For the second time in as many minutes, Alvin was launched into the shoreline with enough force to form a small crater and partially bury him in the sand. He was starting to get irritated, as the tide of carbs showed no signs of stopping, even though he slew the unranked and rank 1 crabs just as a side effect of his full force motions and his limbs cut through the rank 2 crabs like a lightsaber through younglings. The third rank crabs crumpled like cardboard but were large enough he had a hard time striking their vitals, nothing a few extra strikes couldn’t take care of. No, it was the rank 4 Crab King that was causing him problems. It just lurked and watched him scythe through the lesser crabs, only moving when it had the opportunity to land a blow. And those claws hurt, even if they weren’t as proportionally large as the third rank crabs, they were faster, harder, and stronger. Alvin could easily beat the Crab King head-on, but the beast was smart enough to know that as well and hid behind the endless wall of its minions before and after ambushing him. He was getting tired of it, and decided to stop relying just on the power of his body, and start using his techniques. He dashed through the hoard, felling the third rank crabs with a single punch, making his way steadily in the direction of the Crab King. Said demonic beast did not simply wait for him to close the distance, directly charging out to meet him. The monstrous crab swung both claws out, anticipating Alvin’s location and the best angle for the subsequent dodge. Alvin laughed, sped up, and met the crab’s blow with a lightning-fast punch.

The clash of the strikes sounded like a burst of thunder, and the water at their feet was pushed back 10 meters. Both combatants recoiled from the force of the blow but in decidedly different conditions. The crab went reeling in a silent screech of pain, stomping its 10 spearfish legs in agony. Its claw looked like a soda can that was sent through a press. Alvin, on the other hand, was perfectly fine, other than what would become a monstrous bruise on his right fist. He winced, then grinned and pressed his advantage, dashing towards the staggered crustacean. He moved unpredictably, seemingly changing direction and speed randomly, as he weaved around the Crab King’s thrashing legs. Once he was directly beneath its body, he crouched down into a ball, and pulled his uninjured left hand close to his chest, straining to both throw the punch and contain it. He threw himself upward, crossing the few meters between him and the bottom of the crab in an instant, and threw the punch, cratering the Crab King’s shell, and lifting it a few meters off of the ground. The counterforce sent Alvin back to the ground, where he immediately dashed to get out from under the collapsing body of the titanic crustacean.

The Crab King’s body crashed to the ground before the water cleared by the initial clash had time to fill back in. With its death, none of the other crabs had any reason to stay, and promptly fled, disappearing into the sea or burrowing into the sand. In a few short moments, Alvin was alone with another corpse. He sighed, then dug his fingers in the shell, and threw it back onto land. Following it, he searched the shell for a plate line, and carefully lined up a punch, before punching the line just as hard as he punched the crab’s claw. The shell split down the middle, and the meat was exposed in all of its stinking glory. Alvin grumbled for a few moments before he dug around in the meat to grab its core. The crab’s core was much smaller than the drake’s, and also much more covered in guts, so Alvin walked back into the ocean to wash both it and himself of the smell of crab innards. Alvin didn’t spend too long cleaning off the crab guts, worried that the death of a rank 4 demonic beast would attract other predators, ones he couldn’t match in a straight fight. He hurried back towards the shore, slipping the crab core into his spatial storage, when the ringing from the talisman cut off, and a voice he had almost hoped never to hear again pierced the air.

“I’m shocked it took you so long to check in, Alvin. Almost everyone else made it to the coast already, and are on their way to my location. It’s a perfect spot, the talisman should mark it for you.

Alvin repressed a wince and lifted the talisman to eye level. There were 2 glowing symbols on the talisman’s map-covered surface: the first was a vague house that glowed green; the second was immediately next to the first and resembled a blue phone. Above the talisman, connected by a trail of light to the phone symbol, was a holographic projection of a woman, the #1 disciple of the Boundless Azure Depths Sect, and Alvin’s self-proclaimed rival, Oriana. Even through a hologram from a communication talisman, Oriana had a powerful presence. A combination of imposing physicality and strong personality, with a tasteful spicing of charisma, made her a difficult person to disagree with. Doubly so because she had a horrendous habit of being right all the time.

“I got waylaid by some…… unfriendly locals. I haven’t had time to look for a spot, but could you tell me what makes yours perfect? Not that I think it’ll be a bad spot, I just would like to know why you say it’s perfect,” Alvin responded, stumbling over his words like a puppy trips on its disproportionate ears. He wasn’t good at talking to people in general, and Oriana made him nervous.

“Of course! First and foremost, the Qi concentration is high rank 5, but without the required flora and lesser fauna for the really dangerous demonic beasts to claim the area, at least on land. There are areas nearby rich in flora and fauna of all ranks, and the main location is on a small bay.” Oriana’s explanation was delivered with unusual passion; maybe she liked those house renovation shows, and now gets to do that with the equivalent of a small town? Regardless, that blew where Alvin was out of the water.

“That’s significantly better than the beach I’m currently at. There’s a forest nearby, but I didn’t really have any chance to check it out, because I kind of got chased out of the forest by an angry lizard the size of a semi-truck. It was rank 4, but I managed to kill it, only to be attacked by a swarm of crabs. I agree that your spot is much better than where I am. Does the talisman show me where I am in relation to where you want to build the new sect?”

Oriana paused for a second before answering, “It should…… try inputting your Qi and focusing on knowing where you are. I can’t stay, got cultivation to do, demonic beasts to cull, busy all the time! Good luck, and call if you need anything bye!” With that, the projection of Oriana blinked out.

Alvin stared at the talisman for a moment, then shrugged, and input his Qi to figure out how far away he was from where Oriana wanted to create the sect. After a few seconds, another glowing symbol appeared, this one a smiley face. The dots were separated by a scant 3 cm on the talisman, but considering the talisman only measured 5 by 10, and depicted a scale map of the world, those 3 cm were a lot. The distance was even greater than it would have been before everything changed because Earth was now much larger than it used to be. Rough estimates using the sun and properties of circles determined that the new circumference of Earth was just shy of 121 thousand kilometers, approximately 3 times the old circumference, which means that there was now 9 times as much surface area as there once was. Alvin guesstimated that he would have to cover about 40,000 km, which at the lovely sedate pace of 60 km/h, would take him nearly a month, 28 days, of running nonstop. If he stopped once, every other day, for 6 hours, it would take him just over 31 days to complete the trip. Needless to say, it would be a long journey.

Alvin sighed and decided that he wouldn’t be leaving immediately. Long travel was exhausting, and he was already mentally fatigued after dealing with the crab hoard. Luckily most of the fighting had taken place in the shallow waves lapping against the beach, which left a campsite undisturbed save for his crude firepit, and the 2 craters from when he was ambushed by the Crab King. Even if all of his possessions were safely stored away, he was glad he did not have to clean the area up, or just move somewhere else. No one sane likes to spend the night in the bloody carnage of a battle, especially when they would probably end up covered in it while they were asleep. Sand wasn’t much better, but sand didn’t leave stains that ruin one’s favorite robes. Still, just to be on the safe side, Alvin retrieved a multitude of leaves from the forest before laying down on his makeshift bed and falling asleep.