Rebirth of the Godly Prodigal
chapter-189

Chapter 189: The Mascot of Tianjing City

Damn, looks like this dude isn’t easy to dupe, his information on everything is very thorough.

Hong Dali touched his chin, carefully calculating the possible results.

It shouldn’t be a simple thing for this Mu Huishou to appear. Settling Captain Zhao should be only one aspect of it. The other aspect… could it be that they have discovered the alligator snapping turtle in that cave? Or they anticipated that there’s some sort of treasure there?

Seeing Hong Dali’s reaction, Mu Huishou knew what he was worried about. He smiled and said, “Young Master Dali, don’t worry. I just want to know the situation. I guarantee with my integrity that I just want to understand what is in there, that’s all.”

“Oh, your integrity?” Hong Dali looked at him and suddenly asked Lin Chuyin, “Chuyin, is his integrity reliable?”

Mu Huishou: “…”

Luckily, although Lin Chuyin didn’t have any emotions, her answer was still quite reliable. “His reliability is 89/100.”

Mu Huishou felt very depressed.

Hong Dali was relieved. If Chuyin said so, then that must be the case. Then, Hong Dali grinned and said, “Brother Turn Back, you really want to know? But I have a condition for telling you!”

Mu Huishou had already expected that Hong Dali would definitely have conditions. Therefore, he didn’t object and just laughed. “Why don’t you let me take a look at the video, then we can discuss the conditions, how about that? I think, as long as your conditions are not too overboard, I still can make the decision myself.” Since he already said it this way, looks like his rank in the National Security Bureau wasn’t a low one.

“Since you are able to represent the National Security Bureau to discuss the terms and conditions with me, it would be embarrassing if you didn’t have the power to be able to decide on things yourself.” Hong Dali’s face put on a harmless smile and said, “Then, Brother Turn Back, let’s look at the video we took first?”

“Then, let’s do that now?” Mu Huishou smiled and said.

Very quickly, Lin Chuyin prepared her laptop and showed him the video. After just seeing two minutes of it, Mu Huishou was already astonished. “This can’t be? There really exist such a creature!? One of the four sacred beasts, the Black Tortoise!?” On the monitor of the laptop was the extremely huge alligator snapping turtle.

“It’s really scary for one to be uneducated!” Hong Dali decisively showed off the knowledge he only just learned from Lin Chuyin, not forgetting to look down on Mu Huishou at the same time. “This is an alligator snapping turtle! The alligator snapping turtle species is native to freshwater habitats. They don’t have a high requirement for their living environment. Their body is quite large. A fully grown alligator snapping turtle’s body length can reach 75 CM and weight as much as 100 KG. Of course, this one is even more incredible, it must weight at least a few tons.”

“Yup.” Mu Huishou touched his chin. “Looks like this alligator snapping turtle developed quite healthily. There might be some sort of variation in its genes too. Actually, this often happens to some animals because of various strange reasons. This isn’t a new thing anymore. I have even seen before an 800 KG tuna. It’s still considered normal for this alligator snapping turtle to grow to such an extent.”

“An 800 KG tuna!” Hong Dali’s eyes lit up. “Is it tasty!?”

“How would I know that?” Mu Huishou felt quite depressed towards Hong Dali’s answer. But now, since he had finished seeing the video, it was time to talk about the conditions. “Since there is such a large alligator snapping turtle in there, this matter can be either a big one or a small one. Young Master Dali, tell me your conditions first.”

“My condition is very simple, really.” Hong Dali touched his chin and said, “First, the Nation is not allowed to expropriate this place. Second, since this alligator snapping turtle was discovered in my territory, naturally, it belongs to me. No one is allowed to capture it for research!”

I have the title of Animal’s Best Friend, this alligator snapping turtle naturally will not hurt me.

“Hm…” Mu Huishou thought for a while and gradually said, “This two matters, both of them are not easy…”

“Brother Turn Back.” Hong Dali wasn’t silly, he naturally knew that it was time to negotiate. “Since you are able to show yourself here, naturally, you have the power to make decisions. If not, you wouldn’t have directly asked to talk with me, right?”

“Haha, it’s indeed convenient to talk with a smart person.” Mu Huishou laughed loudly. “Then, I shan’t go roundabouts with you. Let me put it this way, my people have also gathered quite a bit of information regarding this underground cave. It will only become an average tourist attraction, not too good, not too bad either. If I inform my superiors about this place and ask them not to take back this place, that will not be a problem.

“The real problem is this alligator snapping turtle.” Mu Huishou point at the alligator snapping turtle’s figure on the monitor. “This thing, if we think about it simply, it’s just a big turtle. But if we think about it more complexly, then, it will be a severe matter.”

Speaking up to this point, Mu Huishou said in a deep voice, “According to the news we obtained previously, it was said that there are occasional sounds of roaring coming from inside. However, the cave entrance is too small, so we couldn’t enter. Today, we heard that you guys came over here. We knew that you guys would be able to find out what’s inside, so we followed here. Put it this way, this alligator snapping turtle, if we exaggerate a bit, it’s the Black Tortoise, one of the four sacred beasts!”

