American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 292 The Gentlest Tribute to Life

He glanced at Lin Yu'an and said meaningfully, "Your project is specifically for Arctic creatures. Accepting a Siberian tiger is against the proper procedures in terms of project approval and supervision."

He sighed. "The last and most important point is the health of this cub... you know that too."

“It’s a burden. The center’s board of directors has decided that we can no longer invest any additional resources and energy in these worthless projects.”

He adopted an attitude of helplessness, but his meaning was crystal clear: the road was blocked unless you could come up with something outside the established rules.

Lin Yu'an remained silent throughout, simply listening quietly. Only after Fisher finished speaking did he slowly stand up and walk to Fisher's desk.

He didn't look at the documents or the certificates on the wall; his gaze fell on the Bitcoin logo on Fisher's desk.

Fisher paused for a moment, unsure of what he was up to, and could only vaguely reply, "Hehe, it's just... a personal interest, keeping up with cutting-edge technology."

Lin Yu'an turned around, a gentle yet distant smile on his face. "Interest is the best teacher. The value of some things lies not in being understood, but in the possibility they can provide."

As he spoke, he walked back to the table, casually pulled out a blank notepad, and picked up Fisher's Parker pen. The nib scratched across the paper with a soft, rustling sound.

He didn't write down numbers or addresses, but simply wrote down twelve seemingly unrelated English words at a leisurely pace.

Fisher stared curiously at Lin Yu'an's fingertips, and for the first time, a crack appeared in his composure, a product of his long experience in officialdom.

He had a vague idea of ​​what was going on, but he dared not think about it too deeply.

After finishing writing, Lin Yu'an gently placed the pen back on the pen holder, his movements as elegant as if he were signing an insignificant document.

He held the thin note in his hand, but instead of handing it to Fisher, he placed it flat on the base of the Bitcoin figurine.

The words on the paper and the cold light of the brass complement each other.

“It’s just a string of words,” Lin Yu’an said, as if inviting a friend to enjoy a cup of coffee, “and maybe it’s meaningless.”

His gaze shifted from the note to Fisher's face, and his smile became meaningful.

"Perhaps it is a key."

After saying that, he took a step back, as if everything that had just happened had nothing to do with him.

"I believe that as a scientist who loves life, you, Director, can find the perfect solution for that little tiger, right?"

He said no more, nodded slightly to Fisher, turned and left the office with a puzzled McCormick.

The door closed gently.

The whole world seemed to disappear; all Fisher could see was the light, fluttering piece of paper on the table.

Those twelve words were like twelve branding marks, searing his retina.

He felt his throat go dry and vaguely guessed what those twelve words were. This guess made his heart pound, and he dared not think about it too much.

Fisher slowly got up, walked to the door, and locked the office door.

After doing all this, he walked back to the table like a thief and picked up the note.

He recognized it as a set of mnemonic phrases for a wallet, took out his personal phone, opened an app, and imported the twelve words.

A few seconds of network latency felt like an eternity to him.

When the wallet was successfully restored and the balance number popped up, Fisher felt his blood freeze.

10 BTC!

This number was like a black hole, instantly sucking away all his reason and fear.

This amount of money is enough for him to abandon everything here and live a carefree life for several years on any sunny island.

This is no longer a bribe.

This was a contemptuous gift; the other party didn't care whether he accepted it or not, but simply tossed a key that could open the gates of heaven at the feet of this mortal.

He slumped into the chair, and after a long while, he picked up the note. He didn't tear it up or destroy it, but carefully folded it and put it into the innermost pocket of his shirt.

Then, he picked up the office phone and dialed the chairman of the board.

His voice regained its usual calm and authority the moment he spoke, without the slightest hint of emotion.

"Mr. Chairman, it's me. I've thought about the handling of that Siberian tiger cub repeatedly and have come up with a more comprehensive idea..."

Lin Yu-an and McCorz walked out of the office. She followed behind Lin Yu-an in the quiet corridor, the sound of her high heels clicking on the floor filling the air.

"Lin... what did you write to him just now?" His blue eyes were filled with incomprehensible curiosity.

"Shh." Lin Yu'an winked at her, his face still showing that calm and collected expression. "Let's go back and wait for news."

He looked at McCormick's face, still etched with worry, and couldn't help but smile, adding in a voice only the two of them could hear:
"Don't worry, McCormick. A man who has just received a gift from a ghost will only pray that he will see a ghost again next time."

Sure enough, less than an hour later, just as the two returned to the office and Lin Yu'an was making coffee for her, McCorz's phone rang.

It was a call from Director Fisher himself.

On the other end of the phone, Fisher's voice was filled with a relieved joy and a deliberately crafted admiration for McCormick.

"Dr. McCormick! Great news! I just had an urgent conversation with the board and our friends at the Fish and Wildlife Service!"

"The board of directors has approved your humanitarian application to adopt the Siberian tiger cub in principle!"

"They were all deeply moved by your kindness and sense of responsibility!"

