Chapter 58.2

Fass used to work at this zoo.

The director of Changshan Zoo, an elderly man with white hair, went by Director Tian. While he was chatting with others, someone suddenly pointed out, “Hey, isn’t that Director Mu from Bi Ke Zoo? How come she didn’t attend the exchange meeting earlier?”

Another person replied, “I heard she went to Monty Zoo, maybe she was held up.”

Then someone else added, “Did you know? Last night, just after midnight, Director Mu went up to the 12th floor to see Director Qiao. Her war beast, that white fox Lingren, even barked outside Director Qiao’s room.”

“Didn’t Director Qiao leave?”

“Yes, but something seemed off. Director Mu even mentioned ‘rebellion’ at the time—”

“Ahem.” Director Tian gave a soft cough, raising his hand to signal his assistant to bring him his water cup.

Everyone fell silent and turned to look at Director Tian.

Taking the cup and twisting the lid, Director Tian said, “This has already been reported, so let’s not spread unverified matters and cause unnecessary worry.”

Director Tian’s authority was evident; everyone quickly smiled and said, “We’re just chatting, won’t bring it up again.”

When Mu Ling and her group approached, the conversation shifted back to tomorrow’s schedule.

Director Chen, familiar with everyone, asked, “What time do we leave tomorrow?”

A female leader answered, “Director Tian said 8 a.m., and they’ll send cars to pick us up.”

Director Chen smiled at Director Tian, “Making you go to so much trouble again.”

Tomorrow would be free exchange time, letting everyone choose who to accompany for on-site inspections. Four Bay Star had many zoos, with nine major ones. Those present were planning to visit Changshan Zoo, and as the host, they naturally handled all the arrangements.

Director Tian smiled warmly, “Next time when we visit Shenwang Star, it’ll be your turn to be generous.”

Everyone laughed. Then Director Tian glanced at Mu Ling, his gaze settling on the backpack in her arms.

Noticing the elderly man’s gaze, Mu Ling quickly pulled the zipper down a bit and explained, “It’s wearing an anesthetic collar and chains, so it won’t cause any trouble.”

Director Tian was surprised; he had expected this young Director Mu—especially after her recent fame and helping the military eliminate mutant beasts—to be more arrogant. Yet here she was, appearing quite modest.

He smiled, “I was just looking, nothing else.”

Mu Ling let out a relieved sigh and smiled back.

Director Harry seized this opportunity to introduce Mu Ling to everyone.

Though everyone knew her, they hadn’t approached without proper introduction. Now with Managers Harry and Chen as intermediaries, conversation flowed freely.

Mu Ling, skilled at networking, quickly joined several group chats, including two that even Director Harry and Chen weren’t part of.

After getting familiar with Mu Ling and hearing she would later share her experience in raising war beasts, everyone grew excited. Even Director Tian nodded repeatedly, delighted at this excellent development.

This led to even more people gathering around Mu Ling.

But where there’s admiration, there’s also criticism.

Nearby, a female director holding a silver-maned fox felt uncomfortable. “Bringing a war beast to a zoo exchange meeting—isn’t that just showing off?”

Two acquaintances beside her awkwardly replied, “I heard from Director Chen that Lingren can’t be separated from her, that’s why she brought it. Actually, carrying such a big bag must be quite tiring.”

“I’ve never heard of animals being so attached to humans,” she said, then looked down at her fox, “Right, Huohuo?”

Yes, this silver-maned fox was called “Huohuo” (Fire-Fire), and from the name alone, one could tell how much this zoo hoped it would become a star attraction.

These days, everyone knew how much star animals could drive visitor traffic. Every zoo hoped for more headliners to help their facilities prosper.

“What are they talking about? I’ll go see.”

The female director carried her fox over, while her colleagues looked even more uncomfortable.

Sister, aren’t you the one trying to show off?

The Red Heart Fox was snow-white, while the Silver-maned Fox was brownish-red with a silver-gray ring around its neck, like a scarf. Though beautiful, it still fell short of the Red Heart Fox’s striking appearance.

But this female director wouldn’t accept that. Hugging her Silver-maned Fox, she was determined to outshine the Red Heart Fox.

As Mu Ling chatted, she suddenly sensed someone new beside her. Turning, she saw a beautiful red fox wearing its silver-gray “scarf.”

“Oh, whose lovely fox is this? So beautiful!”

The female director who had been viewing Mu Ling unfavorably was momentarily stunned.

Actually, this Director Mu seemed quite nice.

Lifting her chin, she cleared her throat and adjusted her hold on the Silver-maned Fox, saying deliberately, “Huohuo, someone’s talking to you. You should look at them.”

