Why Can't It Be a King Cobra?

Shi Qi: An awakened individual with a strong aggressive streak and territorial instincts. His bonded beast is... a king cobra. This record, numbered 0001 and classified as a 3S-level threat, was written by his father, the deputy director of the Federal Institute for Awakened Research. The last page of the file is a personal note from Shi Qi's father. Shi Qi's awakening was something I expected. What surprised me was that his bonded beast was a king cobra, an animal with powerful aggression and territorial instincts. I had thought it might be a deer or some other elegant creature. Still, this is a good thing. His awakening will greatly strengthen the Federation's army of awakened individuals. The only thing that worries me is that Shi Qi's awakened ability is devouring. This means his king cobra may acquire the advantageous abilities of other snakes after devouring them. This is an extremely frightening possibility. My suspicions were soon confirmed. In the Federation's fifteenth year, when I encountered him on an abandoned planet, the snake was still blackish brown, with yellow-white ring-shaped markings along the back of its neck. When I saw him again three years later, it had turned blue-black all over. I suspect that after devouring a mimic boa, the outer layer of its scales gained reinforced beta-keratin, giving it hard scales similar to those of a mimic boa. Unlike the mimic boa, however, its scales are lustrous, and the scales on its forehead shimmer with a dark, blood-red gleam in the sunlight. This may be some kind of ability resulting from devouring. I suspect it is related to mimicry. Shi Qi's emergence will herald... an unknown future. I don't know how far he will develop, but it's clear that he will be the Federation's greatest wild card over the next fifty years. If Shi Qi ever gets his hands on this file, he might laugh out loud. What mimicry? It was only because I praised a glimmer snake's scales in front of him that he silently slipped out the next day and devoured a poor little glimmer snake. [Notes] 1. The king cobra is the top. Later on, it will take human form, but its true form remains a snake. 2. Awakened individuals and their bonded beasts have a mutually dependent relationship, but are independent individuals. 3. Bonded beasts are organisms based on epsilon-element organic matter, not energy entities or streams of data. Theme: Front-row seats to watch a lovesick fool