Animal Detective

Chapter 157: Da Mei Scouts Again

As Chen Guanglin spoke, he was struck by a sense of absurdity.

The police were conducting an investigation, and they were actually letting a cat take the lead!

But Jiang Wengang had sworn to him that it was the real deal. The cat was like some kind of spirit—incredibly obedient.

Of course, the impression Dou Dou had made also played a part.

The police dog Shen Xin had trained for a few months performed even better than the professionals from the K-9 training base.

Lv Youwei picked up the thread. "Shen Xin, the cat is yours, and you know the situation. I want you to assess this yourself. If it can be done, we’ll give it a try. If not, we’ll figure something else out."

The subtext was that they weren’t forcing him.

Shen Xin looked toward Sun Zhao.

’Boss, give me some kind of sign here.’

’I was on my day off, just relaxing, and they yank me over here with one phone call. I’m still completely lost.’

Sun Zhao received the signal, cleared his throat, and said to Chen Guanglin, "Captain Chen, Xiaoshen is still young. Since I’m handing him over to you, you’d better bring him back to me in one piece."

Regarding what happened yesterday, although it was a coincidence, Sun Zhao was still a bit resentful.

One phone call, and his subordinate goes to help, only to end up in a hail of bullets. If something had really happened, the responsibility would have been his.

Chen Guanglin understood. He said in a low voice, "Captain Sun, don’t worry. I have it under control."

Shen Xin understood as well and said, "Director Lv, it shouldn’t be a problem."

’It’s just reconnaissance. Da Mei is perfectly suited for the job.’

Lv Youwei wasted no more words and gestured for everyone to move out.

Yesterday’s incident had been huge, and there was pressure from all levels. If they could bust a drug trafficking ring, it would give them something to show for it.

Sun Zhao beckoned to Shen Xin and took him to get a gun.

As they walked, he said, "Shen Xin, I have a personal stake in this, which is why I asked you to go."

He lowered his voice. "Back when we busted Old K’s drug ring, one of our own was killed in the line of duty—Xiaoding’s father. Xiaoding is one of us now. Since we have a chance to help catch the guy, it’s only right that we pitch in, for both personal and professional reasons."

Shen Xin nodded. He’d just been thinking the timing was a bit of a coincidence.

"Of course, the most important thing is your safety. Safety first!" Sun Zhao added with a stern warning.

"Understood, Captain Sun."

Shen Xin nodded, collected his gun, and then ran to the office to grab the collar.

He’d had Cai Zhe from the tech department modify the cat cam he’d bought earlier, replacing the conspicuous, large lens with a high-definition, police-grade micro-camera.

The battery was still integrated into the collar, which also had an audio recording function.

After finding Da Mei, the group departed in a hurry.

The drive from Nanjiang to Yongyang took over two hours. Shen Xin was in the same car as Jiang Wengang, who was downcast the entire way.

"Captain Jiang, what’s done is done. Stop sighing," Shen Xin said in a low voice. "Besides, if the sky falls, the tall guys will hold it up. They’re not going to make you take the blame, are they?"

Captain Chen was leading the team. If anyone were to be held responsible, he’d be the first in line.

Li Teng, who was driving, nodded in agreement.

Jiang Wengang waved his hand. "It’s not about that."

But seeing the "I get it" look on Shen Xin’s face, he sheepishly changed his tune. "Alright, I am a little afraid of taking the blame."

They were all just regular people; it was only human.

Jiang Wengang continued, "But I just feel so frustrated about how it all went down. I mean, how could we be so unlucky as to run right into those two, Fang Pinzhang and his buddy, on their way out?"

The key was that they had guns.

If even one person had been injured, especially an innocent bystander, he would have had to hand in his badge for sure.

Li Teng said, "Captain Jiang, don’t overthink it. Once we catch this Brother K guy, I doubt the higher-ups will do anything to us."

As he spoke, he turned his head to Da Mei and said, "Da Mei, you gotta come through for us."

Da Mei didn’t even acknowledge him.

Jiang Wengang said, "Shen Xin, you’ve been a huge help on this case. I won’t forget it."

"Captain Jiang, you’re being too formal," Shen Xin replied politely.

Just as he said that, his phone vibrated.

It was Ding Yuwei. She’d sent a message asking if he was out on another mission with the anti-drug unit.

Shen Xin replied that he was.

Then he saw the "typing" indicator on the other end.

