Chapter 176: She Wants to Take the Iron-eating Beast Home

Chapter 176: Chapter 176: She Wants to Take the Iron-eating Beast Home

To search for the fur-babies who hadn’t returned home in time, everyone had skipped meals, forcing themselves to just grab a quick bite on the spot before continuing their work.

Liang He wasn’t in a hurry to eat either. Prioritizing the fur-babies, she quickly divided the meat Huo An and the others had brought, giving each beast a bowl.

"AWOO~"

Seeing Liang He in low spirits, the Mojin King Tiger lost his appetite for the meat in front of him.

He walked over to Hoder, found a packed lunch box, and gently bit the handle. Swaying slightly but acting with utmost care, he carried it over to Liang He.

"Cedriel?"

Snapping out of her daze, Liang He looked at the massive tiger head in front of her. She instinctively patted his head before noticing the lunch box.

"Is this for me?"

"AWOO~"

The Mojin King Tiger placed the lunch box down and gently nudged it forward with his paw, urging her to eat while it was hot.

"Thank you, Cedriel, but I’m not hungry."

With Xuan Jiao’s condition still unknown, Liang He was in no mood to eat.

"Go and eat. You’ve worked hard today."

She gently stroked the Mojin King Tiger’s fur, coaxing him to be good and eat, while she remained motionless by the Iron-eating Beast’s side.

Seeing this, he didn’t force her anymore and simply stayed by her side in silent companionship.

"AWOO~"

Just like that, it was one person and two beasts. Liang He guarded the Iron-eating Beast, and the Mojin King Tiger guarded Liang He. They sat by the river, lost in their own thoughts.

Having also exhausted their stamina to save the Iron-eating Beast, the Mengji Snow Leopard and the others quickly replenished their energy before gathering around to keep watch with them.

"Liang He, the water quality expert’s results are out."

Knowing she cared about the results the most, Huo An came looking for her the second they were available.

"How is it?"

Liang He felt a rare surge of nervousness. She was afraid of what they might have found, yet equally terrified that they had found nothing at all. Without knowing the cause, Xuan Jiao wouldn’t be able to receive targeted treatment.

"Just as we initially suspected, someone poisoned the water source."

Like Liang He, Huo An felt a mix of worry and relief regarding the result. Regardless, finding the root of the problem meant they could plan their next steps to prevent the situation from escalating and endangering more animals.

"What kind of poison? Can it be identified?"

If it was poison, detecting its components might allow them to administer the correct antidote to save the Iron-eating Beast and the smaller animals.

"That requires further laboratory analysis, which can’t be done in the wild."

With limited conditions in the wild, they had to return to the service area to test it with professional equipment.

"Liang He, Huo An, come with me, quick!"

Xu Yi pulled them over with an anxious expression. Lan Zhuo was crouching in front of an animal, his brows tightly knitted in utter silence until he saw them approaching.

Rising slowly, Lan Zhuo pointed at the lifeless animal on the ground and shook his head regretfully. "We just injected it with the antidote, but for some unknown reason, the antidote actually accelerated the spread of the poison. I couldn’t save it."

"How could this happen?"

Aside from being ineffective against the Fierce Beast virus, the antidote could alleviate poisoning symptoms in most cases. Even if it couldn’t completely neutralize a poison, it certainly shouldn’t accelerate its spread.

Huo An astutely realized that the poison in the water source was likely unlike anything they had encountered before.

"Lan Zhuo, report this situation to the Animal Research Institute immediately. Meanwhile, I’ll send someone over with water samples to request their assistance. They must decode it and synthesize an antidote as quickly as possible!"

Given the current circumstances, their only hope lay with the experts and professors at the Animal Research Institute. They could only pray the researchers would crack the poison and create an antidote in time.

Otherwise, let alone this group of comatose animals, even the Iron-eating Beast, Xuan Jiao, was in imminent danger!

"Understood!"

"Xu Yi, I’ll have everyone relocate the animals to the nearest service area for centralized treatment. You and Lan Zhuo will have to work hard."

At this moment, Huo An was somewhat glad that Liang He had requested a resident veterinarian earlier. Otherwise, Xu Yi alone would never have been able to handle the workload. It wasn’t that the massive reserve only had two veterinarians, but rather, from a professional standpoint, these two were the most capable. The other vets were fine for handling common animal injuries and illnesses, but in a crisis like this, Huo An had far more faith in the expertise of Xu Yi and Lan Zhuo.

"Alright, I’ll contact Uncle Liao and ask him to assist with the transfer."

As the head stationmaster, Uncle Liao oversaw all the service areas, making him the most suitable person to arrange this.

"Liang He, Xuan Jiao’s condition is currently uncertain. I think we should send him and the other animals to the same place for treatment. As for you..."

After all, Liang He was the Iron-eating Beast’s breeder, and he was a unique SSS-level Beastman. Huo An needed to consult with her on how to accommodate Xuan Jiao.

"I want to take Jiao Jiao back to our service area."

After hearing that the antidote had severely worsened the condition of the poisoned animal, Liang He no longer held out hope for their current medical treatments.

"But..."

"Governor Huo, Jiao Jiao wants to go home too. None of us will give up on him."

Because of his non-confrontational and unassuming nature, Xuan Jiao had the lowest presence among all the fur-babies. But that didn’t mean Liang He didn’t care about him or value him. The other fur-babies also saw him as a companion and a family member. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have risked their lives to save him, even at the cost of being dragged down into the water themselves.

"Neither Kuang Ye nor Cyril likes water, yet they were willing to risk their lives to save Xuan Jiao. I think that with their company, Xuan Jiao will fight hard to wake up too."

"...Alright. But Xu Yi and Lan Zhuo need to stay at the nearest service area. Will you be okay on your own?"

If the Iron-eating Beast’s condition deteriorated and the two vets couldn’t make it back in time, the consequences... He feared Liang He wouldn’t be able to bear the emotional toll.

"Don’t worry, I’ll be fine."

Liang He understood what Huo An had left unsaid. She wasn’t blindly arrogant or reckless with Xuan Jiao’s safety; she had her own plans.

"Okay, then I’ll have Hoder escort you back first."

Since she had made her decision, Huo An chose to respect it. He ordered Hoder to take Liang He and the fur-babies back to the Seventh Service Area.

"Hoder, keep an eye on Liang He. I’m afraid she’s not in the right state of mind." Before they left, Huo An pulled Hoder aside and whispered these instructions, a flash of worry in his eyes.

"I will."

In the wake of this incident, Hoder had also become more steadfast, solemnly assuring Huo An that he would look after Liang He.

Silver Shuttle and Silver Feather, who had already heard about the situation, had been looking out from the dormitory door. Seeing the aircraft carrying Liang He and the others, they immediately pushed the door open and hurried toward them.

"Liang He, are you guys... okay?"

Silver Feather sharply noticed Liang He’s poor complexion. Furrowing her brows slightly, she grabbed Liang He’s hand in concern.

"Ah Ling, Jiao Jiao has been poisoned. I need to take care of him, so I might not have time to look after you."

"It’s fine, you don’t need to worry about me. You, on the other hand, don’t look so well."

As the Holy Daughter, Silver Feather’s sensitivity to human emotions far exceeded that of an ordinary person, which was also how she judged whether someone was worth befriending. Silver Feather could tell that Liang He was in a terrible mood right now.

"Liang He, Xuan Jiao being poisoned is not your fault. So, please don’t blame yourself or take all the responsibility onto your own shoulders."

"I know. I’ll find the mastermind behind this."

To avenge Xuan Jiao and all the other animals!