Although the events of the past half-month had already made Duan Jiaze feel that life was very unpredictable, when a handsome man stood before him and humiliatingly told him that he was the new animal... it still sent his heart into turmoil.

Duan Jiaze asked in confusion, “Are you saying you’re a dispatched employee?”

He deeply felt that this “Luya” must have had a slip of the tongue.

Luya said fiercely, “I should be asking you. By rights, it should have been an employee, so why did I become an animal?”

“The system created a plan, saying that based on the current situation, we’re short on animals here…”

Duan Jiaze couldn’t help but take two steps back. “I thought they would exchange an employee for an animal. There must have been a mistake. Please don’t get angry yet. It’s not like I can put you on display anyway…”

As he spoke, he suddenly felt that something was not right.

“Of course, this won’t do,” Luya said with a grim face. “So, from now on, during work hours every day, I must maintain my original form.”

Duan Jiaze: “…………”

This sentence shattered Duan Jiaze’s worldview; he felt a little dizzy.

At this moment, Luya sized up Duan Jiaze for a long while, then said with a frown, “You can’t really be of the Human Race, can you?”

Discovering that this zoo was opened in the Human Realm was already surprising enough for him. What was even more shocking was that the Zoo Director actually appeared to be an ordinary member of the Human Race.

“I am,” Duan Jiaze felt like crying. “From the looks of it, you… you probably aren’t…”

Luya raised his thick, slanted brows. “This venerable one is the last Three-legged Golden Crow between Heaven and Earth.”

Fortunately, there were no visitors in the zoo right now, and only the old gatekeeper was dozing off at the park entrance.

Duan Jiaze looked at the zoo sign written in a childish, rounded font behind him, then at the gentleman Three-legged Golden Crow before him, whose rarity had risen to the level of heaven and earth. The last trace of a smile on his face froze.

…

Through Luya’s explanation, which was filled with suspicion, Duan Jiaze finally gained a systematic understanding that the world was completely different from what he had previously known. There were heavens beyond heavens, and immortals beyond men. This Ling Xiao Hope Project was developed by the legendary Heavenly Court.

Nominally, this system was open to the Three Realms and Six Paths, with all races being equal. However, because the Human Realm had long been separated from the other realms with no means of communication, in all the years since the project’s substantive launch, there had never been a precedent of assisting humans, nor had it ever been implemented in the Human Realm.

The system’s full automation was in its initial launch phase and did not yet support an online cancellation function.

One wrong step leads to another. Firstly, if the target it had selected was not of the Human Race, then even if the subsequent plan was formulated incorrectly, it could have been resolved. At the very least, those aid recipients would certainly not be like Duan Jiaze, unable to even wait for the cancellation period.

Furthermore, in other realms, a place like a zoo basically wouldn’t exist, which would lead to an employee turning into an animal…

From this point of view, the system was still inferior to manual work in some aspects; the so-called intelligent computation could actually lead to such a huge mistake.

In short, Luya was certain that the system must not have been properly tested, which resulted in a bug that selected Duan Jiaze as the target.

But there was nothing he could do either, because even with the error, reporting it and filing an application would take a cycle of several decades. The Heavenly Court was countless times larger and more complex than the governments of the Human Realm, and its processing times were very long.

This pitfall didn’t just trap Duan Jiaze.

Luya claimed that employees like him, dispatched by the Hope Project, were actually “volunteers”—the advanced helping the backward.

But like Duan Jiaze, they were also bound by the system and part of the mission. If they disobeyed the arrangements, they too would be struck by heavenly thunder.

Because he was classified as an “animal,” he had to strictly abide by the duties of an animal and couldn't, like an employee, help upgrade the zoo’s buildings or anything of that sort.

The latter was tolerable, but the former was truly too harsh.

Duan Jiaze couldn’t help but say, “Isn’t this project a bit too inhumane? It even strikes volunteers? Haven’t you all complained? Can’t you just quit directly?”

He saw Luya pause suspiciously for a second, then once again start cursing the trashy Hope Project.

Duan Jiaze: “…”

…

The two of them couldn’t just keep standing outside, so Duan Jiaze led Luya into Lingyou Zoo.

Duan Jiaze: “I didn’t know it was you who was coming, so…”

He looked at the empty enclosure.

Luya stared at Duan Jiaze with an icy gaze: “What is this place?”

Duan Jiaze: “…Your office?”

