139.【Three Chapters in One】

This little cutie~ Because your subscription ratio is not enough, the anti-theft stamp is displayed~ What’s more important is, why didn’t the leopard come to him?

Ji Wuxiu began to worry inexplicably.

When he finally arrived at the door of the tree cave, a cry filled with crying sounds floated out, accompanied by the leopard's low roar of pain.

The tree hole in front of him was dim, but the large creature lying on the dry grass was still very conspicuous. It seemed to have noticed that a creature had entered the tree hole, and its back muscles suddenly contracted, making a low roar of shock.

But when it saw who the intruder was, the growl stopped abruptly.

The leopard stared at it blankly, and then it was overjoyed, howling and screaming, wishing to get up immediately, but its injury was too serious, and it flopped a few times and fell to the ground.

Black Panther is really hurt.

Ji Wuxiu's pupils shrank and he ran over quickly. The Black Panther's wounds were almost too horrific to look at, even much more serious than last time.

It's no wonder why it hasn't appeared in the past few days. Its injuries must have been more terrifying in the past few days than today.

Ji Wuxiu felt distressed and guilty at the same time. It would be better if he could come back sooner.

The leopard cared more about Ji Wuxiu than his injuries. He kept sniffing Ji Wuxiu, and then he felt relieved after making sure that there was no smell of blood. He squealed happily.

Ji Wuxiu's heart felt like it was being pinched tightly. This silly leopard would always touch his softest place easily.

The emotions of animals are simple and pure. He was touched and frightened at the same time, and he urgently had the idea of ​​becoming stronger.

If he is strong enough, he can protect the leopard.

Ji Wuxiu suppressed the turbulent thoughts in his heart, comforted Leopard to have a good rest, and then said to the system: "After deducting the 100 points I used to upgrade, how much cuteness do I have left?"

【Ding! You need to meet certain requirements to upgrade. For example, you must have 100 points at level one, but this does not mean that your points will be deducted. Now you still have 115 points. 】

Ji Wuxiu couldn't help being happy and said, "Is there any medicine to heal wounds in the mall?"

After a little thought, the system understood what the host wanted to do and advised: [Host, I do not recommend that you buy it. The mutant beast's recovery ability is very powerful. It only takes a few days for Black Panther to recover most of his injuries, and These are cute, so I suggest you use them to buy more important things. 】

"I know." Ji Wuxiu paused, "I can make more money by being cute, but I can't look at it...it hurts all the time."

The system was silent for a while, not knowing what it was thinking about. Its tone was so calm that no emotion could be heard: [I know the host. 】

Ji Wuxiu smiled and said, "Thank you."

The system didn't say anything and directly showed the mall page to Ji Wuxiu. There were many potions listed on it, some expensive and some cheap. But he had to save some for the cuteness right now, so he spent a long time choosing. Ji Wuxiu quickly decided to buy it. Among them, the price of 10 is a potion with cute value.

[Low-level repair and analgesic potion]

Function: Repair wounds and relieve pain.

Ji Wuxiu immediately said: "That's it."

After the purchase was successful, a bottle of potion suddenly appeared in his hand. Black Panther was startled, unable to understand such a strange scene.

Ji Wuxiu quickly poured the potion into the Black Panther, but within three seconds, the Black Panther was stunned and looked confused: "Ouch?"

——It doesn’t hurt anymore. How strange?

Ji Wuxiu breathed a sigh of relief, it just didn't hurt.

What's more important is that the Black Panther's wounds are also growing and repairing at a slow rate.

After letting Black Panther have a good rest, Ji Wuxiu picked up Mao Tuanzi, who had been neglected for a long time. Before he could say anything, Mao Tuanzi jumped down and clung to Black Panther, chirping with a look of dependence on his face. A few times.

Ji Wuxiu: "..."

Sure enough, what the black-haired group loves - in fact, it must be the leopard that bites it every day.

On the second day when Ji Wuxiu was concentrating on taking care of the leopard, a disturbing smell came from the forest.

The chirping birds in the past have completely disappeared. The huge forest is lifeless and has lost its previous vitality.

In the distance, there seemed to be a faint scream, and finally disappeared completely.

Even the black fur ball, which had been extraordinarily quiet recently, began to chirp for the first time. It trembled in horror, as if it was afraid of something.

