Crab General's strike hit like a thunderclap — the force of it absolute, unstoppable.

Shrimp Soldier had no time to react. Caught completely off guard, both claws bore down simultaneously on the junction between its thorax and abdomen. A sharp crack — the armored shell shattered on the spot. The soft tissue beneath offered no resistance; the claws sank in deep, nearly bisecting it at the waist.

One decisive strike, and Crab General had all the leverage it needed. It hoisted Shrimp Soldier clean off the ground.

Shrimp Soldier thrashed all ten legs in agony — but suspended in mid-air, with nothing to push against, there was nothing it could do. It bled and it struggled and it couldn't land a single effective counter.

Between experts, every exchange ends in death or serious injury. Among evolved beasts it was no different — hunter and hunted, decided in moments. Shen Cong knew this well. The instant Crab General made its winning move, he threw — the Spike King Javelin he'd been holding in reserve, launched at the precise moment Shrimp Soldier's body blocked Crab General's line of sight.

The target: Crab General's exposed underbelly, revealed only because it had lifted Shrimp Soldier overhead.

If it hadn't hoisted its prey, that soft spot would never have shown.

Thud.

The javelin hit true and buried itself deep. Crab General convulsed — but its claws didn't open. They clenched tighter, a violent, spasming contraction that finished the job entirely: Shrimp Soldier's midsection gave way, severed almost clean through, held together by the thinnest strip of flesh.

The snipe hunts the mussel; the fisherman takes both. The mantis catches the cicada; the sparrow waits behind.

The cunning hunter was Shen Cong, as it always had been. A small nudge in the right direction, and two evolved beasts that had been content to glare at each other for days had destroyed each other in minutes.

Ten minutes later, both were dead — finished off by the Ape King War Hammer.

Shrimp Soldier: Talent 1.207H / Activity Value 1.009H / Lv0.836. Crab General: Talent 1.113H / Activity…