After going into the sea, I met the witch.

-

The interface for the Traveling Clone was very simple. After thinking for a while, Ryan set his sights on the large, dark blue-green crab that was half a person's height on the beach.

There was nothing he could do; on this vast beach, this was the only living creature he had seen so far.

Without hesitation, Ryan immediately took action.

Of course, you can't fight such a big guy with your bare hands; the [Travel] function isn't that outrageous.

Ryan looked down at his feet, where the initial equipment provided by the [Nameless Ship Carving] was—a longsword, a log shield, and leather armor.

[Longsword]: The lowest-tier standard equipment usable only in "Wandering Lands". When damaged, it can be exchanged for at the [Small Sailboat] using "Spirit Points". Upgrading the [Nameless Ship Carving] unlocks new features such as enhancement and quality changes.

The descriptions of the log shield and leather armor were similar. Ryan put on the leather armor, holding the shield in his left hand and the sword in his right.

This was his first time using a cold weapon, both in his past and present lives, but thanks to the "Storm Sword Technique (Beginner)," he quickly became adept at using it after the initial awkwardness.

Ryan stepped off the raft.

The moment my body left the gray, semi-illusory raft, a sense of reality washed over me.

The moist sea breeze and the feeling of his shoes sinking into the soft sand gave Ryan a strong sense of vitality.

His body, which had transformed from a gray, semi-illusory form resembling a raft, became a true color.

"This feeling……"

Ryan's eyes lit up with a strange light. A few seconds later, he slowed his pace and approached the large, bluish-black crab that seemed to be doing something on the beach in the distance.

The raft was about 100 meters away from the large, dark blue crab.

To remain concealed, Ryan stayed close to the coconut trees, moving forward in their shadows.

When the two were about sixty meters apart, Ryan stopped.

From here to the large, dark blue crab, there are no more coconut trees to provide cover, and the empty beach makes it easy to be spotted.

After waiting in the shadows for a while, Ryan grew anxious as he watched the large, bluish-black crab turn its back to him, gently waving its two enormous claws, seemingly doing nothing but making no move.

The main body is still adrift on the sea, and no one can say for sure what will happen on the ocean. After all, a raft is not as good as a real ship and is far less able to withstand wind and waves.

On his first trip, he was unaware of the time difference between the two sides, so to be on the safe side, he needed to make some progress and return as soon as possible.

With that thought in mind, Ryan took a deep breath and decided not to wait any longer.

With his legs slightly bent and muscles bulging, Ryan charged towards the dark blue crab after a brief moment of preparation.

Chapter 4 Hunter

For a distance of 60 meters, it takes a normal man 7 to 9 seconds. Those with slightly better physical fitness can run it in 7.5 seconds, but overall the difference is not too great.

Perhaps due to the influence of his bloodline [Descendants of the Vikings], he felt that he was much faster than in his previous life, and could probably run sixty meters in under seven seconds.

It's worth noting that the standard time for a Chinese national-level athlete in the 60-meter dash is only 6.7 seconds!

Ryan's speed is already incredibly fast!

At full speed, the distance between the two was rapidly closing. However, the vibrations from the running soon alerted the large blue-black crab.

One of its massive pincers plunged into the sand, while its four legs on the other side moved rapidly, turning its body around in this way. At this moment, Ryan was still ten meters away from it.

Ryan was not discouraged by the failed sneak attack, not because it was something he had expected.

His eyes were resolute, showing no sign of backing down—since a sneak attack failed, he would launch a direct assault.

As a dedicated player of challenging action games, he is not afraid of the challenges in the "game".

At the same time, when he was within ten meters, several lines of gray text appeared next to the dark blue crab in front of Ryan's eyes.

[Beach Crab: A crustacean that has grown to a massive size under spiritual influence, possessing an extremely hard shell. The area where the fifth and sixth abdominal segments connect (the triangular ventral region) is lighter in color, suggesting that this area was recently attacked and breached, making its defenses relatively weak.]

The gray text alerted Ryan, and his gaze fell on the belly button of the beach crab. He found that there was indeed a ten-centimeter-long area there that was much lighter in color than the surrounding area.

The distance between the two sides is rapidly closing.

Faced with the sudden appearance of the enemy, the dark blue crab moved forward quickly with its body sideways, and its claws, which were larger than a human head, slammed down.

From Ryan's perspective, the giant crab's slamming pincers looked like a huge, rapidly enlarging iron hammer, sending chills down one's spine. It was hard to imagine how miserable a flesh-and-blood body would be if struck by such a pincer.

Ryan did not choose to take the hit head-on. Just before the pincers were about to strike, he nimbly sidestepped and avoided them.

The howling wind ruffled his medium-length hair, and at such close range, he could even clearly see the fine black protrusions on his pincers.

Just then, Ryan's pupils contracted slightly as he saw the beach crab's other pincer snapping open and clamping down with incredible speed. With the previous impact obscuring his vision, it was too late for him to dodge.

In a moment of crisis, he had a flash of inspiration and held the wooden shield in his left hand at a slightly tilted angle in front of him.

"Boom-"

A deep sound rang out, and Ryan's body trembled. Even though he used the "force deflection and parry" technique, the wooden shield in his hand almost slipped out of his grasp.

