Chapter 62.1

Early the next morning, Mu Ling woke up, took Lingren with her, and headed to Changshan Zoo.

When Director Tian’s assistant received Mu Ling’s call, he was taken aback. “I was just about to go to the hotel to pick you up. Since you’re here so early, please wait for me for a moment.”

The assistant hurriedly drove over to pick up Mu Ling. In the car, he began updating her on Feifan’s condition: “Feifan hasn’t woken up yet, but should soon. Last night we conducted a mental assessment and found its trauma levels have increased significantly over the past month. A month ago, its nerve damage value was 74, but now it’s over 90.”

Mu Ling listened with a slight frown.

The assistant continued, “The police have results too. Following the truck’s route, they traced it to an abandoned factory in the South District. That’s likely where Feifan was held captive. They found lots of its fur in a cage, but the place was deserted. The scene was chaotic – they suspect there was a fight and Feifan escaped during the confusion.”

Mu Ling looked at the assistant. “During the chaos? Didn’t Feifan fight its way out?”

The assistant smiled. “Those illegal poaching groups have guns. No matter how powerful Feifan is, it couldn’t overcome guns. How could it fight its way out?”

Mu Ling paused. “Are you certain they were illegal poachers?”

“That’s what the police said,” the assistant replied. “Based on the scene evidence, they think the criminals had a dispute over dividing their spoils. Someone tried to forcibly take Feifan, which gave it a chance to escape.”

Just yesterday they had called these people undocumented residents, but today they had become poachers?

Mu Ling studied the assistant more carefully.

Was he brushing her off, or was he himself being misled?

The evidence at the scene indicated a dispute over loot; was that evidence planted by criminals, or were the police intentionally misleading the zoo staff?

Regardless of what it was, since they had chosen to conceal it, it meant they didn’t want to inform her. Whether it was the police or the zoo doing the concealing, there was no point in pressing further.

So Mu Ling feigned surprise. “Oh, I see! Those poachers are terrible. I hope they catch them this time.”

The assistant nodded firmly. “A global arrest warrant has been issued. They won’t escape.”

Mu Ling said nothing more, just looking ahead.

After a while, they arrived at the veterinary station.

Changshan Zoo’s veterinary station was larger than Monty Zoo’s, occupying an entire building. When Mu Ling entered, it felt like walking into a real hospital. The hall was bustling with animals and their keepers, some getting medicine while others waited in line.

Mu Ling stared in amazement. “Can I take photos?”

The assistant, clearly used to such requests, smiled warmly. “Of course!”

Mu Ling immediately began taking pictures enthusiastically.

The assistant then led her to an elevator. Upon entering, she noticed it was specially designed – a giant elevator capable of carrying even elephants.

“Our veterinary station is modeled after the Capital Star’s War Beast Hospital,” the assistant explained. “Though smaller in scale, you could call this a modest version.”

Mu Ling nodded repeatedly. “It’s impressive, super impressive!”

The assistant beamed with pride. “It’s nothing special, really. We just have many animals that need regular checkups, so a large veterinary station is more convenient. In the entire Four Bay Star, even the whole East Star Region, Changshan’s veterinary station is the largest and most comprehensive. Sometimes smaller zoos from nearby bring their animals here for treatment, though we charge extra for outside animals.”

Mu Ling listened while taking notes, thinking about building something similar at their Bi Ke Zoo when they had the money.

They reached the seventh floor, where Mu Ling noticed it was extremely quiet with barely anyone in the hallways.

The assistant lowered his voice, “This is the VIP ward area, exclusively for war beasts. Feifan is in Room 01.”

As they walked together, Mu Ling curiously peered into other rooms.

She noticed many rooms had animals, but unlike the noisy lower floors, these animals were very quiet, most in an unconscious state.

Seeing her interest, the assistant explained, “This room houses a B-class Iron-scaled crocodile with a specially built water tank filled with nutrient-rich water; it feels more comfortable soaking in such water.”

“This one has a B-grade Ridge-backed Turtle. It got sunburned recently and is currently undergoing rehabilitation treatment.”

“This room…”

As the assistant continued explaining while they walked, Mu Ling’s expression grew more thoughtful.

