Chapter 30

Several clear water lines appeared on the river surface, moving straight toward where the native women were fetching water. By the time they reached the riverbank, the group of native women had already left. These fierce aquatic beasts could only stir up huge splashes in the shallow water, revealing a glimpse of their white-scaled bellies, before quietly disappearing into the river.

The distance was quite far, making it impossible to clearly identify whether the beasts were crocodiles, but they were certainly not friendly creatures.

"Fortunately, those native women left quickly, or they would have been in danger!" He Boqiang thought to himself.

He immediately realized that he should not let such thoughts be known by the people around him. At this moment, all the soldiers of the 57th Heavy Infantry Regiment hated the natives.

He Boqiang shook his head forcefully, trying to dispel these thoughts from his mind.

It was said that the deep mountains and marshes of the Gandal Mountains were home to countless fierce beasts, and it seemed this was true. He Boqiang had been walking along the mountain ridge with the second squad for two days, but they had not yet left the peripheral area of the Gandal Mountains.

At this moment, Hong Suozi crawled out of the tent, came to He Boqiang's side, and looked in the direction of the river valley.

Just then, the native women had disappeared into the bushes, leaving only a few large aquatic beasts thrashing in the shallow water, trying to return to the deeper parts of the river.

"God, what did I just see? Those are Tim fish... Suldak... Hey, Captain, Captain! Come over here, look at the Tim fish in the river valley below."

"What? Where?" Hearing Hong Suozi's shout, Suldak ran faster than a rabbit.

By the time he reached He Boqiang's side, the Tim fish had already submerged, leaving only faint water lines.

Hong Suozi Garcia, excited, stretched his neck out as far as it would go. He was a tall, slender man, looking like a thin pole.

He confidently told Suldak, "Yes, they are definitely Tim fish. I recognize these large fish. During the battle in the Kemato River Basin, I saw an adult Tim fish drag a unicorn buffalo into the river and drown it."

The other squad members, hearing Hong Suozi's commotion, also gathered over. They were all eager to see the Tim fish in the river valley.

Kagel asked Suldak, "What should we do, Captain?"

His face was covered with a beard, making him look at least ten years older than his actual age. He was even younger than Suldak but looked like a middle-aged man.

Suldak didn't hesitate, "We should investigate further. If we really encounter Tim fish, this trip won't be in vain."

Hong Suozi Garcia volunteered, "I'll go!"

Suldak patted his shoulder, "Be careful. Don't let those big guys drag you into the river. If you end up in their stomachs, I can't save you!"

Hong Suozi, eager, picked up a Paglio spear and ran down the slope.

"I know!"

...

"Tim" is a phonetic translation from ancient Elvish, which means "water arrow" in Grin Empire language.

In fact, these Tim fish are known for shooting a "water arrow" from the water to hunt land animals. They usually hide underwater, and when an animal approaches the riverbank, they slowly move closer. Once they reach the riverbank, they leap out of the water with a powerful tail, open their mouths, and spray a jet of water. Even a robust unicorn buffalo would faint if hit by the water arrow.

Tim fish are a specialty of the Kemato River Basin, but it was unexpected to find these first-level magical beasts in the river valley of the Gandal Mountains.

All magical beasts have a magic core in their skulls.

Tim fish are no exception, but the probability of a first-level magical beast producing a magic core is relatively low. Most of these slightly larger-than-pigeon-egg-sized magic cores do not contain magic crystals. Even if a magic core contains a magic crystal, it would only be a fragment.

Currently, in the Grin Empire's magic market, magic crystal fragments are not as valuable as they used to be.

However, Tim fish are one of the few low-level magical beasts that the second squad can hunt, which is why the soldiers' eyes couldn't leave them. These are first-level magical beasts that have a chance to produce magic cores.

(Grin Empire currency exchange rate: 100 copper coins = 1 silver coin, 100 silver coins = 1 gold coin, 10 gold coins = 1 magic crystal)

This time, the second squad was on a mission alone, and it was a search mission with the greatest autonomy. As long as Captain Suldak agreed, they could proceed.

Suldak did not refuse Hong Suozi's request to investigate near the river valley, indicating that he did not oppose the hunt.

...

After discovering a group of Tim fish in the river valley, the second squad did not act rashly but quietly returned to the hill.

After spending the afternoon, the squad found some small animal footprints on the hillside and eventually discovered some fresh droppings at the edge of a birch forest.

Augustus, the squad's best tracker, analyzed that these were likely the droppings of Yuzhu pigs, indicating that there was a group of Yuzhu pigs nearby.

Augustus was skilled at setting animal traps. He used some thick ropes to set up simple noose traps and sprinkled some rations around the traps. After dinner, the soldiers returned to the birch forest and found that Augustus's traps had indeed caught two Yuzhu pigs, which were not much larger than local dogs.

The other traps had not failed; the Yuzhu pigs had bitten through the ropes and escaped with the nooses still on their legs. These two Yuzhu pigs seemed less intelligent and did not try to bite through the ropes, lying still on the ground.

When the soldiers appeared, the two Yuzhu pigs became panicked and tried to escape, but it was too late. Augustus killed them with a wooden stick, and the soldiers carried the two Yuzhu pigs back to the camp happily.

...

The next morning, He Boqiang did not get to eat Yuzhu pig meat. The two Yuzhu pigs were taken to the riverbank, where Augustus made several cuts on one of them. He then inserted two sharpened wooden sticks into the pig's body, forming a cross, and tied the thickest rope to it. The other end of the rope was tied to a large tree on the riverbank, and the pig was thrown into the river.

He Boqiang had never seen such a brutal hunting method before.

They did not have to wait long. As the pig's congealed blood spread in the river through the cuts, several water lines quickly approached the floating pig.

The leading water line opened its huge mouth and, in a split second, swallowed the pig whole as it burst out of the water.

The Tim fish created a huge splash, with its dark green back visible for about two meters. After swallowing the pig, the Tim fish tried to sink to the bottom, but the thick rope suddenly tightened, and the tree on the riverbank creaked under the strain.

Thirteen people, including He Boqiang, pulled the rope together, dragging the several-hundred-pound Tim fish onto the shore. With the pig in its mouth, the Tim fish could not release its water arrow. Despite its fierce struggle on the shore, it was quickly killed by two soldiers with their spears.