceased his clownery.
When you feel uncomfortable about something you just say whatever's in your mind to those causing you discomfort.
I was still trying to understand more about this friendship thing between Bob and I. It was hella awkward to me, to say the least.
Currently, I am resting with my head lying flat on the ground as I laze around atop a tiny plateau. From this vantage point, I can easily observe the pack resting below me. Occasionally, some high-spirited pups and youthful wolves would run around while playing with each other carefreely.
It was such a serene and relaxed atmosphere since everyone was satiated and there had been no lack of food for quite some time.
Everyone was happy, that was my final analysis after briefly observing them.
I didn't indulge much with the pack except during hunts. Bob was the one who was too much of a social creature. He was him. And most members of the pack found him pleasing.
My enjoyment of solitude hadn't decreased an ounce even when a wolf like Bob currently existed in my life.
Bob seemed to have been aware of my innate nature since my predecessor also somehow had lone-wolf tendencies. That made it easy for me to synchronize with my current body.
'Boring. I feel bored like fuck.'
'And I am still clueless about where I am.'
'There are still no signs of human life in this region. Thankfully, the absence of human poachers and hunters is a preferable circumstance.'
I pitifully looked up at the vastness of the night sky with shiny little twinkling stars that seemed to stretch into infinity.
The celestial moon looked unusually large and radiant. I could almost clearly see the cheese-like depressed surfaces on it.
'Beautiful.'
I was totally unaware of the impending disaster heading toward the pack and me.
I couldn't look into the future, duh.
Reality couldn't allow it.
***
Meanwhile, in outer space, several miles away from the Earth's atmosphere,
A space station could be seen undergoing catastrophic destruction due to the irreversible damage done to its hull integrity.
The situation was extremely critical.
And it would only be a matter of time before everything goes KABOOM!
The space station was a research facility exclusively sponsored by a multibillion-dollar company called Energyne.
The sole survivor of the ongoing crisis within the space station was Dr. Atkins. She possessed fair facial features and maintained a well-kept physique, which was quite remarkable for a middle-aged woman.
Gripped by a sense of powerlessness, Dr. Atkins grasped the automated suitcase containing the critically needed samples for Energyne's CEO. A CEO who showed no concern for her life or death, solely driven by self-interest and business motives.
Had she not retrieved the research samples, her fate might have been sealed by the impending explosion of the space station or a gruesome demise at the claws of the pig-sized mutated rats running rampant throughout the station.
That had been the command issued to her for her own survival by bitch of a CEO.
Dr. Atkins didn't like it one bit. She regretted ever taking part in this diabolical research. But sadly, there was no use crying over spilled milk.
What's done's already done.
Dr. Atkins hurriedly entered the capsule and closed the door behind her, only to see a grotesque mutated monster desperately clawing at the glass separating them apart.
"Oh God please let me survive this." Dr. Atkins murmured a brief prayer as she pulled the lever that disconnected the escape capsule from the rest of the crumbling space station. Then, she immediately fastened the thick and robust seat belt around her waist. If she didn't, then inertia wouldn't spare her.
She shut her eyes tightly, then gradually opened them. In her dark eyes, reflections of golden fireworks danced as she witnessed the research space station—her home for several months—callously erupt into an explosion, its fiery chaos mingling with the lifeless forms of her former colleagues.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Two rivulets of tears rolled down her cheeks at the same time as she spectated at the outer space devastation.
Then something unexpected happened…
Crack!
A small crack manifested on the glass window pane, followed by the spread of other small cracks.
With the speed at which the escape space capsule was moving, it was only a matter of seconds before the Grim Reaper finished sharpening his Scythe.
As the capsule slowly proceeded towards re-entry, the shockwaves started spreading throughout the vessel and the increasing unbearable heat almost felt palpable on her fair skin.
CRACK!
"I am fucked!" Dr. Atkins muttered her last hopeless words before the space capsule exploded due to the high friction generated between the falling vessel and the atmospheric air.
Unexpectedly, amidst the fragmented debris, several containers escaped from the explosion pretty much unscathed.
Like shooting meteors, they gravitated down the Earth's atmosphere, and upon breaking past it, each one of them decelerated toward different States of the US.
These seemingly small containers were going to change the fate of the entire world and later on, several other realities.
***
