The crocodile king swung its tail, like an arrow loosed from a bow, and in the blink of an eye, it was in front of Qin Shilei.
Its gaping maw lunged forward to bite.
Qin Shilei moved, sinking beneath the river's surface.
With a push of his feet, he swam past the crocodile's flank like the most agile fish.
The Jinghong Sword in his hand swept across the crocodile's body.
A layer of energy shield appeared on the crocodile's body, rendering the sharp Jinghong Sword's attack useless.
Just as Qin Shilei was about to continue attacking the crocodile, a huge shadow swept in from the right.
He plunged downward, narrowly evading the sweep of the crocodile's tail.
Qin Shilei swam around the crocodile king with the agility of a fish, his Jinghong Sword incessantly stabbing at various parts of the crocodile king's body.
However, as the crocodile king was also powerful, each of his sword strikes only grazed and retreated, unable to penetrate the opponent's energy shield.
The churning water caused by the crocodile king's movements made this stretch of water incredibly murky.
Both sides' vision was greatly affected, and they could only rely on sensing water currents and their own acute senses to determine each other's positions.
Qin Shilei, bearing the Sea King attribute, was more accustomed to this environment than the crocodile.
In the water, it was Qin Shilei's home ground, his domain.
Compared to on land, his strength was not only undiminished but even several times stronger.
Soon, Qin Shilei found an opportunity and positioned himself above the crocodile king's head.
Thunderous Stab!
Countless arcs of electricity flashed in the water as the Jinghong Sword was thrust towards the crocodile's eyes and other vital points.
The lightning shattered the crocodile king's energy shield and struck its thick eyelids.
"Pfft! Pfft!"
With the amplification of the lightning energy, the sharp Jinghong Sword pierced the crocodile king's eyelids, bursting its eyes.
With both eyes burst, the crocodile king, in immense pain, thrashed violently.
The Chi Yuan River seemed to be whipped into a storm, the water surging, throwing up waves more than ten meters high.
"Commander, do you think that master just now can kill that terrifying crocodile king?"
The adjutant asked, looking at the massive waves surging on the Chi Yuan River below, his face filled with surprise.
"Difficult."
Shi Yutang's brow furrowed. "That crocodile king couldn't be killed even by cannon shells; it's beyond human strength. I can only hope the master in the water can preserve his life."
The adjutant added, "That person is truly something, to choose to fight the crocodile king in the water. Why didn't he lure the crocodile king to the shore?"
Shi Yutang also felt that Qin Shilei had chosen the wrong battlefield for this.
Suddenly, the adjutant pointed to a spot upstream on the Chi Yuan River and said, "Another patch of red blood has appeared there. I wonder if it's human or crocodile?"
Shi Yutang looked there and a hint of joy appeared on his face. "It should be the crocodile's. Humans don't have that much blood."
Severely wounded, the crocodile king, after a period of wild thrashing, slowed down again.
Qin Shilei caught up with the crocodile king once more and lightly sliced it six times.
Seven-Star Falling Sky!
Holding the Jinghong Sword, Qin Shilei thrust it downwards from above towards the crocodile king's head.
This strike condensed all his strength.
It pierced through the opponent's energy shield like a bamboo split, then penetrated the crocodile king's skin and bones.
The entire Jinghong Sword was embedded in the crocodile king's head. If Qin Shilei gave it a slight twist, he could pulp its brain.
The dying crocodile king struggled desperately, taking Qin Shilei, who held the Jinghong Sword, out of the water and soaring more than three meters into the air.
"Slam!"
The crocodile king had only this last burst of strength left, then it fell powerlessly back into the Chi Yuan River, splashing a large plume of water.
The adjutant shouted excitedly, "Commander, that person seems to have killed the crocodile king."
Shi Yutang also looked at Qin Shilei, who was standing on the crocodile's head, with a look of astonishment. "It's truly hard to believe there's such a powerful individual!"
