Logan reacted swiftly, thrusting his tail deep into the water. In an instant, a powerful current erupted, spreading outward like an invisible storm in all directions.
Unfortunately—whether due to the distance being too great or the fish's enormous size—the shock failed to stun it. The massive creature shuddered violently before darting into the depths of the marsh at incredible speed, leaving only expanding ripples on the surface.
This left Logan with a twinge of regret. Conservatively, that fish weighed over a ton—the largest freshwater fish he'd ever seen in both lives combined. Even now, his claws itched faintly with anticipation.
Comparing it to creatures from the game he'd played, he had already identified it: Jyuratodus.
"This one's size is almost on par with a large gold crown individual in the game, huh? Wonder if I can reel it in like in the game..."
Logan lightly tapped the trunk beside him with a claw, staring at the now-calm water as he fell into thought.
But the real world wasn't like the game, where you could walk freely on deep water and wrestle multi-ton beasts with just a rod and thin line. To catch a fish this big, he needed an ultra-tough line first—and a massive hook capable of withstanding the impact.
Soon, a concrete plan formed in Logan's mind. He led Zhu Peiniang away from the Ancient Tree dock—the spot was spooked now, useless for a while. Time to find new prey.
With his keen sense of smell and powerful mobility, it wasn't difficult. Before long, he took down another Aptonoth.
This time, he not only devoured the delicious flesh but also took the two toughest femurs with him.
After eating his fill, Logan resumed digging the nest. Whenever he tired, he'd rest and meticulously grind those bones. Days blurred into routine labor, and another week passed.
The mound nest was finally complete: a six-to-seven-meter-long entrance tunnel leading to a flattened spherical chamber nearly 10 meters wide and over three meters high, with a massive central pillar—like a giant donut, sturdy and spacious.
Now, sprawled in the chamber was a beast over 8 meters long, its pristine white scales faintly glowing even in the dark—Logan, having fully replaced his old scales.
Over this period, he'd consumed vast amounts of meat and bone. Scales shed and regrew constantly. Even his arm blades, claws, and tail spike had molted, replaced by lighter, tougher structures.
Reduced weight per volume allowed his armor to grow larger and thicker. Logan now appeared a full size bigger, white scales interlocking seamlessly like full plate armor, without a single gap.
All the shed scales were carefully collected by Zhu Peiniang and hoarded in a corner like treasure. This made Logan suspect again: did this little one have the mythical Western dragon's greed for shiny things?
Just then, a massive dog-like head burst into the cave.
A week had brought visible changes to the rapidly growing Zhu Peiniang. Most notably, she seemed to be teething—always gnawing hard objects lately—and two small bumps had appeared on her head, the precursors to horns.
She excitedly squeezed beside Logan, rubbing her head against his scales with crisp rustles, expressing affection.
Logan couldn't quite handle this overly enthusiastic "cuddling." He quickly pressed a claw to her head, trying to push her aside. As she grew, Tobi-Kadachi strength emerged—reminiscent of walking a massive golden retriever in his past life and barely holding the leash.
"Alright, alright, enough!"
It took some effort to calm the excited Zhu Peiniang. Logan gave up on napping and pulled two foot-long bones from the corner.
After a week's careful grinding, both ends were sharpened into needle-like bevels, with a chopstick-thick hole drilled in the center—resembling weaving shuttles.
But these were special hooks. In his human days, he'd used similar ones for softshell turtles—designed for fast-swallowing prey.
The principle was simple: once the prey engulfed the baited elongated hook, tension on the attached line would flip it sideways inside, lodging firmly in the mouth or throat, making escape difficult.
Crude and brutal-looking, perhaps unreliable—but surprisingly effective in practice, especially against gulping large creatures.
Hooks done; next, the line—which Logan had prepared for.
Over the week, he'd gained over 10 evolution points. Most went to basic physical stats, markedly boosting strength, speed, and endurance. But 5 were allocated to spider silk protein glands in his forepaw pads, enhancing them greatly.
The familiar warm current flowed. The tiny sac-like organs in his thick paw pads proliferated, connecting to form 10 specialized silk sacs.
Linked via fine vessels to pores across his body, outer scales became openable structures. Blood flow collected spider silk protein from all pores, converting it into tough silk sprayed from the openings.
Logan emerged from the cave, finding a quiet spot. He planted two straight branches as anchors. Extending a claw, he pinched one—upon opening, five tough silk strands adhered.
He then shuttled back and forth between the branches, wrapping masses of silk until a thick white layer formed. Twisting them together would yield a strong fishing line.
(End of Chapter 31)
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