FangBro looked reckless on the surface, but Evan knew better—

  The man was always tense, nerves wired tight, ready to bolt at the slightest danger.

  He brushed aside a thick layer of riverbed silt.

  More silt underneath.

  He dug deeper.

  Still nothing.

  FangBro exhaled in relief.

  “Nothing here, chat. False alarm.”

  But Evan’s expression darkened as he watched the stream.

  The entire riverbed was covered with Vahn River crocodiles—

  Except for the patch FangBro was standing on.

  Not a single crocodile in that area.

  That was wrong.

  Very wrong.

  Evan immediately sent a rocket gift and typed a highlighted message:

  “That area has no crocodiles. That’s not normal. Be careful.”

  As the top donor, his messages came with special effects.

  FangBro noticed instantly.

  “Good catch, big bro. You’re right. Something’s off. I think there really might be something under this riverbed. So I’m gonna head back to shore—”

  Evan felt relieved.

  Finally, he’s not completely suicidal.

  The chat, however, exploded with:

  “Coward!”

  “You’ve changed!”

  “FangBro used to be fearless!”

  FangBro coughed.

  “I mean… I’ll go ashore first. Then use earth?phase movement to dig from below.”

  Evan closed his eyes.

  I overestimated him.

  He didn’t even know what the so?called river monster was—

  What tier, what rank, what danger level—

  And he still wanted to poke it.

  FangBro climbed ashore, found a spot with no crocodiles, rested briefly, then activated earth?phase movement.

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  The screen went black.

  When it lit up again, he was underground.

  A cavern.

  The walls were wet mud, the ground covered in ankle?deep water.

  “Chat, there’s a whole cave system under the riverbed!” FangBro said, panning the camera around.

  “Let’s check ahead.”

  He walked only a few steps, turned a corner—

  And froze.

  Evan shot to his feet.

  The chat exploded so fast the screen became unreadable.

  Evan had to turn off the barrage to see clearly.

  Then he immediately sent FangBro a private message:

  “GET OUT. NOW.”

  The camera showed nothing but a claw.

  A single claw.

  A claw bigger than a human torso.

  It filled the entire frame.

  Whatever creature it belonged to…

  Its size was unimaginable.

  This wasn’t something humans fought.

  This was something you called Ultraman for.

  The shape of the claw looked familiar.

  Evan compared it mentally—

  It looked almost identical to a Vahn River crocodile’s claw.

  Just… monstrously enlarged.

  A mutated giant crocodile?

  Before he could think further, the claw twitched.

  FangBro’s face drained of color.

  “Chat… it’s waking up. We’re leaving!”

  He activated earth?phase movement instantly.

  He burst out of the ground onto the riverbank—

  And the earth shook.

  A deep rumble rolled through Crocodile Bay.

  The water level dropped sharply.

  Crocodiles fled in every direction.

  Then—

  SPLASH!

  A massive wave erupted.

  A tail as thick as a tree trunk—long as a utility pole—rose from the water.

  Then the creature surfaced.

  A colossal crocodile.

  No—calling it a “crocodile” felt wrong.

  This thing was beyond any known species, but clearly related to the Vahn River crocodile.

  Normal Vahn River crocodiles were already huge.

  But compared to this monster, they were toys.

  Its cold, dead eyes locked onto FangBro.

  Then it lunged.

  When it landed, the ground collapsed inward, forming a massive crater.

  Its Raging Tides skill blasted outward—

  Nearby crocodiles were instantly killed or left twitching, skin torn open.

  FangBro barely escaped with earth?phase movement.

  The chat went insane.

  “THE WATER MONSTER IS REAL!”

  “RUN FANGBRO RUN!”

  “WHAT IS THAT THING?!”

  “THIS IS INSANE!”

  FangBro didn’t dare push his luck.

  He fled immediately and shut down the stream.

  Evan stood up and ordered the crew to stop the boat.

  If they kept going, they’d sail straight into Crocodile Bay—

  And that monster would tear the boat apart like paper.

  Minutes later, FangBro water?phased back onto the deck, collapsing in exhaustion.

  “What… what the hell was that thing?” he gasped.

  “A mutation,” Evan said. “Vahn River beasts mutate more often than any other species.”

  There was no record of such a creature in any database.

  Even online, nothing matched.

  A unique mutation.

  Normally, beasts followed fixed evolution paths.

  A squirrel became a burrower, a glider, or an armored rodent.

  Those forms evolved into predictable Tier?2 species.

  But sometimes, external stimuli forced a beast off its natural path—

  Creating a one?of?a?kind mutation.

  Mutations could be weaker or stronger.

  This one was definitely stronger.

  Ordinary Vahn River crocodiles were helpless before it.

  “That thing is insane!” FangBro said. “Can you believe it’s only Tier?2?”

  Evan’s eyes widened.

  “You’re sure? Not Tier?3?”

  “Positive. When it used its skill, the evolution glow was orange.”

  Evan’s heartbeat quickened.

  He had liked the crocodile’s Raging Tides skill earlier—

  But it was too weak.

  This monster’s version was terrifying.

  If he could get that extract…

  But the creature was far too strong.

  He and FangBro couldn’t handle it.

  FangBro spat out a mouthful of mud.

  “That thing is definitely S?rank!”

  S?rank?

  Evan shook his head.

  He had seen a Tier?2 S?rank beast—the Undying Salamander.

  In size and destructive power, it was nothing like this.

  The salamander only surpassed the giant crocodile in regeneration.

  If this monster was S?rank, it was the pinnacle of S?rank.

  So now we know the “river monster” is real…

  and it’s big enough to reshape the entire bay.

  Question is:

  Should Evan try to hunt it someday—or avoid it forever?

  Tell me what YOU think Evan should do.