Following everyone's gaze upward, they saw a massive bird bathed in golden sunlight diving down from the clouds in the crystal-clear blue sky.
Its majestic posture, enormous wingspan, and gleaming talons all proclaimed its status as ruler of the skies.
In the next moment, it dove straight toward the artificial lake at the center of the zoo.
Before anyone could react, its glinting talons plunged into the lake's surface.
In the blink of an eye, its rapidly descending form rose up in an almost supernatural manner, with a large red and white koi fish now clutched in its talons.
Seeing this scene, the zoo visitors immediately burst into cheers.
"Damn, that's so cool! What kind of bird is that? How did it get so huge?"
"Must be an eagle. With that presence, I wouldn't doubt it could carry me off too."
"Now that's the kind of pet a real man should have. No wonder ancient people loved keeping eagles."
"This eagle plus that huge husky at the entrance - that's just perfect."
"Being a zookeeper really is a romantic profession."
"But wait, it must have dove from at least several hundred meters up. How did it spot the fish in the artificial lake from that height?"
"Several hundred meters? That's nothing. Eagles generally have visual cells dozens of times more developed than humans. They can spot mice on the ground from thousands of meters up."
"Lucky I caught that dive on camera. You don't get to see something like this every day."
"True. I've seen eagles at other zoos before, but they always seemed listless. The animals at this zoo are really spirited."
"Spirited? More like neurotic. I just came from over there where a parrot spent half an hour insulting a visitor, and now it's making everyone call it 'daddy' when they pass by."
"You have a point. I'm not worried about these animals' physical health, but their mental state is questionable. They all seem a bit unhinged."
"I don't know, the zoo director seems pretty normal. Don't see how he could raise such crazy animals."
Just as this visitor finished speaking, a young man burst out from the crowd.
He shouted at the great bird in the sky:
"Li Shuangying, who said you could catch fish in there? Do you know who you just caught? That's one of our zoo's oldest employees!"
"Put them back down right now!"
Hearing the young man's words, the visitors exchanged bewildered looks.
While they could understand talking to dogs and cats, could an eagle really understand human speech?
At that moment, the great bird that had already flown up high seemed to actually understand human language, as it flew back down with the koi fish it hadn't yet had time to eat.
When it was only about ten meters above the ground, it flew straight toward Yang Lin under the astonished gazes of the visitors.
At this point, many visitors had already covered their eyes.
After all, in their view, such a raptor wasn't something an ordinary person could handle.
Those gleaming talons could tear bloody holes with one swipe.
However, in the next second, Yang Lin suddenly extended his right hand, and in an instant, a huge shadow loomed over his head.
The crowd felt a strong gust of wind, and suddenly there was an enormous creature perched on Yang Lin's right arm.
The sight of this massive golden-brown bird, with a body size comparable to a child's, immediately captured everyone's attention.
Compared to ordinary golden eagles, Li Shuangying, who had awakened special talents, far surpassed normal golden eagles in both appearance and intelligence, and was even larger in size, to the point where none of the onlookers could identify its species.
But one thing they could all agree on was that this bird was incredibly magnificent.
Seeing Li Shuangying standing docilely on Yang Lin's arm, the crowd eagerly asked:
"Director, is this bird also kept at your zoo? What kind of bird is it exactly? Is it an eagle?"
"Yeah, you seem really familiar with it. Actually, you seem familiar with all the animals in the zoo."
"Director, I want to ask, if someone wanted to keep a bird like this privately, how much would it cost- no, I mean, how many years would they get?"
Facing everyone's questions, Yang Lin threw the koi fish from Li Shuangying's talons back into the artificial lake while slowly explaining.
"Of course it's kept at our zoo. If I'd mistaken it for someone else's, I'd probably be dead by now."
"This large bird's scientific name is the golden eagle, belonging to the eagle family and genus of raptors."
"As for being familiar with all the animals, that's normal, isn't it? After all, I'm the one raising them."
"And to the friend who asked about keeping one - just having that thought is dangerous enough. In Dragon Country, it's a first-class protected species. You can figure out for yourself how many years you'd get - probably enough to rot in prison."
As soon as Yang Lin said this, the visitor immediately shut their mouth.
"Don't they say the stranger-looking ones get you shorter sentences, and the uglier ones get you longer? How come this beautiful bird gets such a long sentence?"
"Maybe it's because what we humans define as beautiful isn't what birds consider attractive. Like that silly bird over there, with all its flashy colors."
As they spoke, people noticed that the African Grey Parrot that had been cursing at visitors in the aviary had flown over at some point, fluttered its wings a few times, and landed on Yang Lin's left arm, clearly trying to compete for attention.
Seeing this, the visitors' faces lit up with delight.
"Wow! There's also a beautiful big parrot!"
"Beautiful? This guy could give you high blood pressure with its attitude."
"How does one person manage to raise two birds with completely opposite personalities - one dark and aloof, the other silly and chatty?"
"One bird on each arm - isn't the director literally dual-wielding?"
Just as visitors were taking out their phones to take photos and videos, Chen Kexin, dressed in her work uniform, suddenly ran up to Yang Lin.
"Cousin, cousin, there are people outside looking for you."
"How many times have I told you not to call me cousin while we're working? Use my title."
Yang Lin, who had been posing nicely, was suddenly interrupted by Chen Kexin and immediately put on a serious face.
However, Chen Kexin's next words made his expression change instantly.
"It's the police uncles looking for you, lots of police uncles, and reporters too. Did you break the law or something?"
As soon as Chen Kexin said this, not only was Yang Lin shocked, but the visitors also looked on with curiosity.