When Yang Lin followed Director Song to the Lion and Tiger Mountain Villa, he finally understood the full story.
Huanhuan, as they called her, was an adult female lion.
If the situation had been that simple, it would have been fine. Although childbirth could be difficult for a lioness, it wouldn't usually pose a significant danger.
However, this time was different. Huanhuan had not given birth to a normal cub, but a rare liger.
The father of the cub was a male Siberian tiger from the park.
It was not uncommon for these two apex predators to produce offspring these days.
Both domestically and internationally, there had been numerous documented cases of ligers or tigons being born.
As they were both felines with consistent genes and matching chromosome counts of 38, there was no reproductive barrier between lions and tigers.
Theoretically, offspring from such a union should be superior in all aspects.
But in reality, this was not the case at all.
Firstly, the survival rate of cubs was extremely low. Ligers had a survival rate of one in a hundred thousand, while tigons had one in five hundred thousand.
Furthermore, the mother lion faced immense danger during labor. Even if she miraculously gave birth to a tigon cub, the cub would usually not survive for long due to its weak constitution.
Realizing this, Yang Lin quickened his pace.
Before long, a separate small room appeared before him.
Inside, a lioness lay in obvious pain, with a park veterinarian anxiously by her side, sweating profusely.
Blood occasionally flowed from the lioness's abdomen, a clear sign of impending miscarriage.
Upon seeing Director Song, the veterinarian rushed over and said,
"Director, Huanhuan's condition is critical. The fetus inside her is malformed and cannot be delivered normally."
"Therefore, my recommendation is to remove the fetus, otherwise Huanhuan's life will be in danger."
The veterinarian then looked at Director Song, seemingly awaiting his response.
Although anxious, Director Song quickly made a decision.
"What are you waiting for? Remove the fetus immediately. It's unlikely to survive anyway."
Hearing Director Song's instruction, the veterinarian nodded and re-entered the small room.
Just then, the lioness, who had fallen into a coma due to extreme pain, suddenly opened her eyes.
For some reason, as Yang Lin looked into her eyes, he felt as if she had sensed something.
He clearly saw a trace of sadness in her gaze.
"Could she have realized that her child was about to be taken from her?"
As the thought crossed his mind, a single tear trickled from the corner of the lioness's eye.
Seeing this, Yang Lin's heart trembled.
At this stage of pregnancy, the fetus was essentially a complete individual, with thoughts.
It might even interact with its mother occasionally.
The lioness had already sensed her child's presence and might have been preparing for its arrival.
She must have longed to see her child, a living, breathing being, not a cold corpse.
With this in mind, Yang Lin took a deep breath and said seriously to Director Song,
"Director Song, let me go in and help. I have some experience in animal births from my time at Xihong Zoo."
As soon as he finished speaking, Director Song's face lit up with surprise.
"That's wonderful! I'm so sorry to trouble you, Director Yang, right after you've arrived."
With Director Song's permission, Yang Lin didn't delay, rolling up his sleeves and entering the room.
The lioness seemed to sense his presence, and inexplicably, a glimmer of hope ignited in her eyes.
She felt an unusual aura emanating from Yang Lin.
Under the lioness's hopeful gaze, Yang Lin slowly approached her.
The next moment, Yang Lin's palm touched the lioness's forehead without any protection.
Primary Healing was instantly activated.
As a faint glow, invisible to ordinary eyes, flashed, the lioness's condition immediately improved, and her agitated emotions calmed down.
However, as everyone was concerned about her safety, no one noticed this.
Only Yang Lin whispered,
"Don't worry, everything will be alright."
As soon as he finished speaking, the veterinarian forcefully extracted the fetus from the lioness's body.
Looking at the cub, about the size of a small cat, with characteristics of both a tiger and a lion, Yang Lin's heart skipped a beat.
From his current angle, the little tigon showed almost no signs of life.
The lioness seemed to realize this, and a low mournful sound escaped her.
At this moment, almost everyone believed the tigon's death was a foregone conclusion.
But seeing the lioness's devastated expression, Yang Lin still decided to take a gamble.
He immediately cast a Gaze of Insight onto the little tigon.
[Tigon (Near Death, Gene Collapse) Due to severe genetic defects in this species, the talent panel cannot be activated.]
Seeing this unprecedented notification, Yang Lin's heart sank again.
The good news was that the tigon was not truly dead.
The bad news was that he couldn't use his skill points to forcibly prolong its life.
This was almost a certain death scenario.
"Is there really no other way?"
As Yang Lin frowned, he suddenly recalled an ability he had never used before.
"Right, there's the Light of Evolution. I wonder if it can heal the tigon's genetic defects."
He couldn't afford to hesitate any longer.
He immediately cast a Light of Evolution onto the little tigon, whose life force was gradually fading.
As a seven-colored light bathed the little tigon,
Soon, a miraculous change began to occur within the cub.
The previously broken and collapsing gene chains were being reassembled in a way that transcended biological understanding.
Once all the collapsed genes were repaired, its chromosome count directly changed from 38 to 40.
This meant that from this moment on, it was a new species, independent of lions and tigers.
Even Yang Lin himself could not have imagined that a casual cast of the Light of Evolution would create a species that had never appeared on Planet Blue.
And shortly after the tigon's genes were reassembled, a unique cry escaped its mouth.
Hearing this sound, the lioness, who had been consumed by despair, immediately showed joy on her face.
At the same time, a system notification sounded in Yang Lin's mind.
"Congratulations to the host for witnessing the birth of a new species. Reward: 400 Achievement Points."
"To facilitate the cataloging of this species, please name the new species."