"Where's Ved? Why hasn't he co back yet? Does anyone know where he went?"
On a modified off-road vehicle sat several burly n, each towering over six feet with shoulders spanning more than fifty centiters. The cramped space was filled with the strong acidic sll of sweat.
A cursory glance revealed that each of the brawny n had knives at their waists—M9s with gray titanium blades and double-sided blood grooves, nacingly sharp. There were also Ontario Sabres, Tridents, Master Trackers...
The gear wasn't uniform, ranging from machetes to bayonets to tactical knives, but they were all standard-issue weapons in service. Protruding from the black backpacks at their feet were the dark barrels of guns.
They were undeniably a gang of ruffians, but the casual sitting postures of each man made the atmosphere in the room a bit more relaxed.
The mission was complete, and they would soon be leaving the barren wilderness devoid of any entertainnt. Everyone seed happy.
When Sisko—the only mber with a normal physique—stood up to ask about the whereabouts of one of their own, the responses he got weren't exactly serious.
"No idea."
"Saw him this morning."
"What if soone drugged him and harvested his seed? He's so buff, I bet those crazy won wouldn't let him go."
"Hahaha, that would be hilarious. If that really happened, I'd love to see the look on his face."
A younger, sowhat naïve new mber prodded the talkative companion, asking, "What do you an? Is this so new joke I'm not aware of?"
"Ha, almost forgot, Zhuomuke, this your first ti in Africa?" Guvas, with an Ontario Sabre at his waist, asked rhetorically. He clearly didn't wait for a response and began, speaking in a low tone usually reserved for ghost stories, "In 21st-century Africa, when night falls, it's a fiesta for the predators. And the n living on this land carry the fear of being preyed upon."
Guvas paused, looked around, and saw that no one was taken in by his story—the newcors were no exception. He felt bored and reverted to his usual monotone.
"Somali n worry whether they'll be shelled at sea tomorrow; Rwandan n keep an eye out for Hutu machetes swinging around street corners; Congolese brutes must cover their ears to avoid the whistling bullets."
"As for Kenya, you better watch out for the JZ Harvesting Group. Those won intercept 'superior genes' right in the street, lure them to secluded spots, and it wouldn't matter if they were pretty, but they're all wrinkly old won. They drug them, coerce them, and then...you know."
At the ntion of wrinkled old black faces, Zhuomuke shuddered, "What do they want with that stuff?"
Guvas shrugged, "Money, of course. Beauty treatnts, or whatever else—who knows?"
Zhuomuke turned to Chaman, "Chaman, is that true?"
As a "local," Chaman certainly had the authority to speak. He nodded, "I've never encountered it myself, but I've seen it on the news a few tis. I've also heard from elders that so tribes along the Zambezi River would collect such things to present to the respected female chieftains."
Grace let out a strange howl, "Those won wouldn't dare target Ved. He's the strongest among us, a giant over two ters tall, his thighs thicker than their fat waists!"
"Guvas, I reckon it's not the crazy won but you who's got eyes for Ved. Who doesn't know that ti we went Swimming, Guvas couldn't take his eyes off Ved, drooling all over."
"To hell with that, I swear I'll stuff your head into my farm's cow's dead reproductive organs!"
The n sat close together, trading rowdy and crude jokes.
Sisko scratched his eyebrow and raised his right hand, firing a shot outside the vehicle. The loud explosion combined with the flash of the gun managed to shut up the noisy crew inside.
"I'm serious, because of a lion, he's been out there for almost five days now."
"I know about that." Zhuomuke raised his hand, always a bit scared of the man who, despite his unimposing stature, was as accurate with a gun as if by magic, "That dentist's archery skills are garbage. Ved had everything ready in three days, using an elephant carcass as bait. But the dentist screwed up."
Soone snorted in disdain, "The less accomplished people are, the more they like to do this sort of thing."
"But they got it yesterday, they've been waiting for the lion to die. Ved said the client likes to watch the lion slowly pass away, so I guess he's still with the client waiting for the lion to die. But I don't know where he is right now; Ved always says very little."
"It sounds just like my granny's foot-rag, stinky and long,"
"Only three hundred thousand, wouldn't be worth taking if it weren't for the target."
"We're elites, get it? We should be spending our ti on more valuable things, like those Middle Eastern tycoons, they're not only handso but also very generous, mainly generous."
Sisko fell silent for a mont, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Although their squad was strong, an overly long stay on the savannah was still a cause for concern.
The longer the ti, the more slips they'd make, and the higher the chance of being wanted, which ant even retirent wouldn't spare them from a heap of trouble.
"Ah," Sisko sighed deeply, "then we wait so more."
"Hey, look, there's a signal here."
Guvas held up his phone high, as if that would sohow improve reception of the invisible electromagnetic waves.
"No way, there's actually a signal."
"Hold on, Captain, I think I know where Sisko is."
It wasn't Grace, the livestream enthusiast, speaking but Guvas who had first discovered the signal.
In fact, due to being busy with the mission, Grace had not been online for entertainnt in several days.
And the headline composed of key words like Kenya, poacher, and Cecil the lion had already dominated the top news spots on major portals from last night until now.
Guvas had just opened the social dia app and imdiately spotted the headline, a sinking feeling in his gut.
Likewise, the viewers in front of the screen felt a sinking sensation.
There were three of them approaching: two white, one black, and among them one was terrifyingly huge.
Using the reflection on the surface of his dagger, Bi Fang managed to catch a glimpse of the newcors; just from eyeballing, he could tell one was a towering figure over two ters tall.
As three-dinsional beings, humans who differ by ten centiters in height will be significantly larger overall, if they grow proportionally.
And this guy was nearly twenty centiters taller than Bi Fang!
They were utterly on different physical levels!
The viewers didn't have Bi Fang's sharp judgnt but with the livestream cara hidden in the branches, they could see everything much clearer and more directly.
In their minds, this was like two different species entirely.
Do poachers really co in such a conspicuously large size?
No one could answer that question.
But for Bi Fang, he didn't need to know so much.
He only knew one thing.
He could fight!
Through the dense jungle, a figure burst forth like a tiger or leopard, and with it ca a swiftly flying short spear!
Reviews
All reviews (0)