Chapter 98

The mountain fruit was far less delicious than expected, bitter and astringent, but for Deng Mengmeng and Xu Yunqi, it was simply the best nectar.

How could the pangolin deliver the mountain fruit?

Ai Xiaohai? Could it be that Ai Xiaohai has arrived?

When this thought flashed through Deng Mengmeng's mind, she jumped up and rushed out into the rain, shouting, "Ai Xiaohai, Ai Xiaohai, we're here!"

No one answered... The heavy rain made it impossible to see anything clearly in the distance...

Deng Mengmeng called out loudly for a long time, but no one responded. The figure she so desperately hoped to see did not emerge from the rain.

"Ai Xiaohai, Ai Xiaohai..."

Deng Mengmeng murmured the name. Is it Ai Xiaohai? She didn't know...

But Deng Mengmeng always felt that Ai Xiaohai would never abandon them. Even if the whole world thought they were dead, Ai Xiaohai would never give up...

Several sparrows kept circling above her head...

...

"Great King, Great King, we found something left by humans by the lake," two sparrows panted, their energy drained from flying in the rain.

When Ai Xiaohai heard this, he was both delighted and surprised. Finally, there was news of them, but it was at the lake? That place, considered a forbidden zone by all the animals of Dengyun Mountain, was home to unknown and terrifying creatures!

The rain-soaked clothes clung to his body, making him extremely uncomfortable. Ai Xiaohai took them off, threw them away, and ran bare-chested—sprinting!

He was a bolt of lightning in the rain!

Dagang only saw a blur, and the Great King was gone...

"Great King, Great King, we found them!" A swallow flew through the rain, but it couldn't see the Great King.

"Ah? The Great King went to the lake," Dagang was taken aback.

The swallow, exhausted from battling the rain, perched on a branch: "But those two humans aren't by the lake..."

...

The bolt of lightning streaked through the forest, over the rocks, and no animal or bird could keep up.

A "cheetah" sprinted at an incredible speed to the lake.

Continuous heavy rain had caused the lake to swell. From here, the lake looked white and murky, with raindrops constantly falling, creating a sense of gloom and terror.

Where are they?

"Deng Mengmeng, Xu Yunqi!" Ai Xiaohai shouted loudly: "Come out! Come out! I'm hungry, treat me to a meal!"

His voice carried through the rain, but there was no response...

A black object was partially exposed in the mud ahead. Ai Xiaohai rushed over and pulled it out—it was a broken camera.

It wasn't theirs, it wasn't theirs... Ai Xiaohai's heart, which had been racing, calmed down for a moment. The object the sparrows saw must have been this camera.

They are alive—still alive—they must still be alive! Ai Xiaohai kept telling himself.

Suddenly, his muscles tensed. It was a natural reaction to danger, triggered by the Dragon Spirit Pearl.

His fists were already clenched... Ai Xiaohai knew that the terrifying monster was hiding somewhere nearby...

Here, it was the monster's territory, and it had all the advantages. No one knew when or where it would launch a fatal attack!

The sense of danger grew stronger, and the Dragon Spirit Pearl began to release a large amount of spiritual energy, covering Ai Xiaohai's entire body. This was a form of self-protection; if Ai Xiaohai's body suffered any terrible damage, the spiritual energy could repair it instantly.

Dragon scales? Dragon scales actually appeared? A faint golden light flickered.

What kind of terrifying monster could make the Dragon Spirit Pearl and dragon scales sense such a great threat and appear?

With this faint golden light, Ai Xiaohai felt his strength rapidly increasing, something he had never experienced before.

Previously, the only help the dragon scales could provide was to protect Ai Xiaohai's vital chest area with their incredible hardness. But after being attacked by the sea snake army's toxins and absorbing the Great King Squid's essence, the appearance of the dragon scales this time actually doubled his strength?

A faint sound entered Ai Xiaohai's ears... Although it was hard to hear amidst the rain, with Ai Xiaohai's hearing, even the slightest sound was clear.

It's coming—the monster is right behind him!

The rain became lighter...

"Whoosh," a foul wind spread through the air.

Ai Xiaohai turned sharply and punched!

"Bang—" His fist hit an incredibly hard object, and the momentum sent him sprawling on his butt.

What kind of monster is so hard that it made his fist hurt? He quickly got up.

