Chapter 287: Failed Hunt (Third Chapter)

"My name is Soren Douglas, this is Dalton Robinson, and this is Lawrence Fox. May I ask how you are addressed?"

"Qin!"

"Qin?" Soren heard the name and a sense of familiarity surfaced in his mind, as if he had heard it before, though he couldn't recall where.

He smiled, not giving it much thought: "Mr. Qin, where are you headed? We can give you a ride."

Qin Yun waved his hand. "No need. I'm live-streaming and must walk the entire way—it's inconvenient."

Live-streaming?

Hearing the word "live-streaming," Soren suddenly had a flash of insight, his eyes widening as he blurted out: "Wild Survival? Qin? Are you the champion of this year's Wild Survival, Qin?"

At these words, Dalton and Lawrence also froze for a moment.

"Hahahaha, look at their unworldly expressions—I thought they didn't even know Qin Ye."

"Of Earth's seven billion people, maybe a billion recognize Qin Ye. At least six billion don't—nothing strange about that."

Before Qin Yun could confirm, Soren's face softened with emotion, yet his expression grew oddly uneasy: "Qin, are you really live-streaming right now?"

"Yeah!" Qin Yun didn't deny it, pointing at the drone. "It's broadcasting globally—sorry, you're all on camera."

Soren, Dalton, and Lawrence exchanged glances, their faces instantly dropping.

Especially Soren, who holstered his gun and grabbed his hair: "Damn it—if my old man sees this, I'm dead."

Qin Yun was speechless. So were the viewers in the livestream.

He thought for a moment and said: "Since you've accidentally crossed into the legal hunting zone, just leave quickly. You haven't taken any game, so no serious harm has been done."

"Yes, yes!" Soren immediately nodded. "Qin, you're right—we just wandered in by accident. We'll pay the fine if needed."

"The grasslands aren't safe. When you return, stick to the main road—avoid danger."

Serengeti National Park has designated main roads for tourists; if Qin Yun went there, he'd see many visitors.

Soren and the others didn't say much more to Qin Yun—likely out of some hidden caution. They cast one last glance at the drone and quickly drove off.

But after driving several kilometers, Dalton said: "Are we really going back empty-handed?"

Lawrence replied: "What else can we do? Pretending we didn't know this was Seronela was one thing—but now we're live-streamed. Let's just head back to the Grumeti River."

"There's nothing but ancient, useless beasts or antelopes and zebras there—what's the point?" Dalton grumbled.

Soren said: "Go back. If we spot game along the way, take it. If not, we'll return straight to Grumeti River."

Hearing Soren say that, Dalton reluctantly agreed.

"So we take the main road then…?"

"Main road? What's the point of hunting then? We're going back the way we came," Soren cursed with a laugh. "We're out here—even if we don't get a lion, something else will do."

The men regained their enthusiasm.

Soon after, the vehicle stopped. Ahead lay another patch of open woodland—and a colossal beast appeared in their line of sight.

"Kill the engines!"

Soren, through his binoculars, clearly saw the beast's form and burst out excitedly.

All three vehicles shut down. The three men got out and immediately hid behind a baobab tree, watching from afar.

After each peered through their binoculars, they swallowed hard, exchanged glances, their eyes gleaming.

"Triceratops black rhino. There's actually a triceratops black rhino in the world." Lawrence murmured, then added, whether to himself or them, "What do we do? Hunt it?"

Soren and Dalton were deeply tempted—especially Dalton, who hesitated barely a moment before saying: "If we've encountered it, it's fate. Let's hunt it."

Soren remained calm: "But how do we transport it? We're not poachers."

In truth, their notion of "hunting" wasn't about killing and taking parts. They intended to capture live specimens. Their ammunition wasn't solid rounds but soft-point rounds modified with sedative fillers.

As long as they didn't hit vital organs, the animal wouldn't die.

This massive black rhino couldn't be moved by ordinary means—these SUVs were useless.

Dalton said: "I'll have someone bring my Unimog U5000. We can drag the rhino to Grumeti River, then use a helicopter for transport."

