Future Pet Shop

Chapter 207: Find This Pet Yourself

Shen Yibin stared dumbly at the final result of his unboxing. There was no pet in the package at all. Instead, there was a small vial that looked like it was made of crystal. Inside the vial was a white, round object that looked just like a pill. ’What the hell is this?’

’Future Pet Shop, is this a pill? Did you mess up the delivery again?’ Sylvie had the same reaction. "Bin, don’t you think they sent the wrong package?"

"I’ll ask them." ’I refuse to believe it,’ he thought. ’Are you going to tell me this pill is a pet egg, and that I should have Hah’Er sit on it for a few days to hatch it?’ SNAP. SNAP. Shen Yibin took a few photos of the small vial and sent them over. "Hey, what’s going on here? I’m telling you, can’t you guys switch to a more reliable courier service?"

’It’s already the 22nd century. They can train a panda to be this smart, yet their logistics system is complete garbage. It’s so unscientific.’ The thought left Shen Yibin extremely frustrated.

"Is there a problem?" The Future Pet Shop seemed remarkably calm after seeing the photos Shen Yibin sent, showing no surprise whatsoever.

"Hey, didn’t you say you were sending a pet? Why did you send this? Don’t tell me this *is* the pet!" ’Could it be a new type of 22nd-century electronic pet? But I’ve only ever gotten animals from this shop. And you seemed to have said something similar before, otherwise I would have asked you for a Doraemon long ago.’

"This is what I intended to send you. Hasn’t it been delivered successfully?" The Future Pet Shop’s reply took Shen Yibin by surprise.

’Is it really a pet egg that I need to incubate myself?’ Shen Yibin quickly picked up the vial and studied it for a long time, but he couldn’t see anything that resembled a pet egg. It was clearly a lifeless, inanimate object.

"What exactly is this thing you sent me?" Shen Yibin asked uncertainly. In any case, he couldn’t see how this item had anything to do with a pet.

"A pill," the Future Pet Shop replied, as calm as ever. "It’s very costly to ship living organisms from the 22nd century to your time. So, from now on, we don’t plan on mailing you live pets anymore. You’ll need to find a suitable pet yourself, have it consume this pill to trigger a genetic mutation within its body, and then you’ll get a pet similar to the ones you’ve already received. Any other questions?"

Shen Yibin was a bit dazed. He quickly asked for more details, and after a long explanation from the Future Pet Shop, he began to understand the situation. It turned out that Hah’Er, Egg, and Cheeky were all bred by humans from animals that had undergone genetic mutations. That was why they were so clever and exhibited intelligence and unique abilities far beyond others of their kind.

The pill the Future Pet Shop had just given Shen Yibin was their latest research breakthrough. If an animal with a mutated gene consumed it, its intelligence would increase dramatically, reaching Hah’Er’s level. It could even potentially trigger a special ability, like Hah’Er’s culinary skills or Cheeky’s musical talent.

"Um, so... can a person eat it?" Shen Yibin gulped as he stared at the pill. ’If I ate it, my intelligence would increase, and it could trigger a Superpower. Wouldn’t that make me a badass like Spider-Man?’

"Obviously not. This pill was developed specifically for animals. And not just any animal is suitable; it must possess the mutated gene in its body." The Future Pet Shop ruthlessly shattered Shen Yibin’s superhero dream.

"Then can you see if any of the pets in my shop can take it?" After his bout of dejection, Shen Yibin took a few more pictures of the Scottish Folds and Chihuahuas in his shop and sent them over. ’A clever little cat would be pretty nice. Hah’Er, Cheeky, and Egg were all relatively rare animals. If I get a more common one, it’ll be easier to sell.’

’But if that’s the case, I probably won’t be able to charge a high price for the pet. I doubt I could sell it for 188,888.88 yuan like I did with Egg. My dream of saving up a 50,000 yuan commission to upgrade to a Level 2 Partner will probably be delayed.’

"These are all very ordinary animals. If they took this pill, they would either immediately start bleeding from all their orifices and die, or their brains would be fried and they’d become idiots." The Future Pet Shop’s requirements were truly demanding. "And by the way, if this pill is consumed by an unsuitable animal, we will not mail you another one. When the three-month deadline is up..."

"Alright, alright, you don’t have to say it." Shen Yibin cut him off. "You at least have to tell me where I can find this kind of pet with a mutated gene, right?" ’Otherwise, how am I supposed to find a suitable one? Go around grabbing animals off the street and sending them to a lab for genetic testing? That’s too ridiculous, isn’t it?’

"Didn’t I send you a Pet Radar app last time? Just download the update package and reinstall it, and you’ll be able to find an animal with the mutated gene. However, due to version limitations, the app can only detect one such pet right now." Although the Future Pet Shop was strict, it wouldn’t give Shen Yibin an impossible task. It quickly showed him the way forward.

’So, what I have to do next is update the app, use the Pet Radar to find the right pet, and then catch it and feed it the pill? This seems even more troublesome than finding Egg. At least Egg was a trained animal; all I had to do was show up and I could take it with me. This time, I have to catch it myself.’

’What if the radar points to a wild beast, or an animal locked up in a zoo? What am I supposed to do then?’ Shen Yibin felt dejected.

"Bin, what did they say? What kind of pet were they planning to send?" Sylvie had been waiting for a while and couldn’t help but ask when she saw Shen Yibin remain silent.

"Looks like I’ll have to find this pet myself," Shen Yibin muttered, tapping his phone to download the app’s update package. Once it was downloaded, he began the installation.

A few moments later, the Pet Radar finished updating. He opened it and saw that the app’s interface hadn’t changed much. It still showed a map of Yunzhong City. Next to the red dot representing Shen Yibin’s own location, there was a green dot for a "Purchased Pet," which was Hah’Er, and two yellow dots for "Sold Pets," which were Cheeky and Egg.

The legend on the side also explained that an animal with the mutated gene would be marked with an orange dot. However, Shen Yibin scanned the map for a long time but couldn’t find any trace of an orange dot.

’Why is that? Could it be that the Pet Radar can’t find this pet?’