Chapter 65.1

The rebels clearly had no idea that the veterinary station was staffed at night.

While one person worked on picking the lock at the front, the others stood guard.

The entire park was eerily silent. In a typical zoo, there would still be occasional animal sounds at night, but Bi Ke Zoo was completely different from the other zoos they had stolen from—it was as if no living thing existed here at all.

“Boss, isn’t this going too smoothly?” someone asked uneasily.

The burly leader dismissed the concern. “This is just some internet-famous zoo that popped up recently—few animals, few staff, practically an amateur operation. Of course it’s easy. If we get the chance later, we might even grab a couple more.”

His subordinate, thinking of the animal dormitory they’d just passed, was tempted. “If we could bring back several S-class war beasts, the higher-ups would be thrilled. And that would mean your promotion, boss…”

The burly man smirked, then turned back to the lockpicker. “Are you done yet?”

“Almost there—uh…”

The lockpicker suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

The guards immediately turned their attention to him.

Slowly, he reached up to touch the top of his head…

Under the flashlight’s beam, a sticky greenish-white glob appeared in his palm.

One of the nearby men leaned in for a look, then instantly recoiled, covering his nose. “Bird droppings!”

Cursing his luck, the lockpicker wiped his hand on his clothes while glaring skyward.

“Get on with it!” The burly man barked, dismissing such trivial matters.

Plop..

At that moment, something landed squarely on the burly man’s head.

His face contorted as he reached up to touch it—sure enough, another pile of bird droppings.

“Damn it!” Enraged, he raised his gun toward the dark sky.

But the night revealed nothing, not a single bird in sight.

“Boss, please, calm down,” a subordinate quickly intervened, offering his sleeve to help clean the mess.

The burly man shoved him aside, glaring murderously at the heavens.

As the other rebels scanned the skies warily, a distinct—click— pierced the silence—the lock had finally given way.

“Boss!” The lockpicker’s excited whisper cut through the tension.

The burly man whirled around, and his men raised their weapons, training them cautiously on the door.

The lead rebel had barely turned the handle halfway when—

“Ah!” A sharp cry of terror erupted from behind them.

They whirled around, but before they could process what was happening, a golden blur streaked through the darkness!

A massive golden tiger slammed one of the rebels to the ground, its powerful claws pinning his shoulders. Its brownish-green eyes blazed with lethal intent, razor-sharp fangs dripping saliva mere inches from the rebel’s throat!

Before the rebels could even react, a black panther and a grey wolf burst onto the scene!

Then came a lion’s earth-shaking roar, its face contorted in fury, followed by an elephant that stood at least three meters tall. The elephant’s massive form completely blocked out what little illumination remained from the park’s night lights.

The rebels felt the elephant’s shadow loom over them like a mountain, engulfing them in darkness within a heartbeat.

From the golden tiger’s appearance to the elephant’s arrival, barely a second had passed.

The rebels finally snapped out of their stupor. The leader raised his gun, taking aim at the nearest black panther.

But at that precise moment, the door behind them flew open. The leader felt a rush of wind by his ear, and as his silenced weapon discharged, a steel-hard leg connected with the side of his head.

A bloody tooth went flying from his mouth while the panther suffered a grazing wound, its hide torn and bleeding.

The panther’s fury exploded. It stomped viciously on the rebel beneath its paws, then launched itself at the leader with a savage roar, jaws aimed for his shoulder.

The leader’s cry of pain never made it past his throat—his mouth was suddenly covered.

Drenched in cold sweat, he stared up at the eerily calm man above him. The man held a hand over his mouth while raising a tranquilizer gun with the other, making a silent “shh” gesture.

Terror coursed through the leader’s veins. The next instant, the man delivered a precise strike to his neck, plunging him into unconsciousness.

After neutralizing the leader, Xiang Bie moved as if he had eyes in the back of his head, suddenly dodging a bullet from behind. He rose smoothly and fired, the tranquilizer dart striking his attacker between the eyes.

The heavy-duty tranquilizer, designed for war beasts, took effect instantly—the rebel collapsed before he could take another step.

Xiang Bie pivoted again, avoiding an ambush and sending another rebel crashing into the wall with a powerful kick.

Simultaneously, the white fox that had followed Xiang Bie from the veterinary station bared its purple beast eyes and sank its fangs into a rebel’s thigh. Before the man could scream, Xiang Bie silenced him with another well-placed shot.

The purple lightning baboon leaped onto a rebel’s shoulders, its razor-sharp claws nearly piercing through his scalp.

