Taming The Tiger Man - Genma Series #1

At eight A.M., Angelina was at Genma’s secret zoo. She intended to go to cage number twelve to check on the occupants: two female Smilodon and one male. If the Smilodon had fought a hologram yesterday, she would have expected to find those animals still in the cage.

“Doctor Angelina, if you’re searching for Smilodon carcasses, using a helicopter to travel to America would be necessary,” Doctor Fonda’s words caused Angelina to pause during her walk.

Angelina turned to her colleague. She found Fonda sitting at their table reading the file for Smilodon number 19 with a giant red CEASED text on it. “The Green Anaconda managed to crush her bones and devour her at 20:32 West Indonesia time.”

“So, yesterday’s battle was really between animals? Not a hologram? Y-You let people watch it?” asked Angelina with a pale face. Would Ramaik also end up like that someday?

“Doctor, holograms are only used during training.” This time, it was Nixon who answered. “Come on, Doctor. It’s about time you shaved that cat’s beard.”

Savage!

Angelina clenched her trembling hands. She found herself hissing angrily.”Doctor Fonda, you’ve forgotten the veterinarian’s sworn. The act of putting animals to death just for the sake of entertainment is a violation of our professional code of ethics.”

However, the woman Angelina had spoken to only glanced at her before she picked up a piece of paper and scribbled it with a pen.

“Doctor Angelina, I think you forgot. My duties, which will become yours, are to watch over the golden cat and Inyiak. If you wish to protest, you can directly reprimand Doctor Erick, who is in charge.”

Fonda stopped writing before she made a mocking smile. “Perhaps he is interested in feeding live human flesh to King Cobra. Accidents happen everywhere, right?”

Angelina gasped when she heard the threat from her coworker, who was now chuckling to herself. Crazy woman!

Fonda stopped writing and thrust the paper in front of Angelina. “This is Inyiak’s meal plan for the week. Post it near the closet. The cleaning service will pick it up and deliver it to the kitchen. If you want to fulfill your oath, I suggest shaving Inyiak’s face before he gets a skin disease.”

Angelina pulled the paper roughly. She walked to Ramaik’s cage and called her bodyguard. “Come on, Mr. Nixon.”

*****

The artificial wall closed behind them when Angelina and Nixon were inside the room for Ramaik. She paused to read the paper she was holding.

Two meals a day, at seven and six in the evening. One meal of one and a half kilograms of meat? Angelina widened her eyes as she read the amount and variety of meat her patient ate.

Chicken, cow, kangaroo, horse, goat, deer. Only grilled without seasoning? Limited fruit without vegetables.

“Mr. Nixon, how do they feed Ramaik? I’ve never seen a single person come to this place,” asked Angelina as she raised her head and turned to her bodyguard with a puzzled frown.

“They use a small elevator to deliver food and clothes.” The big man pointed to the bars where Ramaik was with his thumb. “That animal has been trained to press the elevator button.”

“Mr. Nixon, stop using the word animal!” snapped Angelina with a sour face. “The composition of this food is unfit for humans. He shouldn’t be consuming this much meat.”

“Doctor, I believe the cat’s fondness for meat isn’t my doing. You could swap it with vegetables. I’ve heard of a temple in Thailand that is said to transform wild animals into vegetarians.” Nixon scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Perhaps you could consider something like that. Maybe papaya?”

Angelina had no intention of responding to her bodyguard’s stupid remark. She would change the nutritional composition by gradually adding 250 grams of vegetables and 150 grams of fruit each day after Fonda left.

Angelina walked to the cupboard to retrieve Ramaik’s file, preparing the tools and scissors. However, she suddenly recalled the training she had witnessed yesterday, causing her heart to throb restlessly.

Ramaik looks savage.

She turned to Nixon. The man had just pulled up and sat on a chair. “Mr. Nixon, has Ramaik ever hurt a human?”

“Hmm, the doctor who took care of him before Doctor Fonda had a claw wound on his back,” Nixon replied while peering at the contents of his anesthetic gun. “His head was fractured. He’s now in charge of the Research Floor.”

Angelina caught her breath as her face turned deathly pale. “Why did you keep this from me?!”

She remembered when she asked her patient to turn over in a conscious state to check for stitch marks. “He could have suddenly clawed me!”

“Doctor, I already reminded you to treat him like an animal. Did you forget?” Nixon cocked the stun gun so that it was in a ready-to-fire position. “Keep in mind the true nature of his behavior. He is a fighting animal that slaughtered his opponent many times.”

Angelina took the blowgun she had left on the cabinet. She gulped down as she recalled one of her tips for dealing with Bowo, her favorite tiger who was about to become a father.

Never turn your back and run suddenly. After all, the tiger has the nature of a cat.

Angelina glanced at her bodyguard and found him busy scratching his ears with his pinkie. She abandoned asking that stupid man to move the chair closer to the cage and put Ramaik’s file on the table while muttering, “I will write the result after I check him.”

Nixon blew dirt off his pinkie and said, “Doctor Fonda never does check-ups every Friday. She only shaves his hair and beard.” He looked at the watch on his wrist. “It’s almost time for the beast to do agility training. I don’t think there’s time.”

“Well,” Angelina replied as they walked, “there’s still a chance that the wound on his back hasn’t healed. I couldn’t see the condition of the stitches when he was practicing yesterday.”

“It’s up to you, Doc.”

Angelina ignored her bodyguard’s overly casual remarks. Her pace slowed as she approached the bars and stopped when she saw the creature’s figure.

