"The Sand Crocodile comes ashore from this coast and then follows this path, heading straight for the pigsty."
"It's been a long time now. Every other day, one or two pigs are bitten to death and dragged into the sea to be devoured. These Sand Crocodiles are truly atrocious."
Tang Xian sighed as he spoke, looking at the torn pigsty and the blood scattered inside, unable to hide the heartache on his face.
In the Ocean World, due to the cost of farming, meat prices differ from those on Blue Star.
Here, seafood is cheap, extremely cheap.
On the contrary, the prices of land animals such as pork and beef are very expensive.
Pork, similar to king crabs on Blue Star, is consumed only by those with a little extra money.
A 5-pound fish might cost just 2-5 Copper Coins at most.
But 5 pounds of pork would absolutely not be less than 30 Copper Coins.
A pig, weighing several hundred pounds, being eaten by a crocodile every day, that's money disappearing, how could Tang Xian not feel distressed.
"Please help us, Mr. Fang, to rid us of the Sand Crocodile menace. If you can solve this problem..."
Tang Xian thought for a moment and then said, "I actually have a gunboat modification scroll in my warehouse, which I've no use for now. I'll offer it as a reward to Mr. Fang!"
"A gunboat modification scroll?"
Fang Yu's eyes lit up and he quickly nodded.
Any gunboat modification scroll usually doesn't sell for less than 20,000 Copper Coins.
This task not only comes with experience rewards but also a scroll reward, which is fantastic for Fang Yu.
He didn't hesitate and agreed immediately.
...
The Sand Crocodile usually moves at night; only after the meat merchants rest does it sneak ashore to steal pigs.
So in the afternoon, Fang Yu told everyone to go back to the Salted Fish, take a nap, and replenish their energy.
Once night fell, Fang Yu led everyone to quietly hide in the pigsty, waiting for the Sand Crocodiles to arrive.
Time passed by the minute and second.
The night sea breeze carried a biting chill, but the crew's physical attributes had been enhanced through upgrades.
No matter how cold the sea breeze, it was nothing to them.
Fang Yu held a pistol, hiding in the pigsty, quietly keeping his eyes on the seaside, adjusting his breathing.
Nightfall brought complete darkness, only the faint moonlight spilling down.
In the past, in such darkness, one couldn't see the surroundings without a flashlight.
But...now the rustling on the beach was clearly visible to the crew.
On one hand, as they upgraded, their vision was enhanced along with their physical attributes.
On the other hand, it was thanks to the crew members with the Far-sighted Talent.
As long as a crew member with the Far-sighted Talent was signed on the ship, all crew members could gain a 15% increase in vision.
15% might seem small, but it was precisely this key factor that allowed them to see the surroundings clearly in the dark.
For night operations, other crews had to rely on flashlights and similar tools.
But for Fang Yu and his crew, the 15% vision boost enabled them to capture extremely faint light and see everything around them clearly.
They've arrived!
At that moment, Fang Yu's eyes narrowed, looking towards the shore, where several crocodiles were stealthily emerging from the water.
In the next moment, upon confirming that the sea was peaceful, these emerging crocodiles cautiously bobbed their heads out, beginning to crawl up the beach.
Their movements were extremely gentle and sneaky.
The skin of these crocodiles was grayish-brown, rough and tough, blending almost perfectly with the color of the sand.
These types of crocodiles use the cover of the sandy beach, blending into the sand to hide and hunt.
That's why they're called Sand Crocodiles.
The Sand Crocodile is 3 to 5 meters long, which might not convey much when seen in figures, but when these crocodiles appeared before Fang Yu and the others, they suddenly realized these creatures were much larger than anticipated.
Imagine even a strong man lying stretched out on the sand is only about 1.8 meters long.
At 4 meters, it's the length of two strong men put together.
A creature of this size exceeds the majority of crocodiles seen on Blue Star, but in the Ocean World, these Sand Crocodiles are only prey for novice captains.
