Chapter 27: Growth

"AOW!"

The bitten Crocodile Lizard howled miserably. Under the threat of death, it flailed its limbs, desperately trying to counterattack.

But its body was bound tightly by layers of vines, rendering all its efforts futile.

"ROAR!!"

Beneath snow cake's terrifying bite force and tearing, a spine-chilling CRACK echoed from the Crocodile Lizard's neck as its bones fractured.

Gradually, the strength of its struggles weakened at a visible rate.

"Well done!"

Seeing this, Han Ning manipulated the vine in his hand, sending it darting forward. It pierced into the smaller Crocodile Lizard's eyeball, churning its brain to mush.

Meanwhile, the other Crocodile Lizard—the one entangled by six vines—burst with all its strength, on the verge of snapping most of its restraints.

"snow cake, you finish it off, hurry!" Han Ning shouted in a low voice.

He wanted to see if there would be any difference in the Energy obtained between dealing the finishing blow himself versus letting snow cake do it.

snow cake abruptly released the second, now-lifeless Crocodile Lizard, letting its corpse sink to the bottom of the water.

Its yellow vertical pupils locked onto the first Crocodile Lizard. Its hind legs pushed off again, and it lunged forward just like a ferocious saltwater crocodile.

Its massive, tooth-filled maw viciously clamped down on the Crocodile Lizard's relatively soft underbelly.

RIP!

The tough Scale Armor was easily torn apart by snow cake's terrifying bite force, instantly ripping out the slippery organs and intestines.

"HISS..."

Right up until its death, the first Crocodile Lizard's body remained entirely confined by Han Ning's vines.

Its massive frame spasmed violently a few times before going completely limp, leaving only its tail twitching nervously.

The murky water surface was rapidly dyed dark red by a large pool of blood, the heavy stench of gore spreading through the curtain of rain.

"Phew... snow cake is much more formidable than the likes of Chen Yan and Lu Minghu."

Han Ning slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, his tense nerves relaxing slightly.

Two orbs of pure blue light drifted out of the Crocodile Lizard corpses and quickly split.

The first orb came from the smaller Crocodile Lizard whose brain Han Ning had mushed with his vine.

After splitting, the light orb, about the size of a glass marble, shot straight into Han Ning's chest.

Upon entering his body, it transferred to snow cake in a peculiar manner, rather than separating into multiple streams mid-air like it did when he hunted alongside other humans previously.

[Druid Growth Progress +25, Current: 187/300]

[Vine Technique (Middle Level) Skill Level +3, Current: 187/200]

[Spiritual Power: 15/20]

A familiar warmth dissolved within him, nourishing his body and Spirit.

[Swamp Crocodile Lizard Growth Progress +6, Current: 53/100]

Following closely behind was the second light orb, originating from the slightly larger Crocodile Lizard that snow cake had bitten to death.

[Druid Growth Progress +30, Current: 217/300]

[Vine Technique (Middle Level) Skill Level +2, Current: 189/200]

[Spiritual Power: 17/20]

[Swamp Crocodile Lizard Growth Progress +13, Current: 66/100]

"There really is a difference." Han Ning's eyes flickered. "For prey I finish off personally, I receive about eighty percent of the Energy, while snow cake gets twenty percent.

"For prey where snow cake delivers the final blow, I get roughly seventy percent, and snow cake takes close to thirty, maybe even a little more... Overall, I take the lion's share, but snow cake still gets decent nourishment."

This was completely acceptable to Han Ning.

He needed Energy to raise his own Level and Skills, and snow cake's rapid growth was also an indispensable part of his combat strength.

Whether it was an 80-20 or a 70-30 split didn't affect his total personal Energy acquisition too much, but it could accelerate snow cake's growth. In the long run, it was a worthwhile trade-off.

"HISS..."

snow cake popped its head out of the murky water, shook off the bloody water and slime, and approached Han Ning's feet.

