novelraw Chapter 51
Chapter 51
Chapter 51: The Evil Dragon Likes Humans
A ticket for the North City Zoo costs ten yuan and can be purchased with an ID card.
If you don’t have an ID card, you can buy a full-price ticket separately, which costs fifty-eight yuan.
Lucia doesn’t have an ID card, so she can only buy a full-price ticket to enter.
Nowadays, most scenic spots have switched to electronic tickets. Fortunately, places like zoos still retain traditional paper tickets. Otherwise, Lucia would have to find another way to enter the park.
“This is the map. Where do you want to go first?”
Xia Li unfolded the paper map that came with the ticket purchase in front of Lucia.
Lucia still had a drop of yogurt on her small face and stared at the map with her clear eyes for a long time.
She had seen many maps in Azure Continent before, but most of them were made of parchment, which was ugly and blurry, incomparable to the colorful map in front of her.
Lucia stood on tiptoe and looked at it for a while, then concluded. “Hmm, I don’t understand.”
“…”
It makes sense. This guy can’t even tell north from south, so asking her to read a map is too much for her.
Xia Li brought Lucia to the zoo this time, and the place he wanted to visit the most was the dangerous animal area.
He wanted to see who was more dominant, the pureblood giant dragon from Azure Continent or the top predators on Earth.
Of course, looking at bloodline suppression was purely for fun.
It was more important to educate Lucia about the species on Earth.
“Let’s go, let’s see the monkeys first.”
As the highlight of all zoos, the dangerous animal area is always hidden in the deepest part of the zoo. This arrangement not only increases the time tourists spend in the zoo but also drives the commercial development of several surrounding areas.
Therefore, after just glancing at the map, Xia Li gave up the idea of going straight to the dangerous animal area and had to follow the route on the map and visit one by one.
Xia Li had been here with his family when he was a child. The place was not much different from his childhood memories. Apart from some renovated facilities, the layout of the entire zoo had not changed.
Walking along the paved stone path, the sunlight shone through the dense leaves, dappling Lucia’s face.
Lucia was busy eating fruit.
…This evil dragon, is she here to eat or to visit the zoo? Why isn’t she interested in the animals around her at all??
They had already passed the rabbit garden, but she didn’t even glance at it.
Other girls would have squatted in front of the rabbits with their skirts pressed down and exclaimed, ‘Wow~ The bunnies are so cute~~’
This evil dragon is completely immune to small animals!
What Xia Li didn’t know was that Lucia did glance at the rabbit enclosure when they passed by.
However, what she was thinking was whether a mouthful of her dragon form would be enough to hold all twenty rabbits in the enclosure.
However, rabbits have too much fur, and rabbit meat is not very filling…
Forget it.
Lucia slowed down, and Xia Li brought her to the monkey area.
The monkeys here were all kept in cages, about five meters long, wide, and high, an irregular square.
To prevent tourists from feeding the monkeys and the monkeys from scratching tourists, the bottom two meters of the monkey cages were reinforced with wire mesh.
From Lucia’s short perspective, she could only barely see the messy vegetable leaves and unknown objects inside through the wire mesh.
“It stinks…”
Lucia pinched her nose and covered the fruit salad in her arms with the sleeve of her other hand.
“Ooh ooh ooh!!”
At the end of the monkey area, a strong chimpanzee was kept alone in an iron cage.
From the double-layered wire mesh reinforced on the surface of the cage, it could be seen that this chimpanzee was a repeat offender in this area.
Just as Lucia was covering her nose and walking forward with disgust, the dozing chimpanzee seemed to have discovered something and ran over with its strong arms, making sounds that were either excited or dangerous.
Lucia looked closely and then took a small step back.
◈◈◈
Xia Li, who had been observing Lucia, frowned.
Speaking of which, chimpanzees are also a kind of beast…
Could it be that the chimpanzees on Earth are more intimidating than the evil dragon?
Just as Xia Li was thinking about this, the black chimpanzee with its muscular body, after approaching the cage, suddenly took a step back as if it was threatened.
It retreated together with Lucia, as if they had both conducted some kind of test, and both were startled.
However, the reason why Lucia was startled was different.
Lucia: “So…so ugly.”
Xia Li: “???”
I won’t allow you to talk about the origin of mankind like that!
Lucia’s expression was particularly disgusted.
There were agile little monkeys in Azure Continent, but this was the first time Lucia had seen such an ugly big monkey.
“Ooh ooh ooh…”
The chimpanzee, which had been yelling excitedly, shrank to the innermost corner of the cage, its spirit obviously dampened. It pretended to play with the rotten vegetable leaves on the ground as if nothing had happened, and then inadvertently looked up at Lucia, then turned around and turned its broad back to the tourists.
Xia Li wondered what this meant.
With its reaction, Xia Li didn’t know if it was fear or disinterest.
“Xia Li, why are they in cages?”
Lucia walked out of the monkey area and let out a long sigh of relief.
The smell inside was really unpleasant, and Lucia didn’t dare to take a deep breath, her small face flushed red.
She buried her head and sniffed the fruit salad in her bowl, thankfully there was no strange smell.
“Some were born in cages, and some were caught from the wild,” Xia Li explained to the evil dragon.
“Born in a cage?”
Lucia turned her head in surprise and glanced at the monkey area again.
The dragon race pursued freedom and unrestrainedness all their lives, and this palm-sized iron cage was a nightmare for Lucia.
The dragon race captured in Azure Continent… as long as they are not dead, most of them are living this kind of life, right?
“Zoos rarely breed their own animals,” Xia Li continued, seeing that Lucia’s expression was not very good.
“In fact, most of them are caught from the wild. Some are injured, and some are abandoned by their groups at birth.
The zoo will have special people to rescue them. Some will be released on the spot after they are healed. Those who are seriously injured or cannot live without their groups will be brought back to the zoo. After they recover, they will try to release them. If they really can’t be released, they will be kept in cages in the zoo.
For example, the chimpanzee we just saw, its introduction says that it was once the leader of the group, and then it got old and was usurped by a young chimpanzee. It was seriously injured during the fight, and then it was rescued by the zoo, so it has been staying in the zoo.”
“Oh…”
It was rare for Lucia to listen to the story of an animal so attentively.
After hearing Xia Li’s explanation, she suddenly felt that the animals were not pitiful anymore.
After all, they are provided with good food and drink, which is much more comfortable than in the wild.
Thinking about it this way, the relationship between herself and Xia Li is actually like that of a chimpanzee and a zookeeper.
She got lost and was picked up by Xia Li and taken home, except Xia Li didn’t lock her in a cage.
Thinking of this, Lucia secretly glanced at her keeper, Xia Li.
The humans in this world are different from the humans in Azure Continent.
They are very friendly, and Xia Li is also very friendly.
Lucia likes the humans here.