Chapter 26.1

Lieutenant Colonel Song couldn’t stop thinking about Pimi all night. He only dozed off just before dawn, but woke up less than two hours later. Seeing it was barely past seven, he decided to get up anyway since he couldn’t sleep any longer.

His plan was to wait outside the veterinary station until Director Mu woke up, so he could see Pimi as soon as possible. However, upon arriving, he found the station’s door wide open. Suspicious, he knocked lightly and called out, “Director Mu?”

Receiving no response, Colonel Song cautiously entered. He made his way to the ward where he finally saw Pimi, but Director Mu was nowhere to be found. Even Qilin and lightning were missing.

Colonel Song didn’t think too much about it—his mind was entirely focused on Pimi. He crouched beside the cage and softly called out, “Pimi.”

The emaciated black-maned lion barely opened its eyes, glanced outside, then weakly closed them again.

“Pimi, are you feeling better?” Song asked.

The lion didn’t respond.

“Pimi, are you hungry?”

Still no response.

“Pimi, can I come in and check on you?”

Suddenly, Pimi let out a fart.

Colonel Song was speechless.

‘Was Pimi rejecting his visit, or was it just a coincidence?’ He fell into deep thought.

Just then, he heard a noise outside. Thinking Director Mu had returned, he went to check, but it was actually Xiang Bie.

Xiang Bie paused when he saw Song.

Colonel Song quickly explained, “The door was open, so I came in.”

Xiang Bie frowned and glanced inside. “Where’s the director?”

Colonel Song shook his head, “I didn’t see her when I came in. The Ripper Tiger and Swift Fire Panther are gone too.”

Xiang Bie’s frown deepened. Without another word, he turned and left.

Feeling awkward about staying alone, Colonel Song followed Xiang Bie outside. They had barely taken two steps when they spotted the golden tiger and black panther sitting in front of the service area’s supermarket window, staring blankly outside.

The two beasts were like display items in a showcase—impossible to miss. Xiang Bie looked further into the supermarket and saw Mu Ling seated in the deli section. Across from her were several people in military uniforms, some standing, some seated.

Colonel Song, immediately recognizing the uniforms, said, “Those are your Shenwang Star’s stationed troops, right? The ones standing are all wearing Beast Tamer combat uniforms.”

Xiang Bie pursed his lips and headed inside.

At the same time, in the restaurant, Mu Ling was still deliberating.

Earlier, when she had quickly escaped with Qilin and lightning, Major Chang had stopped her, saying he urgently needed to discuss something. Seeing his serious demeanor, Mu Ling didn’t think he was there to arrest Lightning, so she invited him to the restaurant, poured him some water, and offered yesterday’s leftover snacks while listening to his request.

To her astonishment, Major Chang asked her to help them capture mutant beasts.

The usually calm Director Mu was stunned.

What did he mean by this? She was just a civilian! How was she supposed to capture mutant beasts? Could it be because she’d happened to hit a hyena yesterday, and now Major Chang thought she was some sort of martial prodigy, destined for the military?

But her shooting skills were barely above fairground balloon-popping level!

Just as she was wracking her brain on how to decline politely, she saw Xiang Bie and Lieutenant Colonel Song walking in through the supermarket window.

Mu Ling immediately stood up and loudly greeted, “Brother Xiang! Lieutenant Colonel Song!”

She deliberately raised her voice when calling out “Colonel Song,” sneaking a glance at Major Chang afterward, as if to say, “Look, here’s a lieutenant colonel from the Beast Tamer Army. You should ask him for help!”

Major Chang was startled when he heard “Lieutenant Colonel Song.” He stood up.

Colonel Song, surprised by Mu Ling’s sudden enthusiasm, felt a bit flattered and quickly replied, “Director Mu.”

Then he turned to Major Chang, recognizing his rank, and extended his hand, “Hello, I’m Song Cheng from Sky Hunter Star.”

Major Chang leaned in slightly, “Chang Jing, from Shenwang Star.”

After shaking hands, Colonel Song asked, “So, Major Chang, what brings you here?”

Chang Jing hesitated. He wasn’t sure if he should disclose his intention to this high-ranking officer from another planet. After all, seeking help from a zoo for reinforcements was rather unorthodox.

Just then, Xiang Bie interrupted, asking Mu Ling, “What are Qilin and lightning looking at?”

The tiger and leopard had been sitting by the window for a long time without moving, not even turning around when people entered.

Mu Ling huffed, clearly annoyed, “I’m punishing them! Can you believe it? Lightning opened the door and escaped again earlier, and even brought Qilin along. They almost hurt one of the military officers.”