This made Ji Wuxiu more and more confused and decided to go and see what was going on.

The Black Panther quickly roared, "Ouch."

- It's dangerous outside.

Ji Wuxiu still insisted on going, but Leopard also got up and prepared to go together.

Ji Wuxiu had no choice but to smash the rocks on the side with his claws, indicating that he was very powerful in fighting and would be fine.

The black panther's eyes were shining brightly, and he howled with admiration.

——Ugly creature, you are so powerful!

Ji Wuxiu twitched his lips and ran out smoothly. He followed the sound and ran far away. It wasn't until he heard the sound of bombing that he lowered his body and looked around cautiously.

Not far away, a team of forty or fifty people was searching all over the place. They kept activating their powers and attacking all the hiding places around them.

What made Ji Wuxiu even more frightened was that these people were uniformly dressed and well-equipped, and the aura exuding from them was definitely the most powerful existence he had ever seen.

This is a well-trained team.

Ji Wuxiu silently marked it in his heart.

They seemed to have been searching here for two days, and their expressions changed from excitement at the beginning to exhaustion later.

The leading man seemed very angry and scolded the group of people, "It's been two days and you still haven't found that mutant beast?"

One of them complained: "Captain, we have tried our best, but who knows where the mutant beast is."

The leader narrowed his violent eyes, and his tone became more and more impatient, "Damn it, if those people's intelligence is correct, then the black and white mutant beast must be around here. Look for them all, even if they dig three feet into the ground. Dig it out for me."

Ji Wuxiu was shocked. Could it be that the mutated beast these people were looking for was him?

"Also, the person who provided the information said that the mutant beast's power can make people dizzy and vomit. You should all be careful." The leader thought for a while and did not forget to warn.

Now Ji Wuxiu is absolutely sure that the mutated beast these people are looking for is him.

"There is something hidden in the tree hole!" Someone suddenly shouted.

Several people quickly blasted the tree hole open with supernatural powers, revealing a trembling creature inside. It was a brown bear. It seemed that it was aware of the terror of these people, so it hid in the tree hole, hoping to escape this crisis.

"Fuck, it's a newly mutated brown bear."

Everyone was disappointed and immediately activated the fire power to burn the brown bear to death. The brown bear screamed several times in pain and became completely motionless and silent.

Several of them smiled and seemed to like this kind of torture scene very much. However, among the forty people, the expressions of the forty or so people were calm, as if they had seen such a horrific scene millions of times and already felt it was normal.

However, Ji Wuxiu felt cold all over, and quickly backed away carefully, then ran towards the place where the leopard was hiding without looking back. The leopard howled excitedly when he saw Ji Wuxiu coming back.

After only a short while, a small part of the wound on its body had healed and was scabbing.

Ji Wuxiu was no longer in the mood to check these, but immediately asked the system, "What kind of power can I buy for Black Panther with the only cuteness I have left? I don't want to be the strongest, but I must be able to protect myself."

The system did not care about anything else, but immediately showed Ji Wuxiu the superpower products.

[Level 2 thunder power]

Description: The attack range is large, the conductivity is strong, and it comes with a buff: "100% causing the body to be paralyzed and unable to move for three seconds."

Price: 90 for cuteness value.

Ji Wuxiu's eyes lit up when he saw it. He felt that this skill was very suitable for Black Panther and immediately decided to buy it.

【Ding! Please tell me whether to give the "secondary thunder power" to "Lightning Leopard"]

Ji Wuxiu should think so in his heart.

The mark on the black panther's forehead immediately flickered and turned blue, and the pure black fur gradually turned black and blue, exuding a faint and mysterious aura.

Black Panther was a little shocked at his change, "Aw?"

Ji Wuxiu comforted Black Panther and explained about the secondary thunder power. Black Panther was half-informed and confused.

Ji Wuxiu could only give up the explanation. Anyway, he would notice the changes when Black Panther used his powers.

The system that had been silent suddenly said: [Host, you still have 15 cuteness points. I suggest you buy water powers for Lightning Leopard. 】

Ji Wuxiu was stunned and quickly understood the system's intention.

Black Panther's skill is lightning, and water - can conduct electricity.

Ji Wuxiu did not hesitate to buy it and gave it to Leopard. Finally, he explained to Leopard about the water and thunder powers, over and over again until Leopard understood.

