Tiger, I rejected the iron rice bowl.

By this time, Wang Yuyu had walked another three kilometers in the forest.

But the surroundings remained quiet; there were few traces of large prey, let alone small or medium-sized animals.

He stopped, flicked his tail in frustration, and scratched at the dry leaves on the ground with his paws. He was starting to have second thoughts: "Damn it, I've come this far, and I haven't seen a single decent prey. Did I really choose the wrong direction?"

He glanced up at the drone still hovering overhead, his confusion deepening: "This stupid machine is still following me. Is this place really close to a human settlement?"

"But apart from that road, I didn't see any villages or houses. It shouldn't be like that, right?"

"Surely my luck can't be that bad?"

Wang Yu tilted her head, her amber eyes fixed on the deep woods ahead, lost in thought. "Should we turn back? Let's cut our losses and avoid wasting time in this lousy place."

But he suppressed the thought as soon as it crossed his mind: "No, I'm already here. I won't give up until I figure out what's going on ahead!"

"If I walk any further and find any signs of approaching a human settlement, I'll turn back immediately!"

Having made up her mind, Wang Yu stopped worrying, shook her head, and continued walking forward.

This time, however, he slowed his pace and became more alert, constantly watching his surroundings.

An hour later, Wang Yuyu climbed up the ridge step by step through the thick snow.

He chose a rock with a wide view, put his front paws on the rock, slowly straightened up, and looked into the distance.

Upon seeing that, his amber pupils suddenly contracted, his tiger fur tensed slightly, and he unconsciously let out a low whimper: "That...that's a city?"

At the edge of the field of vision, a gray-white outline, completely different from the forest, clearly emerged, like a dividing line stretching between heaven and earth.

Wang Yu squinted and stared for a full half minute before daring to confirm that the well-arranged cluster of buildings was indeed the human city he vaguely remembered.

He lay motionless on the rock, his head tilted slightly, his eyes fixed on the city skyline on the horizon, his emotions a tangled mess.

There is a vague nostalgia for past human societies, curiosity about unfamiliar urban landscapes, an instinctive fear of human settlements, and a hint of deep-seated inferiority.

He is now a real Siberian tiger, no longer the human he once was.

Wang Yu raised his tiger claws, which were covered in sharp claws, and stared at them for a long time. He sighed self-deprecatingly, "I'm afraid I can't go back to how I look now."

"Don't even mention getting close to a city; you might get shot down by a human as soon as you leave the forest."

He glanced up at the drone hovering overhead, its furry ears twitching slightly, instantly realizing that it was there to monitor him.

"Sigh..." A silent sigh echoed in his heart. He simply curled up and lay down on the rock, his tail gently draped over his side. He quietly gazed at the distant city, motionless.

This scene was transmitted to various monitoring screens via drone, and everyone who was watching the screen breathed a sigh of relief, their hearts finally settling back into their stomachs.

In the monitoring hall of the research base, Ji Yongjun wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his tense shoulders instantly relaxing, and a smile appeared on his face: "Great! It's finally stopped! My secure job is finally back on track!"

He said to the researcher beside him with a relieved tone, "If we go any further down the mountain, we'll reach the village, and then things will get really complicated! Quickly tell Xiao Tang this good news so she won't worry anymore!"

"Okay!" A young researcher nodded quickly, his fingers flying across his phone as he sent the message to Tang Li.

Inside the speeding SUV, Tang Li's phone suddenly beeped with a message notification.

She hurriedly pulled out her phone to check, and the moment she saw the message, her eyes lit up, and she exclaimed in surprise, "The iron rice bowl is gone! He's stopped!"

He stopped on a ridge on the edge of the city and didn't go any further! It seemed he didn't intend to continue!

Tang Li held up her phone, bringing the screen close to Wang Weiguo's eyes, her voice filled with excitement.

"Great!" Wang Weiguo and Wang Jianjun cheered in unison, their anxiety instantly vanishing.

Wang Weiguo leaned back in his seat and analyzed with a smile, "It must be that the guy with the iron rice bowl saw the city and knew that if he went any further, it would be a human settlement, so he didn't dare to go any further and that's why he stopped. This little guy is quite clever."

Tang Li nodded vigorously, her face full of relief: "That must be it! Iron Rice Bowl is smart, he must know he can't go any further."

"He's standing still; maybe he's waiting for us to come and get him!"

Wang Weiguo couldn't help but tease, "What a lazy little tiger! He ran all the way here, but doesn't want the trouble of walking back, waiting for us to specially take him back!"

"Hahaha..." A burst of relaxed laughter immediately filled the carriage, sweeping away the previous tension and oppression.

Meanwhile, the forest police team from Linan City had quietly arrived at the foot of the ridge. The officers hid behind the dense bushes, their expressions tense, their eyes fixed on the figure lying on the rock on the ridge.

Wang Yuyu was listlessly pawing at the positioning ball, making it roll around.

"Wow, this tiger is huge!"

"Isn't this the internet celebrity 'Tiger Iron Rice Bowl'? What's he doing in our Linan City?"

"He's even more muscular than he looks in the video! With that physique, he must weigh at least 300 kilograms!"

"..."

The officers whispered among themselves, their eyes filled with curiosity and awe.

Their team leader, Xiao Hefeng, looked grave. He turned to the drone operator beside him and said in a deep voice, "Begin the operation."

The drone operator nodded, took a deep breath, and gently pressed a button on the control handle.

A drone that was already prepared slowly took off, with a cloth bag full of fresh meat hanging below its fuselage.

The drone slowly flew towards the ridge, gradually decreasing its altitude, and hovered not far above Wang Yuyu's head.

Wang Yuyu heard the sound of the drone overhead and looked up in confusion.

When his gaze fell upon the faint human figures peeking out from behind the bushes in the distance, his previously languid eyes instantly sharpened, and his anger flared up instantly.

"Damn it! Can't you see I'm in the middle of a melancholy mood? How dare you bother me? Don't you have any manners at all!"

"roar!"

The next second, Wang Yuyu suddenly stood up, her limbs tense, and let out a deafening tiger roar at the police officers behind the bushes.

The sound waves, carrying the oppressive aura of the apex predator, spread outwards.