It's a niros crocodile!
Welikro's words struck Eriksson and Borkal like a bolt of lightning.
Eriksson's legs went limp and he almost fell to his knees. "I-Impossible! T-this place is still a few kilometers away from Swamp Kemda. T-why would that niros crocodile appear here?"
Borkal stared at the approaching log and stuttered, "It's … it's a crocodile. It's … it's paddling with its tail …"
Niros crocodile?
Claude didn't know what to make of it, but he quickly searched his memories of Swamp Kemda.
In fact, be it before or after his transmigration, Claude had never been to Swamp Kemda. However, he did hear that there were quite a few rivers in Swamp Kemda that led to Lake Balinga, which was the source of freshwater for Lake Balinga.
Swamp Kemda spanned hundreds of kilometers and reached as far as Dodesas, the westernmost of the three southwestern prefectures. It was also connected to the largest river in the southwest, the Normandis River.
According to the geography books, Swamp Kemda was home to hundreds of species of rare flora and fauna. However, it was filled with poisonous miasma and stagnant water, as well as countless venomous mosquitoes and snakes. Every year, many adventurers would lose their lives in Swamp Kemda, making it one of the most famous forbidden zones in the three southwestern prefectures.
The geography books also mentioned niros crocodiles. They were the most ferocious beasts in Swamp Kemda and were adept at waiting for prey in the swamp.
Some adventurers had once seen a crocodile more than seven meters long lurking in the swamp, suddenly exploding and tearing apart four adventurers who passed by it effortlessly.
However, niros crocodiles mostly lived in the depths of Swamp Kemda and rarely ventured to the outskirts to hunt.
Claude looked at the tree-like niros crocodile that was swimming towards the boat. That could be seen from the ripples in the water caused by the movement of its tail.
It was obvious that Borkal and Eriksson's marksmanship competition had angered the crocodile that was pretending to be a piece of wood to attract its prey. It swam very quickly and was only 140 meters away from the fishing boat.
Claude snatched the gun from Eriksson's hand and roared as he reloaded, "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and set sail!"
Welikro was already hoisting the sails. He grabbed the pole and pushed the fishing boat out of the lake. However, the boat was stuck in the reeds and wasn't able to move quickly towards the center of the lake.
Claude loaded his gun and powder, took aim, and fired.
The shot had clearly hit the crocodile, but the crocodile only shook a little before continuing to swim towards the boat as if nothing had happened.
"Shoot its head. It's best to hit its eyes. It doesn't matter if you hit other places. This crocodile's skin is very thick!"
Welikro yelled as he pushed the boat away. Claude's shot snapped Borkal out of his stupor and he hurriedly poured gunpowder into his musket and loaded it.
The niros crocodile swam faster and faster. By the time Claude aimed again, it was only 70 to 80 meters away from the fishing boat.
It was only when they got closer that they could see the crocodile clearly. Even though it wasn't as ridiculously huge as seven meters, it was around four meters long from its tail to its head. It was almost the same size as the fishing boat. It was clearly an adult crocodile.
It was no wonder Borkal and Eriksson thought it was a floating piece of wood when they were 200 meters away. None of them expected to run into such a huge niros crocodile.
Eriksson turned the wheel in a flurry, but it only controlled the stern of the boat to adjust the direction of the boat. The fishing boat was stuck in the reeds and he couldn't turn it around immediately no matter how hard he tried. He could only rely on Welikro to push the boat away from the reeds.
Eriksson let go of the wheel and ran to adjust the sails. But even though there was wind, it was blowing in the direction of the reeds.
Even if he raised the sails to the maximum, it wouldn't help the fishing boat get out of danger. Instead, the wind would blow the boat further into the reeds.
He had no choice but to turn the sails around and run back to the stern to control the direction of the boat.
He calmed himself down and took aim at the approaching niros crocodile. However, the crocodile was muddy grey and it was difficult to see where its eyes were.
All he could do was make a rough estimate and pull the trigger.
Boom! The niros crocodile shuddered violently and stopped its momentum. There seemed to be a flash of blood on its head, but its entire head sank back into the water and its body began to tumble around … …
"I hit it!"
Welikro cried out in surprise. But before he could finish, the niros crocodile broke the surface of the water again and pounced at the fishing boat with even greater ferocity.
Boom! Borkal opened fire as well, only to see the niros crocodile's head splash into the water. His shot had missed.
"How did you aim? You can't even hit it at such a close range!" Welikro roared as he pulled the pole out of the lake.
The niros crocodile was less than fifty meters away from the boat, and the closer it got, the scarier the monster was. Even though it was swimming towards the boat, the eyes that were peeking out of the water at the boat were filled with cruelty and bloodlust, as well as a cold, murderous aura that seemed capable of destroying everything in its path …
Borkal's grip loosened and the gun fell to the floor. "It's over. We can't escape."
Welikro roared, "Pick up the gun and load it! Even if we die, we have to try!"
Claude didn't pay attention to what Welikro and Borkal were doing. He only stared at the approaching niros crocodile. He clearly felt that the shot had hit the crocodile's head, so why was it still alive and kicking? That's impossible! No matter what, it's still its head! That's a vital point!
The crocodile was only twenty meters away from the boat. It was then that Claude saw the bullet mark above its left eye and a faint trace of blood.
His shot had indeed hit the crocodile's head, but it didn't penetrate its tough skull.
