Don't Mess with that Turtle

Su He didn't approach too closely, but watched from a distance. There were roughly a hundred or so crocodiles here, and the one he had torn the front leg from and gutted a few days ago was nowhere to be seen.

It most likely died.

That's the way with wild beasts, being hungry is one thing, but you absolutely must not get injured.

Especially aquatic animals, whose wounds are more prone to infection.

On the edge of the crocodile group, a sub-adult crocodile was hunting sturgeon, having already clamped a four-foot sturgeon in its jaws, it was constantly rolling in the water, trying to tear the food apart.

Without a sound, Su He swam up and bit the spine of the sturgeon, twisting in the opposite direction to claim half of the sturgeon and quickly retreated from the battleground.

The young crocodile was baffled.

It had ventured away from the crocodile group to hunt because it couldn't outcompete the other older crocodiles. It was already so far away and still got robbed? Were turtles this brazen nowadays?

Seeing the size of the turtle, the young crocodile decided not to give chase and instead tore into and devoured the remaining half of the sturgeon.

Su He swam far away, more than a hundred meters, before stopping. Only half of the fish was in his mouth, but it was still flailing about.

The dice rolled:

Two points!

The quality of the sturgeon improved.

His luck had been quite good recently, rolling quality points several times in a row.

The sturgeon tasted crispy, refreshing, and fragrant.

Now that he had teeth, even the bones of the sturgeon were crushed, but the fish wasn't particularly fat. Su He was only thirteen percent full.

With nothing to do after a full meal, he just swam around aimlessly.

Several Little Turtles hastily swam by. Su He tried to gather them together, but the Little Turtles were so panicked that they even turned to bite him.

Turtles couldn't communicate; they had no body language and couldn't make sounds.

After trying for an afternoon, Su He gave up. He planned to look around and see if he could find that Green Snake. Logically, snakes were solitary animals. Why would there be a Snake King? How did it get other snakes to listen?

As Su He pondered, ripples formed in the water behind him, and when he turned around, he saw the sub-adult crocodile that he had stolen the sturgeon from stealthily lurking and attempting a surprise attack.

Su He was amused.

With a swift stroke of his four limbs, he charged at the crocodile as fast as an arrow. Upon nearing, Su He retracted into his Turtle Shell and butted his head against it.

Thud!

A muffled sound rang out as the crocodile's snout was smashed halfway in, leaving it bleeding profusely and crying out as it fled in panic.

The means of attack were too monotonous. A turtle could only clumsily tear and bite, and Su He was eager to master Demonic techniques but didn't know where to start.

It was time to go look for the Green Snake.

By now, it was much safer for Su He to venture outside. The scent of the Demonic Fruit was no longer strong, and crocodiles hundreds of meters away did not desperately attack him...

Shit! Here comes one!

Jinx!

Approaching was a large Crocodile, two zhang (approximately 20 feet) long, lashing its tail and twisting its body as it charged directly at Su He.

Su He narrowed his eyes and, instead of retreating, paddled his limbs rapidly through the water, charging straight at the elder crocodile, hoping to repeat his previous tactic and give it another headbutt.

However, as he lunged, the elder crocodile suddenly opened its jaws wide and bit down on Su He.

Crack!

Half of Su He's body was trapped in the crocodile's mouth, accompanied by a foul stench.

The elder crocodile's upper and lower jaws exerted force simultaneously, unable to bite down or spit Su He out; he just remained there, firmly stuck in its mouth.

With two claws, Su He hooked onto the corners of the elder crocodile's mouth and tore outwards. The elder crocodile let out a miserable scream, transforming into a "split-mouth woman", as Su He kicked with his legs and struggled free.

The elder crocodile turned and fled, diving into the crocodile group.

The other crocodiles looked towards Su He, some eager to try, some quietly backing away, and others circling around to prepare a sneak attack.

Su He hovered on the outskirts of the crocodile group, moving his limbs, ready to strike or flee at any moment.

In the following half a month, Su He spent his time outside the crocodile group, living a simple life: eating, sleeping, and fighting old crocodiles.

He took blows and endured beatings, but ultimately, he survived and even gained the upper hand.

Over a dozen days, every one of the hundred or so crocodiles had had their fair share of close calls with Su He.

