Chapter 103: Rock Crab
When the thing hiding under the rock finally revealed its true form, Leon drew in a sharp breath.
“What a huge hermit crab.”
Yes, it was a crab hiding under the rock, but unlike the crabs Leon was familiar with, this one’s shell was made of solid stone. Its entire body was a bright orange-red, and its size matched the rock behind it—about half a meter across. Which meant the crab itself was also about half a meter wide.
While Leon was making his remark, the Rock Crab didn’t waste any time. Whether it was acting on instinct to defend its territory or simply annoyed by Leon’s pickaxe strike, it reacted instantly.
Its eyes, peeking out from beneath the stony shell, locked onto Leon—the obvious outsider who didn’t belong in the cave’s ecosystem. Then, with its rocky shell raised like a shield, it charged straight toward him.
Its speed was shockingly fast. Worse, it moved in a straight line—completely ignoring the usual sideways gait of its kind. The unexpected movement made Leon raise an eyebrow, but he dodged to the side in time to avoid the charge.
After evading, Leon wasn’t about to stand still and wait for a second assault. He bent down, his Galaxy Watermelon Knife brushing along the ground, then snapped it upward in a clean, single-handed slash aimed straight at the Rock Crab’s underside—exposed between its eight jointed legs.
But the Rock Crab saw the motion. That primal sense of danger flared, and it instantly retracted its legs and body back into the rocky shell.
With its support gone, the stony shell dropped to the ground, once again perfectly camouflaged among the surrounding rocks.