McCormick held his phone, listening to Fisher's high-sounding words, a very complicated expression on his face.

Just an hour ago, this person regarded the little tiger as a defective product and a burden that could be disposed of at will.

Now, after the gift from that digital ghost, her actions immediately transformed into acts of kindness and responsibility.

She glanced at the man beside her, who was leisurely sipping his coffee, seemingly oblivious to everything, and for the first time, she felt the absurdity so acutely.

“…Thank you, Director,” McCorz replied in the same official tone. “I will prepare all the handover documents as soon as possible.”

“No, no, no rush.” Fisher’s tone became more enthusiastic. “I will have my assistant team prepare all the documents for you as quickly as possible.”

"All you need to do is sign. As for the little tiger's food and basic medical expenses for the next year, after careful consideration, the center's board of directors has decided that we will generously sponsor them!"

"This is our small contribution to your great cause!"

McCormick felt nothing but a cold laugh.

She knew that this so-called friendly sponsorship was just another layer of packaging for Fisher to make his actions appear more reasonable on the books.

"Okay, I understand. Thank you again for your support and that of the board."

After hanging up the phone call, which was full of hypocrisy and calculation, McCormick let out a long sigh of relief, feeling as if he had just finished performing in an extremely exhausting drama.

She looked at Lin Yu'an, her blue eyes filled with admiration. "How did you know he would definitely agree?"

Lin Yu'an put down his coffee cup, not answering directly, but instead asking, "McCoz, what do you think is most important to someone like Fisher?"

"Power? Status?"

"All correct, but not specific enough." Lin Yu'an shook his head, his eyes gleaming with an all-knowing light.

"For him, stability is paramount. Maintaining the absolute stability of his current position and power. Any unexpected event that could disrupt this stability is his enemy."

McCormick frowned. Though she was emotional, she wasn't naive: "But Lin... I still don't understand. The little tiger's life was just a procedure for him."

"The center's board of directors has already passed the resolution, and the veterinarian has been arranged. He just needs to sign the form as required. Everything is compliant and legal. What trouble could there be for him?"

“McCoz, you’re right, legally he’s in no trouble. But for someone like Fisher, legality is just the bare minimum.”

"What he truly fears are the sunk costs that cannot be quantified but are real."

"What do you mean?"

Lin Yu'an guided her thinking, "Think about it, what is needed to humanely dispose of a Siberian tiger cub?" "It requires a veterinary team to carry out the disposal, medication records, a death report, and the submission of final disposal documents to the Fish and Wildlife Management Bureau... Every step will leave a written record."

“These traces wouldn’t cause any problems under normal circumstances, but they’re like dormant bombs that could explode at any moment.”

"For example, a competitor might want to steal research funding, or a radical animal protection organization might want to use the research center as a model to promote fundraising. All they need to do is leak this file about the legal and humane treatment of an adorable tiger cub to the media."

"If it is eventually revealed that the research center euthanizes animals with intellectual disabilities, do you think the public will care whether it is compliant with regulations?"

Lin Yu'an sneered, "No, they will only see that the world's top Arctic biological research center has personally killed an innocent Siberian tiger cub."

"This will become an indelible stain that his political enemies could dig up at any time and destroy everything he has."

"So, for Fisher, this little tiger was a silent trouble."

“Keeping it would cost money and take up valuable staffing and resources, so the board of directors wouldn’t agree.”

“Killing it, while compliant with regulations, is tantamount to planting a political bomb in one’s own file that could explode at any time.”

“I guess that’s why he’s been hesitant to sign the euthanasia report.”

"This is his real dilemma, and I just gave him a perfect solution to eliminate this accident once and for all."

"Not only did I solve this huge problem for him, but I also... gave him a surprise he couldn't refuse. Do you think he had any reason to refuse?"

McCormick nodded, seemingly understanding. She knew she might never be able to see through human nature as clearly as Lin Yu'an.

But she also knew that from today onwards, the little guy who had been quietly waiting for death in the isolation ward was saved.

"Then...we'll do it now..."

"Of course, we're going to pick up our new family."

Lin Yu'an stood up, a warm smile on his face: "We should also give it a real name."

When Lin Yu'an and McCormick returned to that secluded isolation room, their feelings were completely different from those of a few hours earlier.

The little orange and black furry ball had woken up. It was sitting on the ground, carefully licking its front paws with its pink little tongue.

Seeing them come in, it tilted its head again, its innocent blue eyes filled with pure curiosity, without a trace of fear.

McCormick stepped forward and expertly opened the door to the isolation room.

She crouched down and said to it in a gentler voice than ever before, "We're taking you to a new home, little one."

Lin Yu'an also came in and squatted down in front of it. He stretched out his hand to it.

The little tiger looked curiously at the huge hand that was stretched out in front of it.

It hesitated for a moment, then stretched out its furry little paw pads, with claws that hadn't fully grown out yet, and gently placed them on Lin Yu'an's palm.

At that moment, Lin Yu'an's heart completely melted.

