Super Zoo

Hearing Suming's question, Mr. Lin's mouth twitched twice, and he looked somewhat sheepish and evasive, mumbling, "The situation was so sudden, and with the county's finances tight, funding would definitely prioritize the human rescue stations first, to ensure the animals', and our rescue station has never had to rescue so many dogs in one go. As the director, this is all I can do for now. The death toll of the dogs is rising, and we had no choice but to ask for your help, if this doesn't work out, we will have to figure out another solution ourselves..."

Listening to Mr. Lin speak, Suming quickly sensed something wasn't quite right.

What Mr. Lin called 'just doing this for now' effectively meant neglecting the issue. If left long enough, the problem would resolve itself as the dogs died off, and the hot potato would simply cease to exist. This was a way of stalling for time because time could solve all problems.

Of course, funding for the rescue of humans must be prioritized; there's nothing wrong with that. The funding for the animal rescue station hadn't been delayed, either. The only blame lay in the fact that the crisis had come too suddenly and Mr. Lin's job was difficult, all of which Suming could understand. However, what really struck him as odd was Lin's remark about "figuring it out on our own."

The rescue station was only so big, and counting Lin, there were only two employees. How were they supposed to solve the problem themselves?

Could it be they were secretly killing the dogs? Surely not, as such an act, if exposed, would spell disaster not only for the rescue station but also for the higher-ups in charge.

So this "figuring it out on our own" was quite puzzling! In other words, did Mr. Lin resort to some special means to solve the funding issue?

"How exactly did you solve it?" Suming asked nonchalantly.

"Hahaha, well, now that you guys are here..." Mr. Lin laughed awkwardly, clearly reluctant to discuss the topic further, but he hospitably ushered Suming and Su Meng inside the house, saying, "Let's eat first, have a meal first. You've both come a long way, you must be tired from the journey. I'll ask Lin to get some drinks to welcome you."

Lin was the other employee at the rescue station, a temporary worker, Mr. Lin's only subordinate, and Mr. Lin's nephew. To be fair, these base-level workers really had it tough. With an annual budget of a hundred thousand yuan, after deducting the salaries of these two, there was still a huge amount of work at the rescue station to deal with. Suddenly having to care for hundreds of dogs, it was quite an achievement to have maintained their current situation.

"No need, no need, I've brought alcohol in my car." Suming took out a bottle of Wuliangye costing over four hundred yuan from the back of his Wrangler. Ever since he started dealing with higher-ups, his trunk was always equipped with a box of fine alcohol and several packs of Zhonghua cigarettes, just in case.

A bottle of Wuliangye costing over four hundred yuan would normally be too extravagant for an average family to consume regularly, reserved only for entertaining friends and relatives during the festive season. Mr. Lin and Lin, watching over this rundown rescue station, certainly didn't have the money to indulge in fine liquor, usually drinking bulk alcohol priced at four or five yuan per catty.

However, their capacity for drink was not meager. Suming's bottle of Wuliangye was quickly bottomed by the three men. Suming gave a nod to Su Meng, who then fetched another bottle.

Both Mr. Lin and Lin were drinking themselves into a stupor, their speech slurred, and Suming felt quite dizzy himself. Thankfully, most of the alcohol was being consumed by Su Meng, who drank as if it was water, allowing Suming to remain relatively clear-headed.

"I must say... Mr. Lin, you guys really have it... have it tough…" Suming burped from the alcohol, his face flush and grinning goofily, "Working with so little money, and so much to do, where's it all supposed to come from? Just feeding these dogs you've rescued until now must've cost a fair bit, right?"

Mr. Lin, who had drunk quite a bit, was starting to get muddled, while Lin slurred, "Well, it's not too bad, we're not spending our own money anyway..."

"What?!" Suming's eyes brightened at this comment. What do you mean, not spending your own money?

"That's right, the rescue station has its funding!" Suming said cheerfully, "The government's paying, so of course it's not out of your own pocket."

"The state doesn't pay a damn cent!" Lin burped after drinking, "It's still up to us to figure out a way..."

Suming was about to say something, but Lin had already gone limp and slid under the table, passing out from drinking.

...

Suming had Su Meng carry the now passed out Mr. Lin to bed and then left the room, standing outside in the yard. The cold night air blew, sobering him up quite a bit.

From the conversation during the drinking, he could confirm that the Lin duo had other ways of making money, just managing to keep the ambulance station afloat!

"What way could that be?" Suming scratched his head, they wouldn't be turning around and selling these dogs to dog traders, would they? That didn't seem likely, as it was illegal, and the uncle and nephew pair, although somewhat cunning, didn't appear to be the kind to take such huge risks. After all, they kept the ambulance station going just to secure their own jobs. If the station couldn't continue, their own livelihoods would be damaged too.

So what could it be?

Suming released a surge of spiritual power, attempting to connect with the injured dogs, thinking perhaps these animals, after staying here a while, might have some answers.

However, his normally effective spiritual power seemed to have little to no effect on these dogs! Likely due to excessive trauma, most of the dogs' thoughts were scattered fragments, making even the simplest communication impossible. Many of the dogs even felt extreme fear at the sudden intrusion of spiritual power and didn't respond to Suming at all.

These poor guys were traumatized! Just like people who survive a terrifying earthquake, they were in a state of shock. At such times, if you ask them anything, they won't respond to you. Even if you show concern, they won't accept it, and trying to force an answer could lead to hysteria or even more damage to the already hurt beings.

The best and only tactic at such a time is patience — given enough of it, psychological wounds gradually heal, and only then can normal communication become possible.

Apart from the severe trauma, Suming noticed another critical problem: these pet dogs no longer seemed to be friendly towards people.

Dogs and wolves might share a common ancestor and look similar, but they are fundamentally different. Wolves are wild creatures, naturally independent. Even Huiya, the Wolf King, could be said to have a 'good relationship' with Suming but definitely not one of dependency.

To put it another way, even if Suming could command wolves, without him, Huiya and the others could survive just fine and wouldn't suffer from any 'psychological issues'.

Dogs are different, though. They're pets, raised by humans, meant to keep company or assist humans, so a dog's nature is to be close and dependent on people.

But in his few encounters, Suming found that these pet dogs seemed to have lost their dependency on humans. On the contrary, they had a deep-seated wariness towards humans! It was like encountering a wild wolf in the wilderness upon sighting a person!

Using another term, this was called severe psychological trauma, and it had caused irreversible damage to the victim… ah, no, the victim dogs' spirits.

Suming was puzzled; simply being captured, even if roughly handled at the time, shouldn't result in such severe 'psychological trauma'.