On a jeep that had been mechanically enhanced with tougher steel plates, Li Du sat at the back and looked out of the window. The jeep was moving in the northeast direction, quickly leaving behind the army camp as it entered the wilderness.
With the arrival of spring, the landscape in the wild had changed rapidly. Compared to the last time Li Du was hunting in South Africa, the vegetation had now turned green. The terrain was mountainous, and the vegetation grew on the mountains and around several rugged hills, enhancing the areas" ability to retain water, allowing weeds to thrive.
Different species of trees grew on the hills. Besides the white paulownia trees, there were also white walnut trees, African walnut trees, Sapele trees, and Red bean pomelo trees. Li Du even spotted a grove of Rosewood trees on one of the hills.
While African Rosewood trees were not rare, they were extremely infamous. In the Redwood market, there were many unethical businessmen who pa.s.sed off the African Rosewood as the more valuable Rosewood to deceive consumers.
Among the woods and the wilderness, silhouettes of some animals could be spotted from time to time.
In the course of their drive, they chanced upon a herd of zebras. In the jeep, Good picked up the walkie-talkie and gave several commands. Then, three pickups in their entourage diverged from their course and sped toward the herd of zebras.
Shocked, the zebras began to gallop in herds.
The three pickups pursued the herd at top speed. After singling out a lone zebra that had been left behind, the pickups followed closely behind it, pressuring that lone zebra to gallop faster forward.
"Boss, how"s your wound?" Brother Wolf asked in a low voice.
Li Du nodded his head quietly and said, "I"m okay—don"t talk though"
Silence filled the vehicle again.
Good suddenly said, "Mr Li, in your opinion, aren"t these zebras pitiful?"
Li Du replied, "That depends on how men treat them. Coexisting with men doesn"t make them pitiful."
He did not know what exactly Good wanted. However, the man had an awful temper. He must not have had good intentions driving the lone zebra to leave the herd. The animal was indeed pitiful.
"No," Good laughed, "it has nothing to do with how men treat them. What"s happening to it is because it"s too weak. It"s the survival of the fittest, Mr. Li!"
The zebra continued to gallop as the pickup tailed closely. The horn sounded, attracting the attention of some other animals. A few large, furry animals emerged from the woods.
That lone zebra, like any other typical zebra, possessed a high level of sensitivity and sensed that something was amiss. Ignoring the horns from the pickup behind, the zebra started to slow down, ready to turn around and go back to where it came from. However, it spotted the huge furry animals.
Li Du noticed them too. Those are lions!
Having seen the zebra and the jeep entourage, the lions that had been lazing under the sun had sat up, glaring ferociously.
Seeing that the zebra was starting to make its escape, without missing a beat, one of the pickups sped up and knocked the zebra down.
The pickup had knocked the zebra down on the animal"s sides, causing it to whine in excruciating pain before it fell to the ground. It was, after all, a battle between flesh and modified steel plates. The difference in damage to the zebra compared to the jeep was quite large.
A forelimb of the zebra had broken. The zebra tried to pick itself up, putting less pressure on that limb. However, it collapsed onto the ground again, whining in pain.
Lured by the zebra"s whining, a lion with a full mane started to emerge from the lion den. The predator was about three meters long and had a wide face. Upon seeing the zebra, the lion bared its teeth and glared menacingly at its prey.
The zebra"s whining had broken the peacefulness in the area, drawing the attention of other animals. This time, a few hyenas emerged. Unlike the lions, the pack of hyenas did not sit still and observe. They sprinted down the hill, surrounded the zebra, and attacked.
Seeing that death was near, the zebra willed itself to stand up again and tried with all its might to knock a hyena down, desperate to escape its fate.
Wild hyenas were extremely savage. They pounced on the zebra and latched on its body like a leech latching onto flesh. With claws sunk into the zebra"s skin, the hyenas bit at the zebra"s flesh without holding back.
The zebra whined pitifully, unable to shake the hyenas off its body. The black and white stripes on its body were now tainted with the bright red hue of its own blood. As the hyenas tore at the zebra"s skin, pieces of flesh were yanked away, making ma.s.sive cuts on the zebra"s body.
The lion looked at the entourage of jeeps warily. Seeing that the jeeps were making no sign of movement, it could control its impulse no longer and sped toward the zebra.
Instead of retreating, the hyenas turned to face the lion that had arrived to compete for a share of the zebra. The pack of hyenas stretched their necks toward the sky and howled angrily.
Owwww! Owwwwww!
The lion ignored the hyenas and took a wide leap toward the zebra. Tired out by the hyenas" attack, the zebra could not withstand the lion"s tackle and fell to the ground. The creature let out a last cry before it stopped struggling, resigned to its fate.
The hyenas leaped toward the zebra from all directions, vying for a share.
However, the lion had already marked the zebra as its meal. It turned around malevolently and pounced on the nearest hyena, knocking it down to the ground with a single paw.
Hyenas had tough skin and hard bodies, so the attacked hyena did not suffer severe injuries. It rolled on the ground a few times before picking itself up.
The lion did not stop its attack, just like a persistent boxer fighting his opponent. While strong, the hyenas were no match for the lion and were chased off. Some of the hyenas with more severe wounds escaped with difficulty, howling in pain.
The fresh blood and howling attracted more predators. An eagle could be spotted spreading its wings in the sky. As it was too high up, Li Du could not see it clearly to identify the species.
While the lion and hyena attacked each other, the eagle swooped down speedily. Before Li Du could blink, the bird of prey had already landed on the zebra"s carca.s.s. With its sharp beak, it picked at the zebra"s open wound, and in a single movement, tore off a piece of fresh meat drenched in blood. Then, it flapped its wings and flew to the sky again.
The eagle was not greedy and flew off with a single piece of flesh in its beak.
Seeing that its prey was being shared with other animals, the lion roared ferociously.
One hyena refused to give up and silently returned for a piece of the carca.s.s. The lion pounced on the hyena with lightning speed, dug its claws into the hyena, and threw it on the ground before taking a big bite of the hyena"s neck.
The lion seemed to have snapped the hyena"s neck, as it seemed to lose its breath as it struggled on the ground. The lion picked the hyena up by its broken neck and threw it toward the zebra"s carca.s.s, roaring again.
Flicking their tails, the den of lions emerged with a few cubs. The pack of hyenas finally gave up and retreated back to the woods, camouflaging themselves and forlornly looking on what could have been their meal.
The lion tore the meat off the zebra to enjoy. Meanwhile, the den of lions shared the carca.s.s of the hyena.
The lion cubs looked embarra.s.singly naive and harmless compared to the full-grown lions. They began to play and chase one another on the land, wide-eyed and tails wagging, resembling a bunch of innocent children.
However, once it was their turn to feed on the zebra, they no longer looked harmless, nor naive. They looked just like their parents as they engulfed the meat of the zebra hungrily, blood stains on their face and looking as ferocious.