Chapter 34 part 5

However, fighting back against protected animals would definitely get you invited for a ‘cup of tea’ (a euphemism for being questioned by the authorities), so it’s better to go along with their aesthetic.

Because of this, Kong Bi had another set of employee uniforms custom-made. This set was designed after a long discussion with the other party’s designer. Kong Bi even suspected that the other party might have been secretly complaining about never having seen such a client with strange requests.

But at least the final design was considered relatively acceptable in Kong Bi’s eyes.

The green peacock uniform has long sleeves and a green base. The back features a batwing-like design, where a layer of fabric connects to the clothes when the arms are spread open. This is so that green peacock with aggressive intentions will mistake it for a display of intimidation and won’t immediately attack, giving the zookeeper time to retreat.

–Animals also value the principle of ‘courtesy before force.’ When they see this scene, green peacock will usually respond with the same polite intimidation.

The batwing sleeves only connect to the elbows, so they don’t hinder the zookeeper’s normal movements. Artificial feathers are sewn firmly onto them, but they aren’t in the style of green peafowl feathers; they simply have a rainbow iridescence and look rather glamorous.

After all, you can tell from Lord Shen’s treatment that they still reject ugly-looking members of their own species. Conversely, if another bird species is brightly colored, they tend to be more friendly. Since after all, we’re a different species, maybe looking like this already counts as good-looking to them?

Apart from the batwing sleeve design, the rest of the upper garment doesn’t have these artificial feathers. Instead, it’s dyed in a rainbow-colored camouflage pattern. The fabric feels somewhat like suede, imitating the downy feathers beneath a bird’s outer plumage. The trousers are relatively less flashy. The only special feature is a few ‘tail feathers’ at the back that can overlap and connect with the hem of the top. They are slightly upturned but don’t interfere with sitting or lying down.

Kong Bi has never seen what the breeder looks like in this dress. After all, the designer has only produced the picture but no samples. Anyway, looking at this color, Kong Bi estimates that it should make her look darker, but it doesn’t matter. She doesn’t wear it, and this slightly high saturation color is indeed not offensive to the green peacock. Kong Bi has passed the certification of Huajiao.

Well, by the way, the overall color was also selected by Hua Jiao, and the other green peacocks agreed after seeing it.

So the breeder’s objection was invalid!

As for the lack of feathers on the face, that’s nothing, after all, the green peacock itself has no feathers on its face.

In comparison, Wang Tianba is much easier to serve. Except for Li Xiangdong, it is not averse to being fed by other people, so it can be uniformly dressed in green staff uniforms.

Although Kong Bi asked the security captain to choose the staff uniforms at that time, Shi Zhuo took a photo of the color card after choosing the style and showed it to Kong Bi. In the end, Kong Bi followed her heart and chose a light green color that looked very comfortable and healing. The security guards’ clothes were blue-green with a more blue color to facilitate tourists to distinguish.

The reason for distinguishing them is that in addition to patrolling and stopping tourists, security guards also need to provide some help to tourists, and some employees may be too busy to provide help to tourists. In this case, it is better to leave more obvious signs to let tourists know who to find when they have something to do, even though the help they need to provide may only be asking for directions, wanting to know where the toilet is, etc.

Speaking of Wang Tianba, we have to mention the troubles she has brought to everyone in recent days.

Since the day she refused Li Xiangdong’s feeding, Wang Tianba’s appetite has been getting less and less, which worried everyone. Li Xiangdong once suspected that his appearance had stimulated her.

But apart from not eating, Wang Tianba did not show any other abnormalities.

Kong Bi was also somewhat surprised by this. She thought that a breakthrough like this would only take a day or two, but who knew that Wang Tianba had been at it for so long without finishing. However, upon closer thought, this seemed normal. Just like how a person’s hair can turn white overnight after a major shock, such rapid and sudden changes cause significant damage to the body. Therefore, it’s very normal to divide the process into several steps and take it slowly.

Wang Tianba had stored the energy of the spiritual spring water. It first used other, less pure energy containing impurities to cleanse and reshape its body. It only did this at night, but this wasn’t to absorb moonlight. It was simply because owls are more active at night and it’s more suitable for launching an assault.

During the day, it focused on feeling and adapting to the new changes in its body, preparing for another charge at night. 

This behavior continued day after day, and Wang Tianba became thinner and thinner, from being fat to just fluffy. Fortunately, because Wang Tianba’s aggression towards everyone in recent days made it impossible for them to weigh her, and Kong Bi, the insider, was willing to lie through her teeth, so no one had yet noticed the change in its weight.

Until this day, Wang Tianba completely stopped eating.

