The winter sunlight filtered through the sparse treetops and fell into the forest, casting speckled highlights on the ground. A gentle cool breeze blew by, causing the tall eucalyptus trees to produce a soft clatter as their branches collided. Whenever this happened, the hunting dogs would perk up their ears, distinguishing from all the sounds which ones belonged to wild animals that needed to be hunted.
Duke, dressed in a neat hunting outfit and carrying a single-barreled shotgun on his back, looked very much like an outstanding hunter with his tall figure and rugged face.
However, the truth was that he was a complete rookie at hunting.
"The shotgun uses buckshot, so precision isn’t all that important."
Leaning against a eucalyptus tree, Tom Cruise held onto the hunting dog while giving so of the most basic instructions. "But the recoil is a bit strong—though with your arm strength, it shouldn’t be a problem. Just make sure to control it..."
Although his films never lacked for gunfights and explosions, it didn’t an Duke was proficient with firearms. In fact, he had very little experience using guns.
In his previous life, the chance to co into contact with real guns was extrely rare. In this life, when the crew cooperated with the Pentagon on filming, the soldiers provided by the military used real but unloaded guns. He had done so target shooting in private, but only a handful of tis.
As for hunting, for soone as busy as Duke, he had hardly any hands-on experience at all.
Tom Cruise waved to Duke and led the way deeper into the forest, with Duke following behind.
Rather than calling this place a forest, it would be more accurate to describe it as a mix of vegetation and wilderness. Except for a few patches of shrubs, there were only so tall eucalyptus trees sparsely scattered throughout, while the wild grass on the ground grew tall, and the slightly yellowed blades of grass would occasionally be flattened by the passing cool breeze.
Duke had already heard from Tom Cruise during dinner last night that their hunting targets this ti were wild deer and rabbits. In Australia, with its vast territory and isolation from other continents, the lack of naturally occurring predators like wolves, lions, or tigers ant that large herbivores often went unchecked and beca overpopulated.
In Australia, wild deer and rabbits posed a massive threat to comrcial farms.
Suddenly, the barking of dogs rang out. The hunting dog shot past Duke like an arrow leaving a bowstring, charging toward the shrubbery ahead. Several deer calls ca from within, and a few wild deer, seemingly startled, dashed out of the brush.
Duke imdiately took down the shotgun from his back, sowhat skillfully chambered a round, ran a few steps forward to a camphor tree, and used it as cover. He aid at the running deer.
Tom Cruise’s hunting dog was clearly professionally trained. It ran in circles, herding the deer toward the area where Duke and he were located.
Silently repeating shooting fundantals in his mind, Duke aid at a male deer with long antlers. As the stag had to slow down and turn because of the trees blocking its path, Duke pulled the trigger.
His shoulder, pressed against the stock, ached from the recoil. Duke heard the crisp sound of the gunshot, then quickly looked up—the stag was completely unhard. Not only was it still galloping, but because of the gunshot, it now ran even faster.
Grimacing, Duke chambered another round. This kind of situation was normal if he had hit the target, that would’ve been a miracle.
He kept the sights trained on the stag. Before it could run out of range, Duke pulled the trigger again. As the shot rang out, so shredded grass flew up from the wilderness about 150 feet away. The deer let out a long cry and then... successfully escaped.
Just as Duke sighed, thinking he really needed more shooting practice, Tom Cruise, from behind another eucalyptus tree, pulled his trigger. At that mont, he truly embodied the spirit of Ethan Hunt. At the exact instant the shot rang out, a female deer about 120 feet to Duke’s front-left dropped to the ground.
And Duke clearly saw a burst of blood spray.
"Nice shot, Tom." Duke gave a thumbs-up in that direction.
Tom Cruise turned around and smiled, then pursed his lips to let out a whistle. The hunting dog dashed like the wind toward the fallen deer.
The remaining deer scattered in all directions. Duke slung the shotgun over his shoulder and walked with Tom Cruise toward the downed prey.
"I just got lucky." Tom Cruise stepped over so dried grass with a crunching sound and added thankfully, "Back then, I could shoot ten tis and not hit anything. Looks like today’s my lucky day."
Shooting at a moving animal was extrely difficult. Duke knew this well. Even if it was luck, it still required so degree of shooting experience.
Soone like him, a complete beginner, might not even hit a stationary deer from a hundred feet away.
The Hollywood trope of soone picking up a gun and instantly becoming a killing machine only existed in movies.
They walked past a few camphor trees and stepped through grass that reached their knees. Before they even got close, Duke could already sll a strong scent of blood coming from ahead. Instead of excitent, he felt a bit of tightness in his chest.
