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 passed 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 massive 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 carcass . 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 carcass . 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 carcass, 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 carcass of the hyena .
The lion cubs looked embarrassingly 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 .
Chapter end
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