Chapter 122.2

By the end, the iron bear didn’t even need to grab food itself—the human would feed it directly.

Mu Ling fed the last bamboo shoot tip into the clumsy black-and-white bear’s mouth. After eating, the bear licked her palm, wanting more.

Mu Ling opened her empty hands. “There’s no more.”

The bear didn’t believe her. It nosed toward her waist, sniffing at the pocket there—it had seen them. That pocket definitely had more bamboo shoots.

Mu Ling simply turned the pocket inside out to show it was truly empty.

The bear grew upset, rolling restlessly on the bed, trying to leave.

Mu Ling quickly stroked its head fur, coaxing gently, “You’re still recovering. You can’t eat too many bamboo shoots. You need to drink more milk, understand?”

The bear’s awkward, scrawny body twisted in several directions, but with a hand always pressing down on it, it couldn’t move freely. Unhappy, it turned back and growled at Mu Ling: “Gaa!”

Mu Ling continued stroking its forehead. “Alright, alright, I understand. You want bamboo shoots. How about we have some tonight?”

Seeing the human’s hand wouldn’t let go, the bear leaned forward and angrily headbutted her.

Mu Ling caught the bear as it threw itself into her arms. Hugging its large head, she rubbed the fur on its ears and nape. “There, there, our Nini is the best.”

“Gaa…” The bear’s roar softened.

“Nini’s the most sensible, the most obedient little one.”

“Gaa…” This time, barely a whisper.

But it still sniffed at Mu Ling’s pocket again. The bamboo shoot scent was clearly there. So it grabbed the corner of her clothing with its mouth.

Mu Ling laughed. “What are you doing? Won’t let sister leave? Then sister will stay and keep our Nini company.”

Saying that, she sat down on the bed beside the bear and soothed it: “Once the uncles and Grandaunts outside finish preparing your milk, you can have some.”

A while later, there was a knock at the door.

Mu Ling got up to retrieve the milk bottle. As she was about to close the door, Director He blocked it, forcibly pushing in a large bag of bamboo shoot tips.

Mu Ling refused to take it. “We really can’t feed these right now. Liquid food is best for her at the moment.”

Director He looked heartbroken. “But Nini wants to eat! Please, I’m begging you—it’s so rare for her to show interest in food!”

Mu Ling: “…”

Facing this doting “parent,” Director Mu remained merciless: “We have to stick to the nutrition plan.”

With that, she firmly closed the door, ignoring Director He’s tearful eyes, and returned to the bedside with the bottle.

On the bed, Nini had already lifted her head, craning her neck toward Mu Ling. The moment Mu Ling sat down and offered the bottle, Nini eagerly latched onto it, drinking away.

Mu Ling tilted the bottle upward so Nini could drink more easily. After finishing the bottle, Nini licked her lips and yawned, feeling drowsy.

Of course she was drowsy—they’d added something to the milk.

Moments later, the black-and-white bear lay curled beside Mu Ling, hugging her arm and letting out soft snores.

Only after Nini fell into a deep sleep did Mu Ling carefully slip off the bed and step forward of the room.

As if anticipating what would happen, Mu Ling immediately called out: “Stop!”

The group about to applaud froze mid-motion.

Having narrowly avoided another round of public embarrassment, Mu Ling waved her hand. “Let’s talk in the monitoring room.”

Everyone filed into the monitoring room and watched the footage of Nini—now peacefully sleeping again. The room fell silent.

Even Mu Ling was quiet.

At this point, everyone realized that what had stabilized Nini wasn’t the three little animals—it was that Nini had bonded with Mu Ling.

Perhaps it was imprinting, or maybe because the first mouthful of milk she had upon waking was from Mu Ling. Either way, while rejecting everyone else’s scent, only Mu Ling’s presence kept Nini calm.

And that created a difficult situation.

Nini had accepted Mu Ling—but Mu Ling wasn’t from Maple Leaf Zoo. She was only here for animal matchmaking. Word was that the Black Claw Ferocious Badger had already made a successful match, and they’d likely be leaving in two or three days.

But Nini’s recovery couldn’t be rushed in two or three days.

Every staff member at Maple Leaf Zoo turned their eyes to Deputy Director Liu and Director He.

Deputy Director Liu and Director He exchanged helpless glances. What could they do? Director Mu already ran such a large wildlife park on Shenwang Star—they couldn’t possibly poach her away.

They could only pretend not to notice, and just then, Director Tang returned.

He had rushed back mid-interview upon hearing about Nini’s condition. But when he checked the monitors, everything seemed normal—wasn’t Nini doing fine?

Deputy Director Liu quickly replayed the full footage for Director Tang.

After watching, Director Tang too fell silent.

After a moment, he turned to Mu Ling. “Director Mu, given Nini’s current situation, do you have any suggestions?”

Mu Ling licked her lips, looking conflicted. “Actually, some animals at our park were like this at first—they were more attached to me. But as they recovered physically, they began accepting other caregivers too. Now they take medicine and food from others, and don’t resist when our veterinarians give them injections.”

