The dinosaur whipped its tail for a while, and finally there were some rustling sounds coming from the cave, but the movements seemed a bit sluggish.

The dinosaur became a bit impatient and raised its tail again, fiercely lashing at the outside of the cave with great force, causing even the cave entrance to start crumbling and dropping dirt clods.

"Cough cough - ptooey!" Finally another voice came from the cave, but this voice...

No matter how you listen to it, it's a person, right?!

"An old man?!" Dennis was stunned for a second and exclaimed in surprise, "Holy crap, why is there an old man in a dinosaur cave? Is it a monster?"

Just as he finished his definition, the person inside the cave finally crawled out sluggishly - his white hair and beard of the same color were covered in fallen dirt, even the wrinkles on his face were caked with gray, his eyes squinted into slits from the dust, and his clothes were covered in nothing but bloodstains and mud prints, the original color completely indiscernible.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe him as a mud dog, except that it's not very respectful.

However, even such a disheveled appearance and the falling gray dirt couldn't stop the old man's mouth. As he struggled to crawl out of the cave, he said, "Which damn kid called me a monster--"

He glanced outside from the gaps in his messy hair, then widened his eyes and said, "Dennis!"

Dennis was just about to say that even monsters these days are so down on their luck, but upon hearing this shout, he jumped in surprise. He carefully confirmed with his eyes and finally recognized the old man's appearance amidst the mottled mud clumps.

"Professor Linton." Xia Chuan called out the old man's name before him. His surprise was no less than Dennis'.

This Professor Linton was the dinosaur enthusiast that Dennis had mentioned before, who often grabbed Dennis to tell him stories about his little dinosaur darlings. Their last casual chat took place on that cruise ship, and not long after that, the ship encountered those four sea tornadoes...

Although Dennis had fantasized in the stone cave about the possibility of other people on the ship being alive, he never expected that fantasy to come true one day.

"My God--" Dennis was both shocked and overjoyed, and simply didn't know what to say. He hurriedly stepped forward and pulled Professor Linton out of that small dirt hole.

Professor Linton seemed to have quite the air of an old rascal. He hugged Dennis and bounced several times to express his excitement, slapping Dennis a couple times as he bounced, "You little rascal actually called me an old monster!"

With this bouncing, Xia Chuan and the others finally noticed that one of the professor's legs was injured. During the bouncing process, he maintained a golden rooster standing on one leg posture the whole time, looking quite comical.

"Professor, how did you--" Xia Chuan slapped a hand on the two bouncing people.

Before he could finish his question, Professor Linton took over, "You're asking how I ended up in this cave, right?"

Using Dennis as a large crutch to lean on, he shook his head and said, "Actually, I'm not too clear myself. When the ship sank, it seems you guys pulled me out of the cabin. After that, I only remember struggling in the sea for quite a while until I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was already here, of course not in the cave, but next to a swamp up ahead. Then I ran into Yaya*--"

*T/N: Ya is the character for teeth

"Yaya?" Xia Chuan didn't understand.

"Tyrannosaurus, characterized by shark-like teeth." Professor Linton explained while reaching out to try to pat the dinosaur's neck, but the dinosaur turned its head and snapped, fortunately the professor retracted his hand quickly, otherwise he would have fed "Yaya" a beggar's chicken claw.

"Hehe--" Professor Linton laughed with a kindly face, "Still shy."

Xia Chuan and Shen Lan both got goosebumps at the same time. Shen Lan scratched his cheek and leaned over to Xia Chuan's ear, saying, "This old man is really damn bold..."

Xia Chuan glanced at him with a strange expression.

"What?" Shen Lan touched his own face, not understanding.

"Nothing..." Xia Chuan thought to himself: It's just that hearing such commonly used crude language from the mouth of a near-primitive man feels really unsuitable.

"Shen Lan, what did you do before coming to this world?" Xia Chuan finally couldn't help but ask.

"Shen Lan?" Hearing this name, Shen Lan was stunned for a moment, seeming to think for a good while before understanding the origin of the name, then said "Oh" and replied, "I forgot."

Xia Chuan: "..."

If it weren't for the fact that Shen Lan's expression showed no trace of lying or brushing off the question, he really would have thought this person was trying to act mysterious.

Not remembering his own origins, carrying strange code names and numbers, physical qualities clearly surpassing ordinary people, not to mention having the inconceivable ability to transform into a Mosasaurus... Xia Chuan's train of thought uncontrollably rushed towards the direction of "experimental subject".

The various circumstances surrounding Shen Lan really fit too well with the plots in movies and TV shows. Other than the legendary "experimental subjects", he really couldn't think of any other possibilities.

Just as his mind was filled with fantasy movie scenes, the dinosaur finally had enough of Professor Linton's harassment.

It opened its mouth and roared a couple times, startling the leaves in the forest to rustle loudly, then whipped its tail in front of the group, its impatient mood very obvious. It might as well have had a sign on its head saying "Scram, scram, scram! I gave you two meals, I returned a person to you, we're even, scram as far as you can and don't bother me!"

Professor Linton, who had been leaning in just before, suddenly behaved himself. He hopped a couple steps to the side while leaning on Dennis, waving his hands and shooing the group like herding chickens, saying, "It's really annoyed now, go, go, go, let's hurry and leave. If I remember correctly, going further past the swamp, we can find a river. That area should have more herbivores than carnivores, at least it's a bit safer than this forest..."

Xia Chuan just felt speechless hearing the word "safe" coming from someone who had hung out with an unfamiliar Tyrannosaurus for a day.

"Although this place can't really be judged by common sense..." Professor Linton added when he jumped onto Dennis' back, shamelessly having him carry him.

The group was driven out of the Tyrannosaurus' territory and had Professor Linton point out the direction of the swamp. Dennis took out the black box to compare and found that the direction was actually consistent, so he no longer hesitated and resolutely headed towards the swamp.

"Professor, what did you mean just now when you said this place can't really be judged by common sense? Could it be that you also encountered scenarios of bringing things to life or words becoming reality?"

Professor Linton gave him a look and said, "What nonsense is this about bringing things to life? It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy... Well, it does have that meaning to some extent, but it's not a bad thing.

"Just like Yaya earlier, okay, that Tyrannosaurus... I've always believed that although different creatures speak different languages, there is a kind of interoperability between them. As long as you let the other party feel your goodwill, you may be able to avoid unnecessary attacks. But how can I put it? The chances of success are actually pitifully small, especially when you're on the other party's menu."

He shrugged and said, "So when I encountered that Tyrannosaurus, I only hoped for a one percent chance of survival, praying that it would let me go. Unexpectedly, it really didn't treat me as lunch and even placed me in that cave. While in the cave, I prayed again that if I could meet my companions, it would be a great fortune, and as a result..."

As a result, that Tyrannosaurus brought Xia Chuan and the others right to him.

After experiencing the caterpillar incident and hearing Professor Linton's words, Xia Chuan and Dennis looked at each other, feeling that the world was becoming more and more strange and mysterious.

"Moreover," Professor Linton surveyed the surrounding environment, "Tyrannosaurus fossils have mostly been found in areas with obvious tropical desert climates. During the Cretaceous period, global temperatures were much higher than in modern society, even hotter. So it shouldn't appear in a place like this at all. The climate and temperature here can only be considered temperate at most!"