This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 84: Crack Claw Crab! A Dangerous Species Appears

Chapter 84: Chapter 84: Crack Claw Crab! A Dangerous Species Appears

Chu Guang never expected that the second non-combat casualty at Shelter No. 404 would be because of a crab in the lake?

"Crack Claw Crab."

Looking towards the lakeside, where a huge crab was feasting on the head of a player, Chu Guang recognized it in just a second.

This kind of crab seemed to be some mutated form of lake crab. No one knew what specific type it was, nor did it matter, since a one-meter-tall crab didn’t exactly make a good relative.

Covered in mud and algae, it looked like a lump of rotten mud that could never be cleaned. Its high, dome-shaped shell acted like natural armor, crammed with large amounts of calcium-magnesium minerals, chitin, keratinized fibers, and other high molecular weight biopolymers, effectively dispersing and cushioning kinetic energy damage. Light weapons were pretty much useless against it, like scratching an itch.

And those two enormous pincers had explosive power, reportedly capable of cutting through tree trunks as thick as a thigh... But how could this thing appear here?

Could there be a nest of Crack Claw Crabs somewhere at the bottom of the lake or on the opposite shore?

Chu Guang’s brows furrowed deeply.

"What’s a Crack Claw Crab?" Fang Chang, walking beside him, was utterly confused and quickly asked.

"A Variant."

There was no time to explain.

The Crack Claw Crab had already gnawed away half a head, and if they waited any longer, the unfortunate player would be devoured from the neck down.

Chu Guang switched his KV-1 Exoskeleton from "Cruise Mode" to "Maneuver Mode," increasing the output power at the knees and elbows, and moved towards the crab with heavy steps, calmly pulling out his hammer from behind.

The crab’s shell was wide, resulting in almost no rear vision for the Crack Claw Crab.

Despite their sharp hearing up close, as long as one approached directly, the crab couldn’t accurately determine the front and rear direction of the target.

With speed, he could knock it down with his hammer in 2 seconds!

However, just as Chu Guang stepped out of the woods and was still twenty or thirty meters away, Brother Mosquito suddenly emerged from a bush nearby carrying a wooden tube.

"A big crab? Where??? Dammit, it’s huge! Lord Manager, it’s too dangerous there, please don’t go! Let me finish it off!"

After saying that, Brother Mosquito excitedly ignited the fuse at the back of the tube, hoisted it on his shoulder, and aimed the dark barrel at the crab.

"Holy shit!"

"It’s Mosquito!"

"Run!"

The nearby players, gathered to watch the excitement, were startled by his action and scattered like they had seen the plague.

Before Chu Guang could intervene, a tongue of flame shot from the tube, carrying a fist-sized firecracker that zoomed towards the Crack Claw Crab.

The crab likely heard the noise, but before it could turn around, the firecracker landed in the muddy ground right behind it.

Obviously.

This RPG wasn’t very accurate.

But that no longer mattered.

With a loud "boom," a column of mud shot up four to five meters, and the explosion jolted the shell a couple of times. Thick smoke quickly engulfed the large figure,

Nearly one kilogram of gunpowder exploded instantly. If a person had been standing so close, even if they weren’t killed by shrapnel, their internal organs would have been shattered.

However, the Crack Claw Crab was not human.

The blast wave from the explosion didn’t penetrate its shell, much less injure the few internal organs it had.

A sharp and hoarse scream erupted.

Emerging from the dense smoke in pain, the Crack Claw Crab quickly locked on to Chu Guang, the closest target, and charged, waving its large pincers.

But its legs seemed to have been "fractured" by the shock, so it was only slightly faster than walking.

Nearby players quickly raised their guns to fire, but the Crack Claw Crab seemed unaffected, as if nothing had happened.

"Cease fire!"

Chu Guang lifted his right fist, signaling players to stop wasting bullets, then hefted his hammer with a sigh and stepped forward.

"Always finding work for me."

...

The limping Crack Claw Crab posed no difference to the scavengers firing blanks in front of the Nitrogen-Powered Hammer.

Chu Guang didn’t waste time with it, switched to B Mode, delivered a devastating armor-piercing blow, and instantly the nitrogen armor blasted half of its face off.

The fight was over.

