Chapter 48.2

Finally, when her arm started feeling unsteady, the giant eagle spread its wings and soared skyward, circling once before settling gracefully on a cat climbing frame.

“Phew.” A girl, her face hidden from the camera, exhaled softly. She shook out her arm before continuing cheerfully, «Hi everyone, great to see you again! Today, I’ll give you an immersive tour of what our animal dormitory looks likes on a typical day.»

The camera panned out to reveal a massive glass enclosure roughly the size of four basketball courts, capturing it in its entirety.

«This is your first view when entering the animal dormitory. Over here are our pools—we have two now. The large one is for the animals to swim and play in, while the smaller one is Magic’s drinking pool. This is our dining area. See the golden bowl? That’s Qilin’s. The black one belongs to Lightning, the gray to Qingjiao, the brown to Pimi, the white to Tayun, and Magic doesn’t use a bowl—that cart over there is his. He needs two cartloads per meal.»

«Inside is our play area. Look at all these toys! We clean them up daily, but somehow they always end up scattered everywhere again. Oh, let me show you something special!»

As she spoke, she casually picked up a toy snake and tossed it into the air.

In a flash, the giant eagle spread its wings and dove, snatching the toy snake in its beak. With practiced precision, it bit into the snake’s vital point, expertly tearing open the cotton “gallbladder.”

The camera captured the eagle’s predatory grace in stunning detail. Watching from thousands of miles away, Yin Lingyun felt his blood stirring with pride.

«Oh dear, it’s torn open again. No worries, I’ll sew it up tonight. Did everyone see that? Tayun’s reaction speed is absolutely incredible! It practices hunting every single day without fail. Initially, it worked with stuffed animals, but those were too large for its talons, so I bought smaller toys—snakes and mice—which are much better for practice.»

She added in a soft murmur, «Actually, I didn’t want it to practice so much… someone told me it’s practicing for courtship. Well, never mind—if it wants to practice, let it. We’ll deal with that later…»

The girl laughed awkwardly and shifted the camera away from the eagle toward some cushions ahead. «That’s our rest area. Let’s go visit Qilin!»

She approached the majestic golden tiger and sat down beside it, casually rubbing its ears. The tiger remained perfectly still, only its ear bases twitching slightly at her touch.

“Whoosh!” Suddenly, a sleek black panther leaped down from a tree branch, smoothly sliding under her arm, its dark head nuzzling against her.

“Hahaha!” she laughed, hugging the panther’s head. “You clingy thing! Not guarding your bird nest anymore? If you leave, Tayun might claim it!”

The leopard went limp, resting its head in her lap while gazing up at her, tail swaying contentedly.

The girl grabbed its tail.

The tail froze.

She let go.

The tail resumed its happy swaying.

She grabbed it again.

The tail stopped once more.

«Isn’t this fun? »she asked the camera. «Lightning’s tail is so soft and long—and watch this, it can curl up too!»

As she spoke, she carefully coiled the tail into a perfect spiral, like a mosquito coil.

The camera zoomed in on the coiled tail, but Lightning flicked it, instantly returning it to its natural state.

«Now, let me show you our newest toy—we just got it yesterday, so you probably haven’t seen it yet.»

She turned the camera toward a cylindrical animal treadmill.

«Our war beasts need exercise, but space is limited in the dormitory. This is just temporary though. Once their injuries heal, they’ll return to the mountains where they can roam freely.»

She continued, «Of course, that means you won’t see them as often then. So, to give more visitors a chance to meet our war beasts here at the dormitory, starting September 25th, Bi Ke Zoo will open an additional thousand visitor spots daily. Tickets for the 25th go on sale today—you’ll see the extra thousand slots when you check!»

«That’s all for today’s video. See you next time!»

The video ended, but Yin Lingyun remained transfixed by the black screen, lost in thought.

After a full thirty seconds of silence, he finally clicked into the comments section.

Though the video had been posted just ten minutes ago, it already had over nine thousand comments:

「Wifey posted a video! Wifey finally posted! Still no face reveal? Haha, but we all know who you are now!」

「Finally more spots! I’ve got to get a ticket this time, right? Please!」

「Two thousand tickets sounds like double, but it’s still so few… I doubt I’ll manage to get one.」

「No worries—screenshot saved! Check my new profile pic—I’m living the rest of my life with Lightning’s mosquito-coil tail!」

「Got to admit, the zoo director’s pretty brave, playing with a leopard’s tail like that. Lucky it didn’t snap around and bite her neck!」

「Lightning would never bite wifey! He’s the most devoted to her!」

「Want to see Pimi QAQ」

「Want to see Moonlight QAQ」

「Wife, please give everyone equal attention next time! Today you broke the hearts of all the Pimi fans, Moonlight fans, Magic fans, Qingjiao fans, and little wolf fans… you only played with Tayun, Qilin, and Lightning… wuwuwu」

「Okay, now I know about the two thousand tickets—quick, delete the video!」

The later comments followed similar patterns, but Yin Lingyun remained puzzled. As he studied the comment section, his group chat notification sounded.