At this moment, the gigantic Sand Crocodiles were silently emerging from the water, crawling towards the pigsty.
The intense visual impact made a few crew members slightly tense, their hands shaking as they held their guns.
"Prepare!"
At this moment, Fang Yu's calm voice rang in everyone's ears.
The forum's group chat feature also had a voice command function.
For some reason, upon hearing Fang Yu's calm and steady voice, several people unwittingly calmed down, with their prior worries and panic gradually soothed by Fang Yu's voice.
They became calm, their eyes fixed on the Sand Crocodiles ahead, waiting for them to completely come ashore.
One after another, Sand Crocodiles continuously emerged from the ocean, climbed onto the beach, and got closer and closer to the pigsty.
Fang Yu frowned slightly, a little surprised.
The number of Sand Crocodiles was more than he thought, reaching as many as 12.
It seems that Tang Xian might not have told him the whole truth.
With so many Sand Crocodiles, how could one or two pigs satisfy them? At least 4 or 5 pigs per meal would be necessary.
Tang Xian was probably worried that upon hearing the true scale of the Sand Crocodile issue, Fang Yu would refuse the task, exacerbating his losses.
Fang Yu sneered internally.
To think I believed that innocent and gentle face, assuming you were a decent merchant.
Now it seems, merchants who venture far and wide, if truly innocent and kind, would probably be left with nothing, not even bones.
In business, there cannot be true innocence.
Fang Yu quickly refocused his attention on the Sand Crocodiles before him, casting aside his inner complaints.
Watching as these Sand Crocodiles gradually left the ocean, approaching the pigsty, their sudden movements making it impossible for them to retreat back to the water, Fang Yu's eyes gleamed with a sharp light. He then loudly shouted in the midst of the ship crew:
"Take action!"
With Fang Yu's command, everyone immediately stood up, holding their pistols up, and began shooting at the Sand Crocodiles on the beach.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Luo Kuan, who had been upgraded by Fang Yu using Lord Points, had a firearms talent that could be shared with every crew member on the ship.
Even those who hadn't trained extensively in firearms found that the proficiency and accuracy bonuses from the firearms talent allowed them to shoot the Sand Crocodiles accurately.
Realistically... given the size of the crocodiles, it would be difficult to miss.
The first shot hit the Sand Crocodile's outer skin, resulting in a sharp metallic clash, accompanied by the sound of a carapace shattering, echoing across the beach.
"So hard!"
The crew was somewhat surprised by the incredible toughness of the Sand Crocodile's skin.
The first bullet merely shattered the nearby scales, exposing the tender flesh inside, without causing actual harm to the Sand Crocodile.
Only by shooting the same spot again could someone penetrate the flesh and injure a Sand Crocodile.
Therefore, if shots did not hit the same spot twice, it meant the attacks were ineffective with no substantial damage to the Sand Crocodile.
"Shoot the head, hit the same spot twice, and you can kill a Sand Crocodile!"
Fang Yu quickly realized this, and immediately began directing loudly.
Beside him, Luo Kuan hesitated not; his firearms talent gave him a special edge.
Due to the gun's power, no one present was stronger than Luo Kuan, and each of his shots was 1.5 times the strength of others.
This endowed Luo Kuan with great confidence; his eyes glowed, and he swiftly fired twice, directly piercing through the head of one Sand Crocodile.
Its body trembled, dead on the spot.
"Sand Crocodile killed. All crew members receive 10 experience points, 20 Copper Coins as a reward."
"Well done, Luo Kuan!"
Someone shouted.
Just then, Luu Yuan's exclamation came from nearby: "Luo Kuan, watch out, two Sand Crocodiles are lunging at you!"
Luo Kuan froze, instinctively glancing to both sides.
The next moment, Luo Kuan's eyes widened in shock as he saw two Sand Crocodiles with mouths wide open, rushing to snap at him.
With them so close, he could at most shoot one, but the other...
Luo Kuan felt a sense of despair, helplessly watching the crocodiles lunge at him...