Chapter Twelve: Something More Powerful Than the Lion Brothers

Chapter Twelve: Something Mightier Than the Lion Brothers

The dry season persisted, making life increasingly harsh for the lions.

The Jike pride had only two lionesses, and their success in hunting prey grew ever more scarce.

Lionesses in the nursing period require abundant food to replenish their nutrients and produce milk.

When the lionesses were underfed, their milk production diminished significantly.

Meanwhile, the cubs were growing larger and demanded more milk.

Thus, a problem arose.

Lisa and Aisha could barely feed themselves during the dry season—how much milk could they possibly produce for the ten cubs, all over three months old?

For a while now, Chu Ye had constantly felt hungry.

But this was the reality for lions in the dry season; both the cubs and the adults had to endure hunger together.

Not only lions but all carnivores on the savannah had to tighten their belts during the dry season.

Consequently, the savannah turned into a battleground for these carnivores.

During the rainy season, carnivores were mostly occupied with hunting and raising their young.

But in the dry season, they were busy competing against one another.

Hunting herbivores became tougher in the dry season.

The vast herds of wildebeests and zebras had migrated away.

What remained were either the massive members of the African Big Five or smaller prey like hares, warthogs, bush pigs, and honey badgers.

For carnivores hunting in groups, surviving the dry season necessitated extraordinary strategies.

It was difficult to capture either the Big Five or the smaller prey alone.

Thus, carnivores began targeting the young of their own kind.

During the dry season, cubs became the main source of sustenance for adult carnivores.

When desperate, some even resorted to eating their own offspring.

Lions were no strangers to this grim reality in the dry season.

Though it sounded cruel, such behavior was natural in the animal kingdom, especially on the African savannah.

After all, it was not easy for a young animal to reach adulthood.

And even if cubs were eaten, they could be replaced.

This harsh survival tactic was, in essence, a means of protecting the species.

Though Chu Ye had only been on the savannah for a little over three months, he had already sensed the cruelty of this world.

All creatures, in their struggle to survive, exhausted their strength and wit.

It was unfair to say animals had no intelligence—this was merely comparing their minds to humans'.

Animals might not be as clever as humans, but they certainly possessed their own wisdom.

Indeed, every species survives in this world through its own intelligence.

The dry season had just begun, yet Chu Ye could already feel the savannah’s brutal atmosphere.

First, a wandering male lion had launched an attack on the Jike pride; then a pair of male lion brothers had done the same.

Though both assaults were narrowly thwarted thanks to the combined efforts of Jike, the two lionesses, and Chu Ye, he knew that dangers would only multiply as the dry season wore on.

Lisa and Aisha went hunting every night, but their success was steadily declining.

The number and size of their prey grew fewer and smaller.

Consequently, the milk they could produce dwindled.

Chu Ye and the other nine cubs were perpetually underfed.

However, these cubs had been well-fed earlier, making them strong enough to endure for a while.

Only two of Aisha’s six cubs—a male and a female—were cause for concern.

They had been weak since birth.

Though they had grown somewhat stronger over the past month, they were still frailer compared to the other eight cubs.

Chu Ye worried deeply for these two.

He feared they might not survive the dry season.

After all, only a month had passed, but there were still four or five months ahead.

Such a long period was a severe trial for these small, fragile cubs.

Because of the heat, the lions were mostly active at night.

During the day, they slept and rested, conserving energy for nocturnal hunts.

The cubs behaved similarly, minimizing their movements to save strength and resting alongside their mothers.

Yet, one cub refused to stay still.

That cub was Chu Ye.

Every day was tense for him, for he constantly sensed danger looming over their pride.

On this morning, while the lionesses rested, Chu Ye climbed a large tree to survey their territory, searching for any threats.

He worried about wandering male lions invading, as such intruders were the greatest enemies of a pride.

They determined the fate of the cubs.

Whether the cubs survived the dry season depended largely on whether the pride’s males could endure.

If a male lion was defeated by a wandering rival before the dry season ended, the cubs would face annihilation.

Only the resident males who could repeatedly repel challengers and lead the pride through the dry season would ensure the cubs’ survival.

Chu Ye was well aware of these truths.

His greatest fear was that his father, the pride’s male lion, might be supplanted by another.

For days, Chu Ye kept watch from the treetop, vigilant for any threatening males entering their domain.

Yet, he had seen no wandering lions nor any other carnivores encroaching upon their territory.