Chapter 329: Chapter 329: The Neighboring Country Loses Its Cool

When Xu Ying heard the word "oil," she was completely stunned, feeling as if a gold brick had fallen from the sky and hit her on the head, making her stutter: "O... Oil?!"

She hastily dialed Director Yi’s number.

On the other end, Director Yi’s voice nearly cracked after hearing the report: "What?! Oil?!"

"Hold on, I’ll send someone over immediately!"

After hanging up the phone, Xu Ying crouched down and asked the Sand Rat Boss, "Sand Rat Boss, where are your sick cousins now?"

The Sand Rat Boss wagged its tail proudly: [Don’t worry~ I’ve already sent my kids to take them to the Fluffy Animal Hospital! It gestured skillfully, [registration, consultation, getting medicine, I know the whole process~]

Xu Ying finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Tell them not to worry, I’ll prepare a new home for them."

Soon, Wang Qiao from the Oil Exploration Institute arrived at the scene with a professional team.

They brought various high-tech equipment—portable seismic detectors, geological sampling toolkits, and several precision instruments that Xu Ying couldn’t name.

Wang Qiao and his team worked in the pit for almost three hours, collecting data and samples.

Xu Ying noticed that as time passed, Wang Qiao’s expression grew more and more solemn.

"How is it?" Xu Ying couldn’t help but ask, feeling uncertain.

Wang Qiao removed his safety helmet and wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Preliminary survey results indicate there’s indeed an oil field below."

He took a deep breath, "And the reserves are quite considerable. Judging by the oil seepage and seismic data, it could well be a medium-sized oil field."

He pulled out a tablet and called up a set of data: "Conservatively estimated, the recoverable reserves are at least over fifty million barrels."

"Fifty... fifty million barrels?!" Xu Ying nearly bit her tongue. Calculating this value at the current oil price, just how many zeros would that be! Suddenly she felt a bit weak in the legs and quickly held onto the nearby excavator.

When Xu Ying and Wang Qiao submitted their survey report to the higher authorities, the news spread like wildfire.

The same afternoon, a call from the top leader of Xizhou Province directly reached Xu Ying’s cell phone.

"Little Xu Station Chief!"

The leader’s hearty laugh came over the phone, "You’re really Xizhou Province’s lucky star! First, the Desert Animal Rescue Station, then the hit with ’Wilderness Survival Rules,’ and now the discovery of an oil field... truly remarkable!"

"It was the sand rats that found it!" Xu Ying held her phone, both happy and apprehensive, "Leader, I have a concern... If we develop this oil field, will it destroy the desert ecosystem? The vegetation that’s hard to restore, and the wildlife..."

"Hahaha, rest assured about this!" The leader’s voice was steady and strong, "Our country’s crude oil reserves are now ample; we’ll protect this oil field as a strategic reserve without large-scale development unless there’s an emergency."

Hearing this response, Xu Ying’s anxious heart finally settled down.

Xu Ying nodded, a relieved smile spreading across her face. She crouched down and said to the Sand Rat Boss, "We’ll find a better digging site for your relatives! And we’ll fill their warehouses too~"

The Sand Rat Boss excitedly spun around on the ground: [That’s great! I need to tell all my relatives this good news!]

Half a month later, in the early morning.

Xu Ying was sleeping in a temporary camp near the border.

Now, the Xizhou Province is enthusiastically building an ecological corridor to accommodate animals migrating from the Desert North Country, and Xu Ying, as the overall coordinator, just arrived at the border line for the animal army.

Xu Ying was awakened from her dream by squeaking sounds, as the Sand Rat Boss excitedly jumped around her pillow: [They’re coming, they’re all coming!]

Xu Ying hurriedly threw on her coat and ran outside, and the scene before her took her breath away—

On the borderline, members of the Snow Leopard Assault Team appeared first, followed by more than twenty snow leopards "immigrating" from the Desert North Country.

These big cats had messy fur and wary eyes, some bearing scars from traps.

They cowered, every rustle of grass or wind causing a commotion.

Soon after, clouds of dust billowed in the distance.

The Przewalski’s Wild Horse herd galloped forward, led by the original twelve horses.

Behind them, over fifty new members "poached" from the Desert North Country followed.

"Oh my god..." Xu Ying covered her mouth. She didn’t expect the action to be so successful.

She quickly coordinated with other staff to settle the animal army.

The reaction of these snow leopards from the Desert North Country was heart-wrenching.

When they saw the protected area Dragon Country had prepared for them, with spacious caves, regularly supplied fresh mutton, and hidden observation posts... they all froze, unable to approach, unable to believe it was freely given.

An old snow leopard even made a low growl of alarm, thinking it was some new kind of trap.

"Don’t be afraid," Xu Ying gently soothed, instructing the staff to retreat to a distance, "It’s very safe here, no one will ever harm you again."

The new snow leopards still looked timid, so Xu Ying asked the native leopards to help them get acquainted with the environment and settle in for a few days.

One day, Xu Ying was making her usual rounds of the new residents’ living area.

Suddenly, she noticed in the shadows of a cave, the most timid mother snow leopard was cautiously peeking out.

[Is there... really no hunter here?] The mother snow leopard’s voice was as soft as falling snow.

Xu Ying slowly crouched down: "I promise you, there will never be a hunter here."

[Is the meat... fresh every day?] A young snow leopard peeked out from behind a rock, [In the Desert North Country, we were always hungry...]

"Of course," Xu Ying pointed to the feeding point in the distance, "Twice a day, morning and evening, and there’s a vet for regular check-ups to keep you healthy."

The largest male snow leopard paced over, [The cave is warm, much more comfortable than our old home.]

It suddenly lowered its voice, [Yesterday I secretly watched, those humans with strange instruments really only watch us from afar...] 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

[I love the hot spring pool!]

The liveliest little snow leopard said, bouncing around, [And I won’t have to worry about stepping on traps anymore!]

The mother snow leopard finally stepped out fully, gently rubbing against Xu Ying’s pant leg: [Thank you for giving us... a place where we can safely raise our cubs.]

Xu Ying felt her eyes heat up, she extended her fingers, and the mother snow leopard hesitated for a moment, then touched her fingertip with its moist nose.

At that moment, all words seemed superfluous.

In the distance, the new herd of wild horses was running joyfully on the grassland, the kicked-up dust sparkling in the sunlight, just like Xu Ying’s elated heart at that moment.

The Przewalski’s Wild Horse herd quickly grew. The new members quickly adapted to the environment, blending in with the native horses.

Monitoring data showed that the population of Przewalski’s Wild Horse in Dragon Country more than doubled!

Meanwhile, the neighbor Desert North Country finally realized too late that their rare animals were all crossing the border to Dragon Country!