Natural selection, survival of the fittest

"Hello, how can I help you?"

"Hello? Are you there?"

"Hello, are you still there?"

The operator's concerned questions came intermittently through the phone's earpiece, her voice carrying professional warmth and urgency.

Watching the little girl's retreating figure, Shen Heng's gaze gradually grew resolute. He raised the phone to his ear and spoke rapidly:

"In the alley about three hundred meters to the left of Shangpu Residential Community, there's a dog over a meter tall attacking someone! Send some police officers right away! And call an ambulance!"

The moment he finished, Shen Heng decisively lowered his phone, ignoring the questions from the other end.

His gaze fixed on the black dog in the alley, he started walking inside.

"Wait, don't go in on your own. See if there's anyone nearby, get someone else to..."

"Hello?"

"Hello!!"

Inside the dispatch room, a policewoman kept shouting into her receiver, but all she heard was the beeping of a disconnected line.

Realizing something was wrong, the policewoman hurriedly stood, raised her hand, and called to a man sitting a short distance ahead:

"Captain Fan, we have a situation!"

The man addressed as Captain Fan immediately looked over.

"What is it?"

"Someone just called and said a dog was attacking someone near Shangpu Residential Community!" the policewoman said hurriedly.

"A dog attacking someone?" Captain Fan frowned slightly. That alone wasn't something she needed to notify him about.

Realizing she hadn't given him the full picture, the policewoman spoke again:

"He said the dog was nearly a meter tall!"

Captain Fan immediately understood the severity of the situation. What normal dog was that tall? This was definitely a Calamity Beast. He stood at once. "What about the caller?"

"He... he..."

"What happened to him?" Captain Fan demanded sharply.

"He seems to have gone in himself!" the policewoman replied.

Bang!

Captain Fan slammed his hand onto the desk in front of him.

"Idiot! Fool! Moron! With something that size, did he think he could take it on? Who gave him the courage?"

After a few furious curses, Captain Fan took two deep breaths and quickly calmed down, immediately issuing orderly instructions:

"Notify nearby officers to get there immediately, and remember to authorize them to draw their guns and fire! Also, contact the Supervision Bureau and the hospital right away!"

"Yes, sir!"

Inside the alley.

Shen Heng strode forward.

Along the way, he tried looking for something he could use as a weapon, but aside from cans, plastic bags, and the like, there was nothing on the ground that could serve as one.

Seeing this, he could only abandon the idea and keep walking toward the big black dog.

As he drew closer, Shen Heng gradually made out the condition of the woman who had shown concern for him earlier.

The woman lay collapsed helplessly on the ground, a large, shocking patch of blood covering her abdomen. The blood flowing from it had also stained the surrounding ground red.

Sensing someone approaching, she used the last of her strength to turn her head with difficulty.

When she saw that Shen Heng was alone, the light that had risen in her eyes swiftly dimmed again.

"Don't... worry about me. Hurry and take Nannan away!"

Her voice was very soft and low. If there hadn't been so little other noise around, Shen Heng wouldn't even have been able to make out what she was saying.

But even though he heard her, Shen Heng had no intention of answering her or doing as she said.

Since he had already come in, he now had only one goal: to save the woman before him!!

Shen Heng stared resolutely at the big black dog, drawing closer to him one step at a time.

When Shen Heng came within about ten meters of the big black dog, it finally stopped gnawing.

It slowly raised its head. Thick drops of blood dripped from its blood-soaked maw, splashing into little flowers of blood on the ground.

"Hey! Human, get lost! I don't feel like eating another person today!"

Its voice sounded like a knife scraping glass. Though the words were barely intelligible, the strange voice made it obvious that this was merely a nonhuman creature imitating human speech.

Yet that very voice brought Shen Heng's resolute footsteps to an instant halt.

His body tensed, and he stared in disbelief at the figure that had just spoken.

A talking... dog?

Since when could dogs talk?

Natural selection, survival of the fittest-had they evolved this to please humans?

But had you asked Darwin about it?

Seeing that Shen Heng hadn't answered, the big black dog shouted impatiently again.

"What, don't you understand human speech?"

The grating voice snapped Shen Heng out of his daze. Suppressing his shock, he looked at the big black dog and tried to make his tone sound sincere and gentle:

"Brother Dog, human flesh doesn't taste good. How about I get you something else? Something that flies in the sky, runs on land, or swims in the water-just tell me what you want, and I'll go buy it for you. I guarantee there'll be plenty to fill you up!"

"Tch..." The big black dog bared its sharp fangs and snorted disdainfully. "Get the hell out of my way! This human is enough for me!"

"Um, please reconsider. Other animals' meat really..." Still unwilling to give up, Shen Heng tried to make another appeal.

But the big black dog had clearly run out of patience. It lowered its head, about to continue tearing into the woman on the ground.

Shen Heng's heart sank. After a quick glance over the woman, he made his judgment.

I can't let it keep eating her, or she'll die!

Without another thought, Shen Heng broke into a run toward the big black dog.

Noticing Shen Heng's movement, the big black dog abruptly raised its head, dug all four paws into the ground, and launched itself at him like an arrow loosed from a bow.

So fast!

The thought flashed through Shen Heng's mind. In an instant, the big black dog was already in front of him.

There was no time to dodge. Shen Heng swiftly raised his arms to block.

Bang!

Shen Heng was knocked to the ground.

Then, with a ripping sound, fangs sank into Shen Heng's arm, and blood instantly gushed out.

The next moment, the big black dog began shaking its head wildly, trying to tear a large chunk of flesh from his arm.

"Damn it! Let go!" Shen Heng grunted as excruciating pain surged over him like a tide.

"Too... late..." the big black dog mumbled indistinctly around Shen Heng's arm, its head still shaking wildly as splattering blood traced streaks through the air.

Gritting his teeth and enduring the agony, Shen Heng swiftly raised his other hand and hammered it down at the black dog's head.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After several consecutive blows, another shake of the big black dog's head sent Shen Heng flying onto the ground several meters away.

He had only just landed, with no time to catch his breath, when a shadow came lunging straight at him.

Rip!

Sharp teeth pierced his arm again.

Feeling the blood flowing ceaselessly from his left arm, Shen Heng felt an indescribable pressure bearing down on him.

Although he had realized this might be difficult to deal with the moment he saw the dog's size, he still hadn't expected an animal of this size to possess such tremendous strength.

So much strength that he couldn't resist it at all!

Ultimately, it was because he had lived too long in those peaceful times and lacked knowledge in this area!