Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl

The researchers focused on tiger studies arrived quickly.

The next morning, as soon as Chen Ying got out of bed, he received a call from his teacher, instructing him to immediately go to the place where the tiger was discovered to meet the arriving personnel.

In addition to the few who were there to study tigers, workers from wildlife conservation organizations and the M Alliance were also present, a whole crowd standing together, almost as if preparing to attack a mountain stronghold.

Chen Ying felt this was not going to work, as the spectacle was too grand; the tiger would have been scared off before the people even got there.

When the others heard this, they too realized the logic in it, but figuring out who should go became a problem that wasn't easy to solve.

Chen Ying firmly decided not to get involved in their internal competition; he was merely a guide.

An M Alliance staffer approached Chen Ying and exchanged contact information with him,

"Elder Sister Dao is our new member, as well as a capable mainstay of the rescue organization. This time we are here, we simply wish to confirm the species of that tiger and hope to delineate its range of activity."

Of course, it would be good if the study could be joined; if not, they would seek other opportunities for collaboration in the future, it wasn't essential to join in this time.

Chen Ying did not reject the goodwill extended by the other party; in this business, who knew when you might need help from someone else—the saying that having more friends means having more paths to take is indeed true.

After chatting for a while, the debate among the others also reached a conclusion.

A teacher from Agricultural University, who was unknown to him, stayed by virtue of Professor Bai's reputation, followed by a few young researchers who were quite famous in the circle, and one who was the close disciple of a big name in the field.

None of the M Alliance people stayed; they had cooperated with the close disciple before, who promised to share the survey results with the M Alliance.

After the six-person investigation team was confirmed, including Chen Ying, the two primarily responsible for technical support fell back to the Protection Station, coordinating high-tech equipment and supply logistics.

The other three, led by Chen Ying, decided to find a suitable location to set up camp first, to observe whether the tiger would reappear by the stream.

After all, with the forest being so vast, it is filled with all kinds of birds—and dangers are never in short supply.

It would be more reliable to wait for the tiger to come to them—to stand guard like waiting for a hare—rather than venture into the dense jungle to find it.

The campsite shouldn't be too conspicuous, nor too hidden. The three young people discussed and set up two tents, also using branches and leaves for camouflage.

Chen Ying watched them work and felt a bit of a headache.

Away from the trio, Chen Ying found Jinya and Little Jin and asked them if they had seen the tiger.

"We saw it; the big guy is in a cave on the mountainside opposite us."

Chen Ying turned around, took out his binoculars, and looked towards the mountain—but in the lush jungle, where could you see any cave?

"Do you want to go find it? I can accompany you."

Jinya eagerly suggested, "Let's go, I saw it when I was little. Back then, it was fighting with another big one for territory."

When she was little? Jinya was not very old now, so at most that was last year.

That timeline almost matched the glimpse of a tiger he'd caught previously.

He went back to find the person in charge of this small team, a professor from Agricultural University.

Upon hearing his suspicion that the tiger might be in the cave halfway up the opposite hillside, the professor immediately shouldered his backpack and insisted on accompanying him to check it out.

A distant hill is easy to run dead on horseback.

Although it wasn't to that extent here, the estimated distance was still different from the actual distance.

It took more than three hours for the two to find the mountainside cave.

Instead of approaching rashly, they almost confirmed the presence of a ferocious beast in the cave based on the traces left outside.

Whether it was a tiger or not, they didn't dare to conclude before seeing it with their own eyes.

Chen Ying was somewhat helpless; had it been anyone else, he would have taken Jinya and the others to check it out without a word.

But this professor at his side was famously strict about rules at the university, and his graduate students all mentioned him with a look of despair.

He insisted on collecting all samples before approaching the target, claiming that was the only way to maintain the integrity of the samples.

After collecting samples with him for a while, Chen Ying couldn't stand it anymore and said he would go ahead to take a look.