The dozen or so players who had followed him from the base were merely scratching the surface, and aside from wasting a few bullets, they didn’t inflict any damage.

"He’s too strong..."

"Dawn boss is awesome!"

"Now I know how that Looter lost his head..."

The surrounding players chattered excitedly.

Mosquito, still carrying the tube, looked puzzled and only came back to his senses long after the battle had ended.

"Damn...nothing happened?"

"You seriously used HE rounds on the carrier? At least switch to AP rounds," Night Ten said with a playful grin, patting Brother Mosquito on the shoulder, "But I gotta say, bro, your skills are quite criminal."

Brother Mosquito’s face turned red as he made an excuse.

"It must be the plot... plot armor! The plot isn’t over, how could you possibly kill him with locked health. A kilogram of gunpowder, without the lock, he’d definitely be dead!"

"Hahaha, that’s possible! Why didn’t I think of locked health, hahaha."

...

Fang Chang sighed and did not join Night Ten in making fun of him; he just patted the big brother on the shoulder, giving him an encouraging look, and then went to help the Manager gather the spoils of war.

Such a large Crack Claw Crab, must be at least three hundred pounds heavy, maybe even four to five hundred pounds.

Midnight Chicken Killing rotated his axe and brought it down on the back of the Crack Claw Crab, only to have his hands hurt from the shock, and the dirty thick shell merely got a muddy imprint.

"Damn? Is this shell made of iron?" His eyes bulged out, doubting the power of his axe for the first time.

"Would make good armor," Escaped Vole in the Canyon squatted nearby, filing the big crab’s claws with a wood-cutting knife, "The claws are damn hard too, is this creature really a radiation mutant?"

"Who knows."

Watching the group of players gathered around the Crack Claw Crab, inspecting it, Chu Guang put away his hammer.

"Get a cart over here and carry it back."

"Yes!"

"By your command, Manager!"

Watching the players starting their work, Chu Guang then found two idle players and had them carry a headless body back.

They were lucky to have arrived just in time; this little player only had his brain eaten, and his clothes were almost intact. The fragments from the previous explosion and the burning wood tar were mostly blocked by the crab’s shell.

Chu Guang was not so worried about the players doing something reckless now, but was more concerned about them damaging the clothes.

A person can respawn, but there were only two sets of Blue Jacket, and if they got ruined, he really didn’t know where to get another set that fit so well.

...

On the way back, the snow kept getting heavier, and snow began to settle on the branches and bushes. If it didn’t stop by evening, by tomorrow there would likely be a layer of snow.

Chu Guang speculated that it was probably the drop in temperature that altered the activity range of these Crack Claw Crabs, just didn’t know from which direction they migrated.

Hopefully, they didn’t settle right at his doorstep.

To prevent similar incidents, Chu Guang issued an order to mark this area as a danger zone.

Until the source of these Crack Claw Crabs was determined, it was forbidden to approach.

He also instructed two Perception Type players, one to scout northeast and the other southwest along the lake shore, to report back immediately if they noticed anything unusual.

The huge crab, about a meter high when it sprawled, was carried onto a cart by two Strength Type players.

Singing a messy victory song, these players who had "gone to war" with the Manager carried the spoils back to Outpost Base.

Their high-profile appearance attracted a lot of attention.

"Damn, such a huge crab?"

"What’s going on?!"

Curious and uninformed players came up and grabbed one of the followers to ask.

"Bro, where did you catch such a big crab?"

"Fished it up, obviously."

"What? You can fish up something this big?!"

"Hey, first you bait the fishermen, and there you have it, fished it up."

Yu Hu, who was just coming from Bet Street for a trade, was not only stunned by the nearby players but also by the sight of the crab.

Standing next to him was a man, both carrying a pole over one shoulder, tied to a robust mutant wild boar, standing at the western gate stupefied by the sight of the crab.

Chu Guang noticed him and came over with a smile.

"Here to trade?"

Yu Hu opened his mouth, his eyes just moving away from the large crab to the giant hammer on Chu Guang’s back.

It was the man next to him who reacted first, nodding nervously, and earnestly spoke.

"I’d like to trade for some salt; I heard you can get salt here."

Yu Hu finally snapped back to reality and hurriedly introduced him to Chu Guang.