He still had a long way to go before becoming a true hunting expert.
But considering how busy he was, even becoming a competent hunter in this life seed unlikely.
Avoiding the blood-stained grass and ground, Duke glanced at the deer that Tom Cruise had shot. It seed to be lifeless, though its body—riddled with pellet holes—was still twitching slightly.
Tom Cruise took out a walkie-talkie to notify the farm staff to co and collect the prey. Then, after asking Duke if they should continue, the two of them and the dog moved on.
Over the course of half a day, Duke fired more than a dozen shots. Apart from one lucky pellet that hit a rabbit’s leg, he had no other success.
Later on, Tom Cruise also began to reveal his true skill level, only managing to bag a single rabbit, and most of the credit went to the hunting dog. The rest of his bullets were wasted on empty shots—his marksmanship wasn’t much better than Duke’s.
As the sun began to dip toward the horizon, Duke and Tom Cruise exited the forest and drove an off-road vehicle back toward the farmhouse buildings.
After saying a few words to the driver in front, Tom Cruise turned his eyes back to Duke beside him. "So, what do you think of this place?"
"Not bad at all."
If he ever retired, he might just find a place like this to settle down that was Duke’s honest thought.
Tom Cruise pointed to the north of the car. "Over there, right next to this farm, the Kidman family still has a large piece of land for sale. If you’re interested, Nicole can get in touch with them."
The Kidman family could be considered the biggest landowners in Australia, though the blood relation between Nicole Kidman and them was actually very distant.
"If I have ti tomorrow, I’ll go take a look."
As long as the environnt and the price were right, Duke could have soone buy it. "But even if I get it, I wouldn’t have much ti to co here. There’s still a pile of work plans waiting for ."
"Speaking of work..." Tom Cruise temporarily set aside the topic of the farm. "Duke, have you ever thought about us working together again?"
"You should know what I’m planning." Duke shrugged. "Tom, are you really willing to play second fiddle to a bunch of robots?"
If Tom Cruise was willing, he would consider having soone revise the script. After all, Tom’s star power was still formidable.
"I know you always have a lot of ideas."
Needless to say, Tom Cruise definitely didn’t want to play second to robots. "In the coming years, we’ll definitely find the right project, won’t we?"
Duke shook his head. "Let’s wait until I co up with the right idea."
In fact, he had already filed a science fiction script with the Writers Guild through Nancy. He just hadn’t decided when to begin production.
Moreover, in Hollywood’s future, non-adapted films would find it increasingly difficult to survive. Hollywood producers would rather throw money at third-rate comic books and novels for adaptation than invest even a single dollar in risky original projects.
After staying on Tom Cruise’s farm for three days, Duke left Brisbane and t up with Scarlett Johansson in Sydney after she finished reshoots. They began a South Pacific vacation together.
While Duke enjoyed his vacation, soone else was in a terrible mood.
In a studio at ABC Television in Los Angeles, Donald Trump had just finished recording a new episode of his talk show and walked offstage with a dark expression. Ever since he received news about Ivanka, his temper had been getting worse by the day. He even had a huge argunt with the director before the show.
A major opportunity for the Trump Organization was slipping away.
After removing his makeup backstage, Donald Trump was ready to leave ABC and catch a flight back to New York. The current financial and real estate markets were extrely volatile on the verge of collapse, even. This was undoubtedly terrible news for the Trump Organization, which centered around real estate.
"Hey, Donald."
Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice called out. Donald Trump turned his head to see forr Walt Disney president Cook Dick, who nodded at him slightly and said with a hint of arrogance, "Looking for about sothing, Cook?"
A flash of disgust passed through Cook Dick’s eyes. "Michael wants to talk to you."
Donald Trump slowly walked over and frowned. "What does he want to talk about?"
"I heard you’ve run into so trouble with Duke Rosenberg?" Cook Dick said indifferently. "Don’t you want to get back what rightfully belongs to the Trump Organization?"
After thinking for a few seconds, Donald Trump nodded lightly and followed Cook Dick out of ABC’s building, walking onto the enclosed skybridge that connected ABC Studios and Disney’s headquarters.
No one accepts failure easily. Donald Trump was no exception especially when it involved assets worth billions of dollars.
He knew that because of Pixar, Disney was the Hollywood company that hated Duke Rosenberg the most.
The enemy of my enemy could definitely serve as a temporary partner.
It wasn’t until the next day that Donald Trump boarded a flight back to New York.
...
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