The leopard’s jaws clamped down on another rebel’s gun hand.

The Silver Snow bear’s massive paw left four bloody claw marks raked across a rebel’s back.

As that wounded rebel stumbled forward, the elephant’s trunk whipped around, hurling him back toward the bear.

In the distance, another rebel attempted to shoot the elephant, but the Ferry Eagle swooped down from above, talons aimed for his eyes. His shot went wild, and the elephant’s trunk sent him flying through the air!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

In rapid succession, Xiang Bie methodically incapacitated every remaining rebel with precise shots, taking less than twenty seconds to neutralize all those still capable of resistance.

The entire confrontation lasted barely a minute and a half before silence reclaimed the park.

Meanwhile, in the ward area, the Scarlet Flame monkey had already freed itself from its cage. After observing from the ward entrance for a moment and catching the scent of blood, it hesitated before retreating back to Mu Ling’s cage. It crouched above her head, gently cradling it in a protective embrace.

When S-class and A-class war beasts led the charge, B-class war beasts instinctively assumed defensive positions—a core element of their training.

Five minutes later.

Xiang Bie walked into the ward area, wiping others’ blood from his clothes with a tissue. All the cage doors stood open. His gaze lingered on the delicate sleeping figure that remained undisturbed, then shifted to the Scarlet Flame monkey that stayed vigilantly by her side, baring its teeth at his approach.

Pressing his lips together, he withdrew silently.

Outside the veterinary station, the scene was complete chaos.

All eight rebels lay unconscious, surrounded by a formidable ring of war beasts.

Qilin approached Lightning, tenderly licking the wound on its shoulder. Qingjiao joined in, grooming Lightning’s head fur with gentle strokes.

Though Pimi was male and typically kept his distance from his sisters, the scent of Lightning’s blood drew him closer. He approached cautiously, sniffing the air around the injury.

Tayun stood beside Lightning, puffing out its chest and taking a few protective steps forward.

Magic extended its long trunk, wrapping it gently around Lightning’s swishing tail.

Each beast showed concern in their own unique way…

While Lingren wasn’t as close with Lightning’s group, it remained vigilant at the entrance alongside the white bear and leopard.

Feifan, the clever purple lightning baboon, was methodically searching through a fallen rebel’s clothes, pulling out several suspicious-looking tubes.

Xiang Bie approached, collected the syringes, and gave them a careful sniff. After surveying the scene, he activated his light brain.

The call connected quickly, and Wei Li’s sleep-heavy voice came through: “Brother Bie?”

Xiang Bie’s response was terse: “Come down. Clean up.”

Those two words instantly banished all traces of drowsiness from Wei Li’s mind!

When Wei Li rushed down, he found the veterinary station in disarray, with the zoo’s entire collection of powerful beasts gathered around!

Not daring to provoke these formidable creatures, he cautiously addressed the only human present: “Brother Xiang, what happened?”

Xiang Bie tossed him the syringes.

Wei Li sniffed them and frowned: “This isn’t standard tranquilizer—there’s something else mixed in. Poachers?”

Xiang Bie then threw him one of the rebels’ handguns.

Wei Li barely needed to hold it before his eyes narrowed: “Weight’s off. This new QS model shouldn’t be this light…” He quickly field-stripped the weapon, taking less than eight seconds to completely disassemble it. Examining the key components, he frowned deeper: “Modified QS, this modification style… rebels?”

“Very likely.” Xiang Bie glanced at the dormitory building behind them. “Handle it quickly and quietly. Don’t wake anyone.”

Wei Li nodded. “For tomorrow’s report—do we let the war beasts take credit?”

“Tell it straight,” Xiang Bie replied. “Say I heard the commotion, fired some shots. Can’t fake bullet marks.”

Wei Li studied the scene, noting the trajectories. His frown deepened. “This needs work. Elite rebels missing every shot while you hit every target? Too perfect. We need to adjust the scene. Let me have your weapon.”

After Xiang Bie handed over his gun, Wei Li—ever the professional at cleanup—fired several strategic shots. Some hit shoulders, others grazed legs or ears, effectively lowering Xiang Bie’s apparent accuracy by half. Satisfied, he returned the gun and began dragging away the unconscious rebels.

Only after Wei Li left did Xiang Bie turn his attention to the war beasts still present, particularly Lightning—the black panther who had taken a bullet.

Though just a flesh wound, the other beasts were treating Lightning like precious treasure, fawning over their injured companion.

