novelraw Chapter 257: Hunting the Saltwater Crocodile (1)
Chapter 257: Hunting the Saltwater Crocodile (1)
Noah knew where Lesia lived and drove her straight home.
Chu Mingcheng returned to the hotel by himself, had a video call with Jiang Luoluo, then went to sleep.
At eight the next morning, Noah came knocking on his door to discuss the profit-sharing arrangement for selling the crocodile.
If he tagged along with Lesia, he wouldn't get a cut of the money.
Noah himself only got one-tenth of the total profit, mainly because he didn't participate directly in the hunt. His work usually consisted of providing assistance and support.
According to him, he was pretty scared of dying and was more than happy to do simple work for a small cut.
But Chu Mingcheng was a rookie. Noah had asked several friends, but none of them were willing to take on a newcomer.
In the end, it was the more easygoing Lesia who agreed to take him in—but with no share of the money.
Chu Mingcheng frowned, not expecting Noah to only be telling him this now.
Still, it didn't really make a difference whether he'd said it sooner or later. After all, without someone to guide him, he wouldn't dare hunt a dangerous creature like a saltwater crocodile on his own. One mistake and he'd be dead.Seeing that Chu Mingcheng had no objections, Noah took him to Lesia's house.
Along the way, however, he hesitated for a long while, as if he had something he wanted to say.
Seeing this, Chu Mingcheng couldn't help but speak up. "Noah, if you have something to say, just say it."
Noah shrugged and said bluntly, "Alright, I'll say it. Cheng, you really shouldn't have rejected Lesia. If you'd made her happy last night, she might have given you a one-tenth share of the profit."
"But now she obviously won't. So you can only gain some experience. I can introduce you to another crocodile hunter later. You can shoot videos for him and help out on the side."
Chu Mingcheng was a little speechless. "Uh... Noah, I don't really care about the money. The important thing is that I need some experience hunting saltwater crocodiles and being out in the wild so I can go solo."
"A one-tenth share is only a little over two thousand Australian dollars. To me, that price isn't worth my time."
"You want to go solo?" Noah slammed on the brakes, pulling the car over to the side of the road, his expression one of utter shock.
Chu Mingcheng smiled and nodded. "Of course. If you're willing to be my cameraman and help me out a bit, Noah, I wouldn't mind giving you an extra tenth of the profit."
But Noah was in no mood for jokes. "You're insane. So many hunters die at the hands of saltwater crocodiles every year. You'd better give up that idea."
"It's fine. You can see how I do first," Chu Mingcheng didn't dwell on the issue.
Some things you just had to let people see for themselves before you could gain their trust.
If it weren't for the fact that Noah had helped him a lot, and that he really did need someone to assist and help with filming, he would absolutely have gone solo.
Seeing Chu Mingcheng say this, Noah also dropped the topic and continued driving to Lesia's house.
When they walked in, they saw her looking haggard with a headache, clearly having gotten very drunk the night before.
Lesia wasn't angry when she saw Chu Mingcheng. Some things could be understood over a round of drinks; there was no need to make everyone uncomfortable.
But her attitude had inevitably cooled, and the enthusiasm from the previous night was gone.
Chu Mingcheng didn't mind. He just wanted to learn some hunting techniques and gain experience.
Besides, without getting paid a single cent, who the hell would be willing to stick around for long?
After a short while, a young man arrived at Lesia's house.
Through introductions, they learned this man was her younger brother, Viktor, who had just graduated from university.
But he had already been hunting crocodiles with Lesia for three years, always working as a logistics person, helping out and filming.
A hunting team needed at least two people, usually around three.
After all, for a saltwater crocodile over four meters, there were some places a car couldn't reach, and you'd need people to carry the crocodile out first. You couldn't do it with too few people.
After getting to know each other, Viktor took out a laptop and said to Lesia, "The target has been approved. We can hunt it."
Then he told Noah and Chu Mingcheng the specifics of the mission target, showing them pictures of the saltwater crocodile and its habitat on his computer.
The target was an adult male saltwater crocodile, about three meters long, living in a bay. At present, no second saltwater crocodile had been found near it, so it was a relatively easy mission.
Afterward, the group prepared to set off. Lesia even took out a semi-automatic shotgun.
According to Viktor, this shotgun had already killed over a thousand adult saltwater crocodiles.
In addition, they had iron-clad clubs, long-handled snares, and other tools for dealing with crocodiles.
Some bounty missions were issued by zoos that needed live crocodiles, so crocodile hunters would try to find ways to capture them alive.
These clubs, snares, ropes, and fishing nets were the tools for capturing crocodiles alive.
Crocodiles spend most of their time in the water, so they needed to be caught in a trap first before being dealt with a single blow.
The only time you could use a shotgun directly was when the crocodile was sunbathing on the bank.
All the tools were loaded onto a large pickup truck. There was a crane on the back of the truck, obviously to make it easier to move the prey into the truck bed.
Viktor drove off first in the pickup, with Chu Mingcheng and Noah following behind.
The car they were driving was a rented SUV, heading in the direction of the suburbs.
There was a lot of food in the car, as it was clear that hunting a crocodile would take quite some time.
