Big Cat could travel 30 kilometers in an hour, but given the conditions in the wilderness, he couldn't go full speed. For one thing, it was dark and visibility was limited. For another, the flooding had made the terrain difficult to navigate.
Wang Yu could only ride Big Cat forward cautiously.
After about half an hour, they still hadn't encountered anything. Wang Yu was getting rather frustrated. This reward was way too hard to find.
Suddenly, Wang Yu saw something moving in the water ahead. Just as he was trying to make it out, a huge Black Shadow lunged at him.
"Ah!" Wang Yu was startled.
Just then, he felt himself fly through the air. Big Cat had thrown him off.
"Ah!"
Wang Yu hit the ground, baring his teeth in pain. It hurt.
Fortunately, he had held on tightly to the Oil Lamp, so it hadn't been flung away. Even the violent jolt hadn't put out its flame.
By the Lamp Light, Wang Yu saw what was happening ahead: a huge crocodile had clamped its jaws around Big Cat.
Wang Yu understood. A giant crocodile in the water had attacked him. At the crucial moment, Big Cat had thrown him clear, while the crocodile had bitten down on Big Cat.
To be precise, the giant crocodile had probably been targeting Big Cat. After all, Big Cat was larger and made an ideal hunting target.
And when Big Cat couldn't escape, he had chosen to protect Wang Yu.
In an instant, Wang Yu pieced together what had happened. He hurriedly drew his Crossbow and fired at the giant crocodile.
Just then, Big Cat vanished in a puff of smoke. Big Cat was a conjured creature, and when he sustained fatal damage, he naturally returned to his original form. As long as his Cat Eye remained unharmed, Big Cat could be summoned again after 24 hours.
Big Cat's sudden disappearance left the giant crocodile momentarily stunned. That was when Wang Yu's arrow struck.
The distance was only a few meters. Wang Yu's arrow hit the crocodile right in the eye. He had aimed for its eye from the start, and despite the rush, his shot had been remarkably accurate.
The giant crocodile came to its senses after being struck in the eye and thrashed wildly in pain.
Wang Yu immediately drew his second Crossbow and pulled the trigger. With the crocodile's body thrashing, he could only aim at its massive body.
The arrow flew and hit the crocodile, but then something unexpected happened: it bounced right off.
"What?"
Clearly, this giant crocodile's hide was too tough for an arrow to pierce.
If he couldn't get through its defenses, what could he do?
Wang Yu took out his third Crossbow and aimed at the crocodile's side, pulling the trigger. The crocodile's back looked as hard as armor, but the flesh along its belly seemed softer.
He pulled the trigger again. The arrow flew and hit its mark. This time, nothing went wrong; the arrow sank into the giant crocodile's body.
He'd hit it.
In the space of three or four seconds, Wang Yu had fired three arrows at the giant crocodile. The first had struck its eye, the second had hit its back and bounced off, and the third had pierced its belly.
The environment shaped people. This time, when he encountered the giant crocodile, Wang Yu was much calmer than he had been when he ran into the Black Horned Sheep. Half a month of playing the Survival Game had changed him. He had become a capable survival game Player.
At a critical moment, he had quickly identified the weak spot on the giant crocodile's belly and hit it.
Hit by two arrows, the giant crocodile hurriedly turned to flee back into the pool.
Wang Yu wasn't about to let it get away. It had come all this way—how could he let it leave?
"Summon Giant Stone Technique."
"Boom!"
A boulder more than six meters long and five meters tall suddenly appeared out of thin air, then crashed down hard.
With a thunderous boom, dust flew up from the ground.
The boulder didn't land on the giant crocodile. Instead, it blocked the crocodile's way back to the pool.
The giant crocodile's escape route was blocked by the boulder that had fallen from the sky. The crash of the boulder hitting the ground sent it scurrying about in panic.
The giant crocodile tried to flee in another direction.
Then, Wang Yu had a flash of inspiration. He hurriedly took out a Torch and lit it.
A Torch was the best way to stop the giant crocodile. No beast was unafraid of fire.
The giant crocodile tried to escape another way, but Wang Yu held the Torch and blocked its path.
Wang Yu dared to stand his ground because he could see that the giant crocodile was badly wounded and blind in one eye. Its speed on land had been severely compromised, so he could keep it at bay with the Torch.
So Wang Yu held fire in one hand and his Entrenching Tool in the other, battling the giant crocodile. When it tried to flee, he stepped in its way. When it tried to attack, he nimbly retreated.
When the enemy advanced, he withdrew; when the enemy retreated, he harried it. His goal was simply to keep the giant crocodile from escaping.
With the Torch held out in front of him, Wang Yu knew the crocodile feared the fire and wouldn't dare charge him. He also moved nimbly, occasionally landing a few blows with his Entrenching Tool. The giant crocodile grew furious and frantic, just as Wang Yu had hoped.
The giant crocodile had been struck by two arrows. It wouldn't be able to thrash about for much longer. Wang Yu meant to wear it down.
After more than ten minutes, the giant crocodile finally stopped struggling, barely alive. It had incredible vitality: besides taking two arrows, it had also been struck dozens of times with Wang Yu's Entrenching Tool.
Then the giant crocodile vanished before Wang Yu's eyes, and three Prompt Messages appeared on the ground.
[Iron-Backed Giant Crocodile Meat 27kg] [Iron-Backed Giant Crocodile Hide*1] [Silver Coin*4]
Wang Yu looked at the three items on the ground and collected the crocodile's 27 kilograms of meat, its hide, and the four Silver Coins.
The giant crocodile's sneak attack had been a close call. It seemed the wilderness was getting more and more dangerous.
Wang Yu drank some water and rested for a quarter of an hour before getting back up and continuing on. He still had to search for rewards.
He couldn't summon the first Big Cat again for 24 hours, so he called out a second one.
Wang Yu climbed onto Big Cat and continued on his way, now even more cautious than before.
At the same time, Wang Yu switched to using a Torch for light. All sorts of unexpected situations could arise in the wilderness, and a Torch would make it easier to respond. The encounter with the giant crocodile had proven that.
If the giant crocodile had put out his Oil Lamp, Wang Yu would have been in danger. He had Big Cat to thank for that. When Big Cat threw him, he had used just the right amount of force, so the Oil Lamp hadn't gone out.
Thinking of this, Wang Yu patted Big Cat on the back. Though Big Cat was a summoned creature, he was genuinely dependable.
After traveling for more than half an hour, the second Big Cat was almost out of time, and Wang Yu still hadn't found a single reward.
A thousand rewards had been randomly scattered across the wilderness. Finding one was no easy task.
It also came down to luck. Someone lucky might find one as soon as they set out.
If the second Big Cat ran out of time, he would have to head back. To stay safe, he needed to save two Big Cats for the return trip to the shelter.
He opened the Prompt Messages to check on the rewards. [Remaining rewards: 1000/1000]. In other words, not a single one of the thousand rewards had been claimed.
This was good news: he could take his time searching for them. It was also bad news, because it showed that the rewards weren't easy to find.
Just then, a Prompt Message popped up.
[Ding! A reward, 'Fruit of the Birch Tree,' has been found 300 meters ahead. Its location has been marked on the 'Game Map.' Please proceed with caution to claim it.]
"Found one."
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