A burst of laughter came through the headset: "It's a sign saying there's danger ahead, haha, that's the funniest joke I've heard all year..."
Is there any danger nearby?
This is the question that Markram was concerned about.
"Danger? Oh no, there's a lake ahead, spacious enough for us all to go down and take a bath..."
The scout laughed heartily; he hadn't taken a bath since entering this damned forest.
Hearing that there was no danger, Markram and his group quickened their pace and arrived at the place where Zhuang Rui had left a warning sign.
“David, this handwriting is fresh. It seems someone doesn’t welcome us here…”
Markram rubbed his finger across the English letters Zhuang Rui had left behind, looked at them closely, and a cold smile appeared on his face.
David was taken aback and blurted out, "Could...could there really be a treasure?"
"Didn't you say there was treasure?"
Markram looked at David with a strange expression.
Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, David realized his slip of the tongue and quickly covered it up, saying, "Oh, what I meant was, since they're doing this, they must be close to the treasure..."
"Everyone, spread out and check for traps. Stay in touch..."
Markram waved his right hand, and the bandits behind him immediately fanned out to inspect the area. To them, wild beasts were nothing but nonsense; the most terrifying creatures in the world were those like themselves… Markram, who had managed to survive with these men for so long, was no fool. After giving the order, he picked up his binoculars and began to observe. They were already at the edge of the jungle, and through the sparse trees, the view ahead was unobstructed.
"Ram, no traps found..."
"I don't have any issues on my end either..."
"Everything is normal..."
"There are human footprints here, probably left by that person..."
Messages came through the headset, and none of the mercenaries' usual methods were detected, which relieved Markram. After all, the other party who could come to this depths of the forest could not be a kind person.
"Keep searching forward, target, on the hillside ahead... wait... wait, God... God, that... that's not a hillside, that... that's a castle!"
Just as Markram gave the order, he discovered through his binoculars that behind the vines was a wall radiating golden light.
Chapter 1264 The Battle Between Man and Crocodile (Part 1)
"God, is that a castle?"
“That’s right, Solomon’s treasure!”
"Praise the boss, there's truly a treasure trove here!"
"We're rich! We're rich! Haha, brothers, let's go rob it..."
The jungle was only a hundred or two meters away from the castle. Not only did Markram see the castle through his binoculars, but everyone scattered in the forest could also clearly see the afternoon sun shining on the castle and reflecting off it.
Compared to when Zhuang Rui and his group arrived here at dusk yesterday, it is now high in the sky, and even if the vines cover the castle tightly, they cannot completely hide the color on the city wall.
The colorful golden light, like small mirrors, reflected into the eyes of the jungle crowd. At that moment, Markram's team erupted in cheers, with many bandits raising their submachine guns and shouting loudly.
Although their last trip to the United States was quite fruitful, they dared not use the funds from the Swiss bank rashly due to international pressure. However, the items in the castle in front of them were all ownerless and belonged entirely to them.
Of course, even if these things have owners, it would just be a matter of taking extra steps to kill their owners, and then they would become ownerless again, right? That's how simple and direct the robbers' logic is.
Seeing the excited expressions on his men's faces, Markram couldn't help but shout, "Shut the hell up! They may outnumber us, but they're probably not pushovers. Stay alert, or we'll get caught off guard..."
"Haha, boss, don't worry, they're just two little brats, what tricks can they pull?"
"Exactly, I guess those two are scientists from some country, and they put up this sign after seeing this castle..."
The group of thugs were not convinced by Markram's words. Along the way, they discovered more traces of the two men ahead, and all the evidence indicated that there were only two of them.
The ferocious beast they were referring to was probably that gorilla. Although the scene caused by the gorilla was bloody enough, it was still not enough to intimidate this group of thugs. Some of them were already planning to collect the gorilla's skull.
Seeing the crowd's agitation, Markram didn't stop them. He waved towards the castle and said, "Go on, but be careful not to get ambushed by that gorilla..."
"Oh, Solomon's treasure, here we come..."
One after another, bandits filed out of the forest and ran toward the castle.
In such actions, Markram and David basically do not restrict their behavior. Whoever takes a fancy to something can take it, so everyone rushes to get it, afraid that if they are too slow, someone else will snatch the good stuff away.
However, these experienced men, though outwardly nonchalant, were all quite cunning. They hunched over, guns cocked, and moved as close to the lakeshore as possible to avoid being ambushed by the gorillas from the forest. ...
A kilometer away, Zhuang Rui was leisurely lying on a big tree, making a phone call, while Jin Gang beside him was watching his kind chew on tender leaves with boredom.