Oh, right, I still have the gunpowder for the standard size 3 … He hurriedly reached into his pocket and took out a paper cylinder gunpowder. He first bit open the paper cylinder and poured the gunpowder into the barrel before inserting it into the gun. Then, he rammed it in with a metal rod and placed the ignited matchlock on the matchlock to aim at the gunpowder box. In just eight short seconds, Claude was ready to fire again.
But the niros crocodile was already within reach. It was less than three meters away from the boat, and it leapt out of the water and pounced at the boat!
"It's coming!" Borkal cried in horror. His legs gave way and he slumped onto the deck.
Welikro stood in front of the niros crocodile and maintained his calm as he dodged to the right.
Claude stood in front of the boat and was about to fire his gun again when he could only watch as the crocodile pounced towards the boat. Fortunately, it was still two meters away from him.
Eriksson tried his best to turn the wheel at the stern, but he was powerless to make the boat turn to avoid the crocodile's attack.
Bam!
With a loud bang, the small fishing boat shook violently. It sank down and rose up again. The entire fishing boat was tilting to the right!
The right side of the ship was cracked, and the niros crocodile had smashed a large hole in the side of the ship that was a foot above the deck. Because of that, half of the crocodile's head was stuck in the hole.
He had to thank the Wave Piercer, which had its planks removed to be used as a fishing boat. After all, the planks of a seagoing boat were twice as thick as those of a fishing boat on the lake. If it had been Old Sunny's fishing boat, the entire boat would have been smashed to pieces by the crocodile's attack, instead of only having a hole on the right side of the boat.
Now, the head of the niros crocodile was stuck in the hole on the side of the boat. It wanted to get on the boat, but its body was too big. It wanted to struggle free, but the hole was at its neck. Its head was bigger than the hole and it couldn't get out. It swung its tail with all its might, but it only managed to push the boat sideways.
When the crocodile slammed into the side of the boat, the boat shook and Welikro slammed into the mast behind him. He hurriedly grabbed onto the mast with his right hand still holding onto the pole.
He lost his balance and was sent tumbling backwards. But when his back hit the left side of the boat, he managed to grab onto the side of the boat and crawled back up to kneel on the deck.
At the same time, he held onto his gun tightly with his right hand.
Eriksson was holding onto the wheel and one of the handles hit him on the left side of his face, causing blood to flow all over his face.
Borkal was completely petrified. He had been slumped on the deck and rolled to the left side of the boat when the boat was rammed. Fortunately, he landed in a gap in the cabin and stopped his fall.
The niros crocodile's mouth was less than half a meter away from him and he pissed his pants.
When the niros crocodile swam forward and pushed the boat sideways, the boat began to tilt to the left.
Eriksson fell on the deck with a plop and rolled towards the stern.
Borkal could only scream, "Ah! Ah!"
Welikro leaned against the mast with his back and used his foot to push against the broken right side of the boat. He used the pole in his hand to poke the niros crocodile's eye, but he didn't expect the crocodile to bite down on the pole and shake it violently. The pole was bitten to pieces and Welikro could only use the broken pole to smack the approaching crocodile's mouth.
Claude was flung to the left side of the boat once more. He let go and sprawled on the slanted deck, using his feet to press against the left side of the boat and the cover of the cabin in an awkward position to keep his body in place.
There was no longer a need to aim. He simply aimed the muzzle at the niros crocodile's eyes and pulled the trigger!
"Boom!" This gunshot was especially loud at this moment.
He could clearly see that the eye that the gun was aimed at was gone, leaving behind a bloody hole. He could vaguely see a piece of the crocodile's skull and flesh splattering everywhere.
The ferocious niros crocodile seemed to have been struck by lightning and froze in slow motion in that short instant.
But soon, the niros crocodile shot into the air again. This time, it didn't pounce on the boat. Instead, it raised its head high through the hole in the side of the boat and fell backwards into the water. Water splashed everywhere with a loud splash, drenching Claude and Welikro.
Without the crocodile's help, the right side of the boat fell back into the water.
"Aaaaaah …" Borkal screamed as he was thrown out from the gap in the cabin and smashed into the right side of the boat. However, the damaged right side of the boat didn't stop his fall. He rolled all the way into the water and his screams came to an abrupt stop.
Welikro used his back and legs to support himself on the mast and the right side of the boat, so the boat only shook a little when it fell back into the water. He immediately climbed back up and rushed to the right side of the boat to check on the situation in the water. At the same time, he reached the pole in his hand into the lake to save Borkal.
Claude was rather unlucky. His posture when he fired the gun was rather awkward and the boat didn't manage to hold on to the right side of the boat after falling back down.
The good news was that the starboard side of the ship he had hit was still intact, and it blocked his body. The bad news was that he had sprained his foot. He didn't know whether it was because of the impact or because he had been supporting himself on the cabin cover in an awkward position.
Even though there was a huge bump on his head, he was still conscious. However, his face was covered in blood and it didn't seem like his injuries were clear.
Borkal popped his head out of the water. He was so frightened that he couldn't think straight anymore. As he stepped on the water, he screamed, "I'm going to die! I'm going to be eaten!"
Welikro knocked him on the head with his pole and roared, "What are you screaming for?!
You're still alive and kicking! Get up here! "
Borkal touched his face and finally came back to his senses. "Ugh … Where's the crocodile?"
Welikro pointed at him. "It's under your feet. It's already dead."