Chapter 127

After seeing off the director of West Mountain Zoo, Ling Yue's smile vanished instantly; looking at his pot-bellied back, she gave a cold snort.

Nearby, the keeper who had just returned couldn't help but tense up; Ling Yue glanced at them and said, "Why didn't you ask me?"

The keeper Yuan Yuan said with a firm expression, "Anyone who can make the director show this expression is definitely not a good person!"

Ling Yue almost burst out laughing hearing that; they were so certain without asking anything, but the fact was indeed correct.

She said, "The mastermind behind the troublemakers earlier is the director of West Mountain Zoo."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Yuan, who had been Ling Yue's little fan, froze: "It's him? Then him inviting you isn't exactly having good intentions, is it?!"

Ling Yue nodded: "No problem, I'll counter their moves; they're in the light, I'm in the dark."

Ling Yue said, suddenly recalling the earlier matter, her eyes flickering: "How is the sea eagle?"

Upon mentioning this, Yuan Yuan's face flushed with excitement: "It should really like our setup; once inside, it started frolicking."

Ling Yue: "Good, I'll arrange it properly from now on."

Having come this far, Ling Yue ate her meal in the canteen; by then it was afternoon, she didn't leave but stayed, gathering the animals together, so some visitors would notice some animals missing.

Visitors called over staff: "What's going on? Where's the little monkey that used to ride the goat?"

Staff laughed: "It went to rest; you should be able to see it tomorrow."

Visitors joked: "Good grief, do you guys work in shifts here?"

Staff couldn't help laughing.

Ling Yue was unaware of what was happening here; on the lawn she had specially cleared in the zoo, small animals formed circles around her, everyone sitting on the ground.

Herbivores and carnivores kept to themselves, both sides quietly gazing at Ling Yue, their gentleness almost dripping from their eyes.

Ling Yue began telling animal fairy tales; the small animals found it a bit hard to follow, but the large ones were just right.

Meanwhile, her melting halo kept taking effect; such a tranquil atmosphere lasted until the soft sunset fell, the sea eagle already dozing off to sleep, the monkey Full gazing at the sleeping goat, a flicker of envy crossing its eyes.

It had long known that its good friend, though dull-witted in daily life, had an exceptionally strong mentality, whereas it itself was clever yet fragile, sensitive and suspicious.

Its big round eyes looked at Ling Yue; even without speaking, the gentle breeze made them intoxicated.

Ling Yue agreed with them to come again later; she rubbed the little head of the monkey Full, thinking of a solution in her mind.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she looked at the animals that couldn't sleep.

Elsewhere, West Mountain Zoo.

The Ocean Hall underwent a thorough inside-and-out renovation; during this period many strangers came, the dolphin's smile in the blue pool watched the coming and going humans, its big eyes devoid of any sparkle.

It anxiously slapped its tail fin, the pool water splashing; the keeper Ling Ling wore a cold face—though she usually fawned over the director, toward anyone other than the director she always acted haughty and arrogant.

As for the dolphin's smile—

She didn't dare approach, but coldly eyed this troublemaker; when no one was around, she looked at the dolphin's smile and said, "What depression? Just a spoiled rich person's illness, fed and pampered every day, yet playing at suicide?"

"After today, you can die however you want tomorrow!"

"Trash!"

The dolphin's smile floated on the surface, thoroughly enraged by her, even gradually turning into hatred; although it had always been utterly affectionate toward humans, it now actually wanted to harm humans.

Ling Ling looked at the dying dolphin, approaching triumphantly: "Worthless dolphin! Remember to die cleanly!"

She thought the dolphin couldn't understand human speech, and unleashed a torrent of abuse without restraint, the sound echoing in the pool like immersive 360-degree surround sound.

The motionless dolphin suddenly launched a swift attack!

Its tail slapped the water, a flick and a fling, splashing the icy cold pool water all over Ling Ling; in an instant, she was drenched head to toe!

"Ahhh!!!" Ling Ling screamed, stumbling backward.

Such a high decibel was unbearably shrill for the dolphin; it silently dove into the water and withdrew.

After venting, the dolphin's smile gazed at the blue tiles; its happy mood lasted only a brief moment—it was going crazy, it would go crazy if this continued.

The next day, the sun shone brightly, the weather was pleasant.

Ling Yue drove to West Mountain Zoo; just stepping into the grounds, she furrowed her brows tightly: "These…… are their zoo's animals?"

From afar, she heard those listless murmurs; the animals lay limp in their cages or enclosures, not to boast, they completely lacked the vigor of her zoo's animals.

"Hey, beautiful!"

Ling Yue turned her head, seeing the Leopard Hall next door; the handsome leopard was probably one of the few lively animals in the hall, its thick chocolate-colored paw pads pressed against the glass wall, adorable enough to make one unable to look away.

With a roguish tone, Ling Yue realized this was a bachelor leopard—…… a bit thin.

She found that most of the zoo's animals were a size smaller than normal; if not examined closely, one wouldn't notice, but randomly bringing over her zoo's animals for comparison, it was clear this size barely scraped the passing line.

The zoo director beside her, seeing her gaze at the leopard enclosure, immediately chuckled: "What do you think, Director Ling? These animals are our zoo's treasures."

Ling Yue: "……"

To be honest, not great.

Their zoo's animals could easily take on five opponents at random; partly because Ling Yue arrived too early, it just happened to be feeding time for the animals.

When the animal keepers appeared with buckets of food, it was the animals who were surprised.

The neighboring tiger poked its head out, seeing the trough full of meat, it instantly began to feast, saying while eating, "What's going on? Today's food is fantastic—enough to cover my meals for the past two or three days!"