Then Ji Wuxiu put the black fur ball on the black panther's back, and then said: Next, we will play a game, that is, you run forward and see when I can reach you.

The black panther swung his tail and was very interested in this game. He even ignored the wounds on his body and shouted eagerly: "Ouch!"

-I won't let you catch me, ugly creature.

At this moment, the Black Panther held his neck high, proud and confident.

Ji Wuxiu felt a trace of reluctance for no reason. This time they were separated, and he didn't know when they would meet again.

Those forty people will search here at any time. Even if he takes the leopard and escapes to another place, what will happen next?

In order to become stronger, he must come into contact with humans, which is accompanied by countless dangers. The leopard is not suitable to be with him at all. It belongs to the forest and should live proudly and wantonly in a world without humans.

The leopard couldn't wait to start the game now. It swung its tail and disappeared into the forest, like a child trying to win the game by being clever.

Only its roar filled the air, cheerful and expectant.

"Ouch!"

——Ugly creature, come and chase me!

Ji Wuxiu stood there, trying to raise his head, trying to push back the tears in his eyes.

This separation may be forever, and we may not be able to see each other again.

******

After a long time, after Ji Wuxiu was sure that the leopard had not come back, he slowly found a place to hide and secretly peeped at the movements of the forty people.

Those forty people were destroying the forest wantonly, just like the destroyers who turned the forest upside down and turned it into a desolate place.

Ji Wuxiu felt heavy and couldn't bear it.

Those people had almost completely lost their bottom line as human beings. They immediately killed any living creature they saw. Wherever they walked, corpses were everywhere.

Ji Wuxiu knew that he was not a holy mother, but he could not let so many innocent lives die because of him.

He didn't know what these people were looking for, but it was obvious that they were not trying to kill him, but had an ulterior motive.

As long as it has a purpose, that's enough. At least his life will not be in any danger for the time being.

Ji Wuxiu took a deep breath and decided to sacrifice himself to prevent this peaceful forest from suffering any more destruction.

The group of people continued to move forward, using supernatural powers to attack the surroundings, but soon, many people suddenly stopped and stared blankly ahead, with wonder in their eyes.

More and more people noticed something was wrong and looked over, with the same stunned expressions as those before.

Not far away, a furry creature stood there. The black and white fur was particularly conspicuous in the green forest.

It is silent and motionless, but every part is filled with the favor of the Creator, and it is so perfect that it is amazing.

This is a mutant beast with an extremely cute appearance.

The leader's breathing quickened, greed flashing in his eyes.

He swore that there would never be a more outstanding mutant beast in the world.

Such a mutated beast, if captured for publicity and auction, would surely cause a sensation throughout the entire galaxy.

Three humans dressed as hunters approached carefully. They held the weapons in their hands tightly and observed their surroundings.

Among them, the man in gray clothes frowned, "The mutated beast seems to have run away. I guess it must have discovered us."

"Then let's chase it quickly. Maybe it hasn't gone far yet." Another person said.

The man in gray noticed the tree that was split into half and analyzed: "Then we will split up and chase each other. If we catch up, we will send out the flare immediately."

The remaining two people nodded in agreement. In order to hunt down the mutant beast as quickly as possible, the three of them did not waste any time and words, and immediately chased each other separately, without noticing the huge boulder in the corner.

Ji Wuxiu breathed a sigh of relief and subconsciously glanced at the Black Panther.

The black panther's vertical pupils contained coldness, but there was no madness.

Since the mutation, it is no longer the black panther that only took revenge stupidly and did not evaluate the pros and cons of danger.

The black panther flicked his tail and growled lowly.

"Roar -" Ugly creature, let's go.

Ji Wuxiu was stunned for a moment, said nothing else, and nodded in agreement.

As the days passed, Ji Wuxiu quickly forgot what happened that day. Until today, the black panther went out hunting, but it still hadn't come back in the afternoon.

Ji Wuxiu was restless, always feeling that something was wrong.

Suddenly, a black fur ball came into the door of the tree hole. The hair on its body seemed to be singed, and it made a shrill chirping sound.

"Jiji!" Something happened to the black monster!

Ji Wuxiu panicked and quickly pulled the black fur ball over to question him.

The black fur ball kept rolling nervously, and finally expressed the matter clearly in a few words.