Changshan Zoo was a well established institution. Bi Ke Zoo, before its closure, had only been in operation for two years and had already taken in so many war beasts. With over thirty years of history, Changshan Zoo must have accumulated an immense number of them. And with so many war beasts, they surely faced countless challenges daily.

Mu Ling felt increasingly convinced of the necessity of her small sharing session.

There were many zoos like Changshan across the interstellar space – responsible, capable, large-scale facilities that were the main force in rescuing war beasts. They really needed more detailed and varied methods for raising war beasts.

When they reached Feifan’s room, Mu Ling saw many people inside, including doctors and nurses. Feifan was awake, standing on the bed with its back against the wall, frantically tearing at its bandages while baring its teeth and throwing things at the medical staff with hostility.

“Feifan, Feifan, calm down.” The medical staff were all in full protective gear, trying unsuccessfully to control the Purple Lightning Baboon.

Watching from outside, Mu Ling frowned. “Feifan was just kidnapped, so it’s very afraid of strangers. But the doctors and nurses are wearing helmets, so Feifan can’t recognize them. What it needs now is comfort from familiar people.”

Just then, footsteps approached from behind. It was Feifan’s keeper, who had apparently just received news of Feifan’s awakening. He was sweating profusely and about to greet Mu Ling and the director’s assistant.

The assistant quickly waved him off. “Take care of your business first.”

The keeper entered wearing only protective clothing and a cap, no helmet. Feifan should have recognized him, but it still threw things at him, continuing to tear at its IV lines and knocking equipment onto the floor in a frenzy.

The assistant watched anxiously. “The situation is too serious. I should call the director.”

While he made the call, Mu Ling kept watching through the window.

Suddenly, the Purple Lightning Baboon seemed to notice her.

Mu Ling startled, about to move away, when the baboon called out to her as if it recognized her: “Wo-wa wo-wa wo-wa!”

It was the sound the Purple Lightning Baboon used to call the Scarlet Flame Monkey.

Mu Ling frowned.

The medical staff also noticed Mu Ling. A doctor quickly came out, removed his helmet, and said, “Director Mu, right? Your imitation of Lieyan’s call yesterday was very accurate. Feifan seems to recognize you. Could you please go in and calm it down? We know Feifan and Lieyan are close. Lieyan’s keeper has gone to catch it, but it seems scared and has disappeared. They’re still searching…”

Mu Ling understood their urgency but knew she couldn’t go in. “I’m sorry, it’s not that I don’t want to help, but I was the one who sedated Feifan yesterday. It might hold a grudge, so my presence would only make things worse.”

The doctor seemed surprised. “But looking at its behavior now, it’s not showing any hostility toward you.”

Indeed, Mu Ling found it strange too. Feifan seemed to consider her the only familiar face present, calling to her desperately and eager to get close to her.

But baboons were known to hold grudges. Yesterday’s incident was too recent to forget.

Wait, could it be that Feifan hadn’t gotten a clear look at her yesterday?

That seemed likely.

Lingren’s sedative collar was very strong. Yesterday, as soon as Feifan had crawled into the compartment, Mu Ling had injected it, and it only turned its head afterward.

There was a good chance its vision was already blurry by then.

Mu Ling’s eyes lit up. “Then please get me some protective gear. I’ll give it a try.”

After putting on the protective suit, Mu Ling carefully entered.

Seeing Mu Ling appear, the other medical staff quietly dispersed. The baboon on the bed immediately rushed over, grabbed one of Mu Ling’s arms, and quickly hid behind her.

Mu Ling’s eyes widened in surprise.

The medical staff’s eyes also widened.

“Wow, you really didn’t recognize me?” Mu Ling was amazed. She tentatively turned around and lightly touched the fur on the baboon’s hand.

The baboon immediately bared its teeth and pulled its hand back, then stepped away from Mu Ling.

Its meaning was clear – while it felt safer with Mu Ling in this strange environment, that didn’t mean she could touch its little hand.

Seeing its rejection, Mu Ling withdrew her hand and instead hugged the white fox she was carrying.

