The bear was still splayed out on the street by the time Derek came back.
Lakely spotted Derek among the crowd. He could only see the man’s legs and hair.
Pausing as he passed the bear, Derek quickened his pace towards Lakely, opting to vault over the railing instead of going around.
Even though he was the kind of guy who insisted on noting down assigned homework when he accompanied Lakely to classes.
“The ice cream didn’t even become lopsided,” Lakely exclaimed after Derek landed.
Derek examined him from head to toe. “Are you alright?”
Lakely shook his head as he took the triple-scoop cone. “People subdued that bear flat pretty quickly. You only bought one ice cream?”
“En, I don’t need any.”
Derek frowned as he answered and turned toward the crowd. A few young men had taken off their jackets and were grabbing the bear by its limbs, seemingly intending to stuff it back into the vehicle.
Lakely and the other onlookers watched on respectfully.
[I’m seriously starting to suspect that bear was beaten unconscious.]
[That it was. It was down long before they tranquilized it.]
One of the uniformed staff walked over. The zoo employee with an ice cream-shaped logo on his chest looked nervous. “Our sincerest apologies. That bear is unusually strong. It must’ve woken up on the way and thrashed around enough to damage the vehicle.”
Lakely waved him off. “It’s fine. I’m completely unharmed.]
Derek wasn’t so laid back. “This kind of mistake should never happen on a public street. Once you noticed it waking up, you should’ve administered an additional dose of tranquilizer instead of hoping it’d stay down.”
“Our sincerest apologies. We’ll conduct an internal review once we get back. If possible, could you leave a contact number and address? We’ll send a report of the review along with a gift as an apology.”
Lakely’s eyes lit up. “Really? There’s even going to be a gift? That’s great! But really though, I’m fine. Here’s my number. As for the address…”
He turned to Derek.
Who dutifully recited the address of the military district they were staying at.
The staff member apologized again before jogging back to the vehicle to retrieve something. “This is a membership card for the zoo. With it, you’ll have free admission. Consider it my personal apology. The zoo should reach out to you later as well.”
A few minutes later.
Lakely watched the vehicle drive off with card in hand. “Grantz sure is something. I’ve barely spent a cent since I got here.”
He looked at the card. “In that case, let’s visit the zoo next. I can use the card on you, Derek.”
Derek almost told him that that military personnel got in free anyway, but he ended up just replying, “Alright. I’ll get the hovercar.”
They were still close enough to the hotel that going back for the car wouldn’t take long.
“Okay, I’ll wait here for you then. Take your time, I still need to finish my ice cream.”
Derrick just stared at him.
Lakely: “What are the chances of something like that happening again?”
“I wouldn’t be worried if it was anyone else.”
Derek wasn’t this concerned even for his niece and nephew. At least they had taken basic combat classes. Lakely didn’t even have that.
He thought about it for a moment. “Maybe I should call a few people over to act as your bodyguards?”
Lakely crossed his arms in a big X before Derek even finished speaking.
They ended up compromising. Lakely felt slightly humiliated as he put on a wristband they had bought from a store nearby. It was a self-defense taser device.
Derek didn’t have many supplies on him. He did, however, implant a military-grade tracker beneath Lakely’s fingernail, assuring Lakely that he could just trim it off once the nail grew out should Derek forget to remove it.
Lakely was more miffed by the wristband than the tracker. “This isn’t even the adult model.”
He’s been an adult for several decades already, thank you.
[Maybe adults aren’t supposed to need one, Lakely…]
[Anyone doing group orders? I want one.]
[Why do you guys want to buy everything you see? The Alliance has similar devices too.]
[Is this the same model from the drills the other day? If so, I want one too. That mushroom-shaped forcef– uh, that tiny shield I mean. Is it moveable?]
……
Ye Muo only processed that the recruitment drive was over once they returned to Grantz. He grew anxious. Common sense told him that recruitment drives weren’t supposed to be like this. Bert had only explained things for a few minutes.
And he did even less, eating a chocolate there before coming back. “Can we really go home like this, Bert?”
Bert spoke without hesitation. “Of course, little Xavier. Instead of worrying about that, you should think about how to enjoy the next few days. We still have a while to go before leaving.”
He said, glancing at Secretary-General Lin.
Hadn’t Secretary-General Lin mentioned they’d earned plenty of money? Theodore seemed to have money too. And if all else failed, they could borrow some from Sylvia. Bert mulled over how to get ahold of Xavier’s holomind. His many experiments had told him that contacting Sylvia through Xavier’s devices never got him blocked.
Xavier continued to stare at him, so Bert indulged him, “What’s wrong? Are you hungry? Or do you want a hug? Come here, my little cuddlebug.”
He reached out to Xavier.
Ye Muo frowned while stepping forward to hug him. “I’m not a cuddlebug.”
“Yes, yes. Our Xavier is the furthest thing from a cuddlebug. Do you want to have dinner in the garden?”
“Yeah.”
