By the time he got close enough to the poachers, Sobek understood two things.

The first was that he could understand their language. He didn't know how it was possible: perhaps it was the same as one present on Earth in his previous life? Yet it didn't sound like English, French, Italian or any other language he knew.

Furthermore, at the level of probability it was basically impossible for humans to develop the same language in a different world, because language wasn't a fixed thing, it evolved according to history and society. It was like expecting that somewhere in the universe existed a perfectly identical planet to Earth, where every single action of every lifeform happened the same way.

It was simply impossible.

The second thing he realized was that the poachers didn't have too strong weapons: if they did, they wouldn't have been in a hurry to leave before the oxalaia herd woke up. Dinosaurs were still animals, so they could be killed by human weapons, but they had characteristics that made them far more dangerous than 21st century Earth's animals.

Their thicker skin and considerable size required the use of stronger weapons than simple hunting rifles. Without them, it would have been like going against a tiger armed with a bow and arrows: the chances of victory would have been much lower.

Such weapons probably couldn't be easily purchased, or at least there were some legal controls. Sobek didn't know the history of that world, but on Earth people who entered protected areas were checked to verify that they didn't bring things with which they could kill or harm animals, such as poisons or traps.

Poachers were unlikely to possess them, or they would have taken them with them the instant they spotted him.

Sobek had calculated the risks carefully and decided it was time to try. The poachers didn't have much besides tranquilizers: he wasn't in danger of being fatally wounded. And if things got dangerous he could have just used [Ambush] and [Swim speed] to get away.

Now, however, it was time to act, not to flee. Under normal circumstances a spinosaurus could never have escaped poachers, but Sobek was no ordinary spinosaurus: in addition to abilities and the System, he had a human mind, and as such he retained the cunning and smartness that distinguished this species.

To defeat the humans it was enough for him to overturn the motorboats; thanks to his strength he could do it with ease. Once in the water, the humans would have marked their doom. However, he couldn't attack them while they were in a group: he couldn't overturn more than one motorboat at a time and the other poachers could use the opportunity to shoot him. He had to separate them first.

Divide et impera, the Romans said; never was a proverb more appropriate. If an enemy outmatch you too much in the number, the solution is to take parts of that number individually.

The poachers had taken five motorboats, and each of them had three humans on board. He didn't know how many weapons they had, but one thing was certain: to win he had to divide them.

Seeing them come up against, he promptly activated [Swim speed] and swam away. Motorboats could reach up to 150 km/h, but Sobek could now go up to 160 km/h. Even if it wasn't much, he still had the advantage of speed. Not only that: he knew the area, so he could move easily among the mangroves, while the poachers had to continually slow down to dodge rocks, trees, islets and other obstacles.

Wheathley was shocked by the speed of the spinosaurus. If someone had told him that there was such a fast animal he would never have believed it! "What the fuck !? He may be a beast, but he swims like a ship!" he growled as he watched the spinosaurus sail move in front of them. He wasn't the only one who was surprised: none of the poachers could believe that this dinosaur was outrunning motorboats!

However Wheathley had seen many oddities in his life and very few things still surprised him. After the initial shock, his eyes had returned to flashing with greed. "It seems we have found a custom-built!" he exclaimed with a laugh. "Take out the tranquilizers! That beast can pay us more than we have already found so far! It is definitely a rare piece!"

Wheathley wasn't a biology or physics expert, and he didn't care how the spinosaurus swam so fast. He only knew one thing: many people would have payed a lot to have such an animal on their property. That spinosaurus could be said to be a one-off, so it would have made him a fortune!

Sobek felt the water ripple slightly near him. Several narcotic darts rained into the water. Luckily he was zigzagging or else they would have hit him surely! He had to disappear, and quickly too. He sank and used [Ambush] to make himself invisible.

Wheathley nearly spat out a lung when he saw the spinosaurus sail disappear underwater. "Shit!!!" he roared furiously. "Where is it gone?"

"We don't know, boss. It's nowhere to be seen!'' one of the poachers with him answered. Wheathley was about to scream to find the spinosaurus immediately when a loud noise made him turn around. Beside them, one of the motorboats had stopped.

"What have they done now?" Wheathley grumbled annoyed, ordering his speedboat to be stopped as well. The other three boats, seeing their leader stop, also imitated him. "John! What happens?" the 'white hunter' shouted to the driver of the other motorboat.

"We got stuck, boss! We didn't notice that there was a shallow area of water!" the poacher named John replied. Obviously it hadn't been a coincidence: Sobek had deliberately taken the poachers to an area he knew was full of shoals where they could run aground, and he knew they would have been too focused on him to notice that the water was sinking.

"Mph!" Wheathley's nose twisted threateningly, but the man contained his anger and turned to the other poachers: "Do any of you see that animal?"

"Negative, boss. It seems to have disappeared!"

"Nothing at all anywhere!"

"We will never find it if it stays underwater!"

