Chapter Six: Tremendous Change

Fortunately, just ahead lay Willow Lake. Lu Chen darted forward, plunging straight into the water. His body rapidly sank, vanishing from sight. Several magpies chased after him, circling above the lake with frenzied cries. Seeing no movement from the surface, they eventually gave up and flew back.

Lu Chen, watching from beneath the water, saw everything clearly. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and notice the blood streaming from his wounded, scale-covered head, pecked open by those vicious birds.

Good grief, were those magpies or hawks? How could they be so ferocious!

Their behavior utterly upended all of Lu Chen’s prior understanding. In common belief, the saying “when magpies call, guests arrive” has made magpies a symbol of good fortune—a bird of joy. In truth, this idea is gravely mistaken. Magpies are formidable, their fighting prowess not to be underestimated. Their diet includes not just insects and frogs, but they also steal the eggs and chicks of other birds, and even hunt young squirrels and mice.

Most crucially, these creatures know well how to exploit their numbers. A magpie encountering a strong foe will call for help, and its companions nearby will swiftly arrive. Thus, few predators can stand up to them in the wild—cats, hawks, serpents, and the like are often driven off.

But the water itself was not safe, either! The memory of that savage, monstrous snakehead fish lurking in Willow Lake was still fresh in Lu Chen’s mind, filling him with awe for this place. Especially in summer, those beasts often prowl the shallows, hunting for prey.

Once the magpie flock had left, Lu Chen did not dare linger at the lake’s bottom. He slipped away in another direction, silently emerged, and returned to his den. Only when the birds’ calls could no longer be heard outside did he venture out to investigate.

As expected, one of his fishing lines had been snapped, the magpie caught now nowhere to be seen. Only the last hook swung in the wind. If the magpie had swallowed the hook, it was unlikely to survive even if it had managed to fly away.

Yet being driven to such a sorry state by a bunch of little birds left Lu Chen feeling deeply frustrated. It wasn’t just the inherited memories of this body—back in his previous life, as a fan of “Animal World,” he’d learned much about saltwater crocodiles. They are the largest of all crocodile species and the biggest reptiles surviving on Blue Star.

A mature male saltwater crocodile can reach five meters in length and weigh over 800 kilograms. The most famous in his old world, “Lolong,” measured almost seven meters and topped 1,000 kilograms—a true monarch of the waters. Capturing Lolong had taken hundreds of people nearly three weeks, and it took more than a hundred men to finally drag it ashore. Even then, the beast broke free from steel cables several times and nearly escaped.

It’s no exaggeration: after reaching adulthood, saltwater crocodiles have virtually no enemies in the water.

Lu Chen believed that if he could survive his juvenile years, he would absolutely stand at the peak of the food chain. But that depended on surviving to adulthood.

He understood all too well: juvenile saltwater crocodiles are extremely vulnerable, and nearly every predator is a terrifying threat. Above the water hovered egrets, herons, and cormorants; below, predatory fish; and among the reeds, weasels and wildcats prowled.

For now, all he could do was remember this grudge and focus on growing stronger.

As for the wounds on his scales, Lu Chen paid them little mind. Crocodiles often get injured hunting or fighting over territory in the wild. While other animals might die from infection, crocodiles almost never do, even in filthy, germ-laden environments. Their powerful immune system is the reason: crocodile blood contains an antimicrobial peptide that resists bacteria, inhibits fungal growth, and even accelerates healing with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

This remarkable trait has made crocodile blood a subject of international research, with hopes of extracting new antibiotics.

After resetting his fishing hooks and bait, Lu Chen returned to his den. As dusk fell, a terrified bird’s cry sounded from his trap. This time, he didn’t rush over, but watched from nearby. Discovering it was just a small sparrow, he finally relaxed.

***

Wujiang City, located on the coast, often faces typhoons in summer, bringing abundant rainfall. The rain fell for a whole week. Temperatures outside plummeted, hovering around twenty-five degrees—nearly the lowest limit a juvenile saltwater crocodile could endure. The other three hatchlings nestled comfortably in the warm burrow, resting.

Lu Chen, however, was different. He braved the rain, searching the grass for food. Since his escape from the pet shop nearly twenty days ago, he hadn’t relaxed for a moment. Every day, he gorged himself and exercised—digging to build limb strength, running to increase speed.

He seized every opportunity to grow stronger!

He had started out as the second smallest among the four hatchlings, but now he had surpassed even the eldest, becoming the largest and strongest. Nearly fifty centimeters long, he finally had some capacity for self-defense, and his weight was more than triple that of the fourth hatchling. He was now the undisputed leader of the group.

Such progress was thanks both to the plentiful food around Willow Lake and the energy points granted by the system.

Since he’d set up his fishing traps, Lu Chen’s diet had become much more varied. Frogs continued to get caught, as did sparrows and bulbuls—small birds. In a hidden corner outside, a mound of feathers bore witness to his achievements.

A saltwater crocodile’s powerful stomach can digest flesh and bone, but not feathers, which it must regurgitate. Possessing a human soul, Lu Chen had high standards for his living conditions. He never left such filth in the den; instead, he dug a pit nearby to bury it.

The hatchlings now also relieved themselves outside. Teaching them not to foul the burrow had cost Lu Chen much effort—and a fair amount of discipline. Disobedience was met with sharp claws and firm punishment. Refuse to learn, and the lesson continued.

Eventually, he broke their resistance; now they dared not defy his orders.

But following Lu Chen brought real benefits: none of the three young crocodiles had ever truly gone hungry—they were all thriving. In the wild, even with a mother’s protection, seventy percent of hatchlings die within their first year from hunger, predation, and other dangers. Between one and ten years, another twenty-eight percent perish.

In other words, less than two percent of saltwater crocodiles ever reach adulthood.

So being disciplined was for their own good! Without Lu Chen’s protection, the three would have been eaten long ago, never surviving to the present in such health.