Chapter 2.1

The fifteen-minute drive passed quickly.

Mu Ling looked up at the desolate and quiet entrance of Bi Ke Zoo perched on the mountainside.

Despite having been closed for half a year, with two employees still maintaining it, the zoo’s entrance didn’t look too bleak. It was kept fairly clean and tidy.

To the left of the main gate was the ticket booth, now empty, of course. Entering through the gates, directly ahead was a service area. As Mu Ling peered inside through the glass windows, Wei Li, walking beside her, began explaining.

“The left side of this service area is the food court, where visitors could have lunch. The right side used to be a small supermarket selling daily necessities and souvenirs. But after closing, everything inside was removed, so it’s vacant now.”

Mu Ling nodded. She could only see a few shelves and chairs inside—everything else was gone.

Wei Li then pointed to a five-story building on the right of the service area. “This is our office and dormitory area. The first floor is a parking garage for shuttle buses, mountain bikes, and such. The second floor has offices, finance department, and file rooms. The top three floors are staff dormitories. At our peak, the zoo had over 100 employees at once, and the three floors of dorms were just enough. Now to save electricity, Brother Xiang and I share a room. But knowing you were coming today, Director, we cleaned up one of the women’s dorms for you. Just let us know if you need anything else once you see it.”

Mu Ling thought to herself that she wouldn’t dare ask for anything – wouldn’t everything cost money? She quickly said, “I’m not picky about where I stay. As long as there’s a bed, I’ll be fine.”

Wei Li glanced briefly at this new director whose words hinted at being somewhat humble. He thought to himself, Could it be? How could someone that poor take over such a large zoo? Perhaps she was just trying to seem down-to-earth?

Wei Li then offered, “Director, Brother Xiang is currently patrolling in the mountains. Why don’t I take your luggage up first?”

Mu Ling hurriedly waved her hand. “No need, I can handle it myself.” She had already noticed the building had an elevator – how could she let an employee carry her personal belongings?

She started pulling her suitcase towards the elevator, but after just two steps she heard Wei Li behind her say, “That elevator isn’t running in order to save electricity.”

Mu Ling: “…”

Mu Ling turned back around and sheepishly handed her suitcase to Wei Li: “Then I’ll have to trouble you, Brother Wei.”

It was three floors up, and her luggage was heavy. She probably couldn’t make it up carrying the suitcase.

Wei Li chuckled lightly, not minding at all. He lifted the suitcase with one hand, like a strongman, carrying Mu Ling’s genuinely 30-plus kg suitcase up the stairs with ease.

Mu Ling followed behind, watching nervously. Wow, Brother Wei is so strong, she thought. If I ever dared to withhold his wages, he could probably send me flying with one punch.

Wait—not just withholding wages – she’d have to pay the wages owed for the past six months too…

Mu Ling’s heart sank again.

They made their way up to the third floor dormitories. Mu Ling’s room was at the very end of the hallway. She noticed this room had the best environment, with the largest windows. Standing at the window, she could see a vast expanse of forest outside.

The room had been cleaned thoroughly. Inside was a wooden bed, a wardrobe, and a long desk against the wall. On the desk was a set of bedding that looked very clean, probably freshly washed.

Wei Li set down the suitcase and told Mu Ling to get settled in, then he left.

Mu Ling thanked him profusely. After seeing Wei Li out, she opened her suitcase and began unpacking.

It took about half an hour to finish unpacking. Mu Ling closed the door and went downstairs. As soon as she got down, she saw Wei Li repairing a bike. Seeing her come down, Wei Li greeted her: “Director.”

Mu Ling walked over with a smile, asking curiously, “What’s wrong with this bike?”

Wei Li was working on a mountain bike. He explained, “There’s a problem with the rear wheel. The paths in the forest aren’t easy to navigate. It got stuck in a gully before. Brother Xiang and I spent two days pulling it back, but fixing it will take some effort. It’s not repaired yet.”

Hearing him mention Brother Xiang again, Mu Ling grew curious about the other employee: “Will Brother Xiang be able to return tonight from his patrol?”

Wei Li shook his head: “No, he left two days ago and won’t be back until the day after tomorrow.”

Mu Ling was surprised: “It takes that long?”

Wei Li smiled: “The forest is vast and dangerous. A full patrol takes at least three to four days. We currently patrol four times a month. As for food, we place it at fixed points, and some animals come out to eat on their own.”

Mu Ling had never run a zoo before, let alone a wildlife park, so she asked out of curiosity: “With all the animals deep in the mountains now, can you still manage them?”

Wei Li replied: “Of course we can’t fully manage them. At most we can roughly keep track of their whereabouts. Initially, when the park had the most staff, we assigned fixed caretakers. Each person was responsible for a specific area. You had to know about all the animals living in your zone. Although you couldn’t approach them, you needed to know if they were injured, if they were breeding, if they were safe, and so on. But after all the employees left, we’re not very clear about the animals’ whereabouts now. As long as they don’t go into the deep forest, it’s still okay.”

“Deep forest?” Mu Ling asked.

Wei Li explained: “Our park covers over 3 million square kilometers in total, but when it opened, only the outer 1 million square kilometers were developed. We didn’t dare touch the inner 2 million square kilometers because there are many native animals there. We put up a protective fence in between to prevent animals from crossing over, but the fence needs monthly maintenance. It’s been closed for over six months now, so some parts of the fence are damaged. When Brother Xiang and I patrol, we fix any damage we see, but we don’t know if there are other broken spots we haven’t found. Most of the native animals in the deep forest don’t have Mutant prevention certificates. We’re worried there might be Mutant beasts hidden in there.”

As soon as the words “Mutant beasts” were mentioned, Mu Ling’s eyelids twitched. She immediately recalled the border news she had seen in the small supermarket at the foot of the mountain earlier.

In the interstellar era, Mutant beasts were rampant. Ever since an unknown virus spread to the Federation through a wormhole 150 years ago, the Federation’s animals became very susceptible to viral mutations.

This virus was terrifying. It could alter the animals’ genetic chains. Currently, except for humans who couldn’t be infected, almost all animals had been infected. Moreover, this virus was hereditary.

The direction of mutation in infected or inherited animals wasn’t uniform either. Some had physical mutations, becoming things like three-headed or five-legged creatures. Others had behavioral mutations, becoming extremely aggressive and might even attack humans.