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Chapter 18: The Failed Rescue Team
Wang Ping’s guess was correct—at this very moment, a rescue team was indeed on its way to his location.
The rescue team was led by Zhang Jianming, a security officer from the consular section of the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania. All the team members had been recruited from Dar es Salaam, where the embassy is located. Upon reaching the small town of Handeni, on the southeastern border of the Maasai Mara, they received a satellite call from the embassy, which provided them with Gu Lang's precise location.
Considering the dangerous animals following Gu Lang, the rescue mission would be difficult, so Zhang Jianming requested assistance from the Handeni fire brigade, who provided a small civilian helicopter. The rescue team also brought tranquilizer guns.
If Wang Ping and Gu Lang stayed near the lake, the rescue team could reach them in under two hours.
However, with the livestream screen now blacked out and Gu Lang’s faint voice barely audible, many viewers were worried that Third Brother Gu wouldn’t survive until the rescue team arrived.
When the screen suddenly blacked out earlier, many viewers had heard Gu Lang shout, “What are you doing?!”
After that, though sounds continued to emerge, they were muffled and unclear. But it was obvious—Gu Lang was in trouble.
At the lakeside, Gu Lang was crouching with his hands on his head, looking like a thief caught by the police, anxious and uncertain.
The hyenas that had followed him seemed to be just keeping watch. Until Gu Lang set up camp, the hyena pack would likely not appear again. This gave Wang Ping enough time to deal with Gu Lang’s identity issue.
It turned out that Wang Ping had greatly underestimated this seemingly foolish young man.
Rosette ran to the lake to drink water, scaring off a group of small animals that had just arrived. Gu Lang watched as a creature that resembled both a deer and a horse saw Rosette and, frightened, almost fell into the lake while trying to flee.
Gu Lang almost laughed, but when he saw Wang Ping standing in front of him, the smile was quickly replaced by a look of resigned grievance.
"Hmph! Keep pretending! Go ahead and keep pretending!" Wang Ping sneered inwardly, his frustration mounting.
Wang Ping was struggling, wondering how he could confirm Gu Lang’s true identity.
In the past, this would have been simple. Wang Ping’s security team, though its name sounded somewhat unimpressive, was actually a paramilitary force. There were five such teams under the World Animal Protection (WAP) organization, and Wang Ping’s team was the third. Their vice-captain, Jacob Root, who also served as Wang Ping’s guide, was skilled at interrogating prisoners and verifying identities.
When tourists inadvertently wandered into protected areas, Jacob was typically the one assigned to assess their identities.
Though the team generally tried to capture poachers alive and hand them over to the relevant authorities, when faced with well-armed, stubborn individuals, the security team didn’t mind using lethal force.
In the end, the security team’s existence was far from transparent, and their methods were far from gentle. Therefore, Gu Lang’s sixth sense about Wang Ping possibly wanting to kill him was, in fact, accurate.
However, this thought only lasted a moment.
Once he calmed down, Wang Ping realized that he couldn’t decide Gu Lang’s fate so easily. Not just him, but even anyone in his team would have difficulty making such a decision.
The security team was not a mercenary group; they couldn’t just take action against an ordinary person. Otherwise, claiming to protect wildlife while killing indiscriminately would be a joke. Both the captain, Luke, and Jacob had repeatedly warned the team members that while they might be ruthless in their work, they must always respect life. Once someone became a reckless killer, their destruction would be inevitable.
It was like how lions wouldn’t hunt unless they were hungry—there was a certain wisdom even animals understood that humans didn’t always grasp.
Should he leave Gu Lang here and take Rosette with him?
This idea briefly crossed Wang Ping’s mind, but he quickly dismissed it.
Aside from the issue of abandoning his new subordinate, leaving Gu Lang alone by the lake meant that, without the rescue team’s arrival, the animals would surely finish him off.
After all, no matter what Gu Lang had done, Wang Ping could still empathize. If he were in Gu Lang’s shoes, he would likely have done worse. Who knows? He might have already turned a honey badger and leopard into corpses.
