BANG! BANG! BANG!
Marcus kept firing at the Greenback Croc while backing away step by step.
Watching the creature shrug off gunfire, Noah Drake finally pieced it together.
"So to claim a resource… you have to clear out whatever Divine Domain creature is guarding it."
It matched what happened at the iron deposit. They only got the reward after killing the lone F- guardian.
This oasis was likely the same.
But unlike an F- creature…
This E-rankGreenback Croc was clearly not something you bullied with basic firepower.
Still—
danger and opportunity always came together.
If they could kill an E-rank creature…
the reward would absolutely surpass that previous F- Chest.
Noah Drake looked at Marcus.
Marcus looked back.
And in that brief eye contact, the same emotion surfaced in both of them—
greed.
Then they nodded, decision made.
"Kill it."
Marcus moved instantly, swinging his big tactical pack around and pulling out an automatic rifle like it was second nature.
He opened fire in a brutal stream.
RATATATATAT—!
The gunfire was violent enough to make the croc's head jerk down, sand and grass exploding around it.
Noah Drake drew the pistol Marcus had prepared for him earlier and fired as well.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The Greenback Croc hissed—
but not in pain.
In anger.
Because the bullets still weren't doing anything.
Every round bounced off that armored hide like it was steel plating, throwing sparks and leaving nothing behind.
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
"This kind of firepower… and it still can't be hurt?"
Noah Drake tried to steady him.
"Relax. It's a crocodile. On land they're slow—at worst it's a hard-shelled turtle."
Marcus didn't answer.
He didn't believe an E-rank creature would be that useless.
And he was right.
The Greenback Croc finally counterattacked.
It let out a deep, furious roar—nothing like an animal call.
Then it moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
It exploded forward and covered the distance in an instant.
Noah Drake's pupils shrank.
"Holy—sh*t!"
The shift was so sudden they didn't even have time to react.
One blink and the monster was right in front of them.
The livestream chat went feral.
"NO!! RUN, Noah Drake!!"
"Bullets don't work—this thing is insane!"
"So this is what E-rank looks like?!"
They didn't need the chat to tell them.
The moment they saw that speed, both men felt the same thought slam into their skulls:
We can't win.
If the croc was slow, they could have kited it and worn it down with ammunition.
But a creature this fast—
in close range—
meant death.
They turned and sprinted.
Their All Attributes +3 boost showed immediately. Their speed was beyond normal athletes—absurdly quick.
But the Greenback Croc refused to let them go.
It chased them hard, closing distance with terrifying persistence.
Noah Drake shouted over his shoulder.
"Marcus!!"
"Got it!"
Marcus yanked a grenade free—
and tossed it behind them without even looking.
(And yes, he pulled it from an… extremely questionable place. The man was committed.)
"TRY THAT!"
The black grenade hit the ground.
They sprinted even harder.
BOOOOM!!
A violent blast tore through the air.
The shockwave launched both men forward, flinging them like ragdolls.
The chat screamed.
"OH MY GOD—A GRENADE?!"
"They have THAT too?!"
"That has to hurt it—right?!"
Noah Drake and Marcus scrambled up and looked back—
hope flashing for half a second.
Then the Greenback Croc roared again.
ROAR—!!
Alive.
Angrier.
Still coming.
Any fantasy of "fighting for the oasis" shattered instantly.
Noah Drake and Marcus didn't hesitate anymore.
If a grenade couldn't kill it, then there was nothing left to debate.
They ran.
And they didn't stop.
They abandoned the oasis and fled the area at full speed.
News of their encounter spread fast through the livestream overlays.
Within hours, every competitor knew:
There was an oasis.
And guarding it was an E-rank predator with armor that bullets couldn't penetrate.
People wanted it.
But they also understood the problem.
If Miracle Nation—with guns and grenades—couldn't kill it…
most teams would just be delivering themselves as food.
So the consensus formed quickly:
Get stronger first.
Farm F-tier chests.
Then, maybe, challenge that crocodile later.
And then… Dragon Nation's feed.
While the world obsessed over the oasis, Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw were still doing the same thing—
walking in silence, straight toward their unseen destination.
On I'm Watching the Divine Domain, the hosts tried to spin meaning out of it.
Sienna Blake leaned forward, thoughtful.
"I think our two competitors' direction is deliberate. Captain Cole, what do you think?"
Captain Cole froze for a beat.
Combat? Strategy? He could do that.
But interpreting two silent people walking across a desert with zero context?
That was rough.
"…Uh…"
Dr. Hart stepped in smoothly.
"It's hard to read their intent, but I believe anyone chosen to represent Dragon Nation must have something exceptional."
The viewers remembered Adrian Vale's rumored IQ 170, and some of them nodded along.
Then Derek Vaughn, as always, dumped sewage into the conversation.
"Deliberate? Please. They're probably just panicking and picked a random direction."
He shrugged, smug and punchable.
Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw didn't know the show existed.
They didn't know anyone was mocking them.
And even if they did, they wouldn't care.
Because their direction wasn't random.
Earlier, Adrian Vale had caught a scent—an unusual sweetness in the air.
And it was coming from this exact way.
As for the livestream screaming "danger," warning about a man-eating monster—
Adrian Vale didn't find it frightening.
He found it exciting.
Who eats who… hasn't been decided yet.
So he kept walking.
Straight toward it.
That's when Dragon Nation's chat finally noticed the alignment.
"Wait… where are they going?"
"Is it random?"
"Hold on—this direction…"
"No way."
"They're heading toward the oasis, aren't they?!"
"Holy sh*t… they are."
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