Chapter 43.2

He smiled and said, “Thank you, Director.”

Mu Ling breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from her brow, and quietly left.

A while later, Mu Ling’s communicator rang. Seeing an unfamiliar number on the caller ID, she already guessed who it was. She answered, “Hello.”

Ten minutes later, at the main gate, Mu Ling met a straight-backed, serious-looking middle-aged man, followed by two young subordinates.

She quickly extended her hand in greeting, “You must be Commander Duan. Hello.”

Duan Ruifeng, the Commander of the North Red Star Beast Combat Command Center, glanced at Mu Ling and shook her hand, saying solemnly, “Director Mu, hello”

Mu Ling looked at the two young men behind him, assuming they were the Commander’s subordinates.

She suggested, “Let’s go inside to talk.”

They met in the restaurant, where some tourists had already come down from the mountain and were ordering food. Mu Ling chose a quiet spot and invited Commander Duan to sit down. She personally brought four cups of coffee.

At first, Commander Duan’s subordinates didn’t accept the coffee until he nodded at them. Then they thanked Mu Ling.

Mu Ling sat down across from Commander Duan, smiling, and asked, “I heard from Director Liu that you want to place your war beast, Magic, in our Bi Ke Zoo?”

Commander Duan’s stern face was filled with solemnity. His sharp gaze had been scrutinizing Mu Ling since they met, but interestingly, despite his intimidating stare, Director Mu remained calm throughout, maintaining a polite smile.

She had a neither servile nor overbearing personality.

Commander Duan, having formed an initial impression of his war beast’s future caretaker, said, “Yes, I watched your videos and believe this place is suitable for Magic.”

Mu Ling smiled and replied, “But we have a forest environment here. Are you aware of that?”

Commander Duan answered decisively, “You don’t need to worry about that. Magic and I spent three years on a mission in the depths of the North Red Star tropical rainforest. It’s fine with a forest environment.”

Mu Ling then asked, “May I ask why it’s retiring?”

At this, Commander Duan’s expression turned cold, as if recalling an unpleasant memory. His already serious face looked even more severe. “Injury. It was bitten by seven high-level infected wolves. Its mood hasn’t been right since. After a psychological evaluation, its nerve damage value exceeded 50, resulting in mandatory retirement.”

According to the beast-related regulations issued by the Federation fifty years ago, when a war beast’s nerve damage value exceeds 40, retirement should be considered. If it exceeds 50, immediate mandatory retirement is enforced.

Commander Duan looked at Mu Ling. He could tell that Director Mu probably didn’t want to accept Magic, which was why her attitude had been lukewarm.

He also felt that the conditions at Bi Ke Zoo weren’t ideal. Although it covered a large area, it was understaffed and poorly equipped, essentially just a makeshift operation.

For a newly opened “small” zoo, normal people would add friendly animals that could be opened for viewing and interact with visitors, to generate income. They wouldn’t want an S-class retired war beast that might never come out of the mountain once it went in.

War beasts are difficult to raise and protect, requiring significant manpower and resources for special care. Moreover, his Magic was a giant elephant weighing nine tons.

Commander Duan understood that Director Mu was probably considering her limited capabilities and wanted to refuse. But he couldn’t care about that. The wild environment of Bi Ke Jungle could change the Ripper Tiger, Swift Fire Leopard, and Dark Snow Wolf for the better, so it must also be able to help Magic recover.

Even if he had to provide double or triple subsidies and cover food expenses himself, he had to get Magic admitted as a transfer student.

It wasn’t fair for other war beasts to get better while his Magic didn’t have the best.

Commander Duan was determined. Seeing that Director Mu still seemed undecided, he had already planned how to use his authority to force her to accept Magic.

Indeed, after a few seconds of silence, Director Mu spoke, “Alright then.”

“Your refusal won’t matter, I’ve already spoken to the Federal Forestry Bureau about—”

Commander Duan stopped mid-sentence, realizing what the young director had just said. His cold expression momentarily cracked.

Mu Ling looked puzzled and turned to Commander Duan, “I said alright. When will you bring Magic over?”

Commander Duan was stunned. Had he misjudged her? Director Mu had clearly been reluctant earlier. And he hadn’t even mentioned his additional conditions yet – the 150,000 star coins for foster care was from the government, but he was going to offer an additional 300,000 in private subsidies. He would also cover Magic’s monthly food expenses, regular medical costs, and labor costs.

He hadn’t mentioned any of this, yet Director Mu had already agreed.

Mu Ling had no idea what she had missed. She smiled and said, “Elephants are very gentle animals. If Magic can adapt to the forest environment, I see no reason not to accept it.”

Plus, they would receive a 150,000 star coins subsidy for taking in a war beast.

Great, another 150,000 earned, the little fund had grown a bit more.

Although elephants eat a lot, it didn’t matter. Mu Ling could make videos. The money earned from the videos could supplement Magic’s food. After all, they were already raising so many animals, one or two more wouldn’t make much difference.

Mu Ling’s optimistic thinking caught Commander Duan off guard.

Even as he was leaving, Commander Duan still seemed uncertain about what had just transpired.

Mu Ling, on the other hand, was quite courteous, inviting Commander Duan to visit their animal dormitory.

