(I Died and got Reincarnated) My New Life as a Saltwater Crocodile Begins

CH•10 - "Underwater Battle"

There was a problem... Tiny!! Just follow me, dammit!! We need to take the girl to the patrol boat before they leave! I am trying my very best to explain this to you, yet why are you flying away from me?!

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Oh no. What did I do this time? Haven't I been a good bird to you by looking after the human while you were away? Why are you chasing me?! And, your eyes look serious in trying to catch me! Seriously, what did I do to tick you off?!!

It was one of the most horrifying experiences in my birdy life.

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After several minutes of back and forth chasing, the arrival of the girl made me stop chasing after Tiny and changed my direction towards her. Then, Tiny panicked and flew down straight at me. He was going too fast, stop!! Tiny started pecking my head ferociously. What the heck are you doing? Tiny's pecking got even more ferocious. Wait, is he thinking that I've given into my predatory instincts and that I'm trying to eat the girl? Of course not! And besides, if I did give into my instincts, I'd have devoured you already. You'll change your mind once I stop in front of the girl. I assure you, I mean no ill-will.

Nearing the girl, something like a gunshot was shot just inches in front of me and stopped me from advancing. I turn to where the gun was shot. Two humans, a man with a gun and a woman wearing a bush hat. The woman is looking worriedly at the girl. The man is still pointing the gun at me. Oh good. Is that the rest of the search party? Did they divide themselves into groups and search separately? Well, whatever the case, I'm glad we found each other. Now, I don't have to take the girl to your boat. I'm just gonna crawl back in the water and stay out of your way...

Then, an unknown ripple went within range of my sensory organs. Just a reminder though, but I found out that crocodiles are extremely sensitive to the ripple patterns of different animals. It's like there's a separate memory box where I store all the different kinds of ripples I've encountered which allows me to keep in check to whether I've encountered it before, or if the same animal can make a different ripple, and this new ripple that I'm sensing is definitely not something I've encountered before. The unknown ripple is moving this way, and at an unusually fast speed! It's moving almost as fast as I am underwater. From this distance, I can probably see it right now. I turn towards the unknown ripple. When I first glanced it, I had a hunch. And, I really wished I was wrong. But, I guessed it right. It's a shark.

Coming at us like a missile, the shark suddenly sped up and its target was the girl. The girl and the other two humans don't look like they've noticed it yet. In response, I jump out of the water and drop right on top of the shark. Everyone was appalled when they saw me do that. Tiny flew away the second I jumped out of the water, so he was safe. The shark was stunned from what I did, but this was my chance. I opened my mouth wide and bit its tail fin as hard as I could. With my muscular tail as a rudder, I propelled forward, dragging the shark inversely to where it was facing. I tried to fling the shark away, but being underwater made the swinging force not that strong, so it wasn't hurled far. In fact, it shifted its weight with the force, and now we're face to face at each other.

The shark was slightly shorter than me in length, somewhere around 4 meters perhaps. As for me, although I'm quite unsure myself, but I guessed my size to be around 5-6 meters in length. I'm not entirely sure because I can't really take a good look at myself. Also, the shark looked rather thin. Is it just my imagination? I mean, compared to the shark pictures I often see here and there, it's kind of... thinner, than usual? I mean, I don't know. How would I know what they usually look like. This is my first time encountering a real shark before.

Okay, so now, we're face to face. What to do? ...... ......What the heck should I do?! I don't have any experience, nor even the knowledge of what to do in situations like these! Being so close to it, as if it could bite me any time now, I am honestly clueless at what to do next. 'Kay, let's think fast here. I'm bigger, and I have armored scales. I have limbs, and it doesn't. Wait... "limbs"... that's right! I'll target its fins! It can't swim properly if it's missing even one. I'll aim low. Where its underbelly is seen.

I sink deeper underwater, trying to get lower than the shark. It's okay. I still have air reserves left in my lungs. I can stay active and alert underwater for at least 20 more mins. The shark noticed me moving and opens its wide mouth, about to bite my snout. I roll low to my right. Woah! To think that I can still react this quickly while submerged underwater. But, the shark is no slouch either. It also quickly readjusted itself and aimed for my left side. But, compared to your sudden burst from before, you've gotten slower! I flip my body, revealing my underbelly from above, but at least I avoided it. The injury I left on its tail when I bit it probably slowed it down. And, now that I'm directly under you, you're wide open!

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(Rewind back to when the crocodile fell on the shark)
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The two humans were too caught by surprise when the crocodile jumped full-body in the air from the water only for it to just fall back in the water again. They were completely in a daze upon seeing such a thing. The crocodile didn't even reach out to the girl, nor did it look like it tried to hunt anything. To them, it was just too bizarre. But then, the woman quickly regained her senses and ran towards the girl and took her back to where the man was standing. The little girl was also in a daze.

"Are you alright, lassie? Don't you worry, now. Everything's gonna be o~kay. We're here to bring you home. Matt, snap out of it, and give me your binoculars."

"...... Huh? Uh, here."

The woman looked at the far side of the river that leads to the ocean using the binoculars.

"Zita, what do you see?"

"They're too deep underwater, but it looked like a saltie and a shark are having a deathmatch. You can even see the bloodbath without the binoculars."

"That was surprising. Especially when the croc suddenly jumped out like that."

"Yeah. It was. Anyway, we shouldn't tarry any longer. We've found the girl. Let's go back. This place gives bad reception."

"Roger that."

They carried the girl to their boat without looking back. Meanwhile, a small bird follows after them.

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(A while later)
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Phew... that was some rush I felt back there. I suffered zero injuries and I even saved dinner for later. With that much meat, I can last a whole week without food. Man, the ability to lower your metabolism so you can survive longer is just too handy. Though, it also makes me sluggish. But, this is all for survival. I can't just go around eating everything in sight without thinking about the environment and the ecosystem first. So, in terms of co-efficiency, this is better by the long-run.

Still, I can't believe I actually went toe to toe with a shark! Equipped with the unconventional thinking methods of a human, and the reaction and reflexes of an ambush predator, I bet that oversized fish never expected my movements at all. But, I was just lucky though... When I saw the lower part of its underbelly, it was already badly scarred. And, those scars still looked fresh. My guess is that it had a bloody battle against another vicious animal in the ocean, and it probably swam away when it saw a chance. So, I didn't just imagine that it looked thin, did I? It was probably starving. I feel sorry for your misfortune. But, I truly admire your tenacity to fight with your life on the line. You, good sharky sir, have my utmost respect.

Resurfacing took a little bit longer than I thought. I didn't know the water could go down that deep when we're near the ocean. When I arrived to where I thought the girl was, she wasn't there. Neither were the other two humans. Don't tell me... they left?! No, wait for me!! I want to follow you to your base and find out where in the world I am! And, with a burst from my tail, I push onwards to their boat!