Rising from the Ashes (Andrew and Lauren)

Andrew did not move. Instead, he turned to Chantelle and warned her coldly, "Same goes for you. This can't happen again."

Chantelle hesitated, guilt flickering across her face. "It was my guy who screwed up, Mr. Lloyd. Please don't be angry."

Andrew was furious. "Isn't the idiot you hired supposed to be some survival expert? Did you see how pathetic and cowardly he was just now? And he had the nerve to provoke Buzz and the Patoajo people.

"Ms. Garcia, you're with the government, and you should know damn well how fierce and proud these mountain tribes can be. If he really pisses them off, not only will this moron of a survival expert be finished, but we might all end up eating bullets too."

Chantelle sighed and changed the subject. "Alright, Mr. Lloyd, I know he screwed up, but now's not the time to start pointing fingers. What the hell was that thing that attacked us?"

Andrew said coldly, "A rare black tiger-in remote areas, they're also called mountain tigers. This type of large cat hasn't been heard of for many years."

Andrew replied coolly, "A rare black tiger. In remote areas, they're sometimes called Dire Tiger. This type of large cat hasn't been heard of for many years. Back in the last century in our country's northeastern regions, these things were as notorious as black bears.

"And when it came to eating people, Dire Tigers were even more feared than bears."

Chantelle let out a shaky breath. "Goodness. So that really was a tiger? It's hard to imagine tigers ever getting that huge."noveldrama

Andrew nodded. "You're right. Normally, even the biggest tigers don't grow anywhere near that size. Even the Tiger Kings of the northeast don't come close to what we just saw. But..."

He suddenly stopped talking.

Chantelle instinctively pressed, "But what?"

Before Andrew could answer, Magnus, who was trembling in the back, ran forward urgently. "But if certain special circumstances align, tigers really can evolve into man-eating beasts-what we call tiger spirits!"

Even Tiana frowned. "Tiger spirit? You're talking about a tiger turning into a magical beast? Stop spouting nonsense if you don't know what you're talking about."

Magnus shot her a smug look, clearly unfazed. "There's nothing I don't know, and that black tiger back there? Yeah, it was a tiger spirit. Otherwise, it could've never grown that big. Right, Mr. Lloyd? I'm not wrong, am I?"

Andrew ignored him and answered calmly, "A tiger spirit is a creature from legend-supposedly a tiger that becomes sentient, almost human in its intelligence. But legend or not, there's no such thing as a real 'magical' tiger. At least, not in the way stories tell it.

"Still, there are rare cases of tiger evolution. Some grow unusually large and become far more aggressive. They would grow bloodthirsty and dangerously smart. In that sense, calling them 'tiger spirits' isn't that far off."

He added, "Tiğer spirits have a particular obsession with human flesh, especially elderly people and children. This is also why in ancient times old people and children couldn't be outside after dark-they were easily targeted by man-eating tigers."

Magnus swallowed hard twice, looking horrified. "And regarding these tiger spirits, whenever one is spotted, it must be hunted down and killed. Otherwise, it will fixate on the humans who saw it, stalking and ambushing them until it devours them.

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"People who have been tasted by it-whose blood and flesh it has sampled need to be especially careful. Tiger spirits have an unimaginable fondness and obsession with human meat only by killing it can you eliminate future trouble and prevent being hunted!"

His eyes gleamed with a strange light as he turned to glare at Ralph.

Ralph felt a chill run down his spine, but he forced himself to laugh it off. "Mr.

Veyne, there you go again with your horror stories. What tiger spirit? As long as I'm properly prepared, I'll blow it to pieces."