Douluo Continent: Gourmet Prisoner

Back home, Zhu Lu was so excited that she didn't sleep a wink all night. Her mind kept replaying the delicious flying duck she ate with Shi Yu, and the scene of Shi Yu promising to teach her hunting skills. Even her dreams were filled with all sorts of delicious food, spirit beasts, and hunting scenes.

The next morning, Zhu Lu, despite having dark circles under her eyes, arrived at the appointment on time with unusually high spirits.

Upon seeing Shi Yu's figure in the distance, she rushed over eagerly, her voice full of anticipation: "Shi Yu! What are we hunting today? A whole roasted pig, or that flying duck we had yesterday? I'm all ready!"

"Let's go, let's go to the mixed zone." Shi Yu turned and left, his tone indifferent.

"Huh? Mixed zone?" Zhu Lu was stunned for a moment, then quickly followed, chattering away like a curious little sparrow.

"Shi Yu, Shi Yu, what's your soul power level? Yesterday you hunted down the Thousand-Year Flying Duck so easily!"

"Level 35 Soul Master," Shi Yu replied casually.

"Wow! That's amazing!" Zhu Lu exclaimed, her eyes filled with admiration. She then asked, "Where is the mixed zone? What are we going there for?"

"The Starry Sky Great Forest Mixed Zone is located between the outer and inner circles, where there are even better-tasting ingredients than in the outer circle."

"Something even tastier?" Zhu Lu's eyes lit up instantly, but then she became worried. "But I can only barely handle hundred-year-old soul beasts at most. Aren't the soul beasts in the mixed zone too powerful? Can we beat them?"

"Don't worry, even if the guy we're looking for is only a hundred years old, you still can't beat him." Shi Yu's tone remained calm.

"Oh, then I'm relieved... Wait, no! What do you mean I can't beat even someone a hundred years old?" Zhu Lu realized what was happening and quickly asked, "So what exactly are we going to face?"

"A very interesting and delicious ingredient," Shi Yu said, keeping everyone in suspense.

The reason he was going to the Mixed Zone was that he had recently learned from the soul beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest that a special crocodile soul beast had appeared in a lake in the Mixed Zone. The crocodile was enormous, with a cultivation level of just over a thousand years, yet it was able to prey on some soul beasts that were five thousand years old.

It uses symbiotic leeches to mark its prey, and then relentlessly pursues it until it captures it.

Shi Yu knew immediately that this must be the Kayla Crocodile.

In the world of "Toriko," these spirit beasts become more delicious with age. In the Douluo Continent, however, the older and stronger they are, the more delicious their meat becomes.

This giant crocodile, capable of preying on five-thousand-year-old soul beasts, is clearly not an ordinary one that has just entered the thousand-year realm. Just thinking about how delicious its meat is makes Shi Yu's mouth water.

The two soon arrived near the lake in the mixed zone.

As soon as she got close, Zhu Lu couldn't help but frown, dodging the leeches flying through the air while complaining, "Shi Yu, why are there so many damn leeches here? It's disgusting!"

"The presence of leeches means we've come to the right place." Shi Yu reached out and caught a leech that flew over, handing it to Zhu Lu. "These guys have a symbiotic relationship with the target we're trying to capture. They're responsible for marking the prey, and once they've marked it, it will hunt it to the ends of the earth."

Without saying a word, he placed the leech on the back of Zhu Lu's hand, watched as the leech sucked a few drops of blood, and then threw it away: "That way, you'll be marked as prey by it."

"Huh?" Zhu Lu stared blankly at the back of her hand, then looked at Shi Yu, her face instantly turning deathly pale. "So... I've become its prey now? It'll keep chasing me?"

"You're really smart." Shi Yu nodded, his tone slightly teasing.

"Gulp... Just kill me!" Zhu Lu was on the verge of tears. She only wanted to learn how to hunt and eat delicious food, not to be the prey!

"Don't despair yet." Shi Yu looked at her and said slowly, "Think about it carefully. The Kaera Crocodile, which can coexist with so many leeches and prey on five-thousand-year-old soul beasts, must have meat that is a hundred times more delicious than yesterday's flying duck. And you should have felt it too, these delicacies can improve your physique."

He paused, then emphasized, "Let me tell you another secret—the more delicious the food, the better it nourishes the body, and the faster your soul power will increase."

"Delicious food! Become stronger!" These two words instantly struck Zhu Lu's weak spot. The despair in her eyes was instantly replaced by flames, and the previous fear disappeared without a trace.

Just then, huge waves suddenly surged on the lake, and a strong fishy smell wafted over.

"boom!"

A huge creature suddenly leaped out of the lake and landed heavily on the shore, stirring up a spray of water and dust.

It was an enormous crocodile, its entire body blood red, with deep dark red scales on its back that gleamed with a metallic sheen.