King Kong had tried eating some earlier, but he immediately spat it out. Having long been accustomed to human meat, King Kong showed no excitement whatsoever for these vegetarian foods.
The reason Peng Fei wasn't here was that he requested to return to the vicinity of the castle to observe whether the people behind would catch up. To be honest, Peng Fei came back mainly to watch a battle between humans and crocodiles; he was full of wicked intentions.
"You little rascal, you ran off into the primeval forest without a word, and I got a good scolding from the old man. You went there to oversee work, not for a vacation!"
Upon hearing that it was Zhuang Rui on the phone, Song Jun immediately jumped up from the sofa. This kid had been missing in Central Africa for two days, and he was almost driven crazy by the Ouyang brothers, who called him several times a day to inquire about his whereabouts.
If Song Jun had known Zhuang Rui was so audacious, he would never have insisted on sending Zhuang Rui to the Central African Republic to oversee operations. It wouldn't be a mission to manage affairs; it would be a mission to cause chaos.
Knowing he was in the wrong, Zhuang Rui could only force a smile and say, "Hehe, Brother Song, I'm fine. I've already called home, so it's safe now. But... I have a small personal matter I need your help with..."
To smuggle these gorillas unharmed and undetected by the Congolese government to his "Xuanrui Island," he needed General Li Shaohua's help.
It is worth noting that the Congolese government has been working to protect the ecosystem, including wild gorillas, in recent years, and has received sponsorship and research funding from many countries and organizations around the world as a result.
If so many gorillas were transported onto the ship in public, the Congolese government, upon receiving the news, would definitely sue Zhuang Rui... no, sue China, at the United Nations. Therefore, Zhuang Rui had to secretly transport these gorillas onto his "Xuan Rui" ship first. "Damn, you know to call your family, but you don't know to let your brother know you're safe?"
Hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Song Jun was furious. After giving Zhuang Rui a good scolding, he felt a little better and continued, "What's up, kid? You're not thinking of smuggling some ivory tiger skins, are you? By the way, let me tell you, there are plenty of tiger bones there. I brought one back last time..."
Ever since Song Jun tasted the tiger bone wine brewed by Zhuang Rui, he had been eyeing it. In Africa, resources might be scarce, but wild animals would be plentiful and inexhaustible.
Song Jun bought a lot of tiger penis and tiger bone at a high price locally, but since men can never have too much of these things, he tricked Zhuang Rui into getting some more over the phone.
"Brother Song, it's not these things. I want to get a few gorillas out. A few? Not many, probably around forty in total..."
"What? More than forty? Are you crazy or am I crazy?"
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Song Jun simply fell off the sofa. To transport 40 gorillas out of the Congo forest at once, and all of them alive, is something that even the most rampant poaching organizations in the world probably don't have.
“Zhuang Rui, this is a difficult situation. Even if you anesthetize those gorillas, if some of them wake up too early and start causing trouble, things could get really messy…”
In Africa, local governments may not value these rare wild animals, but research institutions in various countries are keeping a close eye on them. If they find out about this, it will have a very bad impact on the country's reputation.
"Brother Song, what kind of anesthesia do you need? I guarantee they'll all board the ship obediently without any trouble. But... you'll need to coordinate and get a few helicopters over..."
Zhuang Rui laughed upon hearing this. With King Kong and Silverback, the two leaders of the two tribes, watching over them, the gorillas wouldn't dare to cause trouble. Besides, his spiritual energy could also have a calming effect, so there would definitely be no gorilla riot.
"Is that so? Okay, I'll have Shaohua remove the markings from the transport helicopter. If anything goes wrong, you'll figure out how to handle it. In that place, anything can be done if you're willing to spend the money..."
However, Song Jun had known Zhuang Rui for so many years and knew a little about Zhuang Rui's ability to communicate with animals. He would never force those animals to leave with him, so after pondering for a while, he agreed.
"Haha, Brother Song, I understand. This matter will definitely not implicate General Li, so please don't worry..."
Zhuang Rui burst into laughter upon hearing this. As long as Song Jun agreed, the matter would be half settled. Zhuang Rui didn't believe that Li Shaohua would dare to disobey his brother-in-law Song.
"Yeah, I was talking about tiger bones and tiger penis. Find some more, damn it, I came back by commercial flight, some things aren't easy to bring back..."
Just as Song Jun was rambling on and on about the tiger penis with Zhuang Rui, Zhuang Rui suddenly exclaimed through the receiver, "Hey, Brother Song, I'll call you back later. Something's come up here, damn it, it's urgent, I have to go now..."
