Chapter 42: The True Form of the Mimic

"Crack!"

The giant crocodile struggled, and in the chaos, its tail struck the treasure chest, shattering the fake black iron chest into splinters scattered across the ground.

So the so-called black iron chest was nothing but a wooden box.

This mimic was truly adept at disguise.

Once the wooden chest was completely smashed, the mimic's true form was exposed—a long fleshy worm, resembling a huge earthworm, with rings of protrusions encircling its body.

Upon closer inspection, those protrusions bore short tentacles, likely used by the mimic to anchor itself.

"Slurp~"

"Slurp! Slurp!!"

Even with its true form revealed, the mimic was still desperately trying to swallow the monstrous crocodile, but it was clearly overreaching, unable to digest prey so much larger than itself.

Its belly was stretched thin as gossamer by the crocodile; Ye Da could even see the crocodile gnawing at the mimic's innards from within.

Yet the mimic's digestive fluids could barely even touch the crocodile's tough hide.

It seemed...

The crocodile was simply too formidable; the mimic stood no chance. Its demise was only a matter of time.

"This won't do—I can't just sit and wait for death!"

Ye Da realized he had to act. If he waited until the crocodile finished off the mimic, he and the wolf pups would be in grave danger!

Unless they fled now, far from this river, never to return.

But...

Opportunities like this—where two enemies battle and the bystander stands to gain—were rare!

In this dreadful place, danger only multiplied.

So...

He had to seize every chance to grow stronger!

Ye Da raised his sharp axe and crept behind the crocodile, striking at its tail!

A crocodile's tail is its weapon, used for balance and to attack prey. If he could sever it, its strength would be halved.

"Thunk!"

To Ye Da's surprise...

The axe bounced off the tail as soon as it struck.

The crocodile's tail bore only a shallow wound, barely a scratch, with not a drop of blood!

Wasn't this supposed to be a top-tier axe? Was the reputation so undeserved?

"Whack!"

Though he hadn't severed the tail, the crocodile felt the pain and immediately swung its tail toward whatever had harmed it!

Ye Da watched the massive tail sweep toward him. He was nowhere near as agile as the wolf pups.

Seeing the tail about to strike, his only possible reaction was to raise his arm to block, hoping to absorb the blow!

"Whack!"

The crocodile's giant tail slammed into Ye Da's fist, sending him stumbling back.

But he held his ground!

Though...

Ye Da felt his fist tingling with numbness, but he had managed to block the blow.

He had withstood the crocodile's tail attack!

Ye Da opened his eyes and saw his fist had turned to stone—the product of exertion. He immediately understood—it was the stone skin!

Stone skin had absorbed most of the attack!

"Swish!"

Though the crocodile couldn't turn its head, it sensed its attack had been blocked.

So it whipped its tail again, aiming for another strike!

"Woof!"

"Woof woof!"

The two wolf pups, summoned back by Ye Da, had been bored. Now, seeing their master under attack, they rushed to join the fray.

"Crunch!"

Little White repeated its trick, biting down hard on the crocodile's tail.

The crocodile, mid-swing, had to raise its tail high, trying to shake off the intruder.

Ye Da would not let such a golden opportunity slip!

"Take this, iron fist! You dumb fish!"

Ye Da, with a stone-skinned fist, smashed down onto the crocodile's caudal vertebra. With a crack, the crocodile's body buckled into a V-shape!

"Splurt!"

"Roar!!"

The crocodile, in agony, crashed through the mimic's body, letting out a deep, guttural howl!

The mimic, breached by the crocodile, collapsed limply to the ground, transformed into a dead, bloated intestine.

The crocodile seized the chance to break through the mimic's flesh, lunging once more at Ye Da.

But its movements were clearly sluggish!

"Still coming?!"

Seeing his stone fist was effective, Ye Da was overjoyed.

As the crocodile charged, Ye Da punched downward, bursting one of its eyes.

The crocodile shook its head, still unwilling to yield!

But this time, Ye Da gave it no chance to open its jaws—he pummeled its head again and again!

"Thud!"

"Thud thud!"

Ye Da battered the crocodile's face, splattering colors—red, white, yellow, black—all over, as if a dye shop had been spilled.

When Ye Da felt the pain in his knuckles and came to, the crocodile's head was already flattened.

The wolf pups, seeing the crocodile collapse and lie still, even went to bite its tail for confirmation.

When they found the crocodile truly dead...

They circled Ye Da, barking joyfully.

"Woof woof!"

"Woof woof woof!"

Ye Da reached out and rubbed the pups' heads, sitting down tiredly. "Yes, we won."

"Hahaha, that was a close call!"

"But this round, I get two beast cores in one go—quite a reward!"

As Ye Da sat down, he noticed the mimic had already transformed into four glowing spheres—a beast core, ten portions of mimic meat, ten units of inferior wood, and a sapphire ring.

"What is this ring for?"

Ye Da took out the ring from the orb—it was made of platinum, intricately carved, with a deep blue gem set on its face, exceptionally beautiful.

He used his analysis glasses for a long time, but got only one message...

[Item level too high, analysis failed. Please try again!]

Too high-level?

This sapphire ring was actually higher level than the lucky ring on his finger?

The prompt made Ye Da's heart race with anticipation.

He tried analysis again.

Still failed!

But the hint from his glasses led him to a conclusion—this ring was no ordinary item!

Never mind, he'd study it slowly tonight.

He slipped the ring onto his finger, feeling delighted.

Though the chest was fake, the gains were real!

Ye Da crushed another orb.

"Mimic meat? Is it edible?"

Ye Da eyed the mimic, so much like a giant earthworm, and doubted its meat was fit to eat!

He took out a portion wrapped in transparent skin.

He opened it to find segments resembling pig intestines.

"I wonder if this tastes like pork tripe?"

The mimic looked revolting, but its meat was oddly tempting.

Thinking of bamboo shoots and pork intestine stew, Ye Da's mouth began to water.

But...

Now was not the time to cook, but to level up!

Ye Da had always wondered, if he absorbed a beast core with his other hand, would his left hand become like his right, gaining a stone skin gauntlet?

When Ye Da gripped the mimic's beast core with his left hand, warmth flooded his hand—but instead of remaining there, it quickly flowed into his right arm.

Then...

His right forearm turned ashen, merging seamlessly with his fist!

It was like he was wearing a long gray rubber glove.

"Only the upper arm left—then this limb's evolution will be complete!"

Ye Da examined the gray glove on his arm, flexing and relaxing; the stone skin now condensed and dissipated much faster than before.

This made him wonder, "Does expanding the stone skin's coverage improve its overall effect?"

"And even though I grabbed the beast core with my left hand, only my right hand evolved—the left remained unchanged."

"Is it that I must fully evolve the right arm before the left can begin?"

"What effect will a fully evolved arm have, I wonder?"

Ye Da's heart stirred; he quickly turned to the crocodile.

He saw the unmoving crocodile had also transformed into a pile of glowing spheres!

It seemed...

Tonight he could upgrade his entire arm to stone skin!

Ye Da's anticipation soared.