Chapter 78: Prehistoric Giant Crocodile (Part 1)

On Ye Nan’s luxurious yacht, lights blazed everywhere; a crowd danced wildly on the deck, the pulsing music radiating outward from the vessel.

Ye Nan sat in his wheelchair, watching the explorers—Jack, Kerr, Paul, Gail, and others—celebrating their escape, his face filled with smiles.

“You shouldn’t have come out,” Ai Li whispered, pushing the wheelchair, her hair falling onto Ye Nan’s head, tickling him slightly.

“Just to catch some wind,” Ye Nan replied calmly, smiling at the men and women before him, ruffling his hair. “Isn’t the atmosphere joyful?”

“Yes, that’s true, but your body…”

“It’s fine, Ai Li. I feel like a canary in a cage—but in truth, I’m a brave man,” Ye Nan cut her off.

Since Ed and Kenneth had rescued him from the giant snake’s jaws, Ai Li had never left his side, caring for him until he regained consciousness—though sadly, due to the severity of his injuries, his arms and legs had temporarily lost sensation and required constant assistance.

Ye Nan knew full well why this was happening: new muscle tissue in his legs constantly crushed the old, damaged tissue, causing him constant pain; his arms, however, had grown stronger—this was evolution, forced evolution. But before it could complete, he first had to endure weakness and agony.

“Alright, alright, you’re a brave man,” Ai Li humored him, then picked up a drink from beside her and held it to Ye Nan’s lips.

Huhuh! Ye Nan sucked the drink in, feeling its cool, refreshing sensation.

“Hey, hey, the boat ahead—wait!” A voice, faint but clear, drifted from across the river—like a child’s shout.

“Go take a look,” Ye Nan ordered. Ai Li wheeled him to the ship’s edge; behind him, Ed and Kenneth suddenly appeared, arms crossed, standing like two statues of Jin Gang.

The caller was a child, about twelve, as tall as Ye Nan, with golden hair, emerald-green eyes, pale skin, and a black T-shirt—making him look like a doll.

“Steer the boat over,” Ye Nan commanded.

Connor, thrilled by the approaching vessel, waved even more enthusiastically; the rhythmic music rolling from the ship made him vaguely aware of what was happening inside.

As the boat drew close, he burst out excitedly, “Hey, guys throwing the party on the boat—let me join!”

A party on a boat? He’d never seen anything so novel. Now that he had, he had no reason to let it slip away.

Climbing aboard, Connor’s first sight was the child in the wheelchair—same age as him, wearing a blue T-shirt and white shorts, sitting quietly, yet radiating an oppressive pressure that made it hard to breathe.

“Hey, dude,” Connor brushed off the pressure in an instant, his face flushed with excitement. “Hey, dude! I’m Connor—let me join your party!”

“Sorry, can’t do that,” Ye Nan smiled, pointing to Jack beside him. “I’m the owner of this boat, but I’m not the one throwing the party. That’s him. And you’re just a kid—what are you doing here?”

Connor’s face flushed even redder. “Come on, big bro! Let me join the party! I’ve got a bunch of friends—I’ll introduce them to you!”

Shan crouched down and flicked Connor’s forehead. “Little brother, this is an adult party. Kids shouldn’t get involved…”

“Don’t treat me like a kid!” Connor shoved Shan’s finger away. “I’ll have my friends bite you.”

“Your friends bite people? Are they cats or puppies?” Ye Nan had Ai Li wheel him closer, teasing the unexpected guest.

“Don’t underestimate me,” Connor pouted. “I don’t like cats or dogs—that’s for girls. My friends are crocodiles. You know? The kind that eat people.” He flailed his arms dramatically.

“Oh? Call your friends out—I want to see,” Ye Nan said, giving Kenneth a subtle glance. Instantly, the mercenaries resting below emerged.

Excluding the dead and wounded, twenty-three mercenaries still had full combat capability—a heavy blow for the Satan Mercenary Group.

Connor didn’t notice the sudden increase in people aboard, nor did he realize that the pulsing music had stopped, and the dancing men and women had all frozen in place, ears straining to hear Connor.

“My friends only come out when I feed them. They need meat—fresh meat,” Connor gestured.

“Frozen meat—would that work?”

“Yes.”

“Give him frozen meat,” Ye Nan ordered behind him. Because they needed to feed little Godzilla, the ship’s storage was packed with meat—pork, lamb, beef, and even a bit of dinosaur meat.

Soon, a mercenary brought over a basin of frozen meat. Only then did Connor notice that many men in black tactical gear and black masks had silently appeared.

“Whoa! Are you guys soldiers? So cool! My dad’s a federal cop—you guys are his type!” Connor grabbed the mercenary’s sleeve, excited. “Uncle, do you have extra uniforms? Give me one—I want to look this awesome!”

“Bring your friends up, and I’ll give you one,” Ye Nan said, like a big gray wolf offering a lollipop to Little Red Riding Hood.

“Okay!” Connor grew slightly excited—showing off his friends to others, earning amazed looks, and getting an awesome uniform? This was pure luck.

Connor picked up the basin, walked to the ship’s edge, and tossed the meat overboard. “My friends are about to come out—don’t get scared.”

“Don’t worry,” Ye Nan smiled, then picked up his earpiece and contacted Smila. “Smila, check my current coordinates and scan for any known entities in this area.”

“Ye Nan, hold on,” Smila’s voice came through. “Found it.”

“You’re in the ancient lake of Maine. This lake once had incidents of prehistoric crocodiles killing people. But since then, Maine police used sonar to scan every inch of the lake—there’s absolutely no creature larger than a salmon left, except humans.”

“Is that so?” Ye Nan paused. “Can satellites detect things on the ground?”

“Yes,” Smila replied.

“Use the satellite to scan this area—find out how big these crocodiles have grown. Looks like I’m about to give the doctor another research specimen.”