King of the Wilderness

"Alright, Doctor." His voice was dry, like chewing sand, "It seems we both underestimated your determination for this project. In that case, we can consider the second option nonexistent."

He paused, trying to regain control: "However, the conditions for the first plan will not change. The center can provide the venue, but the funding and responsibility..."

"No." MacKeez interrupted him coldly. She knew it was her time to negotiate.

"The conditions must change."

She met Fisher’s gaze, speaking every word without yielding: "Since you’re so afraid of taking responsibility and so eager to unload December like a hot potato, fine. I’ll take it!"

"From today, I will take full personal responsibility for the December project. I will bear all future public opinion risks alone."

"On the surface, this project will be completely severed from the Alaska Research Center, Environment Canada, and the International Animal Protection Foundation!"

This proposal stunned everyone present.

Isabella and Jenkins showed a barely noticeable hint of relief.

As for the director of the center, Fisher was utterly dumbfounded. For the first time, his ever-calm façade betrayed a hint of undisguised shock and bewilderment.

He never expected MacKeez to choose this path!

In his meticulous calculations, the first independent plan was never a real option. It was a trap, a perfect prop to highlight how reasonable the second plan was.

Without the center’s financial support, without the endorsement of the expert team, how could a young scientist possibly sustain a costly polar bear rescue project on her own? It was simply a fantasy!

He thought that under immense practical pressure, after a painful moral struggle, MacKeez would eventually tearfully accept the plan to sell to the aquarium, a cruel but the only viable outcome.

By then, he, Fisher, could not only resolve this massive PR bomb without a fight but also earn a significant sum for the center.

And all the moral condemnation could be blamed on the ruthless market and unavoidable reality.

This was supposed to be a perfect political maneuver, killing three birds with one stone.

Yet now, this bookish young scientist he thought only knew how to do research and was a bit naively idealistic, had actually taken the bomb he had handed over, one that could explode at any moment!

At this moment, Fisher looked at the young female subordinate in front of him, feeling a sense of... fear.

Fisher knew her... could it be that she...

However, MacKeez would not easily take over this bomb. She laid out her conditions: "In exchange, the fifty thousand US Dollars research initiation fund previously approved for the December project by the center cannot be retracted. It is December’s due!"

She shifted her gaze to Jenkins. "As the overseer and advocate of this rescue, the International Animal Protection Foundation must provide a one million US Dollar special ecological protection fund for my independent project."

"Use this money to buy off the invaluable public opinion risk and reputation loss you might bear in the future. I believe this is a very worthwhile deal."

Jenkins couldn’t help but say, "You... you’re extorting!"

"You can interpret it that way." MacKeez did not back down.

She paused and turned her gaze to the Canadian representative, Isabella Leclair, and stated her condition.

"The last point, and also the most important one, I need Environment Canada to officially and permanently renounce all ownership and any future related rights of December as the source country."

"I want you to transfer all the legal ownership of December to me, Dr. MacKeez of the Arctic Animal Research Center, in the name of special research and humanitarian rescue, making me its sole legal guardian."

This request exploded in the conference room like a real nuclear bomb.

In the history of international wildlife protection, this was unprecedented! Asking a country to give up ownership of an endangered polar bear was simply a fantasy!

Isabella Leclair’s face turned extremely unsightly. She adjusted her glasses and said in a dry voice, "Dr. MacKeez, do you know what you’re saying? This is impossible!"

"A polar bear, as Canada’s natural heritage, its ownership belongs to the entire Canadian people, and cannot be transferred to any individual! This is a matter of principle!"

"Principle?" MacKeez let out a short, cold laugh. She stepped forward, placing both hands on the table, leaning in to focus all the pressure on Isabella.

"Leclerc, let’s talk about principles." Her voice was not loud but was like an ice pick.

"May I ask, when the Alone in the Wilderness crew reported the discovery of an abandoned, dying polar bear cub through emergency channels to the Northern Territory Administration of Environment Canada, what was your principle back then?"

Isabella’s pupils suddenly contracted.

MacKeez didn’t give her any chance to breathe, continuing in a cold tone to uncover that deliberately forgotten history.

"Back then, your experts, after remote assessment, officially concluded that the cub had little hope of survival and was not worth rescuing in the wild, recommending adherence to nature’s choice. Wasn’t that your original principle?"