"This is my cousin, surnamed Li, called Niu Li."

Niu Li, that’ll do.

Chu Guang wore a weird expression, thinking that if all the zodiac animals and a few common ones were used up, what would they do then.

"It’s snowing hard outside, come in with me."

Under Chu Guang’s lead, the two had unimpeded access through Outpost Base, though they continuously received curious glances.

Yu Hu was used to it by now, having been there several times, but his cousin, who came with him, felt uneasy on his first visit.

"Please don’t mind, they’ve been underground for too long and haven’t seen people outside the shelter, so they are curious when strangers arrive."

Seeing the important figure in the blue jacket talking to him, Niu Li quickly waved his hands and said, "It’s okay, it’s okay, I don’t mind."

Chu Guang nodded and led the two to the warehouse, handing them directly to Luka, the Warehouse Manager who was on duty there.

The old serf recognized Yu Hu and immediately knew what he needed to do, skillfully taking the man named Niu Li to the slaughter stands.

Yu Hu handed over all the game, not following them, but instead joined Chu Guang, curiously staring at the big hammer.

"Brother Chu, is this your weapon?"

"Sort of."

"Such a big one? Can you use it?"

"Of course."

"Then, the Crack Claw Crab we just saw, did you take it down with this hammer?"

"Yes."

Receiving a positive answer, the young man’s eyes bulged out in awe, taking a while to process the shock before managing to say,

"So powerful!"

Crack Claw Crab!

A monster any Scavenger would hate to encounter.

Its burst speed in narrow terrains is very high, extremely explosive, and with simple thinking—once it locks on a target, it relentlessly pursues.

Unless one can climb to a high spot, escape is difficult.

Almost nothing can confront this creature head-on, not even a Mutant Brown Bear would choose to fight it.

Chu Guang just smiled, offering no explanation.

It didn’t matter how strong he was; the power of technology was sufficient.

A nuclear-powered hammer coupled with a chemically powered exoskeleton could smash even a wall with one blow, let alone the face of a beast?

"It’s okay. By the way, how are things on your side? It looks like the snow isn’t stopping anytime soon."

"How could it be otherwise, it’s the same every year around this time, we just get by," Yu Hu was optimistic, unconcernally saying, "But this winter came too early, our preparations were rushed. Normally, commercial teams are still coming by October, but who would have thought the last wave would be in late September this year..."

Chu Guang comforted him,

"Look on the bright side, the meat will keep longer in the cold."

Yu Hu shook his head.

"But game is hard to find, to shoot more game, we need to venture into the city, towards those Variant lairs."

Chu Guang said with interest.

"Oh? Do you have any experiences?"

Yu Hu nodded and explained.

"It’s not much of an experience, just a feeling! Those half-collapsed buildings, especially those invaded by tree arches, many small animals love to burrow inside, even building nests. Some hyenas, wolves, and other carnivorous animals also follow inside. You can find game there all year round... but it’s risky."

Chu Guang, "Eaters."

"Yes, Eaters love hiding inside buildings, but they don’t stay too high. We start sweeping from the fourth floor upward. Even then, it’s hard to say what we might encounter inside. Perhaps a nest of ten thousand rats, or maybe a resting Crawler. Without guns, we don’t dare to delve too deeply, usually going up to the farther edge of the fifth ring at most."

Chu Guang sighed.

"It’s snowing now, even harder to move deeper."

Yu Hu responded with a wry smile.

"It’s not just difficult because of the snow, even without snow it’s tough! The paths are like a maze, jumping up and down, and some streets are perennially flooded, never drying out!"

From Bet Street to Giant Stone City, the direct distance on the map spans more than ten kilometers, approximately from the fifth ring outside to the third ring edge of Qingquan City, with Wetland Park even further away.

In a parallel world, Qingquan City couldn’t be found, but Chu Guang, paralleling his former life in Jiang City, casually drew a ten-plus kilometer line on the map, stretching from the riverside to the far districts.

What was this distance like?

Under no traffic, a good half-hour drive would suffice, and if there were many intersections, perhaps one hour.

As for walking?

Chu Guang had never tried walking that far, but even without making an exact comparison, twenty overpasses or subways weren’t avoidable.

And that’s under normal traffic conditions.

