Chapter 39
Chapter 39
There were five of us when we arrived. Now I alone remained.
This crushing burden suddenly fell upon my shoulders, and for a time I could not accept it.
In truth, I was extremely cowardly by nature. I became a member of the five-person team entirely because Old Chen helped me.
My teammates were all outstanding, so in our daily operations I was mostly an inconsequential bystander.
That was why Old Chen and Old Li had not asked me to accompany them that night.
Their talk of protecting the zoo was only an excuse Old Li used to comfort me.
We all knew the operation had failed completely. We had lost.
With my strength, I could never protect the zoo. “It” would soon break through the final restraints of the rules and begin expanding the zoo’s territory.
Yet even though they understood that, they still arranged for me to stay behind.
And in my cowardice, I gladly accepted.
When the sun rose the next morning, the first thing I did was prepare to flee the zoo.
I wanted to escape somewhere far away, somewhere the supernatural had not yet invaded, and live out the rest of my life.
But I could not leave.
Nearly a hundred employees had gathered at the entrance of their own accord to petition. They declared that they would sacrifice everything and fight “It” to the death.
At that moment, I wavered. In their determined faces, I saw Old Chen and the others.
At the same time, a majestic lion’s roar came from the Lion Enclosure behind me.
I abruptly awakened as if from a dream.
Where could I run? Supernatural incidents were appearing throughout the world.
Even if I escaped, what about the civilians in the city? What about the poor? What about the employees who had struggled for so many years for a noble ideal?
If everyone else in the organization behaved like me and thought only of fleeing whenever difficulties arose,
what would become of the world?
I was suddenly consumed by shame and despised my earlier behavior.
Amid shame and regret, I put on the director’s badge and led those admirable employees back into the zoo.
Over the following days, I organized every employee. We pooled our ideas, conducted research and analysis, and devised countermeasures.
I knew courage alone was insufficient. We also needed intelligent minds.
Heaven knows how correct my decision to have everyone develop solutions together proved to be.
The great man said it well: the wisdom of the people is limitless.
Someone discovered that “It” could not distinguish primates from humans. Someone else determined that “It” could not tell blue from black.
Another person proposed the theory of separating the map along the dotted line.
Someone even volunteered to inherit Old Zhang’s mantle.
Thus, new rules were created and a new organizational structure established.
Our hope reignited! This time, we would win!
Because we humans are fearless!
July 23, 20XX.
The same date as the previous mutations.
On this cursed day, countless pieces of bad news always arrived.
Today, the Aquarium sank.
Part of it fell into the Otherworld.
Yes, every one of us had miscalculated. Beneath the zoo lay another world: the Otherworld.
As a result, the Penguin Exhibit, Dolphin Exhibit, and other sections of the Aquarium fell.
Those places became “Its” territory.
Fortunately, we evacuated the visitors in time, and there were no casualties.
Unfortunately, because of the Otherworld’s influence, uncontaminated visitors could no longer see the Aquarium.
Contaminated visitors could see it, but after entering, they were easily lured by “Its” servants into the sealed sections.
This rendered the Aquarium completely useless as a backup exit.
And that was not all. On July 24, the Goat Enclosure beside the Elephant Enclosure fell into the Otherworld.
On July 25, a road leading to the fallen section of the Aquarium appeared in the Primate Enclosure.
On July 26, part of the Rabbit Enclosure sank into the Otherworld. Rabbits secured inside could escape their cages through the Otherworld. Many visitors were lured by rabbits today. None survived.
On July 27, the animals transformed from the murdered visitors all became “Its” food. The remnants of their corpses became rabbit blood in the surface world and goat meat in the Otherworld. Many visitors mistakenly consumed these foods, causing further casualties.
On July 28, a security guard was killed in the same manner as Old Zhang. We could not retrieve his body immediately because many visitors were watching, so we told them it was 3D projection technology.
On July 29, the director’s office suffered an unexpected power outage tonight. This prevented us from luring “It” to a fixed location, placing the entire zoo in danger. Fortunately, the jellyfish remained. They lured “It” back to the director’s office. The spirits of the dead protected humanity once again. We humans never surrender!
On July 30, after days of work, we completed the rules once more. This time we won! I swear I saw the dawn.
On July 31, you will never believe what I saw: a black sun like a demon’s eye, rolling mist, a distorted environment, the fallen Aquarium, and those docile goats.
I saw “It” absorbing energy from the Otherworld!
We were wrong, absurdly wrong. We had been wrong from the very beginning.
“It” did not create this world. “It” was merely a supernatural entity that had accidentally fallen into the Otherworld.
No wonder all these years of attrition had failed to weaken “It.”
Behind “It” stood an entire world, a world even more bizarre than “It.”
At that moment, after learning the zoo’s entire truth, I should have despaired, given my former character.
After all, no human power could change this.
But I did not. The first thing to rise in my heart when I learned the truth was the desire to fight.
People fear the unknown most. Once the truth stood revealed, I was no longer afraid.
I do not fear “It” drawing its sword. I fear “It” continuing to hide, because when “It” draws its sword, “Its” weakness is revealed too!
From that moment onward, I could face “It” calmly!
I knew that even if I could not find or overcome “Its” weakness now, and even if my subordinates could not either,
someone among those who came after us would devise a solution.
Human wisdom is limitless. Once the truth is known, someone will certainly find an opening.
Victory will belong to humanity!
August 1. I arranged all subsequent work except the appointment of the next director.
I did not pass the position to them because we need a successor: someone who can escape the errors in our thinking, someone clever and objective, someone who has watched from the outside.
Only fresh blood can bring the power to transform heaven and earth.
Someone such as you, reading this letter now!
Are you willing to take up this burden?
August 2. Today is the final day of my life. I will win enough time for my successor!
Now that the moment has truly arrived, I am not as anxious or nervous as I imagined.
Instead, I feel an indescribable sense of relief.
Perhaps this was the freedom the old saying promised when a person finally laid down their office.
Freed from the burden I carried for so many years, I am certain that in a moment I will look as mighty as Old Chen, Old Zhao, and Old Li!
No. I will surely look even mightier than they did.
I will become the lion king among us!
The lion king now marches to battle. Successor, have you made your choice?
If you are willing to shoulder this burden, come to the director’s office and pick up the badge on my desk!
Please do not make us wait too long!
Finally, there is no need to mourn me. After I leave, every one of you will be me!
The letter, densely covered in tiny writing, ended there.