Chapter Seventy-Nine: A Mother's Strength

In the blink of an eye, more than a week had passed since the incident in which that group of humans had been attacked.

Lu Chen felt it was necessary to return to the site and investigate once more.

He had only just entered the tributary waters when a strong stench of decay drifted toward him on the wind.

Following the scent to shore, he quickly discovered a bleached skeleton in the grass. Countless reddish-brown ants crawled among the bones, while floats, ropes, and iron hooks lay scattered nearby.

Despite having anticipated this outcome, Lu Chen hadn’t expected his fellow saltwater crocodile to have died in such a gruesome manner.

Still, it seemed unlikely that the ant colony had been responsible for the death; more probably, the crocodile had fallen victim to other animals.

From the tracks left on the ground, it was most likely a pack of dholes. An injured crocodile, unable to defend itself, would be a rare feast for such creatures.

Perhaps other scavengers had joined in as well.

The ants present now were merely finishing off the scraps left behind. Given their size, it would be almost impossible for them to strip a crocodile weighing several hundred pounds down to bare bone in such a short time.

When Lu Chen reached the territory of the giant crocodile, he found that the capsized fishing boat and the remnants of human corpses had all vanished.

Clearly, humans had returned in the past few days.

As for the fierce crocodile, there was no sign of it either. Lu Chen couldn’t detect its scent nearby; he didn’t know whether it had fled to another place or had already been hunted down by humans.

After all, a man-eating crocodile would never be tolerated by humans.

***

In the jungle, the sound of rustling leaves could be heard.

Soon, a large brown cat with black stripes poked its head out, its dark eyes filled with innocence and curiosity.

The little one was only a few months into the world; today was its first time accompanying its mother on a hunt.

Suddenly, a black-and-white bird flew past in front of them.

The bird landed a dozen meters away, turning its head and chirping noisily.

The cub opened its mouth with a young, hoarse cry, imitating the hunting techniques its mother had taught, and pounced quickly.

The bird seemed stunned, remaining motionless.

Just as the cub was about to pin its prey under its paw, the bird finally came to its senses, flapping its wings to fly further away, then landed again and shrieked.

The cub, having just learned to hunt, was unwilling to let its prey escape and stubbornly continued to give chase.

Each time it was close—so close—only to fail. Yet whenever the cub was ready to give up, the bird would land again, chirping merrily.

A female tiger, cloaked in reddish-brown fur and striped with black, watched the scene intently from not far away. Seeing her child’s failed attempts, she showed no sign of impatience.

Climbing trees, tracking, pouncing, battling—these are essential skills every tiger cub must master, the very guarantee of their future survival in the jungle.

The tigress had ample patience and would spend the coming days teaching her cub all she knew.

Watching as her cub disappeared from sight, the tigress followed.

Suddenly, she sniffed the air.

There was a familiar scent ahead—one belonging to those terrifying reptiles from the river.

By experience, such reptiles shouldn’t be deep in the jungle hunting; the riverbanks and marshy grasslands were their domain.

Even so, the tigress did not dare to be careless and hurriedly followed her cub’s scent.

A moment later, she heard her cub’s frightened cry.

With a sharp growl, the tigress sprang into action.

Her vividly colored body darted through the undergrowth, landing behind her cub in an instant.

It really was those river reptiles!

Noticing three enemies, the tigress’s fur bristled.

With a single leap, she lunged at them.

The crocodiles were just as alarmed, never expecting the black speck would bring such a formidable beast... Only Crocodile Third might be able to handle it.

Seeing the enemy charging, the three crocodiles quickly turned and scrambled up a tree.

What?

The tigress’s eyes flickered with confusion—these reptiles’ reaction was wholly unexpected.

In her memory, these creatures could not climb trees.

But if they thought this would save them from her, they were gravely mistaken.

With a bound, the tigress latched her powerful forepaws onto the trunk and began climbing upward.

Chattering and hissing, the magpie—seeing the three crocodiles in danger—flapped and soared away toward the nest.

Lu Chen had just returned to the den when he heard the magpie’s urgent calls.

The crocodiles were in danger?

With a hiss, Lu Chen grew tense, quickly signaling the little one to lead the way.

Soon, he heard a fierce, angry roar echoing through the forest ahead—the very prey he had been searching for all this time.

A tiger?

Damn!

Startled, Lu Chen accelerated to his fastest speed.

Within half a minute, he burst onto the scene.

The three crocodiles were perched high on the branches, while below, a tiger battered the trunk with its massive paws.

Seeing that his companions were unharmed, Lu Chen breathed a sigh of relief and turned his attention to the prey.

Judging from its striped coat, there was no doubt—it was a Bengal tiger.

In his previous life, Bengal tigers were the largest of all tigers (the title once belonged to the Siberian tiger, but due to various reasons, their average weight had drastically fallen in recent times, leaving the Bengal tiger as the heaviest; some males were said to reach over six hundred pounds).

These creatures were also among the natural enemies of saltwater crocodiles.

The tigress, upon spotting another massive reptile emerge from the jungle, saw the rage in her beastly eyes turn instantly to terror. She sprang away from the tree, roaring at her cub to run as if urging it to leave.

She had seen this reptile not long ago, hidden in the shrubs, easily slaying a giant python.

Its body was far more powerful than her own, and the aura it exuded was unlike any ordinary reptile, instilling her with a primal fear.

Such is the instinct of a predator.

That was why, after discovering the presence of this reptile nearby some time ago, the tigress had taken her cub and moved elsewhere.

She had not expected to encounter the same creature deep within the forest.

When Crocodile Third arrived, the three crocodiles quickly climbed down and encircled the Bengal tiger from behind.

The tiger cub, oblivious to the danger, continued to whimper and run toward its mother.

With fur bristling along her spine, the tigress rushed to confront Lu Chen, issuing a sharp, tense snarl—her gaze filled with a fierce determination.

Since crossing over and becoming a saltwater crocodile, Lu Chen had killed thousands of creatures—his heart had long since hardened. Yet, for reasons he could not explain, seeing the Bengal tigress protecting her young with such frenzy gave him pause.

It had been a long time since he’d thought of his own mother.

After realizing he could never become human again, Lu Chen had buried all thoughts of his family deep within his heart, deliberately avoiding the memories.

Now, the floodgates of recollection opened once more.

When he was eight years old, he and his mother visited his grandmother’s house; on the way, several Tibetan mastiffs suddenly appeared, blocking their path.

Lu Chen had burst into tears, terrified, but his mother stood firm, shielding him behind her and driving off the dogs with a wooden stick.

A woman may be weak, but a mother is strong.

Hissing softly, Lu Chen issued a command.

The three crocodiles, though confused, obediently stepped aside.

The mother tiger’s eyes remained wary as she slowly retreated, her cub in tow.