DSMC Chapter 97.2

When they stepped outside, the sky was gray and heavy, as if it were about to rain.

Right then, the system notified all players that it was off-duty time.

At this hour yesterday, he should have been on his way to the cafeteria. But he wasn’t very hungry now. Once the mission was done, he could leave the instance and go eat.

Now that transforming back into a cat no longer deducted popularity points, he could shift forms freely.

He remembered Dr. Peng had ordered the other animals to be sent to the treatment center. He needed to disguise himself first.

“Soy Sauce, can you smell where Orange and the others are?”

The black panther understood and led him toward the treatment center.

The night was dark and heavy. If one didn’t look carefully, it was hard to notice the panther’s shape. Yan Jiyun realized he preferred sticking to the shadows, just like him.

That was a very good habit.

The black panther quietly hid among the trees, slowly approaching the treatment center. Yan Jiyun was dressed as a doctor, and no NPCs questioned his identity along the way.

He didn’t know what mission the other players would face on the second night. On the road, he saw the keepers who had gone to bed early the previous night. Instead of returning to their dorms after dinner, they were patrolling the zoo with flashlights.

Yan Jiyun hid beside the black panther and let A-Qiang and A-Sen pass first. He overheard them muttering about changes in zoo management.

A-Sen: “Why are we suddenly required to patrol at night? What bad luck.”

A-Qiang: “Didn’t the supervisor say? Recently some zookeepers have been stealing animals at night to sell. We’re supposed to keep an eye out. Our zoo’s big and we’re short on staff.”

A-Sen: “But we haven’t really had animals stolen before, have we?”

A-Qiang: “The timid starve, the bold prosper. Before the animal riot, someone was stealing them. After that, fewer people came, and who knows how they died. Now that the riot’s been resolved, the thieves are back.”

A-Sen: “Mm-hmm.”

Yan Jiyun: “……”

He understood. Under normal circumstances, tonight the players would face a mission related to “zookeepers stealing animals.” They might even encounter thieves.

His first reaction upon seeing those two was that A-Sen and A-Qiang were suspicious since their screen time was a bit too frequent.

But he had a different mission now and had no time to worry about theft.

After the two keepers had gone a fair distance away, the man and the panther continued toward the treatment center.

Yan Jiyun’s Human FOrm Time Card was limited. As long as he wasn’t chased by NPCs or exposed, he could remain in human form to complete the task.

Soon, the treatment center came into view.

Both he and the black panther heard the sound of animals crashing against cages.

Dr. Peng likely believed Dr. Zhou would have no reinforcements. Or perhaps he thought the animals were all large and difficult to move, so he hadn’t changed their location. Whether it was carelessness or deliberate, Yan Jiyun preferred to think Dr. Peng had grown overconfident.

If there weren’t many guards, it would be easier to act.

Step by step, Yan Jiyun and the black panther approached the pavilion where Orange was being held. With their keen senses of smell, they accurately located the window.

Dr. Peng hadn’t become completely reckless. The animals, including Orange and several other large ones, were locked inside a pavilion no longer used for exhibitions. Inside were rows of cages. Guards stood both inside and outside, and several zookeepers were preparing food for the animals.

All of Dr. Peng’s information had come from Professor Fang. Aside from the parrot Xixi and the black panther, most of them were there.

How to rescue all the animals was a difficult problem.

The zookeepers and security guards inside weren’t fools. They knew Dr. Peng wanted them here to guard the animals.

And not only them. Yan Jiyun had barely crouched there for half a minute when another group in white lab coats arrived, all carrying medical kits. They were going to draw blood from the animals.

Didn’t they already draw blood yesterday? Why were they doing it again?

Compared to Dr. Zhou, who conducted experiments to bring his brother back to life, Dr. Peng was the one truly using animals for experimentation. Their motivations were completely different.

Dr. Zhou did it for family. He wanted to stay low-key, without fame or profit. Dr. Peng, on the other hand, would do anything for fame and recognition. The contrast couldn’t be clearer.

Of course, what Dr. Zhou did still counted as human and animal experimentation, something highly controversial.

For now, Yan Jiyun held back. He decided to wait until the zookeepers relaxed before releasing Orange and the others. What he needed first was a vehicle. Once he freed them, there would be too many animals, so it would attract too much attention. And tonight there was no “animal riot” event in the instance. If he led a group of large animals out, it would basically paint a target on himself and announce to Dr. Peng’s people exactly what he was doing.

Where could he find a vehicle?

Yan Jiyun tried asking the black panther, “Do you know where there’s a vehicle big enough to hold this many animals?” The panther didn’t fully understand, so he pointed toward the small truck parked at the entrance. “A big one like that.”

The black panther, who had been crouched by the window like him, turned and headed toward the treatment center.

Yan Jiyun remembered there was a parking lot nearby. “I get it. The parking lot, right?”

The panther swished his tail in affirmation.

His human consciousness really wasn’t low. On a scale of 1 to 10, it was probably a 6. It knew what a vehicle was.

Yan Jiyun felt the panther’s human awareness had grown stronger compared to the first day. The black panther’s behavior patterns were becoming more like his.

Could it be awakening because of his presence? Or was it learning from him?

There was no time to analyze that now. First, he had to find a vehicle.

Dr. Zhou’s vehicles were reserved for transporting the patients, that is, the animals’ original human bodies. He needed a truck to transport Orange, the black panther, and the others. Once the two vehicle groups met up, they could smoothly escort everyone out of the zoo.

