The haul was impressive, and FangBro couldn’t stop grinning.

  A Tier?2 C?rank extract plus all the materials harvested from the Vahn River crocodile—easily worth eight to nine million Lin.

  “How about a sixty?forty split? I take forty?” FangBro asked, smiling wide.

  “Split it evenly,” Evan said. FangBro had contributed a lot during the fight. Evan wasn’t about to haggle over scraps.

  “Big bro, you’re too generous!”

  They agreed to value everything at nine million. FangBro would handle the sale. He transferred four million to Evan on the spot and kept five hundred thousand as his guide fee for the next five days.

  Evan checked his bank balance and sighed.

  Why is it so hard to spend money?

  Elias Zhao had given him two hundred million. He still had almost the full amount.

  He actually liked the crocodile’s Raging Tides skill—an AOE with crowd control—but the power was too weak. Tier?2 C?rank wasn’t worth absorbing.

  FangBro leaned in, excited.

  “Big bro, tonight’s underwater stream was just a warm?up. I’m preparing for tomorrow.”

  Evan raised an eyebrow.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Tomorrow noon, our boat passes through Crocodile Bay. Tons of Vahn River crocodiles live there. Dangerous place—almost no one goes near it. But they rarely attack boats. They prefer the riverbed or the shore.”

  He continued:

  “A few years ago, a tourist boat sank there. Survivors? None. When officials recovered the wreckage, they found footage showing a massive creature—just a glimpse. No one could identify it.”

  The footage went viral. Rumors of a “river monster” spread everywhere. People flocked to Crocodile Bay to search for it.

  No one found anything.

  “So tomorrow,” Evan said, “you’re planning to dive into Crocodile Bay and livestream it? Looking for the monster?”

  FangBro nodded.

  “I’ll dive, yeah. But the ‘monster hunt’ is just a hook. No way I’m lucky enough to actually find it.”

  “Alright. Just be careful. I’m not going down there with you.”

  Evan had no intention of interfering with FangBro’s streaming plans.

  That night, Evan couldn’t sleep.

  The boat rocked gently, but it made him uneasy. He eventually got up and stepped onto the deck.

  The night was beautiful—moonlight, a soft breeze—

  If only the river didn’t smell like death.

  He glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then swallowed two Strength?Boosting Pills and began practicing Swan Dance.

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  Over and over, he moved with precision and grace, burning through the pills’ medicinal power.

  When he finally stopped, sweaty and breathless, he turned—

  And nearly jumped out of his skin.

  A man stood at the cabin entrance, smiling.

  It was the lead crewman—the “captain” of the boat.

  Evan’s toes curled against the deck, instinctively calculating how to throw a body overboard.

  “Nice moves,” the captain said, giving a thumbs?up.

  “I was just—”

  “No need to explain. Everyone’s got hobbies.”

  He chuckled and walked back inside.

  Evan exhaled slowly, suppressing the urge to silence the witness. He popped two more pills and kept practicing.

  If he’d been seen, so be it.

  He trained until his hips ached, then finally returned to his room.

  He soon discovered something new—

  The muscle soreness from Swan Dance was also being healed by the Regenerator Core.

  Another perk of the upgraded skill.

  So I’m supposed to grind nonstop now?

  Swan Dance was basically a cultivation technique. Most evolvers could only practice a few cycles before their bodies gave out.

  But Evan could rest briefly and continue.

  Still, he forced himself to stop. Balance mattered.

  He fell asleep quickly.

  By the time he woke, it was already ten in the morning.

  On deck, FangBro was fully geared up.

  “We at Crocodile Bay?” Evan asked.

  “Not yet, but close. I’m scouting ahead.”

  FangBro started his stream, changing the title to:

  “Searching for the Crocodile Bay River Monster!”

  By 10:30, the viewer count surged. FangBro took a deep breath and dove in.

  Evan sat on deck, sun on his face, and opened the stream on his phone.

  FangBro dove deep, then used water?phase movement to surge forward.

  He surfaced briefly, panting, camera pointed at a calm stretch of water.

  “Chat, this is Crocodile Bay. Look at the shore—those lumps the same color as the mud? All crocodiles.”

  The banks were overgrown with tall grass. Dozens of crocodiles lay half?hidden, motionless.

  “Now we’re going underwater to search for the legendary river monster.”

  After a short rest, FangBro dove again.

  Underwater, the difference was obvious.

  The usual Vahn River turtles and catfish were gone.

  Instead, the riverbed was carpeted with crocodiles.

  Hundreds of them.

  FangBro hovered carefully, not daring to touch the bottom.

  Crocodiles were lazy. Unless starving, they rarely swam up to hunt.

  He pushed deeper into the bay.

  Below him, a dense layer of crocodiles stretched across the riverbed.

  Only FangBro would dare something this insane.

  Any other Chrysalis evolver would’ve fainted from fear.

  Evan watched the stream, heart tight.

  The chat was going wild—gifts flying nonstop.

  People loved danger.

  Then—

  Evan noticed something.

  The riverbed on the right side of the screen… moved.

  He thought he imagined it.

  But the chat exploded with messages.

  FangBro saw the comments and turned the camera.

  “Let’s check it out.”

  Of course he didn’t back away.

  FangBro was a professional at doing stupid things.

  He swam closer—

  And reached out with his bare hand to dig into the riverbed.

  Evan stared at the screen.

  This is the underwater equivalent of sticking your face into a bush to see what’s inside.

  So… what exactly did FangBro just poke?

  A buried crocodile?

  A mutated beast?

  Or the real “river monster” waking up?

  Tell me your theories—

  and guess whether FangBro survives the next chapter.