The aftereffects are simply overwhelming.

Another new day dawned. Yang Jie stepped out of the mouse burrow early, assigned the tasks for the day, and then, together with Twitch, led eleven militia mice along the banks of the Tam River.

Following the riverbank, whether heading north or south, one could quickly spot signs of animal communities.

Today, he was going to personally take charge, formally leading his tribe in field training.

These eleven militia mice had no combat experience; most had been manual laborers within the tribe. Their only advantage was that their physical fitness was among the best in the group.

The mice marched in a line, with Yang Jie at the front as guide and Twitch guarding the rear.

They headed north along the river, and after leaving the highlands of Horseshoe Mountain by about ten kilometers, they finally caught sight of large herbivores grazing on the vast plains.

The mice lay low in the grass, secretly observing a herd of wild cattle. Yang Jie couldn’t identify their species, but judging by their size, these cattle were even larger than Earth’s yellow cattle. He estimated that adult wild cattle weighed at least eight hundred kilograms, and they moved in herds, making them particularly hard to deal with.

“Chief, maybe… we should look elsewhere?” Shuke crawled over and asked. This sturdy mouse named Shuke was the squad leader recommended by Wendy.

He possessed a special talent called “Sound Mimicry,” allowing him to imitate the calls of most wild animals. With his skill, Yang Jie’s plan could finally be completed.

“We’ll stay here. Let’s rest and eat something first,” Yang Jie ordered the mice to halt and recuperate.

“Twitch, set traps fifty meters upstream near the riverbank. Keep an eye on things over here, and be ready to support us at any moment.”

“My dear brother, are we hunting these bulls? I advise you to reconsider,” Twitch couldn’t help but voice his doubts, for strategic planning wasn’t his forte.

Yang Jie shook his head slightly and replied calmly, “Just follow my arrangements today and watch closely.”

“Shuke!”

“Here, Chief!” Shuke quickly stood up from the grass, brushing off the dirt clinging to his fur.

“Can you imitate the sound of these cows?”

“I… should be able to,” Shuke looked a bit embarrassed.

“Remember, it has to be a cow, and make it as seductive and brazen as possible.”

Shuke: Uh…

“We’ll see your performance soon. Everyone, gather up—time to assign tasks.”

“Sound Mimicry” was a technical art; animals could distinguish their own kind’s calls, and fooling them wasn’t easy.

But Shuke was no ordinary mouse. Before joining Yang Jie’s tribe, he was a “lone wolf” on the great plains, surviving by his unique skill.

Now, the chief placed high hopes in him, and he had to give it his all, no matter what.

...

Half an hour later, as the wild cattle were grazing, they suddenly heard the sound of a cow’s mating call coming from the grass near the riverbank...

Moo—moo—

In the grass, Shuke pinched his nose with one hand and squeezed his throat with the other, working hard to imitate the nasal calls of a cow in heat.

—

Not far away, a group of wild cattle quietly chewed the turf...

“Who’s the idiot over there making all that noise?”

“No idea, never heard that voice before.”

“Should we check it out? She’s been calling for ages.”

“Why bother? From the sound, you can tell she’s ugly. Ignore her.”

The bulls quickly lost interest and went back to grazing.

...

“Are you sure you can do this?” Seeing Shuke’s efforts yield no results, Yang Jie grew impatient.

“Cough, I’m not in top form today. Give me a moment to rest and gather myself.”

A few minutes later...

Shuke changed his posture, adopting a more dramatic nasal tone to imitate the cow’s call.

Moo... moo...

Nearby, several robust bulls suddenly paused in mid-chew...

“That old gal again...”

“Damn, this call is so seductive! My bones are tingling.”

“I feel like I’m losing control…”

“No way, just this? I almost lost my lunch.”

“I can’t take it. I need to deal with that brazen cow. You guys wait here, I’ll be right back.”

“George, if... emm... you know.”

The bull named George was about to leave when his grass-eating companion stopped him and gave a meaningful, knowing smile.

“Alright, dude!”

“Got it!”

...

In the grass, Yang Jie noticed a mature bull breaking away from the herd and heading their way.

“Brothers, get ready for our guest!”

Watching the eager young bull approach with an uncontrollable, desperate stride, Yang Jie smirked and lifted the corner of his mouth.

“Heh, you’re in for it!”

Yang Jie recalled what his high school biology teacher once said: nature eliminates the old, weak, and sick from the population.

Now, it seemed that the dim-witted ones didn’t last long either…

Thirty meters away, George, impatient and stumbling, approached the grass.

—

Moo—moo—

“Sis, where are you? Big bro’s coming, hehehe…”

Soon enough...

George slipped into the grass but found nothing as he’d imagined.

“Huh? Where are you, girl?”

His belly was burning with pent-up desire, but the scene he expected was nowhere to be found, leaving him frustrated and unwilling to leave.

Moo moo—

Not far away, the seductive call of the cow echoed again.

“I’m over here, handsome! Come and play!”

Upon hearing this, George perked up and charged ahead.

“I’m coming, baby!”

But just then, George felt his forelegs slip, and both plunged into a muddy pit—the mouse tribe’s custom-made trap.

With his front half buried in mud, George lost balance, his head crashing into the dirt.

He instantly realized—this was a setup.

Just as he was about to cry out for help, a small mouse, covered in black fur, shoved a ball of mud straight into his mouth.

“Heh, since you’re here, don’t leave,” Yang Jie grinned, stuffing George’s mouth with foul-smelling sludge.

“Brothers, finish him!”

Someone muttered quietly.

The mice, at Yang Jie’s signal, surged forward as if injected with adrenaline.

Though small and weak, they were ruthless, targeting George’s vital spots.

Stone axes and wooden clubs rained down on George, and two bolder mice leapt onto his back, attacking his neck with ferocity.

George tried to stand, but his forelegs were trapped over a meter deep in mud, unable to find leverage. His hind legs alone couldn’t support his heavy body.

At that moment, a one-eyed mouse grinned wickedly, gripped a wooden spear, and circled behind George.

The one-eyed mouse squinted his remaining eye, aimed at the bull’s exposed back, took a deep breath, braced his body, and drove the spear down with all his weight.

A fatal blow—the spear sank a third of the way in.

Moo—moo—

George let out a harrowing scream.

Nearby, the bulls grazing in the grass paused, turning their heads in unison toward the commotion.

“This... that’s some endurance.”