Wilderness Survival with Druid System

Chapter 361: Chapter 32: Physically Taming the Hippopotamus

Chen Wen’s side.

As the hippo’s patience dwindled, Chen Wen also gave his response.

”Alright, let’s settle this with a contest. If you win, I don’t mind being your sidekick, but if you lose, even though being friends isn’t quite fair to me, I’ll accept this unfairness.”

Chen Wen said calmly.

The hippo’s affection for Chen Wen increased after hearing this.

The difference between a sidekick and a friend is significant, but the other party accepted it readily.

This peculiar baboon is intriguing!

The hippo stretched its body, ready to have a good old-fashioned duel with Chen Wen, as hippos do.

Chen Wen interrupted, ”Hold on, I said ’contest’, not ’fight’.”

The hippo paused, stunned.

”Think about it, no matter what, we still have to survive together and search for food, right?”

Chen Wen began to coax, ”So if one of us gets seriously injured while fighting, would the outcome even matter?”

”If I’m seriously injured, I can’t help you find food. And if you’re seriously injured, I feel like with your current condition, it could be life-threatening, wouldn’t you say?”

The hippo, though understanding what Chen Wen said and even agreeing in its heart, still remarked impatiently, ”Then what do you suggest?”

”We’re in a dilemma if we can’t fight or avoid fighting, dragging it on!”

Chen Wen wasn’t upset and instead suggested, ”How about we have a contest of strength!”

Strength?

The hippo chuckled.

Looking at Chen Wen’s petite body and slender limbs,

The hippo thought its future sidekick’s brain was still a bit duller than its own.

”Alright, let’s contest our strength! You better not go back on your word!”

”I won’t back out; a gentleman’s word is his bond!”

Chen Wen’s lips curled slightly, thinking to himself: He’s fallen for it!

He waved his hand and said, ”Of course, I’ll decide the method of the contest, is that alright with you?”

The hippo hesitated for a moment and said cleverly, ”Fine, but if I think the method is unfair, we’ll change it.”

”Alright, I’ll just say it directly.”

Chen Wen’s eyes darted, and he said, ”Alright, have you noticed those black creatures on the ground?”

Upon hearing this, the hippo looked down.

Despite its poor eyesight, it still saw what Chen Wen was pointing at.

Those were the black ants.

Crawling in this area near the riverbank.

The hippo nodded, ”I see them, so what? Are they related to our contest?”

”Of course.”

Chen Wen said, ”The contest is simple, we’ll each use one limb, your leg and my arm, and we each get only one attack.”

”Whoever can kill an ant certainly has the most strength. Whoever manages to kill an ant wins, how about that?”

Saying this, Chen Wen felt a bit nervous.

He had already noticed the hippo’s foot was wide and thick, covering a large area and relatively soft.

Therefore, Chen Wen thought of a fable he had read in a storybook.

He also recalled his physics teacher’s lesson on the relationship between surface area and pressure.

Thus, he proposed a rather cunning trick.

However, the effectiveness of this trick depended on whether the hippo could see through it.

But Chen Wen’s worry was truly unnecessary.

The hippo didn’t think much of it and laughed out loud, ”Hahaha, this contest works! Let’s do it this way!”

”I’ll go first!”

The hippo didn’t want to delay and lifted its leg to stomp.

But Chen Wen stopped it again.

Before the hippo could lose its temper, Chen Wen immediately said, ”A contest should have a sense of ceremony. How about this, I’ll take some of these little black guys, and we can compete by the riverside, how about that?”

A sense of ceremony?

This two-legged baboon is quite particular.

Remembering this term, the hippo agreed.

Chen Wen picked up a few ants and maintained a safe distance from the hippo.

One human and one hippo walked to the riverbank.

The soil by the riverbank was loose, with even softer mud nearby.

It was a dual-layer insurance.

Chen Wen thought silently and then placed the ants on the soft soil.

The hippo stepped through the mud, leaving deep footprints with each step.

”Heh, see? My strength can even deform the ground, killing a little guy is a piece of cake!”

The hippo boasted proudly.

Unaware that Chen Wen, who appeared admiring on the outside, was mentally going through a list of physicists.

First, he begged Newton’s spirit, then Einstein’s presence, and finally the ancient true God, Archimedes.

Physics teacher, let’s see if physics proves true this time!

As the hippo approached the ants, lifting its short, thick foreleg,

Chen Wen was also getting anxious.

The hippo stomped down forcefully with its foreleg, accompanied by a dull thud and splattering mud.

”Hmph, it must be dead beyond doubt!”

The hippo proudly looked at Chen Wen, ”Come and look.”

Chen Wen looked at the big pit in the mud made by the hippo’s stomp.

To say he wasn’t nervous would be a lie.

No matter how skilled, one should still fear the unexpected.

If this hippo were a brute relying solely on brute force, things would not be looking good.

Chen Wen moved closer to the hippo and squatted beside the mud pit with it.

One human and one hippo closely watched the mud pit, searching for the ant’s presence.

Search and search, search and search.

Just when Chen Wen thought this brute hippo had indeed killed the ant with one stomp,

With the help of his ”Ultimate Vision,” Chen Wen suddenly saw, at the edge of the mud pit, a quivering antenna.

”It’s not dead!”

Chen Wen’s excited shout startled the hippo.

However, the hippo wasn’t angry.

Instead, it was amazed, looking at the ant it had stomped into the mud pit, slowly crawling out from where Chen Wen pointed.

How could this be!

For the first time, the hippo began to doubt its hippo existence.

It even doubted its strength.

After picking up the ant, Chen Wen let the hippo take a close look.

The hippo, crestfallen, hung its head low, looking quite defeated, ”No need to show me, I know it didn’t die.”

Chen Wen silently apologized to himself.

But for victory, he needed to let this lie persist for now!

He said, ”Now it’s my turn, watch.”

Chen Wen placed the ant on a slightly harder surface.

The hippo perked up and watched Chen Wen’s every action.

If I can’t do it, definitely this two-legged baboon can’t either!

The hippo thought confidently.

But soon, reality gave the hippo a harsh slap in the face.

Chen Wen extended his right index finger and, with a light press of his fingertip,

then quickly pressed down hard.

With a silent ant scream, Chen Wen lifted his finger.

Underneath was an ant that had been squished flat.

”Dead... how is that possible!?”

The hippo stared blankly at the ant on Chen Wen’s fingertip.

The two-legged baboon hadn’t even used much strength, merely a small part of its limb, yet it managed to kill the ant!

How much strength must it possess?!

In its astonishment, the hippo also felt a little fear.

Thank goodness I didn’t fight the two-legged baboon; otherwise, with his strength, I’d surely lose!

Chen Wen carefully buried the ant in the mud pit and said, ”The result is clear, I win. Do you acknowledge this outcome?”

Upon hearing this, the hippo seemed quite reluctant.

But it still upheld its promise.

The hippo sighed, its eyes dull, ”I acknowledge it. Your strength is indeed greater than mine. I’m officially your sidekick now, and I’ll follow your lead in the future!”

Chen Wen cleared his throat and said solemnly, ”No, not a sidekick, but friends. From now on, we’re friends!”

Saying this, he reached out his hand, gently touching the hippo’s forehead.

Slippery, cold.

The hippo also felt Chen Wen’s palm.

Rough, warm.