“Oh, her name is Huohuo?” Mu Ling asked, also adjusting the white fox in her arms. “Lingren, come say hello to Huohuo.”

Suddenly, the two “fox moms” were forcing their foxes to socialize.

The white fox turned to look at its neighbor, stretched out to sniff briefly, then withdrew disinterestedly, resting its head on Mu Ling’s shoulder.

However, Huohuo, who had been lazily sleeping in her owner’s fox-carrying pouch, perked up. She stretched her neck, wagged her tail, and made soft “ying ying” sounds toward the white fox.

Mu Ling poked Lingren, “Look, Huohuo’s greeting you!”

Lingren just looked up at Mu Ling again, affectionately rubbing its nose against her forehead.

The female director became upset—no one likes their “child” being ignored. She immediately pulled Huohuo back, muttering, “Why are you being so eager when it’s ignoring you?”

But Huohuo kept trying to get closer. As the female director stepped away, Huohuo, seeing herself getting further from the white fox, became truly anxious and started crying louder: “Wu wu wu wu!”

Her cries grew increasingly pitiful as she struggled.

The female director regretted her actions. She hadn’t expected her usually shy Huohuo to lose control like this. She tried to run away with Huohuo, but with one powerful struggle, Huohuo leaped straight out of the fox-carrying pouch.

Though chained, the meter-long lead gave her enough reach to dash to Mu Ling’s feet.

Once there, the red fox circled Mu Ling while calling out, pawing at her pants leg, nose constantly sniffing toward the white fox.

The crowd stepped back. The female director was mortified, pulling the chain and calling, “Huohuo, come back!”

Mu Ling remained friendly though. She bent down to pat Huohuo’s forehead, making the red fox close its eyes in contentment, tail wagging happily.

The female director’s blood pressure seemed to rise.

Finding Huohuo quite well-behaved, Mu Ling said to Lingren, “See how friendly she is? Come on, Lingren, give her another look.”

Mu Ling tried to bring the white fox closer.

But Lingren was very unwilling, climbing hard against Mu Ling’s body, trying to get away from Huohuo.

Huohuo seemed hurt and started making soft whimpering sounds again.

The female director couldn’t stand it anymore. She grabbed Huohuo and said through gritted teeth, “Look how shameless you’re acting! I don’t have a love-struck fool for a daughter!”

“Oh, Huohuo’s female?” someone asked. “Is she in heat?”

The female director shook her head embarrassedly, “No, she’s not.”

Another person added, “Then she must be captivated by Lingren’s pheromones. Well, Lingren is an S-class fox, genetically born with leadership qualities in his genes, it’s easy to make young girls fall for him.”

The female director heard this and got a headache, completely wanting to leave.

But at that moment, Huohuo struggled even more violently.

She thrashed while crying shrilly. The female director couldn’t hold on and let her escape again.

The red fox rushed back to Mu Ling’s side, continuing to paw at her pants leg.

Mu Ling was touched by this display of affection.

“It must be love at first sight with our Lingren! Okay, everyone please step back a bit. I must let them interact properly. Don’t worry, I won’t let Lingren bite her.”

Mu Ling, skilled at handling foxes, crouched down and placed Lingren on the ground while controlling his shoulders to prevent him from running away.

After standing steady, the white fox looked back at Mu Ling, seemingly confused.

Mu Ling encouraged, “When a girl is being so forward, you can’t just ignore her! At least sniff her tail!”

Lingren seemed to understand. War beasts don’t harm non-mutant creatures of their own kind. He turned to look at the eager Huohuo again, then stretched his neck, moving closer.

However, just as he did, Huohuo suddenly sprang—right over his head.

The red fox gracefully hurdled over Lingren’s body and landed perfectly in Mu Ling’s arms.

Once there, Huohuo continued wagging her tail, happily calling out to Mu Ling. Then she enthusiastically dove into the backpack still carrying Lingren’s scent. Sitting inside, she gazed sweetly at Mu Ling and, imitating Lingren’s earlier behavior, sniffed Mu Ling’s forehead, attempting to replace him.

Mu Ling: “…”

Lingren: “…”

Everyone: “…”

Female director: “…”

Someone suddenly blurted out, “Oh, so it wasn’t Lingren she was interested in—it was Director Mu!”

“Pfft!” The crowd erupted in laughter.

But Mu Ling and the female director couldn’t laugh at all.

“Director Mu, can you share your secret?” someone teased.

As the jokes continued, only Director Tian frowned, his eyes narrowing as he observed Mu Ling more carefully.

Animals don’t get close to strangers without reason.

Animals are only blindly attracted by hormones.

This Director Mu—could there be something special about her body’s hormones?