The Black Tortoise, also called Xuan Ming, a combination of snake and turtle. It was a water god that lived in the north sea. Turtles were a symbol of longevity, and Xuan Ming became a symbol of immortality. Because the Underworld ¹was also in the north, so it was also called the God of the North. The Green Dragon and White Tiger controlled the four directions, the Vermilion Bird and the Black Tortoise maintained the balance of Yin and Yang. The Black Tortoise was also capable of entering the Underworld. Therefore, different from the other three sacred beasts, it was also named “Heavenly Emperor Zhen Wu.”

Hearing Mu Huishou saying that, Hong Dali very quickly understood his meaning. “Brother Turn Back, you mean to say that this alligator snapping turtle might become a totem and… Advertise it?”

“That’s right.” Mu Huishou said, “The most crucial thing about it is that it’s a huge turtle and it’s alive. Have you thought of its enormous influence on the citizens of the Nation once it goes on TV? One of the four sacred beasts, the Black Tortoise, coming alive, how much moral would that boost for our people?”

To put it bluntly, this alligator snapping turtle wasn’t just a large-sized turtle anymore.

It could become a symbol, a symbol of Heaven’s blessing.

“Yup, that’s indeed the case…” Hong Dali touched his chin and nodded. “Thinking about it this way, this is really interesting. One of the four sacred beasts, the Black Tortoise, appearing in front of everyone. If the Nation advertises and say that this is a symbol of the rise of our Nation, then everyone’s enthusiasm for work will definitely shoot up—but what has this got to do with me?”

“How has this got nothing to do with you!?” Mu Huishou frantically said, “It was discovered in your territory, at least before the Nation officially announce that it belongs to the Nation, it belongs to you…”

However, once he said that, Mu Huishou knew that he had fallen for Hong Dali’s trick. As expected, Hong Dali laughed loudly, his eyes shining golden lights. “That’s the way to go. Brother Turn Back, you have said for yourself that this big fellow belongs to me. To put it this way, I intended to raise it as a pet. Oh my, with it around, next time when I bring it out for a walk, just imagine this, me sitting on its back and carrying Quentin in my arms. If I have an eagle standing on my shoulder too, I will practically become the animal king of the city, right! That will be extremely cool!”

“I suddenly realized that you are really sinister.” The corner of Mu Huishou’s lips twitched. “You aren’t serious about sitting on it and walking it out on the streets, right?”

“Why not?” Hong Dali’s eyes were full of stars. “I’m sure that this thing is more attention-grabbing than my Soaring Angel by a hundred times! A hundred times! Also, I dare to guarantee.” Hong Dali humphed and said, “Other than me, no one else is capable of taming it!”

“That’s true.” Mu Huishou felt helpless. “You seem to naturally attract the welcome of animals. This might be related to the fact that you have a lack of attacking power as a human.”

Hong Dali had a weak constitution, practically anyone with a bit of power knew this.

Being a member of the National Security Bureau and being able to become its representative, he was naturally very well-informed. He also knew that Hong Dali liked to raise animals.

Now, hearing Hong Dali said that, Mu Huishou suddenly felt that this seemed to be the only possible solution—at least, this Hong Dali should be able to calm the emotions of this gigantic alligator snapping turtle so that it would not have a tendency to attack people.

Thinking about it like this, before his superiors gave him specific orders on what to do with the alligator snapping turtle, getting Hong Dali to interact with it first might be a good idea. This seemed more probable and also would not offend him—amongst the higher-ups in the National Security Bureau, the lucky prodigal Hong Dali had a well-known nickname that even Hong Dali himself didn’t know.

They called Hong Dali “The Mascot of Tianjing City.”

Of course, no one knew what Hong Dali would think of such a cute nickname if he knew about it.

Currently, Hong Dali was thinking about how he should ride the turtle once it belonged to him. Although a turtle moved very slowly, this one shouldn’t be too slow due to its huge size. Even if its speed couldn’t be compared to cars, it should be at least on par with the speed of bicycles…

“Young Master Dali.” Mu Huishou thought for a while and said, “I really can’t make the decision regarding this matter. However, I’m confident of one thing.” Saying so, he smiled and said, “At least before the official documents arrive, this alligator snapping turtle is still your private property. As long as you don’t take it out of our Nation, then, I can assure you that we will not make any move against you.”

“Hahaha, that’s enough for me!” Hong Dali was quite satisfied with his words. “Yup, looks like I should consider building a super enormous villa to ensure that it has enough space to move about. Or, should I just let it play in Fengyuan Lake? Oh my, it’s really smart of me to buy that place last time. Fengyuan Lake is so large, it’s the perfect place to be its home!”

Hearing Hong Dali said so, Tang Muxin softly said, “This time, Fengyuan Lake is also being used…”

“Since this is the case, then let’s hope that we will have a happy collaboration.” Mu Huishou stretched out his hand. “I wish that Young Master Dali will ensure your own safety. After all, you are very popular in my department.”

The mascot of Tianjing City, how could his popularity not be high?