White Lion

Biodata

Background / History

The White Lion Area originated after Old Zhao attempted to destroy the Zoo’s supernatural entity. His attack failed, but lion roars shook the Zoo that night, and the enclosure subsequently became a place “it” dared not enter. Old Zhou described this refuge as Old Zhao’s legacy 38.

After the Zoo altered the Visitor Rules and every visitor died, Old Chen handed the director’s badge to Old Zhou and left with Old Li. Roars sounded again that night; two more white lions appeared the following morning 38.

In his final letter, Old Zhou announced his intention to join his companions and become their “lion king,” asking a successor to claim the badge. Su Chen later understood that Old Zhou and the others had become white lions to continue fighting the entity 39 43.

Appearance

• White coloration: The genuine guardians appear as white lions; a goat-created impostor can assume the same appearance 21 33.
• Imposing build: The leading lion is distinguished as the largest, strongest, and most powerfully built of the four 23 24 43.
• Humanlike gestures: They exchange meaningful looks, nod in agreement, and communicate through low roars 21 45 50.

Personality

The lions retain humanlike awareness and a protective commitment to the Zoo. They respond to staff, recognize the director’s badge, and leave their enclosure to defend Su Chen when he attempts to inherit the directorship 21 43.

Their loyalty does not mean unquestioning approval. When Su Chen proposes taking the badge out of the Zoo with the black shadow’s help, three lions react angrily. The leading lion nevertheless honors its promise of absolute trust, persuades the others to restrain themselves, and leads them back to the enclosure 45.

Abilities & Skills

Purifying Roars

Their collective roar removes contamination and helps restore a visitor’s perception 21 23.

• After the four genuine lions destroy an extra lion, their synchronized roars leave Su Chen feeling lighter and cleansed 21.
• Recorded lion roars are played through staff megaphones during the Elephant Enclosure rescue, alongside staff instructions and the appearance of a real elephant 21.
• A survival note describes their roars as both alarms that drive “it” away and laments for the dead 29.
• Roaring alone is insufficient for Su Chen’s remaining contamination; he subsequently requires a bite 23.

Purifying Bites

The lions bite both people who can still be saved and those beyond saving. Their treatment is therefore potentially lethal rather than universally safe 29.

• Nonfatal treatment: The leading lion bites Su Chen’s left arm and releases him. His wound stops bleeding and begins healing without medical treatment 23.
• Personal cost: Su Chen experiences pain resembling the tearing away of part of his soul. What the bite removes is not explicitly identified 23.
• Fatal treatment: The lions prioritize rabbit-eared visitors and kill several Chosen Ones whose contamination has progressed 22.
• Mutation response: The largest lion kills Yamashita Kenichiro as his eyes turn blood-red and he begins mutating 24.

Detecting and Fighting “It”

A handwritten survival note states that white lions, like apes, can see the entity 29.

• The entity’s fear of white lions explains, in Su Chen’s analysis, why rules concerning them remain undistorted 9.
• All four lions directly confront the black shadow and intercept its attack after Su Chen puts on the director’s badge 43 44.
• Their battle brings down surrounding trees, but neither side gains a quick victory 44.
• Their protection is not absolute: the entity can undermine the enclosure by introducing a goat disguised as an additional lion 33.

Erasing an Extra Lion

The genuine lions can destroy an intruding white lion in a manner unlike ordinary predation 21.

• After staff splash the extra lion with Rabbit Blood, the four attack it together 21.
• Each bite makes portions of its body vanish rather than leaving torn flesh; they eventually erase it completely 21.

Lion Enclosure Rules

The handbook claims that the four normal lions are friendly toward humans and require no precautions. Their later attacks show why this assurance cannot be treated as blanket protection for contaminated visitors 12 22 23.

Relationships

• Su Chen — Receives purification from the leading lion, then earns the four lions’ protection and support as the new director. After the rollback, they again accept him when he presents the badge 23 43 45 50.
• Old Zhao — His failed assault leaves the Zoo with the White Lion Area, a refuge from the entity 38.
• Old Chen and Old Li — Their final departure is followed by the appearance of two additional lions 38.
• Old Zhou — Declares that he will join the transformed defenders and become their lion king. The leading lion is not explicitly identified by name in the encounters provided 39 43.
• Zoo employees — Cooperate with the lions to treat contaminated visitors, contain escaped rabbits, and remove extra lions 12 21.
• “It” / the black shadow — Their principal enemy. It fears them but fights back when threatened 9 43 44.

Story Role / Major Arcs

First Visit to the Enclosure

Following the Elephant Enclosure rescue, staff bring the visitors to the lions. The four genuine guardians erase a fifth lion and roar to purify the crowd. They then attack rabbit-eared Chosen Ones, killing Sang Luoyi and others; Lamb is killed after Yamashita Kenichiro shuts the exit in his path 21 22 23.

Su Chen survives a treatment bite and discovers that the Aquarium has appeared where the normal exit should be. He later uses the enclosure to trap Kenichiro, who panics over having drunk Rabbit Blood, begins mutating, and is killed by the leading lion 23 24.

Aquarium and Compromised Refuge

Su Chen theorizes that the humanity remaining after a person is bitten to death by a white lion becomes a jellyfish. This remains his interpretation of the available clues, not a directly witnessed transformation 29 30.

The entity apparently misunderstands this process and drowns surviving bite victims in the jellyfish pool. Su Chen escapes and returns to the Lion Enclosure for refuge 30 31 32. Later, he witnesses a white goat enter the enclosure and become a fifth lion, leading him to conclude that its purifying protection has temporarily failed 33.

Supporting the New Director

When Su Chen is trapped in the Director’s Office, all four lions arrive to protect him and urge him to wear the badge. They fight the shadow while he arranges his next move, then accept his demand for trust despite opposing his apparent bargain with their enemy 43 44 45.

After reloading his save, Su Chen retrieves the badge and reaches the enclosure during daylight. The four lions greet his declaration of directorship with roars, and their leader gives him a firm nod of trust 50.

Associated Items

• Zoo Director’s Badge — A bronze badge engraved with a roaring lion. Wearing it makes the holder a white lion in the entity’s perception; this does not establish a physical transformation of Su Chen 42 43.
• White Lion plush toy — Holds the badge beneath a pile of cognitively contaminating animal dolls in the Director’s Office. Su Chen retrieves the toy and badge again after the rollback 42 50.
• Rabbit Blood — Used by staff to expose and immobilize an extra lion before the genuine four destroy it 12 21.