46: Chapter 46. Pink Pigs as Bait, the Joyful Pink Pigs

"A crocodile..." Qin Ding gazed at the crocodile floating in the center of the river, nearly three and a half meters long, and fell into deep thought.

Small build, sharp teeth... Three meters, maybe even more—is that considered small?

The Sha Jin Wolf, usually fearless, hesitated for a moment upon seeing the three large crocodiles and looked at Qin Ding, unsure of what to do.

"Awoo?" [Boss, should I go into the river and fight these three things?]

Qin Ding shook his head slightly upon hearing this. "You cannot go into the river."

Likewise, Bai Muxue nodded in agreement with Qin Ding.

"These are Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles. Their bite is extremely formidable. Even if they are only at the initial stage, as long as their level is slightly higher, they can potentially injure a spirit beast that has just entered the high stage and evolved once, not to mention that there are three of them on the river surface."

"We can't even confirm if there are more Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles hiding at the bottom of the river."

Let Dahei go into the river and solo three crocodiles that have sharp teeth and the advantage of both size and terrain? Honestly, if anything went wrong, Dahei would suffer significant injuries. Having an element at level eleven is indeed Dahei's greatest strength, but the opponent's teeth aren't just for show. What if they manage to inflict some damage on Dahei? What if, as suspected, there's more than just the three Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles visible?

Bai Muxue stared at the three Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles basking in the sun on the river surface, her tone decisive as she looked at Wan Kang. "We must lure them onto the shore."

"The Pink Pig is large and meaty. Crocodiles love this type of prey the most; there is no better bait than the Pink Pig."

Wan Kang blinked, not quite registering it at first, until Bai Muxue's gaze shifted to the Pink Pig, at which point he was suddenly startled.

"Huh? You want me to use my Pink Pig as bait to fish? This..."

Seeing Wan Kang's hesitation, Bai Muxue's eyes flickered, realizing it wasn't that Wan Kang was unwilling, but that the current potential gain wasn't enough to make him take such a risk. What if the Pink Pig died, but they captured a severely injured Sharp-Toothed Crocodile alive...

Just then, Qin Ding looked at the lake and noticed the Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles slowly approaching. While feeling slightly surprised, he couldn't help but curl his lips upward. It seems it's not just us who have set our sights on them; they have also set their sights on us.

"The Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles are approaching us; they want to hunt us, too."

"The Pink Pig doesn't need to go into the river. It just needs to stand on the bank with its butt facing the Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles, and that will be enough to lure them up. Crocodiles aren't agile once they're on land."

Hiss... That sounds... like it really isn't dangerous? His Pink Pig, if nothing else, has decent running ability, while crocodiles can only crawl on land, not run... After thinking for a moment, Wan Kang nodded immediately. "Alright, I'll go remove the things from the Pink Pig."

After speaking, having made his decision, Wan Kang immediately removed the three bags from the Pink Pig. After giving it a few instructions, the fearless Pink Pig sauntered directly toward the bank closest to the Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles.

"Oink oink, snort snort."

As if afraid the Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles, who were hovering and trying to get closer, wouldn't notice it, the Pink Pig let out a loud squeal as soon as it reached the shore. It looked at the Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles staring straight at it, then lowered its head to take two sips of water. Afterward, it turned around and wiggled its plump, juicy body at the three Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles.

In an instant, the three Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles floating on the river surface froze. Those three pairs of brown, vertical pupils stared straight at the Pink Pig, which had finished drinking, turned around, and aimed its butt at them. A surge of intense, nameless rage exploded through their hunting plans like a thunderclap.

The three Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles, which already had some ideas, were so stimulated by the Pink Pig's provocation—which was akin to someone shitting on their heads—that they didn't even bother to pretend or test the waters; they all uniformly swam at full speed toward the Pink Pig on the shore.

"Holy shit! Run, you damn pig!"

Watching with his own eyes as the three Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles sped across the lake like fish, rushing toward the Pink Pig, Wan Kang shouted in alarm. The Pink Pig, however, was unhurried; only after hearing the splashing sound behind it grow significantly did it start to run on its four sturdy legs.

The highest-level, level-eight Sharp-Toothed Crocodile leaped directly from the water to pounce, aiming to bite the Pink Pig's hind leg. As luck would have it, the Pink Pig, hearing the water sounds getting very close, had already started running. Not only did the bite miss, but the crocodile also got a mouthful of mud.

Visible rage rose in the brown, vertical pupils. The remaining two level-seven Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles followed closely onto the shore and, as if they had discussed it beforehand, crawled toward the Pink Pig.

Watching the Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles wriggling on the shore with a hint of comedy, Qin Ding couldn't stop his lips from curling upward. "Wan Kang, not bad, that aggro pull was excellent."

Hearing this, Wan Kang was stunned. He could guarantee that this was absolutely not his plan; the secret words he had just whispered to the Pink Pig were just to tell it to run fast and start running as soon as it heard splashing. But now, he couldn't say it out loud and could only bite the bullet and nod to accept this credit that didn't belong to him, a somewhat forced smile appearing on his face. However, Qin Ding and Bai Muxue's attention was no longer on him.

"Hmm, as long as it succeeded..."

"Let's go, Dahei. The roles of prey and hunter have been swapped. If we take down these three crocodiles, we can finish the job early."

Bai Muxue looked at the white fox at her feet and instructed softly, "Although the Sharp-Toothed Crocodile is among the smaller ones in the crocodile spirit beast category, you won't be able to break through its defense. When the fight starts later, your main job is just to draw aggro."

Draw aggro? Just like the Pink Pig earlier? The white fox nodded, understanding vaguely, and followed behind Bai Muxue, who was carrying a long spear. Wan Kang walked at the very back, carrying a mace, his gaze lingering on the cheerful Pink Pig.

Inexplicably, watching the Pink Pig like this, Wan Kang had the feeling that he was meeting the Pink Pig for the first time.

"Is it really this happy...?"

In the battle circle, the Pink Pig was tirelessly teasing the three Sharp-Toothed Crocodiles. In the river, apart from these three, no fourth or fifth one appeared...

"Looks like there are only these three..."

"Awoo." [Boss, watch how I peel the skin off these fish.]

The Sha Jin Wolf muttered without turning its head, its body lowering as it dashed away close to the ground like a phantom. Its shiny, jet-black body tensed like a bow full of power. As it lowered its head, its gaze locked onto the level-seven Sharp-Toothed Crocodile running at the back.

Suddenly, the Sharp-Toothed Crocodile in front, which was following and hunting the Pink Pig, seemed to sense the danger behind it. Without turning its head, it decisively whipped its tail like a steel lash, its body twisting simultaneously to bite back fiercely.

"Awoo!" [You idiot, it's too late! Die, you fat fish!]