It is 30 meters long, with strong and powerful limbs, sharp claws, and a pair of lantern-sized eyes that gleam fiercely. Its gaping maw is filled with sharp fangs, making it a sight to behold.

"roar!"

The giant crocodile, Kayla, let out a deafening roar. As it roared, countless leeches flew out of its mouth, forming a large black net that lunged at Zhu Lu and Shi Yu.

"This...this is the Kayla Crocodile?" Zhu Lu stared at the colossal creature before her, her fighting spirit instantly extinguished, her excitement sinking to the bottom, her voice trembling, "Gulp...kill me! How can I possibly defeat something this big?"

"Keep it up, hunter with two and a half years of training." Shi Yu, who was watching the fun from the sidelines, said in a teasing tone.

The giant crocodile, Kayla, seemed to sense the presence of its prey. With its eight thick legs moving in alternating motions, it charged towards Zhu Lu with a speed and agility disproportionate to its massive size.

"Oh my god!" Zhu Lu was so frightened that she immediately activated the Nether Thrust, and with a flash, she barely dodged the charge of the giant crocodile, Kayla.

"Boom!" The giant crocodile, Kayla, slammed its head into a large tree next to it, snapping the tree, which was as thick as a bowl, in half instantly, sending wood chips flying everywhere.

Before Zhu Lu could even catch her breath, the giant crocodile's tail lashed out at her with a whooshing sound. Zhu Lu reacted swiftly, leaping aside in a flustered manner. The tail grazed her clothes and slammed into the ground, creating a deep trench.

But the giant crocodile's attacks came one after another. It quickly turned around, opened its blood-red maw, and bit at Zhu Lu again and again. Zhu Lu could only rely on the speed advantage of the Netherworld Cat to keep dodging. She had no chance to fight back, or even a moment to escape.

"Hey, Zhu Lu!" Shi Yu's voice came at just the right time. "I remember telling you, right? Once it marks you, it will hunt you to the ends of the earth, so running away is useless. Haven't you been training as a hunter for two and a half years? Use your strengths to find its weakness!"

"You make it sound so easy! You're the one being chased and bitten right now!" Zhu Lu shouted angrily as she dodged.

"A qualified hunter will seek out the prey's weaknesses during the hunt and wait for the best opportunity to strike a fatal blow." Shi Yu's voice remained calm, yet it carried an undeniable power.

"He needs keen observation skills to remain calm no matter how dangerous the prey. Even in a head-on confrontation, he can calmly dodge, conserve his energy, seize fleeting opportunities to counterattack, and finally deliver a fatal blow. That is what makes a qualified hunter."

He paused, his tone becoming serious: "This is a trial for you, Zhu Lu. Prove to me that you are a qualified hunter, or that you are qualified to become a qualified hunter."

Shi Yu's words were like a bucket of cold water, waking Zhu Lu from her panic.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. Yes, running away wouldn't solve anything; rather than being chased and left in a sorry state, she should actively seek opportunities.

Instead of frantically dodging, she began to carefully observe the attack patterns of the Kayla Crocodile while dodging.

She discovered that although the Kayla crocodile's attacks were fierce, it would pause briefly due to inertia after each time it closed its mouth, which was its weakness!

The opportunity is coming!

The giant crocodile, Kayla, opened its blood-red maw once more and lunged at Zhu Lu.

Zhu Lu's eyes narrowed, and instead of retreating, she advanced. Just as its mouth was about to close, she suddenly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding its sharp fangs.

At that moment, she was facing the lantern-sized eyes of the Kayla Crocodile—eyes are the weakness of most creatures, and the Kayla Crocodile is no exception!

"Netherworld Thrust!"

Without hesitation, Zhu Lu activated her first soul skill, instantly accelerating her movement. The soul-guided dagger in her hand gleamed coldly and precisely pierced the left eye of the giant crocodile, Kaira.

"roar--!"

The Kayla Crocodile let out a painful roar, its massive body thrashing violently, knocking the surrounding trees to the side.

Zhu Lu seized the opportunity to jump away and continue looking for the next chance.

Having lost an eye, the Kayla Crocodile became even more frenzied, its attacks becoming more erratic, but also revealing more weaknesses.

With her keen observation and agile skills, Zhu Lu seized another opening and launched the Nether Thrust, blinding the other eye of the giant crocodile, Kayla.

"Great! It can't see anymore!" Zhu Lu was overjoyed and was about to breathe a sigh of relief when Shi Yu's voice rang out again.

"Remember what I told you? If you're marked by a leech from the mouth of the Kayla Crocodile, it will hunt you to the ends of the earth." Shi Yu's tone carried a hint of reminder. "Moreover, a qualified hunter will not let his guard down until he has confirmed that his prey is dead and that the surrounding environment is safe."

