Evan knew exactly how terrifying the mutated giant crocodile was. With just him and FangBro, hunting it was impossible.

  They could handle a normal Vahn River crocodile.

  But this thing…

  Even if Evan landed a perfect Needle Strike on a vital point, it probably wouldn’t kill it. The monster was simply too massive—its scales were the size of bricks, its flesh thick and dense. Even if Evan pierced the armor, the remaining force would be minimal.

  But he still didn’t want to give up.

  This was the perfect extract target—rare, powerful, and tailor?made for him.

  He called FangBro reckless, but truthfully, Evan could be even more reckless when the reward was big enough.

  “FangBro,” Evan said, “do you think there’s any way we can hunt that thing?”

  FangBro froze—then his eyes lit up with excitement. Yesterday’s successful hunt had given him a taste of victory. He wanted more.

  “It’s tough… but maybe we can find help?”

  “Who? The crew?” Evan shook his head. They were ordinary Chrysalis?tier evolvers at best—no use here.

  FangBro thought for a moment.

  “I’ve got classmates… but they’re all far away.”

  “Too slow,” Evan said. “And now that your stream exposed the monster, other hunting teams will come soon. If we don’t act fast, someone else will take it.”

  Hiring locals wouldn’t work either. Weak ones were useless, strong ones might betray them.

  Both men fell silent, thinking.

  How do you defeat something far stronger?

  Artifacts?

  Ambush?

  Teamwork?

  What else?

  Evan followed that line of thought—

  And suddenly, inspiration struck.

  “One word,” he said. “Poison.”

  FangBro’s eyes widened. He slapped his thigh.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Yes! Poison!”

  “If we can’t beat it, we poison it!”

  There was only one problem—

  Neither of them had poison?type skills.

  They’d have to buy poison.

  “LifePharm sells biological toxins,” FangBro said. “But Tier?3 toxins are restricted. We can only get Tier?2.”

  Tier?3 toxins were too lethal—government?controlled.

  Evan opened LifePharm’s website and checked local inventory.

  As expected, no Tier?3 toxins in stock.

  But plenty of Tier?2 options.

  Given the monster’s size and its life in the polluted Vahn River, its toxin resistance was definitely high. So they skipped all the weaker poisons and focused only on the strongest Tier?2 toxins.

  FangBro stared at the prices, drooling.

  “Man… learning a poison skill might be worth it. You could make a fortune selling this stuff.”

  Some toxins were harvested from beasts.

  Others were produced by evolvers with poison?type skills.

  Evan scrolled through the list.

  “This corrosive toxin is good—melts flesh and disrupts healing. Two bottles.”

  “This blood?eater toxin—drains blood from the inside. Two bottles.”

  “What’s this… larva venom? The toxin contains insect eggs that hatch inside the target and eat its flesh?”

  “That’s brutal. Get several bottles.”

  They picked more than ten types of poison and made a shopping list.

  FangBro went to buy them.

  Why FangBro?

  Because he was fast—

  The ultimate errand?runner.

  In less than thirty minutes, he returned with a large box full of bottles and vials.

  Over fifty bottles of poison.

  Total cost: over seven million Lin.

  They were all?in.

  If this failed, they’d be the biggest clowns on the river.

  FangBro was panting from the run. Evan told him to rest and recover—

  They would need him at full strength.

  Half an hour later, under the blazing noon sun—

  “Let’s go.”

  They dove into the water and approached Crocodile Bay.

  The plan was simple:

  Lure the monster onto land.

  Open wounds.

  Pour poison inside.

  Repeat until it dies.

  FangBro started his stream again.

  “Big bro, I’ll pull it out.”

  The giant crocodile had submerged again. FangBro dove, then moments later burst out of the water in a panic—

  The monster right behind him.

  Seeing it in person was far more terrifying than on camera.

  It was like a moving mountain.

  The giant crocodile chased FangBro onto land. FangBro sprinted toward Evan.

  Once they met, FangBro activated earth?phase movement—

  They reappeared beside the monster’s belly.

  Evan was ready.

  Ant Strength + Needle Strike.

  He drove his finger between two massive scales—

  A small blood hole opened.

  It was tiny for the monster, but for them, it was enough.

  FangBro immediately shoved a bottle of corrosive toxin into the wound.

  The liquid hissed as it entered the flesh.

  “Move!”

  They vanished just as the monster’s tail smashed the ground where they’d stood.

  They reappeared on the other side and repeated the process.

  This time, FangBro poured in the larva venom—

  Purple liquid filled with wriggling black eggs.

  Horrifying.

  After two successful poison injections, they retreated several hundred meters.

  Evan’s Ant Strength now lasted about three seconds—

  Enough for two attacks.

  Without it, he couldn’t pierce the monster’s armor.

  Their rhythm was set:

  Two poison injections → retreat → wait for cooldown → repeat.

  Thanks to the Regenerator Core, Ant Strength’s cooldown was now only about twenty seconds.

  Just enough time to breathe—

  And let the poison work.

  Then—

  FangBro pointed.

  “Big bro! The poison’s working!”

  The poison is finally taking effect…

  but on a creature this massive, “working” might mean something terrifying.

  Next chapter’s question:

  Does the monster weaken—or does it evolve?

  Tell me your prediction.