Chapter 24 Sleepless Night

From the traces, this should be a tiger, but he didn't know what type.

In theory, this area used to be inhabited by South China tigers, but there had been no sightings of South China tigers for many years.

Many people believed that if South China tigers were still to be found, it would definitely be in this conservation area where he was located.

But luck was just that bad; many people swore they had seen wild South China tigers, yet after thoroughly searching the reported locations, there was no substantial progress.

Their center had also received calls from the public, but when they rushed over, not a single tiger hair was seen.

The snapshots of South China tiger activity provided by enthusiastic members of the public were also very blurry, with not a single clear frontal photo to date.

He had also heard from the people of Xiaozhai Village that they had seen a big cat in the hills behind the village, and last time Mr. Lepus had mentioned that there were fierce predators like tigers and leopards in the area. Although this trip was a spontaneous one, he hoped to really make a discovery.

Tightening his backpack, Chen Ying decided to follow the traces, just in case he found something?

The direction of the traces had already veered from their usual patrolling routes—this area was dense with trees, making it difficult to maneuver drones.

"Look at you, Brother Tong, people at least have access to some high-tech gadgets, but you, besides the skill to treat animals, have nothing else. But even for treating animals, you need to first find where the animals are injured. Can't they provide some related hardware?"

The system ignored him completely.

Chen Ying just grumbled during the journey, and as for the skills provided by the system, he hoped for more and more.

While he was one-sidedly mumbling to the system, it suddenly sent a prompt.

"Host has completed the task of treating a giant panda, rewards have been issued."

"Task of treating a giant panda completed with an A rating, rewarded with one lottery draw."

The aloof system finished the announcement and paid no further attention, so Chen Ying stopped to drink some water and checked the lottery reward page.

Classic roulette wheel, all marked with question marks, and next to it, the number of draws was written in a large, eye-catching blue "1".

Curious, Chen Ying tapped to start, and the wheel suddenly began to spin, slowing down after ten seconds, eventually stopping on a blue section.

The white question marks on the blue section gradually faded, replaced by the words "High-definition unlimited energy drone set."

Chen Ying nearly spat out his water.

He hadn't expected Brother Tong to be so cold on the outside but warm on the inside.

He just casually complained, and he was given these just like that?

Well done, he'd have to come again next time!

He immediately took out the drone set and its controller and started it up.

It truly was a top-quality product from the system.

This drone, in terms of control, flight capabilities, and the clarity of its built-in camera, outclassed those available at their facility.

With Brother Tong backing him, Chen Ying felt that it would be unfair to Brother Tong's favoritism if he didn't find something today.

And speaking of which, really, with the help of the drone, after surveying the surrounding environment, he indeed found something.

Approaching the freshly discovered, still reasonably fresh droppings, Chen Ying took out a sample bag to collect them.

Besides what seemed to be tiger poop, he also found claw marks on a nearby tree trunk.

These claw marks were different from those left by leopards and lynxes, but he had never seen tiger claw marks with his own eyes, so he still needed to take photos and send them to his teacher for evaluation.

Apart from those two things, he also found several strands of hair with follicles in a nearby bush.

At first glance, they really looked like tiger fur as described in the books, but confirmation would still require testing back at the lab.

They could also use the biological information carried on the follicles to determine whether this big cat was an unrecorded South China tiger.

Although he hadn't seen the tiger itself this time, these discoveries were quite impressive.

Once it was confirmed that there were wild South China tigers here, next time, it wouldn't just be him coming.

Undeterred, he maneuvered the drone once more to search the surrounding area, but still found nothing.

It was as if that tiger had just suddenly vanished here.

Chen Ying sighed. Reluctant as he was, he planned to head back.

Carrying these samples made it inconvenient to explore deeper into the mountains—it was better to head back and confirm the results earlier.

On his way back, he specifically went to check on Squirrel Mother, but unfortunately didn't see her, probably because she was in her burrow conducting safety training for her babies.

By the time he returned to the Rescue Station, it was already dark.

Little Sen had helped feed Leopard Sister and her two cubs. When he turned around he saw Chen Ying carrying his bag towards the lab.

"Brother Ying, did you find something good?"

"Suspected samples of South China tiger feces and fur. I'm going to check them first, and I'll tell you more later."

Their conversation wasn't hidden, and soon, the rumor that Chen Ying had found traces left by a South China tiger spread throughout the entire Rescue Station and the medical group at the Giant Panda Conservation and Breeding Center.

The night shift that evening had changed to two young people.

After hearing the news, not daring to approach Chen Ying directly, they went to the medical area next door to find Duanmu Lin to try to get more detailed information from him.

Duanmu Lin looked helplessly at the two of them.

"I haven't even seen Brother Ying yet. How could I possibly know more? Besides, Brother Ying only mentioned it might be, and he's still working overtime on identifying it. If you want to know more, just ask him yourselves at breakfast tomorrow."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Chen Ying rushing over to find him.

"Duanmu, here are the fecal samples, please can you work overtime and help check them?"

Although it was not certain whether they were South China tiger feces, the data could explain a lot of issues, answer many questions, and also analyze whether there were any hidden health concerns in the individual.

Even if it wasn't a South China tiger, they still needed the relevant information.

As for the genetic identification, thanks to the national treasure Mendun'er, they really did have one such device at the rescu...