Yang Lin never expected that his casual inquiry would actually result in a reward, and a substantial one at that - five hundred thousand yuan, which was almost equivalent to the zoo's weekly income.
More importantly, among the poachers he had caught by chance, there were two S-class fugitives and three A-class fugitives.
A-class fugitives were typically criminals who had committed serious crimes within the country, while S-class fugitives were wanted by at least two countries.
One could only imagine how extensive these poachers' criminal records were.
Thinking about this, Yang Lin couldn't help but marvel at the situation.
"These poachers probably never dreamed that after evading capture across several countries, they'd end up getting caught in a private zoo."
"But then again, that's what you get for messing with me."
As he was about to hail a taxi to leave, Lin Feng's familiar voice called out from behind him before he could fully exit the police station.
"Director Yang, please wait a moment."
Upon hearing Lin Feng's words, Yang Lin instinctively feared that one of his secrets had been exposed.
However, when he turned around, he saw Lin Feng holding an iron cage.
Peering through the gaps in the cage, he could see two house cat-sized animals lying motionless inside, their condition unclear.
Looking at these two little creatures, Yang Lin's face showed obvious confusion.
"Are they planning to withhold the reward and offer these two animals instead?"
"Director Yang, we found these two little ones among the animals left behind by the poaching gang."
"We're planning to transfer the other animals to the Forestry Department first thing tomorrow morning, but these two little ones seem to be in critical condition."
"We consulted our team's doctor, but they couldn't help. Since these are living creatures, I thought perhaps you could take care of them."
"Me, take care of them?" Yang Lin was stunned by Lin Feng's explanation.
He really hadn't expected this turn of events.
"Yes, judging by the animals in your zoo, you seem to be quite knowledgeable about animals, and since you've done such a good job with that big tiger, maybe you could save these little ones too."
"Of course, we won't blame you if you can't save them. Please, we're counting on you."
With these words, Lin Feng solemnly handed the cage to Yang Lin.
At this point, Yang Lin couldn't really refuse.
The moment he took the cage, two system notifications sounded in succession.
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully assisting the police in eliminating the poaching gang. Reward: 5 Talent Points and one Golden Talent Box."
"Ding! Temporary mission triggered: Please treat the two Pallas's cats in your possession within one hour."
"Mission completion reward: 2 Talent Points, Skill: Basic Sharing."
Hearing these two system notifications, Yang Lin was momentarily stunned.
The first notification was expected, given that the poaching gang had been completely eliminated.
But the second one caught him by surprise.
He hadn't expected that taking in two dying animals would trigger a temporary mission.
"So these little ones are Pallas's cats, no wonder they look like house cats."
"But with only an hour time limit from the system, I'd better hurry."
With this in mind, Yang Lin immediately called a ride-sharing service and returned to the zoo.
By now, it was already three in the morning, with dawn not far away.
Carrying the two barely breathing Pallas's cats, Yang Lin went straight to his workroom.
Opening the cage and laying the two little ones flat on the workbench, Yang Lin began examining their injuries.
However, after a thorough examination, he couldn't find anything definitive.
There were no obvious signs of either external or internal injuries.
Finally, Yang Lin came to a conclusion.
The two little ones had probably been traumatized by the earlier gunfight and were experiencing shock.
This was exactly like how domestic cats would react.
"Tsk tsk tsk, such tiny things, no wonder they became endangered species, turns out they're just too timid."
While commenting, Yang Lin cast a Light of Insight on the two little ones.
The next second, their talent information appeared before him.
[Hunting (Blue Talent) Requires 2 Talent Points to activate]
[Stealth (Green Talent) Requires 1 Talent Point to activate]
[Super Hearing (Gold Talent) Requires 5 Talent Points to activate]
[Cuteness (Green Talent) Requires 1 Talent Point to activate]
...
Looking at the few talent options before him, Yang Lin was somewhat surprised.
He had thought that since Pallas's cats were rare animals, their talents would at least be better than those dogs.
But reality proved him wrong - with just these few talents, they were clearly pushovers.
"Well, well, meeting you is fate, so I'll help you two out."
Looking at the two Pallas's cats that were barely breathing, Yang Lin chose their Cuteness talent.
He had no choice, as the other talents were either too expensive or not worth it.
He could only choose between Stealth and Cuteness.
Compared to the not-so-useful Stealth, he finally chose Cuteness.
As the Cuteness talent was activated for both little cats, a soft light flashed across their bodies.
The previously dying cats immediately regained consciousness.
Before Yang Lin could react, one of the little ones jumped right onto him.
Meow!
Just one soft cry was enough to make Yang Lin feel weak all over.
"Wow, how can anything be this cute!"
Seeing this, the other little one quickly exposed its belly to Yang Lin, its tiny front paws occasionally making grabbing motions in the air, while its abdomen produced engine-like purring sounds.
Combined with its round, chubby face, anyone would want to pet it.
Seeing this scene, Yang Lin couldn't resist anymore and started rubbing its chubby face.
Meow!
Accompanied by the two little ones' enchanting soft voices, Yang Lin was completely captivated.
It took quite a while before he finally managed to escape from the workroom.
He had no choice - the two little ones' Cuteness talent must have been maxed out.
Before this, he had been a firm dog person, but in just those few moments, he had converted to being a cat person.
Even though Pallas's cats aren't actually cats.
Seeing that it was getting late, Yang Lin had planned to catch up on some sleep, but then he remembered the rewards from the two tasks.
"Well, I might as well check the rewards before sleeping."
With this thought, he immediately opened the system space again.