Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 419: Chapter 259: The Hunt Begins

This time, things weren’t as peaceful. Three American Crocodiles immediately bared their sharp teeth, swimming menacingly toward their competitors.

The most ferocious one was even about to bite down, scaring the other two into quickly backing away.

With that retreat, they instantly lost their right to eat.

That American Crocodile swaggered forward and swallowed the iguana head floating on the surface. The cringe-inducing CRUNCH was clearly audible even from over ten meters away.

Before it had even swallowed the food in its mouth, Lin Chen had already tossed out the second piece of bait.

PLOP.

The other two American Crocodiles had intended to move, but when they saw the ferocious one already swimming toward the sound, showing no intention of sharing, they could only remain silently in place and watch.

But soon, they discovered the two people standing not far from the shore, their chilling vertical pupils locked onto them.

Erica suddenly shivered and subconsciously leaned closer behind Lin Chen.

Lin Chen teased her, amused, "Aren’t you a forest guide? How come you’re scared just from being stared at by a wild animal?"

"That’s because I don’t have a gun!"

Erica’s face flushed slightly, and she stuck her tongue out in embarrassment. "A gun is my source of security. Who wouldn’t be scared facing a beast this big empty-handed?"

"I don’t have a gun either, so how come I’m not scared?"

Lin Chen spread his hands. Aside from the wooden knife and fish spear tucked into his belt, he had no other weapons.

Then there was the utility knife in his pocket, but that thing could hardly be called a weapon; it wasn’t even long enough to be considered a dagger.

Erica froze for a moment, her eyes scanning him up and down a couple of times, her face a mask of disbelief.

"You... you didn’t bring *it*?"

"Nope. We’re not here to capture an American Crocodile today, so why would I bring it? That thing’s heavy as hell."

"IF YOU DIDN’T BRING IT, THEN WHY ARE YOU PROVOKING THEM!!!!"

The words had barely left her mouth before Erica had already scrambled seven or eight meters away. She patted her chest repeatedly, a look of lingering terror on her face.

"Look at you, what a chicken."

The corners of Lin Chen’s mouth curled into a wide grin. ’I can’t believe this crazy girl is actually such a coward. What happened to her usual bravado? Not so tough now, are you?’

Not only was he unafraid, he even tossed out another bone.

By the time the American Crocodile had swallowed the third piece of bait, it had reached the edge of the shore.

He didn’t even need to do anything extra. The creature had already smelled the scent of blood in the air. It hauled itself onto the bank with its stout, short legs and headed straight for the trail of bait he’d laid out.

Perhaps because it was near its nest, the big creature showed no wariness at all. It just swaggered along the bait trail, happily munching away.

Of course, Lin Chen didn’t just stand there. As the American Crocodile came ashore, he had already backed away, maintaining a distance of about ten meters.

This distance was close enough to film the American Crocodile clearly, yet also left him enough room to react, even if it suddenly charged.

"I get it now. This is their territory, and they normally have no natural predators. There are no humans around, and hunting is prohibited, so they’ve never experienced a real threat to their lives."

"The only thing they need to be wary of is each other. So even when they see us, they just treat us like some unfamiliar large animals. As long as we don’t attack them first, they most likely won’t risk attacking us."

Animals have a natural instinct to pursue advantages and avoid danger. For example, if you see a puppy or a kitten on the street, the moment you make eye contact, you might think it’s cute and want to pet it. Even someone afraid of cats and dogs wouldn’t have an extreme reaction.

But if you saw a stray dog the size of a person staring at you, any normal person’s first reaction would be to tense up, subconsciously thinking, ’Don’t come over here, don’t come over here,’ and trying to figure out how to escape.

One’s mindset and thoughts are determined by the size of the creature they’re facing.

The two sides faced off from a distance for a while. Then, the American Crocodile began to slowly back away, still facing him the entire time. Only when it reached the water’s edge did it turn and dive in.

"Let’s go."

’I’ve gotten the answers I came for; no need to linger here any longer.’

"We’re leaving already?"

Erica followed behind him, confused. It was only on the way back that she realized Andre had disappeared at some point. There weren’t even any particular tracks on the ground where he had been standing.

"Yeah. We’ve accomplished our goal, so why stay? You want to spend the night here?"

"That’s not out of the question." Her eyes lit up, and she bumped his shoulder with hers. "Be honest, you really just came all this way to see me, didn’t you? You missed me, right?"

"..."

The corner of Lin Chen’s mouth twitched. He quickened his pace, putting two or three meters between them in a matter of seconds.

’Damn this mouth of mine! Why did I have to go and make a stupid joke!’

’Oh wait, no. It’s all that damn girl’s fault. I’ve definitely been spending too much time with her. Her way of talking is rubbing off on me!’

After returning to the shelter, he immediately went to the bamboo pile, sat down, and picked up a long, thin bamboo stick to start writing and drawing in the dirt.

"So, it’s confirmed: the American Crocodiles are easily lured by bait. That means the original plan can be simplified. I don’t need to find a game trail or build a fence. I just need to set a simple trap."

His original plan had been to line the game trails near the shore—the ones the American Crocodiles frequented—with branches, forcing them onto a fixed path and preventing them from running wild when they came ashore.