Ramaik took the same position as yesterday. He sat leaning against the wall with one leg extended and the other folded. He lowered his head until his black hair covered most of his face.

Angelina trembled involuntarily. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before squatting down, positioning both knees against the floor, and placing the medical equipment beside her.

“H-hello, Ramaik, we meet again,” Angelina greeted nervously, although she was at a safe distance.

Ramaik turned his head. The creature then stared at Angelina in silence.

Angelina caught her breath as she noticed that his beard had grown along his jaw, and fine hair had appeared on the upper lip of Ramaik.

“Mr. Nixon, can’t he shave his beard?” asked Angelina without blinking. Her heart beat faster. However, this time, it was not because of fear.

Ramaik now looked even more attractive than Paul.

“We could try,” Nixon replied with an open mind. “He should have the intelligence of a monkey.”

Ramaik suddenly responded by letting out a low growl. The creature glanced at Nixon with a frown.

“Mr. Nixon, stop bothering him!” snapped Angelina as she twisted her body to glare at her bodyguard. “He understands what you’re saying!”

“It means he can shave his mustache,” Nixon retorted casually.

However, before Angelina could comment, her eyes had already bulged in shock. The big, empty-headed man raised his stun gun and targeted it at Ramaik, who responded with a ferocious roar.

“Doctor, just throw the razor into the cage. I’ll shoot him if he refuses.”

“Your actions are not helping at all! Put the gun down!”

Unfortunately, Angelina’s authority was questionable, as her bodyguard paid no heed to her orders and instead ducked down with his finger poised to pull the trigger. “I’m pretty sure I can shoot him right in the forehead.”

Angelina swiftly shifted to block that man’s vision. Ignoring the angry roar behind her, she stood tall, arms akimbo, and snapped at her bodyguard, “Mr. Nixon! Lower your weapon—now!”

“Doctor, your actions are dangerous. The beast could have clawed your back,” Nixon said without lowering his weapon. “I suggest you move five steps to the right so I can shoot him directly.”

What an ignorant baboon!

The sound of clashing objects and an angry roar from Ramaik’s cage entered Angelina’s hearing. She took long strides toward her bodyguard and swatted the muzzle of the stun gun away.

“Stop threatening him. Your actions are provoking him to attack!” Angelina’s hiss turned into a scream at the end of the sentence. The woman was breathing hard from anger. “Put down your weapon!”

“Oh, all right,” Nixon surrendered, complying with a forced expression. “But don’t blame me if you get claw wounds afterward.”

“My safety is even more at risk if you continue to drive him berserk! Stop doing anything that could provoke him! Do you understand?”

Nixon raised his right eyebrow. Despite the petite stature of his interlocutor, the tall man showed no signs of intimidation. Nonetheless, he continued to show respect to Angelina, who stood just 155 centimeters tall, by remaining seated in the chair.

“Doctor, you’re wasting time. He should be ready for training soon,” Nixon retorted as he looked up to observe the clock on the wall. “The way you’re handling the beast is very inefficient.”

Angelina’s desire to strangle the big, muscular man in front of her with her stethoscope peaked. However, a purring sound made her reflexively look back.

Ramaik was still standing. Despite this, the creature no longer showed any signs of aggression. He stared at Angelina before returning to purr and blinking slowly.

Eh? Angelina’s cheeks heated up. She understood her patient’s intentions. He called her to come closer.

His body was not tense and did not show aggressiveness.

Angelina observed Ramaik’s condition and concluded. The woman complied. However, she stopped at a safe distance and smiled nervously.

“I-it’s time to shave your beard, huh.” Angelina squatted down to lift the battery-powered shaver off the floor before gesturing to the jaw area. “Shave. Can you do it yourself?”

Ramaik tilted his head. He looked puzzled at Angelina while his hands gripped the bars tightly.

“Uh…” Angelina demonstrated the movement of using an electric shaver towards the cheek and then holding her face. “… shaving, can you do it by yourself?”

The tip of Ramaik’s lip suddenly twitched. His eyes flashed humorously as a long purr sounded from his clenched lips.

Oh my! How can he look so cool and cute at the same time?!

“Doctor, just throw in that electric shaver,” Nixon complained. “It’s been too long.”

Nixon’s voice reacted positively to Ramaik. He turned to the big man and growled. Angelina immediately stepped back two feet. She handed over the shaver to Ramaik before he went wild. “Ramaik! Here! Shave!”

An angry frown instantly refracted from Ramaik’s face. He tilted his head to the right and examined the object.

“Take it,” Angelina coaxed. “I don’t want to drug you. Take it and use it yourself.”

Ramaik grabbed the electric razor from Angelina’s hand. He flipped through it with a look of confusion.

“T-turn the on button first.” Angelina tried to guide Ramaik by pointing to the button. “J-just press it once.”

Ramaik brought the electric razor closer to his face for a better look. He then turned to Nixon, who was yawning widely, and with surprising speed, he threw the thing right into his victim’s forehead.

Angelina reflexively followed the direction of the razor, which darted like a bird. Her eyes bulged in surprise as Nixon’s head jerked to the back with a loud thud.

“You darn cat!”

Nixon’s shout instantly echoed. The big man rubbed the bluish lump on his forehead while Ramaik gave him a long purr.

“Mr. Nixon! Stop!” shrieked Angelina as her bodyguard picked up the gun and pointed it at the bars. She rushed to block the line of sight and yelled, “Get out! It’s time for practice! We’re coming out now!”