In the middle of the chaos, Er'gou moved.
A gray blur.
Using the smoke and the shifting crowd as cover, he didn't bother picking up the toy.
Instead—
He slipped through a low guardrail beside the stage that had been marked earlier as an equipment access point.
One flash of movement.
And he vanished behind the stage.
Gone.
Lin Wan tore off the blindfold dramatically.
Her voice rang across the stage.
"Er'gou! Er'gou where are you going?!"
"Er'gou!"
Her panic looked completely real.
Because she had practiced it.
Perfectly.
In the crowd, Li Wei'an's expression changed slightly.
The fake staff member beside him stiffened.
Both of them immediately moved toward the backstage area.
At the same time, several other men scattered throughout the carnival—men with the same cold, professional demeanor—began converging from different directions.
Entropy's hidden operatives.
The hunt had begun.
Step Two of the plan: chaos and separation.
Successfully triggered.
Behind the stage lay the carnival's logistics zone.
Stacks of equipment.
Folded tents.
Crates.
Loose cables.
The terrain was cluttered and confusing.
And almost empty of visitors.
Er'gou raced through it.
His body moved like liquid steel.
Silent.
Fast.
A gray shadow weaving through obstacles.
His target lay at the edge of the zone—
Near a small wooded area.
A place labeled on the map as:
"Storage – Retired Pet Playground Equipment."
Slides.
Seesaws.
Tunnel cages.
Broken toys piled in a forgotten corner.
Hardly anyone ever went there.
Which made it perfect.
Chen Lin and Old Wu were already waiting there.
Hidden.
Along with several retired working dogs and their handlers.
While running, Er'gou gathered information.
His ears rotated constantly.
His nose worked overtime.
Every signal in the wind poured into his mind.
Footsteps.
Controlled breathing.
Static whispers from communication radios.
And something else.
A scent.
Sharp.
Metallic.
Mixed with sterile laboratory chemicals.
The scent of Entropy.
Five pursuers.
At least.
Closing in fast.
Trained.
Disciplined.
A flash of cold light passed through Er'gou's eyes.
Suddenly—
He changed direction.
Instead of running straight to the ambush zone, he curved in a tight arc.
Moving toward one isolated pursuer.
He slipped behind several abandoned advertising boards.
Then stopped.
Completely still.
Even his breathing slowed.
The pursuer approached carefully.
In his hand was a compact tracking device—likely thermal or scent detection equipment.
He moved step by step.
Closer.
Closer.
Then he rounded the corner.
WHOOSH.
Er'gou exploded from the shadows.
Not toward the man's throat.
Toward his wrist.
CRACK!
The husky slammed into the joint with brutal precision.
The device flew from the man's hand.
Smashing against the ground.
"Damn it!"
The pursuer shouted in pain.
His other hand immediately reached toward his belt.
Probably for a weapon.
Or a tranquilizer.
But Er'gou was already gone.
One strike.
Immediate retreat.
He slid beneath a pile of old canvas tarps.
Vanished.
The attacker grabbed his radio.
"Target spotted in sector B7!"
"Extremely fast!"
"Highly aggressive!"
The other pursuers immediately adjusted course.
Converging on B7.
Under the tarp, Er'gou listened calmly.
Three sets of footsteps.
Closing from different angles.
He slipped out the opposite side.
Then sprinted toward a dense ornamental shrub area.
The bushes were thick.
Perfect cover.
Er'gou crouched low beneath the branches.
Watching.
Waiting.
Two pursuers approached.
One from each side.
Flashlights.
A net launcher.
Their coordination was precise.
Professional.
Er'gou waited.
One step.
Two steps.
Then—
The left man's foot entered the shadow line.
Er'gou struck.
Like lightning.
He didn't bite.
He slammed his body directly into the outer nerve point of the man's calf.
"ARGH!"
The attacker's leg went numb instantly.
His balance collapsed.
He dropped to one knee.
The second pursuer reacted immediately.
The net launcher swung up.
But Er'gou was faster.
Using the rebound from the first strike, he twisted midair.
His paws kicked off a nearby tree trunk.
Changing direction.
Launching straight at the second man's weapon arm.
"WOOF!"
A short, vicious bark.
Impact.
The man's wrist exploded with pain.
The launcher almost dropped.
Er'gou's claws raked across the back of his hand.
Blood streaked instantly.
"Damn it! This dog's insane!"
The man tried to aim again.
But Er'gou had already landed.
Turned.
And sprinted.
Full speed.
Toward the final destination.
The abandoned playground storage zone appeared ahead.
Broken slides.
Rusting frames.
Collapsed tunnels.
And behind one slide—
Chen Lin.
Old Wu.
Several German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois.
All wearing ordinary collars.
All perfectly still.
Predators waiting.
Er'gou reached the slide structure.
Then leaped.
One powerful jump carried him onto the highest platform.
He turned.
Facing the four pursuers now entering the area.
(The fifth one with the injured leg was lagging behind.)
The hunters spread out in a fan formation.
But they hesitated.
Something felt wrong.
The silence here was too heavy.
From the hidden ear communication network, Chen Lin's calm voice spread.
"Target has entered the designated zone."
"Operation Woof."
"Prepare."
Old Wu pressed a remote.
The pheromone induction compound released silently into the air.
A scent too faint for humans.
But impossible for dogs to ignore.
At the same moment—
A new wave of chaos erupted from the main carnival area.
Shouts echoed in the distance.
"Dogs are going crazy!"
"They're running everywhere!"
"What's happening?!"
This was Chen Lin's second chaos trigger.
A diluted pheromone release across the main area.
Combined with subtle sound frequencies.
Enough to make many dogs temporarily excited and restless.
Not dangerous.
But enough to distract Entropy's outer agents.
And mask the ambush.
Inside the trap zone—
The retired working dogs reacted instantly.
Ears snapped upright.
Bodies lowered.
Muscles tightening.
Their throats rumbled with suppressed excitement.
They felt it.
The scent of a leader.
The scent of battle.
High above them—
Er'gou stood on the broken slide platform.
Wind stirring his silver-gray fur.
His blue eyes burned with cold authority.
His chest rose and fell from the sprint.
But his presence was overwhelming.
Then he inhaled deeply.
And unleashed a howl unlike anything heard before.
"AWOOOOOO—WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!!!"
Not just barking.
Not just a wolf's howl.
It was both.
A war cry.
A command.
The signal of attack.