Without a doubt, as the chimpanzee Li Wei successfully crafted a stone axe, its popularity in the zoo reached new heights.
At this moment, the entrance to the chimpanzee enclosure was completely surrounded by visitors who had come after hearing about it.
All available recording equipment had been set up early, with many being professional gear worth tens of thousands of dollars - clearly belonging to online news channels looking for content.
"Actually, I was just visiting by chance and found this chimpanzee interesting, so I casually filmed this video. I never expected to capture it making an axe, and I definitely didn't think the video would go viral."
"Oh my god, it breaks my heart if anyone doesn't know about this treasure of a chimpanzee. I'm completely in love with it!"
"I can't allow anyone to not know about this viral attraction where you can spend a whole day for just 50 yuan..."
Hearing these content creators' cringe-worthy lines, Yang Lin could only roll his eyes in exasperation.
Of course, he didn't stop them - after all, it was free publicity.
Even though all their followers combined probably didn't match his own following.
Looking at the sea of visitors before him, Yang Lin could envision his bright future.
However, at that very moment, an unexpected piece of news caught him off guard.
"What? The city zoo's transport vehicle overturned on the road and all the animals escaped?"
In the administrator's office, as Lin Feng's voice came through the phone, Yang Lin was stunned.
But after thinking about it, he relaxed a bit.
Animals escaping from zoos wasn't particularly rare; every year, a few freedom-seeking creatures would break out of their cages for a stroll outside.
Things like wild boars, monkeys, ostriches.
Since these animals escaped during transport, Yang Lin found it even more understandable.
Until Lin Feng delivered his next piece of information.
"Because it was a chain collision, it wasn't just one transport vehicle that overturned, but three."
"Currently, nine animals have escaped, one ostrich has already been cornered on an elevated road, leaving eight still at large."
"They are: one wild African elephant, one adult male African lion, one Akhal-Teke horse, two jaguars, two Bengal tigers, and one white rhinoceros."
Hearing the numbers and names Lin Feng listed, Yang Lin was dumbfounded.
Without exaggeration, any single one of these animals was beyond his financial means to acquire.
Forget about their monetary value - in terms of rarity, probably only his Siberian tiger was in the same league as these animals.
And except for the Akhal-Teke horse, all the others were extremely dangerous creatures.
One could only imagine what might happen if these animals went on a rampage through the streets of Ningnan City.
But what puzzled him more was why the city zoo was suddenly transporting so many rare animals.
To satisfy his curiosity, he immediately asked.
On the other end of the phone, Lin Feng gave a bitter laugh.
"Actually, this has something to do with you."
"With me?"
"Of course. Recently, West Rainbow Zoo suddenly became incredibly popular, causing the city zoo's visitor numbers to plummet. If this continues, the city zoo might go bankrupt because of you guys."
"To restore visitor numbers, they borrowed these precious animals from various other zoos."
"I heard they were planning to organize a major animal-themed event."
"Oh..." After hearing Lin Feng's explanation, Yang Lin was at a loss for words.
"Regardless, this is a very serious incident. None of us can predict what harm these out-of-control wild animals might cause to citizens."
"Following orders from above, both criminal police and armed police have been mobilized."
"However, given how rare these animals are, we won't choose to shoot them unless absolutely necessary, which is why I immediately thought of you as an animal expert."
At this point, Lin Feng finally revealed his intention.
Before Yang Lin could consider how to answer this question, a system prompt sound rang out first.
"Ding! Emergency mission issued."
"Please help Ningnan City Zoo find and successfully capture 9 escaped wild animals in the shortest possible time."
"For each wild animal successfully captured, reward: one talent point and one talent box fragment."
"If all are captured, you will receive one talent upgrade voucher."
Hearing the system prompt in his mind, Yang Lin wasn't too surprised.
But the rewards offered by the system truly shocked him.
One talent point per animal, nine animals meant nine points, plus the talent box fragments and talent upgrade voucher - two items that had never appeared before.
With such generous rewards, Yang Lin could hardly resist. He immediately responded righteously:
"Captain Lin, you don't need to say more. Even if you hadn't asked for my help, I would have volunteered."
On the other end, hearing his response, Lin Feng excitedly said:
"Excellent! I knew Zoo Director Yang would help me with this."
"Wait a moment, I'll send someone to pick you up right away."
With that, he hung up the phone.
After the call ended, Yang Lin realized something was off.
"Wait a minute, the ostrich has already been caught, so there should be 8 animals still at large, why did the system say 9?"
"Could it be..."
Instantly, an unsettling thought occurred to him.
Without a doubt, either the city zoo had miscounted, or the escaped animal was so inconspicuous that no one had noticed it.
"I hope it's not something too fierce."
While praying, Yang Lin began making preparations.
After all, this was his first time dealing with wild animals outside, and they were all top-tier predators at that.
Even though he had the ability to communicate with animals, what if they were too temperamental to talk?
After ten minutes, Yang Lin, dressed in outdoor survival gear, walked out of the wolf enclosure leading several members of his canine team.
Above his head, a golden eagle circled continuously.
If he hadn't been worried about being too conspicuous, he would have brought Li Hua along too.
Even so, Yang Lin's appearance still attracted considerable attention from visitors.
"Director, where are you going? You look like you're heading out for a hunt."
"Yeah, you look super cool leading these big guys!"
"You're not going out to fight, are you?"
...
Faced with everyone's questions, Yang Lin didn't answer directly, instead saying earnestly:
"If possible, don't leave the zoo grounds for a while."
"If you encounter any danger, run towards the tiger enclosure."
Just as he finished speaking, a police car arrived at the zoo entrance.
Seeing the unexpected police vehicle, the visitors vaguely sensed something was amiss.