Interstellar Zoo No. 1 - Chapter 30.2

Chapter 30.2

The Silver Snow Bear missed as it swiped at the tiny flying bug. Visibly annoyed, it bared its teeth and let out a “Ha!” directly at the bug.

The camera remained stationary, having reached its operational limit.

Seeing that the camera wouldn’t come any closer, the bear studied it for a moment, scratched its nose with its paw, then turned around and waddled away, its behind swaying as it moved.

Mu Ling was speechless.

How could she even describe her current state of mind?

In an instant, all her elaborate conspiracy theories seemed laughably absurd.

Who was she kidding? Why would anyone bother to assassinate her? It was just a playful bear cub being mischievous.

Mu Ling turned to look at Qingjiao beside her.

By now, both Qingjiao and the little wolf had awakened. The wolf pup paced back and forth on the seat, pressing its nose curiously against the window.

Qingjiao stretched its neck, inching closer to Mu Ling.

Mu Ling retrieved the camera and replayed the footage. Pointing at the screen, she asked Qingjiao, “Do you recognize it? Why does it seem so familiar to me?”

Qingjiao studied the screen, tilted its head, then looked at Mu Ling before leaning in to lick her hair.

Mu Ling let it continue as she thought. She quickly pulled up her digital notebook and searched through her files. Sure enough, she found the white bear’s photo and information in the retired war beasts registry.

“S-level retired war beast, Silver Snow Bear, Moonlight.”

Mu Ling turned to Qingjiao in shock. “It was Moonlight who nearly killed me back there?”

Qingjiao responded by licking her hair again, then moved to her ears. With her face now thoroughly wet, Mu Ling had to gently push it away. “Alright, alright, I get it! Let’s get moving.”

Mu Ling cast one final glance in the direction the Silver Snow Bear had disappeared, then restarted the engine. She reversed the car a short distance, maneuvered around the fallen tree, and continued forward along a different path.

Two hours later, Mu Ling safely reached the base of the mountain.

Lin Xuan was stocking shelves in the supermarket when she heard the car approach. Stepping outside, she watched as Mu Ling parked the off-road car in front of the veterinary station. As Mu Ling stepped out, she bent down to lift something from inside.

Upon closer inspection, Lin Xuan recognized it as the little wolf—the same one from the video.

Another figure emerged from the car: Qingjiao, magnificent in its gray fur, both powerful and graceful.

“Oh, the director’s back,” Wei Li said, emerging from the supermarket. He paused when he saw the director holding the wolf pup. “What’s wrong with the little one now?”

He started to approach, but Lin Xuan suddenly held him back, asking, “Brother Wei, besides Qilin, Lightning, Pimi, and Qingjiao, does the director have a connection with other animals on the mountain?”

Confused by her question, Wei Li considered for a moment before responding, “Quite a few, actually. The golden-haired rabbits, startled monkeys, long-tailed civets, twin-peaked deer, red-black foxes, and fire birds—when we go to feed them, they stay hidden. They only eat after we’ve gone. But with the director, they come right out and even interact with her.”

Lin Xuan’s gaze intensified. “What about the S-level war beasts ?”

“Huh?”

“Can the director approach other S-level war beasts too? Have you tested this?”

Wei Li stared at Lin Xuan, suddenly wary of her questioning. He studied her carefully. “Why are you asking about this?”

Lin Xuan hesitated, remaining silent.

“Brother Wei!” Mu Ling’s voice called out from a distance.

Wei Li quickly responded, “Coming!” He gave Lin Xuan one last questioning look before walking away.

After Wei Li left, Zhao Fang appeared silently behind Lin Xuan, moving to pick up a box of supplies nearby.

Lin Xuan met his gaze briefly, pressed her lips together, then turned back to continue stocking shelves.

Zhao Fang said nothing as he carried the supplies over to Li Yan. Li Yan, maintaining his characteristic smile, spoke softly, “Xiao Lin still can’t let go, can she?”

Zhao Fang’s expression remained stern. “Who could? I watched Black Feather die right before my eyes.”

“Black Feather” had been Zhao Fang’s S-level war beast. He had been present for its final breath.

Zhao Fang, typically stoic and cold, had wept for an entire week afterward. He had barely managed to pull himself together.

Li Yan gently patted Zhao Fang’s shoulder, glancing back at Lin Xuan who worked silently behind the shelves.

Li Yan understood Lin Xuan’s situation perfectly. Born into a military family, with parents and siblings all serving in the military she alone had chosen the Beast Tamer Army. Her family had warned her about its brutality—war beasts were far more fragile than human soldiers, and losing one was like losing half of yourself.

But Lin Xuan had been adamant. She’d insisted on joining the Beast Tamer Army. And now she was living with the consequences.

She not only lost half her life but also three fingers.

Despite her family’s comfortable financial situation, which meant she didn’t need to work, she’d still sought employment at Bi Ke Zoo. Li Yan could guess her motivation—she’d been drawn in by Director Mu’s videos. She wanted to know if there really was a way to heal war beasts with nerve damage.

Even though her own war beast could never be brought back to life, she stubbornly pursued the answer, that unresolved grief has become a chain around her heart.

