Why Do All the Beasts Want Me?

Chapter 4

After a meal is when animals are most relaxed and comfortable, so it’s not surprising that the staff would choose this time to act.

Audiss was hit while resting with his eyes closed, but the medicine hadn't taken effect yet. He lay on the ground, watching Qiao Qixi with bloodshot eyes.

Perhaps he wanted to do something, but his body gradually lost strength, and he could only manage to keep his eyes half-open.

Qiao Qixi nudged Audiss's face with his snout, making a low sound, somewhat like a cub's cry. It had no other meaning, just an expression of his farewell.

Audiss, who had always been quite indifferent to Qiao Qixi, might have realized something at this moment, or perhaps, at any rate, he uncharacteristically tried to lift his neck to touch Qiao Qixi.

But he didn't succeed.

When the staff came in to take Audiss away, they found Alexander curled up beside Audiss, a scene that made them feel very reluctant.

Perhaps the companionship during this time had already forged a deep friendship between these two polar bears.

Separating them and placing them in different locations felt quite cruel to imagine.

However, the rescue station also had its considerations. They wouldn't release the two polar bears too far apart; if they wished to find each other, it wouldn't be too difficult.

Qiao Qixi followed the cage containing Audiss all the way to the entrance, saying goodbye to him in his heart.

However, he also knew that with the entire Arctic being so vast, the chances of encountering each other again were very, very small.

Releasing polar bears is a massive undertaking.

The rescue station wanted to track the life of the rescued polar bear after its release, so the staff would first implant a GPS tracker on the polar bear, then air-lift the polar bear to a sufficiently distant location. This process alone could take two or three hours.

Audiss was conscious during the transportation process, as the anesthetic's effect was very brief; otherwise, there would be a risk to his life.

An unfamiliar environment would certainly make him very uneasy, possibly even causing him to become violent. All of this was possible.

Therefore, the cage had to be strong enough to withstand an 800-kilogram polar bear's struggle.

Fortunately, Audiss was very quiet on the way and did not add to the staff's workload.

The release area chosen by the rescue station for Audiss was a small, snow-covered island around the Arctic Ocean. Although this island had a name, there were simply too many surrounding archipelagos for people to remember them all.

In short, this area didn't have too many polar bears; if they didn't wander too far, they would basically not encounter each other.

For close-range releases, a strong net would be used to ensnare the anesthetized polar bear, and then a helicopter would directly lift it over. That would be all.

However, this release was over a longer distance, so Audiss remained inside the cabin until he reached the release point over 800 kilometers away.

People landed the helicopter on a flat coastline, and the staff began their work, giving Audiss another shot.

“This big guy is really heavy. If we didn't have a helicopter, we wouldn't be able to move him at all.”

The wheeled cage was pushed off, the cage opened from the top, people tied a strong net to the helicopter, and then the helicopter lifted the polar bear, freeing it from the cage, and placed it on the ground.

“Quickly open the net, he might be waking up.”

The staff ran around on the shore, busy.

They had to leave before Audiss regained his aggressiveness.

The helicopter still hovered overhead, observing the polar bear's condition on the ground.

“Is he awake?” a staff member asked via radio.

“He looks pretty good,” said the person on the ground.

“Ha, what a strong and sturdy big guy!” Seeing Audiss wake up and wobble forward, everyone was happy: “Haha, good luck to him!”

“Goodbye, Audiss, I hope you don't encounter poachers again.”

After confirming that the polar bear was in good condition and observing him for a period, the helicopter left the island's airspace.

More than a month later, Audiss returned to his familiar wilderness, but this was also an unfamiliar place for him.

There was no scent of other polar bears in the new environment; Audiss had carefully confirmed this.

At least within a 60-kilometer radius, he hadn't smelled any unfamiliar polar bear scents, indicating that this was an ownerless territory.

If there was sufficient food within this range, he would generally not leave it to search for a new territory.

Of course, this was only generally speaking.

March to April is the polar bear breeding season. polar bears over five years old without cubs will enter estrus and will go out to find suitable mates, thus embarking on long journeys, moving every day, a few kilometers at short distances, and more than twenty kilometers at long distances.

It was still the latter half of the breeding season, but Audiss was not yet five years old this year; he would have to wait another year, until next spring, before he would go into estrus.

polar bears strong enough will find suitable mates during their first estrus.

If things don't go smoothly, it might be delayed by one or two years, or they might never find one.

The phenomenon of bachelors is not new in the animal kingdom; it can be said to be very common.

A polar bear's five to six years is equivalent to a human's seventeen or eighteen, so strictly speaking, Audiss is also an immature bear.

Returning to the wild in the latter half of spring, all he had to do was ensure he had enough food, and that was all.

At this time, Qiao Qixi, who was staying at the rescue station, was enjoying a solitary life, and he knew that the time for his release wouldn't be much longer.

“Summer is coming soon. Can Alexander really survive in the wild?”

Clearly, a polar bear over one year old has no experience of surviving a summer alone, and this summer will be particularly difficult for him.

If he were to be released.

“I think we should be rational. Think about it, at an age when he should be learning survival skills, keeping him in captivity at the rescue station isn't of much benefit to him.”

Because prolonged captivity might cause Alexander to forget all his wild survival memories, which would be even worse.

If they couldn't raise him for life, then it was best to release him early.

“It's really hard to part with this adorable little guy; he's so innocent and friendly.”

“Yes.”

Alexander's gentle temperament had deeply touched everyone; no one wanted to send him away.

However, due to practical factors, they had no choice but to do so.

The free world is the polar bear's true home, and even if they eventually encounter dangers and difficulties, people cannot use the banner of love and protection to keep them in captivity.

This is not the true core of animal protection.

