ROAR!
The roar shook the forest, causing the already precarious leaves to fall madly, directly burying Liang He, who was hiding under the tree to cool off.
"What's going on?" Liang He brushed the leaves off her body, crawling out of the pile covered in dirt and dust. She quickly operated her aircraft and headed in the direction of the roar.
At the same time, the central control room of the Tianyao Animal Protection Zone fell into a tense and anxious atmosphere.
"What happened? Why would a Fierce Beast appear in the protection zone?!"
"This is bad. Cedriel has detected the Fierce Beast's scent and has already started fighting it!"
"Good news, the Fierce Beast is dead. Bad news, Cedriel is injured!"
Cedriel was a Mojin King Tiger. Three meters long, majestic and domineering, he was the undisputed king of the jungle. However, he wasn't just a Mojin King Tiger; he was also the Federation Marshal of the Interstellar Federation, an SSS-level Beastman named Cedriel.
SSS-level Beastmen were born warriors. Upon reaching adulthood, they would enter the Evolutionary Stage to develop the Spiritual Body of their Beast Form. The Evolutionary Stage usually lasted for three to five years. During the evolutionary process, they would irregularly enter a state of Beastification, losing their human consciousness and completely reducing themselves to ferocious beasts.
"Damn it! A beastified Beastman won't let anyone get close. We can't treat him!"
Beastified Beastmen completely rejected captivity and feeding. Even trackers, once discovered, would be chased and smashed. Forcing an approach would only enrage them, causing them to go mad or even go on hunger strikes in protest.
"I will lead a team to find Cedriel. Tell the Veterinarian to prepare tranquilizer darts."
Huo An, the director of the protection zone who had rushed over upon receiving the news, appeared just in time. However, before he could set off, he was left speechless by a scene on the monitor.
"Who... is that?"
On the screen, the tracker had finally managed to capture the trail of the Mojin King Tiger. But shockingly, a petite and cute Blue Star person had unexpectedly appeared right next to Cedriel!
ROAR!
Having just fought a Fierce Beast, the Mojin King Tiger was already seeing red. The approach of a human at this moment made him, who was already repelled by them, even more resistant and disgusted.
"The little guy is quite good at intimidating people."
However, his low warning seemed useless. Liang He, described as petite and cute, took long strides and approached step by step. She actually called the three-meter-long Mojin King Tiger a "little guy," stunning both the humans and the tiger alike.
ROAR!
Watching Liang He get closer and closer, the Mojin King Tiger, already injured from the battle, forced himself up. Arching his back with his fur bristling, he tried to scare off the audaciously arrogant human before him.
ROAR!
Don't misunderstand; this time, it wasn't the Mojin King Tiger shouting. Instead, it was Liang He imitating the sound of a tiger, roaring right back at him.
Hearing the cry of a conspecific, the Mojin King Tiger was roared into a daze. He stared at Liang He with a hint of confusion, but the wariness in his tiger eyes dissipated significantly. The entire tiger was no longer in a posture ready to attack at any moment.
AWOO?
AWOO!
Hearing Liang He's second response, the Mojin King Tiger realized the previous one wasn't an illusion. The bewildered tiger unconsciously allowed Liang He to walk right up to his side, even letting her bandage his wounds.
Seeing this, Liang He couldn't help but laugh. Sure enough, if you wanted a tiger to submit, you had to be fiercer than him and roar louder. Striking while the iron was hot, Liang He took out her prepared medical kit and began to apply emergency treatment to the Mojin King Tiger's wounds. Right when the tiger was about to snap out of it, she started praising him profusely, flattering him so much that it made his head spin. In the end, he could only resign himself to his fate and let her do as she pleased.
"Where did this little cutie come from? So good. It'll be done soon."
Having just finished fighting the Fierce Beast, the Mojin King Tiger had quite a few wounds on his body, especially his hind legs, which were bitten so badly that they were bald. Liang He, who absolutely loved petting fluffy things, ignored Cedriel's continuous low warning growls. After bandaging his wounds, she took the opportunity to give the big cat a vigorous petting.
Golden fur with black stripes. The short velvet felt amazing—smooth and glossy. Liang He unleashed every cat-petting technique in her arsenal, remarkably petting a pair of gleaming, golden slit pupils into round, golden suns.
AWOO...
