Super Zoo-Chapter 785 - 764: Fruit Bomb
Two tourists who strayed from the main group were wandering through the sanctuary and ended up being taken hostage by the animals. They are now locked up in the mountains, and no matter what is said, they refuse to release them.
The travel agency tried everything they could think of, from feeding the animals to scaring them off, hoping to draw the 'kidnappers' away, but the animals remained unmoved. Instead, more and more animals arrived, surrounding the hostages layers deep.
Without weapons, humans were really no match for animals, especially as the armed Lure People forest rangers from the mountains this time sided with the animals. Quickly, like clearing a scene, all other humans in the sanctuary were driven out, and those originally in the sanctuary were expelled as well.
It might have been the tourists who called for help or posted messages online, but news traveled fast, and soon both the local media and officials got wind of the incident and sent people rushing to the scene, with Yang Tao personally showing up to deal with the situation.
The plane approached the checkpoint between the two realms. From midair, a large crowd could be seen standing on the fairly flat mountain road before the pass, with two police cars flashing their lights, a group of tourists on one side making comments, and on the other side, several officials-looking individuals were guarded by a ring of police, among whom Yang Tao was negotiating with someone.
The checkpoint is the only passage into the sanctuary, and it is narrow and steep. For some reason, two pandas had led the animals to build a high wall similar to a checkpoint there, marking the boundary between the human world and the animal world.
Atop the checkpoint, apart from a few 'guard' baboons, there were quite a few other animals looking down from above, having a staredown with the people below. It was unclear if it was the people observing the animals or the animals observing the people.
Seeing Suming's helicopter descending, Yang Tao and several local officials walked briskly towards the plane from afar.
"Ah, Mr. Su, you're finally here," said the man at the forefront, Mr. Tian, the head of the Yangchuan City Tourism Bureau. In his early forties, he was a rather young official, having been appointed head of the bureau only this year.
Other departments of the Yangchuan City Government might not have much to do with the Taoyuan Group, but the Tourism Bureau was different. The tourism industry in Yangchuan City now relies heavily on Taoyuan, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the Taoyuan Group is the leading giant in Yangchuan's tourism sector. At the Tourism Bureau, they were a key entity to protect and care for. ƒreewebɳovel.com
Even Mr. He, who oversaw fishing, farming, and forestry, and who was previously Mr. He, didn't have as close a relationship as they.
Suming had interacted quite often with Mr. Tian and was familiar with him. He greeted him with a smile, "Leader, you've worked hard."
"Su, let's skip the formalities for now. Let's hurry and think of a way to save them," said Mr. Tian.
"Are the people okay?" Suming knew that with the pandas in charge, the sanctuary's animals were unlikely to harm humans, but he still had to ask to avoid any slip-ups.
"Luckily, no one is hurt. But these animals of yours... Ah, it can only be dealt with by you coming here!" Mr. Tian was quite frustrated. If it were human kidnappers, they could deploy armed police for a rescue, but not when it's the sanctuary's animals involved. These animals were either on the national protection list or they were star animals, and this Taoyuan Sanctuary was a rare national natural park that contributed greatly to Yangchuan City's tourism. To use force would be troublesome, both in terms of public opinion and accountability.
Of course, human life is more important than animal life. In dire straits, even if it meant using force and killing the animals, they would have to rescue the people.
What especially troubled Mr. Tian was that the instructions from higher-ups were suggestive. They did not send public security or armed police officers to handle the situation but sent him, the Tourism Bureau head, to take charge on the scene, with the police providing assistance.
This implied that the higher-ups hoped to 'peacefully resolve' the matter without it escalating into a bloody incident.
Mr. Tian initially thought that a few animals could be dealt with by tranquilizer darts, or in the worst-case scenario, that sacrificing one or two would be acceptable. But upon arriving at the scene and seeing the extent of it, his scalp tingled with the realisation. The earlier tourists had already been evacuated from the sanctuary, and a large group of animals defended the checkpoint. From the aerial footage provided by the helicopters, the animals surrounding the 'hostages' numbered in the dozens, at the very least.