He was surprised, but the monster was even more surprised. It had been watching this human who had rashly entered its territory for some time, and it had found the best opportunity to launch a lightning attack. No creature could survive such an attack.

But this human seemed to know it was behind him and punched its right jaw!

Good grief, the force was so great that its right jaw actually hurt...

...

Ai Xiaohai saw clearly what kind of monster had attacked him.

This? What kind of strange creature is this?

Its body was brown, at least 10 to 12 meters long, and weighed at least eight to nine tons. Its head was at least three meters long, and the most peculiar thing was that its mouth took up two-thirds of its head. The monster's mouth was very bird-like, with hundreds of lower and upper teeth interlocking, giving it an incredibly powerful bite.

From its appearance, it was clearly a—crocodile!

However, this monster was very different from any known crocodile. Most terrifyingly, it had two strong front limbs and four incredibly thick hind limbs.

Who has ever seen a six-legged crocodile?

Purussaurus? This thought suddenly popped into Ai Xiaohai's mind. He remembered seeing a simulated image of this crocodile online. Could he have encountered the long-extinct, ferocious, and invincible Purussaurus, the "Lonely Seeker of Defeat" in the animal kingdom?

Heaven, in the Mesozoic Era, this species was invincible. Its only rival was its own kind; no predator could match it. Its favorite food was only one kind:

Equally large dinosaurs!

It not only dominated one world; it roamed on land and in water, hunting at will. The most ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex would only flee in terror when it encountered them.

However, the competition among Purussaurus was incredibly brutal. They competed for the same food, territory, and nesting sites, all of which were essential for survival. The competition among the same species gave them a significant advantage.

The brutal competition made them grow larger and larger, but their massive size only brought them temporary success and led to their decline. The Purussaurus became so large that they were too big. The extreme size of the animals pushed their lives to the limit.

Therefore, their existence was very short-lived. Otherwise, the whole world would be theirs!

Encountering a Purussaurus here would be even more shocking than discovering a Thylacoleo.

However, due to its massive size, the Purussaurus moved very slowly. But from the attack just now, its movements were no slower than Ai Xiaohai, who had the power of the Dragon Spirit Pearl! And how did it get its six legs?

Was it a mistake by scientists, and this terrifying creature was originally as fast as a Tyrannosaurus Rex, or did it evolve significantly over the long years?

Both were possible. No complete skeleton of a Purussaurus has ever been found, only some scattered skull fossils, from which scientists have inferred the general appearance and lifestyle of this terrifying giant crocodile.

The second possibility is that over millions of years, the Purussaurus, this ferocious species, developed two additional legs to support its massive body and run swiftly. After all, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, weighing several tons, could run at an astonishing speed with just two hind legs.

Ai Xiaohai couldn't determine which was the case, but one thing was certain: the missing members of the scientific expedition and the terrifying creature recorded in You Guofeng's diary were this large crocodile.

How many creatures has it eaten? What about Deng Mengmeng and Xu Yunqi? Did they also fall victim to it?

The rain became lighter again...

The crocodile also felt a strong threat. It knew it had encountered an unprecedented enemy. It made a strange sound from its unique nasal cavity, sending shivers down one's spine.

Ai Xiaohai was fully focused. He had no way to communicate with the crocodile on any mental level. Once the battle began, it would be brutal. If the battle in the sea with the Great King Squid was the most dangerous, this land battle would be even more cruel.

He was facing a prehistoric monster over ten meters long and weighing eight to nine tons!

The crocodile gradually lost patience and became agitated. Why? What did it sense?

Its terrifying teeth were fully exposed, and then a bolt of lightning shot out as the Purussaurus charged at Ai Xiaohai! It was too fast, faster than any species Ai Xiaohai knew!

If the Purussaurus was a brown bolt of lightning, then Ai Xiaohai was a golden bolt of lightning!

The two bolts of lightning collided fiercely. The terrifying roars of the animal and the desperate shouts of the human created a brutal battle between man and beast!

The Purussaurus's strength was incomparable. With the help of the dragon scales, which doubled his strength, Ai Xiaohai barely managed to withstand its attacks. After several collisions, he gained no advantage and almost got hurt by its mouth.

It was too fast, this damn crocodile was too fast!

Moreover, its long tail became its most powerful weapon in the battle.