"It looks like some kind of ape," the woman behind Uhtred muttered, her voice trembling slightly as she stared down.

Uhtred did not answer. He remained squatting next to the figure, his eyes locked on its unconscious features.

The face was undeniably distinct. It possessed a protruding brow ridge that shaded deep eye sockets, a flat, receding forehead, and a massive, forward-jutting jaw that completely lacked a chin. The nose was broad and wide, and the skin had a leathery, weathered texture.

An uncanny sensation washed over him as he stared at it, the exact same feeling that had gripped the woman behind him.

It was a strange, intrinsic alarm that triggered deep within his mind. Looking at the creature felt deeply uncomfortable. It looked so much like a human, yet it was clearly not one, creating a bizarre contrast that defied his everyday understanding of biology.

Uhtred tried to wrap his mind around the idea that this might be some ancient, extinct variation of a human, but he seriously doubted it and felt completely confused.

He forced his analytical mind to focus, systematically picking out the facts of the situation one by one:

First, the fact that he had been able to strike and harm this... creature so severely inside the safe zone meant it was completely exempt from the standard protections. The System’s no-killing and damage-limiting rules simply did not apply to it.

Second, the fact that this entity had successfully kidnapped a child when the System strictly blocked humans from inflicting harm or capturing them within Zone 0 proved it was definitely not human.

And then, if those deductions were not enough, his eyes provided the final and absolute verification.

Uhtred activated his inspect skill, and the interface displayed the creature’s information in a completely different format above its body.

Usually, when he scanned a human, the System only revealed their level and their specific stage within that level, just as it had with Scorpion and the border guards.

But here, the information was formatted exactly like with the Epicyon wolves and the Monitor Lizards. It displayed its species along with its level:

[Homo Erectus - Level 7 (Early)]

A thorough shock rippled through Uhtred as he processed the text.

Homo erectus...

The System had truly resurrected a literal prehistoric human ancestor.

Behind him, the woman was still panicking, her voice rising as she asked, "What is going on? What kind of creature is this?"

She began rambling, spinning out her own wild hypothesis and trying to describe what she thought this could be, but Uhtred ignored the chatter entirely.

He already knew exactly what it was, but the sheer reality of what he was reading left him in a state of silent shock.

In the middle of that realization, however, a sudden pressure slammed into his perception.

It was that exact same feeling of being scanned that he had felt from the Homo erectus earlier. Except this time, the invisible scan was slower, more purposeful, and completely unhidden, as if the watcher was intentionally trying to draw his attention.

Uhtred stood up from the unconscious body and turned his head toward the glowing blue barrier of the safe zone.

Standing just on the other side of the boundary line, shrouded in the darkness of the night, was a large figure.

Its silhouette was incredibly broad and tall, easily towering over Uhtred himself. It stood perfectly still on the other side, watching him.

By now, some of the other task force members had finally caught up and reached the spot where Uhtred had felled the intruder on the ground.

However, the moment they all saw the creature’s exposed face, they instinctively staggered backward in shock, and a wave of panic immediately began to stir among them.

It wasn’t even just because of its appearance, but rather, what it implied for the children that had been captured.

They still didn’t know exactly what the creature was, but the fact that there were others like it, which had already escaped into the deep forest with the rest of the missing children brought up horrible thoughts.

As the murmurs of their worries, shock, and fear rippled through the air, Uhtred paid no attention to any of it. Instead, his focus was locked entirely on the broad, tall figure standing silently on the other side of the barrier.

He gripped his star-metal battle-axe and began to stride directly toward the border.

Noticing his sudden movement, the task force members behind him turned their heads to see what he was looking at, and a deathly silence instantly filled the group.

Without anyone needing to say a word, every fighter present could tell that the figure waiting in the dark was extremely dangerous. It was, without a doubt, the most lethal presence they had ever encountered since the integration began.

John, the young soldier who was usually at the politician’s side, finally arrived at a jog.

He took a quick, sweeping glance at the scene, assessing the surprising features of the unconscious figure on the ground, then also the massive silhouette waiting past the safe zone line, before coming to a quick deduction of his own.

In a few brief seconds of analysis, he knew they were entirely outmatched, and he acted with the cold decisiveness of a trained soldier.

"Bind that thing quickly!" John barked, gesturing at the unconscious figure on the ground.

He then faced the task force members and began firing off rapid, specific orders. He assigned one of them to head back to the pavilions with the saved child first, before then focusing on the unconscious creature on the ground.

Before anyone could object, John stepped forward and demonstrated the true extent of his military pragmatism.

He drew a sharp bone knife from his belt, knelt by the unconscious Homo erectus, and sliced cleanly through the primary tendons in its legs in one smooth, brutal motion.

It was a preventative measure to ensure the creature could never be able to move or escape if it woke up prematurely.

Aside from his military experience, John was also a pioneer who had already done battle against wild beasts in the wilderness, so his instincts for danger were highly refined.

He could tell simply by looking at the unconscious figure that it was stronger and higher-leveled than he was, and he refused to take any risks.

The sudden, decisive act of violence shocked the regular task force members. It was a harsh awakening to the true reality of their new world.

Aside from the few pioneers among them, the majority were simply volunteers. Individuals who met the criteria of having a Rare or an Uncommon grade class and deemed it a duty to aid in maintaining law and order, volunteering to do this job.

They all lacked any spine for violence.

Up until now, even with the things they had seen, many of them were still clinging to some level of old world expectations. But seeing this level of raw brutality forced them to face the truth:

This was now a different, unforgiving world, and only pioneers like Uhtred, John, and even the exiled Scorpion possessed the resolve to match it.

If they wanted to survive, and most essentially, if they wanted to thrive, they needed to adapt as quickly as possible.

The expressions of the surrounding fighters tightened, their gazes firming up as they swallowed hard and accepted the stakes.

They carried out John’s orders as quickly as they could, one of them cradling the unconscious boy and another throwing a thick cloth over the face of the captured intruder to prevent a mass panic among the thousands of refugees back at the settlement.

Meanwhile, Uhtred finally reached the absolute edge of the safe zone.

He stopped inches before the transparent blue wall of light, standing face to face with the massive figure on the other side. They were separated only by the shimmering vertical boundary line of the System.

Their eyes locked through the darkness in a silent, freezing contest of wills as Uhtred focused his sight and activated his inspect skill: 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

[Neanderthal Warrior - Level 13 (Peak)]