Creak…
creak…
The canvas recliner rocked back and forth, the wooden joints groaning softly.
It sounded incredibly leisurely in the quiet heat of the afternoon.
However, Titan felt that something was horribly, completely wrong.
Inside his personal enclosure, there were currently three humans and four animals (not including himself).
Seriously?
Why is absolutely everyone hanging out at my house?
Old Larry sat in the recliner with his newborn granddaughter swaddled in his arms.
He rocked back and forth gently, occasionally humming a soft lullaby to soothe the sleeping infant.
Old Frank was sitting cross-legged on the grass nearby, casually playing with Bear Number Four.
Across the yard, Jason stood leaning against the concrete wall in the shade, stroking Cat Number Two in his arms as if it were a common house cat.
As for Boss Croc…
well, he was still fast asleep inside his giant water tank on the front steps.
The absolute most awkward part of the entire situation was that all three men were dressed in incredibly sharp formal wear, making the casual zoo hangout look both wildly incongruous and strangely heartwarming.
Rustle.
A gentle breeze swept across the lawn.
Titan, whose reptilian brain was still struggling to process the bizarre social gathering, decided to just ignore it.
He laid his scaly belly flat on the ground, opened his jaws wide, closed his eyes, and simply tried to enjoy a peaceful sunbath.
Ring, ring, ring!
The tranquil silence was violently shattered by a ringing telephone.
Titan slowly snapped his jaws shut and opened one golden eye, looking toward the source of the noise.
The ringing was incredibly faint.
It seemed to be coming from the landline inside the medical clinic, meaning none of the distracted humans present reacted in time to hear it.
Ugh, this is such a hassle.
Titan stood up.
He looked over at Old Larry, who was completely absorbed in rocking his granddaughter.
The baby crocodile decided it would probably be better to alert one of the other two men.
Hmm.
Old Frank is basically useless unless you need someone to throw money at a problem.
Let’s go bother Jason.
Having fully embraced his role as the “Assistant Zoo Director” and the resident crocodilian uncle, Titan locked onto his target.
He slowly waddled toward where Jason was standing in the shade.
“Gah!”
Jason was completely focused on stroking the blind tiger cub’s fur.
Suddenly, he sensed an overwhelmingly terrifying aura approaching his ankles.
He looked down and nearly jumped right out of his expensive leather shoes.
Titan was incredibly sensible.
Considering he and Jason had literally just met, he actively chose not to make any direct physical contact with his razor-sharp jaws.
Instead, he simply reached out a scaly paw and gently tugged on the hem of Jason’s tailored trousers.
Despite his politeness, Jason was still scared half to death.
He just didn’t understand why the crocodile was targeting him.
“Dad?
Dad…
Dad!”
Jason’s voice rapidly escalated from mild confusion to trembling, outright terror.
“Hmm?
What is it?”
Old Larry sat up straight in the recliner.
He looked over at Jason, then followed his son-in-law’s panicked gaze down to the grass.
He immediately spotted Titan gently tugging on the man’s pant leg.
“Number Three?
What’s wrong, buddy?”
Titan let go of the fabric.
He turned his massive head around and shot Jason a look of profound, crocodilian disdain.
Seriously?
How can you have absolutely zero common sense?
Or…
common crocodile sense?
“Rumble.”
Titan waddled over to the enclosure’s exit.
He paused at the iron gate and let out a soft, low growl in Old Larry’s direction, essentially ordering the old man to follow him.
“What exactly is going on?” Old Frank asked.
At this point, none of the men found it strange that Old Larry was actively trying to decipher a crocodile’s intentions.
They all simply held the animal cubs tightly in their arms and followed behind Titan to see what was happening. The source of this chapter is g.com.
Fortunately, public knowledge regarding exotic animal behavior wasn’t particularly widespread during this era.
Jason and Old Frank mostly just viewed Titan as a scaly, swamp-dwelling version of a highly intelligent Golden Retriever.
“Dad?
I think the phone in the clinic is ringing,” Jason finally realized.
“Oh, you are right!” Old Larry said.
“You two head back to the courtyard and wait for me.
I will be right back.”
Old Larry quickly handed the baby over and hurried down the corridor toward the clinic.
However…
“Both of us?”
Jason, Old Frank, and Titan all looked at each other in total confusion.
They were actively trying to figure out which “two” Old Larry wanted to wait in the courtyard.
Sigh.
The sacrifices I make to keep this family running.
Titan turned around and waddled down the hall, following closely behind Old Larry’s retreating back.
Jason and Old Frank were left standing alone in the corridor, utterly speechless.
“He…
he is joking, right?”
“I honestly have no idea anymore.”
“Hello?
Who is this?”
“Larry, it is your old Captain.”
“Oh!
Captain!
What brings you to call the clinic today?”