He paused for a moment and then hurriedly ordered, "Quick, descend quickly. I want to properly meet this human expert."
Unfortunately, before they could land, Qin Shilei had already submerged back into the river, and the crocodile king also sank, disappearing from view.
Shi Yutang looked at the blood-red river surface with disappointment. "Immediately arrange for people to search the Chi Yuan River. You must find him."
"If such a master could join our Blazing Fire Legion, he would be worth more than an army of ten thousand men."
"The Storm Legion has Soldier King Chen Pengfei, who has always had an edge over our three major legions. We must secure that master from earlier."
In his eagerness to find Qin Shilei, Shi Yutang even dispatched his own armed helicopter.
Meanwhile, Qin Shilei continued to swim downstream in the river.
In fact, he had tried searching for mutant crocodiles by boat earlier.
However, it was difficult to sense what was happening in the Chi Yuan River, which was ten meters deep.
So, he had to choose to enter the river and swim.
Every few minutes, he would surface his head to take a few breaths before diving back into the river.
Even though he was in the water, Qin Shilei's swimming speed was comparable to that of the arrowfish, a champion swimmer.
In the blink of an eye, he had covered over a hundred meters.
Following the current, he swam ten kilometers beyond Nanzhuang City.
During this time, he killed hundreds of crocodiles.
Then, he turned back and swam upstream.
He killed another hundred crocodiles.
Over three round trips, he killed a total of three to four hundred crocodiles.
On the shore and in the sky, Shi Yutang's men were constantly searching for Qin Shilei.
"The river up ahead just turned red. Search the vicinity thoroughly."
"Once you spot him surfacing, you must call out to him."
Unfortunately, Qin Shilei had already swum a kilometer or two away.
Thus, for the entire day, this stretch of the Chi Yuan River intermittently showed patches of bright red blood.
This situation only ended around dusk, as the evening glow painted the river surface golden.
Qin Shilei also came ashore near Chi Yuan Haoting.
He had basically wiped out the crocodiles in this section of the Chi Yuan River in Nanzhuang City. Even if there were any stragglers, they would be difficult to find anytime soon.
As soon as he got ashore, An Qian, who was practicing her sword at the riverbank, put away her sword and walked over, asking with concern, "Are you alright?"
Qin Shilei smiled and said, "I'm fine, and I've gained a lot. We'll open treasure chests again tonight."
An Qian's face lit up. "Great, I want to open chests to my heart's content tonight."
With that, she led Qin Shilei towards their temporary residence.
Zhang Xiaoli's family had found a suite in a high-rise building in the residential area.
As they climbed to the thirteenth floor, Zhang Qiang and Xie Haimei had also just returned from outside.
While Qin Shilei was out killing crocodiles, they had explored the Heshan District and gained a general understanding of its situation.
As He Yuyao and Liang Xinhui prepared dinner, Zhang Qiang recounted what he had learned.
"The Heshan District is currently dominated by the military, but the civilian forces are also not to be underestimated."
"As modern weaponry gradually diminishes, the military is not only focusing on cultivating individual strength among soldiers but also attempting to forcibly recruit civilian experts."
"However, civilian evolvers are used to freedom and many are unwilling to join the military."
"Three days ago, this led to a riot, killing hundreds of people. The military is now adopting a soft approach, attracting evolvers with various preferential conditions."
"Some civilian experts have also formed a loosely organized group, the Martial Artist Alliance, and I heard they are considering forming an Ability User Alliance."
"Nanzhuang City is now a mix of dragons and snakes, with thousands of large and small organizations."
"The military also seems to be registering evolvers, hoping to guide this force to reclaim Nanzhuang City."
After Zhang Qiang finished speaking, Qin Shilei smiled and said, "Regardless of the environment in Nanzhuang City, only by becoming strong ourselves can we establish a foothold."
"Starting tomorrow, everyone will go out, kill zombies, and dig for crystal cores. We will strive to reach the Black Iron realm as soon as possible."