Chapter 38: Why Are There No Weaknesses?

Lin Tongfu’s official jargon hit Village Chief Lao Chen like a machine gun, leaving him completely bewildered.

In his remarks, Lin marveled at the fact that Shougoujian could produce a wild boar capable of breaking a world record. Amidst his expressions of awe and gratitude, he subtly hinted at why the Forestry Bureau had mobilized such significant resources. The reason was simple: this boar was extraordinary. It was potentially the heaviest wild boar in history. The previous world record had long been held in the Siberian region of Russia, but now, that record was about to change hands.

Why was the Forestry Bureau so pleased? Naturally, because if the world record for a wild boar’s weight came to the Xia Kingdom, it signified that the environmental preservation efforts in the Xiadong region were highly successful—otherwise, how could such a massive beast have been born? These were all signs of progress. And old Lin... he was truly eager for progress.

Dazed by Lin Tongfu’s official rhetoric, Lao Chen watched as the Forestry Bureau’s helicopter airlifted the boar away. Lin Tongfu and three other bureau officials then accompanied Lao Chen down the mountain toward Changxi Town.

However, far from where Lao Chen could see, the helicopter was not heading toward the Forestry Bureau, a zoo, or a veterinary hospital. After leaving Changxi Town, the helicopter, marked with rescue emblems, flew straight toward the west. It touched down in a restricted zone, lowering the metal cage onto an open area. Personnel who had been waiting there pulled the cage into a sunken, zoo-like plaza within the compound.

"Snort?"

The boar, with a tuft of blue fur on its head and the stature of a mammoth, suddenly opened its eyes. It scanned its surroundings, and upon confirming that the fox was nowhere to be seen, it let out a sharp, aggressive snort. Despite the metal cage, the sheer power and ferocity of the waking boar terrified the team of inspectors who had been surrounding it.

"Excluding the weight of the alloy cage, the Shougoujian boar weighs 1.2 tons."

"Once the anesthesia wears off, it may break through the cage in seconds. I am requesting high-dosage injections to ensure the safety of the examination process," one of the veterinarians said, his face grave as he spoke into his walkie-talkie to request controlled substances.

The recovery speed of the Shougoujian boar far exceeded their initial estimates. If they continued with standard sedatives, the creature might break free and send them flying before the check-up was even finished. Cao Siyuan felt he was merely an insignificant biologist and veterinarian; he had no intention of jumping ship to become the world’s first human "flesh-and-blood astronaut" by being launched into the air by a boar.

"Evacuate immediately."

To Cao’s surprise, the request for drugs was not approved. A young man’s voice came through the walkie-talkie, his tone grave: "Professor Cao, evacuate immediately. The boar is recovering far faster than expected... it is about to break out."

Cao Siyuan froze. Ignoring the blood samples still being taken, he scrambled to lead his team to safety. The steel door, the only exit, began to descend.

The Shougoujian boar could easily scale the five-meter-high reinforced concrete walls of the isolation zone; otherwise, it would never have been able to breach the perimeter.

"Snort—"

As the sedative wore off and the realization that the fox was absent set in, the boar reclaimed its status as a forest overlord, letting out an angry roar. It shook its massive head and slammed into the alloy cage, causing the solid steel pillars to deform visibly.

"Snort!"

The boar lunged forward. The sound of metal twisting and snapping echoed through the plaza. The steel pillars holding the boar back bent into grotesque arcs and flew outward, striking the concrete wall with a shower of sparks as the entire cage disintegrated.

"Snort—"

Having been humiliated by that fox, the boar was looking for an outlet for its frustration, and it found a group of people standing around pointing at it. As the king of the forest, when had it ever suffered such indignity, save for its encounter with the fox?

"Rumble—"

With bloodshot eyes, the boar charged like a steam locomotive, puffing and snorting as it slammed directly into the steel gate. With a thunderous boom, the biologists and geneticists outside watched in stunned silence. The steel door had actually buckled.

But the boar’s assault did not stop there. The previous collision had merely been a probing strike against an unknown object; now, the boar realized the gate could not stop it. Having experienced the "fox-foot-brake" incident, the boar was now slightly more cautious. It dared not charge as recklessly as before, terrified of encountering another fox-brake that might smash its snout again.

"Bang—"

A sniper on the reinforced concrete wall fired a shot at the boar. However, the high-speed bullet hit the boar’s steel-like bristles and simply ricocheted away.

"It... it ricocheted?" The sniper on the wall nearly popped his eyes out. That was a real bullet, not a low-lethality tranquilizer. They were experienced in handling out-of-control spirit beasts. The standard procedure was to use atomized anesthetics to subdue them. But this boar was too ferocious; it would likely smash through the steel gate and wreak havoc on the isolation zone before the anesthetic could take effect.

Plan A had failed. They had to move to Plan B: use live ammunition to injure the beast and drain its stamina before applying the anesthetic. But the bullet had bounced off! It had struck the pig's hide, ricocheted onto the concrete wall, and flew off into the sky.

"Snort!"

Feeling the pain in its belly, the boar’s ferocity exploded, and it charged the steel gate at full speed.

"Boom—"

The rivets and embeds securing the gate groaned and twisted as the door tilted. Without breaking stride, the boar raced around the sunken plaza once before smashing through the steel gate. With the sound of clattering hooves and ground-shaking vibrations, it escaped through the corridor.

All the scientists present were dumbfounded. They were well-educated and knew that spirit beasts were unique and dangerous creatures. They were also considered precious national treasures, treated as strategic resources within the Xia Kingdom. Yet, none of them had ever seen a spirit beast as formidable as the Shougoujian boar.

Cao Siyuan stared blankly at the boar as it galloped away, kicking up clouds of dust. He picked up his walkie-talkie and whispered, "Reporting to the leadership... the isolation zone has been breached. The boar is currently..."

"Understood," the young man on the other end replied, his tone carrying a strange inflection. "Everyone take a break. We will continue the examination once the Shougoujian boar returns."

The boar’s power was beyond everyone’s expectations, but the young man on the walkie-talkie had observed a very peculiar phenomenon. He was a graduate of the first animal science class at the New Emerging Agricultural College, and his thesis had been on pig farming. A male pig should have two massive, perhaps even dragging, lanterns in its crotch. But the young man had not seen any such "weakness-bells" hanging from the boar. Furthermore... he hadn't seen a pig snout, either.

So, where was the Shougoujian boar’s weakness?

………………

What happened in the restricted zone could not reach An Sheng, who was fast asleep on Yu Xueqing’s arm.

A new day dawned. Yu Xueqing was full of fighting spirit, determined to use the summer vacation to help grow and strengthen her family’s tea plantation business.

"Awoo—"

An Sheng let out a yawn, turned over, stuck his little butt in the air, and went right back to sleep.