Chapter 42: The Tyrant Crab

The sound was faint at first but quickly grew louder. She quickly turned to look down the dark stairwell and then let out a gasp of alarm, as if she had witnessed something terrifying. She fled from the stairwell entrance, running toward Su Li.

Su Li heard Xu Xuehui’s scream and immediately turned around. He saw a dark shape burst out of the darkness of the stairwell: it was a Water Rat Beast.

Following this first one, a stream of dark shapes emerged, all of them Water Rat Beasts.

These Water Rat Beasts had previously surfaced in the water. Instead of climbing the exterior wall, they had drilled into the windows on the 30th floor of the building. Now, climbing the interior stairs, they had finally appeared on the roof.

Xu Xuehui, seeing the swarm of Water Rat Beasts, panicked and fled toward Su Li.

Su Li knew this was bad. Xu Xuehui was no match for these Water Rat Beasts. If even one monster pounced on her, she would be in serious danger.

He had just managed to dodge the attack of the Marine Iguana Monitor before him, leaping to the creature’s flank.

The Marine Iguana Monitor slightly lowered its body. Su Li instantly understood it was preparing to tail whip.

Sure enough, the Marine Iguana Monitor stabilized its four legs, and its tail suddenly swept toward him like a whip.

Su Li, having anticipated the tail whip, gripped the iron rod tightly and angled it downward toward the ground. The veins on the back of his right hand bulged.

The Marine Iguana Monitor’s tail slammed heavily into the angled iron rod.

With a “bang,” the iron rod vibrated, and Su Li felt his right arm go numb.

The Marine Iguana Monitor’s tail-whipping force was astonishing, but it wasn’t enough to bend the iron rod. Instead, the force was sharply rebounded. Su Li used the moment the monitor was focused on the swing to move into close quarters. He clenched his left hand into a fist, activated the “Gluttony Fangs,” and plunged them into the Marine Iguana Monitor’s head, then raked his hand down, slicing four deep bloody gashes into its skull.

The four Gluttony Fangs had been plunged and sliced downward. This was a fatal injury; copious amounts of blood surged from the four deep cuts.

New information surged into his mind. He had gained another two Spiritual Sources, bringing his total to Spiritual Source 13/20.

Su Li had succeeded, and Ding Longyun was no slower. He successfully closed the distance to his Marine Iguana Monitor, clapping his right hand onto the lizard’s forehead and activating “Soul Devour.”

However, because he was a Level 3 Spiritual Source Wielder, killing a fellow Level 3 Marine Iguana Monitor only granted him one Spiritual Source per kill, unlike Su Li, who gained two. Now, Ding Longyun needed five more Spiritual Sources to advance again, while Su Li needed seven more.

Xu Xuehui rushed to Su Li’s side, looking shaken. Five or six Water Rat Beasts were already pouring out of the stairwell, spreading out in a fan shape and lunging toward Xu Xuehui, Su Li, and Ding Longyun.

With the Marine Iguana Monitor dealt with, Su Li felt his mind clear. He shook his right arm, which was still numb from the vibration, and felt the warm current from the newly absorbed Spiritual Source flow through him. He was about to charge the oncoming Water Rat Beasts when the scattered monsters suddenly stopped. In the next instant, they did something startling: they all suddenly turned and rushed back into the darkness of the stairwell.

“What’s going on?” Ding Longyun, gripping his steel shovel, was about to rush at the Water Rat Beasts when he was surprised to see them turn and flee.

“Did we scare them off?” Ding Longyun quickly realized what happened and burst into laughter.

Su Li’s heart leaped, filled with a sense of dread. He spun around, looking toward the edge of the roof behind them.

There was no way the three of them could have scared off the swarm of Water Rat Beasts. The only possibility was…

When Su Li turned back, he saw three heads pop up over the edge of the roof—the lizard heads of Marine Iguana Monitors. Following them, three huge Marine Iguana Monitors climbed onto the roof.

“Perfect timing!” Ding Longyun laughed, excitement overriding his shock. Although these Marine Iguana Monitors were tricky due to their venom, they had already killed several and gained experience. Ding Longyun wasn’t afraid. He only needed five more Spiritual Sources to advance again and needed to hunt more monsters to gain them.

The moment he finished speaking, the three Marine Iguana Monitors took their stances and were about to charge when a loud “splash” erupted behind them. A massive dark shadow surged up. Behind the three monitors, another monster, as big as a round table, leaped onto the roof.

It was a giant crab, dark gray all over, with a carapace diameter exceeding 1.5 meters. Its two pincer-like claws were enormous, nearly two meters long. It suddenly leaped up right behind the three Marine Iguana Monitors. One of its claws shot out and clamped onto one of the monitors from behind.

The Marine Iguana Monitor let out a shriek and writhed, trying to struggle free. Suddenly, blood erupted like a fountain. Su Li’s eyes widened. Even the usually nonchalant Ding Longyun looked utterly horrified.

The Marine Iguana Monitor that was clamped was severed at the waist, as if sliced in half. Both Su Li and Ding Longyun gasped at the sight.

They had used iron rods and steel shovels to repeatedly strike the Marine Iguana Monitors, inflicting damage but unable to mortally wound them. The toughness of the monitor lizard’s hide was clear, yet this monstrous crab’s chelae had clipped it clean in two. How sharp were those pincers, and how immense was its strength?

As the three of them watched in shock, the giant crab swung its two chelae. The formidable Marine Iguana Monitors were no match for its attack. One monitor was swept by a pincer, tumbling through the air and falling off the roof. The other monitor had its tail clamped. It thrashed desperately, choosing to sever its own tail for survival. With a sudden burst of momentum, it voluntarily charged off the roof’s edge and fell, disappearing from sight.

The giant crab clearly had no interest in the Marine Iguana Monitors. Its true target was Su Li and the others. Attacking the monitor lizards was merely to clear the path. It then scuttled on its legs, moving swiftly toward the three of them.

“Run!” Su Li roared. Seeing how terrifying this monster was, he knew they couldn’t fight it. A direct confrontation would almost certainly lead to casualties.

He grabbed Xu Xuehui’s arm and dashed toward the stairwell entrance.

Ding Longyun dared not stay to face the monster alone and quickly followed, rushing toward the stairwell. He screamed, “I knew it! The rats were running away from that, not us!”

Su Li thought, You’re just realizing that now? He shoved Xu Xuehui into the stairwell entrance. Ding Longyun followed close behind. The giant crab was only a step slower, slamming its body against the stairwell opening with a tremendous crash.

“Phew, that was close! It’s too big to get in!” Ding Longyun sighed in relief and immediately cheered up. He stood at the stairwell entrance, gripping his steel shovel, and began striking the giant crab that was wedged in the doorway.

(End of Chapter)