Duan Chen reached this conclusion after a moment of thought.
He believed he could restrain himself, but it would likely be a dangerous ordeal.
Fortunately, Hill was by his side.
He earnestly pleaded with Hill.
"I'll likely need to trouble you to keep an eye on us."
"If you notice any abnormal behavior from us, you must stop us immediately, or even knock us awake."
"You can do that, right?"
Facing Duan Chen's somber expression, Hill's face bloomed with a very gentle smile.
She tilted her head, her long hair falling onto Duan Chen's hand.
Duan Chen heard her very sincere reply.
"Don't worry, I can do it."
"And perhaps we'll have some unexpected gains here. I can sense that something of mine seems to be here."
As she spoke of this matter, the look on Hill's face was chilling.
However, she said this without any ulterior motive, seemingly just to assert ownership of her belongings.
After Hill spoke, a pool of rotten flesh in a feeding trough twitched slightly, unnoticed by anyone.
Two staff members were holding feed buckets. Duan Chen's gaze fell upon the buckets, and he instinctively frowned, a feeling of nausea welling up within him.
The buckets contained chopped meat, resembling rabbit meat.
There were also rabbit heads and fur.
It truly looked like food for lions.
The staff members had stopped moving, seemingly waiting for them to trigger the next step.
Duan Chen waited patiently for a while longer, noticing that the two staff members were merely maintaining a forward-walking posture, but their bodies had not moved at all.
His patience wore thin.
"Are you going to feed the lions?"
Duan Chen walked forward and asked.
As he spoke, the expressions of the two staff members immediately became animated. One of them turned his head and scrutinized Duan Chen, as if judging him, then said with a smile.
"Of course, we're going to feed the lions. Are we going to feed you?"
With that, the staff member, sporting a mischievous grin, held the red plastic bucket up to Duan Chen's face.
Duan Chen instinctively took a step back.
He frowned slightly.
The staff member was clearly pleased with the reaction he elicited and slowly withdrew his hand.
"If you're going to feed the lions, this clearly won't work."
Duan Chen suddenly said.
"Won't work?"
The two staff members exchanged glances, and then another staff member tentatively asked Duan Chen.
"Do you perhaps know why our zoo's lions aren't eating?"
"If you can solve it, we can award you a medal."
Their tone held a hint of coaxing, but their words sounded genuinely tempting.
Duan Chen raised an eyebrow slightly.
"What medal?"
Upon hearing his question, the two staff members faltered for a moment.
It was as if there was a logical inconsistency.
Then they started moving.
"You don't know what a medal is?"
"If you don't know what a medal is, why are you here at our zoo?"
"You don't have a medal?"
Duan Chen watched as the two staff members leaned closer and closer, even craning their necks, without him even retreating. He shook his head slightly.
His demeanor was very calm.
"If I had a medal, why would I be here?"
"Why would I help you?"
This answer seemed to convince the two staff members.
They returned to their normal appearances.
Then they resumed their pre-programmed responses.
"Medals can be used to purchase items in the shop."
"Only those with medals can buy items in the shop; currency is not circulated there."
"If you can help us solve the problem of the lions not eating, each person will receive two medals."
"It's really like a game," Duan Chen mused, stroking his chin, then readily agreed.
"Alright."
"It's just solving the lions' food problem, isn't it? I'll help you."
Upon hearing his words, the two staff members acted as if they had been granted a great reprieve, as if they had received a response that earned them thunderous applause. They cheerfully placed the two red plastic buckets into Duan Chen's hands.
"In that case, we'll have to trouble you."
The two heavy plastic buckets were placed in his hands.
Duan Chen's eyes slightly narrowed.
The smell from the buckets was indeed rabbit meat, and he had eaten rabbit meat before, but within the scent of rabbit meat, there was something that evoked a visceral sense of nausea.
There was likely more than just rabbit meat in here.
Duan Chen's gaze shifted towards the lions in the lion enclosure.
He carried the red plastic buckets and slowly approached the cage.
Even though they smelled the scent of blood, none of the lions moved.
Instead, some lions stood up and walked away, appearing particularly disgusted.
And the two rabbits in the feeding trough, upon smelling this scent, began to shriek wildly.
It was like the sorrow of the dying rabbit for its own kind.
No, it should be the sorrow of the rabbit for other rabbits.
He did not pour both buckets of feed into the trough, even though the trough was right in front of him, within easy reach.
Instead, he placed the two buckets in front of Hill.
"Can you sense what kind of meat this is?"
Hill took one look and said with certainty.
"It is indeed rabbit meat."
"But..."
Before everyone's hearts could settle, they heard a conjunction, causing them to feel a slight flutter of anxiety.
"It's people who have been turned into rabbits."
Case closed.
Duan Chen's heart finally settled.
His guess was correct after all.
With a touch of disgust, he moved the two buckets of feed slightly away and looked at the lions inside.
"How can we get the lions to eat?"
"Give them some food?"
"Where do we get vegetarian food?"
As he pondered this, Duan Chen's gaze fell upon Yuan Qingqing.
Yuan Qingqing's eyes lit up with realization, and she took out several rice balls from her backpack.
As the rice balls were revealed, the lions' eyes immediately changed. They all pounced forward as if they had seen an oasis in the desert, crowding one after another outside the cage, gazing at the rice balls in Yuan Qingqing's hand with longing and covetous eyes.
She was startled and almost dropped them.
"These are vegetarian rice balls..."