Chapter 43: 043 Snow Leopard

The lion walked forward step by step, drawing closer and closer to Ming Ruan, its whiskers nearly brushing Ming Ruan’s face, showing no sign of stopping.

It tilted its head slightly, sniffing the scent of the young man before it at a distance that was a bit over the line yet still safe.

Ming Ruan didn’t think the big cat had any bad intentions. He even took the initiative to raise his hand and stroke the mane on the side of the lion’s face.

The barrage screamed without end.

Just as the distance between the lion and Ming Ruan grew smaller and smaller,

a low, deep tiger’s roar sounded.

The main door swung open, and the white tiger, carrying a cold breeze, was the first to walk in.

The gray wolf and the fox followed closely behind.

The subtle atmosphere was broken. The lion glanced sideways at the newcomers, then retreated a bit.

Ming Ruan remained oblivious to the surging undercurrents. Fairly and impartially, he petted each of the fluffballs one by one, gathering them together so the live broadcast camera could capture every last one without missing a single detail.

Ming Ruan popped his head out from the pile of fluffballs.

“Today’s interactive livestream teaching is about to end! Thank you all for watching and supporting me. I also hope that in the future, everyone can live a healthy and happy life with their own good babies!”

[Ahhh, how is it ending already!! Ruanruan, look at me one more time, wuwuwu!]

[Thank you so much, Ruanruan!! I learned a lot today!! Resolved many doubts and problems!]

[My family’s fluffball asked me to tell you, she really likes this term of endearment, and she likes you too!]

[I can’t imagine how unhappy I’ll be tomorrow without Ruanruan, sob sob.]

Facing the netizens’ usually exaggerated emotional expressions, Ming Ruan soothed them with practiced ease: “It’s just the interactive livestream teaching that’s ending. I’ll still need everyone’s supervision in my daily work afterward!”

[Oh right, I forgot!! The Executor still has the inspector live stream.]

[Feeling a bit better now.]

By this point, the comments on the screen were still numerous, and the atmosphere value at the top of the live room looked incredibly high.

Ming Ruan couldn’t help but feel a bit sentimental. As he kneaded some fluffball beside him, he became slightly lost in thought. “I actually didn’t expect so many people would like… Mm, but it’s precisely because of your support! That I’ve been able to come this far smoothly, doing work I love… Please rest assured, I will continue to work hard in the future!”

Although he had achieved the highest-ever approval rate in history, and although his boss had praised him to the skies with a string of flattering words, Ming Ruan always felt that he was just a lucky, ordinary caretaker who happened to be liked by many people.

At best, maybe an internet-famous caretaker?

He didn’t think he was that amazing.

And among the tens of millions of comments that Ming Ruan couldn’t see:

[Oh heavens, my wife really doesn’t know what his existence means, wuwu.]

[I’m so mischievous. What do you think his reaction will be when his Information Shackle is removed and he finds out he’s gone viral across the entire galaxy?]

[It’s killing me, I really want to tell him how awesome he is.]

[Look at the public countdown I created on StarNet, let’s count down together!!]

[177]

Even with all the reluctance, this interactive livestream teaching session ended right on time.

The small, broken three-no live room, which had rocketed to the first place on the StarNet Entertainment Livestream Leaderboard in just one day, also dimmed.

However, the shock it brought to everyone in that single, short day remained permanently etched on StarNet Entertainment’s All-Time Leaderboard, right alongside its ranking.

The streamers who had been quiet all day, after confirming that the live room had indeed closed, finally opened their own streams one after another, rushing to meet their performance goals.

On this side, the screen that displayed comments for Ming Ruan reverted back to the unremarkable small lens it once was.

“Successfully completed! Babies! Did you have fun today?” Ming Ruan clapped his hands happily and gave each of the four fluffballs a kiss on the forehead.

The four of them: “…”

This was truly embarrassing for beastmen.

[Ah!]

[Ming Ruan will never know who he just kissed in that one second.]

[I’m really, for Ming Ruan’s sake, simultaneously thrilled, embarrassed, and awkward, writhing on my bed like a worm, I—]

Fortunately, such an atmosphere, one-sidedly embarrassing and agitating for the beastmen, didn’t last too long.

Ming Ruan’s light brain emitted a familiar sound.

It was points arriving.

Ming Ruan realized that this time, the points included the previous two days of practical teaching, a very, very large settlement.

Enough of an amount that he could take a portion and exchange it for two days of vacation to squander.

Having just completed two major tasks, why not strike while the iron is hot and take these two days off to go out and explore?

With that thought, Ming Ruan, whose mood was already quite high, became even more excited.

Just do it!

He first dug through his short contact list, fished out Zhuo Yunqi, sent him two text-based emoticons, and then subtly probed into interstellar travel tips.

Afterward, he tapped out a message to Su Yuyun, informing his boss of his idea to ask for two days off.

Finally, he spent a good while carefully calculating and racking his brains over his existing points before solemnly deciding exactly how much time to request.

Ming Ruan held his breath and meticulously followed the procedure’s steps.

Shi Huai hopped up on his tiptoes to glance a couple of times.

Ming Ruan wants to go out and play?

Shi Huai’s eyes lit up.

He could have friends take Ming Ruan out! Ruanruan has no money and doesn’t know the interstellar world well. It’s better to let someone guide him. When the time comes, he could find an excuse to follow along too—wouldn’t that just be a beautiful trip for two!

The little fox excitedly pranced in place, licking his small nose and letting out an impatient yipping sound.

In his anticipation, Ming Ruan’s process had also reached its final step—

A vibration sounded!

…

Huh?

It wasn’t his own light brain vibrating.

