Chapter 42: Crocodile Sighting on the Journey

He had barely eaten anything for almost three days now.

These past few days, in order to keep moving and avoid being caught up to, he had not deliberately hunted for food along the way, only occasionally coming across small fish or little snakes on the shore and stopping to eat.

But that wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.

Not only him, even that little Xiao haozi was nearly starving to death; only that Ice Silkworm locked in the small wooden box was unclear on the specific situation.

Still, Baichuan figured the situation probably wasn't much better — every living thing needs to eat to replenish itself, right?

Even if it could absorb solar energy, it would still need to come out and get some sun.

The only thing he could be sure of was that the Ice Silkworm was still alive.

Because whenever it got a bit farther from the Xiao haozi, the little wooden box would tremble nonstop.

Besides that, he also needed to find a good spot to begin evolving his abilities.

While thinking it over, Baichuan returned to shore, set the Xiao haozi down again, and handed the little wooden box to this rat.

Now Baichuan wasn't really afraid of this rat running off with the thing, because he had already obtained the most important ability model.

At this point, even if this rat ran off, he wouldn't feel the slightest panic.

Of course, one can't speak too absolutely.

Because the model ability parsed out from this scan was really rather strange, so unless absolutely necessary—

To be safe, Baichuan still wanted to keep these two little guys around, and decide what to do with them after he finished strengthening himself.

After settling that rat to hide in a concealed tree hollow, he plunged headfirst into the water, slowly disappearing amid a splash.

Once again entering the familiar underwater world, Baichuan first quietly surveyed the situation below the surface, then released an electric current in a slow but faint manner.

This was an ability he had picked up on his own ever since learning Electric Generation — Electric Discharge sensing.

Of course, calling it an ability, Baichuan actually saw it more as a rudimentary use of Electric Generation, a technique that could only be performed in water.

The principle was to exploit the superior conductivity of electric current in water, continuously emitting faint currents centered on himself to sense whether obstacles and living creatures existed around him.

Because the changes produced when current passed through living creatures were different from those produced when it passed through the inanimate objects of the surrounding environment.

That's why this ability could only be realized in water.

Of course, speaking of which, one has to mention Baichuan's strengthened Electric Generation ability.

First of all, the ability he strengthened was not like those cultivation-immortal myth worlds he had known in his previous life, where one could freely manipulate electric current however one wished, transforming it into thunder spears or thunder lances for ranged attacks.

Because the source of his ability came from the Electric Eel, so the way he produced electric current also followed scientific, reasonable principles.

The generation of electric current on his body came from his contracting his specialized electric-generating muscles, causing these thin, plate-like muscles — like small batteries — to connect in series one by one, thereby gathering the individually tiny voltages and currents together into a surging high-voltage current for attack.

So he could only achieve simple release, not manipulation — at most he could control the position of the circuit, fixing the location from which the electric attack was emitted.

And that was why every time he used Electric Generation to attack, he carried the current on his claws, because that was currently the best option.

Of course, in truth he could also cover his entire body in current indiscriminately, but that could only be described as hurting the enemy a thousand while damaging oneself eight hundred — not worth it.

So, ever since strengthening this Electric Generation ability, Baichuan had been wondering: was there a way to let him freely control the electric current at will?

Unfortunately, given his current lack of accumulated knowledge and ability, he hadn't yet found a better solution.

Sigh～

Letting out a long breath, Baichuan — a self-confessed poor student — declared he still needed to continue his advanced studies and work hard.

Shaking his head, he then swam off in the direction of the large prey sensed through his electric current.

Baichuan, maintaining his stealth mode the whole way, swiftly swam along the riverbed.

Although stealth wasn't very effective underwater, since many aquatic creatures could detect changes in water flow.

But Baichuan figured this ability was like a passive effect — no cost to use it, so why not? A little extra effect was still good.

Soon, he had swum several hundred meters out, when suddenly he sensed a violent disturbance in the water far ahead.

Baichuan's gaze sharpened; he turned his head to look, carefully sensing the state of the water flow. After a moment, a flash of understanding crossed his eyes — he knew what was happening.

"There's some fierce predator hunting underwater."

So, go or not go?

He thought for a moment, decided there was no harm in taking a look — what if he could pick up a free meal?

At this point, there really weren't many animals he needed to be wary of.

Thinking this, he swayed his long, slender snake body and swam toward the disturbance.

Before long, he arrived near the area of violently churning water — close to the shallow waters by the bank.

Taking a closer look, Baichuan smiled.

Isn't this an old acquaintance of his?

A crocodile!

Baichuan was reminded of that initial period of torrential rain and flooding, when he had nearly been bitten clean in two by this underwater big fellow, and had even developed a psychological shadow about the water for a time.

But this crocodile probably wasn't the one that had ambushed him back then.

Because this crocodile's body was nearly 1.7 meters long, its entire body a brownish color, somewhat similar to the caimans Baichuan knew of.

Whereas the one that had ambushed him before was a crocodile resembling a Chinese alligator but two meters long.

Fair enough — the world was so vast; how could he possibly run this far and still run into that original crocodile? That would be a joke.

At this moment, this crocodile was fiercely clamping its jaws on a small monkey with slender limbs, grayish-brown fur all over, and a crest of hair on the top of its head, trying to drag it completely into the water.

And the huge commotion Baichuan had sensed earlier was caused by the gray leaf monkey's frantic struggling in the crocodile's jaws.

Strange, though — didn't gray leaf monkeys live in trees? How had one been ambushed and bitten by a crocodile in the water?

Baichuan wondered, puzzled, until he surveyed the surrounding environment and spotted a tree branch hanging low over the water nearby, and suddenly understood.

He stared at the distant crocodile for a while. By now, that leaf monkey had been completely drowned, and the crocodile was about to drag it back onto the shore to eat.

So, should he step in?

At this moment, Baichuan felt both a hint of wariness and a restless eagerness to try.

He was wary of its power and that terrifying maw, yet also wanted to test whether he could kill it and obtain its ability model.

Perhaps it was because he carried a deadly weapon in his heart, and the urge to kill arose on its own.

Now that Baichuan had encountered these famously powerful creatures, his first thought was no longer to retreat, but to clash with them and obtain their ability models.

After thinking for a while, Baichuan looked at his own massive body—6.7 meters long, about as thick as an adult's waist, with hard scales that gleamed with a metallic sheen—and at the pair of sharp claws beneath him, along with all his various abilities.

Then he looked again at the mere 1.7 meters across from him, and recalled the crocodile's glaringly obvious weakness from his past life.

This was absolutely worth a clash!

(End of chapter)