He opened it to find:

Colonel Val: “Up close, Qilin’s definitely put on weight! @Lieutenant Hermann, so jealous of you—your Lightning lets you play with its tail. Qilin won’t even let me touch his.”

Lieutenant Hermann: “…”

Lieutenant Hermann: “..If I tried, he’d bite me.”

Colonel Val: “…”

Lieutenant Colonel Song: “Sigh, I’ve liked all the comments mentioning Pimi. Hope Director Mu notices and films some Pimi content next time… feeling neglected.”

General Milo: “Good idea, Lieutenant Song. I’ll go like all the Moonlight comments too.”

“Excuse me, what group is this?”

The sudden message made the chatting war beast owners pause before checking the newcomer’s display name.

Colonel Val: “@Colonel Yin? Tayun’s owner?”

Colonel Yin: “Yes.”

What followed was an impromptu orientation session.

Under the guidance of these self-proclaimed “Bi Ke Zoo External Staff” members, Yin Lingyun discovered more videos about Tayun and Bi Ke Zoo on StarNet.

After absorbing all the information, he took a deep breath and typed: “Please convey my gratitude to Director Mu for taking care of Tayun. Once the beast tide on Planet 917 is contained, I’ll visit her personally.”

Commander Duan: “917? You’re on the 917 frontline?”

The devastating news about Planet 917’s beast tide had been broadcasting for a month now.

Colonel Yin: “Yes.”

Colonel Val: “Thank you for your service. [salute]”

Lieutenant Hermann: “Thank you for your service. [salute]”

Lieutenant Colonel Song: “Thank you for your service. [salute]”

General Milo: “Thank you for your service.”

Commander Duan: “Thank you for your service.”

Yin Lingyun’s eyes grew misty as he typed his final message: “Shutting down now. Thank you all.”

When he returned to the command room, his demeanor had noticeably changed. His deputy and lieutenant exchanged glances, noting that their commander’s eyes held less sorrow when watching the war beasts fighting alongside their owners on the monitors. The perpetual shadow that had haunted him since Tayun’s injury and retirement seemed to have lifted slightly.

But why? It was just some information—how had it brought him such peace?

While his subordinates pondered this mystery, at Bi Ke Zoo, Director Mu Ling was racing toward the parking garage, medical kit in hand and walkie-talkie pressed to her ear.

“Tell me exactly where you saw it,” she demanded into the device.

Zhao Fang’s voice crackled back: “Middle section of the river line, near Tributary 091’s upstream. It’s gone now, but I’m certain—it was a Red Heart Fox. Pure white without a single mixed hair, with a flower petal-shaped red mark on its forehead. I’ve checked the zoo records—it matches the S-class retired war beast Red Heart Fox Lingren that arrived ten months ago.”

Now in the patrol car, Mu Ling gripped the steering wheel with one hand. “How severe were its injuries? Was there much blood?”

“Its entire front leg showed blood marks, but they looked old—probably from previous injuries. It was moving with difficulty though, limping when it ran.”

Mu Ling’s expression darkened. “Right, I’m heading there now. Keep leading the visitors forward—I’ll find it.”

After ending the call, she looked up at the sky. “Tayun!”

The giant eagle, soaring overhead, heard her call and swooped down to perch on the window frame.

Mu Ling threaded her light brain through a cord and hung it around the eagle’s neck, activating the camera to track Tayun’s flight. “Land if you get tired. Don’t push yourself—your wings aren’t fully recovered yet. The little white fox is important, but so are you. Be good.”

As she prepared to drive off, the giant eagle suddenly thrust its head inside, moving close to her face.

Mu Ling: “…”

She pretended not to understand its intention.

The eagle hopped onto the dashboard.

Mu Ling: “…”

Finally, she sighed and hugged it, stroking its wings. “Sister doesn’t want to send the wrong courtship signals. No kisses, okay? Let’s just stick to petting, alright?”

The giant eagle, content with the attention, pressed its forehead against her chin before spreading its wings and launching into the sky.

As it soared high above, the giant eagle let out a joyful, triumphant cry: “Gu—!”