It turned out that the black panther went out hunting today and planned to catch a rabbit and bring it back, so the black fur ball naturally followed him.

Unexpectedly, they met three humans on the way. The weapons in the humans' hands could spit fire and caught the black panther. The black-haired ball was petite and had talents focused on escaping. Then he hurried back and reported the letter.

Ji Wuxiu's mind went blank, and he suddenly remembered the three people he met a few days ago.

This is troublesome.

Ji Wuxiu quickly asked the black fur ball to lead him through the woods and walked for a while.

"Chichi!" The black fur ball bounced a few times, indicating that the destination was not far away.

Ji Wuxiu asked the black fur ball to hide here and not move, while he quietly touched it to judge the enemy's situation.

Not far away, more than half of the black panther's shiny fur was scorched. It seemed that it was not seriously injured and it was still roaring vigorously.

While Ji Wuxiu was relieved, he couldn't help but be surprised.

The three men surrounded the black panther tightly, throwing fiery snakes out of their hands and throwing them at the black panther.

Even awakened supernatural beasts still have an instinctive fear of fire.

The Black Panther didn't dare to resist, so he could only rely on his agility to dodge, and from time to time he would use his lightning powers to attack humans.

But it's a pity that humans have been prepared for it and quickly used supernatural powers to resist it.

For a moment, the three of them and the leopard were deadlocked in place, and no one could do anything to anyone.

When Ji Wuxiu saw this, he was anxious and in a dilemma.

He evaluated the combat effectiveness of these three people and felt that he was unable to fight head-on.

Seeing that his attacks failed repeatedly, the leopard roared angrily and made sneak attacks from time to time, eager to tear the human alive into pieces.

After several rounds, the situation was still deadlocked, but the tip of the leopard's tail was accidentally burned off.

The leopard became more and more angry and roared: "Ouch!"

——Damn humans, my furry——Ouch!

Ji Wuxiu twitched the corner of his mouth and almost coughed.

The anger made the leopard become angrier, and its powers became stronger each time. Soon, some wounds gradually appeared on the three people.

Ji Wuxiu's eyes lit up and he quickly used [The sound wave is too strong and will hit the ground if it doesn't shake] on the three people.

In the blink of an eye, the three of them were immediately dizzy, and the world in front of them was spinning. They covered their heads with pain on their faces, and fell to the ground in embarrassment.

Within a few seconds, the three of them could no longer hold on to this feeling and started vomiting wildly.

Ji Wuxiu then popped up and waved to Black Panther.

The black panther ran over, flicked his tail quickly, and shouted nervously: "Ouch!"

——Ugly creature, let’s run!

When Ji Wuxiu was about to nod, the system that had not spoken for a long time suddenly prompted: [Ding! It is recommended that the host stays and uses your appearance to earn points. 】

Ji Wuxiu was stunned and stared at the three people, feeling a little moved.

[Ding! If danger arises, you can also use skills to escape. 】

Ji Wuxiu only hesitated for a second, and then decided to do as the system said. Then he quickly dragged Black Panther away and hid in the dark, then asked Black Panther to leave for now and hide so as not to appear.

Black Panther stared at Ji Wuxiu closely and howled.

——What about you, ugly creature.

Ji Wuxiu touched Black Panther's head and called out a few times.

——I want to stay here.

The leopard's eyes suddenly widened and he shouted at Ji Wuxiu: "Ouch!"

——Ugly creature, are you crazy?

Ji Wuxiu was very moved, but he couldn't really leave. After all, he finally encountered a human being and had to earn points quickly.

The Black Panther, who didn't know the truth, shook his head desperately.

The ugly creature is so weak, it will die if left here.

Ji Wuxiu's eyes widened, he slapped Black Panther's head and shouted, "Ouch!"

——You have to listen to me, understand, otherwise there will be no rabbits to eat in the future!

The Black Panther shrank his head in frustration and roared feebly: "Ouch——"

Ji Wuxiu then nodded with satisfaction, patted the black panther on the head, and shouted: "Ah, woo?"

——From now on, you will listen to the boss, you know?

Black Panther tilted his head, looking confused, "Ouch?"

——What is the boss? Is it delicious?

Ji Wuxiu slapped him again and yelled: "Ah! Woo?"

——Fuck you, boss, from now on you have to listen to me, eat from me, and be an obedient little brother, do you understand?