Commander Duan had watched the video sent by Director Liu yesterday and wasn’t interested in the other war beasts besides Magic. However, given Mu Ling’s earnest invitation, he still went to take a look.

When he arrived, he saw the agile black panther swimming in an inflatable pool. Then the little wolf did a somersault and jumped in too.

The little wolf wasn’t very good at swimming and was paddling with great effort.

The black panther swam over and used its body to support the little wolf.

The little wolf stood on the black panther’s back, shook off its wet fur, and started nibbling on the panther’s ear, always looking playful.

As Commander Duan watched, his feet stopped moving.

Looking at this mischievous little wolf, he was reminded of Magic when it was young. Magic also liked to play in water and often liked to suck up water with its trunk and spray him.

Commander Duan smiled as he reminisced, saying softly, “Magic was even more of a handful than this little wolf.”

“Bear? The Silver Snow Bear?” Mu Ling only caught the last word “bear” and asked Commander Duan, “If you want to see the Silver Snow Bear, Moonlight, it’s not here. It’s at the veterinary station.”

Commander Duan was speechless.

The director’s selective hearing was quite impressive. ^[1]Translator’s Note: This exchange contains a clever Chinese wordplay that’s lost in translation. In the original text, Commander Duan uses the word “熊” (xióng) which can … Continue reading

With hearing like that, she clearly wasn’t cut out for the military.

Commander Duan was about to explain that he didn’t want to see the Silver Snow Bear, but he suddenly remembered a video clip he had seen of the Silver Snow Bear with a bald back, looking pitiful as it huddled in a corner.

The imaginative Commander Duan suddenly envisioned Magic in a similar state in the future, injured and shivering in a corner. He immediately wanted to see firsthand how Bi Ke Zoo cared for injured war beasts.

He asked, “The veterinary station isn’t far, is it?”

“It’s not far,” Mu Ling said, leading Commander Duan to the veterinary station on the other side.

As soon as Commander Duan entered, he heard a very gentle voice reading a story coming from the ward area.

Curious, Commander Duan went in and realized it was coming from a speaker.

Below the speaker, the white bear was curled up in a ball, hugging a small teddy bear toy and sleeping sweetly.

“Roar,” a low growl suddenly came from nearby.

Commander Duan turned to look and saw an emaciated lion in the cage next to him, craning its neck and calling out to them.

Commander Duan narrowed his eyes and carefully examined this lion, while Mu Ling immediately understood Pimi’s meaning: “It needs to pee again.”

Mu Ling apologized to Commander Duan, then opened the cage and went in, quickly starting to change the lion’s diaper.

Commander Duan had seen diaper changing in videos, but seeing it in person was quite shocking.

The lions in their military beast units weren’t this delicate and didn’t wear diapers. If they urinated on themselves, they would just wipe it off or wash themselves in water.

Was this the difference between how men and women raise children?

Mu Ling’s movements were quick, changing the diaper in two or three motions, then wrapping it up and throwing it in the trash outside.

When she came back in, seeing Commander Duan still looking at Pimi, she pointed ahead and said, “That’s Moonlight.”

Commander Duan followed Mu Ling’s direction and looked again at the sleeping white bear. He slowly walked to the outside of the white bear’s cage.

Just then, the white bear suddenly rolled over. Seeing that Moonlight might press on its back wound while sleeping like this, Mu Ling opened the cage and went in, gently calling, “Moonlight, we don’t sleep like this. Turn back over.”

The sleepy white bear licked its mouth. It opened its bear eyes, probably unable to distinguish if this was a dream or reality. It shook its ears and, following Mu Ling’s guidance, rolled back.

Mu Ling patted its head and tucked the teddy bear back into its paws, saying, “Hold it.”

The white bear obediently hugged the teddy bear. It blinked once more, then nuzzled its head against Mu Ling.

Mu Ling bent down and kissed its forehead, and the white bear contentedly closed its eyes and went back to sleep.

Mu Ling stood up and left the cage. Seeing Commander Duan’s shocked expression outside, she explained, “When Moonlight is not fully conscious, we can kiss and hug it. It doesn’t know.”

Commander Duan thought to himself, “That sounds a bit creepy.”

After seeing both severely injured war beasts, Commander Duan’s last bit of worry disappeared as he left. He solemnly told Mu Ling, “I’ll bring Magic over tonight after your park closes.”

Mu Ling nodded and shook his hand, “See you tonight.”

That evening at 7:30 PM.

The zoo staff had just finished dinner when they saw a starship flying over the sky above them.

The starship hovered in the air, while their Director Mu stood on the empty ground below, frantically waving at it, “Land, land!”

Soon, the starship landed, and everyone gathered around to watch.

Then they saw the starship’s hatch open, and about thirty strong men pushing a giant iron cage walked out.

Looking inside the cage, they saw:

Red skin, upward-curving tusks, a stocky build, fan-like ears…

It was actually a Red terror elephant!

Mu Ling approached, first shaking hands with Commander Duan, then looking at the elephant in the cage. It was covered in wounds of various sizes all over its body, with several places on its head oozing pus. Its eyes were cloudy with pitch-black pupils, and tears were flowing from them.