"Noah, do you know where to buy a shotgun? And what kind is Lesia's? How much does it cost, roughly?"
Lesia's shotgun had greatly piqued Chu Mingcheng's interest. What man didn't love these things?
It was just that they were banned in China, and he had never been to any shooting clubs, so he had never even touched one.
"Lesia's is a Lady Timber, suitable for women. It costs about two thousand Australian dollars."
"Cheng, you can forget about a shotgun. Australia prohibits foreigners from owning these weapons. You can't buy one through legal channels."
Chu Mingcheng was stunned. "Doesn't this hunting permit say you can own a shotgun?"
Noah smiled and took out his own hunting license, flipping it over and pointing to a line of small print. "Take another look at this."
Chu Mingcheng took it and looked, only to find, speechless, that it stated only Australian locals were qualified to purchase shotguns.
Even if foreigners obtained a hunting license, they could only use other methods to hunt saltwater crocodiles.
Overall, the quota of twelve hundred saltwater crocodiles was just for local hunters.
Moreover, the hunting license had a disclaimer stating that if the holder of this permit went into the wild and was killed by a wild animal, the Australian government was not required to pay any compensation.
Hearing that he couldn't buy a shotgun, Chu Mingcheng couldn't help but sigh softly.
The older generation in China had been too effective, driving most animals to the point of extreme rarity, leaving young people like them with nothing to hunt.
However, China's rapid development was also inseparable from its population dividend. With so many people just trying to get a bite to eat, it was understandable that the wildlife population had decreased.
Chu Mingcheng gave up on the idea of a shotgun. There were many ways to kill a crocodile; a shotgun was just the easiest.
The journey this time was a bit long, taking them directly to the remote wilderness.
After more than six hours, Chu Mingcheng saw a small log cabin.
Noah pointed to the cabin and explained, "To make hunting crocodiles easier, crocodile hunters have built many of these small cabins in the wild, so everyone can rest."
"After all, sometimes hunting a fierce adult saltwater crocodile requires a lot of preparation from the hunters."
"If we're late hunting the saltwater crocodile today, we'll probably spend the night in this cabin."
Chu Mingcheng nodded in understanding. This was similar to hunting in the Far East region of the "Fighting Nation," where they would also prepare log cabins in the wild.
[TN: "Fighting Nation" is Chinese internet slang for Russians. And no, this isn't political! It's a term of respect for their toughness and ability to handle harsh conditions with ease.]
The only difference was that the cabins in the Far East were built by individuals and were considered private property, with a cellar for storing prey.
But the ones here were public, just temporary resting places.
From this, it was clear that compared to Australia, the "Fighting Nation" was the real hunting paradise.
The car didn't stop, continuing toward the bay. Another hour passed, and Chu Mingcheng heard the sound of waves, a clear sign they were about to reach their destination.
They had set off at about nine in the morning. After a journey of more than seven hours, it was nearly five in the afternoon when they arrived.
The bay was very open, with overgrown but not tall wild grass, allowing for a clear view.
Everyone first observed their surroundings from the car. Only after confirming there was no danger did they get out.
Lesia, holding her shotgun, led the way toward the shore.
Viktor followed behind, camera in hand and already filming. If a saltwater crocodile appeared on land, it could be taken out with a single shot at any moment, so they needed to be ready.
But unfortunately, when they reached the shore, they found nothing. It seemed the crocodile was not nearby.
Seeing this, Lesia frowned and said to Noah, "We might need to lure the saltwater crocodile out. Let's get ready."
"OK!" Noah nodded, went to the pickup truck, and backed it up.
Then he took out a frozen, boiled chicken, a white rope, and a large, sharp hook.
The white rope was in a large, flat roll. Chu Mingcheng went over and pulled it, finding it had a bit of elasticity.
Seeing his curiosity, Noah explained, "Crocodiles like to do the death roll. If we used a thick, round rope, it would get tangled up when the crocodile rolls."
"It would be easy for us to hurt our hands while pulling, and it would be hard to hold on to the rope to wear down the crocodile's stamina."
"But this kind of rope won't. It will roll with the crocodile, but only the part between the crocodile and us, so it won't affect us."
Chu Mingcheng understood immediately, knowing this type of rope was indeed better.
He was also very interested in fishing for crocodiles. Fishing was his old trade, after all!
From the looks of it, Noah had a lot of experience assisting in wild crocodile hunts.
Chu Mingcheng felt that if he could hunt a crocodile on his own, he wouldn't need to work for free. He could take Noah and start taking on missions by himself tomorrow.
But since he was here now, he could try to capture it alive later.
There was a long spear in the car, which could be used to kill the crocodile directly.
The prerequisite was to tie the crocodile's mouth shut first, but there was also a snare in the car. Perhaps he could handle this three-meter crocodile.
Noah worked quickly. In just a short while, he had tied the large fishing hook and rope together, baited it with the boiled chicken, and carefully went to the shore to throw it in.
Then he quickly came back, took out a bag of chopped chicken pieces, went to the shore, and threw them directly into the water.
Chu Mingcheng was beside him, helping. This bag of chicken pieces looked like chum to attract the saltwater crocodile back.
In his view, fishing for a saltwater crocodile seemed no different from regular fishing, except for the tools.