Bai Youwei said: “There are only two possibilities for why this person could attack without a moment’s hesitation.

Either he’s an elephant — certain that we wouldn’t readily put our mouse at risk, so he attacked boldly;

Or he’s a leopard, and Ye Chong sent him in to probe Wu Meng’an’s identity.”

Zhang Yu, having barely escaped with his life, couldn’t help asking: “Why a leopard specifically?”

Bai Youwei looked at him and explained: “In the food chain, leopards and wolves occupy the middle tier. That position is delicate — below them, foxes, cats, and mice can only run when they encounter enemies; above them, elephants, bears, and lions are all suited to initiating attacks.

If I were Ye Chong, not knowing anything about the enemy’s lineup, I would send out a leopard — or a wolf.

When the target turns out to be a lower-tier animal, the leopard or wolf can easily eliminate them.

Wu Meng’an is a wolf. For that person to be able to eliminate Wu Meng’an, the only possibility is that he’s a leopard.”

“But what if they run into an upper-tier animal?” Zhang Yu asked, confused. “Isn’t it just as possible to encounter an upper-tier animal? According to the food chain, if a lower-tier animal attacks a higher-tier one, the lower-tier animal gets eliminated! Wouldn’t they have shot themselves in the foot?”

After all, if Wu Meng’an hadn’t been a wolf but a lion or a bear, the attacker wouldn’t have been able to eliminate him — he’d have been eliminated himself!

But Bai Youwei gently shook her head. “You’re wrong. Using this method to probe, regardless of what animal the target is, the outcome is always a guaranteed win for Ye Chong’s side.”

Zhang Yu’s eyes went wide in astonishment. “How can that be…”

Beside him, Shen Mo quietly explained: “Don’t forget — there are eight of them, eight different animals. If the tall, slender man attacks Wu Meng’an and gets eliminated instead, that tells them Wu Meng’an’s rank is higher than his. Say, hypothetically, Wu Meng’an’s rank is a lion — all Ye Chong would then need to do is send out the elephant to eliminate Wu Meng’an.”

Then the situation would become 7 versus 7.

On the surface, the numbers look even — but in reality, Ye Chong’s side would only have lost a leopard, while Bai Youwei’s side would have lost a lion.

That was precisely why Bai Youwei had said that no matter what animal the target turned out to be, this probing method guaranteed a win for Ye Chong’s side.

Zhang Yu nodded slowly, his head a little foggy, genuinely not having expected that a single attack could contain so many layers of calculation.

Tan Xiao was equally lost — completely bewildered.

Shen Mo looked around at everyone. “Since the enemy is moving as a group of eight, our current split formation is a serious disadvantage. Going forward, everyone should try to stay together.”

Everyone silently nodded in agreement.

Bai Youwei tilted her head back and glanced at the sky. “The enemy is arrogant. Having succeeded so easily this time, they will definitely launch another attack. We need to be ready before noon, when food is collected from the center of the park.”

She asked the others: “Does anyone remember which direction the drones came from?”

Everyone’s gaze shifted to the park laid out before them —

It was a vast rectangular area. At each end, rock formations and slopes formed natural boundaries; in the middle, a wide expanse of green grass cut through like a green ribbon, dividing the forest into a northern half and a southern half.

The northern forest was Ye Chong’s territory.

The southern forest was Bai Youwei’s.

The forest wasn’t pure trees either — it was interspersed with sandy ground, patches of grass, thickets of shrubbery, and more.

Shen Mo pointed in a direction. “The drone’s flight path seemed to come from diagonally across — two of them in total.”

“They’ll probably arrive early at the center of the grassland to prevent us from taking all the food.” Bai Youwei mulled it over for a moment, then asked: “Which of you can climb trees?”

Everyone looked at each other blankly.

Tan Xiao raised his hand in a daze. “How high?”

Bai Youwei said: “All the way to the top.”

—