Secretary-General Lin adjusted his glasses. If His Highness Bert had acted like this when he raised his own children, he probably wouldn’t have been thrown out of Grantz so often by the Empress.
He thought, quickening his steps to catch up with Theodore. Theodore withdrew his gaze from Ye Mo and turned toward Secretary-General Lin.
His ice-blue eyes looked uncanny, almost oppressive when they stared at someone.
But Secretary-General Lin was used to it by now. He lowered his voice, “I’ll leave the screening up to you then.”
He was referring to screening the applicants.
Theodore lived up to his title as the magnum opus of pre-insect civilization. He was able to move freely even in the more technologically advanced Alliance. No information was off-limits to him, making him perfectly suited to this task.
It wasn’t exactly difficult either.
Secretary-General Lin wouldn’t come to Theodore normally, but the Grantz all seemed eager to return home. He chose to do this for efficiency’s sake.
“The applications we’ve received so far have been forwarded to you. Did you get them?”
A faint stream of transparent code streamed past Theodore’s eyes. “Of course.”
“Theodore,” Ye Muo called out as he approached them.
The strange flicker vanished instantly as he turned to Ye Muo. He didn’t like showing his inhuman side in front of him.
……
Derek drove the hovercar straight into the zoo. All visitors were permitted to do so.
Only a minority chose to tour on foot due to the massive size of this place. Forests and plains stretched endlessly into the distance.
It felt more like a nature preserve than a zoo, Lakely thought as he peered out the windows in awe. “This place is awesome.”
Derek kept driving. “I’ve heard that His Little Highness likes it a lot as well. He visited many times as a child.”
Lakely perked up even more. “I knew Xavier would like this sort of place! I wonder if he’s been here…argh, I’m so hyped! I can’t believe I’m looking at the same things he once did!”
Derek landed the hovercar in a stretch of open plains.
An electronic voice chimed the moment they landed: [You have entered a free-roaming zone. Vehicle doors have been locked.]
“Visitors aren’t allowed to get out or open the car doors here.”
Derek couldn’t help but mention as he continued, “Never mind that bear, there are predators lurking in every sector here. Be sure to keep your distance if you see a transport vehicle, and whatever you do, don’t try to cross any barriers.”
[What do you mean ‘nevermind that bear’?!]
[It was doped up as well. Is there really a need to tell Lakely all this? He wouldn’t even be able to scale the first wall.]
Lakely was completely absorbed by the view outside.
“Beautiful, right? If you’d like, we can go to one of the safe zones later. They’re fully enclosed with no predators and only–”
Lakely instinctively lowered his voice as he interrupted, “Derek, I just saw a lion…”
Derek turned and spotted the beast immediately. A lion was strolling past the right side window, lazily peering at him through the glass.
The massive creature needed to lower its head just to see inside the car.
After it moved on, two younger lions trotted over, curiously pressing their faces to the windows as the adults watched on in the distance.
Derek realized the entire pride was passing by. They were surrounded.
The lions didn’t show any aversion to the hovercar, treating like a rock or some other inedible creature rather than a threat.
Lakely got a better view as they gradually moved on. This was a large pride totalling at least a dozen male and female lions. Some still had blood on their manes, suggesting they had just finished a hunt.
[They’re gorgeous…I didn’t dare make a sound because they were so close. Absolutely stunning.]
[Derek must have nerves of steel. I nearly screamed when that lion looked straight at him.]
It took Lakely a while to recover. He was still staring as he murmured, “Those lions are huge…”
Derek hummed. “We’re in luck today. These lions are known to be prolific hunters. They’re probably the local apex predator as well. When they work together, they can even prey on certain species of insects.”
Lakely’s eyes widened. “Even insects?”
“That’s right.”
“No wonder they’re not afraid of humans.”
Most animals fled at the sight of a hovercar.
“They should be used to them by now.”
Derek pointed in a certain direction. “See that mountain. A bit further past it is a garden connecting to the interior of the Grantz palace. They stay there most of the time and only come out to hunt.”
Lakely froze. “Are you saying that Xavier’s Pangzhua is a wild animal?”
Legally speaking, some animals could be domesticated. With the right training, they could even become proper members of a household.
But an adult animal that had grown up wild was a different story. Even those kept in zoos required careful handling by caretakers. Was Pangzhua, who Xavier touched so casually all the time, really one of these lions? The ones strong enough to hunt insects?
Derek gave it some thought before answering, “The entire pride are pets of the Grantz, so they’re more free range than wild. Yes, Pangzhua is the same species as them, but I’d advise you to keep your distance should you run into them again.”
[I’m convinced. Letting them out to hunt their own prey is the definition of free range. I’m willing to bet that the prey is released by humans anyway. It’s basically a scaled-up version of me putting food out for my cat.]
[Q: Are they wild? A: No. Q: Can I pet them? A: I don’t recommend it.
Derek is so stubborn lol. They have to be ‘domesticated’, even if they can hunt insects.]