Qiao Qixi counted the time; after about three meals, which was about a day, he finally embarked on his journey back to nature.

The release location chosen for him by the rescue station was over 100 kilometers away from Audiss, which is a safe distance between polar bears.

At such a distant range, they could no longer smell each other.

After Qiao Qixi woke up, the entire bear was quite bewildered and confused, because as a polar bear who was half-trained, he had no wild survival experience at all.

Hmm, everything around him was so unfamiliar that he had no clue.

So, what should he do on his first day back in nature?

It's the Arctic Circle, everything around is white, and the icebergs all look the same.

He could barely distinguish north, south, east, and west, but it was completely useless.

Qiao Qixi lay on the ice for a while, lost in thought, feeling that one thing was urgent: hunting.

He was a novice, and this skill had to be practiced, otherwise there was a risk of starving to death.

It is said that polar bears succeed in hunting only once out of every 20 attempts on average. That probability sounds quite exhausting.

Qiao Qixi looked down at the fat he had gained at the rescue station, wondering how many days this fat could sustain him without food.

20 times?

Qiao Qixi felt that even 40 times would be tough for him.

The wilderness was colder than the rescue station, and walking on the ice was quite physically demanding.

Given that a helicopter had just visited, the surrounding animals must have hidden, so there was a very quiet feeling.

But this was only a psychological feeling; in reality, the wind was strong on the ice, and the sound of the sea came from afar. Perhaps these were the sounds animals were accustomed to.

However, as a human, Qiao Qixi couldn't help but feel lonely and helpless in this environment; it was nothing but ice and snow, which was too isolating.

He couldn't imagine how other polar bears lived.

Oh, no, other polar bears wouldn't have so many random thoughts; only humans would think so much about nothing.

This was unavoidable.

Qiao Qixi, a lone bear, slowly walked towards the shore, praying that he would encounter a small Seal basking in the sun along the way.

But clearly, that would require extremely good luck.

Qiao Qixi didn't encounter any basking Seals along the way, perhaps because he didn't know how to hide himself, and the Seals had already smelled the polar bear's scent and hidden themselves.

Even if he did encounter a Seal, what then?

Seals are so cute. As a fake polar bear with human thoughts, Qiao Qixi felt he absolutely couldn't pounce and kill one immediately.

That would be too cruel.

After fully analyzing the pros and cons, Qiao Qixi felt that approaching the shore was not a wise choice. Even if there were Seals lying all over the shore, if he couldn't catch them, he couldn't catch them.

A weak dog must bravely admit he is a weak dog, face the bleak bear life, and only then can he break through and establish himself.

Qiao Qixi used his keen sense of smell to search for the breathing holes of Arctic animals on the ice.

On inland ice, there would be a breathing hole not far apart; these were places for marine animals under the ice to breathe. They would occasionally swim up to breathe and prevent the water surface from freezing.

If Qiao Qixi had enough patience to wait by these holes, he wouldn't lack hunting opportunities.

However, marine animals are very cautious; they will choose a relatively safe hole to surface and breathe.

Qiao Qixi waited by the hole for about ten minutes, and finally, an animal surfaced—it was a White Whale.

Qiao Qixi was stunned. The round-headed White Whale made him stare blankly. Let alone hunting, he was simply bewildered.

White Whales have a very cute and adorable appearance, which I believe everyone is familiar with; they can be seen in almost every oceanarium, and most performing marine animals are also White Whales.

This creature was just like a Seal; Qiao Qixi simply couldn't bring himself to kill it. Oh, and he couldn't kill it anyway.

He watched helplessly as the White Whale swam around once, then went back down, its tail creating a splash on the water's surface before disappearing without a trace.

What Qiao Qixi didn't know was that White Whales are also one of the polar bear's prey. polar bears don't care if the other party is a whale; they just try their best to eat when hungry.

He didn't know how long he had been staking out this hole, but by the time Qiao Qixi was getting drowsy, he finally waited for a group of marine fish to surface for air.

And the species were quite similar to what he usually ate.

Before pouncing, Qiao Qixi hesitated for a moment, wondering what if he couldn't climb back up? Would he drown in the sea?

Although polar bears are excellent swimmers, capable of swimming 90 kilometers in one go, that's other polar bears.

Opportunity waits for no one. Although Qiao Qixi had many reservations, he still pounced. The moment he bit his prey, his eyes couldn't open, relying entirely on keen intuition and speed.

Feeling that he had bitten his prey, Qiao Qixi breathed a sigh of relief. It was his first time in the water, and he clumsily floated upwards, struggling to climb onto the ice and enjoy the marine fish he had hunted.

However, one marine fish weighed at most three or four catties, which was a drop in the bucket for a polar bear's appetite.

And with the scent of blood in this breathing hole, no more animals would surface for a short time.

Qiao Qixi licked his mouth and paws, then walked inland with a bit of disappointment to find another breathing hole to stake out.

Summer was approaching, and the ice and snow on the shore began to melt. Gradually, most marine animals no longer needed breathing holes to get oxygen; they would go to the shore.

However, the shore was dangerous, and many animals still preferred to stay under the ice. Qiao Qixi was not without a chance to fill his stomach using breathing holes.

But if he couldn't overcome his human thoughts and hunt Seals and White Whales, relying solely on marine fish for sustenance was actually impractical.

After moving between several breathing holes and filling his stomach halfway, Qiao Qixi started to feel sleepy. He began to experience the hardship of wild life.

Finding a suitable place to lie down and sleep, he thought of Audiss. He wondered how Audiss was doing now.

Was he adapting to life back in the wild?

He should be adapting, because he was originally a wild polar bear born and raised in the wilderness.

Envy.

Author's note: It seems everyone really likes cute stories, but then again, that's the kind of story a tough guy should read.