He looked into its pure eyes and said softly, "From now on, you don't need to call it that cold-blooded survivor anymore."

"Your fur is a warm gold, like the larch forests of Whiskey Valley in autumn."

"Your eyes are a pure blue, like the water in a lake deep in the Alaskan glaciers."

"From now on, you'll be called..."

He hesitated for a moment, then uttered the name that had been lingering in his heart for a long time.

"How about Amber? Do you like the name?"

Little Tiger Amber, of course, couldn't understand. All it could do was nuzzle its fluffy little head affectionately against McCormick's softness.

From then on, in Lin Yu'an's animal kingdom, after the Icefield Princess December, there was another adorable little prince from the forest.

After Director Fisher's phone call, Amber the tiger's fate took a dramatic turn.

It was no longer a forgotten historical issue left in the logistics area, but was openly brought into the spacious and luxurious quarantine facility in December by McCormick under the guise of cross-species behavioral observation.

A first intimate encounter, fraught with uncertainty, began under the tense gaze of everyone.

They all knew that the cubs of different species, especially the two apex predators, were prone to deadly conflicts upon their first meeting due to territorial instincts and fear.

In the monitoring room, the air was so quiet it seemed to freeze. Everyone held their breath, their eyes glued to the screen.

When that orange and black fur ball was placed into that huge, pure white world, the stark contrast made everyone's hearts clench.

Its innocent blue eyes looked around blankly, its small body trembling slightly with unease. The cold air and unfamiliar smell made it shrink back uncomfortably, letting out soft whimpers.

December, who was happily rolling around in the snow with a red rubber ball in her arms, suddenly noticed the intruder.

It stopped moving, and its massive body slowly rose from the snow, like a moving snow mountain.

As a four-month-old polar bear, it was almost three times the size of Amber, and every movement it made was full of the innate, domineering presence of a top predator.

Curious, it walked step by step toward the strange-looking little creature that was a completely different color from itself.

Each heavy step he took on the artificial snow felt like a hammer blow to the hearts of everyone in the monitoring room. McCormick's hands unconsciously clenched together.

December approached Amber, its massive form almost completely obscuring the little tiger's shadow. Lin Yu'an stood by, ready to intervene and prevent any potential conflict.

It lowered its head, and the huge bear head approached the small head. Its wet, black nose, like a cool stamp, carefully sniffed inch by inch on the top of Amber's small head.

Amber trembled with fear at the sight of the enormous creature, every hair on her body standing on end.

But its flawed nervous system seemed to short-circuit at the most critical moment, causing it to forget fear and how to make a threatening "hiss" sound.

It instinctively raised its head and looked back at the huge, furry creature in front of it with its equally pure blue eyes.

Then, under the watchful eyes of everyone who gasped in astonishment, it made a move that the entire research center would never forget.

It stuck out its little pink tongue, with the innocent and trusting look of a newborn calf, and tentatively licked December's cool black nose.

December seemed stunned as well. Its movements paused for a full three seconds, its enormous head tilted to one side, as if a supercomputer were processing an incomprehensible program.

A few seconds later, it seemed to have reached the simplest conclusion of a wild beast. It turned around and picked up its most beloved red rubber ball with its mouth, the one covered in its saliva representing its most treasured possession.

Then, with somewhat clumsy steps, it solemnly walked back to the amber.

It gently and tenderly placed the toy that it never shared with anyone at Amber's feet, even nudging it forward with its nose as if to say, "Here you go, this is the most fun one."

After doing all this, it gently rubbed its big head against Amber's small, thin body. From its throat came a series of happy "gurgling" sounds, the kind you only hear when inviting someone to play, like a powerful yet incredibly gentle engine.

“Oh God…” someone in the monitoring room exclaimed, their voice trembling with emotion.

The next second, an uncontrollable burst of exclamations and applause erupted like a tidal wave.

As McCormick watched the two fluffy balls, one white and one yellow, clumsily chasing and playing together on the screen, his tense body finally relaxed.

In the days that followed, the term "family time" took on a whole new meaning.

In December, it fully demonstrated its responsibility as the eldest sister. It was no longer the mischievous child who occasionally threw tantrums, but a silent and reliable guardian. Its massive body was Amber's warmest support and safest shield.

When Lin Yu'an takes out the huge baby bottle, December will use her nose to push the nipple to Amber's mouth first, while she sits quietly to the side, patiently waiting.

When they are tired from playing and want to sleep, December will wrap its warm, thick body around itself, letting the little orange flame sleep peacefully on its pure white belly.

Amber completely made December her reliance and role model.

It tried to imitate December, clumsily rolling around in the snow, and ended up looking like a little sugar frosting covered in snow powder.

It tried to act like December, rubbing its head against Lin Yu'an's leg and acting cute, but because it was too weak, it only seemed like it was gently striking a bell each time.

Two souls, both abandoned by the world, crossed species boundaries and formed a new and unique family on this isolated icy plain.

Their very existence is the gentlest tribute to life.

(End of this chapter)