The parking lot was about 500 meters from the treatment center. The black panther could probably cover that distance in a few leaps, but Yan Jiyun would have to run. He took off his white coat and hid it behind the pavilion, planning to retrieve it after driving the truck back.

They hadn’t reached the parking lot when they heard the two zookeepers from earlier shouting as they ran back from another direction.

“Didn’t they say the riot problem was solved? Why is there still a big white tiger?!”

“How should I know? You must’ve had bad intentions trying to catch that parrot and scared off its toy!”

“I was just trying to send the parrot back to its exhibit! How was I supposed to know it would jump out?!”

Yan Jiyun and the black panther quickly hid in the bushes. A large white tiger lunged at the two keepers, with a cursing parrot trailing behind.

“Idiot! Idiot! Anyone who catches me is a big idiot!”

“Get lost!”

“I’ll kill you!”

That familiar build and slightly goofy appearance. It was clearly the white tiger player. Those who knew would say he was probably excited after getting off work; those who didn’t might think his mania had relapsed.

The macaw behind him was familiar too. The way he cursed was impressively fluent. No wonder Xixi was an esport genius; his trash talk skills were top-tier.

Yan Jiyun knew the white tiger was a player. It was currently his free mission time. Should he bring him along?

The two zookeepers ran off like sprinters and quickly disappeared. The white tiger player had clearly mastered feline tracking over the past two days and lunged toward Yan Jiyun and the black panther.

The black panther almost bit back but was stopped by Yan Jiyun. The white tiger merely flattened a small sapling beside them to the point of incurring a fine.

Pretending to know nothing, Yan Jiyun scolded, “Baiyun, go back to your exhibit! Why are you running around? Don’t scare people!”

Even as he said that, he was already sprinting toward the parking lot.

The white tiger and the macaw, confused, followed behind them.

Xixi landed directly on Yan Jiyun’s shoulder, gripping tightly with its large claws. Thankfully, his work uniform was high quality. The claws didn’t tear through.

Meng Changsheng was startled when he saw the black panther. So it had a good relationship with the zookeeper too? Did every animal have to compete with it for attention?

Where were they going?

Yan Jiyun quickly spotted a large truck in the parking lot. It was practically tailor-made for his mission.

Turning his back to the white tiger, he pretended to pull out keys from his pocket, but it was actually a prop. With a click, the truck unlocked. The prop gun really was useful, ah! It even doubled as a car key.

The black panther nimbly leapt from the driver’s seat to the passenger seat. Xixi perched on the back of the seat, still chattering nonstop.

“Charge!”

“Flash!”

“Open fire!”

Yan Jiyun suspected Xixi had carried over some game memories into reality, mixing the two up. Definitely a gaming addict.

He precisely grabbed Xixi’s beak. “That’s enough. Quiet.”

He figured the macaw understood. When he let go, Xixi covered itself with its wings. “Ya.”

Yan Jiyun almost burst out laughing as he started the engine.

The white tiger player hovered in front of the truck, unsure whether to get in. He had no idea what the keeper and the black panther were planning.

Seeing his big, clueless tiger face, Yan Jiyun called out, “What are you doing? Get in!”

Meng Changsheng glanced at the front seat. There was no space for him, so he jumped into the back compartment instead. To avoid being seen, he lay down.

Only after the truck started moving did he realize something was wrong.

He had just received the task “Find the one stealing animals from the zoo.” Could Jiang You actually be the zookeeper stealing animals?

He was doomed. Hadn’t they even stolen him yet? He’d jumped in voluntarily. Should he jump out now?

While Meng Changsheng’s mind was in chaos, the truck stopped.

He heard the keeper in the driver’s seat whisper, “Soy Sauce, Xixi, Baiyun, you’re not allowed to make a sound. Stay in the truck. If I need your help, I’ll whistle. Play it by ear.”

Before Meng Changsheng could sort out his thoughts, he quietly nodded his big tiger head. Deep down, he trusted the zookeeper. Based on his many years of reliable intuition, the zookeeper was probably doing something big but not something bad.

Since he had received a mission from the zookeeper yesterday, Meng Changsheng had never once doubted Yan Jiyun’s NPC identity.

Meanwhile, Yan Jiyun listened to the sounds inside the pavilion. During the time he had gone to get the truck, the doctors who came to draw blood hadn’t left. They seemed to be discussing how to draw blood from the tiger and the others.

He got out of the truck, retrieved the hidden white coat and mask from behind the pavilion window, and hung the work badge he had taken from Dr. Zhou around his neck.

Standing at the pavilion entrance, he took a deep breath and walked in naturally. The NPC guards weren’t very strict; he blended in without trouble.

At that moment, the zookeepers were trying to hold down the struggling Orange to draw blood. It seemed they couldn’t use anesthetics and were at a loss.

Yan Jiyun stepped forward. “Hello, Dr. Peng asked me to help with the blood draw.”

None of the doctors doubted him. And as soon as he approached, the tiger struggled less.

One of the troubled doctors said, “Great! We were just worrying we couldn’t hold it down.”

Yan Jiyun took the initiative. “I used to handle Orange’s physical exams. He’s not afraid of me. Please step away from the cage.”

They backed off, giving him space.

The cage was large enough to fit several adults. Orange looked at him warily. Yan Jiyun crouched down and extended his hand.

Slowly moving closer, he whispered near Orange’s ear, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to rescue you. Cooperate with me later.”

Seeing no reaction, he added another form of address softly, “President Gu?”

The once-President Gu’s tiger body stiffened slightly.

“……”

T/N: Once a domineering CEO, President Gu is now akin to an overgrown, orange tabby cat…