The beach crab's strength far exceeded his by more than an order of magnitude!

After smashing and clamping down, the beach crab seemed to be struggling and stopped in place, not launching another attack.

And how could Ryan let such a precious opportunity slip by?

Suppressing the tingling sensation on his left side, he narrowed his eyes and began with the "Bull Stance," one of the four major sword stances. He stepped forward and thrust, the tip of his sword precisely striking the lighter-colored "vulnerable area" on the belly of the giant crab on the beach.

With a "plop," the fragile shell was instantly shattered, and almost half of the longsword pierced through it. A blue, semi-transparent liquid spurted out—the blood of the beach crab.

Internal organ injury drove the beach crab into a frenzy. Its entire shell was covered with pale red veins, making the crab look like it had been cooked. High-speed fluorescent liquid could be seen flowing through the red veins.

The pincers swung, creating a deafening sound as they cut through the air; the speed was extremely fast.

Everything changed in an instant. Ryan only had time to raise his wooden shield in front of him before he was struck by a heavy blow. The wooden shield in his hand could not withstand the enormous force and crashed down onto his leather breastplate.

"boom!"

Ryan was sent flying backward and crashed onto the sand three meters away.

The moment he landed, he saw a dark figure approaching out of the corner of his eye. Despite the excruciating pain all over his body, he rolled over suddenly.

"boom!"

With its red-veined pincers deeply embedded in the sand, Ryan seized the opportunity and ran.

Having suffered serious injuries, he was no longer in a position to fight the enraged beach crab.

But he tried to run away, and the beach crab that had pulled its claws out of the sand wasn't about to let him go so easily.

The enraged beach crab not only gained immense strength but also a significant boost in speed, its straight-line speed even surpassing that of Ryan.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ryan noticed that the distance between them was closing rapidly. He quickly estimated that if things continued like this, they would catch up before he could even get back to the raft.

Thinking of this, Ryan's gaze fell on the coconut tree not far in front of him. He gritted his teeth, took three steps at a time, and rushed forward, climbing directly up the coconut tree. When the momentum from the rush dissipated, he thrust his long sword into the coconut tree as a hook, and then continued to climb with the help of it.

The coconut tree's surface is rough, and it has raised rings at intervals. With the help of the longsword, climbing it is not too difficult.

"boom!"

Under the large coconut tree, a giant beach crab angrily pounded its claws against the trunk, but to no avail.

The coconut tree, which is 100 meters tall, has a terrifying diameter of three meters. Such a thick trunk cannot be broken by brute force; at least, the strength of a giant beach crab is far from enough.

Therefore, watching Ryan climb the tree, it could only rage helplessly at the foot of the tree.

Even so, the beach crab still refused to leave. It stood guard under the coconut tree, the red veins on its shell gradually fading, as if it was preparing to kill Ryan after he collapsed from exhaustion!

Nearly ten meters above, Ryan was panting, his gaze fixed on the belly button of the giant beach crab, where the wound from the earlier sword piercing was still unhealed, with blue blood gushing out continuously.

If this continues, the beach crab will inevitably become weak due to excessive blood loss.

The problem is, even though he was hanging from the coconut tree, his situation wasn't much better.

As the adrenaline subsided, he could feel pain sweeping through his entire body. Even though he gritted his teeth and persevered, hanging on the tree was still exhausting. Ryan suspected that he would lose his strength and fall before the beach crab lost too much blood.

Bet?

Is it you who will give up first, or the beach crab that will give up first?

Ryan gritted his teeth.

He disliked the feeling of not being able to control his own destiny, but he had no other choice at the moment...

If all else fails, this trip will have to end in failure.

Ryan sighed inwardly.

With this experience, he will be more at ease when facing beach crabs next time...

Time passed by minute by minute.

Before we knew it, dark clouds had filled the sky.

This is a sign that heavy rain is coming.

"Whoosh..."

The sea breeze began to pick up, and a large coconut on a nearby coconut tree loosened and fell, hitting the ground with a "bang," startling a giant crab on the beach.

It was just a hair's breadth away from being hit by this nearly half-meter-long coconut.

The beach crab seemed very agitated, circling the coconut tree several times until another large coconut fell down. Realizing the danger, it reluctantly chose to leave.

"Crash..."

The weather on this deserted island is notoriously unpredictable. Just a few minutes ago it was sunny, but now large raindrops are falling.

Watching the giant crab on the beach leave, Ryan breathed a sigh of relief and carefully slid down the tree. The rough bark made his palms ache.

The rain was getting heavier.

Ryan squinted, watching the giant crab on the beach disappear into the rain.

Then, he lowered his head, looked at the blue bloodstains left on the ground, gripped his longsword tightly, and like a silent hunter, quietly began to follow.

Ryan is in bad shape, but the beach crab isn't much better off.

This is a hunt.

Who is the hunter and who is the prey remains to be seen until the dust settles.

Guided by the blue bloodstains, Ryan quickly arrived near a pile of rocks, where the bloodstains disappeared into a hole taller than a person in front of the rocks. Clearly, this was the burrow of the beach crab.

Standing at the edge of the cave, Ryan took a deep breath and then carefully walked in, hugging the cave wall.