Director Tang nodded and told Deputy Director Liu and Director He, “Let’s talk outside.”

The three leaders stepped out, leaving the others exchanging uncertain looks.

Mu Ling quietly sidled up to Brother Xiang and whispered, “I think I messed up.”

Xiang Bie looked at her and replied calmly, “Without you, Iron Bear would be much worse off.”

Mu Ling sighed. “We should have let their staff go in, not me.”

Just like at their war beast daycare—from the moment animals arrived at their park, Mu Ling always had dedicated keepers care for them, to build stable relationships between the beasts and their caregivers.

A while later, the three directors returned.

Director Tang expressed hope that Mu Ling could spare time these next few days to help care for Nini. And of course, it wouldn’t be unpaid—they would offer double the standard consulting fee for visiting experts.

Mu Ling quickly declined payment, explaining that since she’d be in the zoo watching over Butcher anyway, she could easily check on both. It wouldn’t be any trouble.

Deputy Director Liu insisted on payment and asked where they were staying. If they didn’t mind, they could arrange two dormitory rooms nearby—it would be more convenient for care.

Given Nini’s special circumstances, Mu Ling agreed it would be better to stay in the zoo. She had Brother Xiang go cancel their hotel rooms.

When Xiang Bie went to handle the checkout, Maple Leaf Zoo sent a vehicle to take him. After checking out, they thoughtfully helped with the luggage—determined to make the expert team as comfortable as possible.

That evening, at six o’clock..

Director Tang personally contacted Nini’s owner, Colonel Ming Yu from Arc Galaxy.

Ming Yu hadn’t finished work yet. He’d only just returned from a support mission on Nurha Planet, having suffered some minor injuries—his left arm was still in a cast as he one-handedly flipped through documents.

The moment he saw Director Tang’s comm request, his expression visibly darkened.

Truth was, before being deployed to Nurha, Director He had already contacted him—saying that after a year, Nini’s condition showed no improvement. If she required several more emergency rescues, they might lose her…

By now, Colonel Ming had developed a kind of PTSD from Director He’s communications. And now it wasn’t even Director He calling—but Director Tang himself.

Ming Yu took a deep breath. The normally stern and stoic young man clutched the corner of his desk so hard he nearly snapped it off.

He was terrified of hearing the worst news.

But in his heart, he knew… that worst news probably wasn’t far off.

His breathing unsteady, after a long while, Ming Yu finally managed, hoarsely, “Director Tang… hello.”

Director Tang responded, “Colonel Ming, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”

Here it comes… The inevitable..

In that moment, it felt as if a scythe had swooped down from above, leaving Ming Yu utterly devastated.

What was there to discuss? It was obvious—discussing whether to euthanize Nini.

Discussing whether to end her brief, painful life through this helpless method.

His fingers slipped weakly from the desk corner. Colonel Ming struggled to breathe, pressing his hand to his forehead as his entire heart sank into darkness.

His throat dry, he rasped, “Go ahead.”

Director Tang then said, “We were thinking… maybe we should transfer Nini to Bi Ke Wildlife Park on Shenwang Star?”

Dead silence fell on the other end of the communication.

After speaking, Director Tang waited for a reply. None came. He checked his light brain—still connected. He tried again tentatively, “Colonel Ming? Colonel—”

“Bi Ke Wildlife Park?” Colonel Ming’s voice returned, trembling slightly.

Director Tang explained, “Yes. Today Nini fainted again. As it happened, Director Mu from Bi Ke Zoo was visiting us. She helped care for Nini, and then…”

Perhaps finding it difficult to describe what followed, Director Tang sighed and said, “I’ll send you the surveillance footage. Watch it and decide.”

He sent over the footage and ended the call.

Back in his office, Colonel Ming downloaded the video. His hands were shaking as he pressed play.

The surveillance footage was crystal clear and quite long. Director Tang hadn’t edited it—he’d sent the entire recording. Colonel Ming watched it all the way through.

After watching, he fell silent for a moment, then watched it again.

Meanwhile, Director Tang waited from evening until night. Looking at the time—past ten o’clock—he would normally be asleep by now, given his declining health.

His wife came to urge him to bed, but Director Tang just waved her off. “Just a little longer.”

Then, at eleven o’clock, unable to wait any longer, he called Colonel Ming again—just to ask if he’d gotten busy with other matters, and if they should perhaps discuss it tomorrow.

The call connected instantly.

Before Director Tang could speak, Colonel Ming’s confused voice came through: “Who is this bear?”

Director Tang: “…”

“That’s not Nini, is it?”

Colonel Ming’s voice was absolutely certain: “I’ve watched it four times now. It looks like Nini, but it can’t be her. How could Nini do such things? Even before retirement, she never threw herself into my arms, never needed to hold my arm to sleep. Damn it, what have you done to my Nini?! Where is my real Nini?!”

Director Tang considered hanging up and letting the overwhelmed colonel calm himself down.

Clearly… tonight’s discussion was over.