Animal Whisperer: Take Back My Life and Love Chapter 369: The Underground Network

The sand rat sounded bold when he named his price, but his small eyes kept darting up to check Nancy’s face. He was clearly bluffing. A sand rat’s stomach is barely the size of a human fingernail. To him, twenty seeds was an astronomical fortune. He could stay full on five, and the rest were meant for his winter stockpile.

Nancy looked at the calculating little furball and felt her heart melt. "Deal," she said.

A sand rat only lives for a year or two. Their time really was precious.

Nancy reached into her bag and grabbed a small handful of sunflower seeds, scattering them in front of him. The plump seeds hit the sand like heavy rain. The rat froze, staring at the pile of food as if he’d been hit by a bolt of lightning. To this tiny creature, Nancy’s casual gesture was like a person watching money fall from the sky.

After a few seconds, he let out a series of high-pitched, excited squeaks and started rolling around in the pile.

"I’m rich! I’m finally rich! My god, she’s a saint! I’ve met a literal goddess!"

There were way too many seeds for one rat to carry. He needed the whole clan to help move this haul. He immediately turned back to Nancy, bowing his head repeatedly. "Great Goddess! I’m going to get the others right now! My whole family is at your service!"

He vanished into a nearby hole. The tunnels out here were a massive, interconnected maze. These rats were the ultimate underground agents.

A moment later, a frantic chattering started up. The little guy had returned with his family. Not just a few, but the entire clan. Dozens of furry heads popped out of the sand like little sprouts. At a quick glance, there were at least twenty of them.

They were still terrified of the lynx sitting next to Nancy, but the sight of the seed pile was enough to override their fear. Greed won out. They crowded forward, all chirping at once to report what they knew.

"Report! Report! That human was trying to hide a weird metal thing in the lynx den!"

"The baby lynx saw him! It kept biting him and getting in the way!"

"Then the man... he pulled out a shiny long stick and hit the baby!"

The rat’s voice turned sad. The kitten had been beaten to death. It was a miserable way to go.

"After that... the baby stopped moving. He just threw it aside. He didn't even finish hiding his machine because the mother came back! He got scared and jumped on a thing with two circles and vanished!"

Nancy pieced the story together from the chaotic chirping. Her heart ached. The kitten had only died because it was trying to protect its home from whatever device the killer was planting. The mother’s return was the only thing that had chased the man away.

Nancy quickly translated the details for the group, her face solemn.

Logan frowned as he listened. "It sounds like they’re using animal dens as natural cover to install seismic or acoustic sensors. That’s clever. They use the natural structure to hide the signal, avoiding regular scans while monitoring military drills or geological activity."

Graham, the head of the base, looked even more concerned. "If their tech is that advanced, they’re far more dangerous than we thought. If it weren't for the lynx attacking people, we never would have caught their trail. These people are a high-level threat."

The lynx let out a low, guttural cry of grief, her claws sinking deep into the sand. "Those monsters... I want them to pay in blood!"

Nancy placed a hand on the lynx’s tensed forearm to calm her. She turned back to the rats. "Which way did the bad man go?"

One rat pointed a tiny paw toward the horizon. Logan followed the line and his expression changed. "That’s toward the snow mountains."

Just then, another small rat hiding behind its companions seemed to remember something.