Zhu Lu's heart skipped a beat, and she instantly understood Shi Yu's meaning. The Kayla crocodile tracks its prey by smell, and even if it were blind, it could still find her accurately! Moreover, as long as the prey is not dead, it may counterattack at any time, and the hunter must not be careless in the slightest.

Sure enough, although the blind crocodile Kaira lost its sight, it still charged accurately toward Zhu Lu with its keen sense of smell.

Its eyes were tightly closed, and dark red blood was flowing from where its eyes had been, making it look even more ferocious and terrifying.

Without its eyes, a weakness, the Kayla Crocodile's massive size and ferocious attacks become even more troublesome. Waiting for it to bleed to death is clearly unrealistic; that would only exhaust Julu's own strength.

"You know what? A qualified hunter will make good use of his surroundings." Shi Yu's voice came again, as if reminding him, or as if guiding him.

What resources are available around us?

While dodging the charge of the giant crocodile Kayla, Zhu Lu quickly surveyed her surroundings.

Trees? You could try to guide it to crash into a tree, but given its size, that would probably be ineffective.

The lake? That's its territory; going in would only be more dangerous.

Soul beasts? There were no other soul beasts around.

Wait! The Kayla crocodile lives in symbiosis with leeches, using its sense of smell to track its tagged prey... Zhu Lu suddenly remembered what Shi Yu had said before, and a bold idea sprouted in her mind.

She quickly moved through the woods, her eyes searching everywhere, and finally spotted Shi Yu's figure in a tall tree.

"Shi Yu!" Zhu Lu shouted as she ran towards the tree.

"I'm not helping you," Shi Yu said, sitting on a tree branch and smiling at her. "I wasn't marked by the leeches, so the Kayla Crocodile won't be targeting me."

"I know!" Zhu Lu ran to the tree, looked up at Shi Yu, and gave him a sly smile. "That's why I brought this."

As she spoke, she took out a leech she had secretly caught earlier from her pocket, jumped up, grabbed his hand, and placed the leech on the back of his hand, just as Shi Yu had done to her before.

Shi Yu did not dodge, letting the leech crawl all over the back of his hand.

But the tiny leech couldn't penetrate his skin's defenses at all; it could only crawl a few times in vain before being gently flicked away by Shi Yu.

"Very clever, Zhu Lu." Shi Yu jumped down from the tree, a hint of approval in his eyes. "When you can't solve a problem on your own, you think about finding a way and make use of everything around you that is beneficial to you, including your companions and the surrounding environment. You are now a qualified hunter."

He had barely finished speaking when he activated his second soul skill.

An invisible wave spread out, and the giant crocodile Kaera, which was originally rushing towards Zhu Lu, suddenly changed direction and charged fiercely towards Shi Yu.

"Perfect, let's try out what I practiced after obtaining my third soul skill." Shi Yu smiled and moved his hands slightly.

One of his hands was forked, with a faint golden light emanating from the fingertips, as if an invisible fork had appeared; the other hand was shaped like a knife, gleaming with a cold metallic luster, as if a sharp, invisible knife had been formed.

The two hands touched lightly, producing a "clang" sound of metal colliding.

"fork!"

Shi Yu gave a low shout, and his forked hand suddenly thrust forward. A huge fork phantom appeared out of thin air, accurately pinning the head of the Kaira Crocodile, forcefully lifting its massive body and flinging it into the air.

"knife!"

Immediately afterwards, Shi Yu's blade-shaped palm slashed down, and a huge blade shadow roared out, carrying a fierce momentum, and slammed into the body of the giant crocodile, Kayla.

"Pfft!"

With a muffled thud, the massive body of the Kayla Crocodile was struck by the blade mid-air, blood gushing out. It struggled in the air for a few moments, spun around a few times, and then crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

After a while, the dust gradually settled. The body of the giant crocodile, Kayla, lay quietly on the ground, without a sound, only dark red blood spreading on the ground.

Zhu Lu stared in disbelief at the scene before her. Shi Yu's attack was simply too cool and too powerful!

"Done." Shi Yu clapped his hands, walked to the corpse of the Kaera Crocodile, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "A thousand-year-old Kaera Crocodile, one that had even preyed on five-thousand-year-old soul beasts! The meat is absolutely top-notch!"

Zhu Lu quickly ran over, and upon seeing the enormous Kayla crocodile, her previous fear vanished, replaced only by anticipation of the delicious meal. She licked her lips and looked at Shi Yu: "Shi Yu, shall we grill it and eat it now?"

"Of course." Shi Yu smiled. "But it's so big, it needs to be handled properly to bring out its most delicious flavor."

A trial for hunters has come to a perfect end, but a feast for the senses is just beginning.