Ming Ruan and the animals in the room all turned their heads in unison towards the source of the sound—it was the white tiger, who had somehow gone out and returned again.

Beneath the white tiger’s neck, something was faintly flashing with light.

Ming Ruan leaned forward to see clearly.

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out.

“Ming Ruan.”

“Boss?” Ming Ruan subconsciously stood up.

The white tiger sat squarely before Ming Ruan.

The voice came from beneath its neck.

It was Su Yuyun’s voice!

The gazes of the lion and the wolf instantly focused intensely on him, while the fox recoiled in shock.

What was Su Yuyun doing? Was he about to expose himself?

Ming Ruan’s heart also skipped a heavy, uncontrollable beat, but in the next moment, he reacted and understood.

The white tiger’s owner was Su Yuyun, so it was perfectly normal for Su Yuyun to contact this side through the communicator on the white tiger’s body.

This was just like back on Earth, where people would get special phone watches for their pets.

The others also thought of this point.

The atmosphere relaxed slightly.

Yet, the very next second, they heard Su Yuyun say: “I’m very sorry, but you cannot leave the Sanatorium Zone for the time being.”

Ming Ruan was stunned. His body, tense from prolonged excitement, slumped all at once.

The barrage also flooded with question marks:

[Why? The Information Shackle isn’t a detention order; freedom of movement can’t be restricted, right?]

[My wife, wuwu, his smile disappeared instantly, so heartbreaking, ahhh.]

[Why wait until after he’s planned everything to say it?! So annoying!! The feeling of suddenly losing something you were looking forward to is the worst!]

[? Wait, how can the Adjudicator use this tiger’s light brain? Isn’t this confirmed then??]

[Not necessarily confirmed. The highest authority in the Sanatorium Zone can forcibly connect to the light brains of all beastmen within the zone.]

[Stop debating! Regardless of whether this white tiger is the Adjudicator, the white tiger should sleep on the tree outside tonight!!!]

The gray wolf frowned slightly. The lion glanced at the dismay and loss Ming Ruan couldn’t hide on his face, narrowed his eyes, and a hint of danger flickered within them.

Amidst the confusion and questioning, Su Yuyun, calm but with an edge of seriousness, dropped a bombshell:

“The Research Institute’s subterranean data monitoring shows that an animal in the Simulated Alpine Belt of the 12th District is on the verge of losing control, and the institute cannot perform precise positioning or direct rescue via instruments.”

“An emergency task is now issued to the District 12 Executor: The District 12 Executor is to proceed immediately to the Simulated Alpine Belt for search and inspection. The target animal is…”

“A snow leopard.”

———

As night fell, the lights of the small house quietly dimmed.

A flying sedan, cloaked in the night sky, sped rapidly towards the distant Simulated Alpine Belt.

The mission came extremely urgently. Ming Ruan could hardly be said to have packed; he simply grabbed some necessities for outdoor living and set off directly.

This time, the flying sedan he rode was much larger, because it was also packed full, loading… one, two, three, four, four fluffballs.

Ming Ruan was worried about the snow leopard he had yet to meet, while also occasionally turning his head to glance at the handful of fluffballs, wanting to speak but stopping himself, stopping himself but wanting to speak, and ultimately could only sigh.

Just look at what animals these are. A tiger, a wolf, and a fox might manage to live in the High Mountain Zone, but what on earth is the deal with bringing a lion along?!

Was the interstellar world too lenient or something?

But no matter what objections Ming Ruan raised, his boss wouldn’t relent, and even the Research Institute stepped in to persuade him.

Ming Ruan had no choice but to compromise.

He looked out again at the vast night. The distant mountain ranges loomed indistinctly.

Snow leopard…

While Ming Ruan was worrying, the four fluffballs were also anything but idle.

They each curled up, browsing their light brains in Ming Ruan’s blind spots.

The several of them created a group chat to better understand the situation.

The situation was this:

Originally, the Research Institute had already arranged that after Ming Ruan finished imparting his basic experience, he would gradually begin providing aid and comfort to the beastmen. However, no one expected the snow leopard’s condition to suddenly take a sharp turn for the worse.

Furthermore, because this snow leopard beastman had been exceptionally reclusive since entering the Sanatorium Zone, he directly abandoned his light brain and hid deep in the High Mountain Zone. For all this time, the Research Institute personnel had been unable to catch even a single glimpse of him.

If you asked Fuxi, if his own “solitude” was a label forcibly attached to him by others, then this beastman’s solitude was the genuine article.

But the snow leopard before his beastman transformation was nothing like this.

His problem was extremely thorny.

The Research Institute didn’t dare attempt a forcible capture, which might provoke the beastman’s emotions. So, after much deliberation, they could only place their hopes on Ming Ruan.

As for Fuxi, the lion who had followed along with dozens of sets of cold-weather gear in his Space Button—the reason was the same. Currently, apart from Ming Ruan, no one had the confidence to maintain a beastman’s stable condition.

Inside their small group chat:

Shi Huai: “They didn’t avoid the live room when they talked about this. Is there a problem?”

Xie Gewen: “The Sanatorium will not hide this matter from the public.”

Shi Huai: “?! Then won’t the internet explode tonight? There’s only that one snow leopard beastman in District 12, right?”

As Shi Huai said.

Tonight was supposed to be another calm, peaceful night.

Most people, after a satisfying day of watching Ming Ruan’s livestream, didn’t immediately switch to the inspector’s live stream but instead urgently dealt with the work they had put aside all day. Now, they were comfortably lying in bed, turning on their light brains, planning to savor the beautiful, healing livestream and rationally discuss the changes in treatment for the beastmen with fellow netizens.

But after a single glance at the StarNet trending list, they all bolted upright.

[Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, the Sanatorium’s new announcement!!]