Super Zoo

Hearing this voice, Nangong Yan pursed her lips and flashed a smile at Suming, as if to say, "You really are a busy man. It's been less than a day since you returned, and there's already a steady stream of people at your door." Far from being impatient or unhappy, her smile reflected quite the opposite. Nangong Yan was, in fact, quite proud. This proved that her man was capable. Take this small town, for example. Be it Mr. Wu, the town chief before her, or the person outside, the real decision-maker was her own man. Wu, however, was taken aback. Standing up, he suggested to Suming in a negotiable tone, "How about I slip out the back door first? You can discuss the details with him. If you think it's feasible and can truly bring benefits to the town, I wouldn't mind giving up my position as the town chief to him." "Old Wu, we're not engaging in some underhand dealings; we're doing this for the good of the town. There's nothing shameful about that. Come out with me and take a look," Suming said with a chuckle, pulling Wu by the hand towards the door. "Sure." As soon as they stepped out of the front gate, they saw a large truck parked at the door, surrounded by a huge crowd of townspeople, with Sun Lijun standing on the truck's bed. There was a tarp covering something on the truck bed. Seeing Wu as well, Su Lijun hesitated slightly and both men offered each other a somewhat embarrassed chuckle as a way of greeting. Su Lijun addressed Suming, "Big brother, my boss knows you run a zoo and like animals, so he sent these especially for you." After saying that, Su Lijun quickly flung back the tarp on the truck bed. "Wow..." There were gasps of astonishment, even Suming's eyes widened. On the truck, there was a large iron cage. The cage was even bigger than those used to transport gorillas in the zoo. Inside was an animal about the size of an adult elk but much more muscular, resembling a calf in build, adorned with a pair of long pointed antlers and symmetrical white stripes on its cheeks, reminiscent of the warpaint on Native Americans... "An antelope?" someone in the crowd speculated. Suming frowned slightly and climbed onto the truck, intently observing the large creature from both sides. The two horns on its head, identical in size, shape, and angle, made it appear, from the side, to have only one horn like a unicorn. "Is this a Wuguang Ox?" Suming asked Sun Lijun uncertainly. It was a rarity indeed; even Suming had never seen a living one, only specimens. "Big brother really knows his stuff!" Su Lijun said, giving a thumbs up with a proud expression. "It is the Wuguang Ox, also known as the 'Asian Unicorn!'" With that description, it did bear a resemblance. The striped face of the Wuguang Ox looked majestic and mysterious, and its body was robust and strong, though it lacked scales. The Wuguang Ox, also known as the Asian Unicorn, was scientifically called the Zhongnan Megaloceros. Due to the curvature of its two horns appearing as one from the side, it was also referred to as 'Asian Unicorn,' a feature by which Suming had identified it. Although Huaxia had thousands of years of legends about the Qilin (a mythical hooved chimerical creature), the discovery of the Wuguang Ox by humans only dated back a few decades. The Wuguang Ox was first discovered in the Annan Mountains in 1992, and its discovery was considered one of the most astounding animal species discoveries of the 20th century. Suming shook his head with a smile. His boss's connections were indeed wild. With the Wuguang Ox's population being incredibly rare and facing extinction, the World Conservation Union had listed it as a critically endangered species. Its numbers were so low that even the World Conservation Union had been unable to accurately count them. There might be only about a hundred left in the world, maybe just dozens, or perhaps they were already extinct. The number of Asian unicorns had always been sparse, and with their discovery by humans over a decade ago, they were hunted to near extinction, once again becoming creatures of legend. Since their numbers were so low, and they were not a species unique to Huaxia, there were basically none within the borders of Huaxia, so the Wuguang Ox was not included in Huaxia's list of protected animals. It was much like how no country includes the phoenix, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, or wild Ultraman in their animal protection registries. The Wuguang Ox was originally lying in its cage, but upon seeing someone, it immediately struggled to stand up with difficulty, gazing solemnly at the crowd, full of imposing aura and seriousness, giving off the impression of a high-ranking leader inspecting something. "Cousin, where did you get this thing from?" Suming used his spiritual power to check and found that this Wuguang Ox was very healthy, and had no injuries, unlike one that might have been obtained through poaching. "Hey, let's talk about that later, take a look at these first." Su Lijun bent down and pulled off the remaining tarps. Aside from the large iron cage housing the Wuguang Ox, there were also four small cages on the truck, about the size of suitcases, each containing three or four of the same little creatures. The little creatures were covered with grey fluff, only the size of a fist, resembling little mice with long, thin, hairless tails, kangaroo-like hind legs, but they also had large, rabbit-like ears that could catch the wind and little pig snouts. There were over a dozen of them. Upon seeing humans, instead of running around in panic like mice, they were actually quite excited and hopped around in their cages. The cages were too short, and the creatures' jumping ability seemed impressive; they hit their heads every time they leaped, but that didn't dampen their enthusiasm for jumping. Sun Lijun took one of the little creatures out of the cage, its leg tied with a string, and put it on the truck. The creature was thrilled, squatting with its hind legs before springing up more than a meter high, nearly eye level with Suming. Thump, thump, thump... The little creature, as if it had springs attached to its feet like an acrobat, hopped around in front of Suming, with its large ears flapping along. The creatures in the cages, as if they had eaten popping candy, desperately followed suit, jumping nonstop and unable to calm down. "These are Long-eared Jerboas, right?" Suming wasn't sure at first, but after seeing their remarkable jumping ability, he was certain. These creatures were native to the deserts of Northwest Huaxia: they looked like rats resembling rabbits and had hind legs as developed as those of kangaroos. They were high jump experts in the animal kingdom, capable of leaping over ten times their own height. The most distinctive trait of the Long-eared Jerboa was its natural stupidity; it was foolishly unafraid of humans, similar to the silly roe deer of the Northeast which would freeze in place when seeing people. The Long-eared Jerboa, however, would excitedly jump around in one spot and would not think to run away, continuing to hop until it could hop no more. Thus, the Long-eared Jerboa was known as one of the most suitable pets for its cuteness... which was also the reason for its endangerment. Inhabiting the desert, the Jerboa had many natural predators: snakes, eagles, lizards, and even scorpions. Every aggressive carnivore was its predator, and apart from hopping, it had no ability to defend itself, and more fatally, it wouldn't run from any other creature. Catching it was very easy; humans just had to find the habitat of the Long-eared Jerboas, sit down and light up a cigarette, and many Jerboas would actively approach to hop around you... It's completely baffling how such a simpleton managed to survive on Earth. In fact, the number of Long-eared Jerboas is extremely sparse, making them one of the top ten endangered animals worldwide. Just like the Wuguang Ox, so far, it has not been included in our country's list of key protected animals. "My boss is an animal enthusiast; he has his own estate abroad, and these are all part of his private collection. Hearing that you like animals, he had them airlifted overnight as a gift for our first meeting," said Su Lijun with a smile.