Chapter 2616: Fantastic Beasts in the Zoo 23

Xiao Bai Lion carefully sniffed his scent, "What were you busy with just now?"

Bai Rindong hugged him and walked to the hanging swing chair, sitting down.

The swing swayed gently, he held the warm little lion in his arms, and answered softly: "I went to a meeting with several animal keeper team leaders to discuss the reopening of the park."

"We plan to, in two days, first limit the flow and receive visitors who made advance reservations on a small scale, as a trial operation."

Xiao Bai Lion let out a low whine, not surprised by this arrangement.

The sun was somewhat scorching; he burrowed into Bai Rindong's embrace, using his collar to block the light, only exposing a pair of fluffy ear tips.

Jin Chen continued asking, "Anything else? You smell of another animal."

Bai Rindong blinked slightly, not expecting the little guy's nose to be so sharp that he could still smell it even after taking off his coat.

However, each time this zoo director is asked this question, why does he feel an inexplicable sense of guilt?

Bai Rindong smiled and explained, "Our zoo still has two giraffes; Bao Bao, do you remember? They live in the highest enclosure."

"That male giraffe has seemed a bit unwell these past two days, refusing any food; I and Doctor Su just went over to check the situation."

Jin Chen recalled briefly.

To him, who is still in his juvenile lion form, the giraffe is nothing short of a towering behemoth that requires looking up.

Moreover, the giraffe enclosure is situated on higher ground, with a certain distance from other animal activity zones; previously, he indeed had not closely approached to observe.

Hearing Bai Rindong say that, Jin Chen felt a slight stir in his heart.

Given the current situation, the more information about awakening spiritual intelligence of monsters he can come into contact with, the more advantageous it is for him to find the root and method of suppressing Monster Power.

Could this suddenly unwell giraffe, like Hu Cai Cai and Gray Blade, also be experiencing a problem with Monster Power?

He silently kept this matter in mind.

After lingering a while longer on the swing with Bai Rindong, seeing Bai Rindong called away by phone to busy himself with pre-opening preparations, Jin Chen decided to go check things out.

Xiao Bai Lion found Hu Gu, lazily basking in the sun near the Fox Enclosure, and let out a few low growls.

"Come with me, there's a mission."

Hu Gu shook himself awake, sprang up nimbly, and loyally followed behind the little boss.

Next, Jin Chen raised his head again and emitted a few low, summoning-sounding roars toward a large tree not far away.

Soon, a flapping sound rang out, and the fearless-of-chaos Gold Parrot Dage descended.

Dage habitually tried to perch on Hu Gu's forehead, but Hu Gu impatiently flicked his head to dodge, after which Dage grudgingly landed on a low nearby branch, tilting his head to look at Xiao Bai Lion.

"Kek? Boss! Looking for Dage, what's up?"

Xiao Bai Lion squatted down, having Dage secretly investigate a secret.

Hu Gu listened and said, "Boss, Dage can't keep a secret; that mouth of his might blab it to the whole zoo in an instant."

Xiao Bai Lion flicked his tail, his golden pupils glancing at Dage, "Keep the secret and you get extra meals—eight servings."

"【Coaxing it is like coaxing you.】 Jin Chen said."

"【?】"

Ling Gun Gun hung from its tail, the steamed bun bouncing, 【Pixiu Adult refuses to engage in petty squabbles!】

Dage's tiny mung-bean-sized eyes lit up, flapping his wings, "Ga! Pleasant cooperation! Dage keeps his mouth shut, won't blab!"

Hu Gu looked at Dage's food‑eager expression, suddenly realized, and his thick long tail unconsciously thumped the ground.

"Oh! Now I get it!"

It learned again!

This is the boss's 'Lion-incident'! The boss is indeed formidable!

The giraffe enclosure is built in the higher‑area of the zoo, with fences and the enclosure designed exceptionally tall to facilitate movement.

