Wandering America: My kill threshold is far ahead

Chapter 259 I thought you were really that capable.

After quickly reviewing the self-rescue guide in his mind, Ma Jieke decisively raised his backpack above his head, which would make him appear taller.

It's important to know that most animals, like humans, first pay attention to the size of their opponent, as this is the most direct indicator of their fighting ability.

If a tiger has never seen a donkey before, it is very likely that the tiger will be intimidated by this "huge creature" when they meet for the first time.

If the donkey brays twice more, the tiger might even think the donkey wants to eat it.

Ma Jieke's current behavior is to play the donkey, using the "unknown" to create fear and scare away the mother bear.

"Get out of here!"

As he shouted, he slowly backed away.

Surprisingly, the shout actually worked; the mother bear's movements noticeably slowed down.

However, it only lasted a few seconds before it adopted an offensive stance again, growling in its throat and stomping its forelegs on the ground, attempting to launch a charge.

There's no way around it; when a mother bear is protecting her cubs, her aggressive instincts are extremely strong, just like humans.

As the saying goes, women are inherently weak, but become strong when they become mothers. I can only blame myself for my lack of experience and not expecting the mother bear to be nearby.

Ma Jieke knew very well that the more critical the situation, the less he could panic. He continued to retreat, his mouth never stopping for a moment: "Mama Bear, I advise you to calm down. I didn't mean to hurt you. Your cub stole my prey, and I didn't say anything. You can't turn around and blame me, can you? Be reasonable!"

This attempt to communicate with the mother bear is not self-talk, but rather a way of making oneself appear different from other "animals" through continuous talking.

In the sensory systems of most animals, humans are also animals, and "special" animals that are distinct from other animals.

This is because humans have unique characteristics, such as their own body odor, the smell of toiletries, and specific voices and footsteps, all of which are factors used for judgment.

But bears don't engage in complex thinking like humans; they only trigger behavioral patterns based on experience.

If a bear has encountered a hunter and heard gunshots, it will equate humans with danger. Once it recognizes a human, its first reaction will be to avoid and run away.

If another bear had not been disturbed by humans, it would view humans as an ordinary part of the environment that needs to be kept at a distance.

However, these assumptions clearly failed to hold true in the face of a mother bear's fierce protectiveness of her cubs.

As it drew closer, the audience's hearts were in their throats, and everyone became cloud advisors, offering suggestions and advice.

"Run, Jack! What are you standing there for? People will die!"

"Shoot it with a bow and arrow! If you don't seize such a good opportunity, it will be hard to come across one again."

"My God, this is so nerve-wracking! Is this definitely not computer-generated imagery?"

Ma Jie did consider a head-on confrontation. A 60-pound American hunting bow, paired with special hunting arrowheads, could indeed rival a black bear.

But now, the mother bear is staring intently at him, and could pounce at any moment.

If you draw a bow and shoot an arrow in front of someone, not to mention whether you have enough time to aim, even if you hit the target, you won't immediately empty the health bar. Instead, it will trigger Blood Rage and completely enrage the target.

Wounded beasts are extremely terrifying and will attack their enemies with all their might. Once they get close, there is almost no chance of victory.

Rather than risk being killed in retaliation, it's better to focus on how to evacuate safely.

Having decided on his final strategy, he swiftly reached down to his lower back and touched a cold, black metal can.

This is bear spray provided by the program team, equipped with a special carrying case, and is required to be carried with you when going out.

Ma Jieke doesn't have three heads and six arms, so he does exactly what the instructor teaches him; there's no need for him to be unconventional.

As it turned out, his judgment was absolutely correct. With a thunderous roar, the mother bear launched a fierce charge.

Its heavy yet swift form, like a giant cannonball, hurtled towards it at breakneck speed.

The latter decisively removed the safety clip, gripped the can body tightly, placed his right index finger above the nozzle, and began to adjust his position.

This is crucial. Since it's called a spray, it will definitely be sprayed out in a mist. If you're standing upwind, the consequences are obvious.

Every step the mother bear took seemed to trigger a small earthquake, and his heart trembled uncontrollably.

