30%

30%

This guy's breath stank.

With his huge mouth thrown open in a roar, and the savage fangs inside like weeds, he proclaimed his strength to Li Zu.

Whether in size or strength, the gap between them was enormous.

Killer Croc's huge hand easily gripped Li Zu's head as though he were holding an egg.

His sharp claws lightly scraped Li Zu's neck, leaving red marks behind.

What Li Zu was considering now was whether, if he did not want his head crushed immediately, he should clench his teeth and shut his mouth like a raw egg to keep from being crushed.

That was right—even with his life in the other's hands, he still had time for random thoughts.

Killer Croc had no intention of crushing Li Zu's head either. He wanted a full meal more.

And before eating, he hoped this "little guy" in front of him would cry and beg for mercy. That would put him in a much better mood.

The standoff did not last long.

"Roar!!"

Killer Croc suddenly roared. Perhaps he had hidden here for so long that he had lost the ability to speak. With an angry howl, he flung Li Zu away, smashing him heavily against the iron door, while his other hand clawed at the back of his own hand.

Sharp claws scratched rapidly.

Scratch, scratch!

As his claws scraped, several scales fell away and floated atop the sewage.

The scales that had fallen off were plastic!

Only afterward did foul-smelling blood seep out.

The blood fell into the sewage and vanished without a trace. Only the plastic scales bobbed with the ripples.

"Cough, cough, hahahaha!" Li Zu struggled but could not get back up. He was laughing.

That blow had made his ribs crack sharply.

Li Zu's laughter made Killer Croc very uncomfortable, as though some terrifying monster from Gotham had appeared before him.

It had a human shape, yet it was a monster even less human than he was.

He had had countless chances to crush that person's head, yet he had always been toyed with and led around in circles.

Now, he felt that the guy before him was very much like that guy.

Killer Croc pounced over and easily lifted Li Zu up. He planned to give him a swift end first.

Even if Gotham had been occupied by Batman and those cops, even if his cooperation with Joker had only amounted to being toyed with one-sidedly, at least here, he could declare—

"I am the king of the sewers!" Killer Croc roared.

"Your ambitions are really grand." Li Zu stopped laughing and pressed both hands against Killer Croc's wide-open lower jaw.

This was the third time Li Zu had come so close to death.

Whether it was his confrontation with Batman or his showdown in Harvey Dent's office, both had given him the premonition that he would die at any moment.

This time, being caught by Killer Croc was no different.

The fangs were right before his eyes.

Whoosh~

Nosebleed poured out like a turned-on faucet, spraying hot blood across Killer Croc's scales.

"I wonder if you'd be interested in killing your way back to Gotham with me? We can trample those lofty people beneath our feet and let them see who truly rules freedom~" Li Zu asked with a smile, even though blood was flowing from all seven orifices and he looked utterly miserable.

Murderous intent flashed in Killer Croc's eyes. Right now, he only wanted to kill the bastard before him.

He wanted to bite off his head and stuff his eyeballs into the left pocket of that disgusting green suit.

But he discovered that his body could barely move.

"Looks like you've refused~"

Thud. Killer Croc released Li Zu and toppled sideways into the sewage.

What Killer Croc found even harder to imagine was that he was floating on the surface.

His mind gradually grew hazy until he completely lost consciousness.

Li Zu bent down and picked up the thumb-sized plastic Killer Croc toy.

Then he used his sewage-soaked sleeve to wipe the nosebleed that kept pouring from his nose.

Turning a giant like Killer Croc into a toy should have been difficult, yet this time felt easier than when he had turned Harvey Dent into a toy.

Perhaps it had something to do with [Toyification].

Before this,

Toyification: Mastery (21%)

It had become,

Toyification: Proficient (1%)

World Exploration Progress 30%

What he could gain at 30% World Exploration Progress was clearly different from what he could gain at 20%.

His ability had improved directly. But he was in no mood to study it now.

Swaying unsteadily, Li Zu unlocked the iron door and walked inside.

The four women huddled in the sewage in the corner, watching as he heavily threw himself onto the bed.

The stench spread everywhere.

The festering wound on his arm, together with the pain of his broken ribs, roused Li Zu from his heavy sleep.

He opened his eyes. The stench in the sewers seemed even worse.

"Two days?" He had a countdown timer. Waking after fifty hours of sleep left him feeling mentally refreshed but physically weak and hollow.

"Mm~" A startled cry muffled behind a hand.

The four women imprisoned here were still hiding in the corner. Even though Killer Croc had been dealt with and Li Zu had fallen unconscious, they still did not dare leave.

They were like dogs that had been chained for too long. Even after the chains broke, they did not dare step beyond the range they had grown used to.

Li Zu merely glanced at the four women before rolling off the bed and wading through the sewage toward the exit, one step at a time.

The women watched his staggering figure leave, exchanged glances, and silently followed.

Traveling through the sewers was agonizing. Fortunately, the rain had stopped, and the water level had dropped considerably, so the sewage no longer soaked his festering wound.

Several gray-furred rats swam across the water's surface in panic.

Bats lived here as well.

Li Zu was still holding the crocodile man toy.

He tried activating his ability in reverse. The crocodile man toy grew from thumb-sized to the size of a head, and his own head began to grow hazy again.

In the end, the half-man-tall crocodile man was tossed into the Item Box.

After walking for more than two hours, the view before him suddenly opened up.

It was a bright, sunny morning.

The weather was somewhat cold. His dried, wrinkled green suit had turned pitch-black and gave off a nauseating stench.

The women looked like savages as well, but at that moment, they cheered for having regained their freedom. Yet when Li Zu turned his gaze toward them, they fearfully huddled together and fell silent.

Pressing a hand to his injured arm, Li Zu returned to the villa where Joker had previously stayed.

The crumbling villa's iron gate still stood open.

A Scarecrow propped up at the entrance like some malicious prank seemed to be driving away any passerby who accidentally wandered into this terrifying paradise.

Crows perched on the treetops. When Li Zu returned, they flapped their wings and welcomed him with hoarse caws.

"Ah!"

"Mm!"

"Wuwu!"

The women huddled together in fear.

Without being invited, they still chose to follow behind Li Zu into the villa that resembled a haunted mansion.

Li Zu entered the first floor. The painting of the holy child angel on the wall disgusted him.

"Ah!!" The women who followed in pointed at the wall and screamed as though they had seen something terrifying. Unfortunately, Li Zu paid them no attention at all and went upstairs alone.

He violently ripped away the dust-covered white cloth. Amid a cloud of dust, he picked up a table knife.

He was going to treat himself.

Even without any medical knowledge, he knew that leaving a bullet in his body for too long would lead to no good outcome.

He was lucky. There was a medical kit here.

The rabbit-like women stood in the distance, watching him rip open his clothes, cut open the festering wound with the knife, pry out the bullet, and bandage the injury.

Sitting on the bloodstained sofa, he tilted his head toward the women.

"Do you think this world is unfair?"

Thanks to "Gut Forger" for the tip.

(End of chapter)