Chapter Twenty-Three: Racing Across Hundreds of Miles

Because the staff frequently cleaned Liuhu Park, there wasn’t much rubbish at the bottom of the lake. Now, Lu Chen had broadened his horizons; the bottom of the Wujiang was practically a treasure trove of garbage. Half-buried in the silt were all sorts of food wrappers, soda cans, beer bottles, household items—even a fair number of shared bicycles. Heaven only knew how those had ended up in the heart of the river.

As he was speculating, two gray shadows darted swiftly nearby.

Big fish?

Lu Chen silently followed, quickly discerning the true nature of the gray forms. Their plump bodies stretched over a meter long, with oval heads, beady eyes, horizontal tail fins, and a perpetual smile—wasn’t this the legendary “cell-bottom dweller”? Just last night, Lu Chen had been thinking about Yangtze porpoises and giant sturgeons, but he hadn’t expected to encounter them so soon.

Best not to provoke them, absolutely not!

Even though he now belonged to the non-human category, Lu Chen didn’t dare show interest in the porpoises. Mainly, they were too large—his own small frame couldn’t hope to hunt them yet. Before they noticed him, he quickly retreated.

With the sun rising, the temperature atop the river began to climb. The three young saltwater crocodiles grew more active, rushing into the grass to hunt. They weren’t picky—frogs, loaches, anything in the grass could fill their stomachs.

While the young crocodiles feasted, Lu Chen checked the system panel once more.

Host: Lu Chen
Species: Exceptional Saltwater Crocodile
Weight: 8.3 kg
Length: 0.91 m
Age: 8 months
Preferred Temperature: 25-35°C
Energy Points: 3.7 (gained from hunting; used for daily consumption and attribute modification)
Claw Strength: 9.3 kg
Bite Force: 11.2 kg
Speed: 7.9 m/s
Other Attributes: None
Mutation Ability: None
Evolution Level: 1

After reading, Lu Chen felt a bit frustrated: his evolution level remained at 1, with no sign of progress. Mutation abilities were also listed as “none.” He guessed that his strength was still too low; perhaps certain conditions had to be met before these abilities would unlock. There was plenty of time ahead to figure it out.

Now, with his body nearing a meter in length, Lu Chen could barely be considered a minor aquatic overlord. If he brought the three young crocodiles into the ocean, they would have some ability to protect themselves.

Indeed, Lu Chen had no intention of lingering in the Wujiang. Saltwater crocodiles could live in water, but their daily activities were mostly on land along the shore. The riverside at Wujiang’s mouth was bustling with human activity during the day, making it too easy to be discovered; it would be better to seek a deserted coastal area.

Earlier, Lu Chen had searched information on his phone and learned that in the southern part of Summer Country, there was the Tiannan Mountain Nature Reserve, covering tens of thousands of square kilometers. Both its climate and geography made it an ideal habitat.

The sea awaits—I come, I see, I conquer!

Full and content, Lu Chen recited his melodramatic words inwardly, and with the three young crocodiles, drifted slowly downriver. Avoiding cargo ships and patrol boats, the four figures surfaced and submerged, and within half an hour, they reached the river mouth.

The water here carried a salty tang.

The Wujiang estuary was vast. Lu Chen lifted his head and looked around; ahead, muddy waves rolled endlessly, an expanse of uncertainty. Farther out, several islands rose, scattered like chess pieces.

On the beach behind them, tourists carried metal buckets, catching tiny fish and shrimp for fun.

“Hiss, hiss...” The crocodile leader and its companions swam slowly across the surface, emitting excited hissing calls. Not only them—even Lu Chen felt a surge of joy and elation in his consciousness. Clearly, for saltwater crocodiles, the coastal zone was their natural home.

They didn’t linger long. After a brief rest, they continued along the shoreline, heading further south.

***

Over the next week, Lu Chen and the young crocodiles traveled intermittently, swimming hundreds of kilometers before finally stopping at the mouth of a small river.

By staying close to the shore, they avoided any serious dangers along the way.

A sign standing by the coast confirmed this was the outer boundary of the Tiannan Mountain Nature Reserve.

Though called a small river, its mouth was nearly a hundred meters wide.

Rocky outcrops lined both sides, and the tidal flats were covered in lush mangroves.

With little human disturbance, the damp flats were bustling with life; mudskippers crawled everywhere, and fiddler crabs emerged from small holes, blowing bubbles at one another.

After catching a few fish to satisfy their hunger, Lu Chen led the young crocodiles upstream.

Despite its size, the river teemed with life: crucian carp, carp, tilapia, shellfish, river eels, green crabs—even the famous mitten crabs.

These were true mitten crabs, scientifically known as Eriocheir sinensis.

Many people believed mitten crabs were freshwater creatures, living only in rivers and lakes, but that was not the case. Mitten crabs are migratory aquatic animals, born in brackish water and growing in fresh water.

Every late autumn to early winter, mitten crab groups journey together, like pilgrims, migrating for reproduction to the river mouth. They mate and lay eggs where salt and fresh water meet.

Crab eggs hatch into larvae, which return upstream to fresh water, eventually settling in rivers and lakes.

So, finding mitten crabs at the river mouth didn’t surprise Lu Chen. It wasn’t crab season yet, so he let them be for now, but kept them in mind as backup food.

Considering coastal areas often faced typhoons, Lu Chen decided against settling near the mouth. He swam upstream for over ten kilometers before stopping again.

Both banks of the river were densely forested, filled with birdsong. In the nearby reed beds, waterfowl flapped their wings.

After surveying the environment, Lu Chen was very satisfied. Here, far from human society, the river offered abundant food and was an excellent habitat.

As a saltwater crocodile with a strong sense of caution, his first thought upon arriving was to quickly build a hiding place.

His gaze soon settled on a stone cliff by the shore.

Sheltered from the wind and facing the sun, it lay thirty meters from the river. Dense shrubs half a meter high surrounded it, perfect for concealing an entrance.

A clear waterline marked the base, showing that even during high tides, the river wouldn’t flood the cliff.

What pleased Lu Chen most was the tall banyan tree atop the cliff, spreading its branches like a canopy—a delightful sight.

Having chosen the spot, he got to work immediately.

Soil flew as they dug.

By now, the young crocodiles were quite skilled at burrowing. Before nightfall, an elliptical cave nearly two meters deep was roughly formed. To guard against predators, Lu Chen kept the entrance small—only twenty centimeters in diameter, just big enough for himself to crawl through.

For the other three crocodiles, it was already quite spacious.

Half a meter into the hillside, the cave expanded, offering enough space for them to spend the night.

With darkness falling outside, Lu Chen had the others stop and rest.

He didn’t plan to finish the cave in a single day; there was plenty of time ahead. After so much labor, his stamina was greatly depleted. Barely four hours since his last meal, he was hungry again.

Under cover of night, he slipped silently into the river.