After all, this wasn't a monster from a game, but a living bear. The oppressive feeling created by the asymmetrical power was almost suffocating.

But in order to survive, Ma Jieke still managed to retain a sliver of composure amidst the spreading fear.

He only has one chance; he can't be too far away or too close. If he's too far away, it won't be effective; if he's too close, he might accidentally hurt someone.

When the mother bear was only about 10 meters away from him, he tilted the can slightly downwards and suddenly tightened the nozzle.

Sizzle! A cone-shaped red mist shot precisely towards the mother bear's head.

The moment the spray hit, the giant beast stopped moving abruptly, as if time had stood still.

The next second, its forelimbs left the ground, and it suddenly leaned back, standing upright like a human.

"Awooo!" An angry roar echoed through the mountains and forests, startling a flock of migratory birds that were resting there.

This isn't some kind of black magic; it's simply the biggest difference between humans and animals: the use of tools.

In nature, humans who are unarmed and humans who use tools are so different that they are practically two different species.

The red mist sprayed from bear spray is no different in composition from that of pepper spray; both contain highly concentrated capsaicin.

Capsaicin stimulates the transient receptor potential vanillin subtype 1 channel in mammals.

In layman's terms, this is a sensor responsible for transmitting heat and pain.

When this sensor detects capsaicin, it sends strong burning and pain signals to the brain, even if there is no actual physical burn.

Boom! After landing, the mother bear was successfully deprived of her vision. The capsaicin made it impossible for her to open her eyes, and a large amount of tears flowed from her tear ducts in an attempt to wash away the irritants.

But what's more painful for the eyes is the nose, because bears rely on scent to find food, which makes their sense of smell exceptionally sensitive.

Just thinking about it sends chills down your spine.

Next, it began to cough violently, sneeze, drool, and scratch its mouth and nose haphazardly with its paws, trying to relieve the pain.

In fact, the capsaicin concentration in bear spray is only about 2%, far lower than the 10% concentration in humans.

The reason for this design is, of course, humanitarian considerations. A 2% lethality is already so powerful; any higher and it could cause permanent damage to the bear.

To put it bluntly, this thing is for self-defense, not for hunting.

The ultimate goal is to create a stimulating area between humans and bears, making it impossible for them to pass through, thus buying time for the survivors to escape.

The mother bear never imagined that the two-legged creature in front of her would retaliate in such a vicious manner.

Once its vision cleared a little, it turned its massive body in a panic and fled back the way it came, coughing and shaking its head as it ran, looking quite disheveled.

The little bear staggered behind its mother, still unaware of what had happened.

Hearing the commotion, Ma Jie, who had run some distance ahead, couldn't help but turn back. He saw the mother bear and her cub disappear into the forest, still shaken but not forgetting his comedic timing: "That's it? I thought you were something special. Come back and try again if you dare. You think I'm afraid of you?"

The tense atmosphere in the live stream was swayed by his two sentences.

"Haha, everyone else has run away, and you're starting to act all high and mighty. Why didn't you fight it back then? Why didn't you go after it?"

"To be honest, I almost had a heart attack watching this, it's really too dangerous."

"Pass it on: Jack just chased away a bear!"

The news spread like wildfire to the live streams of several players who were broadcasting at the time.

"Are you sure it's an adult black bear?" Roland, who was live-streaming his fishing, saw these comments and his eyes flashed with excitement: "If this is true, then I can only say that the strength of this season's contestants far surpasses any previous season. Oh, by the way, go back and say hello to Jack for me. It's so great that he's not injured. I like competing against strong opponents."

"Liar, no one would believe you!" Looking at the screen full of reposts, Donya raised her eyebrows disdainfully in front of the camera: "A normal person would be scared to death if they saw a bear. I don't believe he can stay calm. Go post somewhere else, don't bother me here. I won't fall for it."

By the time Majek returned to the camp, it was almost dark. He lit a campfire outside the shelter and skillfully processed the white-tailed rabbits he had caught in the trap.

Unfortunately, the live stream was limited in length, so viewers were unable to see his mukbang performance.

While preparing the ingredients, Ma Jieke recounted his encounter with the black bear that day and how he escaped from its jaws.