But after a long time, no message came through.

Nearly a full minute later, Ding Yuwei finally sent another message, telling Shen Xin to be extremely careful and to run if things went south.

"Don’t worry, I’ll be fine."

Shen Xin replied.

’The case originated in Nanjiang, but the actual operation is being coordinated by the provincial anti-drug department.’

’Yongyang is part of Ningshan City, so the Ningshan Anti-Drug Division will send people to co-command, while the actual fieldwork will be handled by the Ningshan SWAT division.’

’So I won’t really be in the thick of it.’

A little over two hours later, the group arrived at their destination.

The specific location was Fangkou Town, to the west of Yongyang.

This town was not only the westernmost in Yongyang, but it was also on the provincial border. Just past it was Anzhou Province.

Yongyang wasn’t a wealthy area. The entirety of Fangkou Town was situated along Provincial Road S330, with a highway exit to the southeast. The car turned onto a broken-down cement road.

"This is it."

Jiang Wengang pointed to his right.

Shen Xin looked over.

The road wasn’t wide, and it was surrounded by various township enterprises.

Then, past a small machining factory, there was a standalone compound. The main building was a small, grayish-yellow cement factory building.

A corrugated steel awning had been built as high as the factory itself.

It was surrounded by high walls on all four sides. The large, double iron gates were shut tight, and on the Yalei Shoe Factory sign hanging outside the gate, several characters had fallen off.

It was now just after ten at night, and a faint light could be seen shining from within.

The surrounding area was quite secluded; directly across from the factory gate was a stretch of farmland.

The car didn’t stop. It continued on for another two hundred meters before turning into a printing factory.

"Whoa, what a setup."

Shen Xin saw at a glance that the courtyard was full of cars.

Not police cars, of course.

But there were two large buses parked there, and under the awning at the factory entrance stood fully armed SWAT officers.

Li Teng stopped the car and said, "You bet. It’s an entire company."

Shen Xin was secretly amazed.

Ningshan was the provincial capital, so all its units were over-equipped. Their SWAT brigade was as big as Nanjiang’s entire SWAT division.

"Xiaoshen!"

From the car ahead, Captain Chen called out, leading Shen Xin to meet the others.

It seemed they had temporarily borrowed the printing factory’s building.

The factory was a three-story building, and from there, they had a commanding view of the entire shoe factory.

When they reached the third floor, a group of people were in a heated discussion.

"Captain Chen."

A stern-faced, middle-aged man raised his hand to greet Captain Chen.

It was Tang Youkun, the captain of the Ningshan City Anti-Drug Division.

Another important person there was Zhang Ning, the captain of the SWAT division’s Dragon and Tiger Assault Team.

Shen Xin had heard of this Dragon and Tiger Assault Team before.

They were always on the news—the elite of the elite.

"Which one of you is the Shen Xin you’ve been talking about?" Zhang Ning asked.

After Captain Chen made the introduction, all eyes immediately focused on Shen Xin. Zhang Ning came up to shake his hand first.

His hand was large, covered by a tactical glove, and his grip was powerful.

"Where’s your cat?" Zhang Ning pressed.

Shen Xin felt he was being a bit overly enthusiastic and said that Da Mei was in the car.

"Let’s go, I want to see it." With a curious look, he pulled Shen Xin along to see the cat.

Tang Youkun and the others followed.

The fact that Shen Xin was even here meant they had already approved Captain Chen’s reconnaissance plan.

They were just as curious about this cat that could supposedly conduct surveillance.

Shen Xin brought Da Mei out.

"She’s beautiful." Zhang Ning’s eyes lit up.

With a smile, he reached out to pet Da Mei.

’Her affinity is pretty high now,’ Shen Xin thought. ’Da Mei has gotten a lot more comfortable with people.’

When she occasionally visited the station, she would let other colleagues pet and feed her.

So she didn’t hiss or back away, allowing Zhang Ning to stroke her a couple of times.

"Such a good girl."

Zhang Ning was beaming.

You’d never have guessed that this big, burly guy was a cat lover. He pulled Shen Xin aside and told him he had a pair of Ragdolls at home.

He was super into it, even looking up guides online to make his own cat food.

Seeing the two of them starting to exchange cat-raising tips, Tang Youkun cleared his throat and asked if they shouldn’t get down to business first.

He, too, was extremely curious as to how Da Mei would conduct her reconnaissance.