Smelling the unique and comforting scent exuding from Liang He, Cedriel lay lazily in the grass. He narrowed his eyes comfortably, and his originally irritable tail gradually quieted down.
"My god, she actually managed to quiet Cedriel down, and even got him to obediently let her bandage him?!"
In the central control room, the staff who witnessed this shocking scene took a long time to recover their senses. The Veterinarian next to them, who had already prepared the tranquilizer darts, silently glanced at Director Huo An.
"Director, are we still going to find Cedriel?"
Looking at the situation, it seemed that it wasn't quite necessary anymore. Huo An silently watched the petite Blue Star person gradually bury herself into Cedriel's belly. The human and tiger began sunbathing just like that, completely disregarding the life or death of the people watching.
"Can someone tell me who she is? Why is she in the protection zone?"
"Director, she is a newly recruited Breeder named Liang He from the Blue Star. Because there have been too many beastified Beastmen lately, I told her to familiarize herself with the environment on her own. I haven't had time to train her yet."
As an ancient planet, the Blue Star had only recently joined the Interstellar Federation. The average height of Blue Star people was no more than 1.8 meters. In the eyes of people from other planets, they were synonymous with being petite and fragile.
"So, she doesn't know that Cedriel is the Federation Marshal? She just simply treats him like a tiger?"
The Tianyao Animal Protection Zone was a key Federation forest reserve specifically established to protect beastified SSS-level Beastmen. Beastmen who turned into ferocious beasts faced natural selection. The wild was fraught with danger, and a moment of carelessness would result in death. SSS-level Beastmen were inherently rare. Almost all of them served in important departments, or were even royalty or nobility. Therefore, the Federation unanimously decided to establish a protection zone on the Sky Shining Star, which was closest to the Capital Star, to help them safely pass through their Evolutionary Stage as much as possible.
"That should be correct."
His subordinate's careful reply plunged Huo An into silence once again. He wondered if Liang He's ability to approach the beastified Cedriel was an isolated incident, or if other Blue Star people could do the same. If it wasn't an isolated case, could their protection zone recruit more Blue Star people to protect the beastified Beastmen? At the very least, they could get them to cooperate with treatment when injured.
"Send me Liang He's relevant files."
To become a Breeder at the Tianyao Animal Protection Zone, Liang He must have passed a strict background check. Huo An wasn't worried about her origins, but he still needed to review her information.
"Director, they seem to have woken up."
The staff member, who was constantly monitoring Cedriel's status, immediately noticed that Liang He had left the previous area with the Mojin King Tiger.
"Are they going hunting? Ahhh! Why didn't she bring the Marshal back to the service area?"
"Bring him back for what? The Marshal never eats food fed by humans. Aren't you afraid he'll go on a hunger strike?"
"But the medical equipment in the service area is better! At least we could give him a checkup, right?"
"You're overthinking it. Cedriel would just bite the medical equipment to pieces."
Unaware that she and the big tiger were being gossiped about behind the scenes, Liang He felt a bit uncomfortable looking at the dirty bloodstains on Cedriel's body. Unlike other felines, tigers relatively enjoyed playing in the water. However, since he was injured right now, it wasn't a good idea for him to get wet.
"Forget it, let's fill our stomachs first."
Liang He turned and walked toward her aircraft. When she entered the protection zone, she figured she might need to feed the animals, so she brought a lot of raw meat, fruits, and melons—enough for both carnivores and herbivores to eat.
ROAR!
Seeing Liang He leave, the Mojin King Tiger followed her footsteps without hesitation, showing no intention of leaving.
"I know, I'll wait for you. Take your time."
Mindful of Cedriel's injuries, Liang He walked very slowly. The human and the tiger strolled leisurely to the aircraft, as if going for a walk, once again opening the eyes of the people in the central control room. At the risk of sounding presumptuous, it looked like Liang He was walking a dog.
Opening the trunk, Liang He took out two large chunks of raw meat, used her pocket knife to cut them into smaller pieces, dumped them into a basin, and placed them in front of Cedriel.
"What is she doing? Does she think that just because she can get close to the Marshal, the Marshal will eat the meat she feeds him? That's ridiculous!"
"We're doomed! What if Cedriel goes on a hunger strike? Stop her quickly!"
"Holy crap, stop arguing! Look at the monitor, has the Marshal gone crazy?!"