King of the Wilderness

He glanced at Lin Yu’an and said pointedly, "Your project is specifically for Arctic wildlife. Receiving a Siberian tiger is not in compliance with project approval and regulation."

He sighed, "The last point, and also the most important one, is the health condition of this cub... you know it too."

"It’s a burden, the board has already made a decision, we can’t allocate any additional resources and effort to these worthless projects anymore."

He put on a helpless demeanor, but his implication was perfectly clear. The path was blocked, unless you could bring something beyond the rules.

Lin Yu’an remained silent throughout, just listening quietly. Only after Fisher finished speaking did he slowly stand up and walk over to Fisher’s desk.

He didn’t look at the documents, nor at the certificates on the wall, his gaze fell on the Bitcoin emblem ornament on Fisher’s desk.

Fisher was momentarily stunned, unsure of what he was up to, he could only respond vaguely, "Heh, it’s just... a personal interest, keeping an eye on cutting-edge technology."

Lin Yu’an turned around, with a gentle yet distant smile on his face, "Interest is the best teacher, some things, their value lies not in being understood, but in providing a... possibility."

As he spoke, he walked back to the table, casually pulled out a blank sticky note, and picked up Fisher’s Parker pen. The nib scratched across the paper, making a faint rustling sound.

He didn’t write numbers, nor addresses, he just unhurriedly wrote down twelve seemingly unrelated English words.

Fisher stared curiously at Lin Yu’an’s fingertips, the calm he had maintained in the bureaucracy for years showed its first crack.

He vaguely guessed something, but didn’t dare to think deeper.

After Lin Yu’an finished writing, he gently placed the pen back on its holder, his movements as graceful as signing an unimportant document.

He pinched the thin sticky note, didn’t hand it to Fisher, but laid it flat on the base of the Bitcoin ornament.

The words on the paper and the cold brass shimmered in tandem.

"It’s just a string of words," Lin Yu’an’s tone like inviting a friend for a cup of coffee, "perhaps meaningless."

His gaze moved from the note to Fisher’s face, his smile turned meaningful.

"Or perhaps, it’s a key."

With that, he stepped back as if everything just now had nothing to do with him.

"I’m sure, as a life-loving scientist, Director, you will find the perfect solution for that little tiger cub, right?"

He said no more, slightly nodded to Fisher, and turned to leave the office with the puzzled Mai Ke.

The door closed gently.

It felt like the whole world disappeared, and in Fisher’s eyes, there was only that light piece of paper on the desk.

The twelve words were like twelve brands, burning on his retina.

He felt his throat dry, vaguely guessing what those twelve words were, a guess that made his heart race, not daring to think deeper.

Fisher slowly stood up, walked to the door, and locked his office.

Having done all this, he returned quickly to the desk like a thief and picked up the sticky note.

He recognized it was a set of wallet mnemonic phrases, took out his private phone, opened an app, and imported those twelve words.

The few seconds of network delay felt like a century to him.

When the wallet successfully recovered and that balance number popped up, Fisher felt his blood freeze.

BTC!

That number was like a black hole, instantly sucking away all his rationality and fear.

This wasn’t a bribe anymore.

It was a dismissive gift, the counterpart didn’t care if he accepted it, just casually tossed a key to heaven’s gate at his mortal feet.

He slumped into his chair, after a long while, he picked up the sticky note, didn’t tear it apart, nor destroy it, but carefully folded it, placing it in his shirt’s most intimate pocket.

Then, he picked up the office phone and dialed the board chairman.

His voice regained its usual calm and authority as he spoke, with no discernible ripples.

"Mr. Chairman, it’s me. Regarding the handling plan for that Northeast tiger cub, I’ve thought it over and have a more comprehensive idea..."

Lin Yu’an and Mai Ke walked out of the office, with her following behind Lin Yu’an in the quiet corridor, the clacking of high heels on the floor.

"Lin... what did you write for him just now?" Those blue eyes filled with an inscrutable curiosity.

"Shh." Lin Yu’an winked at her, his expression remained calm and collected, "Let’s go back and wait for the news."

Looking at the still worried expression on Mai Ke’s face, he couldn’t help but laugh, adding in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"Don’t worry, Mai Ke. Someone who just received a Netherworld Ghost’s gift will only pray to see the ghost again."

Sure enough, in less than an hour, just as they returned to the office and Lin Yu’an was brewing coffee for her, Mai Ke’s phone rang.

It was a call from Director Fisher himself.

On the other end, Fisher’s voice filled with relieved joy and intentional praise for Mai Ke.