He Had Given Himself Too Much Credit

It wasn't the sound of fish swimming; it sounded more like something heavy was grinding against the riverbed. The surface of the water was being pushed open inch by inch, and even the shallow water near the bank trembled slightly.

Lu Heng took a half step back, his gaze fixed on the river.

The first thick tortoise shell broke through the water.

Then came the second and third sides.

Five or six enormous Mudstone Pincer-Mouthed Turtle swam slowly from downstream. Each turtle's shell was as big as a millstone, its grayish-brown surface covered with dried mud and algae. Its heavy limbs moved slowly in the water, stirring up large undercurrents.

They stopped in the water less than twenty meters from the shore.

Motionless.

The Wristband pops up for authentication.

[Mudstone Pincer-Mouthed Turtle]

Grade: Black Iron Tier

A giant aquatic turtle with an extremely hard shell and mandibles capable of crushing rocks. It also has a keen sense of smell.

Black Iron Tier.

Lu Heng's pupils contracted slightly as he quickly weighed his options. With his Bronze Tier strength, taking on any Black Iron Tier Mudstone Pincer-Mouthed Turtle one-on-one was no problem, but a group attack would ultimately be troublesome.

He gripped the bone knife tightly, glancing at the King Snake beside him out of the corner of his eye.

It's coiled up in the bushes; I'll try to sneak up and bite it a few times later.

Should I confront it head-on?

However, the turtles did not immediately launch an attack.

They remained where they were, their six turbid vertical pupils all staring in the same direction—not at Lu Heng, but at the shallow water behind him, the traces left after the decomposition of the Sludge Mutant remains.

The turtles' gazes first fell on that patch of water, as if searching for something. They swam slowly, their massive shells pressing deep, dark currents beneath the surface, their pincers opening and closing with a dull, clicking sound.

Then, one of the turtles shifted its gaze from the wreckage and slowly turned it toward Lu Heng.

To be precise, it turned towards the dark cyan Mutant Core in his palm.

Then, the second, the third—all the turtles' eyes fell on that core.

Lu Heng was taken aback.

Then he realized what was happening.

These turtles weren't after him from the start.

They are chasing after Sludge Mutant.

They chased after it from downstream, following the energy fluctuations of the Mutant Core, for an unknown distance. Their original target was the Sludge Mutant that Lu Heng had lured into the shallow waters by controlling the King Snake —that was their prey.

As for himself, he merely intercepted their prey halfway and pocketed the core along the way.

Lu Heng glanced down at the core in his palm, then looked up at the group of silently approaching turtles, and his lips twitched.

After all that, he thought it was because he was probing the waters by the river that he attracted the Sludge Mutant. He even thought his luring tactics had worked, driving the monster from the deep water to the shallows. He was secretly pleased with himself—his judgment and execution had indeed not disappointed him.

And the result?

The Sludge Mutant wasn't attracted by him at all.

It was the group of turtles chasing it.

From beginning to end, he was merely a opportunist who happened to be standing on the prey's escape route.

This thought gave Lu Heng a subtle sense of absurdity, but the absurdity lasted for less than a second before being suppressed by the approaching swarm of turtles.

Lu Heng remained calm and fearless, only highly vigilant. Even if he could win, facing five or six heavily armored Black Iron Tier beasts would inevitably result in considerable unnecessary losses.

The turtles started moving.

The first to move was the smaller turtle on the far left. It suddenly accelerated, its heavy shell smashing through the water and creating a half-meter-high turbid wave that crashed straight to the shore.

Lu Heng retreated instantly, holding the bone knife horizontally in front of him.

But when the turtle reached a point three meters from the shore, it suddenly stopped. It snapped its massive pincers shut with a sickening cracking sound, then slowly retreated back into the group of turtles.

It's not an attack.

It's a test.

They were testing Lu Heng's reaction speed, his attack range, and whether he still had any strength left.

Lu Heng's expression was solemn, and he understood.

These turtles are tactically minded.

They are not wild beasts that rush in on instinct, but rather they are figuring out their opponent's strengths and weaknesses with minimal cost.

The second turtle began to move, flanking from the right. Then came the third, the fourth—the group of turtles began to spread out, like a slowly tightening net, encircling the shore from three directions.

Lu Heng's gaze swept quickly across the entire river surface.

Run? There's a dense forest behind him; he could slip inside, but the turtles have an extremely keen sense of smell. If he manages to escape into the forest with the core, won't the turtles chase after him? Their pincers can crush rocks, and the tree trunks of the dense forest won't stop them.

Fighting five or six Black Iron Tier, the King Snake was already exhausted from the previous struggle, and ordinary physical attacks with its bone knife were almost ineffective against its thick armor. To inflict damage, it would have to find a weak point in the turtle shell and strike it precisely with its Mental Energy. Although its mental reserves were still sufficient, dealing with several at the same time was still a considerable challenge.

The group of turtles is getting closer.

Fifteen meters. Twelve meters. Ten meters.

Lu Heng's fingers tightened slightly as he gripped the hilt of the bone knife. His gaze swept over the group of turtles, and he suddenly noticed a detail—

In the very center of the group of turtles, one turtle was noticeably larger than the others. On its shell, there was a faint layer of dried, dark blue-green markings, exactly the same color as the Sludge Mutant.

There were still fragments of bone remaining on the turtle's mandibles.

Lu Heng's pupils suddenly contracted.

This Turtle King had devoured something similar before.

It has tasted the sweetness.

Therefore, it is more anxious and more dangerous than the other turtles.

The Turtle King slowly raised its head, its turbid vertical pupils staring straight at the core in Lu Heng's palm. Its pincers opened slightly, emitting a low, almost inaudible buzzing sound.

The buzzing sound pierced the water's surface, causing Lu Heng's Wristband screen to flicker.

The turtles accelerated simultaneously.

The turbid waves surged, and the six thick tortoise shells broke through the water's surface in unison, rushing towards the shore.

Lu Heng took a deep breath, and his Mental Energy rapidly condensed within his body, causing a faint blue glow to rise from the blade of the bone knife.

He did not back down.

I'll give it a try.

The Turtle King charged ahead, its massive pincers wide open to reveal layers of serrated keratin inside, and it bit down hard on Lu Heng's waist and abdomen.

Lu Heng dodged to the side, and using the momentum of his turn, the bone knife slashed fiercely at the edge of the Turtle King's shell.

clang--

A dull metallic clang rang out, the bone knife was deflected, and the hand between the thumb and forefinger went numb.

The tortoise shell was intact.

However, the pale blue Mental Energy on Lu Heng's blade had already seeped into the cracks in the carapace.

The Turtle King's movements paused very slightly.

efficient.

A cold glint flashed in Lu Heng's eyes.

He doesn't need to split the tortoise shell.

All he needs to do is find a gap and send his Mental Energy in.

The second wave of the turtle troop's charge has arrived.