Creatures like the Shamos were barely worth a glance in Logan's eyes these days.
As his body continued to grow, the average thickness of his scales had surpassed 7 centimeters, with the thickest sections exceeding 10 centimeters. High-purity Carbalite fused with enamel, calcium, silk protein, and various trace elements, making his scales far harder and tougher than ordinary steel. It was like a layer of massive tank armor, providing breathtaking defensive capabilities.
With the Shamos' small limbs and weak frames, even if Logan stood still and let them attack, they would struggle to leave a single scratch on his scales. Furthermore, the unique arrangement of his armor wrapped his body—even his rear—tightly. Even if they wanted to mimic the "African Second Brother" (the hyena) and go for a cheap shot, it was impossible.
Even if a high-caliber round from a Barrett rifle hit his scales, the only result would be a ricochet. To actually cause him harm, one would need armor-piercing shells or heavy artillery.
The Shamos seemed to have a clear understanding of their own strength. They trailed behind Logan and Zhu Peiniang, not out of aggression, but in hopes of scavenging their leftovers. As scavengers, their habits were much like vultures; they understood the wisdom of following a large apex predator to survive.
...
As the terrain gradually sloped downward, the air began to fill with a damp mist. This discovery made Logan's eyes light up, and he unconsciously quickened his pace.
However, as the distance closed, what appeared before him wasn't the river he expected, but a colossal blue coral. It was disk-shaped and soft to the touch, looking like a giant piece of jelly.
A yellow Coral Pukei-Pukei was crouched by the soft coral, its head buried deep inside as it gulped down massive amounts of water.
This was a subspecies of the Pukei-Pukei. Because the Coral Highlands lacked poisonous plants, it had lost its ability to secrete toxins, evolving instead to control water. When it stored enough water in its body, the water jets it spat out reached such high pressures that they could slice through solid rock.
Logan wasn't hungry at the moment, so he didn't disturb it. He led Zhu Peiniang further ahead. The blue soft corals became increasingly dense, dotting the ground like stars. From a high altitude, they would look like a cluster of shimmering blue eyes.
Suddenly, a thunderous roar erupted from ahead. An invisible pressure swept through the area like a hurricane, causing Logan to stop dead in his tracks.
To his shock, he found his body trembling uncontrollably. His biological instincts screamed at him, a frantic warning driving him to get as far away from the source of the sound as possible. Beside him, Zhu Peiniang flattened herself against the ground instantly, her eyes darting around in sheer terror.
What is that?
Logan struggled to steady his breathing. Enduring the unease in his heart, he climbed onto a protruding coral mound. Ahead of him lay an enormous expanse of soft coral; its pale blue surface was covered in a layer of pure water that shimmered like a gemstone under the sunlight.
A massive, four-legged, twin-winged monster sat perched beside the soft coral. With only a slight parting of its jaws, a great spiral of water rose from the ground, flowing automatically into its mouth.
"That's... Namielle!"
Logan's gaze turned solemn. This was the first time since his reincarnation that he had witnessed a true Elder Dragon. While in the game, these creatures might not always seem overwhelmingly powerful—sometimes even falling short of certain Tempered monsters—one could only truly feel that suffocating, primal pressure when facing them in person.
The creature's body length was only about 22 meters, shorter than the Glavenus he had encountered before, but Logan had zero desire to provoke it. Instead, he instinctively lowered his head, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.
Just by the Namielle being there, the moisture in the air began to stir uncontrollably. With his keen sense of smell, Logan could sense the water content in the air rising rapidly. Clouds gathered overhead with terrifying speed—the prelude to a Great Deluge.
The sky grew dark, and fine droplets began to fall, turning into a torrential downpour within seconds.
The Namielle slowly raised its red head. Within its triangular mouth were rows of teeth as fine and sharp as steel nails. As the world turned dim under the dark clouds and rain, the monster's body suddenly erupted in brilliant light.
Across its blue-purple body, ripples of bioluminescence flowed like waves. On its massive, sail-like wings, vertical bands of light flickered. The long whiskers under its chin, reminiscent of a catfish, glowed with a deep crimson light. Though it was a biological creature, it looked like a neon sign—vibrant, multicolored, and dazzling.
As the Namielle excitedly threw back its head and flapped its wide, manta-ray-like wings, the falling rain grew even heavier.
A shallow layer of water quickly accumulated on the ground. As the minutes ticked by, the water grew deeper, soon rising into surging waves.
Logan finally understood. This place had no rivers or waterways, yet it was home to so many moisture-rich blue corals. The source of it all was this Namielle.
In the distance, panicked cries rang out. A large number of drinking animals were now fleeing frantically toward higher ground. A small Kelbi, caught off guard by a sudden surge of water, lost its balance and was swallowed by the churning waves in the blink of an eye.
Fortunately, Logan and Zhu Peiniang were on higher ground and didn't have to worry about being submerged. The two behemoths pressed themselves tightly to the earth, staying perfectly still as they watched the Namielle dance with abandon in the rising waters.
After a long period of frolicking, the Namielle finally seemed satisfied. It flapped its wings and took to the sky, flying toward the distance.
The dark clouds began to dissipate, and the water on the ground drained rapidly through the crevices in the reef. Soon, the weather cleared, and the surging water vanished without a trace, as if everything that had just happened was a mere hallucination.
However, the carcasses of small animals left on the ground bore witness to the "miniature natural disaster" triggered by the Namielle's whim.
At that moment, several Shamos crawled out from the coral crevices above. In an instant, they pounced on the drowned carcasses and began to feast.
As scavengers, they were like vultures, adept at seizing every opportunity and never letting a scrap of food go to waste.
Scenes like today's had likely occurred countless times throughout their long evolution. They had grown accustomed to it, even viewing it as a specialized hunting method. Thus, every time the waters receded, they were always the first to arrive.
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