Super Zoo

```

"Brother-in-law, are you out of your mind?" Nangong Huang asked in astonishment. It was clear that Wu Dacheng was spouting nonsense, no one would believe that he released the sturgeon back into the river. If he really had a sense of social responsibility, would he still illegally mine sand? Would he bully these fishermen?"

Suming just smiled without responding. Of course, he didn't believe him; that last comment about releasing the fish he had deliberately made, fearing that Wu Dacheng wouldn't think of it, intentionally giving Wu Dacheng a hint.

What are Baiji dolphins? They are not Suming's private property. To put it simply, they are nationally protected animals and belong to the kind that is on the brink of extinction; to put it grandly, they are a precious natural resource shared by the people of the entire nation, even the entire world. There's no need for Suming to claim them, naturally, someone would discuss this matter with Wu Dacheng.

Chu was not a man known for his good temper, and he had recently lost his beloved Baiji dolphin, in a bad mood.

After leaving the sand mining boat, Suming went straight to shore without lingering on Gu's boat for long to prevent Wu Dacheng from holding a grudge against Gu and his crew and sat with Zhao Yun by the riverbank, each with a fishing rod, fishing.

Below the water's surface, the Overlord Turtle scuttled about, seemingly searching for something; Haidong Qing rested in a grove by the riverbank and occasionally soared into the sky to patrol the area. Suming certainly didn't want Wu Dacheng's underlings to sneak up and take them by surprise.

Around three in the afternoon, Suming suddenly burst into an unrestrained fit of laughter, laughing three times loudly.

The Overlord Turtle had found a good treasure at the bottom of the water!

"What's with that strange laugh?" Zhao Yun, clutching his fishing rod, was unnerved by Suming's laughter.

"It's nothing," Suming said, pointing to the Yangtze River in front of them, "Mr. Zhao, there were battles fought here in the past, weren't there?"

"Of course, the Yangtze River is a natural barrier and a major transportation hub, controlling both banks of the upstream and downstream, and has been a hotspot of warfare since ancient times. What's gotten into you to ask about this all of a sudden?" Zhao Yun asked.

"No reason, just asking. The Yangtze River really is a great place." Suming was so happy inside that he was almost bursting with joy, and his hand holding the fishing rod was shaking. There was going to be quite a show coming up.

After another half hour or so, the people from the Agriculture and Forestry Academy finally arrived.

A fisheries enforcement boat pulled up, carrying Chu, Song, Liang Shi, and a few fisheries enforcement officers. Despite his advanced age, Chu, from a distance, leaped off the boat, "Where's the fish?"

"What fish?" Suming was feigning ignorance.

"What else? The Baiji dolphin," said Chu. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

"Oh, they were released back into the wild," Suming said nonchalantly.

Upon their arrival, both Song and Chu were stunned; they had agreed to protect the dolphins first and deal with them after their arrival. Everything was fine, so why were they released again?

"This is chaos! What's the point of releasing two fish? Without a population, they're still doomed to extinction!" Chu said with heartfelt distress.

"What exactly happened?!" Song, seeing Suming's strange smile, guessed there might be some inside story and asked gravely.

"It's like this…"

After Suming briefly recounted the event, Professor Chu and Mr. Song were both astonished. Obviously, like Nangong Huang, they did not believe that Wu Dacheng would snatch the sturgeon from the fishermen just to release them. A wild Baiji dolphin, which had grown to about a meter, could easily fetch tens of thousands in private sales, and much more if sold to foreign buyers. For Wu Dacheng, who would not have to spend a penny on them, this was like money falling from the sky. It was unlikely that he would willingly release them.

"Let's go! Board the boat and have a talk with him."

They boarded the fisheries enforcement boat and headed toward the other bank of the Yangtze River. As they approached the huge sand mining boat anchored in shallow waters on the opposite bank, the thunderous roar of the sand mining operation reached them. Professor Chu's eyebrows furrowed immediately, and he turned to ask several fisheries officers on the boat, "This is outrageous! Who allowed them to mine sand here?!"

The fisheries employees were also feeling wronged and didn't want to offend Chu, "Professor Chu, this section of the river doesn't fall under our jurisdiction. Besides, dealing with sand mining boats requires joint law enforcement, our department alone doesn't have the power to manage it."

"Chu, let's deal with one issue at a time. Let's first ask where the Baiji dolphins are," Mr. Song said in a solemn voice.

"Okay!" Chu gestured for the fisheries boat to move closer, and soon Suming and the others were boarding the sand mining boat once again.

Seeing the presence of fisheries personnel and Chu revealing his identity, Wu Dacheng's attitude underwent a complete 180-degree turn. He was all politeness, answering any question posed to him and showing none of the arrogance of a gang leader seen earlier. He appeared to be nothing more than an honest, clueless sand miner, displaying first-rate acting skills that were simply breathtaking.

```

Being polite doesn't necessarily mean being honest, and Wu Dacheng, that old fox, adopted another tactic, playing dumb. Regarding the whereabouts of the sturgeons, he insisted that he had released them, and if the fishery authorities didn't believe him, they could search his boat.

