Nile and Maximo are at the place called 'Init' right now. Init is a Hamlet that is part of Hangin Village. There are still two hamlets that Nile and Maximo needed to pass in order to reach the next Village, which is the Village of Kahoy.

(A/N: Init = Hot, Kahoy = Tree, Hangin= Wind)

Currently, Nile and Maximo were standing at the entrance of Hamlet Init.

Nile and Maximo's mood are sour and a bit annoyed.

Behind them, a giant bobbed tail crocodile six to seven meters long is lying in the road, not moving as if it was a stone that originally belonged to that particular spot.

The crocodile thought that it was camouflaging extremely well. But in fact, it is not. From the crocodile's colour alone, which is dark green, and from the ground that is pale brown, one glance and you could tell that there is a crocodile lying in that spot.

What was even more absurd was that the crocodile would open its eyelid to squint and inspect its surroundings from time to time.

The reason Nile's mood was sour is that this crocodile had been following them since they exited the Village of Hangin.

Yes, it was the cunning crocodile from earlier at the Mini Zoo of the Hangin Village.

Nile had already noticed it approaching from the System Map, long before they exited the Village of Hangin. At first, the crocodile was only forty to fifty meters away from them. But after a while, the distance got closer and closer until the crocodile was now only ten meters behind them.

Maximo's reason for its sour mood is because he thought that the crocodile was shamelessly following them. He also felt annoyed by this crocodile. Maximo is also wary of this crocodile. As a pet acknowledged by the System, Maximo will prioritize Nile's life over its own. He did not want something to happen to his owner after all.

At thirty meters, Nile decided to halt and wait for the crocodile to approach them. Alas, the moment Nile and Maximo halted, the crocodile did the same, its quadrupled leg shrinks inwardly as its body lies there motionless just like a stone.

After waiting for a while and the crocodile still motionless as ever, Nile decided to continue with their journey. The moment they moved, the crocodile opened its eyes and followed behind them.

What was surprising is that even when Nile instructed Maximo to speed up, the crocodile was able to keep up and even increase the distance little by little.

This scenario was repeated many times until they reached the entrance of Hamlet Init. This time, the crocodile was only ten meters away from them, acting as a stone.

Nile turned around and decided to confront the crocodile. He walked slowly and steadily. Smokes seemed to ooze out of Maximo's nose as he followed behind Nile.

Crocodiles are known ambushers, in the wild, their favourite prey are dehydrated buffalo's who frequented the swamps to drink. Maybe this was also part of the reason why Maximo doesn't have a good impression of the crocodile. Maximo was a Water Buffalo, after all.

Nile wanted to settle this matter once and for all. Even though he is stronger than the crocodile by a large margin, he wanted to play it safe. Who knows if the crocodile suddenly launches an attack when he and Maximo are fighting some zombies? That will be troublesome.

Nile stood two meters away from the crocodile. The crocodile was wary as it squinted its eyes and stared at Nile. The crocodile's body is as calm as the sea, no movements produced other than the squinting of its eyes.

The bobbed tail crocodile seems to be confident of its camouflage ability. The crocodile thought that the person and the carabao at the front were not alerted of its presence.

Unfortunately, even a normal carabao could spot it. How much more Nile and Maximo?

Maximo could not take it any longer. He is angry because this crocodile had just wasted his owner's time. With the Earrings of Loyalty, Maximo is also able to sense Nile's mood. Nile's displeasure is apparent for Maximo.

Maximo jumped to the front and rotated his body midway, using his tail that was holding the sledgehammer, Maximo smashed the crocodile's head with a great force.

The crocodile was alerted in that instant; it moved its body forward. The sledgehammer was late by a second and could only hit the crocodile's spiked carapace. The sledgehammer bounced because of the recoil.

The collision from that time produces the sounds of metal hitting metal. Although the sledgehammer bounces back because of the recoil, the force that the Middle Stage Level One° Maximo could generate in that attack had definitely hurt the inner parts of the Early Stage Level One° crocodile.

Your outer shell is hard? Then can your innards withstand the force of the impact?

The crocodile roared in agony, the bottom of the cut tail had started to bleed again due to the impact that came from Maximo's sledgehammer attack.

As it roared in agony, the crocodile decided to make a counterattack. Its enormous jaw opened wide as it prepared to snap Maximo's hind legs.

However, it was at this moment that the crocodile sensed something dreadful.

A sense of death looms over the crocodile's head. The crocodile, in desperation, manages to move its eyes upwards barely. There, what the crocodile saw made its whole body tremble in fear.

A foot as big as a giant was descending towards the crocodile's eyes.

For the first time, the crocodile manages to see a word appear in front of it, covering its whole perception.

DEATH!

Behind the word, 'death' is a foot as big as a mountain.

Time seems to run in slow motion as the foot descends slowly.

The crocodile trembles in fear. The foot moved so slowly, like a snail, the crocodile's brain wanted to move but the body could not.

The foot brought pressure so unimaginable that the crocodile could not move and could only wait for the foot to land on its wide-open jaw.

The crocodile closed its eyes in despair. If only it had stayed at the Mini Zoo. If only it had not harboured ill intention to the delicious buffalo. The crocodile was full of regrets as it waited for the arrival of the foot.

However, a few seconds had already passed, but the foot still did not arrive. The crocodile opened its eyes slowly to see what was going on.

Perhaps the foot had already withdrawn to spare him?

BAM*!

However, the moment the crocodile opened its eyes, the foot landed on its still widely opened jaw.

The crocodile was regretting why it opened its eyes. It seems that the foot had not withdrawn, but only stopped on its track because the crocodile closed its eyes.

The crocodile's mind went blank for a second. The foot landed on its muzzle, its opened jaw had now been forcefully closed by Nile's foot.

Indeed, it was Nile's foot. Nile had been tolerating the crocodile's attitude from the start. He thought that the crocodile might leave them alone after it finished observing them in the distance.

However, it did not and continued to follow them all the way to the next Hamlet.

Nile decided to teach the crocodile a little lesson. But when he saw that Maximo's leg was about to be bitten, his body moved on its own as the displeasure turned into anger.

Nile stopped his foot midway. At first, he just wanted to punish the crocodile a little for stalking them. After seeing it preparing its jaw to stop Maximo, Nile decided to end or at least cripple this crocodile's life.

Fortunately, he reacted fast and managed to stop the crocodile's action. Although he knew that Maximo's constitution was stronger than the crocodile, the strength of its jaw could still injure or even break Maximo's leg.

Nile did not hesitate further, especially when he saw the crocodile's squinted eyes. He let his foot sink on the crocodile's jaw.

Nile's foot was now resting atop the crocodile's muzzle. The crocodile had already regained its senses, its body was twitching hard trying to break free from Nile's heavy foot.

The crocodile felt as though it's muzzle was about to break apart from the weight alone. It mustered all its strength to struggle free, but alas, it could not just break free from Nile's 'foot sealing technique'.

Nile hauntingly stared down at the crocodile under his feet.

The crocodile shivered in fright after seeing Nile's intense gaze. It stopped struggling and became as still as the deep ocean.

Nile pressed his foot heavily on the crocodile's muzzle one last time before withdrawing it.

"That was just a warning, stop following us already. Next time, a cut is the least you will receive. Shoo..shoo.." Nile said sternly as he stared daggers at the crocodile.

He doesn't know if the crocodile could understand his words, but like Maximo, it should be able to know what he means.

The crocodile nodded nervously. After a while, it retreated a few steps back and closed its eyes. The crocodile then slumps to the ground as it lowered its head to the ground as if in prostration.

Nile did not entertain the prostrating crocodile as he stared at the System's message inside his head.