Super Zoo

Chapter 454 Target: Baghdad

Mrs. Tong was nearly scared out of her wits!

The zoo director had only just returned to normal a few days ago, so why was he thinking about zoos in the Middle East again? Hadn't he said with absolute certainty just half a month ago that there was a war going on there, and it was absolutely impossible to go?

"Director, you…" Mrs. Tong originally wanted to ask directly, 'Are you encountering any troubles? Please don't get any bad ideas,' but as the words reached her lips, she couldn't bring herself to say them outright, so instead, she asked, "Have you been arguing with Nangong lately?"

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"Nope, we're getting along great!"

Indeed they were, just yesterday afternoon he had excitedly made a date with Nangong at the city's grand hotel.

Before setting out, Suming first visited the reptile house in the zoo, which housed two giant tortoises, a male and a female.

Once last year at noon, as he passed by, he saw the male tortoise lying on top of the female, emitting very loud cries, just like slaughtering a pig. That day, the cries echoed through the reptile house for an entire afternoon, only stopping when the night fell completely dark, lasting for more than six hours in total…

Suming replaced his Spiritual Energy Storage Sphere with the tortoise's 'super stamina.'

The strength of an Asian elephant plus super stamina, combined with Suming's own profound mastery and understanding of various difficult technical actions, worked together like Zhao Zilong - the White Horse and Silver Spear, who in his day could charge through an army of a hundred thousand at Changban Slope without needing to catch his breath, like a powerful bulldozer flattening the enemy's position…

The specifics of the battle need not be described, suffice it to say that today Nangong took leave from work to rest at home.

Economically comfortable, intimately close, harmonious private life, his relationship with Nangong couldn't be better.

Taking the newspaper from Mrs. Tong and glancing at it, the news about the Syria Zoo was sparse and didn't seem noteworthy, so Suming simply went online to look it up.

Indeed, as reported, in the Middle East war zones, mainly Syria and Iraq, all the animals were truly living in dire straits.

In fact, when Lord Saddam was still alive, the animals in Iraq lived fairly well.

Historically, tyrants and dictators often shared a common characteristic: they liked to keep fierce beasts to showcase their own valor. Lord Saddam was no exception—in the Baghdad Zoo alone, just the fierce animals like tigers and lions numbered over fifty.

Since Lord Saddam had a complete fallout with the Americans, the good days for the animals came to an end. The United Nations imposed an embargo on supplies; planes delivered nothing but bombs and leaflets, and the locals could barely feed themselves, let alone the animals. At the height of the food crisis, local military and civilians even stormed into the zoo to slaughter the animals for food.

Ever since the Iraq War, that part of the Middle East had never been quiet, with Americans, local governments, insurgents, Kurds, and the Al-Qaeda Terrorist Organization all entangled with one another. It was a muddled mess where each took turns seizing the limelight, as quick as the flag changes on the city head, with Lord Saddam being attacked by the Americans, then the Americans attacked by insurgents and terrorist organizations, insurrectionists clashing with government forces, while the government secretly funded terrorist organizations to deal with the Kurds. Today they joined forces against a common enemy, tomorrow they turned around and backstabbed their allies...

In short, the situation was a mess, with war, desolation, famine, and disease becoming the main theme. Who had the time to care for the zoos?

Moreover, in that region, there weren't just public zoos, but also many private ones, and most of them were hardly able to stay in business.

Now that Suming had become a miniature super-animal, naturally, he thought of the phrase commonly uttered by all superheroes: "With great power comes great responsibility."

With great power comes more fun, the ability to delve into realms beyond the reach of ordinary people, to experience lives that most could never encounter in their lifetimes.

If safety could be fundamentally ensured, Suming was still very interested in strolling around the Middle East, experiencing the exotic customs and traditions, the birthplace of ancient Babylon, one of the four great ancient civilizations, with its numerous ancient relics and countless mysterious legends.

There is no such thing as a hundred percent safety in the world; even eating can lead to choking to death, so who could you reason with? Fortunately, after the second evolution of his animal friend ability, Suming's self-preservation skills significantly improved; he estimated that if he could travel under the pretense of being a "business investigator from Yangchuan City," as long as he stayed out of war zones and IS territory and remained near cities under government control, safety was more or less guaranteed.

Moreover, the more dangerous the task, generally, the more exciting it becomes. Everyone dies sooner or later; if one has the means, why not live life to the fullest while still alive, otherwise, wouldn't it be a waste, a life lived in vain, betraying all of that spiritual power!

One day, when he would be too old to walk, lying in bed, if his grandson asked, "Grandpa, what have you been doing all your life?"

"I've spent my life feeding bears and tigers in the zoo, savoring a tranquil life free from worldly strife..."

"Then what's the use of having spiritual power? You live almost like Uncle Wang, who moves bricks at the door..." the grandson would pout and say.

Ptooey! Suming refused to be that kind of person!

By then, he would say, "Your grandpa fought tigers in the mountains and captured dragons in the seas, strolled carefree through war-torn battlefields, did backflips and somersaults in gloomy and terrifying tombs; in human society, I was a hero respected by tens of thousands, in the animal kingdom, I was the king of all creatures! My enemies who opposed me all weep with regret in their graves, fighting fierce beasts, fighting formidable foes, fighting terrorists; people gave me the joyous nickname 'Little Overlord,' and I've lived a life with no regrets! If only the heavens could grant me another five hundred years, I would take you to conquer outer space, catching a couple of Martian girls from 'Buy-or-Die-Star' for you as child brides..."

So he decided to go to the Middle East.

After the passion subsided, it was time for reason to take the stage.

If he was going, he still needed to choose a relatively safer spot, after all, his goal wasn't to go to war.

He went online, pulled up a map and, in conjunction with current news, conducted his research.

He ruled out other countries in the Middle East for the time being; in peacetime, the cost of purchasing animals from those rich proprietors was too great, and he didn't have that much money. His options were narrowed down to Iraq and Syria.

Large tracts of land in both Iraq and Syria are currently occupied by IS, which established some sort of Islamic Country, purely a terrorist state, and definitely a no-go zone.

The situation in Syria was more complex, with territories divided amongst rebels, Kurds, the military, IS, and the Al-Qaeda Terrorist Organization, where the government army actually controlled less than one third of the country;

Iraq was somewhat better, after several years of the United States'... guidance, the government, whether in playing politics or engaging in military affairs, had greatly improved compared to Lord Saddam's era, with the government army controlling most of the country, including the capital, Baghdad, except for some IS regions and a handful of Kurds in the north.

"Set the target, Baghdad!"