Chapter Twenty-Five: An Asymmetric Battle-I Can Transform into Anything(Fishing for the moon in the sea)

The disturbance in the rainforest drew ever closer to the oak tree. At that moment, both Adam the Oak and the humans nearby were fully prepared.

Within the rainforest, trees swayed as their leaves were struck by unknown creatures, and the tremors from the ground grew steadily stronger. Everyone was on high alert.

As the commotion in the rainforest approached within five hundred meters of the oak, the battle began in an instant.

“Fire the flares!”

“Roger!”

The armed helicopters circling above the rainforest responded first. Flares shot into the sky, and for a fleeting moment, the night beneath the purple moon was ablaze with dazzling light.

Beneath the oak, through the gaps between the trees, everyone saw it.

The creatures causing the chaos were all enormous crocodiles, moving with unnatural speed.

These crocodiles had long since lost their natural appearance. Wisps of black mist coiled around them, and their bodies were covered with grotesque, swollen lumps.

Their eyes glowed black and red, making them seem like monsters crawling up from the abyss.

The moment they saw the crocodiles, many people were startled.

But there was no time for fear. Simon immediately shouted his order to open fire.

“First row, fire!”

At his command, the previously hushed rainforest erupted into a cacophony of gunfire.

Rapid bursts from the light rifles flashed in the darkness, illuminating a vast swath of the night.

A dense hail of bullets tore into the rainforest. Many were blocked by trees, yet most found their marks, striking the massive crocodilian bodies.

The wounded beasts hissed like serpents in agony—a sound that, though numerous and drawn out, was drowned beneath the barrage of gunshots and artillery.

Overhead, the heavy-caliber cannons mounted on the sides of the armed helicopters spat tongues of flame into the jungle below, their deafening roar far eclipsing the rifles on the ground.

Each thirty-millimeter round that struck a crocodile tore clean through its body.

Yet even when pierced, these crocodiles charged on, frenzied and relentless, toward the oak.

Their tenacity defied all imagination.

Though the tree canopy shielded much of the ground, limiting the helicopters’ precision, several waves of strafing—coordinated with the ground fire—managed to fell only a dozen or so of the monstrous reptiles.

By this time, the crocodilian horde was less than two hundred meters from their line.

The crocodiles had entered a berserk rage, heedless of all danger, filling Simon’s tribespeople beneath the rainforest with terror.

These sacred land dwellers had spent their lives serving the holy tree; their nerves and combat skills were no match for the armed tribesmen from the outskirts.

Many had poor aim, and some soon found their hands numb from their rifles’ recoil.

As their firepower waned, Simon, anticipating this, bellowed another command.

“First row, fall back! Second row, advance!”

A sigh of relief ran through the front line as they quickly retreated. As the second row stepped up, the gunfire surged once more.

Meanwhile, the helicopters, not designed for military use and carrying limited ammunition, fell silent after three to seven passes.

But now, with the crocodiles near the oak and moving through a sparse glade, the soldiers above had clear targets at last.

In the next moment, the Armenian attack helicopter brought by Vanny unleashed a devastating barrage.

From its sides, sixteen Hellfire missiles streaked down, trailing long tails of flame.

“Boom!”

A chain of explosions lit up the area, shaking the ground near the oak.

The giant crocodile horde vanished in fire and smoke.

Shattered limbs flew; blood and flesh spattered everywhere.

Wherever the crocodiles’ black blood landed, it hissed and corroded the earth like concentrated acid.

Beneath the oak, all gunfire came to a halt.

Thick smoke billowed, shrouding everyone’s vision—an unexpected turn.

In the choking haze, the roars and tremors from the crocodiles faded, but everyone knew some of the beasts remained alive.

Tension gripped the crowd beneath the oak. They scanned their surroundings, not daring to make a sound.

But what must come would come.

For suddenly, from within the acrid, gunpowder-laden smoke, the sound of something enormous crawling surged forth again.

This time, before the tribesmen could fire toward the noise, Adam the Oak finally moved.

Though the thick smoke blocked human sight, Adam’s vision was like an infrared sensor; he could see everything in the haze and beyond, into the rainforest.

Only nine crocodiles remained alive.

But among these nine, the last to appear was a terrifying monstrosity over ten meters long.

Enshrouded in dense black mist, it was impossible for human eyes to make out its form.

But Adam saw it clearly.

Its sclera were black, its pupils a vivid violet. Its hide was thick and heavy, like stone.

Rifle bullets had left nothing but faint white scratches on its armored skin.

Arriving late, it had escaped the worst of the missile barrage, suffering only minor grazes.

Even these wounds began to heal rapidly, black mist coiling around them.

Its strength was beyond dispute.

At such close range, the humans beneath the tree stood no chance.

But fortune was with them.

The crocodile had finally entered Adam the Oak’s range of attack.

Beneath his roots, Adam could concentrate his power on only three of his seventy-six roots, each nearly one hundred and fifty meters long.

But that was enough.

The ten-meter beast, wreathed in black smoke, let out a furious roar and charged toward the crowd beneath the oak with inhuman speed and agility.

Each movement shook the earth, the noise overwhelming.

But after covering barely twenty meters, leading the other eight mutated crocodiles, a massive spike suddenly burst from the ground.

So great was its force that it triggered a sonic boom, scattering the smoke from the explosions.

The spike pierced the black-shrouded crocodile’s belly with ease, skewering it completely.

The enormous root shot skyward, suspending the impaled beast in midair.

For a moment, everyone below and above, staring at the sudden turn of events, was struck dumb with shock.

But as two more roots burst from the earth, lashing the remaining eight monstrous crocodiles, the onlookers finally recovered, gazing in awe and wonder at the spectacle before them.