Xiang Bie approached and crouched down to examine the wound. The war beasts, recognizing him as an ally, remained calm. He returned to the veterinary station, selected appropriate medicines, and came back with antibiotic and hemostatic ointment.

As he began applying the medicine, Lightning—still uncomfortable with such close contact—shifted uneasily, attempting to pull away.

Xiang Bie didn’t force the issue. Once he’d ensured the wound was properly treated, he stepped back and gestured toward the animal dormitory. “All right, back to your dormitory.”

The war beasts just stared at him.

“Time to go back,” he repeated.

They continued their unwavering stare.

Xiang Bie: “…”

Three minutes later, he found himself staring helplessly at the overcrowded Ward A2, where Mu Ling lay squeezed between a group of war beasts.

*

The next morning, Mu Ling awoke feeling oddly suffocated, as though a mountain was pressing down on her chest.

Groggily opening her eyes, she first encountered a massive tiger head on her chest—yellow and black stripes, majestic features, its warm breath rhythmically puffing against her.

Mu Ling blinked in confusion, trying to recall how she’d ended up here. Hadn’t she fallen asleep in the veterinary station? Was she dreaming? Why else would Qilin be lying on her chest?

She attempted to reach out and touch it, only to discover both arms were pinned—her right trapped beneath a large black rear end, her left under an unmistakably balding white backside that could only belong to Moonlight.

As reality slowly sank in, Mu Ling surveyed her surroundings with increasing bewilderment.

Ten seconds later: “…”

Another ten seconds: “……”

Finally: “??????”

Just then, a flash of golden wings swooped overhead. The bird circled once before landing precisely atop Qilin’s head, adding another twenty jin of weight to Mu Ling’s already compressed chest.

Fortunately, Qilin also found Tayun’s weight excessive and shook its head. The bird took flight, only to circle back and settle again on Mu Ling’s chest, tilting its head to peer at her curiously.

Thoroughly dumbfounded, Mu Ling managed to extract her hand from beneath Lightning’s bottom and push herself upright. Her movement triggered a chain reaction—suddenly the entire ward was filled with stretching, yawning war beasts.

“What in the…” she muttered, scratching her head repeatedly as she took in the scene. Yes, this was definitely Ward A2, but why were Qilin, Lightning, Tayun, Qingjiao, and Pimi all here? Even Lingren had relocated from her embrace to perch nearby. While Ji Xiang remained in Ward A1, somehow Lieyan and Feifan had ended up sleeping together. Hadn’t they been separated last night? And why were all the doors standing open?

“Awake?” Xiang Bie’s voice came from the doorway.

Mu Ling gestured frantically at all the animals in the room: “I… they… we… how…?”

“Check the surveillance footage,” he replied simply.

For the next ten minutes, Mu Ling sat in the crowded cage, watching the previous night’s surveillance footage from across the facility. She witnessed the ill-intentioned group scaling the walls, saw Qilin rousing Lightning, Lightning and Tayun working in tandem to unlock doors, Feifan rallying Ji Xiang, Moonlight, and Lingren, and finally, the confrontation between Xiang Bie, the war beasts, and the intruders.

The footage of the fight seemed oddly disjointed in places, Xiang Bie’s movements sometimes lacking continuity.

Noticing her repeated viewing of these glitchy segments, Xiang Bie offered, “The entrance camera must be getting old.”

“Oh, I’ll replace it later,” Mu Ling responded absently, one hand stroking Lightning’s head while the other scrolled through the footage.

Xiang Bie studied her expression carefully, relieved to see no suspicion in her response. He pressed his lips together, knowing the edited fight scenes and subsequent cleanup had to remain hidden.

After reviewing everything, Mu Ling released a soft sigh. She turned and wrapped her arms tightly around Lightning, planting a gentle kiss on its forehead. “Lightning, are you still hurting?”

The black panther melted into her embrace, purring contentedly with half-closed eyes, openly seeking affection.

Examining the wound again—now treated and clearly superficial—Mu Ling still couldn’t help feeling heartbroken. “Our poor Lightning, getting hit by such a fast bullet! What if something terrible had happened to you? Thank goodness it was just a graze. You must be the luckiest little leopard in the world, Lightning—surely heaven itself is watching over you!”

Xiang ‘Heaven itself’ Bie: “…”

It was his kick that had diverted the rebel’s shot from hitting Lightning directly.

But that footage had been edited out…

Xiang Bie: “…”