Huang Tao's curiosity was piqued. "From the sound of it, the males are bigger than the females? How much bigger?"
Zhang Zhen's expression was grim. He gave Huang Tao a deep look. "In a crocodile colony, the average male is one and a half times the length of a female, and two to three times the weight."
The smile on Huang Tao's face froze. "That big of a difference?"
Zhang Zhen nodded. "Yes. Crocodiles are polygynous. A stretch of river is usually home to a single colony, which consists of a dominant male, several females, and some sub-adults. If food is plentiful, the colony will grow. Based on the size of this female, the male should be between seven and eight meters long."
Seven to eight meters...
Standing not far away, Qin Ziwen overheard their conversation and instinctively glanced back at the dark surface of the river.
Zhang Zhen said worriedly, "If my estimations are correct, then this male crocodile... it could be truly terrifying."
Seeing that the others didn't grasp the severity of the situation, Zhang Zhen explained, "Have you guys ever heard of Luo Long? He was the largest crocodile ever captured by humans on Earth. In a documentary, they tried to catch him by hanging chicken meat from a tree branch with a steel cable. The idea was that when the crocodile bit the meat, it would be snared. But he snapped the cable instantly. They kept making the cable thicker, but Luo Long broke it every time. They had to keep reinforcing the cable until they finally managed to capture him.
Then, they got about a dozen villagers to try and drag Luo Long out of the water, but he wouldn't budge. He almost got away. In the end, all the onlookers had to come and help. It took more than sixty people in a tug-of-war that lasted for hours to finally haul Luo Long onto the bank.
On an empty stomach, he weighed 1,075 kilograms. And he was only 6.2 meters long."
That last part was what shocked everyone the most.
Someone muttered, "He was that ferocious at only six point two meters? A seven-point-two-meter one would be off the charts!"
Zou Sheng frowned. "It might be even longer than seven point two meters. If we go by the one-point-five-times rule, its length should be at least seven and a half meters."
As a fitness coach, he knew very well that a difference in tonnage was nearly impossible to overcome with skill. The 6.2-meter Luo Long weighed a ton; a 7.5-meter crocodile would likely weigh two tons.
A true amphibious super-beast of physical might.
Zhang Zhen said, "If we're really dealing with a giant crocodile over seven meters long, we probably have no way to restrain it. The only way to deal with it is to dig a trap and try to bury it in a pit."
But someone thought Zhang Zhen was being an alarmist. "You said that's how it is on Earth. Who's to say that in this Otherworld, the females aren't bigger? It's been days, and no one's seen this giant crocodile you're talking about."
"Yeah, if it really existed, why hasn't it shown up while we've been hunting its kind?"
"AHHH—"
A distant scream cut off their discussion.
"Run!"
"The crocodile is huge!"
The people who were still butchering the meat looked at each other in dismay.
Then, they all turned in unison to look at the person who had just said it wouldn't show up.
Zheng Yuan's mouth twitched. "You and your big mouth..."
The man looked regretful, too. He never imagined his words would come true.
Through the sparse bushes, they could see many residents fleeing in the distance.
Huang Tao shouted, "Wait! The Gated Community's main entrance is over there! If we head that way, we might get cornered at the gate by the giant crocodile. Let's go in a different direction."
Qin Ziwu moved to his brother's side. "Brother, let's take the east gate."
"Okay. We need to be careful."
Then, Qin Ziwen saw the bushes shaking violently, as if a monster was rampaging through the undergrowth.
"Wait, I think the crocodile is coming this way! Run!"
Qin Ziwen ran back several dozen meters before looking over his shoulder. At the spot where they had been butchering their kill, an incredibly ferocious giant crocodile was lying quietly beside the female's remains.
Just lying there, the giant crocodile exuded an aura of terror.
Next to it, the female crocodile, which had been butchered down to a mere carcass, looked as small and frail as a little girl.
Qin Ziwu muttered, "It's huge..."
Qin Ziwen could feel his own heart pounding. It was the instinctive human reaction to facing a Giant Beast. "Its head is probably over a meter high."
The giant crocodile opened its massive jaws and let out a low roar from its throat. Its open mouth was tall enough to swallow an adult whole.
Then, it bit down on the carcass and dragged it straight into the river.
Only when its enormous body had completely disappeared beneath the water did everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.
Qin Ziwen felt the giant crocodile's behavior didn't quite match Zhang Zhen's description. According to Zhang Zhen, crocodiles were emotionally detached creatures whose actions were primarily driven by survival instincts. But he had sensed an emotion in the male that went beyond survival—it wasn't just anger at having its territory invaded.
Zhang Zhen muttered, "It seemed to be expressing anger just now. We're screwed. This crocodile's intelligence might be quite high."
Everyone quickly retreated along the outer wall of the Gated Community.
They made their way around to the east gate and re-entered the Gated Community.
When they arrived back at the south gate, it was packed with people.
From their conversations, Qin Ziwen learned that a crocodile-hunting team near the south gate had just managed to kill a crocodile. As they were butchering it, the giant crocodile had suddenly shot out of the water, bitten one of them, and dragged the carcass on the bank back into the river.
They had managed to snatch back the person who was bitten.
But... while they'd gotten him back, he was not in good shape.
Even someone with no medical knowledge would fall silent at the sight of his gruesome injuries.
The entire area from his chest to his pelvis was caved in, like a smashed piece of fruit. His clothes were soaked in blood, and he was only breathing out, not in.
His family knelt beside him, holding him and weeping.
Seeing Huang Tao approach, the deceased's family ran over and surrounded him.
"How can there be such a terrifying crocodile in this river!"
The victim's mother grabbed Huang Tao by the collar. "My son was only twenty-three! He just graduated from college! He had his whole life ahead of him!"
"Why? Why did this have to happen! I wish it had been me instead." The victim's mother let her hands fall limp. She collapsed to the ground, wailing in despair.
Huang Tao was silent. "I'm sorry."
Huang Tao looked around at the crowd. "This crocodile... we have to kill it. It's not like the others. It's smarter and stronger, and now it hates us. If we don't kill it now, our chances of killing it in the future will only get lower and lower.
This crocodile must be the leader of its colony. As long as we can kill it, this stretch of the river will truly be ours."
Someone said, "Easy for you to say. How are we supposed to kill a crocodile that big? We tried using a net just now, and it tore it to shreds."
Huang Tao said with determination, "We'll dig a trap. A pitfall is the most effective weapon against an enemy with that much mass."
The atmosphere grew silent.
The cautionary tale lying on the ground was a grim reminder. This terrifying giant crocodile was without a doubt the most fearsome opponent they had ever faced.
The victim's mother forced the words through her teeth: "I'll dig."
"Alright, let's dig! Let's kill this crocodile!"
"Let's get it! Shit, are we really going to let some beast push us around?"
"Who knows if that crocodile will target me or my family next? Kill it! No matter how strong it is, it's still a carbon-based lifeform. Let's get it in a pit and bury it alive!"
In an instant, the crowd erupted in a furious, heaven-shaking roar.
Qin Ziwen was momentarily dazed, then a slow smile spread across his lips.
'This alpha male crocodile... it must meet the standard for a powerful lifeform that can drop a Card. I just wonder what form the dropped Card will take. Just like the others said, no matter how strong it is, it's still just a carbon-based lifeform. And anything that's carbon-based can be killed.'
...
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