Little Lily, who was now resting gently in Old Larry’s free arm, heard the sudden loud voices.
She let out a soft, agitated whimper, clearly on the verge of waking up.
This is bad.
I really should have had Frank or Jason hold her while I took this call.
“Damn it, Larry.
You completely forgot about the crocodile expert thing, didn’t you?
I managed to track down two specialists for you right away.
Aren’t I a great friend?”
“Oh!
Right!
I am so sorry, Captain.
Yes, thank you, I appreciate it.”
Old Larry glanced around the clinic.
He noticed the soft, white padded cat bed sitting empty on the examination table.
He also noticed Titan waddling through the doorway.
A terrible, brilliant idea immediately struck him.
“Ahem.
Number Three, do me a favor.
Keep an eye on the kid for a second, okay?
If you think she is in trouble, just come bite me.”
Old Larry covered the telephone microphone and whispered the insane instructions directly to the crocodile.
Are you serious?
Is this guy actually human?
Titan’s rising panic subsided slightly when he watched Old Larry gently place the swaddled baby safely inside the padded cat bed on the table, rather than directly on the floor.
Okay, good.
For a second there, I thought you literally wanted me to hold her in my jaws.
That scared me to death.
“Alright, Captain.
Give me a time and a place, and I will go pick the two of them up.”
“No need, Larry.
They will come directly to the zoo.
One of them manages a massive commercial reptile farm and has decades of hands-on experience.
The other is actually a zoological consultant for the state park, but he is a foreigner, so you might have to help translate…”
“That is perfectly fine.
As long as they don’t show up with tranquilizer rifles, they are welcome.”
“Sounds good. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
See you soon.”
Old Larry was completely engrossed in wrapping up the phone call.
Titan shot a quick glance at the old man, who was desperately trying to keep his voice down, before turning his attention back to the table.
“Mmm…
ehh…”
Oh no!
The little monster is awakening!
Titan was, unfortunately, still a crocodile.
With absolutely no hands to help, he could only writhe in desperation on the floor.
He gently bumped his heavy snout against the metal table leg, trying to gently shake the surface to simulate a rocking cradle.
“Waaaaah!”
It completely failed.
Deprived of the warm, comforting heartbeat of an adult, the baby let out a sharp, piercing, ear-splitting scream.
“Alright, Captain, I have to go!
If you still have trouble with your old shoulder injury, feel free to drop by the clinic anytime!”
Old Larry hastily slammed the phone down and jogged back over to the table.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry.
Grandpa is right here.
Please don’t cry.”
“Waaaaaah!”
“Shh, shh.
Don’t cry, sweetie.
Grandpa will tell you a nice story.”
Titan watched in complete bewilderment as Old Larry bounced the screaming infant in his left arm while using his right hand to pull a thick, yellowing black book off the medical shelf.
Is that the collection of ancient mythological tales?
Titan pricked up his non-existent ears.
He was incredibly curious to see what kind of “bedtime stories” were hidden inside that heavy tome.
“There we go.
The story is about to begin.”
Old Larry smiled warmly.
He cracked the heavy book open, running his calloused finger down the brittle, yellowed pages.
He picked out a short passage and began to read aloud.
[ A severe drought struck, leaving the land parched and barren.
Grass and trees withered into ash, crops scorched and dead.
Animals, deprived of water, collapsed and perished.
The starving people wailed, praying to the heavens for rain.
But the heavens remained silent.
]
Wait.
It is written in Old English?
Titan was momentarily taken aback, but he quickly realized it made perfect sense.
The book was a collection of ancient myths.
It was a bit difficult to process verbally, but he could generally understand the plot.
[ Suddenly, a great dragon appeared, responding to the prayers.
Its power was immense, splitting mountains and cleaving through the thick earth, guiding hidden streams to emerge from the deep abysses.
The surging waves were unstoppable, flooding and nourishing the parched land.
Wherever the dragon passed, the dried-up marshes were revived.
]
[ When the water arrives, all things are renewed.
Before long, green grass sprouted again in the wilderness, and life reappeared across the eight directions.
It is said that the divine dragon, taking pity on the suffering world, split the earth and opened up the rivers, benefiting all living beings so the barren land could once again grow lush and green.
]
As Old Larry’s finger traced the final period, the story came to an abrupt end.
Miraculously, little Lily’s piercing cries ended right along with it.
“Haha, well…
this story is about a great dragon saving a kingdom from a terrible drought…
um, how should I summarize it?”
Old Larry was absolutely thrilled to see that he had successfully calmed his granddaughter down.
He pretended to be deep in thought, actively trying to summarize the moral of the story to keep the baby entertained.
Titan remained completely silent for a long time.
Suddenly, both he and Old Larry arrived at the exact same conclusion regarding the story’s core theme.
A great dragon, riding on the crashing waters.
“To save all living beings from the demons of the drought.”