The burly man was flung aside, but the axe remained lodged in the top of the crocodile's head. Agonizing pain made it thrash its head, still caught behind the curtain, as it let out an enraged roar.
Huang Tao shouted, "Don't attack from the side! Attack it head-on!"
A large iron shovel crashed down on the crocodile's head from the side.
CLANG!
It was a loud strike.
The blow made the crocodile's head jerk upward.
CLANG!
The shovel swung down again, this time striking the axe handle. The crocodile shook its head repeatedly in pain.
Qin Ziwen took a half-step forward and thrust with his pole, striking the crocodile's hide. The impact sent a numbing jolt up his arm. 'Its hide is too tough. We need heavy weapons.'
The bearded man let out a vicious grin. "Fuck, no matter how fierce it is, it's still just a beast. It'll run when it feels pain."
The crocodile lurched to the other side. With a RIP, its head finally broke through the tear in the curtain.
It glanced back at the humans, then began to twist its clumsy body, fleeing toward the river.
"Stop it!"
A group of people gave chase. On land, the crocodile was no match for them in speed.
Two security guards approached from the sides, pinning the crocodile's head from the left and right with riot control forks.
The crocodile instinctively opened its massive jaws. Qin Ziwen, who had circled around to the front, seized the chance. He shoved the clothes-drying pole into its cavernous mouth, essentially deep-throating it.
Qin Ziwen had no idea what he'd hit, so he just gripped the pole and began to twist and churn.
The crocodile's claws scrabbled at the muddy ground as it struggled desperately.
Axes, iron bars, and wooden clubs rained down on it.
The crocodile's struggles grew weaker.
Finally, it stopped struggling.
Qin Ziwen stared at the crocodile. He was waiting to see if this one would "drop" a Card.
Three seconds, four seconds...
Nothing happened, not even when someone took an axe and nearly chopped the crocodile's head from its neck.
'Looks like this crocodile still didn't meet the standard for a "powerful lifeform" in this area.'
It had taken over a dozen able-bodied men to kill it on land, and that was only after they'd first blinded it with the curtain and attacked it in turns with long weapons.
"Is the crocodile dead?"
"Incredible!"
The crowd of onlookers began to trickle over from the back. A few people mustered the courage to step forward and kick the crocodile's corpse.
Huang Tao produced a tape measure from somewhere and stepped forward to measure the beast.
"Five point zero three meters long!"
"Whoa, that's pretty long."
"Jeez, you guys are incredible. Killing a crocodile this big just like that."
A young man who used to be a crocodile keeper squatted down, marveling at the sight. "A five-meter crocodile is rare even in the wild," he said in awe. "You rarely see them grow this big even in a zoo."
Having worked with crocodiles, he knew better than anyone just how terrifying a beast this size was in its natural habitat.
Qin Ziwen emerged from the crowd and found the security guard who had been sent flying by the crocodile.
Onlookers had dragged him away from the scene and propped him up against a wall. His lower leg was bent at an unnatural angle, covered in blood. White shards of bone poked through the wound; his tibia and fibula were likely shattered.
If they could get him to a hospital right away, he might have a chance. But out here... he was as good as dead.
The guard's face was drenched in sweat, his eyes squeezed shut. A large pool of blood was forming beneath him.
A middle-aged man with glasses, who had been squatting by the guard, stood up after a careful examination. "His chances of survival are slim unless he gets immediate surgery. He's going into hypovolemic shock from arterial bleeding and needs a transfusion now. We can't perform surgery here. Does he have any family...?"
"Dr. Lin, none of these guards have family around here."
Dr. Lin shook his head with regret. "Based on my experience, even if by some miracle he pulls through, the long-term complications will be severe. And he'll have no family to care for him."
An old man nearby spoke up. "If Dr. Lin says there's no hope, then that's it. Sigh... what terrible luck for the young man."
An old woman in a thin, floral-print blouse shook her head. "Dr. Lin is a top doctor from the city hospital. If even he can't save him, then I guess there's nothing to be done."
"Isn't Dr. Lin a department head? And even a department head can't save him?"
Dr. Lin's face turned ashen. 'I'm a doctor, not an Immortal.'
'Give me an emergency room and I could at least try. What am I supposed to do without one?'
Huang Tao pushed through the crowd, squatted down, and gently shook the guard. "Dou Gu. Dou Gu."
Dou Gu's eyelids fluttered and his lips moved, but he failed to respond.
Dr. Lin said, "He's in shock, not asleep. It's when the circulatory system collapses. The brain and other vital organs are severely deprived of blood and oxygen. It's a physiological coma."
Huang Tao hesitated. "So... there's no hope for him?"
Dr. Lin just sighed softly, not offering an answer.
The bearded man walked over and glanced at the unconscious Dou Gu. He hesitated for a moment. "It's a shame about this guy... We should divide up the meat. It'll spoil if we leave it out too long in this weather."
Huang Tao nodded. "Right."
As they walked, the bearded man extended a hand to Qin Ziwen, his eyes full of admiration. "That was damn brave of you earlier, man. Shoving that Long Spear right down the crocodile's throat. Let's be friends. Name's Zheng Yuan. I live in Building Three."
The two shook hands.
"Qin Ziwen. Building Eight."
Old Deng came over, laughing heartily. "Younger Brother Qin, that was a perfect thrust! Thanks to you, we landed a five-meter 'fish.' Never caught one that big in my entire life!"
Qin Ziwen replied modestly, "We only managed it by working together. I couldn't have handled that crocodile by myself."
Someone brought a bathroom scale and a large iron basin from their apartment.
Butchering the crocodile and dividing the meat took all morning.
A large crowd gathered to watch, and some even tried to guilt-trip the group, hoping to get a share of the meat.
The hot-tempered Zheng Yuan immediately shut them down. "Fuck off! Didn't see you anywhere when we were killing the croc, but now you have the gall to show your face for a handout? The river's full of them. If you want meat, go kill one yourself!"
Zheng Yuan, who had been cutting the meat, stood up as he spoke and brandished the boning knife in his hand. The person who had spoken scurried back into the crowd in fear.
Huang Tao tried to ease the tension. "Brother Zheng, you're pretty skilled with that knife. What did you do for a living?"
With a smooth pull and slice of his boning knife, Zheng Yuan cut off a strip of bright red flesh. "I was a pig butcher," he said. "The meat yield on this croc is damn low. Probably only half of what you'd get from a pig."
In the end, Qin Ziwen was allotted eighty jin of meat.
The crocodile yielded a total of 604 jin of meat. Sixteen people had taken part in the kill. Since Dou Gu was incapacitated—and had transmigrated here alone, with no family—everyone tacitly agreed to omit his share.
Zheng Yuan was in charge of portioning out the meat. Butchering the crocodile was also hard physical labor—the beast weighed a ton or two, and the average person couldn't have handled the work.
Thus, the extra four jin were considered Zheng Yuan's "service fee."
Since Qin Ziwen and Qin Ziwu were brothers, their shares were combined, giving them eighty jin total.
The heavy meat was packed into bags. The crocodile flesh was mostly white, with faint pinkish marbling.
His share was from the tail. From a distance, it looked like a gigantic, more fibrous piece of chicken breast.
After receiving their shares of meat, it wasn't just Qin Ziwen who lost interest in fishing; Old Deng felt the same way.
This much meat would be enough to feed a family for a long time.
Old Liu was green with envy. 'Forty jin!' he thought. He had fished all day yesterday and only caught a little over two jin of fish.