Wang Ping had a habit of thinking from others' perspectives, which helped reduce conflicts. Of course, this only applied when he was calm. When he was angry, he wouldn't consider things from anyone else’s point of view.
Killing wasn’t an option, but neither could he let Gu Lang go. Staring at Gu Lang’s aggrieved face, Wang Ping felt an urge to slap him just to vent his frustration.
Rosette finished drinking and ran over to Wang Ping, licking his face. Unprepared, Wang Ping was drenched in saliva.
"Get lost! Go play somewhere else!" Wang Ping impatiently pushed Rosette away and, ignoring Gu Lang, started inspecting the vehicle.
On the dashboard was the broken tablet that had previously been showing the livestream. Wang Ping glanced at it and jabbed at it with his finger.
Gu Lang twitched slightly, watching as the tablet screen shattered with a crisp cracking sound.
The network connection was lost, and Gu Lang’s livestream was completely interrupted. A message reading "Streamer Offline" now appeared in the livestream title.
"It’s over."
"The streamer’s done for."
"He’s probably in big trouble."
"Did anyone call the police?"
"What’s the point, the police won’t help."
"Let’s just hope the streamer is alright."
With the livestream blacked out, most viewers had already left. A few die-hard fans who had been following Gu Lang since the start kept the stream open, hoping to see how things would unfold. Even though they couldn’t do anything, just staying informed gave them some comfort.
Wang Ping continued his inspection of the vehicle until he noticed an external cable extending from the passenger seat toward the dashboard.
Reaching out, he poked at it.
"Wait, don’t..." Gu Lang was about to warn him, but when he saw Wang Ping and Rosette both turn to look at him, he panicked.
"Boss!" Gu Lang quickly said in frustration, "That’s the antenna connection! If you break it, we won’t have any signal left! No signal, understand?! We won’t even be able to use the map! IF the map won't even work anymore, how are we supposed to get to the place you want to go?!"
That’s how the network’s connected? Wang Ping blinked in confusion. I didn’t finish my education, don’t try to trick me!
He instinctively glanced at the car’s GPS, and sure enough, the map was still visible, but the arrow that represented their location had disappeared.
"Boss, can you tell me what I did wrong? Just a hint, please!?" Gu Lang sighed, "Let’s stop breaking things, alright? If we break the car, we won’t be going anywhere!"
If I had any idea how to give a hint, would I need you to say it? Wang Ping tried to roll his eyes, but failed to do so.
Regardless, hearing Gu Lang’s words now made Wang Ping relax. Without any external contact, his activities wouldn’t be exposed so quickly, and his previous actions were no longer as important.
There were plenty of honey badgers roaming the African grasslands—No one would be able to find him.
“Beep!" Wang Ping honked the horn, glancing at Gu Lang with a clear look in his eyes.
"Time to go."
By the time the rescue team arrived at Ambusell Lake where Gu Lang’s group had been, Gu Lang’s vehicle had already traveled 70 kilometers into the grasslands.
Wang Ping had deliberately chosen paths with dense grass and thick forests to obscure the vehicle’s trail. Without the navigation system, Gu Lang was completely lost and could only follow Wang Ping’s directions.
The helicopter circled above Ambusell Lake, while rescue team members and Zhang Jianming descended to the ground. The clear tire tracks left by Gu Lang’s vehicle indicated he had left the area, heading northwest.
"Zhang, the pilot says we don’t have enough fuel to keep searching. We need to head back to Handeni to refuel," a young man in camouflage shouted in English.
"Looks like he’s still alive!" Zhang Jianming thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. Internally, he cursed the troublemaker—what a hassle!
The helicopter made another circle over the grasslands before heading southeast.
Some time later, a rustling noise came from the grass. A hyena appeared at Gu Lang’s former location. Following it, one, then two more hyenas emerged, their aggressive postures clear.
The lead hyena sniffed the ground, then looked in the direction Gu Lang had gone, howling. The rest of the pack immediately began running, chasing after the northwest trail.
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