Chapter One Hundred: A Signal from the Mother Crocodile

After Krann finished his explanation, many in the room had brightened eyes.

If this prehistoric giant crocodile truly existed, then whether in scientific value or commercial value, its potential would be almost limitless. Once word got out, there would certainly be no shortage of institutions eager to invest.

It was even easy to imagine the sensation it would cause if revealed to the public. If the company managed to capture it, the profits would be enormous.

“So, what do you plan to do?” asked the first elder to speak.

“Send mercenaries to Madura at once to capture this crocodile, and livestream the entire process online to build momentum for this prehistoric giant crocodile,” Krann answered immediately, exactly as he had already decided.

“Agreed.”

“Agreed...”

The people in attendance nodded one after another.

None of the company’s senior executives seated in that conference room was foolish; all of them could see the immense potential profit in this mutant crocodile. As for livestreaming, they had no objection either.

After all, this was the age of the attention economy. As Goldhaber said, “In the new economy, attention itself is wealth.”

One of their peers was the greatest beneficiary of the attention economy, having repeatedly held press conferences to build hype for a new car and tightly capture public attention; that company’s founder was now worth hundreds of billions.

Across the ocean, someone had even attracted tens of billions in investment with nothing but a few pages of slides and a dream, leaving countless people breathless.

So they did not care whether this giant crocodile was as miraculous as Krann claimed. As long as it was managed properly, it could certainly bring them lavish returns.

With the company’s support, Krann immediately threw himself into preparations.

***

In the jungle, Lu Chen looked up at the few black dots high overhead, a touch of helplessness showing in his beastly pupils.

In the end, he still could not escape it.

Several days earlier, he had noticed a black speck appearing in the sky thousands of meters above him, along with a faint buzzing sound.

At first Lu Chen thought it was a remote-sensing drone used to survey forest resources, but he soon realized something was wrong.

That thing was probably coming for him.

To test his suspicion, Lu Chen deliberately left the valley and ran deeper into the jungle.

The drone immediately changed direction and followed closely all the way.

Ever since he had crossed over into a saltwater crocodile, Lu Chen had been living as cautiously as possible, trying his best to avoid dealing with humans.

Back when he was discovered in the Tiannan Mountain Reserve, he did not linger for even a moment longer; he immediately led Crocodile Boss and the others to flee a thousand miles away. Yet now, having hidden himself in the depths of the primordial jungle, he still had not escaped human sight.

Of course, he had long been mentally prepared.

After all, with human society so technologically advanced now, it was almost impossible for him to hide permanently.

This kind of drone flew at altitudes above a thousand meters; there was simply no way to shoot it down.

So once he confirmed he had been found, Lu Chen no longer bothered to conceal his trail. Instead, he pretended not to know, leading the drone farther and farther away from the valley and running toward another stretch of jungle.

He did this, naturally, for the sake of Crocodile Boss and the others.

With their current strength, those few fellows were still far from capable of contending with humans.

Their presence would only slow down Lu Chen’s claws.

As for the reason the drone had appeared near the valley, it should be related to the people who had vanished more than a month ago. Lu Chen had thought that with so much time having passed, humans would have given up on the investigation, but he had not expected them to come after all.

It was even quite possible they would pin a dozen lives on his head.

Lu Chen could only sigh at that. He had never expected to end up taking the blame for those mutant water boas.

He wondered what measures humans would take after discovering his existence through the drone.

In any case, this time Lu Chen would not run away again.

He understood very clearly that this was fundamentally different from the time he had been photographed in Tiannan Mountain. First, his physical traits were far too bizarre, like a firefly in a dark night, dazzlingly conspicuous.

As long as one was not a fool, one could sense how strange he was. What followed would likely be an endless hunt.

Moreover, his enormous body would be difficult to keep hidden any longer, unless he stayed forever inside an underground cavern and never emerged.

If that was the case, then he might as well have a clean, decisive fight and formally announce his arrival to humanity.

After all, Lu Chen was no longer completely without a counterattack.

Setting aside the compressed energy bullets, even the strength of his body alone was formidable.

This area before him was the battlefield he had chosen for himself.

Dense jungle stretched in every direction, with a great river along one side.

More than ten miles away lay the boundless sea.

If he lost in the battle to come, he could immediately enter the river and then make straight for the ocean, vanishing without a trace.

As he was thinking, Lu Chen heard the rustling of something in the swamp reeds dozens of meters behind him.

He sniffed the air and caught the scent of his own kind drifting through it.

Looking for death...

Lu Chen instantly turned around and let out a deep, threatening hiss.

At the same time, a trace of confusion flickered in his beastly eyes.

Ordinarily, as soon as Lu Chen appeared, the nearby saltwater crocodiles would retreat at the first sign of him, never daring to come close.

What sort of fool was so bold as to come and provoke him on purpose?

The other party seemed not to understand the warning hiss at all and soon came within ten meters.

Its sound was soft and alluring, while its entire body gave off a strong scent.

There was also a hint of coyness and flattery in its gaze.

Damn it!

Oh heavens, oh earth...

For a moment, Lu Chen was stunned, completely forgetting to react.

As a saltwater crocodile, the instincts of reproduction were naturally stored in his genes, so he immediately understood the other’s intent. This was a female saltwater crocodile, and she had actually come to his door of her own accord, coveting his body.

Like most animals, saltwater crocodiles also had males occupying the dominant position in the species.

When the spring tides of desire came, they would become especially excited, hearts restless, singing loudly to nearby females and sending out courtship signals.

They would even slap their tails against the water, making continuous booming sounds to display their strength and might.

Of course, if another male crocodile appeared nearby, there would also be fierce battles over a mate. The victor would gain the right to the “girl.”

If the female crocodile accepted the male’s advances, she would swim over generously and exchange a passionate embrace with him.

Once that was done, she would leave quickly and prepare to bear and raise offspring.

The male crocodile would then continue singing, tail striking the water, searching for another girl...

But the key was that Lu Chen had no such thoughts at all, yet one of his own kind had come knocking.

The other was over three meters long, robust and graceful in build.

As a female saltwater crocodile, she was already considered fairly large.

From the perspective of an ordinary male saltwater crocodile, she could even be regarded as top-tier beauty.

A campus belle had taken the initiative to confess her love, wanting no car and no house, with no need to worry about being saddled with an unexpected child... In the human world, Lu Chen would naturally have been delighted.

But now, damn it... Was this some kind of joke? He was only two years old.

So faced with this situation, Lu Chen was terribly embarrassed.

After the embarrassment came a swift return to calm.