They said they would search and they did—those who came with Chu searched the sand mining boat through and through. Most of the cabin was full of sand and stone, with everything visible on deck, leaving no place to hide the two large sturgeons.

Chu was at a loss and had no choice but to return to the fishery boat. As soon as he got back, he was jumping mad, "Call the police, I refuse to believe that we can't handle these people!"

"I've asked around, and this area is a bit special. It falls under a jurisdiction no one takes responsibility for, and that's how they found a loophole," Suming said.

Chu was furious just moments ago, but he knew there was a lot of truth to what Suming was saying. The issues with managing the Yangtze River had not just started yesterday, and even in areas with clearly delineated responsibilities, one couldn't claim a hundred percent prohibition. On the one hand, regulatory personnel were few and tasks many, and on the other, since these people dared to extract sand illegally, they surely had ways to deal with inspections; they were slipperier than eels.

In fact, in most cases, a single department did not have the authority to handle the matter. Multiple departments had to jointly enforce the law. Especially since the Agricultural Research Institute where Chu belonged was a research institution, it had even less enforcement power, and could not mobilize the local police. At most, it could only put forward suggestions to enforcement units and make appeals to society.

Still holding on to a glimmer of hope, Liang Shi made a call to the marine police and 110, multiple units, specifically mentioning they were from the provincial Agricultural Research Institute and had discovered illegal hunting and sand mining activities, requesting the police to intervene.

"We'll take a two-pronged approach. I'll record the video as evidence. Once we're back, we'll upload it!" After making the call, Liang Shi, armed with a DV camcorder, shot from a distance, trying to capture the 'evidence' of illegal sand extraction on the mining boat. Through the DV, one could see the crew on the distant ship, unabashed, standing on the deck, gesturing, and clearly not taking the fishery authorities seriously.

"It's useless," Suming shook his head. Every day the internet explodes with incredible news, and even if they were to upload the footage, it might not have much impact. If things were delayed by a few days, the public's attention would be drawn away by other more sensational news.

Merely illegal sand mining and the unproven poaching of protected animals were not enough to attract much public outcry or to be taken seriously.

While Chu was on the side, sighing and groaning, Mr. Song pulled Suming aside.

He knew Suming well. Since the day they met, the young man had never been at a disadvantage. The situation seemed desperate, but Suming had remained silent. Holding on to a sliver of hope, Song asked, "If you have a plan, just say it. Don't beat around the bush."

"Mr. Song, it's not that I'm beating around the bush. There are things that can't openly be discussed and certainly can't be known by Chu or even Liang Shi. At most, just you and I need to know," Suming replied.

"I understand," Mr. Song lowered his voice, "Let's hear your thoughts."

"This is what I think: the other party must be so bold because they're well prepared and have hidden the sturgeons. Even if the regulatory authorities board the ship for inspection, they'll just insist that they have released them and there's nothing to be done about it. And the two Baiji dolphins will definitely not be found. As for the likes of him engaging in illegal sand extraction, there are too many of them in the Yangtze River. You fine them today, and tomorrow they'll extract even more sand to make up for their losses," Suming said.

"So what are you planning to do?" Mr. Song asked.

Suming chuckled softly and whispered, "A few days ago, I saved an Overlord Turtle with three legs. Right now, this big fellow is lying on the bottom of the river."

"An Overlord Turtle with three legs? That's also a rare anomaly. You're not planning to have the Overlord Turtle ram their ship, are you?"

Song had grown accustomed to Suming's ability to train animals and didn't think much of it. If someone who had just met Suming heard that he could train a turtle to obey orders underwater, they would likely be shocked or even disbelieving. But over the past year, Song had seen too many examples of Suming training animals and his capacity for acceptance had been gradually stretched.

Also, at Song's age, with one foot in the grave, he had come to understand some things in life that weren't worth delving too deeply into. Suming's abilities were a good thing, both for him and for the zoo. That was enough.

That's also why Suming could discuss some matters with Song, but not with Chu and certainly not with Liang Shi.

The distant sand mining ship was huge, and it was protected by a layer of thick iron armor. How could an Overlord Turtle possibly pose a threat to it? Perhaps a Tyrannosaurus rex could.

"Of course not," Suming said, smiling, but his tone was somewhat chilling. He bared his white teeth in a grin and whispered in Mr. Song's ear, murmuring a phrase.

As soon as Mr. Song heard it, his face turned pale. He glanced nervously around to see that no one was listening and anxiously said to Suming, "Don't cause any fatalities. These people aren't deserving of death."

"Don't worry, don't worry, I've seen that thing. It won't kill anyone," Suming replied.

At that moment, the Overlord Turtle was lying underwater, hundreds of meters away from the sand mining ship.

In front of it lay an iron lump about the size of a child's forearm, round and lumpy.

Even though it had been soaking in river water for many years with a surface covered in verdigris, any military enthusiast would recognize at a glance that this was a mortar shell from World War II!