Except for Dr. Elizabeth, every single expert had already fallen into the jaws of the red-scaled crocodile. Professors, researchers, scientists who'd dedicated their lives to knowledge—all gone in minutes of brutal violence.
The captain—that square-jawed soldier who'd fought so hard—dragged her backward with what remained of his strength, blood streaming from multiple wounds.
"Dr. Elizabeth, this is our only chance!" His voice cracked with desperation. "Run—now!"
But the monstrous reptile wasn't even paying attention to them anymore.
It had turned its enormous head toward the Golden Ability Tree instead, its massive jaws opening wide to bite directly through the shimmering trunk. Apparently, it wanted the source of power itself.
This was the perfect moment to escape. The creature was distracted. They had a clear path.
Yet—
Dr. Elizabeth didn't move a single step.
Her eyes remained fixed not on the monster that had just slaughtered her entire team... but on a specialized instrument case lying crushed beneath the crocodile's massive foreleg.
"The sample," she said calmly, as if discussing the weather. "The root tissue from the Ability Tree is still inside that instrument. I haven't retrieved it yet. I can't leave without it."
The captain nearly lost his goddamn mind.
"With all due respect, doctor—forget the sample!" He grabbed her shoulder, trying to physically drag her away. "If that thing turns around and sees us, neither of us will survive! We need to go right now!"
But she still didn't step back. Didn't flinch. Didn't show even the slightest tremor of fear or self-preservation.
She simply looked up at him with those calm, analytical eyes and spoke the same way she might explain a routine lab result:
"This is the first documented plant on Earth capable of repeatedly producing ability fruits with consistent properties. If I can recover that root tissue sample, even if the tree itself is completely destroyed today, I can potentially cultivate a new one from scratch in a controlled environment."
She paused, then added with absolute certainty: "But if we lose this sample... that opportunity may be gone forever. The value is immeasurable."
The captain shut his eyes tightly, jaw clenched in pure frustration.
This woman. This brilliant, infuriating, completely insane woman.
Then—without another word of argument—he made his decision.
He turned and sprinted directly toward the instrument case at full speed.
The captain moved like the trained soldier he was—somersaulting over chunks of rubble, sliding across blood-slicked mud, dodging falling debris.
He reached beneath the massive reptile's leg and grabbed the case, fingers closing around the handle.
For one brief, shining second, hope actually sparkled in his eyes.
He'd done it. Against all odds, he'd—
CRUNCH.
The monster's jaws closed around his entire upper body with the sound of breaking bones and tearing flesh.
He didn't even have time to scream. Didn't have time for last words or heroic final thoughts.
Just... gone.
The crocodile lifted its blood-stained maw toward the gray sky, swallowing, then slowly turned its massive head toward Dr. Elizabeth.
Now it had noticed her. Really noticed her.
Now there was absolutely no escaping.
The creature's eyes—glowing faintly red like heated coals—locked onto her small figure. It opened its mouth wide, rows of red-glowing fangs expanding toward her like the gates of hell itself.
Each tooth was longer than her forearm.
Dr. Elizabeth stared back at the approaching death without moving.
Still no visible emotion on her face. No panic. No screaming. No desperate prayers.
Only... regret.
"...What a pity," she murmured softly.
But she wasn't looking at the crocodile.
She was looking at the crushed instrument case lying in the mud a few feet away, forever out of reach now. The sample she'd risked everything for.
Dr. Elizabeth closed her eyes slowly, accepting her fate with the same scientific detachment she'd approached everything else.
Ready to die.
"—Hahhh!"
A sudden, violent gust of wind exploded across the battlefield.
A figure appeared directly in front of her in literally an instant—so fast it seemed like teleportation, because it basically was teleportation.
Tall and athletic with sharp, handsome features. Holding a long blade gripped firmly in both hands.
Elric.
He'd used his spatial Exchange Position ability to swap locations instantaneously, putting himself between Dr. Elizabeth and certain death.
The crocodile's enormous bite slammed down with the force of a collapsing building—
But Elric's blade braced against its fangs at the last possible second, creating a barrier. Sparks flew wildly as enhanced steel met supernatural enamel in a shower of light.