Xiang Bie said nothing, but glanced between Major Chang and Mu Ling. He wanted to say it was her fault for always indulging them, but he held his tongue.

Lieutenant Colonel Song, on the other hand, was amazed. He wasn’t surprised that Lightning could open doors—war beasts were trained from a young age, and some could even do math. What shocked him was that Director Mu could command S-class retired war beasts to stand as punishment.

Not only could she maintain a good relationship with retired war beasts, but she could also make them follow her commands.

What kind of supernatural power did this director possess?

By this point, Major Chang was growing anxious. Their plan required them to reach the western entrance of Bi Ke Forest by nine at the latest, and it was already seven-thirty. Grasping the urgency of the situation, he swallowed his pride and quietly said to Colonel Song, “Lieutenant Colonel, may I have a word?”

Colonel Song, surprised, followed him aside.

After hearing Major Chang’s request, Colonel Song was taken aback. “You’re here to borrow retired war beasts from the zoo? Isn’t that against regulations?”

Major Chang forced a bitter smile. “But without an S-class war beast to pinpoint the exact location, we could easily get trapped in the mountains.”

“Doesn’t your entire garrison have any S-class war beasts?”

Sky Hunter Star was a larger, more developed commercial planet than Shenwang Star, and it permanently housed five S-class war beasts in its military. Colonel Song had never encountered a shortage of such beasts in his duties.

Chang Jing, embarrassed, remained silent.

Realizing his words were a bit harsh, Colonel Song hesitated before saying, “I can help you talk to Director Mu, but we only just met yesterday. I can’t guarantee she’ll listen, so prepare yourself.”

Chang Jing glanced up at Colonel Song. “What’s wrong?” Colonel Song asked.

Shaking his head, Chang Jing replied, “Nothing, I just thought you’d tell me what others have—that retired war beasts are dangerous, and I should give up this idea.”

Colonel Song chuckled, “I would say that to most people, but with Director Mu… well, I don’t know how else to put it, but there’s something mystical about her. I think her war beasts might actually be capable of helping.”

“Mystical?” Chang Jing echoed.

Pointing to the window, Colonel Song said, “You think she only controls the Ripper Tiger and Swift Fire Panther? Let me tell you, my Pimi, an S-class black-maned lion, has been on a hunger strike for a month. But in less than three minutes under her care last night, guess what? It started eating.”

Chang Jing was speechless.

“It’s like something out of a ghost story, right?” Colonel Song continued. “I was just as stunned. And so were the other zoo staff who came with me. I overheard them talking last night, saying they all wanted to transfer to Bi Ke Zoo—not for anything else, but just to broaden their horizons.”

Chang Jing didn’t know what to say.

As Colonel Song and Chang Jing spoke, Mu Ling was getting excited, thinking that Major Chang had finally given up on asking her and was turning to Colonel Song for help. But when they returned, it turned out the two of them had joined forces.

Mu Ling stood there, dumbfounded, as Colonel Song helped Chang Jing convince her, until she finally heard the key point —they wanted to borrow the war beasts.

Not her, just the war beasts.

Chang Jing, embarrassed, said, “Director Mu, we’re sincerely asking to borrow Qilin and lightning. After all, it was your zoo that reported the mutant beasts in Bi Ke Forest, so you must understand the gravity of the situation. We urgently need S-class war beasts. Of course, you would need to come with them. Do you have time today?”

To be honest, Mu Ling didn’t. Pimi had just arrived yesterday, but due to time constraints and Pimi’s poor condition, she had only conducted a brief external check-up. She planned to perform a full examination today, using equipment to inspect Pimi’s internal organs for a more targeted recovery plan.

Additionally, the mental assessment device was set to arrive today. Mu Ling had scheduled an evaluation for Qilin and lightning, not just because netizens were curious about their mental state—she was curious too. She hadn’t really noticed any mental instability in them, but with everyone saying otherwise, she had become unsure and wanted to check for her own peace of mind.

Lastly, because of yesterday’s mutant beast incident in the mountains, the protective fence technicians had stopped working again. Mu Ling had planned to go up the mountain herself today, taking Lightning along to accompany the technicians. With Lightning present, the technicians wouldn’t have to worry about sudden attacks from mutant beasts, and work could continue. Brother Xiang was set to continue mountain patrols from the morning to prevent any remaining mutant beasts in the park from harming others, while Brother Wei would stay at the foot of the mountain to look after Pimi and the brown deer.

Mu Ling really was quite busy today, with a mountain of tasks to handle.