After the Black Panther finished digesting this passage, he flicked his tail and focused on something else.

"Ouch-ouch-ouch?"

——As long as you obey, you will have meat to eat?

Ji Wuxiu twitched the corner of his mouth, and under the particularly expectant eyes of Black Panther, he said firmly: "Yeah!"

The Black Panther was instantly satisfied and left. After walking a few steps, he seemed to remember something, turned his head and let out a cry.

——Boss, I’m leaving!

Ji Wuxiu waved his claws, his face hurt.

******

Over there at this time.

The five seconds of cd time had long passed, and the three people finally recovered, but their faces were full of fear and vigilance. They constantly looked around vigilantly, and then breathed a sigh of relief after making sure there was nothing strange.

"What's going on?" The man in gray suppressed the shock in his heart and said with lingering fear.

Just thinking about the dizzy feeling just now made him want to vomit.

"No, the leopard seems to have escaped." One of them suddenly said in shock.

The three people got up quickly and did not choose to search because they were afraid of encountering such a feeling again.

"Maybe it was the leopard who did it!" one of them suddenly guessed.

The other two people also thought it made sense.

After finding the culprit, most of the fear in the three people's hearts disappeared instantly.

"Damn it, you must catch it." The man in gray said with a stern expression.

When Ji Wuxiu heard this, he was a little glad that he let Black Panther leave.

[Ding! Host, please don’t be careless! I'm optimistic about you! 】

Ji Wuxiu came back to his senses, nodded, and took a deep breath.

He must perform well next and work hard to earn cuteness points.

******

The three of them briefly discussed for a while and decided to expand the search area nearby and catch the nasty leopard.

And at this moment... there seemed to be a commotion in the tall bushes in the corner, as if there was something living inside.

The three of them immediately became vigilant, approached cautiously, and then prepared to attack.

However, when they opened the bushes, their expressions suddenly became stunned.

What the hell is this fur ball? ! !

In the grass, a black and white creature that was as fat as a ball was also startled and raised its head suddenly.

The three of them stared wide-eyed again: This thing actually looks so strange.

The black and white creature had dark circles on its face. It looked sad and troubled. The words "chubby and cute" were written in big letters everywhere on its body.

The three people looked shocked: What kind of creature is this? !

The black-and-white furry ball gathered itself up silently, with a sad expression on its face, and made a thin cry.

"Ah woo~"

When the three of them heard this childish and coquettish voice, they couldn't help but trembled, and their minds went blank.

【Ding! Your cuteness was so natural that the three humans were so shocked that they were speechless and thought, "How could there be such a strange-looking yet cute creature in this world?" You gained +9 cuteness points. . 】

Ji Wuxiu soon felt sleepy and fell into sleep again.

I don't know how long it took, but a cool breeze hit me. Ji Wuxiu shivered, and opened his eyes in confusion. It was still noon, but it turned out to be evening after a good sleep.

Ji Wuxiu quickly climbed down and drank some water by the river.

At this time, a fish that looked particularly fat suddenly jumped out of the river. It swung its tail and quickly sank to the bottom of the water and disappeared.

Only the water splashes were cast into seven colors by the sunlight in the air.

Ji Wuxiu touched his chin, his eyes bright.

Good guy, why did he forget the fish?

But there is no fire…

The fire in Ji Wuxiu's eyes extinguished, and he left dejectedly under the setting sun. His round back looked particularly heavy.

At night, Ji Wuxiu sat on a tree branch and began to try to remember how to make a fire without a lighter and a magnifying glass.

Forget about drilling wood to make fire.

As a panda with very flexible movements, it still cannot achieve the extreme flexibility of its fingers like humans.

Ji Wuxiu resented that he didn't study hard before, but he regretted that he didn't study well when he used it.

Faced with so many ingredients, it’s hard to choose what to eat.

Sighing heavily in his heart, Ji Wuxiu could only ask the system for help, "System, do you have any tools that can be used to light a fire?"

The system was a little indifferent, because it clearly understood that the host in front of it was very poor, but it still opened the mall dutifully, jumped to the page related to fire and introduced: [The first one is the fire power, only one The flame can be easily ignited and is worth 9 points of cuteness. As for the second one, it is a second-level fire power that can instantly emit a fireball that cannot be extinguished by ordinary water and is worth 98 points of cuteness. 】

Ji Wuxiu quickly interrupted: "Stop, stop, stop, why are they all superpowers, and nothing else?"

