Doubt

"Now, what do I do with you?

Despite the increase in power, the effect is only subtly immediate, but it didn't completely paralyze him.

Like the other crocodiles I tested, it only struggles to move.

Before, he was fast enough to attack me in the blink of an eye, but now he's struggling even to open his mouth.

"Martins!"

"Ahmm, boss, are you safe? He won't attack, right?"

"Everything should be fine. Look, he can't move now."

"Shouldn't you just kill him now?"

"Not yet. He enjoyed watching us in fear, so I'll make sure he dies with the same fear."

I looked deep into the crocodile's eyes, and he looked back at me. The anger was almost palpable, but there was also fear in that gaze.

"Great, you're afraid. That makes me even more curious about how intelligent you are, since fear can only be felt by something you fear."

The moment I pointed the arrow at him, he knew what it was, or at least, he knew it was something that could hurt him.

"So, enjoy. It was very difficult to get this."

I took out a glass vial, the most challenging vial to create.

Glass isn't easy to make and shape. While with iron, I just need to heat and beat it to mold it, with glass, I need to heat the sand until it turns into a jelly to mold it. Without proper tools, I managed to create it, but molding was a torment. The only reason I created glass was for testing and experimentation.

With it, I created a few glass items, like large containers for carrying water and small vials for small things like poison.

During my exploration days, I not only found the paralyzing herb but also discovered poisonous herbs. Some didn't seem lethal, while others would kill me quickly.

My luck was that I only found poisonous things after the paralyzing herb. After finding the herb, I became more cautious and didn't test everything on myself.

So, after some time during the journey, I managed to test various things, including poison. And with a poison that could kill a crocodile in less than 30 minutes.

I know against this aberration.

But unlike that poison, I also used the fortified poison, although I didn't test it before, it should be equally strong. If I tried using just a common poison or paralyzer, it wouldn't have a significant effect.

After 5 minutes, the effects began to take effect.

Even under paralysis, the crocodile began to move, writhing and growling in pain.

"It must be hurting. You know, I don't really like killing animals, but my intuition tells me that you're not just an ordinary animal."

"Your reaction when I pointed the arrow or your fear when I said you would die in pain tells me you understood what I was saying."

"Knowing that makes me curious. How can an animal of this size, which wouldn't have difficulty living with dinosaurs, be living at the beginning of the Pleistocene, and also understand what I say?"

Since the moment I appeared in this world, I always asked myself some questions.

How did I get here?

Who brought me here?

Why am I here?

And am I the only one here?

If he had just been laughing at despair, I would have considered it an abnormality, of course, besides the size, as there are animals that do that to their prey. Some animals just like to inflict fear before killing their prey. Some don't even kill, they just leave them almost dying or don't eat, doing it just for fun.

If he only did that, I would have thought he liked inflicting fear, given his size, he's definitely the boss here, so with no challenges, he entertained himself through the fear of others.

But he felt fear and showed that he knew or at least felt that I could inflict some damage, even from a distance.

I looked and spoke to the crocodile.

"I don't know if you understand me, or if this is just in my head, but regardless of anything, your mistake was attacking my men, whether you knew what you were doing or not, I would have done the same to you."

At this moment, as if using the last of his strength, he roared as if cursing me.

"I guess I was right."

"Guys, let's go. We have a lot of work to do. We may have lost some of our own, but we still have much to do. Be sure that the deaths of those who are gone were not in vain. This will be something the whole tribe will benefit from, and with the sacrifice of ten of our comrades, we can now live, and with our survival, the tribe can reach this land, where it will grow like never before."