Wheathley grumbled. "It can't stay underwater forever. You two go north, we go south. Look for it until you find it. As for you..." and with his eyes shooting arrows he turned to the poachers on the stranded boat. "...

unblock that motorboat, then go east"

John swallowed. Even though he knew it was not a good idea to challenge his boss, he still tried to speak: "But sir, it's not safe to chase an aquatic dinosaur with just a boat..."

"You should have thought about it before running aground! Because of you we got distracted and we lost that animal!" Wheathley shouted furiously. Obviously he didn't imagine that Sobek had disappeared thanks to [Ambush]: he was convinced that they had lost sight of him due to that inattention.

"If I lose the earnings that animal could bring me, you can be certain that you will pay back all the way to the last cent!"

John and the other two men who were on the run aground didn't dare say another word. Wheathley was really scary when he got angry.

Following Wheathley's command, the four still usable motorboats split up, heading in two different directions. They would have had a better chance of separating completely, but they were certainly not suicidal: they knew that a spinosaurus had the strength to overturn a boat, so it was better not to go alone.

The three poachers on the stranded motorboat instead swallowed the toad and began to get off the boat. "Fuck!" one of them swore. "How the fuck are we going to get this motorboat off the hook? Do we push it?"

"We don't have many alternatives, Pete" John grumbled back, diving into the water. Luckily it wasn't too deep and he could touch the bottom, even though it reached his torso.

"Yes, of course! And if a snake or a crocodile arrives who will save us? You?" the other angry poacher shouted.

"Well, then what other solutions do you propose?" John yelled exasperated. Seeing that the other didn't answer, he continued: "Stop complaining and work. Drop the electronic items on the motorboat and come here to push!"

Pete clearly wanted to say something, but the other poacher put a hand on his shoulder: "He's right. Complaining is useless. The sooner we finish the job, the sooner we get back to safety"

"Thank you, Paul. Finally someone with some sanity" John thanked him for the support. At that point Pete gave up and started emptying his pockets.

No electronic object was to be introduced into the water: it was the fundamental rule to survive. Consequently, cell phones, pagers and radios had to remain on the speedboat. Even if they had protection against the water, it was always better not to risk it: only one uncovered point was enough to electrocute them instantly.

When they were finally all in the water, they put their hands on the base of the boat and prepared to push. "To my three!" John ordered starting to count. "One, two..."

'Two' was the last word John spoke in his life. An immense force hit them like a train, instantly breaking all their bones and reducing their flesh to dust. The three men barely felt a slight pain before their lives left them.

The immense strength was obviously none other than Sobek's body. He hadn't even had to use his claws or jaws: without their weapons, humans were like pieces of flimsy paper and broke like nothing. Faced with the power of a 7.5-ton carnivore traveling at 160 km/h, their bodies literally exploded in a cascade of blood.

Sobek stood up looking at the red-tinged water. He had never really left: thanks to [Ambush] he had been able to wait for the right moment. Obviously he could have killed the three poachers the instant the others had left: he would have only had to overturn the motorboat to crush them. However, he would have risked breaking the things he came for: the cellphones.

Looking into the speedboat he found that his assumption was correct: the cellphones looked like modern smartphones in every way, which meant they could connect to Google or some other network!

The problem now was taking them away... but just then, he remembered he had an [Inventory]! That's what it was for!

Having achieved the rank of 'high-ranking predator', Sobek now had three slots in [Inventory], and he didn't hesitate to slip in the three cellphones. He expected them to fill only one slot, instead they filled two. Sobek was briefly surprised, remembering that each slot could collect an infinite number of items of the same type, but then he realized that one of the phones had a different brand.

Apparently the [Inventory] was very selective about the 'same type' issue.

He left the rest there. The speedboat didn't interest him and the tranquilizer rifles were useless to him. While they might be handy for hunting, he couldn't use them: they were too small to be used by the big claws of a spinosaurus. He would never have been able to pull their trigger or reload them.

Technically he had already achieved his goal, so he could easily leave. With [Ambush] it would have been very easy to get out of that place. However, he didn't want to do it: now that he had shown himself he knew that the poachers wouldn't have easily let him go. Unless he went thousands of kilometers away in one day, he couldn't have slept peacefully knowing they were looking for him.

What would have prevented the poachers from finding him and assaulting him in his sleep, or while he was distracted?

Even if he had fled far, he didn't know how far the poachers could go, which would have kept him in a state of perpetual distress. So he had only one choice left: he had to kill them all, or at least reduce their numbers enough to force them to retreat.

He had already eliminated one motorboat. Four remained. He plunged back into the water and sped north, following the trails of two of them.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

AUTHOR'S THOUGTHS

Hi everyone! Now it's time to tell you the little reference. Yes... Wheatley is exactly THAT Wheatley, the hunter appeared in Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom! Yes, and I anticipate you that he will be not the only character to appear in the story. After all, how could I write a story about dinosaurs, if I didn't made some JP reference?

Spielberg would have denounced me. Unfortunatly, this time no one caught the reference... but who cares, everyone of you will have many other chances in the future!