Chapter Ninety-Four: Hunting the Anaconda Horde

The other mutated giant salamander, however, proved to be clever. Seeing its companion slain by the reptile on the shore, it immediately retreated beneath the water, vanishing in the depths of the subterranean river within moments. There was still a water anaconda carcass outside, unfinished, and now another creature weighing over a thousand pounds had joined the bounty. Lu Chen was in no shortage of food and had no intention of pursuing the salamander into the water to kill it. Let it live for now; so long as it remained hidden within the underground river, it would eventually be found.

He wondered how many energy points the flesh and blood of this salamander might provide. Curious, Lu Chen extended his claws, tearing off a piece and swallowing it whole.

"Prehistoric mutated emperor newt, can provide 160 energy points..."

Not a giant salamander after all! But a prehistoric mutated emperor newt. The result surprised Lu Chen; he had clearly mistaken one for the other. Examining the creature again, it did indeed resemble an ordinary newt, only its size was many times greater.

Lu Chen also discovered another function of his system: it possessed an innate identification feature. With the advent of the Great Change era, bizarre and monstrous creatures would surely become more common. If he ever encountered one he didn’t recognize, he could simply take a bite and see what it was.

The flesh and blood of the emperor newt was comparable in quality to that of the water anaconda, with each pound offering roughly six energy points. Now, with ample high-quality food, Lu Chen felt no urgency to return to the bay crocodile’s lair. Instead, he continued his exploration of the subterranean caves.

He soon discovered two more underground rivers, one of which led directly to the valley’s pool. At last, Lu Chen understood why the wounded water anaconda he had tracked previously had so abruptly disappeared.

With his body continuously strengthened, his digestive capacity was also steadily increasing. Especially after evolving into a Tier 4 bay crocodile and acquiring the "Bloodline Reversion" skill, he found his stomach had become an abyss without end.

Now, he needed to consume hundreds of pounds of high-quality flesh each day to satisfy his needs. In just three days, the food stored within the cavern was entirely depleted.

As for the fish in the underground river, Lu Chen had caught a few and swallowed them. Their flesh contained more than twice the energy points of creatures from the outside world, but still too little for him—the rest would be left for Old Croc and the others.

Ultimately, his gaze turned once more to the group of water anacondas in the deep pool.

To be honest, Lu Chen had grown somewhat impressed by these creatures. He’d been in the underground caves for a week, and this grand revelry had shown no signs of ending. However, recalling that ordinary anaconda species could hold such gatherings for more than a month, he realized the mutated water anaconda group's behavior was understandable.

After all, with mutation comes greater physical prowess. Many protagonists in online tales of his previous life were built on such a template—stronger than even the workhorses of a production brigade.

This worked to Lu Chen’s advantage.

He slipped silently from the dark cave, careful not to startle the creatures, moving with utmost caution. Within half a minute, he was beneath the anaconda group, looking up at their swaying tails.

These creatures had already claimed the valley as their territory, never expecting a new predator to emerge from the depths below. Perhaps the scent of the blood snake flower had so thoroughly beguiled them that they had completely lowered their guard.

Swimming within two meters, Lu Chen suddenly flicked his crocodile tail, launching his body straight up from the water. His massive jaws snapped onto a snake’s tail, yanking it forcefully toward the bottom of the pool.

“Hiss, hiss, hiss...”

Thunder shook the water.

The male water anaconda, grievously wounded, was jolted out of the rapturous revelry, letting out a piercing, mournful cry. Its body twisted and thrashed violently, desperately trying to escape its fate as prey.

Lu Chen gave it no chance. Dragging his quarry downward at speed, he extended his claws and repeatedly struck, breaking the snake’s spinal column into several segments, ensuring it had no hope of escape.

Within moments, he had dragged his prey down more than ten meters.

The commotion, of course, was detected by the other water anacondas.

“Hiss, hiss... hiss, hiss...” Watching the rapidly vanishing shadow beneath the water, the anacondas’ beast eyes blazed with ferocity, their mouths opened in furious hissing. Their revelry had been interrupted twice in succession; no wonder they were furious.

At the command of their queen, the remaining mutated water anacondas turned and swam urgently toward the lurking predator deep within the pool.

Damn it... Seeing a dozen or more anacondas in hot pursuit behind him, Lu Chen was startled.

His swimming speed in the water was simply no match for theirs. If he delayed even a few more seconds, he would surely be surrounded.

Lu Chen dared not hesitate; with another powerful lunge, he bit through the struggling anaconda’s neck and spine, then abandoned the prey and plunged alone toward the deepest part of the pool.

This was the strategy he had planned before launching the attack.

The deep pool, together with the underground river, would have a low bottom temperature. Even if the mutated anacondas could withstand the immense pressure dozens of meters underwater, they might not be able to endure the extreme cold.

Indeed, when he dove more than twenty meters deep, Lu Chen felt the water turn icy, probably no more than seven or eight degrees Celsius.

He glanced upward at several nearby anacondas; their swimming speed had noticeably slowed. Moreover, their vision was poor to begin with, and now, in the dim depths of the pool, their tongue-sensing abilities were greatly diminished.

At this moment, their primary means of perception was likely the detection of water currents through their scales.

With a dozen anacondas thrashing about below, they might not notice his presence at all.

Realizing this, Lu Chen quietly swam to the side. The next attack was no different from the last—he lunged suddenly, biting into another anaconda’s body.

With a muffled sound in the water, its spine was crushed.

The male anaconda struggled desperately, but failed to attract the attention of its companions. In a short while, it sank, just like the previous one, toward the bottom of the pool.

Lu Chen then swam toward a third anaconda, repeating his tactic.

And then a fourth...

Initially, Lu Chen had not intended to slaughter all his prey at once, preferring to hunt as needed. But just now, he changed his mind.

There’s no time like the present. Given these creatures’ mutations, they surely possessed a degree of intelligence. If they saw their companions hunted one after another, they would not continue to foolishly guard their nest, but would likely abandon it and flee elsewhere.

By then, capturing them would be far more difficult.

After all, this was high-quality flesh; Lu Chen could not allow such food to slip away.

Thus, he resolved to kill them all at once, then let the bodies sink to the bottom of the pool for leisurely consumption.

He had not yet explored the true depth of the pool’s bottom. But based on the prior measurements of the underground river, the temperature below would likely be no more than three or four degrees, ensuring the food could be preserved for a long time.

Just as Lu Chen prepared to hunt another anaconda, he suddenly sensed a chilling aura emanating from behind. It seemed to appear out of nowhere; he had not detected any unusual water movement.

A sense of foreboding struck him. Hurriedly, he whipped his tail, trying to turn his body and escape.