【Ding! Of course it’s more than that, come and see here. ] The screen in front of me changed again, and the system continued to introduce: [This is more advanced than the previous fire power, it is...]

"System, you don't understand what I mean." Ji Wuxiu interrupted again: "I mean, it's like an ordinary ignition tool, similar to the lighter on Earth."

The system was silent for a while, and finally said: [Ding! This system is an upgrade system that I rely on to be cute, not a groceries system. This system can only use cuteness points to exchange for things that can make people stronger. 】

Ji Wuxiu: "Oh."

It's because I think too much.

The system seemed to feel that it was being underestimated, and couldn't help but pull out an interface again and said: [In addition to upgrading and becoming stronger, this system can also redeem various professional skills. 】

Ji Wuxiu then raised his eyelids and looked at the interface carefully, "Huh? Is this a blacksmithing type?"

The system quickly said: [Yes, you can exchange cuteness points here for only 998. You can take home the forging skills and upgrade them with cuteness points. 】

Listening to the system's promotion, Ji Wuxiu finally realized how awesome his system was. He quickly browsed through the system's products, and was surprised to find that they not only had a wide variety of skills, but could also be bought as gifts to others.

Just buy one of the fire and water types, and people without any special powers can become stronger without any worries.

Ji Wuxiu's first thought was himself.

Wouldn't it be great if I bought those powers myself?

Just thinking about it makes me feel a little excited.

However, it has been two days since he came here.

I haven't even earned a single cuteness point, so I can't continue like this.

Ji Wuxiu, who was very worried, suddenly became anxious. The next step was to quickly find other creatures to be cute.

After finalizing the plan, Ji Wuxiu quickly chose to sleep. After all, the system said that sleeping is also part of being cute. As a panda, this is a plus point.

After a good night's sleep, Ji Wuxiu climbed down from the tree and strode forward with high spirits, looking for someone to be cute with.

At this time, a white and innocent-looking rabbit jumped over. Ji Wuxiu immediately swooped down and picked up the rabbit in his arms. He kept secretly thinking that he was in danger and almost let the rabbit escape.

The rabbit who originally went out to eat grass said: "???"

After a while, the rabbit realized that he had been caught and might even be eaten. He immediately struggled desperately and kicked Ji Wuxiu's stomach with his hind legs, almost kicking his stomach out.

Ji Wuxiu quickly controlled the rabbit, and the bear's paw comforted the rabbit thoughtfully, eliminating the rabbit's tension.

But who knew that the more he stroked it, the more the rabbit would tremble, and its red eyes were filled with fear.

Ji Wuxiu saw that he had no choice but to put the rabbit on the ground. As soon as it landed, the rabbit jumped away at the speed of the wind, as fast as an afterimage.

Ji Wuxiu had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue looking for the next partner.

At this time, the grass was stirring, as if there were some creatures in it.

Ji Wuxiu's eyes lit up and he ran over with small steps. He opened the grass with particularly expectant eyes and looked at the leopard's head for three seconds.

Still a familiar color.

Familiar eyes.

and familiar scenes.

Ji Wuxiu's face suddenly drooped, and he pushed the Black Panther aside with great displeasure, and sat down sullenly.

The black panther was also a little depressed. In order to escape this ugly creature, it ran far away, but the black panther could not figure out why it encountered this ugly creature again.

Ji Wuxiu patted the black panther with his paw and hummed a few times in a serious voice.

"Why are you so idle every day? I see you wherever I go."

If the black panther could talk, I'm afraid this would be what he said.

Ji Wuxiu sighed, got up and continued looking for the next creature.

The Black Panther stared blankly at the retreating figure, showing an expression of lingering fear for the first time.

Finally, I no longer have to listen to that ugly creature calling.

Ji Wuxiu walked around in a large circle, but the further he walked, the more confused he became.

Why are there no large creatures here?

Of course, he completely ignored those small creatures, because although their combat power was weak, their escape skills were excellent. Often, those creatures would immediately notice the crisis and escape quickly before Ji Wuxiu could run over.

This is why Ji Wuxiu targeted those large creatures.

But the problem is... there are no large creatures here, not even the slightest sign of activity.