Back in Freetown Forest, Liam returned to the cave.
The familiar surroundings seemed to frighten Watson.
He kept shrinking behind Liam’s legs.
Liam stopped and rubbed the bear cub’s fluffy head.
“Don’t be afraid. We’ve already taken this place over. It’s our territory now.”
Watson seemed to understand.
Growing a little bolder, he stopped hiding and began rubbing himself against everything in the cave, leaving his scent behind.
Seeing the little guy perk up, Liam began making his own preparations.
He set the large pack he was carrying on the ground, unzipped it, and dumped everything out.
A sleeping bag, flint, a kerosene lamp, an axe, a crowbar, compressed biscuits, canned meat…
It contained almost everything he might need to survive in the wilderness.
Liam was determined to cut expenses, and the first thing to go was rent.
With this hidden cave available, there was no reason for him to keep renting an apartment in Boston.
Now that his show was running smoothly, he only needed to spend one or two days a week at the TV station.
If he absolutely had to stay overnight, he could swallow his pride and spend the night in the studio.
As for needing a mailing address for work…
Aside from the station director, only one producer and one news anchor at the TV station worked full-time.
Everyone else was part-time, and they were all paid in cash.
Liam didn’t even have a bank account or health insurance.
With the men in black constantly watching him, Liam had always done everything possible to make himself as untouchable as possible.
By the time he finished sorting and organizing the supplies, Watson had already run outside the cave and was urinating around the area to mark his territory.
The little guy seemed delighted to finally have a territory of his own.
“Watson, come here.”
Liam called the bear cub back and took out the bearskin from the Skinwalker.
“Smell this. See if you can find anything with a similar scent in the forest.”
Watson sniffed the hide.
After a while, he somehow managed to make a troubled face and pointed at his own belly.
He seemed to be saying that his own fur was the only thing around that smelled like it.
That lead was a dead end.
Still, Liam wasn’t discouraged.
He had another option: a systematic sweep of the forest.
It sounded time-consuming and exhausting, but it was a reliable method.
As long as he had the Events Logbook, even the slightest clue would cause the Exploration Progress to change.
Combined with Watson’s sense of smell, finding another unknown creature was only a matter of time.
With that in mind, Liam immediately got to work.
He spoke solemnly to Watson.
“Now I want you to use that nose of yours and explore this forest to your heart’s content.”
Then he slapped the bear cub on the rear.
Liam was certain the bear cub had understood him, because Watson immediately took off at full speed.
Had he already found a clue?
Liam’s spirits lifted, and he quickly followed, weaving through the trees behind Watson.
They hadn’t gone far when Watson stopped, sat down heavily, and pointed his nose in a particular direction.
When Liam caught up and looked, he found a small blueberry bush.
Apparently, Watson had mistaken Liam’s earlier excitement for hunger and hurried off to find him something to eat.
Seeing the expectant look in Watson’s eyes, Liam smiled and rubbed the bear’s head.
Apparently, he hadn’t explained himself clearly enough.
Just as Liam was about to spell out exactly what he wanted Watson to look for, the bear cub suddenly stood and roared angrily at something nearby.
Liam immediately went on full alert.
He drew the pistol from his waist and aimed it at…
A pile of shit?
No. Watson wouldn’t react this strongly to something like that.
Liam slowed down.
After making sure there were no other threats nearby, he cautiously moved closer to inspect it.
At that exact moment, the Events Logbook updated.
[Unknown Creatures in the Forest]
[Event Level: C]
[Exploration Progress: 15%]
That single pile had increased his progress by ten percent.
Liam was now absolutely certain that whatever had left it behind was the creature he was looking for.
He examined it carefully.
Huh.
There wasn’t any smell at all.
Judging by the texture and shape, these weren’t mammalian droppings.
They came from a bird.
With all the strange things Liam had encountered over the years, he recognized that much immediately.
But there was one major problem.
The bird droppings were enormous.
Liam mentally compared them to ordinary pigeon droppings.
If the proportions scaled normally, the bird that had produced this would have to be three or four meters tall.
Could it be a pterosaur?
He quickly dismissed the absurd thought and remembered Goldman mentioning reports of giant birds in the area.
Now that he had a clue right in front of him, there was no reason not to follow it.
“Watson, my best assistant, I’m afraid I need you to make a small sacrifice.”
By now, Watson had calmed down.
He glanced at Liam, then walked over and sniffed the droppings.
He was a brown bear, after all.
He didn’t find feces disgusting.
What had alarmed him earlier was the scent of danger.
Once Watson had memorized the distinctive smell, he raised his head and looked at Liam.
Trees flashed past on both sides as they ran.
Along the way, Liam began thinking about how he should approach the giant bird.
Unlike the Skinwalker, which had attacked him outright, this time Liam was the one seeking the creature out.
He could try approaching it peacefully first.
If communication proved impossible, he could decide what to do after that.
More than thirty minutes later, they finally arrived.
Liam looked up and immediately realized there was a problem.
The bird’s nest was on a sheer cliff.
He studied the bare rock face and the cave entrance high above.
He would need climbing equipment just to reach it.
More importantly, if the giant bird spotted him halfway up, he would be nothing more than a living target hanging from the cliff.
While Liam was trying to figure out what to do, a dark shape suddenly flashed across the cave entrance.
He narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better look.
Then a massive black shadow burst out of the cave and disappeared from sight in an instant.
[Thunderbird]
[Event Level: C]
[Exploration Progress: 50%]
[Unknown Creatures in the Forest]
[Event Level: C]
[Exploration Progress: 50%]
Liam stared at the new page that had appeared in the Events Logbook, completely baffled.
Why had the same creature increased the progress of two different Events at once?
Could there be something else behind all of this?
With that thought in mind, Liam looked at the sky and realized it was already afternoon.
He needed to head back.
He still hadn’t finished packing up his apartment, and he also needed to buy some climbing gear.
…
By the time Liam drove back to his apartment, it was already late.
He began packing up the few belongings he owned so he could take everything with him.
There wasn’t much of any real value.
The most important things were the letters from his viewers.
Each one was proof that people appreciated his work.
Just as he was almost finished packing, someone knocked on the door.
Liam opened it and found his landlord standing outside.
“Mr. Landlord, you don’t have to throw me out this quickly, do you?”
Liam was joking, but the landlord didn’t look angry.
Instead, he leaned closer and spoke quietly, sounding anxious.
“There are two men downstairs who look like police officers. They’ve been hanging around for several days, and something doesn’t feel right. You’d better leave through the back door.”
…