"Too risky," Soren shook his head. "This giant is too conspicuous. If it gets exposed, even our family names won't save us—it'll cost a fortune to bury, and we still might lose it."

Dalton frowned: "Then what do you suggest? Abandon it? This is a rare mutated triceratops black rhino—I bet there's only one in the world. Tanzania's authorities probably don't even know."

Soren hesitated, then finally said: "First, try to hunt it. If we can't even hunt it, don't even talk about transport."

"Alright!" Dalton instantly perked up and returned to the vehicle to fetch his gun.

…

Watching the SUVs drive off, Qin Yun shrugged.

"I hope they listen to me and head straight back to Grumeti River along the main road."

Meanwhile, viewers in the livestream, watching the vehicles depart, suddenly spoke up.

"Qin Ye, the direction they're heading—that's the triceratops black rhino's territory, right?"

"Hmm, yeah, looks like it."

Qin Yun nodded. "Yes, but even I wouldn't dare face that giant. How much less them? They're not fools."

The sun overhead was scorching—two o'clock was the fiercest hour. Qin Yun found a shady spot and prepared to rest, waiting for the heat to pass.

He patted Da Huang's head. "Full yet? If not, go hunt on your own."

Da Huang shook his thick-maned head, nuzzled affectionately against Qin Yun's chest, then lay down, pressing his muzzle against Qin Yun's mineral water bottle—his meaning obvious.

Qin Yun sighed: "Damn it, I don't even dare drink this."

Still, saying so, he made Da Huang open his mouth and poured some water in.

Watching this harmonious scene between man and lion, viewers were envious to the point of despair.

"Honestly, I really admire Qin Ye's guts—being this close to a lion."

"He raised it since it was a cub—that's why the lion doesn't bite him. Qin Ye dominates it with sheer force."

"Emotion doesn't matter. Force is what counts."

"Big Yellow: I can't even beat a hyena, let alone my master."

Qin Yun chatted half-heartedly with his online viewers; though the shady spot was still sweltering, it was better than marching under the blazing sun.

Just then, a faint gunshot echoed from afar, reaching him so weakly it was nearly imperceptible. The livestream audience didn't notice anything unusual.

But Qin Yun, with his acute senses, immediately identified the direction the gunshot came from.

He stood up and gazed into the distance — exactly the direction Solen and the others had gone.

"Qin Ye, what's wrong?"

"Did you hear something?"

"Could some wild beast be approaching?"

"Could it be hyenas again?"

As netizens replied, the gunshots kept firing nonstop; from the frequency, Qin Yun could sense the panic behind them.

"No, I heard gunshots!" Qin Yun pointed toward the distance. "They came from over there."

……

"Fuck!"

Solen never imagined that even with perfect preparation, he could still fail.

This mutated black triceratops had terrifyingly thick hide; bullets striking its body only sprayed tiny bursts of blood, leaving not a single wound. The bullets, however, enraged the rhino instantly.

"Solen, what do we do now?"

Dalton panicked, watching the black rhino charge wildly, easily snapping and crushing the surrounding acacia and myrrh trees, his legs trembling.

Lawrence was terrified too: "Run, run!"

Solen no longer hesitated — if they waited until the black rhino locked onto their direction, it would be too late.

"Get in the car, leave!"

The three sprinted toward the vehicle, while at the same moment, the black rhino finally locked onto their position and charged straight at them.

What did it look like when a three-ton giant tank came barreling toward you?

Solen and the others didn't know before — now they knew.

The distance between them was only two hundred meters — for a giant black rhino, it was practically within arm's reach. By the time the three reached the car, slammed the doors, and shouted "Drive now!", the triceratops arrived.

Then…

"Boom—!"

Terrifying force slammed into the SUV, flipping everyone inside instantly, then hurling the vehicle into a roll.

Before this was even over, the Black men in the other two SUVs saw this and turned pale; too late to reverse — the black rhino's attack was already upon them.

Its one-and-a-half-meter-long horn pierced cleanly through the door, skewering the entire vehicle from side to side.

…………

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