### Chapter 009: I Am the Turtle Who Will Become the Crocodile King

Su He didn't get too close, just watched from a distance. There were about a hundred or so crocodiles here, but the one he had torn off a front leg and gutted the other day was nowhere to be seen.

It was probably dead.

That's the way of the wild beasts; an empty stomach is manageable, but injuries are fatal.

Especially for aquatic animals, the risk of wound infection is higher.

At the edge of the crocodile group, a half-grown crocodile was hunting a sturgeon, already biting a four-foot sturgeon in its mouth, rolling continuously in the water, trying to tear its prey apart.

Su He swam silently up to it, bit the sturgeon's spine, and twisted in the opposite direction, snatching half of the sturgeon and quickly retreating from the battlefield.

The young crocodile was stunned.

It hunted away from the group because it couldn't compete with the older crocodiles, and even at this distance, it got robbed? Are turtles this bold now?

Looking at the turtle's size, it didn't chase after it but instead tore into the remaining half of the sturgeon.

Su He swam over a hundred meters away before stopping. The fish in his mouth was only half, but it was still flopping.

Dice rolled:

Two points!

Sturgeon quality improved.

Lately, luck had been good; he'd rolled quality points several times in a row.

The sturgeon was crisp and fragrant as it entered his mouth.

With teeth, even the sturgeon bones were crushed. This sturgeon was long but not fat. Su He was only thirteen parts full.

With a full belly and nothing to do, he swam aimlessly.

Several little turtles swam by in a hurry. Su He tried to gather them together, but the little turtles panicked and even bit him back.

Turtles couldn't communicate, had no body language, and wouldn't make a sound.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread.com".

After trying all afternoon, Su He gave up. He planned to look around and see if he could find that Green Snake. Logically, snakes were solitary creatures, so why would there be a Snake King? How did it make other snakes obey?

Su He pondered, and the water rippled behind him. Turning his head, he saw the half-grown crocodile he had robbed of the sturgeon sneaking up for an attack.

Su He chuckled.

With a swift stroke of his four claws, he charged at the crocodile like an arrow. As he approached, Su He retracted into his shell and headbutted it.

Thud!

A dull thud sounded as the crocodile's nose caved in halfway, blood streaming down, and it fled with a wailing cry.

The attack methods were too simple; a turtle could only clumsily bite. Su He was eager to master demon arts but didn't know where to start.

He needed to find that Green Snake.

Now that Su He was outside, it was much safer. The scent of the Demon Morphing Fruit was no longer strong, and crocodiles two or three hundred meters away weren't coming at him recklessly...

Damn! Here it comes!

Jinxed it!

A massive crocodile, six meters long, came charging at Su He, swaying its body and swinging its tail.

Su He squinted, advancing instead of retreating, paddling swiftly towards the old crocodile, intending to use the same trick and give it another headbutt.

As he rammed into it, the old crocodile suddenly opened its mouth and bit at Su He.

Crunch!

Su He was caught halfway in the crocodile's mouth, the stench overwhelming.

The old crocodile's jaws exerted force, unable to bite through or spit him out, leaving the turtle stuck in its mouth.

Su He hooked his claws into the corners of the crocodile's mouth and tore outward, causing the crocodile to let out a miserable scream, turning into a split-mouthed creature. Su He kicked and struggled free.

The old crocodile turned and fled into the crocodile group.

Other crocodiles looked at Su He, some eager to try, some quietly retreating, and some circling around to prepare for a sneak attack.

Su He lingered outside the crocodile group, moving his limbs, ready to fight or flee at any moment.

For the next half month, Su He operated outside the crocodile group, living a simple life: eating, sleeping, and fighting old crocodiles.

He endured beatings and survived, eventually standing tall.

Over a dozen days, all hundred or so crocodiles had some close encounter with Su He.

The biggest disagreement between him and the crocodiles was that he didn't participate in hunting but wanted to share their food. If the crocodiles didn't agree, there was only fighting.

Su He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he still did it.

During this time, Su He's teeth fully grew in, sharp and interlocking, even the hardest scales on a crocodile's back couldn't withstand his bites.

From initially being evenly matched, even slightly weaker, relying on his wits to fight, now no crocodile was his match.

Su He could now roam freely among the crocodile group, daring to snatch anyone's food. At worst, he'd just fight again.

These days, nutrition was abundant, though he hadn't rolled any high points; quality improvements were mostly two or three points, but the quantity was large enough to be filling.

With enough nutrition, evolution was fast.

Since the day before yesterday, his throat and ears had been itching. Until today, the throat itch disappeared, and suddenly Su He could make sounds.

"Yaa~ Yaa~"

His newly formed vocal cords produced a tender sound. Su He didn't dare call out too much, not worried about the cutesy sound being embarrassing, as the ugly old crocodiles were all around. He just feared that calling too much would damage his newborn vocal cords.

A turtle the size of a dinner plate listened in terror to Su He's calls.

These days, Su He tried every way to tame a few of his kind, aiming to ascend the throne of "Turtle King." But without exception, all failed. Turtles seemed inherently untamable.

These turtles were even dumber than those on Earth in his past life! Back then, Su He could at least tame his pet turtles.

Su He let go of the turtle, sighing helplessly. Behind him, water rippled again, and another crocodile, forgetting past beatings, approached. He turned slowly to see a crocodile holding a fawn, avoiding the group, and swimming to his side.

Then it placed the fawn in front of him.

Su He: "???"

The fawn struggled to escape, only to be caught and killed by the crocodile, then placed in front of Su He again.

A bigger question mark appeared above Su He's head.

Su He was dumbfounded for a while before understanding the crocodile's intent from its eyes: It's for you.

Was this an offering? Beaten into submission?

Su He was bewildered.

He took the fawn, and the crocodile happily circled around him.

A dice spun and landed on the fawn's body, two points.

One fawn turned into two.

Offerings count too? Is this protection money?

Su He absentmindedly tore at the venison. Having eaten high-quality meat often, ordinary food was just for taste. It couldn't stave off hunger. Eating such a fawn wouldn't keep him full for long.

No crocodile dared to snatch Su He's food, even if he ate one and tossed another.

Another crocodile even brought a python to Su He.

Today, the old crocodiles had a revelation.

This crocodile had been beaten by Su He just yesterday.

Su He accepted the python, three points, quality.

Su He was overjoyed, gladly accepting the python, and tossed a fawn to the crocodile. The crocodile was even happier, making a sound like a bullfrog.

Su He felt that sound was expressing something.

The itch in his ears worsened.

The python wasn't as tasty as the Swimming Snake, the meat was tough and hard to chew, but it had a bit more spice.

After eating, he did some post-meal activities and slowly fell asleep. This nap lasted two or three days, and he was awakened by the noisy calls of the crocodiles.

Crocodiles lay on the water's surface, howling, their bellies drumming up countless splashes.

The itch in his ears disappeared, and the crocodiles' noise now had distinct meanings to Su He.

Not complete sentences, just expressions of certain meanings:

"Hungry!"

"Want to mate..."

"It hurts!"

"Want to mate..."

"Eat!"

"Want to mate..."

More than half were simple, unconscious roars, with some like these. Among the conscious calls, half were courtship.

Crocodiles' mating season wasn't until late spring or early summer, so why were they making noise now? Did climate change affect the Hundreds of Beasts so much this year? Why hadn't he noticed?

Ah...

Turtles matured at seven or eight years old, and by age, Su He was still a little turtle, not yet troubled by such matters.

That's good.