The white fox wasn’t pleased with this situation. Seeing the monkey bare its teeth at Mu Ling, it immediately started growling low in its throat, its purple pupils coldly glaring at the presumptuous monkey, occasionally showing its teeth with hostility.

“Wo-zhi!” The baboon didn’t back down from the white fox, roaring back.

“Ga!” Lingren suddenly lunged forward, its swift claws nearly scratching the baboon’s face.

Mu Ling quickly held it back, soothing, “Fox-bro, let it go, let it go, Fox-bro.”

The baboon realized the white fox meant business and circled back behind Mu Ling, then peeked out to taunt the fox: “Wo-zhi!”

The white fox lunged again.

Mu Ling was at her wit’s end. She turned and lightly patted the baboon’s face, saying softly, “Stop provoking it.”

The baboon looked at Mu Ling, then scratched its own face with its paw. It wasn’t afraid of the white fox, but it knew this human and the white fox were together. If it didn’t want the human to leave, it would have to tolerate the white fox.

But the baboon was unhappy, especially when it saw the human still gently comforting the white fox and kissing it.

It was the one who nearly got scratched, after all.

The baboon grabbed the human’s clothes with one paw and quietly retreated a bit further behind her, feeling somewhat wronged.

Mu Ling noticed this and turned to look at the baboon, then bravely tried touching its little hand again.

This time the baboon didn’t avoid her. Instead, it grabbed her clothes with its other hand too, pressing close to her back while nervously watching the crowd around them.

The medical staff exchanged glances, and the attending physician gestured for everyone else to quietly leave the room.

Once only the human, baboon, and fox remained, the baboon finally released Mu Ling’s clothes and jumped back onto the bed, watching her from a distance.

Mu Ling looked around, found a water bowl, and brought it over, asking, “Do you want some water?”

The baboon looked at the water bowl but didn’t approach, instead it sat on the bed fidgeting with the sheets.

Mu Ling placed the water bowl on the bedside table.

As soon as Mu Ling moved toward the table, the baboon quickly dodged to the other side. After she stepped away, it circled back, sniffed the water, and carefully took a sip.

Seeing it drinking, Mu Ling smiled and tossed over a freeze-dried treat. “You must be hungry, having gone without food for over ten hours.”

The scent of the freeze-dried treat seemed familiar to the baboon. It picked up the treat that had rolled to its feet, put it in its mouth, chewed a bit, and after finishing it in two bites, called to Mu Ling again: “Wo-wa!”

Mu Ling immediately responded: “Wo!”

The baboon seemed reassured and slowly crawled over, reaching directly into the shoulder bag’s pocket.

“Ga!” The white fox immediately raised its paw to swat at it.

The baboon avoided being scratched and grabbed a handful of treats. It clutched them while running away with a hunched neck, then perched on the pillow, picking through them one by one to eat.

After finishing, the baboon licked its palms and crept back over again.

The white fox was furious, constantly making “ga-ga” roars.

Mu Ling quickly turned the white fox’s face away and kissed it, coaxing, “It’s okay, we have plenty more, enough to eat.”

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the baboon quickly raided the white fox’s pocket again.

This time, because Mu Ling was holding the white fox’s face, it couldn’t see. The baboon felt emboldened after its successful raid, even sitting right there to eat, grabbing two more treats after eating two, like it was at a buffet.

By the time the white fox finally noticed and turned to rage, the baboon had already run away, seeming quite pleased with itself as it called out excitedly while baring its teeth.

Mu Ling: “…”

Monkeys were really mischievous!

The medical staff outside watched with relief, nodding sincerely. “It’s been a long time since Feifan laughed like this.”

In the room, seeing that Feifan’s mood seemed increasingly stable, Mu Ling looked at its legs.

The bandages had been torn off, revealing all the injuries. Besides the gunshot wound on its leg, Feifan had many other wounds of various sizes, clearly from fighting with people.

Mu Ling looked at the medical cart that had been pushed into a corner. She pulled the cart over, sat on the edge of the bed, and beckoned to Feifan. “Come here, Feifan, let sister take a look.“

The white fox watched the monkey vigilantly, glaring and not allowing it to approach.

Mu Ling had no choice but to take off her bag, place it at the foot of the bed, and beckon to the baboon again. “Come.”