If traversing through ruins, it’d be a completely different concept.

In the time before the war, even the shortest buildings within the fourth ring were at least six hundred meters tall. Magnetic bases and nodes installed on roads and building facades supported a three-dimensional traffic system with one hundred twenty vertical lanes.

In an era where maglev technology had spread to private cars, high-rises weren’t just "houses" any longer, they had become part of "roads," especially those near main roads where there were mandatory height requirements.

Of course, these were all guesses by Chu Guang based on stories from Old Charlie and limited information, not necessarily accurate.

But just imagining those meticulously arranged dominoes, he could feel the oppression brought about by this reinforced concrete graveyard.

People inherently revere or even fear creations that are hundreds of times greater than themselves. It certainly wasn’t easy to hunt on these ruins...

Chu Guang suggested,

"Why don’t you and your family move over here, I actually need some extra hands."

Although tempted, Yu Hu still shook his head like a bobblehead.

"No, no, we can’t trouble you."

Chu Guang said with a smile,

"What trouble? I’m not keeping you for free, it would just be helping each other out."

Yu Hu shook his head even faster.

"Coming over to help is fine, staying a few days is no problem, but moving over is out of the question! We’re quite comfortable where we are living above ground... it’s just kind of weird. Besides, other than you, I can’t understand anyone else here, it would be difficult to get along over time."

Seeing him say this, Chu Guang didn’t insist any further.

Although Chu Guang wanted to say that they weren’t like the traditional "Blue Jackets" who always lived underground, that clearly wasn’t the crux of the issue.

When someone refuses for various reasons, the reasons they give are often the least important.

The classic example is "My mom won’t let me."

So Chu Guang never listens to excuses, even if he hears them, it’s as if he didn’t.

Trust is something that takes time to build, you can’t force it.

Besides, it’s not like they don’t have a home.

You can’t just tear down someone’s house.

Yu Hu then changed the subject, grinning as he asked,

"By the way, Brother Chu, is the meat from that giant crab edible? This is the first time I’ve seen someone catch one of these things."

Chu Guang chuckled and replied,

"I don’t know, I was actually going to ask you."

"Me? How would I know? I’ve heard that crab roe from females is edible, but I’ve never heard whether the meat is edible... It would be great if it is, a crab that size must have a lot of meat."

Saying so, Yu Hu was drooling.

Chu Guang laughed and waved his hand,

"Next time then! I’ll first check if it’s poisonous, and if it’s safe, I’ll treat you until you’re full!"

Yu Hu nodded vigorously, laughing,

"Alright! Then I’ll bring Brother, Dad, and Little Fish with me next time!"

"Haha, I’ll just pack some up for you to take home!"

The two chatted for a while, and on the other side, the slaughtering was finished.

Perhaps because it was just entering winter, a 250 kg wild boar had a meat yield of 60%, which resulted in 150 kg of meat.

Twenty percent of it, 30 kg, was given as compensation to Shelter No. 404. The remaining 120 kg was given to the man from the Li family and Yu Hu.

Wild boar skin is considered high-quality leather, especially good for armor, although not as rare as deer skin, its value was still much higher than hyena skin.

After consulting Chu Guang, Luka still priced the skin at the rate of deer skin, giving the man 300g of coarse salt in exchange.

The man, delighted with the salt, thanked Chu Guang and Luka profusely before leaving with Yu Hu.

"Luka."

Seeing his master speaking to him, Luka respectfully lowered his head and responded,

"Is there something you need, sir?"

Chu Guang asked,

"Is the meat from the Crack Claw Crab edible?"

Luka paused, furrowing his brow as he thought carefully before cautiously saying,

"Sir, I have always worked in the fields and have never seen such a creature... But if you are unsure, I can test the poison for you."

"That won’t be necessary."

If there really were a need to test for poison, that was a job for players. If it turned out to be nonlethal, a quick rest in the cultivation chamber with a 100% healing speed bonus should do the trick to recover.

Besides, dying wasn’t a big deal, as three days on official bereavement left one as good as new.

However, just then, Chu Guang suddenly thought of someone and his eyes lit up.

Right.

How could he have forgotten about that guy.

Was there a need to use someone as a test?

Just give it to Crow and see if she eats it, that would settle it!