Hu Gu carried Xiao Bai Lion to the enclosure's perimeter; the tiger and lion simultaneously raised their heads to barely see the edge of the giraffe enclosure's second‑level viewing platform.

"What a big fellow." Hu Gu gazed at the height requiring looking up, unable to help but sigh.

"But it seems it has never actively communicated with us," Hu Gu cautiously lowered his head, letting Xiao Bai Lion jump down from his head, then straightened his body, restoring the king of beasts' dignified aura, and emitted a low, penetrating tiger roar toward the interior as a greeting.

Xiao Bai Lion tilted his head up until his neck ached.

He signaled Hu Gu to follow, and found the external stairs leading to the staff observation platform on the second floor of the enclosure.

For Jin Chen and Hu Gu, who are far from ordinary animals, this height is nothing.

On the platform there is a convenient feeding and observation window; inside is precisely the giraffe's indoor activity area.

An adult male giraffe slowly chewed the fresh leaves hanging on the rack, his expression looking somewhat listless, lacking vigor.

As he chewed, his long‑lashed, large deer eyes casually glanced and suddenly spotted, beside the branch outside the window on the platform, a tiger and a lion appearing out of nowhere.

Giraffe: '!!!'

Its chewing motion stalled; its deer eyes widened and blinked several times, dazedly turning its head, gaze sweeping past the window to the keeper pushing a feed cart along the road below the enclosure.

"Doesn't it care at all!"

"The lion and tiger have broken out and climbed to the second‑floor platform!"

"Wait……"

The giraffe suddenly recalled what the pigeons that like to chatter on top of each enclosure this month had mentioned during their idle chatter.

"This little lion couldn't be the zoo director's darling, the new boss of the animals lately, could it?"

"They've even been collecting protection money and bringing it to it!"

The giraffe was instantly torn.

Giraffe: '……I am a law‑abiding citizen.'

Jin Chen, who hadn't even started questioning: '?'

He turned his head and exchanged a glance with Hu Gu beside him, 'Is it talking in its sleep?'

Hu Gu shook its big head.

Recently it often went to the gray wolf and the purple marten's place to catch up on lessons, knowing well that to stay in the boss's good graces and get more of that comfortable power, it had to proactively help the boss share worries and solve problems.

It immediately let out another low growl toward the window, urging, "Deer! Speak properly! The boss is asking you!"

This tiger's roar carried the majesty of the king of beasts, and its breath burst out.

It almost blew the Xiao Bai Lion perched on the window sill off.

The giraffe shuddered!

Sure enough, that's what it thought—the new boss had come for an inspection!

It immediately straightened its attitude.

Jin Chen always felt their communication channel was a bit off.

He forcibly pulled the topic back, resting his two forepaws on the windowsill and straining to peek inside with his little head, "Do you have your own name? Can you communicate like we do?"

The giraffe thought for a moment, turned its head and took another bite of leaves to calm its surprise; its answer came out slow and languid, the typical mildness of a herbivore.

"Lin Zi Gao."

Xiao Bai Yu and Hu Gu: "?"

That name sounds quite cultured.

Jin Chen: "Did your keeper give you such a human-sounding name?"

Giraffe: "No, I chose it myself; the keeper's pick…… was called Gao Gao or Dian Dian, I forgot."

Hu Gu grew more curious, bringing its big head close to the window: "Why are you called Lin Zi Gao?"

Upon mentioning the origin of that name, the giraffe perked up, excitedly bending its long neck.

"I hope the forests all over the world grow tall and tall, so I can always eat the freshest treetop tender leaves! Hehehe!"

Little Lion and Tiger: "We disagree."

If the forests grew that tall, would other animals still be able to survive?

Jin Chen thought this was as wicked as planting cilantro everywhere, and of course this represented only his own lion's opinion.

The giraffe's laughter cut off abruptly, a bit aggrieved: "Hehe... huh."

Jin Chen steered the topic back on track, asking why it had never before communicated with other sentient animals.