Li Yan let out a soft sigh, shook his head, and returned to his work.

While the three new employees remained busy with their tasks, inside the veterinary station, Mu Ling was rebandaging the little wolf’s wounds while recounting her mountain encounter to Wei Li.

Wei Li was astounded. “You actually saw Moonlight? You ventured that deep into the mountains?”

In Wei Li’s experience, Moonlight inhabited an extremely remote and treacherous peak, rarely showing itself. During his two years at Bi Ke Zoo, he’d only seen it twice.

The first time was when it initially arrived, and the second was when it had just entered the mountains, still searching for territory. After establishing its domain, it had vanished from sight.

Mu Ling didn’t think she’d gone particularly far. “There was still a clear path where I was walking, so it couldn’t have been too remote. Moonlight came to me, actually.”

Wei Li frowned. “But why would it come out? It despises humans. A Silver Snow Bear’s sense of smell is two thousand times stronger than a human’s. It can detect human scent from kilometers away and usually flees. It won’t even touch the food we leave out. Brother Xiang says Moonlight catches fish from the mountain stream and forages for wild fruits and plants. It completely avoids any place humans have touched.”

Mu Ling was also confused. She said suspiciously, “Well, I saw it out in the open. It was pushing against a tree. Here, let me show you the video.”

She presented Wei Li with the evidence of Moonlight’s apparent ‘assassination attempt,’ pointing emphatically at the screen. “Look at that tree! It was enormous. I nearly didn’t make it back.”

Wei Li watched the footage, clearly recognizing Moonlight, and seemed equally confused. “This doesn’t make sense… Though I know why it swatted at the camera—it probably mistook it for a bee. It really hates bees.”

Mu Ling’s mouth twitched. “Bears don’t just hate bees without reason—unless they’ve been stealing honey.”

Wei Li fell silent.

He studied the fallen tree in the footage and clicked his tongue. “That tree is massive. Director, are you absolutely sure you’re alright?”

Mu Ling shook her head. “The tree missed me. Just gave me quite a fright.”

As they spoke, Qingjiao emerged from the treatment area. Mu Ling had given it water and canned food earlier, and it appeared to have finished eating.

Mu Ling continued cleaning the little wolf’s wounds, moving slowly due to its constant squirming.

“Wait a second,” Mu Ling suddenly straightened, struck by a thought. She turned to look at Qingjiao, who had approached her side, then leaned down to sniff it.

Qingjiao gave her a bewildered look.

Wei Li also stared at the director in confusion.

Mu Ling wrinkled her nose and asked, “Brother Wei, could you come smell this? Does Qingjiao have a strong odor? I spend so much time with Qilin, Lightning, and the others that I can’t tell anymore.”

Wei Li shifted uncomfortably. “But I… I don’t dare get too close to Qingjiao.”

He maintained a careful distance of at least two meters.

“Can you smell anything from there?” Mu Ling pressed.

Wei Li took a cautious sniff and responded hesitantly, “Well… yes, there is definitely a smell. Qingjiao’s quite dirty—it’s pretty pungent.”

Mu Ling’s eyes lit up with sudden understanding. “Didn’t you say a Silver Snow Bear’s sense of smell is two thousand times stronger than a human’s? When I was with Qingjiao, its scent must have masked mine! That’s why Moonlight didn’t run away. But then, why did it break the tree? I checked the crown—there wasn’t any honey up there, so it couldn’t have been trying to steal that…”

As they discussed this, Xiang Bie walked in.

Remembering that Brother Xiang was more familiar with Moonlight, Wei Li quickly explained the situation and showed him the video.

After watching the footage, Xiang Bie’s brow furrowed deeply, and he spoke solemnly, “It seems its condition has worsened.”

Wei Li and Mu Ling both looked surprised by his grave assessment.

Xiang Bie paused the video and zoomed in on a specific area of the bear’s back. “These black flecks are likely tree bark. It was probably using the tree trunk to scratch an intense itch, but it ended up using too much force and broke the tree.”

Xiang Ling turned to Mu Ling. “Moonlight arrived six months ago. When it got here, it was not only mentally unstable but also had a serious skin condition. We wanted to treat the skin issue before sending it back up the mountain, but as soon as we put it in an enclosure, it started fighting. It even damaged the cage and nearly hurt someone. In the end, we could only treat it for about two days before it became too uncooperative, and we had to release it. At that time, the skin condition had improved somewhat, but now it seems to have returned and worsened.”

To break a tree trunk like that, the bear must have been scratching itself raw.

Just then, a loud scratching sound erupted nearby.

Mu Ling, Xiang Bie, and Wei Li all turned to see Qingjiao, sitting next to Mu Ling, vigorously scratching its neck with its hind leg. The intense scratching had created a ring of fur around it, and some of the dander had even landed on Mu Ling’s pants.

Halfway through the scratching, Qingjiao noticed Mu Ling watching and paused, standing up and looking at her inquisitively.

Mu Ling addressed the two men in a somber tone, “Brother Xiang, Brother Wei, could you please boil some water? In twenty minutes, we’ll give Qingjiao a bath.”