Logically, anyone with experience raising other large owl species shouldn’t find raising a Spot-Bellied Eagle-Owl too difficult, if not a breeze. However, Wang Tianba’s behavior defied all normal owl practices, rendering their wealth of experience useless and causing them great worry, to the point of losing a lot of hair.

Kong Bi knew that this meant Wang Tianba had completed the reshaping of its bones and other organs and was preparing to launch an assault on the most important, yet most fragile and dangerous part of itself. This was also its instinctive reason for saving the spirit spring water’s energy until the very end.

These days were enough for her to get familiar with the energy of the spiritual spring water and use it on vulnerable parts such as the heart and the sea of consciousness.

What is the difference between ordinary evolution and monster evolution?

In addition to physical changes, the most important thing is the mind. 

Soul, sea of consciousness… whatever you call it, in short, this transformation is the dividing line between ordinary creatures and demons, allowing them to experience the realization of ‘now I finally know who I am.’

This feeling can only be understood intuitively and cannot be expressed in words. The transition from the initial demonling stage to the juvenile stage is the most crucial turning point in a demon’s early life. Newly born ‘babies’ understand nothing. They don’t comprehend the changes in their bodies, nor do they understand why they suddenly know how to think. Wild instincts still drive them, like a bear spirit pondering why it hibernates. This kind of thinking stems from a fear of the unknown, but few demons persistently explore the answers. Usually, by the second year, they become the same as they were before gaining sentience, eating when they’re hungry, drinking when they’re thirsty, and hibernating as usual.

Just looking at Wang Tianba and Huajiao, you can see that their only difference from their own kind is that they are stronger and can obtain more food. Demons truly begin to understand the world from the juvenile stage onwards.

Just like human infants, they don’t need to understand anything when they are first born; they just need to eat, drink, and live well. It’s only when they grow older that they start to acquire skills and understand the world. Demons are actually the same.

To avoid any accidents during this process, Kong Bi volunteered to stay with Wang Tianba overnight with food. After all, it would need nourishment after a successful breakthrough, and if it failed, Kong Bi could cover for it.

Although a failed breakthrough usually leads to death, it’s not entirely without the possibility of rescue. After all, there’s a time difference between life and death, and that moment is enough for powerful demons to protect the lives of their offspring undergoing a breakthrough.

Kong Bi could naturally do the same.

Wang Tianba craves the flesh and blood of Huājiāo because the rich energy contained in its flesh and blood can help break through, but the effect of the flesh and blood of Huājiāo is actually similar to that of spiritual spring water, at most it has more energy. For monsters of the same level, the flesh and blood of other monsters cannot reach the level of Tang Monk’s meat, and the nourishing effect is the level of ordinary health products, just like those that people eat to supplement vitamins and other trace elements.

But Kong Bi’s flesh and blood really has the effect of Tang Monk’s meat for Wang Tianba.

The flesh and blood of high-level life always has a strong temptation to low-level life, not only because of the vigorous energy contained in it, but also because of the gap in the life class and an opportunity to contact a high realm in advance.

So if Wang Tianba really fails to break through, Kong Bi’s blood combined with the magic in the inherited memory will have a 70% chance of saving her.

This probability is not low.

Everyone hopes that Kong Bi’s approach will succeed. After all, if they want Wang Tianba to eat now, they can only rely on Kong Bi. After all, they can’t even get close to it. If even Kong Bi doesn’t work, then they can only force-feed her, but they are not optimistic about this approach.

As long as the cause of the disease cannot be found, this approach is nothing more than drinking poison to quench thirst. If the problem is not solved, Wang Tianba will eventually die, so it is better to let it take the initiative to eat.

Everyone actually thought about whether Wang Tianba was upset because she had been locked up for a long time, or because of the infection of the wound, but the door could be opened by itself, and the infection of the wound… her wounds had healed, and the healing speed was faster than they expected.

Animals cannot speak, so if you want to find out the problem, you can only speculate from their daily behavior. Wang Tianba’s food intake has actually been steadily decreasing in the past few days, which has been noticed by many people, but the problem is that even after the reduction, her food intake is still larger than that of an adult eagle owl. In addition, judging from her daily activity trajectory, her mental state is healthy and stable. If everyone comes to watch and disturbs her  with loud noises, she can open the door and come out to curse. It doesn’t look like there is a problem.

Based on this, although Wang Tianba suddenly stopped eating, everyone still did not choose to anesthetize her immediately, but planned to wait and see.

Animals express emotions through behavior. Even if Wang Tianba’s behavior is abnormal, the underlying logic will not change. Birds may pluck feathers and refuse to eat when they are depressed. Maybe Wang Tianba suddenly realized that she was too fat and went on a hunger strike?

Kong Bi walked in with a rabbit and a bucket of beef. Wang Tianba looked up and then looked away with difficulty.