The professor frowned, wanting to stop him, but Chen Ying turned around and walked away, giving him no chance to speak.

Approaching the cave with subdued presence, Chen Ying could almost confirm by the scent that it was a tiger inside.

He took out a rabbit they had asked Jinya to help hunt earlier and threw it directly at the entrance of the cave.

Indeed, moments later, a tiger with striking stripes emerged leisurely from the cave, sniffed the wild rabbit, looked up, and swept its gaze around before noticing Chen Ying.

Chen Ying tried hard to convey his good intentions and did not rush to approach.

The tiger watched him for quite a while, then lowered its head to pick up the rabbit and started tearing into it voraciously.

Despite not being short of food, it would not pass up a meal that came to its doorstep.

Chen Ying waited until it had almost finished eating before slowly attempting to get closer.

The tiger ignored him, lying down on its side to leisurely gnaw the bones, occasionally glancing his way.

Five meters, three meters, two meters, one meter.

Chen Ying stopped when he was an arm's length away from the tiger and extended his hand, tentatively allowing it to sniff his scent.

The tiger showed no reaction, flicking its tail casually.

Chen Ying moved a bit closer, his fingers now able to touch the tiger's forehead.

Its fur was a bit rough, not as smooth as Jinya's or Leopard Sister's, nor as thick and soft as Great Bai's and Jiaojiao's.

Tentatively, he stroked the tiger's head; the tiger squinted its eyes and rubbed its head subconsciously against his palm.

Chen Ying's eyes brightened, and he moved closer, sitting down beside it.

The tiger stretched out its paw onto his knee and gave him a not-too-light, not-too-heavy swipe with its tail.

Chen Ying took out a specially made steel comb, let the tiger sniff it, and then began to groom it.

The fur he combed out was directly packed into sample bags, and he filled five or six before stopping.

Then he began to give the tiger a sort of massage, and after a complete round of cat kneading, the tiger turned into a jelly-like pancake.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Chen Ying spotted the tiger's little bell.

Its identity confirmed, Brother Hu was undoubtedly there.

Professor Bai watched from a distance, filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

Why wasn't such a talent working with him on tiger research?

Such a waste for him to be a veterinarian!

If this had been his student, he would have been the one stroking the tiger now.

After giving Brother Hu a thorough massage, Chen Ying suddenly had the impulsive idea to bow his head into its chest.

Brother Hu stared with wide eyes, seemingly not understanding what the two-legged beast was doing – it wasn't a tigress, it had no milk to offer him!

Feeling something was off, Brother Hu pushed Chen Ying away, got up to enter the cave, but suddenly turned its gaze where Professor Bai was hidden.

The same two-legged beast's scent reeked in the air; should it go scare them a bit?

Chen Ying also noticed Professor Bai's figure and grabbed Brother Hu's neck in one swift motion.

"Brother Hu, please show some respect, that's a colleague of my teacher, you can't pounce."

Brother Hu opened his mouth wide, letting out a low roar.

The breath was so strong, Chen Ying almost couldn't handle it and nearly yue out on the spot.

Upon seeing Chen Ying release him obediently, Brother Hu satisfyingly shook his fur and slowly sauntered back into his cave.

When Chen Ying saw it had gone back in without reemerging, he went back to find the professor and together, they descended the hill.

They picked up the pace downhill and reached the camping site by the creek before dark.

"It's confirmed, that tiger resides in the cave halfway up the mountain. Here is the fur I groomed from it, six samples in total, you guys decide how to divide them."

Then, Chen Ying sent a message to his friend from the M Alliance, telling him to contact the relevant person in charge for the samples.

Initially, Chen Ying was supposed to return to the emergency rescue station to stay overnight, but he was worried about their first night in the forest, not being familiar with the environment and possible dangers, so he reluctantly stayed.

The tents were delivered by Old Gao.

In the middle of the night, Jinya snuck over with Little Jin, almost causing the person on watch to scream.