If they were to resort to force, it would mean waging a war, or rather a massacre; killing hundreds of animals?
That was too big of a backlash for anyone to bear.
But not rescuing the people would lead to an even heavier backlash.
Everyone knew that the animals from Yangchuan City Zoo were intelligent and had a sense of humanity. Mr. Tian contacted Yang Tao as his first move, but even he was at his wits' end. Normally, the sanctuary's animals would give him some 'face,' but for some reason, they were not obliging today.
"Oh dear, oh dear..." they were talking when there was commotion not far away.
The armed police, dressed in riot gear and carrying shields, had tried to rush in for the rescue.
But as soon as they stepped beneath the boundary line, they were spotted by those big baboons, fat as little pigs, stationed on the city's gate wall. With bellies thrust forward, they stood atop the wall that brimmed with all sorts of fruits—pears, apples, peaches—and suddenly, a storm of fruit descended like rain.
Although fruits won't kill a person, being pelted by the powerful throws of a strong-armed gorilla from the height of a three-story building would leave anyone dazed and confused.
Pears and apples are one thing, but watermelons, winter melons, and big pumpkins—if one of those were to hit squarely, it could be deadly.
The air was foul, goddammit, they even had durian!
The soldiers had no choice but to retreat helplessly.
Suming took a quick survey of the scene. The tourists who had already made it out seemed fairly calm. Most didn't display any signs of fear; instead, they appeared to be watching the excitement unfold.
Before he could respond to Mr. Tian, several reporters' microphones were already thrust forward.
"Mr. Su, what's your take on this incident?"
"Which is more important, the life of an animal or the life of a human?"
"Is it true that the recent surge in visitors has led to increased aggression in the animals?"
…
The media lives off news, and when there's sensational news, they naturally flock to cover it. Fortunately, the Taoyuan Group always had good relations with the local major media, and the questions posed by the reporters were fairly neutral, not putting Suming in an impossible situation.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the press, Mr. Su has just arrived and hasn't been briefed on the situation yet. We will answer all your questions once we have a clearer picture of what has happened," Yang Tao said with a broad smile as he pushed aside the microphones.
Suming nodded at him, "I'm going to take a look inside. You stay here and keep everyone company."
"Sure," Yang Tao replied.
"Put on protective gear and a helmet!" Mr. Tian quickly had a set of riot gear brought over and escorted Suming to the front line, the closest point to the range of the fruit bombs, before whispering, "Mr. Su, please be careful. They're still animals after all, and we can't afford for anything to happen to you."
Suming had no intention of wearing the riot gear initially, but after giving it some thought, he put it on, saying, "Don't worry, sir. I have trained most of these animals myself. It shouldn't be a problem."
"Uh... there's one more thing," Mr. Tian added after a moment's consideration, "If you can't rescue the people this time, we'll have to airlift the armed police for the rescue. If that happens, there might be some injuries."
He spoke euphemistically, but the plain truth was, if Suming couldn't handle it, they would have to shoot the animals.
In any case, human lives were of paramount importance.
"Understood. Rest assured, sir, I won't make things difficult for you," Suming responded with a smile, striding forward.
Mr. Tian, on an impulse, started to follow but had just taken a step when the sky darkened above, and a durian the size of a basketball hurtled down, crashing to the ground in front of him with a clang.
A startled Mr. Tian instinctively drew back his foot.
This scene was captured by the reporters on-site, and a Yangchuan City TV Station journalist, with expression and voice full of emotion, spoke into the camera, "The heroic figure we're seeing now is none other than Suming, the zookeeper of Yangchuan City Zoo. Upon learning of the trapped tourists, Mr. Su, courageous and alone, has entered the sanctuary to carry out the rescue."
