Chapter One Hundred and One: Video Forgery?

“Grrr, grrr…” Lu Chen bared his teeth again and again at the intruder, the message unmistakable: get lost, stop bothering me. Go back to where you came from, for I know perfectly well how charming I am, but I am not interested in you!

“Grrr…” The female saltwater crocodile still seemed a little unwilling to give up, as if she wanted to try her luck one more time.

“ROAR…” Lu Chen finally lost his temper. He let out a savage bellow, and his body exuded a ferocious, blood-soaked menace.

This was the majesty of a king.

If this fellow still refused to take the hint and came within another two meters, he did not mind lunging in a flash and killing her on the spot.

The female crocodile several meters away could clearly feel the murderous intent carried by her own kind. Terror instantly filled her beastly eyes. She dared not linger any longer and turned to flee back into the water.

Soon, calm returned to the surroundings once more.

After driving off the female crocodile, Lu Chen fell back into idleness. He had only just hunted a large wild boar weighing nearly two hundred kilograms, and his belly was stuffed full, so it was not yet time to hunt again.

He simply sprawled on a large rock by the riverbank, basking in the sun while turning his gaze toward the system panel.

Host: Lu Chen

Possessed Species: Mutated Saltwater Crocodile

Weight: 569 kilograms

Length: 5.32 meters

...

Claw strength: 958 kilograms

Bite force: 1.03 tons

Speed: 21.7 meters per second

Scale armor defense: 690

Heart enhancement: 529

Other attributes: None

Mutant ability: Bloodline regression to ancestral form: 32%...

These were the latest data for this body.

Almost every moment, Lu Chen could feel himself growing stronger at a frightening pace.

It was precisely this change that gave him enough confidence to avoid fleeing immediately after being discovered.

A direct clash with humans... should be fine, right?

Of course, he remained clear-minded enough to know that weapons of mass destruction such as missiles were still beyond what he could withstand.

As for the future, that was hard to say.

After all, Lu Chen was still in the early stage of mutation and had not truly stepped into the transcendent realm.

Many weapons in the human world could still pose a fatal threat to him.

However, the curtain of a great age of upheaval had already risen, and mutated animals would only become more and more numerous. Naturally, even more terrifying beasts would emerge.

By then, the deterrent power of modern weapons would be greatly weakened.

How, then, would humanity face it?

A thought suddenly surfaced in Lu Chen’s mind: could humans also be undergoing a silent mutation?

Unfortunately, he was currently deep in the primeval jungle and could not obtain information from the outside world in time, nor did he know the overall changes taking place on Blue Star.

It looked like after things here were settled, he would still need to go out and investigate.

***

At an airport somewhere in Madura, five specially modified helicopters rose into the air in formation and flew toward the dense primeval jungle.

Inside the lead helicopter, a blonde, blue-eyed female host greeted the camera. “Hello, viewers. I’m your old friend Louise. The Wilds Revealed program already announced on the website and channel that today we would be airing a special live broadcast. As the trailer said, our theme today is to attempt the capture of a mysterious prehistoric giant crocodile. That’s right, supposedly a real prehistoric giant crocodile...”

“Before we enter the jungle, let’s first interview the man who discovered it, Mr. Kran. Hello...”

After her long opening, the beautiful host turned the microphone toward another person inside the helicopter.

“Mr. Kran, can you tell everyone whether there really is a prehistoric giant crocodile in the primeval jungle of Madura? I’ve already seen many comments on the television station’s website. Many viewers believe this is just a gimmick for the show, and that what you’ll actually catch is simply a larger crocodile...”

In truth, the host herself had similar thoughts. She did not believe that a prehistoric giant crocodile still existed on Blue Star; if it did, humanity would have discovered it long ago.

Today’s live broadcast had been ordered personally by the company’s higher management. She had only been informed at the last minute and knew nothing of the interests exchanged behind the scenes.

As the host of Wild Animal Expedition, Louise was not merely a pretty face. She possessed a fairly high degree of professionalism and sensitivity.

In her view, giant crocodiles certainly did exist.

After all, tens of thousands of saltwater crocodiles lived along the coastal areas of Madura, and among them there were surely some enormous specimens.

Still, even knowing it was fake, Louise had to act very interested so the show could proceed smoothly. She even deliberately built suspense to keep viewers watching.

As an experienced host, she was very good at that.

“I can tell everyone with certainty that this prehistoric giant crocodile is real,” Kran nodded and replied, “I have video and photographic evidence of it in my hands.”

“What... really? I don’t believe it,” Louise said, giving just the right amount of professional skepticism.

“Of course it’s real. I can show everyone right now.”

For the sake of secrecy and to create a sensational effect, the company had not released the footage in advance. Now that the crocodile hunt had begun, it could naturally be shown to the public.

With that, Kran opened the tablet he carried and pressed play...

The crew behind the scenes immediately switched the live camera feed: a bizarre crocodile more than five meters long suddenly appeared on the broadcast.

In the world of Blue Star, the largest known saltwater crocodile was named Kalia, said to be over seven meters long and weigh as much as two thousand kilograms.

The creature in the video was not especially gigantic by comparison, yet the tens of thousands of viewers watching the live stream all widened their eyes. Instinctively, they sensed that its bearing was far different from that of an ordinary crocodile.

Its dark, heavy scales, powerful limbs, and the sharp fangs inside its maw... everything about it declared that it was a fearsome beast.

Especially when the camera suddenly zoomed in, its bloodthirsty, savage beast eyes filled most of the screen, and many viewers could not help feeling a chill run down their backs, as though they themselves had been targeted by something.

Wait... no.

Along its spine there was also a row of black bony spines of varying lengths, gleaming with a metallic sheen, extending all the way to the tip of its tail.

The tallest ones along its back looked almost like the great broadswords of the Middle Ages, making it all the more imposing and domineering.

What was even more striking was that this creature could hunt Bengal tigers and wild boars on land...

“Mr. Kran, are you certain this is not a movie monster, but a real crocodile?” Louise asked again, emphasizing her words after watching the several-minute-long video.

She felt the matter had become rather serious... This footage was fabricated in a way that was too outrageous.

That massive body, the swift running motion, the simple and efficient hunting method—everything about it looked like it had been made with computer graphics.

Even the most ignorant person should know that saltwater crocodiles, also known as sea crocodiles or man-eating crocodiles, prefer wetlands, swamps, estuaries, and similar places, and are often called the tyrants of marshes and estuaries.

These animals are slow on land, so they usually hunt by ambush; they would never launch a long-distance chase.

The running style shown in the video was far more like the hunting habits of felines.