The impact sent shockwaves through the ground.
"This thing's strength..." Elric gritted his teeth, muscles straining. "...is no fucking joke."
Even in his base human form, using every ounce of his considerable physical power, the beast was still overpowering him. The sheer force behind those jaws was insane.
This crocodile wasn't like the random mutated beasts he'd casually crushed back in his home city. Those had been dangerous but manageable.
This thing? This was operating on an entirely different level. Its power felt closer to a genuine major threat-class creature—the kind that could level city blocks.
Elric's eyes sharpened with cold calculation.
"Fine... guess I'll have to power up a bit."
Human-Beast Hybrid Mode — Activated.
The transformation was immediate and dramatic.
His muscles swelled rapidly, expanding with supernatural density. Green scales rippled across his forearms and up his neck, each one harder than steel. His grip on the long blade tightened until the handle actually creaked under the pressure.
His raw power essentially doubled in an instant. The aura of pressure emanating from him surged like a tidal wave.
The crocodile actually hesitated for half a second, some deep predatory instinct recognizing a fellow apex predator.
Elric twisted his torso with explosive force—
SLAM!
The blade smashed against the crocodile's jaw with the impact of a car crash, actually flipping the massive thirty-foot reptile completely onto its back.
For the first time since it had emerged from the lake, its underbelly was fully exposed and vulnerable.
But unlike normal crocodiles whose soft stomachs were their fatal weakness...
Even its underside was covered in thick, glowing red scales. Thinner than the dorsal armor, maybe, but still heavily protected.
It had mutated specifically to eliminate its natural weak point.
"Clever adaptation," Elric observed coldly. "But not clever enough."
Elric launched himself high into the air with a single powerful leap, easily clearing twenty feet.
At the apex of his jump, he adjusted his grip—blade pointing straight downward like an executioner's sword.
A faint green glow began gathering along the weapon's edge, pulsing with an otherworldly energy that made the air around it shimmer and distort.
This was it. The Operation Fruit's absolute strongest single-target assassination technique.
Gamma Knife.
The concentrated surgical energy compressed tighter and tighter around the blade, growing brighter, more intense, more lethal with each passing microsecond. The power condensed to such density that it actually started making a high-pitched whining sound.
SNAP—!!
With a sound like reality itself cracking, the green energy fully fused into the blade, transforming it into something beyond mere metal—a surgical instrument capable of cutting through anything.
The crocodile thrashed desperately, trying to flip itself over, sensing mortal danger.
Too slow.
Elric brought the blade down with every ounce of enhanced strength he possessed.
"GAMMA KNIFE—BREAK!"
CRACK!!!
The empowered blade stabbed clean through the red scales—through the crocodile's supposedly impenetrable mutated armor—and drove deep into the creature's core like a hot knife through butter.
The green energy exploded inside the monster's body, shredding internal organs with surgical precision. Not just cutting—destroying on a cellular level, scrambling the creature's supernatural biology beyond any hope of regeneration.
The crocodile's entire massive body convulsed violently.
Its glowing red scales flickered, dimmed, then went completely dark.
The light faded from its eyes.
And then... stillness.
Elric landed smoothly on the ground, pulling his blade free in one fluid motion. Not a drop of blood remained on the weapon—the Gamma Knife's energy had cauterized everything it touched.
The thirty-foot monster that had slaughtered an entire professional military squad in minutes lay completely dead.
Defeated in less than thirty seconds by a single young man.
Behind him, Dr. Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes, having fully expected to be dead by now.
Instead, she was staring at her savior's back, her brilliant mind struggling to process what she'd just witnessed.
"You..." she began, her usually calm voice actually trembling slightly. "Who are you?"
Elric glanced back over his shoulder, meeting her gaze.
"Just someone passing through," he said casually, as if he hadn't just performed an impossible feat. "You alright, doc?"
But his eyes had already moved past her—scanning the area for what he'd actually come here for.
The Ability Tree. The golden treasure that everyone was fighting over.
And more importantly... any clues about where Emily might have been taken.
There is 60 chapter Advance, in my patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
patreon.com/B_A_3439