Their biggest difference was that he didn't join in the hunting but still wanted a share of the crocodiles' food. If the crocodiles didn't agree, the only option was to fight.

Su He knew what he was doing wasn't right, but he still did it.

During this time, Su He's teeth had fully emerged: jagged, sharp, and capable of tearing through even the crocodile's toughest Scale Armor on its back.

What had started as a fair match, perhaps even with Su He at a disadvantage, relying on his wits for confrontation, had turned into a situation where no crocodile could match him.

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Su He could now roam freely among the crocodile group, daring to snatch anyone's food. If worst came to worst, he'd just fight another battle.

These days, nutrition had been particularly abundant, although the bumps hadn't grown much larger; the quality upgrades were mostly two or three points. Still, it was the sheer quantity that ensured fullness.

With enough nutrition, evolution came quickly.

Since the day before yesterday, his throat and ears had been constantly itchy, but by today, the itch in his throat had disappeared, and Su He suddenly found he could make sounds.

"Ya~ Ya~"

With newly formed vocal cords, his voice was delicate. Su He dared not call out too much. He wasn't worried about his squeaky voice being embarrassing—the others were just ugly old crocs, no brother laughed at another for his looks. He was only worried that calling too much would damage his new vocal cords.

Underneath his claw, a dinner-plate-sized turtle listened to Su He's calls with terror.

For the past few days, Su He had tried every method to domesticate a few of his kind and ascend to the "Turtle King's" throne. But without exception, all attempts had failed. It seemed as though turtles were naturally incapable of being domesticated.

The turtles here were even dumber than those on Earth in his past life! Back then, Su He could tame turtles with feeding.

Su He let the turtle go and sighed helplessly. Behind him, ripples spread across the water, and another crocodile, which remembered food but not past beatings, edged towards him. Slowly turning his head, Su He saw a crocodile sneaking past the group with a small deer in its mouth, heading towards him.

Then it placed the little deer in front of him.

Su He: "???"

The little deer, struggling to escape, was quickly caught by the crocodile, which killed it with a bite and again placed it in front of Su He.

An even bigger question mark appeared above Su He's head.

It took Su He quite a while to understand the crocodile's intent from its gaze: This is for you.

Was this an offering? Had it been subdued by the beating?

Su He was dumbfounded.

He took the little deer, and the crocodile swam around Su He happily.

A dice lazily landed on the corpse of the deer, showing two points.

One deer had turned into two.

Counting as an offering? Was this taking protection money?

Su He tore at the deer meat absentmindedly. Having eaten high-quality meat for so long, eating ordinary food now was just for tasting the flavor. It couldn't stave off hunger. After eating such a small deer, it wouldn't take long to feel hungry again.

No crocodile dared to snatch Su He's food, even if he ate one deer and tossed another away.

Then another crocodile came, carrying a python snake to present to Su He.

Today, the old crocodiles seemed to have had an epiphany.

This crocodile had been severely beaten by Su He the day before.

Su He accepted the python snake, three points, quality.

Su He was delighted, peacefully accepting the python snake and tossing a small deer to the crocodile, which became even happier and made a sound like a bullfrog.

Su He felt that the sound was conveying something.

The itch in his ears became more intense.

The python snake wasn't as delicious as a swimming snake, with tougher flesh that was hard to chew, but at least it was spicier.

After finishing his meal and doing some post-dinner exercises, Su He drifted off to sleep. This sleep lasted another two or three days, and he was awakened by the clamorous noises of the crocodiles.

Crocodiles lay on the water surface howling, their bellies drumming up numerous splashes.

The itch in his ears had disappeared, and to Su He's ears, the crocodile's noises suddenly held distinct meanings.

Not complete sentences, just conveying certain sentiments:

"Hungry!"

"Want to mate..."

"Pain!"

"Want to mate..."

"Eat!"

"Want to mate..."

Most were simply mindless roars, with the rest being similar in nature. Among these conscious calls, half were mating calls.

Isn't the crocodile's breeding season in late spring and early summer? Why are they calling now? Has this year's climate change so greatly affected the animals? Why haven't I felt it?

Ah...

Turtles needed seven or eight years to be considered mature, and by age, Su He was still a Little Turtle, far from these concerns.

So disappointing... Pah! How wonderful!

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