"Who knows?" the neighboring brown bear mumbled while eating bitterly, "Having something to eat is already good."

No matter where, the most talkative monkey Precious chirped: "I know, I know—because someone else came today, that old fogey of a director is best at putting on a facade to deceive people!"

Even the leopard, mouth full of oil, said: "Mmm, that old fogey is the most hateful!"

"Yeah." A clear female voice rang out, causing them to unconsciously lift their heads and look over, directly meeting Ling Yue's gaze, as if they had seen a monster.

Or are they incredibly bold humans?

"It's Ling Yue! The human who can understand animal sounds!"

Surprisingly, an animal had guessed her identity; Ling Yue followed the sound and saw an old monkey chattering away—that was Zhenzhen—and her eyes twitched slightly.

The other animals were even more shocked; after reacting, they quickly accepted the fact, and instead began to complain bitterly to Ling Yue.

They were simply too miserable!

Many animals looked at the zoo director with resentment, howling as they told Ling Yue what they knew.

The zoo director beside them suddenly felt his heart skip, intuiting that something was wrong, but by then Ling Yue had already connected with the animals; after learning the director's little secret, she raised an eyebrow.

The zoo director felt his scalp go numb and his flesh creep under his stare.

He instinctively warned: "Director Ling, we should hurry to find Dolphin Smile; I'm worried about its condition."

Ling Yue frowned and said: "Alright, let's go quickly."

The zoo director beamed, leading the way straight to the aquarium; Ling Yue froze at the sight of the interior décor.

Because the layout and setup here were almost exactly the same as they had been over ten years ago, the only difference likely being——

Ling Yue gazed darkly at the flamboyantly dressed animal keeper—this person.

Although Ling Ling had received the news and tried to dress plainly and sincerely, she was hardly that sort of person; her ostentatiousness was seen through at a glance by Ling Yue.

Her nails were freshly done, pretty and sparkling, but utterly impractical for an animal keeper; besides that, it was her showy eyes.

Seeing Ling Yue arrive, keeper Ling Ling rushed over: "Master, you've finally come!"

"I've been waiting and hoping, finally got you here—quick, come save Dolphin Smile!"

Ling Yue clenched her lips tightly, really not knowing whether her acting was actually flamboyant; but she had no intention of exposing it, saying: "If that's the case, then let me first take a look at it."

Dolphin Smile lived in a cramped pool; decades had passed and nothing changed—the dolphin soaked in a pool scrubbed blue, the strong smell intensely irritating.

The gray‑blue dolphin was strikingly beautiful, yet the dense despair it exuded made Ling Yue blink and blurt out: "Smile, why don't you want to live?"

Smile lifted its head; that gaze made Ling Yue's heart clench—the dolphin's empty eyes held no emotion, despair at its peak, and the whole creature went still: "Are you Ling Yue?"

Ling Yue still doesn't know how they came to know her, but that isn't the point.

Ling Yue gazed gently at Dolphin Smile, then suddenly produced a small colored ball with colored tassels; the instant the dolphin saw it, its eyes flared with intense light.

That was its favorite thing.

The previous keeper trained Dolphin Smile using this as a reward; even after many years, Ling Yue could still clearly recall that the dolphin would make a happy "ying ying ying" sound.

But now——

Ling Yue's moe aura still had some effect; Dolphin Smile calmed down and recalled its happiest days: "I haven't always been in the aquarium; I have childhood memories of swimming in the sea with my mother, who said I was its little princess. I migrated with it, traveling across the ocean—the sea is truly vast, vast, full of beautiful fish and also ugly, strangely shaped fish……"

From its chattering account, Ling Yue learned Dolphin Smile's story, only to sadly discover that the dolphin had been captured from the sea by humans.

That is, it had been separated from its parents since it was young.

It went on and on, reaching the present: from the novelty of first seeing two‑legged beasts to now being utterly weary of them!

"I want to go home, so I've complied with them and begun learning those skills."

It said this, then suddenly made a neat leap, displaying a trick‑like maneuver so perfectly beautiful it was unbelievable; everyone almost lost their voice watching it.

Only keeper Ling Ling shot a disgusted glance, thinking, "Good grief, it was half‑dead before, but now that someone else shows up it's all energetic—does it look down on me?!"

No one noticed her resentment; Ling Yue's gaze fell on Dolphin Smile as it spoke: "But I've performed for many, many years, I'm about to die, and I have no chance to return to the sea—I want to go home!"

"Humans lied to me! They lied to me!"

It suddenly flared its tail, slapping it with a crack‑crack‑crack that was deafening, sending spray that shocked everyone.

"Run, it's going berserk!"

Ling Yue heard the others' voices; Ling Ling was the first to react, bolting for the exit, while Ling Yue, amid the storm, remained motionless.

She stared at it, her black eyes shining astonishingly.

Just as Ling Yue was about to speak, the system's mechanical voice chimed: "Fulfill Dolphin Smile's wish, reward: supreme perception."

Accept or refuse?

Ling Yue blinked; dolphins have a special ability to sense objects in water via electromagnetic waves—once someone trained a pod of dolphins to retrieve torpedoes and the like underwater.

She clicked accept; even without a mission, she would help Dolphin Smile.

Ling Yue opened Dolphin Smile's exclusive panel.

【Name: Bottlenose Dolphin】

【Gender: Female】

【Age: Eighteen】

【Temperament: Gentle】

【Skills: Super Speed, Electromagnetic Perception】

【Wish: Return to the Sea】

The West Mountain Zoo Director nervously approached Ling Yue: "Director Ling, have you found Dolphin Smile's ailment? All our zoo's hopes rest on you."

Ling Yue gave him a deep look: 'It's depression.'',,.