In his view, black bears are not invincible; however, a complete plan must be devised to hunt them.

This plan must include elements such as preemptive strikes, follow-up pursuit, and emergency escape, and it must be simple, effective, and executable.

Otherwise, if we rely on on-the-spot reactions to save ourselves like we did today, and make a mistake, the consequences could be disastrous.

Of course, bear hunting is not a must-do option. From a competition perspective, hunting large herbivores is the most cost-effective choice.

For example, the enormous moose and musk ox are like walking millionaires. Hitting one of them is basically the end of the game and will seriously affect the mentality of other players.

While gnawing on a chewy roasted rabbit, Ma Jieke formed a new plan in his mind: unless his life was in danger or a stroke of luck presented itself, he would not provoke wild beasts.

By gathering resources, fishing, and trapping, a stable base can be established, and supporting facilities can be continuously added to the permanent shelter, such as fire pits, fire sheds, woodsheds, meat drying racks, smokehouses, and storage boxes.

We finished most of the roasted rabbit, and saved the rest for tomorrow. Rabbit meat is firm and hard to digest if you eat too much.

The next day, for the first time ever, someone slept in late, and slept until noon.

There was no way around it; the comfort and insulation of the stone shelter completely surpassed the previous temporary campsite, and the soundproofing was also excellent, so we wouldn't be woken up by strong winds in the middle of the night.

Ma Jie felt no guilt whatsoever. He worked himself to the bone on infrastructure projects just so he could enjoy them.

Let others roll their hair if they want; after these few days of intense work, he's completely too tired to roll anymore and can only switch to leisure mode for now.

"Good afternoon, family." Reluctantly crawling out of her sleeping bag, she flashed an innocent smile: "Today is the..."

"After seven match days, I've moved into the permanent shelter. My focus now is on foraging for food, hoping to build up a winter's worth of reserves before winter arrives."

"Go for it! You can do it!"

I cheered myself up in front of the camera and pushed open the somewhat heavy log cabin door.

"Hoo, hiss..."

He took deep breaths contentedly, enjoying the natural oxygen bar while letting the warm autumn sun shine on his face.

I wonder how long this good weather will last.

After washing up by the stream, Ma Jieke opened his skill panel.

[Resource Exploration] The cooldown is restored every 3 days, and it has just been restored.

Selecting to use the skill, another golden question mark appears on the map. This time it's closer, less than 2 kilometers away, located east of the permanent shelter, in an unfamiliar area that has never been explored before.

Just in case, in addition to the essential survival knife and American hunting bow, Maje also brought a logging axe.

Don't underestimate the power of the lumber axe. This thing can not only chop down trees, but it can also be used as a melee weapon. In critical moments, you can even imitate Kratos and throw it as a flying axe.

The main problem is that we no longer have bear spray. If we encounter a bear again, having an extra handy tool is like having a better chance of survival.

machine.

With one camera fixed to their chest and the other in their hand, they headed out of the camp.

"Let's go, family! Let's see what delicious food I can get today."

But just as he left the camp and was about to explore that valuable resource point, a familiar roar came from the distant horizon.

"A helicopter?" Ma Jie's heart skipped a beat. He was all too familiar with the sound of the rotors turning.

Soon, a white Bell 429 civilian helicopter came into view, circling back and forth over the camp, looking for an open area where it could land safely.

Without a doubt, it's the production team. They'll send people over intermittently to conduct physical examinations on the contestants and check for any damaged or missing equipment.

After the helicopter landed steadily by the lake, three staff members, two men and one woman, stepped out of the cabin. Their windbreakers had the words "Living Alone in the Wilderness" printed on them.

To Ma Jieke's surprise, Grace also came along. After all, she was the casting director, and normally she wouldn't have anything to do after filming started.

After they met, Grace extended her hand and smiled brightly. "Jack, it's so nice to see you. I watched your live stream clip from yesterday, and it scared me so much I couldn't sleep all night. How are you feeling now? Are you physically injured? Are you in good spirits?"

"Oh, by the way, this is Dr. Kim. He will be in charge of providing you with psychological counseling."

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