Chapter 49: Deadly Crocodiles

Since Chu Peipei now had An Nan protecting her, there was no way to touch her again.

If An Nan decided to take revenge, that would be a huge problem!

Bai Wenbin shook Qian Yinger, who was sleeping on the floor, awake.

""Stay at home and don't wander around. I need to go out for a bit.""

With that, he left the house alone.

Qian Yinger tilted her head, staring in confusion at his desolate figure as he walked away.

……

Ever since An Nan had dealt with Bai Wenbin and Qian Yinger, she’d been in a great mood.

But because she’d inhaled a strong sedative that day, there were still some lingering toxins in her body, and she would occasionally feel dizzy.

As a perfectionist, An Nan couldn’t tolerate even the slightest flaw in her otherwise strong-as-an-ox body.

Dizziness, of all things!

If she couldn’t cure it, how was she any different from that idiot Qian Yinger?

Chu Peipei couldn’t help but roll her eyes at this logic.

There’s a huge difference, okay!

She never expected that An Nan, who was so fierce in a fight, would actually be so careful about her health.

After checking An Nan over, Chu Peipei concluded that the most effective treatment would be traditional Chinese acupuncture—to regulate her qi and blood flow, and slowly expel the toxins from her system.

But she was a Western-trained surgeon. Although she was interested in Chinese medicine and had dabbled in it, she was only a beginner at acupuncture.

So she needed to consult some medical books and improve her skills before she could treat An Nan.

In the meantime, An Nan had to take calming and detoxifying medicines while waiting for Chu Peipei to figure things out.

Chu Peipei, for her part, buried herself in medical texts at home, using herself as a test subject as she repeatedly practiced acupuncture techniques and studied the pressure points.

Fortunately, An Nan’s physical foundation was excellent. She practiced health-preserving exercises like Baduanjin and the Eight Pieces of Brocade every day, so her daily life wasn’t really affected.

As the days passed, more and more people outside were starving to death.

In less than three months, people’s lifestyles and worldviews had undergone massive changes.

Everyone was getting used to death.

If someone heard the wailing of a family who’d lost a loved one, they would just walk by numbly.

Even seeing a corpse floating in the water was no longer shocking—they’d just use a paddle or their hands to push it aside so it wouldn’t block their boat’s path.

Prolonged hunger and stress had made people increasingly indifferent. Almost everyone’s life had been turned upside down.

The only one seemingly unaffected was An Nan, who spent her days at home focusing on health and gardening.

That day, as usual, she went into her space to carefully tend the isatis root in her experimental field, diverting water from the pond behind the villa to irrigate it.

After finishing her work, she came out of the space with Fugui, whose belly was bulging from drinking too much water.

As soon as she landed, she heard screams coming from outside the window.

""Crocodiles! There are crocodiles!!""

""Ahhh! Help! The boat flipped!""

""Honey, quick! Get up here!""

Hearing the commotion, An Nan walked to the window and looked outside. She saw the water below in total chaos, with several groups of people who’d gone out scavenging now in a panic.

Some had fallen into the water, some were reaching out to help, some were desperately paddling their kayaks away, and some boats had already capsized...

The source of their terror was a few crocodiles floating in the water.

At that moment, a woman missing her left arm and leg was already floating on the surface.

Several crocodiles were circling her, tearing at her flesh. Blood spread through the water, dyeing the area red.

More crocodiles, attracted by the scent of blood, were swimming over.

Amid the screams, a crocodile approached a man who’d fallen into the water. With a sudden snap, it bit down on his right leg.

The man cried out in pain and struggled desperately to break free.

But once a crocodile bites its prey, it never lets go.

Sensing the man’s resistance, the crocodile, which had only been clamping down on him, suddenly spun 180 degrees in a death roll.

Once wasn’t enough—it spun again and again, and the man’s right leg was torn off in an instant.

Satisfied, the crocodile began to chew.

Soon, more crocodiles gathered—one bit his other leg, another his arm, another his head.

They all started death rolling, fighting to tear him apart.

In no time, the man was completely devoured by the beasts.

And he wasn’t the only one—others in the water met similar fates.

Even those on boats trying to save people were grabbed by the arm, yanked into the water with a roll.

Some reacted quickly and paddled away in the chaos, but those who were slower had their kayaks overturned or bitten through, falling into the water.

The screams from below soon drew the attention of residents in every building.

Everyone stood at their windows, watching in horror at the carnage below.

Dear God! How are we supposed to survive like this?

Surviving the flood was already hard enough, and now there were terrifying creatures in the water—who would dare go out looking for food?

Before long, the water calmed down again. The only thing left on the blood-stained surface were crocodiles gnawing on severed limbs.

An Nan drew the curtains and stopped looking.

In her last life, crocodiles had appeared around this time too, injuring many people.

Later on, all sorts of other fish would show up as well.

Prolonged flooding had caused rivers to backflow, letting aquatic animals move freely—more freely than humans.

But danger often comes hand in hand with opportunity.

At first, people were terrified of the crocodiles, but soon they’d realize they could hunt them.

These predators would soon become so scarce that there wouldn’t be enough to go around.

After all, humanity didn’t become the dominant species on Blue Star and the top of the food chain for nothing.

Soon, driven mad by hunger, people would nearly eat the crocodiles to extinction.

In her previous life, it was eating crocodile meat that had given An Nan a sliver of hope when she was on the brink of starvation.

But this time, she had no intention of risking her life to hunt crocodiles with everyone else.

The chicken, duck, beef, and lamb in her space were more than enough to last her a lifetime—no need to eat meat that had been soaking in filthy water.

That water was full of household garbage, human waste, and rotting corpses.

She had no desire to eat anything fished out of there.

She’d rather not compete for survival resources with others...

Let them have it all!

Like An Nan, Chu Peipei also realized that the crocodiles could be eaten.

She’d been staying home to recover, not going out to look for food. Her days were spent studying acupuncture and practicing her marksmanship.

Although her skills had improved, the food An Nan had given her was running low.

She needed to find a way to get more food.

Just as she was about to head out, she witnessed the terrifying scene outside her window.

At first, she was filled with lingering fear—thank goodness she hadn’t rushed out, or she’d be in the water too.

Then, watching the crocodiles feast, a thought suddenly popped into her head:

Is it possible that instead of it eating me, I could eat it?"