Chapter 2.2

Ever since the emergence of mutant beasts, the Federation had endured decades of darkness. It wasn’t until 110 years ago that a research institute developed a viral vaccine. From that point on, all domesticated animals were required to receive mandatory anti-mutation vaccinations every six months from birth.

However, even with these precautions, not all animals could be vaccinated, and some still mutated post-vaccination. This was especially true for wild beasts deep in mountains and old forests. Their formidable strength made them impossible to capture, resulting in the highest mutation rates.

The planet mentioned in the recent news report about the mutant beast rampage was an impoverished world with chaotic policies and space pirate activity. The harsh environment led to poor management, making it easier for mutant beasts to spread. Once an uprising occurred, the death toll would be catastrophic.

To quell these outbreaks, the military and war beasts had to be immediately dispatched. Speaking of war beast, after the mutant beast plague, humans often struggled to combat them alone. More often, it was humanity’s best companions – the war beasts – who charged the front lines.

Their sharp teeth, keen sense of smell, and lethal ferocity were unmatched by humans who could only use weapons and had fragile bodies. Some well-trained war beasts could even fight ten enemies at once. As such, war beasts were revered as humanity’s treasures, and every war beast that bled and sweated for humanity was remembered by the people.

When Mu Ling heard there might still be mutant beasts in the deep forest, she didn’t care about the cost anymore. She quickly said, “I’ll immediately contact someone to upgrade and inspect the protective fence. We can’t be careless with it. We can’t take any risks when it comes to mutant beasts.”

Wei Li glanced at the zoo director, his smile deepening. ” That’s a wise decision, Director.”

She’s a clear-headed director who knew her priorities.

The mutant beast issue left Mu Ling’s mind in chaos. She didn’t bother chatting with Wei Li further. After asking for the contact information of the previous protective fence maintenance company, she went aside to contact them.

The company was surprised to hear she was from Bi Ke Wildlife Park, remembering this zoo had been closed for a long time. But they were happy to take the business.

They quickly settled on an inspection date, saying they’d come tomorrow afternoon.

Due to the large area of Bi Ke Zoo’s protective fence, the total inspection time would take about half a month. They offered her a discount, totaling 99,999 star coins, with a 20,000 deposit due tomorrow when they arrive.

Mu Ling’s scalp tingled when she heard the price, but this wasn’t an expense she could skimp on. After thanking them tearfully, Mu Ling opened her bank card.

Seeing only 200,000 left in her account, Mu Ling slumped, feeling like she had shrunk in size.

Her grandfather had passed away when Mu Ling was sixteen. He was poor and didn’t leave her much. Mu Ling had worked part-time through high school and college. It wasn’t until she entered her professor’s lab that she finally saved up 250,000 from a share of a successful drug research project.

However, after that research success, her advisor was poached by a larger pharmaceutical company. When the team disbanded, Mu Ling couldn’t immediately find a new job in her field. For the past two years, she’d been living off her savings.

After adding and subtracting, she only had 200,000 left in savings. She was about to spend half of that on the protective fence, and after that, she would still need to repay her employees for the money they had fronted, pay their salaries, buy food for the animals, and order the next batch of vaccines.

There were too many expenses. She had to start making money quickly, or she wouldn’t be able to support this big family!

Determined, Mu Ling returned to the dormitory and pulled out her “Zoo Opening Plan”.

First, she needed to set an opening date.

The protective fence maintenance would take half a month. It was now the end of August, so half a month later would be mid-September. The flower exhibition in the tourist area at the foot of the mountain would start in October. Visitors coming to see the flowers would gradually increase from mid-September. So opening the zoo in mid-September, combining the opening publicity with the flower exhibition’s popularity, should bring in more visitors.

Mu Ling opened her light brain to check the weather. September’s weather was fairly good, with just a few light rains at the beginning of the month, but clear days from mid-month onwards. Mu Ling wrote down September 17th in her plan, tentatively setting the opening date.

Then she started considering promotion. Besides leveraging the flower exhibition’s popularity, she’d need to drive traffic herself. In today’s society, advertising is undoubtedly the most effective promotion method, but Mu Ling couldn’t afford to advertise. So she could only try to ride on others’ popularity.

She’d need to mention her zoo more often in animal-related videos or hot searches, leave comments on Shenwang Star’s official tourism website to increase visibility, and create an official account to frequently post cute animal photos and videos, promoting her zoo.

If all else failed, she could offer spaceship tickets, food, and accommodation to invite popular content creators for tourism and exploration, which would be another form of promotion.

Mu Ling studied pharmaceutical research in university, but her roommate studied economics. She had picked up some basic knowledge of star network marketing through osmosis.

If she could earn money later, Mu Ling could also develop virtual tourism. Using holographic technology, tourists could immersively explore the entire zoo without leaving home.

It’s worth noting that a tourist destination can only receive a limited number of visitors each day, but virtual tourism can accommodate an unlimited number of simultaneous visitors. Although each visitor entering the holographic scenic area still needs to pay for a ticket, albeit cheaper than actual tickets, the accumulated small amounts would surely result in enormous revenue!

Some popular scenic spots already offer virtual tourism!

Mu Ling immediately searched for the technology costs related to virtual tourism. This search instantly extinguished the ambition she had just kindled.

She had been presumptuous. The initial technology investment for virtual tourism required tens of millions in funding!

Sorry, sorry, she won’t think about it anymore!

…

The clock on the table ticked away, minute by minute.

An hour later, Mu Ling’s plan had taken initial shape. Checking the time, it was almost noon. Mu Ling decided not to wait. She’d ask Brother Wei to take her into the forest in the afternoon. If they could see animals, she’d take some videos and photos to get the official account up and running.