270: Chapter 270 Natural Affinity is about to reach Level 5!

An Ke and his group set off once again.

Led by the Giant Centipede, they headed toward the main path of the cave.

From now on, An Ke planned to focus on the "main quest" and ignore any "side quests."

After all, "side quests" didn't count toward exploration progress.

Unless a "side quest" had something he was interested in.

For example, unripe mangoes, plums, or even mutton.

...

"Are you saying there are hundreds of Hippopotamuses ahead, and these Hippopotamuses have the same physique as the Old Crocodile Couple?"

An Ke sat on Aman's head and asked Aman.

Although he had the [Ocean Affinity Constitution], he preferred not to enter the water if he didn't have to.

Otherwise, being soaking wet in a damp cave would be extremely uncomfortable.

"Yes, Boss!"

Aman responded. It subconsciously wanted to nod, but remembering An Ke was on its head, it restrained itself.

"What's a Hippopotamus?"

Ah Giao asked while "walking" through the water.

The reason it was walking was that it couldn't swim.

Tiger Mom, Leopard Mom, Hua Hua, the savages, and the other animals were also curious.

After all, they had never seen a Hippopotamus before.

In the air, King Kong cried out with an earnest and pained tone:

"Your ignorance truly breaks the heart of This Muscle Man."

In the outside world, the audience's interest was piqued.

"Oh? That Flirty Bird actually knows what kind of animal a Hippopotamus is?"

"That's a surprise. Could there be Hippopotamuses on the island?"

"Otherwise, how could Flirty Bird know what a Hippopotamus is?"

“...”

Due to water pollution and droughts, Hippopotamuses had gone extinct on Blue Star a long time ago.

People nowadays rarely saw them.

Because of this, the audience was looking forward to seeing what a Hippopotamus actually looked like.

Would it be as handsome as a noble steed?

Inside the livestream.

An Ke raised an eyebrow, also quite surprised that King Kong knew what a Hippopotamus was.

Speaking of which, why was this guy calling himself 'This Muscle Man' again?

He really was the type who would try to tear the roof off if he wasn't beaten for three days.

"Muscle Bro, tell us quickly, what kind of thing is a Hippopotamus?"

The animals and savages all looked at King Kong, waiting for its explanation.

King Kong said solemnly, without blushing or a racing heart:

"The so-called Hippopotamus is simply a horse in the river."

"Does This Muscle Man really need to explain something so easy to understand?"

An Ke: "..."

So this guy knew nothing at all and was just spouting nonsense with a straight face?

Unable to stand it any longer, An Ke directly grabbed Little Mouse, who was sitting on his shoulder.

While the other gave him a confused "Eh?" look, An Ke suddenly hurled Little Mouse at King Kong.

The latter let out a miserable shriek as it was knocked into the water, while the former was caught by Aman's tail.

Then, it was placed back onto An Ke's shoulder.

Little Mouse said aggrievedly, "Master, Master, Little Mouse has something to report to you."

"Next time you do something so exciting, could you please tell Little Mouse beforehand?"

An Ke smiled and rubbed Little Mouse's head. "If I told you, how could I catch him by surprise?"

"Three Hairs, from now on you are my personal weapon and cannonball."

"That's a position of great power."

"Is it?" Three Hairs' eyes lit up.

So its power was actually that great?

"Yes!" An Ke nodded. "Wherever I point, you strike."

"Then Master, Master, can you raise some Double-Coiled Flukes for Little Mouse?"

"Little Mouse plans to eat them as snacks occasionally."

An Ke's smile vanished instantly. "No!"

...

"Little friend, meeting Hippopotamuses on a narrow path is going to be a bit tricky."

Old Crocodile was the only animal who had actually seen a Hippopotamus.

"Back when I was traveling long distances, I had the misfortune of encountering them once."

"At the time, I just wanted to borrow a bit of water to maintain my body. Guess what happened?"

"What happened?" An Ke asked curiously.

The other animals and savages were also curious.

"That group of Hippopotamuses was like a bunch of lunatics; they chased me for two whole streets."

"If I hadn't been reasonable, that whole group of Hippopotamuses would have been finished."

Speaking of this, Old Crocodile still sounded a bit indignant.

An Ke cleared his throat.

He felt that the reason Old Crocodile was chased for two streets wasn't because it was being reasonable, but because it simply couldn't beat them.

Hippopotamuses were in a league of their own among herbivores.

Most herbivores were food for others, but the Hippopotamus was a tyrant of the animal kingdom.

On land, it chased lions and Wild Leopards.

In the water, it could chase crocodiles.

Pulling back his thoughts, An Ke rubbed his chin.

Hippopotamuses had extremely strong territorial instincts.

It would be difficult for their group to pass through their territory.

If a hundred Hippopotamuses with the same physique as the Old Crocodile Couple went berserk,

even An Ke wouldn't be able to withstand it. They would likely all be wiped out here.

But if they didn't go through, there was no other way.

This was a bit problematic.

An Ke frowned.

Seeing An Ke's reaction, the atmosphere among the animals and savages became heavy.

This was the first time they had seen An Ke look troubled.

Were those Hippopotamuses really that hard to deal with?

Sister-in-law Crocodile couldn't help but ask her partner:

"Hey, you old ghost, are those Hippopotamuses really that fierce?"

"Hehe~" Old Crocodile chuckled upon hearing this and said flatteringly:

"dear one, they definitely aren't as fierce as me."

Sister-in-law Crocodile snorted coldly and gave Old Crocodile a look that said 'figure it out yourself.'

"When you were young, This mother admits you were very fierce."

"But now, This mother only wants to say you're just so-so."

Old Crocodile glanced around awkwardly and then stopped joking.

He answered seriously:

"Those Hippopotamuses are all big and thick-skinned."

"If you want to bite them, you wouldn't even know where to start."

"And they all have a pair of thick tusks..."

"If you get bitten by those tusks, they could probably poke a hole right through our bodies."

"Giao?! That's so terrifying?" Ah Giao stumbled.

It suddenly choked on a few mouthfuls of water.

It hurriedly stood up in the water, ignoring the coughing, and looked at An Ke:

"Patriarch, are we sure we're not changing routes?"

"If they can chase Old Crocodile for two streets, our group won't be able to handle them, right?"

The other animals and savages didn't voice their opinions.

But after comparing, they also felt their group couldn't handle it.

Even with the infinitely strong King Kong and the steel-hard Three Hairs,

it wouldn't be much use.

Even if their individual combat strength was equal to Old Crocodile,

their group could at most go toe-to-toe with about thirty Hippopotamuses.

Any more, and they would be unilaterally crushed.

An Ke didn't answer immediately but rubbed his chin.

He finally realized the difficulty of an s-rank instance.

A frontal confrontation was definitely out of the question.

But for the sake of exploration progress, they had to pass through the Hippopotamuses' territory.

Just then, An Ke's eyes suddenly lit up.

A thought flashed through his mind.

"Isn't Natural Affinity about to level up?"

Level 4 affinity, when actively released, could briefly influence the Old Crocodile Couple and Aman.

This meant that after reaching Level 5, it would be able to fully influence the Old Crocodile Couple and Aman.

These Hippopotamuses had the same physique as the Old Crocodile Couple.

This meant that after reaching Level 5, it could also influence the Hippopotamuses...

...