Chapter 49: Beat Them to Submission

In Su Nian's vision, the Insight skill began providing information about the Rock-Armored Crocodiles:

[Rock-Armored Crocodile - Level 13 (Tier 2) - Tender Meat, Best Steamed]

[Rock-Armored Crocodile Leader - Level 15 (Tier 2) - Tough Meat, Better Braised]

Su Nian: "⊙ω⊙??"

He felt that there was something seriously off with the combination of his system and the Insight skill. Although the information provided by the Insight skill was somewhat influenced by his own emotions and thoughts, he had clearly been thinking about taming the Rock-Armored Crocodiles as mounts, not eating them!

At this thought, Su Nian swallowed a gulp of dragon saliva.

He decided to reason with the Rock-Armored Crocodiles first. If reasoning failed, then he'd have to use "reasoning" of another kind.

"Foolish Rock-Armored Crocodiles, I am giving you a chance now. Submit to the great black dragon, Su Nian·Wotru·Stupak! You have three seconds to hesitate."

The Rock-Armored Crocodiles exchanged bewildered glances, staring blankly at the black dragon roaring angrily in the sky.

What did the black dragon just say?

[Crocodiles, quick, three seconds?]

Was this black dragon mocking their... brevity?

This was intolerable!

So what if it was a black dragon?

Even a black dragon couldn't insult crocodiles like this!

The Rock-Armored Crocodiles were instantly enraged, letting out "grrr-honk grrr-honk" roars of fury at the black dragon in the sky. Their four stout claws slapped the wet, marshy ground, sending up splashes of foul-smelling mud.

Were Rock-Armored Crocodiles really this bold?

Now it was Su Nian's turn to be dumbfounded.

He began to suspect that his Dragon's Might was a sham. It seemed that any creature with even a trace of dragon blood could resist it for a bit.

This made Su Nian very angry.

He decided not to bother with the countdown.

He would go down there and personally teach these Rock-Armored Crocodiles what "benevolence" meant—and what "Draconic Rhetoric" was all about.

With this thought, Su Nian flapped his wings, adjusted his posture, and dove toward the group of Rock-Armored Crocodiles like a bomber, bringing with him a powerful gust of wind.

Seeing the black dragon's figure getting closer and closer, the Rock-Armored Crocodiles opened their mouths wide and braced themselves.

To the leader of the Rock-Armored Crocodiles, the black dragon's size wasn't particularly intimidating.

As the leader, it was its duty to step up first.

Suppressing the fear in its bloodline, it leaped up with all its might, its crocodile jaws opening wide like a trap filled with jagged teeth, aiming to bite the oncoming black dragon.

But...

"Crunch!" It bit into thin air.

A tremendous force followed, slamming into the Rock-Armored Crocodile leader's upper jaw with a loud "thwack."

It felt a fiery pain, its head spinning. The four-to-five-ton body was sent flying by a single slap from the black dragon, spinning like a screw before drilling into the marshy ground, leaving only its tail covered in rock-like armor sticking out—a peculiar tombstone of sorts.

Having landed a successful blow, Su Nian continued his dive, his claws aiming at two Rock-Armored Crocodiles.

Grabbing one on each side, he flew back to the edge of the marsh and casually tossed them onto the ground.

[Rock-Armored Crocodile - Level 12 (Tier 2) - Female]

"Grey Wolf, Bolikri, these two are yours. Beat them until they can't get up!"

Su Nian issued his command and flew back into the air above the marsh.

The remaining crocodiles were all males. Apart from the leader, who was still struggling to pull its head out of the mud, the others had already begun to scatter.

"Run? I gave you three seconds earlier, and you didn't appreciate it. Now that you've pissed me off, you think you can just walk away? Get back here!"

Su Nian grinned wickedly, his dragon breath organs swelling as a sickly green glow lit up in his throat.

"Grrrrrr—ROAR!"

A stream of green flames spewed from Su Nian's mouth.

Flying in circles, he sprayed the flames around a section of the marsh, trapping the slow-moving crocodiles.

With their escape route cut off, the remaining Rock-Armored Crocodiles had no choice but to start digging into the marsh, hoping to use "earth escape" to burrow their way out.

However, the sun-baked marsh had dried out somewhat, lacking the moisture to allow such large creatures to burrow easily.

Their massive bodies, a strength in some situations, became a weakness here.

Frantically digging, they managed to get one crocodile head partially into the ground, but no matter how much it wriggled, it couldn't go any further.

The absurdity of the scene nearly made Su Nian laugh out loud as he hovered above.

Seeing these foolish crocodiles digging their own graves, he didn't hesitate any longer. Diving down like an eagle snatching chicks, he grabbed them by their tails and flung them onto nearby rocks.

"Thwack!" "Thwack!"

In no time, the remaining male crocodiles, including the leader, had all been thrown onto dry ground.

Some of them still tried to resist.

But when Su Nian stepped on one of the Rock-Armored Crocodiles, raised his head, and unleashed a full dragon breath directly into its mouth, reducing it to ashes from the inside out, all the remaining crocodiles lay flat on the ground, motionless and obedient.

Su Nian crouched down, his menacing dragon mouth dripping with searing acidic liquid that sizzled as it fell onto the armored skin of the crocodile leader.

He extended a claw, lightly tapping the crocodile leader's face, knocking out a few teeth, and threatened in a garbled draconic voice:

"Submit to me, or I'll burn you to ashes with my dragon breath!"

Although the crocodile leader didn't understand what the black dragon was saying, it could clearly see the imminent threat of the dragon breath.

So it obediently lay flat, using its short, stout claws to hug its crocodile head.

The other crocodiles followed suit, adopting submissive postures.

"See? Why couldn't you just do this earlier? Did you have to push me to kill?"

Su Nian shook his head helplessly and dripped a drop of his heart's blood onto the head of the now-docile crocodile leader.

Before long, the seemingly foolish crocodile leader gained a glimmer of intelligence.

"Oh great master, we really didn't only have three seconds!"

This was the first relatively coherent message the crocodile leader conveyed to Su Nian.

"You didn't even last three seconds."

Su Nian sneered, his dragon claw thudding repeatedly on the crocodile leader's head, knocking loose bits of rock-like debris.

After subduing the crocodile leader, Su Nian raised his dragon head and chest, leading the crocodiles to the other battlefield. What he saw next made his dragon eyes widen in shock.

The scene before him was so absurd it shattered his understanding of the world.

Even the male crocodiles behind him looked dumbfounded, then started trembling with rage.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

Su Nian roared, his voice like thunder.

Grey Wolf and Bolikri, caught in the act, shuddered in fear, nearly having a heart attack from the dragon's roar.

"Put your pants back on! Get over there and face the wall! Unless I call you back, you stand there until the sun sets!"

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