Its yellow vertical pupils swept over the two sinking Crocodile Lizard corpses. Just like the last time Han Ning had fed it the flesh and blood of its own kind, its eyes showed none of the instinctive craving it usually displayed when facing other food.

"Other wild Crocodile Lizards eat their own kind, but snow cake doesn't..." Han Ning thought.

It seemed that after signing the Soul Contract, not only had snow cake's intelligence improved, but its perception of its own kind had also subtly changed.

Perhaps it subconsciously viewed these wild Crocodile Lizards as a closely related Race and no longer saw them as a pure food source.

Or perhaps the scent of the Black Tide made it instinctively reject them.

"I'll let snow cake try again next time we encounter creatures of a different Race," he pondered.

It would be best to find a large, cheap source of meat for snow cake. Otherwise, with its huge appetite, simply relying on scavenged human food would likely be hard-pressed to satisfy its growing stomach in the future.

The stench of blood here was too thick; it wasn't safe to stay long.

Han Ning's gaze swept over the slightly larger Crocodile Lizard's corpse, formulating a plan in his mind.

"snow cake, do me a favor."

He directed snow cake to dive underwater and use its sharp claws to tear off several large chunks of flesh—still attached to the scales—from the relatively intact hind leg of the larger Crocodile Lizard.

Dark red blood gushed out once more, dyeing the surrounding water an even deeper shade of crimson.

Han Ning used his vines to bind the chunks of meat, which reeked heavily of blood. He then used Wang Mazi's Kitchen Knife to shave off the outer Scale Armor, leaving behind a large piece of pure flesh that he packed into a plastic bag.

"Let's go! We're changing locations!"

He climbed onto snow cake's broad back once again.

SPLASH!

Carrying him, snow cake swiftly departed from the blood-shrouded waters, swimming toward the deeper parts of the park.

...

Over the next few hours, the man and the lizard acted as apex predators of the waters, prowling through the submerged ruins of Blue Bay Park.

Han Ning repeated his tactic.

Sometimes, he used a half-sunken observation deck as a hunting ground. Other times, he used the tilted roof of a pavilion.

Then, he would have snow cake carry a small, cut-up chunk of Crocodile Lizard Meat that radiated a pungent stench of blood. The lizard would swim slowly through the nearby waters, acting as live bait.

The moment they spotted a lone Crocodile Lizard drawn in by the bloody scent, snow cake would instantly accelerate back to the ambush point.

If they encountered a larger one, it would simply abandon the meat and flee.

After killing about six Crocodile Lizards in succession, the time was approaching noon.

However, the sky grew increasingly gloomy, and the rain seemed to have intensified a bit.

Han Ning had consumed more than half of his Spiritual Power, and snow cake was also displaying a hint of fatigue. The Energy replenished from killing monsters could raise their physical limits, but their recovery rates couldn't balance out the sheer exhaustion of high-intensity hunting.

"Let's rest for a bit and eat something. I remember there's a small convenience store at the northern entrance of the park. We'll go check for supplies later..."

Han Ning gave the vast majority of the food they had brought to snow cake, while he gnawed on a few pieces of compressed biscuits with a bottle of water.

As he ate, he tallied up his gains.

[Class: Basic Druid (Level 3)]

[Spiritual Power: 9/20]

[Skills:

Vine Technique (Middle Level): 197/200

Rapid Growth (Middle Level): 78/200

Rejuvenation Technique (Middle Level): 38/200

Tree Skin Technique (Middle Level): 12/200

Animal Companion (Middle Level): snow cake (Swamp Crocodile Lizard Level 1 Growth Progress: 92/100)]

[Druid Growth Progress: 269/300]

The Vine Technique was only 3 Skill Level points away from upgrading.

His Druid Level was also stuck at 269/300, 31 points short of a breakthrough.

On the other hand, snow cake was on the verge of growing again.

Its size had grown faintly larger once more. Its grayish-white scales gleamed with a cold, metallic luster under the dim light, and its slightly bulging muscles made it look incredibly solid and robust.