Luya: “…”

Duan Jiaze: “Didn’t you say you have to be in your original form during work hours? The animals in a zoo are all in enclosures, and as for our conditions here, since we need assistance, they’re of course not very good…”

Luya said angrily, “Do you not understand what ‘the last Three-legged Golden Crow between Heaven and Earth’ means? I am the only one in all of existence! How dare you make me work in a place like this? With an attitude like yours, you’re running a zoo?!”

Duan Jiaze: =_=!

Duan Jiaze mustered his courage and said, “Actually, this is for large animals. You probably can’t… work… here as originally planned. You’ll have to go to the aviary.”

Luya: “…”

Luya heard this and wanted to hit someone.

Duan Jiaze quickly added, “It’s only like this during work hours. I’ll clean the enclosure again. After work, you can come live in our small building.”

Comparing it now with the simple little building next to it, the conditions suddenly seemed much better. After all, you don’t notice things without a comparison.

Luya’s anger subsided a little. He ordered Duan Jiaze, “Hmph, I want a bigger office. Get that lion out of there for me, and clean it up properly.”

This counted as a tacit acceptance of the daytime living conditions. Duan Jiaze breathed a sigh of relief.

Luya radiated an aura of being difficult to deal with, so Duan Jiaze had no choice but to use the tactic of making the alternative sound much worse. However, he hadn't expected Luya to actually start calling it an “office” this and “office” that. He was adapting quite quickly…

…

Soon, Duan Jiaze ran into another problem.

——He didn’t know how to move the lion to another enclosure. The original enclosure had movable iron gates, allowing him to clean the enclosure one section at a time.

But he, a complete amateur, had never learned how to transfer a lion to a separate enclosure.

The lion had been eating its fill these past few days and its spirits were much better. Even if it hadn't eaten its fill, pouncing on and killing Duan Jiaze would still be a piece of cake.

As Duan Jiaze stood outside the lion enclosure agonizing over what to do, he heard Luya jeer from the side, arms crossed, “Are all humans like this now? Afraid of a mere lion?”

Duan Jiaze ignored Luya’s voice. He had already discovered that Luya wasn't as cold and aloof as he appeared. Of course, it was also possible that he was so overly aloof that he became a bit punchable, just like right now…

Considering Luya was now an animal in the zoo, Director Duan decided not to argue with him.

Just then, the lion opened its mouth and let out a roar.

The lion's roar shook the heavens with astonishing might. The sudden sound nearly made Duan Jiaze fall to the ground.

Luya let out another short, mocking laugh.

Duan Jiaze’s previously maintained composure dissipated a little because of this stumble. Having completely lost face, he said, flying into a rage out of humiliation, “If you’re so good, you do it!”

Luya glared at Duan Jiaze, which was even more frightening than the lion’s roar.

But Duan Jiaze, on the contrary, wasn’t that scared. He had been quite polite to Luya before, but he had actually figured it out long ago: under the system’s constraints, Luya couldn’t hurt him.

So, Duan Jiaze sat down to the side, concealing his trembling legs. “I'm not doing it anymore. If you’ve got the guts, do it yourself! It’s your own office anyway!”

Luya snorted and said quite shamelessly, “I am a rare animal, and you are the Zoo Director. It is only right that you serve me. Hurry up and get the enclosure ready.”

“…” Duan Jiaze was actually speechless.

Seeing Duan Jiaze’s spirit completely deflated, Luya looked as if he had won. He raised his chin, immensely pleased with himself. Then, as if bestowing a favor, he said lightly, “Go on. With this venerable one here, what can it possibly do?”

'Now he's switched from 'rare animal' back to 'this venerable one'.'

'This bird… is really asking for a beating.' Duan Jiaze ground his teeth inwardly.

It was unclear what Luya did, but the lion no longer dared to roar; instead, it tucked its tail between its legs. Duan Jiaze seized the opportunity to open the cage and, mustering his courage, used a stick to drive the lion out.

Under the pressure of a trace of aura that Luya intentionally released, the lion was indeed obediently driven to the other enclosure. As soon as it entered, it lifted a leg and peed—out of fear.

Luya stood to the side with his arms akimbo, pressing his advantage, and directed Duan Jiaze to give the original lion cage a thorough cleaning, insisting it must be spotless, clean, and comfortable.

Luya brainwashed Duan Jiaze, “This is your duty as a Zoo Director. In the future, you must continue to serve this venerable one well.”

Duan Jiaze smiled. “Serve? Our zoo doesn’t usually use that word. We call it rearing.”

Luya: “…”