"Hey, what's the rush? Hey? Damn it, you ungrateful brat..."
When Song Jun pressed for more information, the other party had already hung up. Annoyed, Song Jun snorted a few times before finally calling Li Shaohua, who was far away in the Central African Ocean. ...
Zhuang Rui hung up on Song Jun because while he was chatting with Song Jun, he inadvertently discovered that the armed team of eighteen people had arrived in front of the castle.
These guys didn't seem to take my warnings to heart at all. They charged toward the castle with guns in hand, not exactly swaggering, but they were completely unaware of the impending danger.
What made Zhuang Rui exclaim in surprise was that he discovered that the prehistoric giant crocodile, which had originally looked like a rotten tree, had somehow quietly swum to the shore.
On the shore, just over three meters away from this prehistoric crocodile, two men stood with their backs to the lake, furtively eyeing the creature in the nearby jungle. Little did they know that the real danger lurked in the water behind them.
"Holy crap!" After the giant crocodile silently reached the shore, its entire body suddenly emerged from the lake water, and the splash of water from its massive body made the lake surface misty.
The prehistoric crocodile moved with incredible speed, its sharp teeth in its gaping maw gleaming in the sunlight. This was the last thing the two ruthless bandits ever saw in this world.
The sound of splashing water behind them made the two turn around habitually. A row of cone-shaped sharp objects came into view, followed by a sharp pain. One of the bandits was swallowed whole by the giant crocodile.
The bandit who was swallowed was considered lucky, because the one next to him was bitten in two at an angle, and his upper body, which still retained consciousness, let out a terrible scream.
Chapter 1265 The Battle Between Man and Crocodile (Part 2)
Because crocodiles have highly developed muscle tissue, the bite force of an ordinary crocodile can reach as much as six tons, and its tearing force is even more astonishing. Creatures such as leopards and bison are unlikely to escape their fate under its bite.
If ordinary crocodiles are this powerful, then this prehistoric giant crocodile must have been even more formidable. The immense force unleashed by its jaws to tear one of the two people apart from the middle.
On the moss-covered bluestone ground by the shore, there were deep red bloodstains and the entrails that had flowed out of the bandit's body. His agonizing cries of pain, which were not yet dead, echoed throughout the jungle.
"Damn it, cut in half?"
Peng Fei, who was hiding in a big tree behind the castle, was so frightened by the scene that he almost fell off the tree. Although he saw the scene through binoculars, the man's screams sounded as if they were right next to his ears.
Even in ancient China, this method of death would be considered a form of torture. Since the major organs of a person are located in the upper body, the prisoner would remain conscious after being cut in half at the waist and would die after a long period of time.
The prisoners' families would often bribe the executioner to cut the prisoner from a higher position during the execution, so that the prisoner would die faster.
If someone wanted a prisoner to suffer more, they would bribe the executioner to cut from a lower part of the body, or even move the upper half of the person being cut in half to a tung oil board, which could prolong the prisoner's life by two or three hours. It was extremely cruel.
Li Si was the one who established the practice of waist-cutting in Chinese history, and ironically, he died by waist-cutting in the end.
Yu Hongtu of the Qing Dynasty was the last person sentenced to be cut in half at the waist. After being cut in half, he wrote seven “惨” (miserable) characters on the ground before taking his own life. The cruelty of being cut in half at the waist moved even the stern-tempered Emperor Yongzheng, who then ordered the execution of the sword.
Being bitten in half by the teeth of a giant crocodile is a pain far exceeding that of ancient Chinese torture.
Amidst the frantic flailing of his hands, the man suddenly grabbed a submachine gun lying on the ground. This guy was quite brave; he actually pointed the gun at the giant crocodile in front of him and pulled the trigger.
"Da da, da da da..."
A crisp gunshot rang out. The man who had been bitten in half had almost lost his mind and was only holding on by sheer willpower. After firing a burst of bullets, his spirit and energy vanished, and the gun barrel hung limply.
However, the scene before him filled him with utter despair, and also stunned everyone who had turned their attention to this side. After the smoke cleared, they found that they hadn't even managed to pierce the scales on the monster's head, only revealing some cratered bullet holes.
"Mom... what the hell is this?!"
David, who was originally at the back of the group with a Cuban cigar in his mouth, witnessed this scene clearly. This scene, which even special effects movies cannot express, caused the cigar in David's mouth to quietly slip to the ground.
David's performance at this moment was far worse than Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei's yesterday. Not only did his cigar fall to the ground, but he also suddenly felt a contraction in his lower body, and then a sudden pull, and his crotch became wet. He was so scared that he wet his pants.