Chapter 74 - Crocodile Kingdom.
Though Sebastian already expected and even imagined it when he followed the Crocodiles, when he finally laid his eyes on the enormous Kingdom, he still felt breathless and blown away.
At this moment, night already came properly and the green glow of the Sea subsided a lot but this could still not dim the majesty of this kingdom.
The Kingdom of the Crocodiles was rested upon a huge crater in the middle of the seamount. Huge red trees surrounded it from all sides, making it seem like a jungle of fire.
The hardened trees which already adapted to the extreme heat of this region looked as sturdy as boulders, they formed a protective circle around the crater kingdom.
And inside this kingdom lived countless Crocodiles. They were not as exaggerated as a colony of ants, but still, seeing so many huge predators gathered in one place left Sebastian's skin crawling.
The 2 Crocodiles that Sebastian tailed here swaggered into the crater, they were back home. None of the other Giant Crocodiles spoke with them, they seemed to be able to communicate via simple gestures with their enormous bodies.
There were no complicated structures inside the crater, the numerous Crocodiles residing here simply bore holes inside the crater where they lived.
They had special holes where the baby Crocodiles resided. Seeing this, Sebastian was once again dumbfounded as he could not imagine how Crocodile eggs could be laid here.
The temperature here was so high that it was already scalding his skin, he could not imagine how the eggs fared.
In the middle of the crater was a small lake of fire. Lava flowed freely through the lake, dying it a world of red and the heat coming from it distorted the surrounding water.
Almost all the Crocodiles and their residence kept a respectable distance from this hot lake of fire, only one hole was bored close to it.
Seeing this, Sebastian already had a guess but he could not be sure as the distance was too far for him to see everything clearly. The heat distorting the surrounding water did not help matters either.
This made him fall into a dilemma but it did not last long. The alpha overlord ruling this seamount was his target, and of course, seeing it clearly was a necessity to help his future plans.
Pumped up by that, he decided to go closer.
[You have triggered Adaptation: Camouflage Organ.]
Adjusting his body-color with this, he was able to avoid detection and go closer a bit inside the crater which was a living kingdom of Crocodiles.
Carefully avoiding any location where the killer Crocs were abundant, he got close enough to barely see what was in the lava lake.
[You have activated skill: Advanced Electroreceptors.]
As he pushed the skill to its limits, the black and white lines in his vision first outlined a Crocodile who hovered closer to the lava lake than the others but the distance was still respectable.
In his black and white electroreceptor vision, Sebastian was surprised to discover that this Crocodile was different than all the other sea creatures that he's outlined with his electroreceptors.
It defied the original color that he was used to, and its figure was outlined with a blurry red convergence of magic power.
Sebastian was curious to know more about it, but he knew that this was not his target. Focusing farther, he finally saw the overlord of this kingdom.
The Enormous Crocodile was far bigger than all the others, it was like a war train armed to the teeth to become a war fortress.
The bony plate that formed the spikes in its back was sturdier and thicker, making the rows of spikes in its back seem sharper and deadlier.
It opened its mouth like it was gasping for breath, revealing its dagger-sharp rows of teeth in the process. Its powerful jaws stood as stiff as a wall, outlining its large mouth in its full glory.
Sebastian knew that this action of opening its mouth was for it to lower its body temperature, but this could not stop him from imagining sickening scenarios of those deadly teeth clamping onto his skin.
He shuddered indiscernibly.
Not only did it have a sturdy defense, but Crocodiles were also renowned for the fact that they had the strongest bite power on earth, 10 times more powerful than that of a Great White Shark.
The most fearsome thing of all was that this enormous Crocodile was swimming in the lava lake, leisurely flapping its thick scales like it was sunbathing.
To Sebastian, this felt like eastern fantasy scenarios in his previous world where cultivators spend thousands of years in extreme conditions just to get a heaven-defying physique.
He was sincerely gobsmacked. "For real?"
As he looked on in a solemn and dumbfounded manner, he felt something strange rippling through his body.
[A skill has been used on you: Radar Magic Detector.]
[Your location has been pinpointed by the Mystery Pryer Crocodile.]
Seeing this notification, he was shocked as he instinctively turned to look at the other Crocodile that hovered closer to the lake than the others.
When he looked, he felt a chill run down his spine as this Crocodile was also already looking at him with narrowed eyes. Turning his head again, he saw the alpha Crocodile slowly swimming out of the lava lake with its eyes fixed on him.
[You have activated skill: Water Cyclone.]
[You have activated skill: Supersonic Speed.]
[You have activated skill: Battering Ram.]
Roar!!!
By the time that the alpha Crocodile roared, Sebastian was already rapidly escaping into the distance. He was not someone who hesitated foolishly in such matters.
Hearing the roar, all the Crocodiles here were aroused as they turned to look at the escaping intruder. Without hesitation, they rushed to attack but Sebastian already turned to a speed train at this point.
Bam! Bam!
His body slammed at the Crocodiles, pushing them out of the way before they could bite at his skin as his supersonic speed skill did its wonders again, enabling him to swim at science-defying speeds.
[You have activated skill: Shredding Bite.]
Crunch!
Sebastian did not hesitate to bite in retaliation after suffering the first bite to his skin. Due to his fast reaction and the contingency plan that he already had, he finally escaped from the Croc kingdom with injuries.
"Phew!" He turned back to look after getting to a sufficiently far distance.
He felt fear but at the same time, he felt thrilled by the encounter.. Thoughts rapidly formed in his head as a plan slowly started being drafted.