This place was no place to linger. After examining every corner, Ning Wei left in a hurry.
Upon returning to the dormitory, her heart was pounding as if she had run a thousand meters, almost leaping out of her mouth.
Ning Wei had a premonition that everyone in this zoo, besides the staff who held passenger status, was involved in the director's skin-grafting scheme!
If that were the case, they had fallen into a wolf's den.
Because of this discovery, Ning Wei couldn't sleep.
It wasn't until dawn, when a ray of sunlight streamed into the room, that she finally closed her eyes.
In the blink of an eye, the alarm clock rang.
Ning Wei and Tang Tang got up and washed up one after another. Since they were responsible for the same area, they could also go to work together.
On the way, they saw all sorts of staff members.
Some were responsible for caring for the animals, some for the plants, and some were the cafeteria uncles responsible for feeding the staff.
Among these people, how many bad guys were there?
Ning Wei's expression was grave, a rare sight of her not smiling.
"Ning Wei, what's wrong?" The observant Tang Tang noticed her unease.
Ning Wei thought for a moment, then whispered the discovery of last night and her conjecture into her ear.
As expected, Tang Tang had the same reaction as her, her face turning pale and she said nothing.
The others thought the two girls were having a fight, so they didn't ask further.
When they reached the cafeteria, the two dared not eat anything and just gnawed on two large steamed buns.
Upon arriving at the enclosure, after driving the hyenas into their cage and cleaning the interior, Ning Wei discovered they hadn't eaten anything all night.
She tried to communicate with them, but received no response.
Meanwhile, Tang Tang had conveyed Ning Wei's message to everyone else, word for word.
This time, it was more difficult than ever. Everyone had to unite.
Moreover, the director had announced that two more people would be used for experiments, and these two would surely be chosen from this group of passengers.
Because of this news, many people were distracted at work, fearing that they would be targeted by the director.
However, despite their vigilance, someone went missing. It was rumored that he was taken away by the vice-director for not being serious about his work.
Now there was a vice-director as well, which meant more people to deal with.
It was just that they couldn't understand why Ning Wei hadn't become the director's target, given that she was blunt and often angered the director into silence.
After lunch, they gathered in the lounge to discuss. Ning Wei could only explain, "It should be a hidden rule. Not working seriously will get you taken away. The passenger before was taken away because they tried to escape."
This was the only explanation they could accept for now.
So, everyone worked with extreme caution in the afternoon, giving it their all.
At the same time, their desire to escape this zoo grew even more urgent.
After work, Ning Wei had a plan in mind. She asked everyone to cooperate with her, intending to go alone.
After work, the cafeteria served meals and would not wait for latecomers. Therefore, both ordinary employees and the director would dine in the cafeteria during this time.
Ning Wei only took a small portion, finished it in two bites, and left.
She crept towards the storeroom, only to be pulled away by someone.
Ning Wei immediately resisted, stepping on the person's foot and grinding down fiercely. While the person was in pain, she kicked them.
"Chen Qi, what do you want!" Ning Wei berated the person lying on the ground.
"Don't go in, he's already been skinned!" Even though his stomach was in pain from Ning Wei's kick, he quickly tried to stop her next move.
"You're working with the director!"
Chen Qi lowered his head, not denying it.
Ning Wei wanted to leave, but Chen Qi stood up with difficulty. "Trust me this once, don't go. What you'll see inside is not what you want to see!"
"I don't believe the director acted so quickly." Ning Wei suddenly thought of a way to trick Chen Qi.
"Ning Wei, with your intelligence, can't you guess the reason?" Chen Qi wasn't stupid either, and he simply didn't answer directly.
Because Chen Qi was not forthcoming, Ning Wei suddenly attacked and knocked him unconscious, dragged him aside, and went into the secret room herself.
As soon as she stepped inside, a strong smell of blood hit her. The scene inside was something Ning Wei would never forget.
A person covered in blood lay on a snow-white bed. Blood had soaked the white sheets beneath. His muscles were still trembling slightly. His skin had been peeled off alive. She couldn't imagine his agony. He had his eyes tightly shut.
On the ground lay his clothes, skin, and tongue, along with some discarded syringes and equipment.
On another bed was a meter-long koi skin, which looked very well-preserved and lifelike. Even the eyes were not the dull gray of death.
Several blood-splattered white lab coats hung on the wall.
They were all executioners!
Chen Qi was right; she was too late.
Ning Wei returned the way she came, kicked the lying Chen Qi fiercely, and then slowly walked back to the dormitory.
She happened to run into Tang Tang and a few other female passengers.
They wanted to ask something, but upon seeing Ning Wei's expression, it said it all.
Everyone returned to the dormitory dejectedly, thinking of what Ning Wei had said earlier: no matter what happened, they had to pretend to be unaware and not let anyone else notice anything.
Soon after work began the next day, the director called all the park areas to announce the addition of a new member.
Everyone's expression turned grim upon hearing this. They walked together towards the large pond mentioned by the director.
This place used to be stocked with many koi, but perhaps due to poor management, they had died one after another.
There were still many children who liked to come here to buy five yuan worth of fish food to feed the fish, which was one of the zoo's attractions.
Now that the director suddenly called everyone to look, everyone felt uneasy.
Arriving at the edge of the large pond, there was a yellow, enormous koi. The fish was frighteningly fat and was slowly swimming in the water, wriggling its body.
The director scattered some fish food on the water's surface and patted the water. The fish slowly approached him, raising its head to make contact affectionately.
"How is it? This fish is good, isn't it?" The director happily let everyone gather around.
Except for Ning Wei, everyone else feigned curiosity and crowded around.
Only Ning Wei, who had personally been to that room, could no longer look directly at these modified animals.
She gave the director a deep look, and the next moment, the director looked back at her.
Everyone sensed that something was wrong and stood silently to the side.
Finally, the director couldn't hold back and looked at Ning Wei proudly, "Don't you like this fish?"
Ning Wei shook her head. "I don't like it."
At this moment, Chen Qi suddenly stepped forward to interrupt, "Ning Wei only likes fluffy pandas. When she worked with me before, she used to go pet them every day."