Chapter 291

"It's Elephant Quagmire."

Qin Yun's face grave, he looked at the main screen, which now displayed the feed from the auxiliary camera.

In the footage, the massive female elephant had sunk deep—more than half her body swallowed by the mire; three of her thick limbs were entirely submerged, thick mud clamping her broad belly, leaving only her back, neck, and enormous head exposed.

Her huge body tilted slightly, her thick skin caked with cold, wet black sludge, every crease packed with mud; each time she struggled to move, the mire beneath her bubbled and surged, dragging her deeper.

Beside her, the calf had sunk far less—its small body half-submerged, its slender limbs firmly suctioned by the mud, immobile. Its tiny head shook constantly, agitated and anxious, emitting whimpering sounds.

The sludge crept upward slowly, silently; without rescue, these two elephants would inevitably die here in this swamp, in despair.

"Sss… It's a swamp."

"It's swallowed both elephants—what do we do now?"

"Does Brother Qin have a plan?"

"Damn it, what plan? This is an elephant."

Qin Yun frowned and moved to the other side.

"This calf is about two years old, weighing around a thousand jin. Tugged by the swamp, if we pull too hard, we risk snapping its limb bones."

Hearing this, netizens shook their heads in dismay.

"Isn't that TANAPA organization in Tanzania watching the livestream?"

"Yeah, are they just going to watch these two elephants drown?"

Qin Yun shook his head: "Time's running out. At this sinking rate, in another hour, the mother's entire body will be submerged—only her trunk will remain above."

He thought for a moment, then turned toward the drone.

"The adult female weighs over four tons. I'm alone, with no machinery—rescue is extremely difficult. But I can't just watch them die in despair."

Saying this, he patted Dahuang, telling him to leave the forest and roam freely, then returned to the open woodland, cutting branches from flat-topped acacia trees with his dagger.

After felling three tree trunks over twenty centimeters in diameter, Qin Yun laid them horizontally along the swamp's edge.

"This creates a load-bearing fulcrum to prevent the bank from collapsing."

After speaking, Qin Yun looked at the two elephants and soothed them with his voice. The mother clearly understood he was trying to save them—her voice lost much of its despair. The calf, however, still whimpered fearfully; the mother could only continually comfort it with her trunk.

"The calf is lighter, less risky—we save the calf first."

He searched the open woodland, cut over a dozen vines, then quickly twisted them into several ropes as thick as an arm.

Next, he lay flat on the tree trunks he'd laid earlier and slowly crawled toward the calf.

"Holy shit, what's Brother Qin doing?"

"Will he get stuck and die?"

"Brother Qin's too reckless—elephant lives aren't worth human lives. He doesn't have to risk himself like this."

Qin Yun's body slowly sank into the swamp sludge; instantly, a powerful suction gripped him, drawing his entire body into the mire—but because he crawled low, the surface tension kept him from sinking further.

"Don't worry—even if I'm fully submerged, I've got ways to free myself."

Qin Yun's calm voice reassured the livestream viewers.

The calf was four or five meters from shore; Qin Yun inched forward, drawing nearer—but the calf grew increasingly agitated, as if Qin Yun meant to harm it. The mother constantly soothed it with her trunk, preventing further panic.

But the fear in its cries was unmistakable.

Qin Yun's hand gently touched the calf's back, stroking it softly until the calf calmed, then he began.

"As it sinks, the mud surrounding the body has no vacuum—so suction is extreme. That's why pulling it out is nearly impossible. Before that, I must cut gaps between the mud and the skin, releasing the vacuum suction. The calf must not move during this—any motion lets the mud re-adhere to its skin."

Speaking, Qin Yun gripped his dagger and sank his hands into the sludge, feeling the calf's left hind leg, then carefully carving away the mud, avoiding any sudden motion that might injure the calf.

As he cleared the mud, he spoke calmly, explaining.

"I'm confident I can get the calf out. The mother is the problem—she's too heavy, and most of her body is sunk. But luckily, one leg is still out—if she were like the calf, I'd truly have no way."

While speaking, he cleaned the mud from the calf's two hind legs. Though fresh sludge immediately rushed back, there was still a window of time.

He carefully wound several thin vines around the calf's legs in loops, confirmed they were secure, then slowly crawled to the front to treat its forelegs.

Face to face with the calf, the little one seemed to realize Qin Yun was helping—it even rubbed its trunk against his face.

"Hahaha, this calf is so cute."

"Brother Qin's an animal friend now."

"Spotted hyena: Are you polite?"

After cleaning the forelimbs, he bound them with the same vines, then threaded the original two ropes under the calf's armpits, looping them around its chest and back, tying them securely. Then Qin Yun shifted his body and pulled the ropes toward shore.

When he reached the tree trunk and climbed ashore, his chest was already caked in mud.

"Alright, next step: build a lever, then pull the ropes to slowly drag the calf out of the sludge. This requires patience—no sudden force. The swamp has buoyancy; as long as it doesn't thrash wildly, staying calm makes drowning hard."

The lever's principle was simple; Qin Yun completed it effortlessly with his skills.

Then he stood on the shore, both hands gripping the ropes, slowly engaging his waist and back to pull backward at a steady, slow pace.

On camera, the sludge was gradually pushed apart and peeled away—slow, but effective.

"666, Brother Qin's strength wasted on bricklaying."

"Even as a bricklayer, Brother Qin's the Brick King."

"He could bankrupt any foreman."

"Insane—this calf weighs over a thousand jin. Even with buoyancy and leverage, this requires at least a thousand jin of force. In ancient times, he'd be an unmatched warrior."

Qin Yun didn't know his exact strength, but a thousand jin was conservative—under the boost of so many skills, his physical condition had long surpassed ordinary humans.

Calling him a superhero wasn't an exaggeration.

If only his body weren't still human-built, and his defense weren't still fragile—he'd truly be a superhero.

As he pulled, the calf slowly emerged from the swamp sludge; when all four limbs were free, the livestream erupted in cheers.

But Qin Yun didn't relax—he applied slight force to lay the calf on its side, then continued pulling.

When the thousand-plus-jin calf was finally dragged fully ashore, Qin Yun let out a long, slow breath.

"Impressive, next is the mother elephant."

"The mother elephant's gonna be tough—she's four or five tons, and our current method won't work."

"Yeah, we can only count on Brother Qin now."

Qin Yun walked over to the baby elephant, which was clearly exhausted, its entire body caked in black mud, gasping for breath.

He unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, poured some into the baby elephant's mouth, then patted its body: "We have to find a way to save your mother."

After saying this, Qin Yun looked toward the mother elephant in the swamp.

"Using the same method we used for the baby elephant won't work—first, I don't have that much strength, and second, I really don't have that much strength."

Qin Yun shrugged: "So the only way to get the mother elephant out of the swamp is for her to save herself—otherwise, a five-ton object? Even if I died, I couldn't move it."

As he finished speaking, a roar suddenly came from outside.

"Aow—!"

Qin Yun's expression changed—Da Huang's voice carried warning and fury.

Then, a series of hyena cries erupted one after another.

"Bad news—hyenas are coming."