Future Pet Shop

Chapter 218: How to Catch Pingtou?

"The honey badger was poisoned during its fight with the cobra. It looks like it’s passed out. I’m going to go check on it," Shen Yibin said into the walkie-talkie, relaying the message back to the helicopter.

"Wait, let me ask the guide. You’re not completely safe right now." Sylvie immediately stopped him. She turned and spoke with the guide in French for a moment before saying, "The guide advises you to stay where you are and not to wander off."

’But... if this goes on, Pingtou is going to die, isn’t he? And since it’s passed out now, wouldn’t this be the perfect time to give it some medicine?’ Shen Yibin subconsciously reached into his coat, but he couldn’t find the pill from the Future Pet Shop. Thinking carefully, he remembered that he had been worried something might happen to it while he slept last night, so he had left the small vial in the helicopter. If he wanted to give Pingtou the medicine, he’d have to go back to the helicopter first.

’Even if I manage to get the medicine, Sylvie and the guide probably won’t let me leave, will they?’ Shen Yibin had no choice but to stay in the treetop, raising his binoculars to observe Pingtou. He had a gut feeling that Pingtou wouldn’t be this fragile.

He saw Pingtou lying on its side on the ground, its four paws curled up. It twitched lightly from time to time, and it looked like it was still breathing. This made Shen Yibin sigh in relief. ’As long as it’s alive, that’s what matters.’

Pingtou lay beside the cobra’s corpse as if it were just sleeping. About an hour passed, and Shen Yibin grew impatient. His patience wearing thin, he decided to climb down immediately, get the pill from the helicopter, and feed it to Pingtou. ’But will this pill even be able to save it?’

Just then, Pingtou’s paw seemed to twitch. Shen Yibin froze and continued to watch. First, its right front paw moved, then its left. Its two hind paws followed. After stretching its limbs one by one, Pingtou flipped over and stood up, its movements as nimble as before. It was as if a simple nap had completely purged the cobra’s venom.

’Holy crap, Pingtou, you’re one tough badass!’ A cobra injects 250 milligrams of venom with each bite, of which about 80 milligrams is "dry venom" (pure toxin with the water removed). This venom damages an animal’s circulatory and nervous systems, blocking neuromuscular transmission and causing death by paralysis. A mere 15 milligrams of dry venom is enough to kill an adult human.

Pingtou’s body weight was only a fraction of an adult human’s. Furthermore, this cobra was larger than average, and its last bite had been a desperate, death-throe attack, meaning the amount of venom injected was surely far greater than a normal dose. Pingtou must have been hit with at least a hundred milligrams of snake venom—enough to kill several men. And yet, Pingtou now seemed completely fine.

Afterward, Shen Yibin looked it up and discovered that snake venom naturally breaks down inside a honey badger’s body. That was why they were called the natural enemy of snakes. This cobra was simply out of luck to have run into Pingtou.

Pingtou, acting as if nothing had happened, picked up the cobra again. It held the snake’s body with its two front paws and began to gnaw at it, starting from the neck, just like Shen Yibin would chew on sugarcane. CRUNCH, CRUNCH. The cobra’s body shortened at a speed visible to the naked eye. In less than fifteen minutes, the entire two-meter-long cobra had vanished into Pingtou’s stomach.

Its belly full, Pingtou leisurely ambled away from its feeding spot and headed off elsewhere. In a short while, it disappeared from Shen Yibin’s sight. Shen Yibin rubbed his numb arms and legs, slowly climbed down the tree, and walked toward the helicopter.

He recounted the two great battles he had just witnessed to Sylvie and the others, then took out his phone to show them the videos and photos he had taken. Sylvie and Alfred clicked their tongues in amazement. They were especially dumbfounded by the final scene where Pingtou naturally detoxified itself just by taking a nap.

The guide, however, didn’t look very surprised. He said to Shen Yibin haltingly, "This is why I didn’t let you go over there. Honey badgers are never afraid of cobra venom. They recover after a short rest. If you had gone over and it had woken up, you might have been attacked."

Shen Yibin immediately recalled the swipe Pingtou had given the lion, Egg. He shivered and quickly shook his head. "That would have been terrifying." ’I probably wouldn’t even be able to dodge a single swipe from Pingtou.’

"Hm?" Hah’Er, however, was staring curiously at the black-and-white creature on the phone screen. He seemed to be wondering why its black and white fur was so distinctly separated, instead of being patchy like his own.

’Sigh. Hah’Er, my boy, even though you’re considered a fierce beast in the animal kingdom—with a bite force second only to a polar bear, a running speed faster than an Olympic hurdler, and a butt that can crush a wolf—if you ever ran into Pingtou, you’d probably be toast. Until I can give that little guy his medicine, you’d better just stay put in the helicopter.’

"So, what’s the plan now? I need to go back to the hotel and take a shower. I feel absolutely disgusting right now. Besides, we’re running low on food and water," said Sylvie.

"Alright, let’s head back for today. I also need to think about how to capture it." According to the trajectory on the Pet Radar, this was Pingtou’s core territory. The problem was, Shen Yibin hadn’t known what kind of pet he would encounter, so his preparations were inadequate. This trip back would be a good opportunity to gather more information on Pingtou, formulate a plan, and buy the necessary equipment.

So, Shen Yibin, Alfred, Sylvie, and the guide cleaned up the trash from their campsite, got back in the helicopter, and started the engine, flying back toward the hotel.

Back at the hotel, Shen Yibin and Hah’Er first took a nice, comfortable shower. Then, he called the hotel and had them deliver the ingredients he needed, and he cooked a delicious dinner in the kitchen.

Shen Yibin also invited Sylvie, Alfred, and the guide to join them for dinner. The guide couldn’t stop praising Shen Yibin’s cooking, while Alfred, as always, stood behind Sylvie to attend to her needs.

After dinner, the group gathered on the terrace. They began discussing how to capture Pingtou while sipping tea. Shen Yibin looked at the guide and asked, "Do honey badgers have any weaknesses we can exploit?" Based on what happened at noon, the guide seemed to know something about Pingtou’s habits, so he might be a good source of useful information.

"To be honest, I only know the basics. I’ll tell you what I know," the guide said, setting down his teacup. He then began to recount what he knew.