Animal Detective

Chapter 337: Chapter 275: Historic, a Milestone

Back in Ningshan again.

Tang Changhong was the base director and had too much paperwork to sign off on, so he couldn’t get away. Li Yinjiang led the team instead.

Six people and six dogs, plus Shen Xin’s side, which was two people and two dogs.

Li Jiahui had come along.

Tang Changhong’s reasoning was that Shen Xin might not be able to manage on his own, so he had Li Jiahui come along to assist.

She sat next to Shen Xin, excitedly scrolling through travel guides on her phone the whole way, asking him if there were any sights he wanted to see.

The competition started on the 25th and would last for five days. They arrived two days early to acclimate to the site, making the trip a week long in total.

The schedule wasn’t too packed, so there was plenty of time to look around Ningshan.

"I’m good with anything."

Shen Xin assumed it was a team-building activity and casually agreed.

Besides, Shen Xin had been to Ningshan many times. He’d already seen all its few attractions.

Shen Xin was also on his phone, chatting with Li Mo.

They were discussing police dog helmets.

He had looked it up and found that only a few domestic manufacturers offered professional police dog equipment.

Among their products were so-called smart helmets for police dogs.

At first, Shen Xin thought the things were pretty simple. ’Isn’t it just a helmet with some integrated camera and communication modules?’

He felt like Cai Zhe and his team could probably whip one up from scratch.

But after really looking into it, he discovered it wasn’t that simple at all.

For instance, they had numerous sensors and could monitor the police dog’s physical condition in real-time.

Even the two lenses on the goggles had features like UV protection and adjustable light transmittance.

There were also infrared fill lights for nighttime use and laser guidance.

The laser guidance system was particularly interesting; it would emit a laser to designate a target and guide the police dog’s movements with precision.

And according to Li Mo, it was all quite high-tech.

This was because both the camera and laser guidance modules needed to be mounted on a gimbal for stabilization.

Cats and dogs were different.

When a cat ran, its head had a built-in stabilization feature. Dogs, however, were much worse in this regard; their heads bobbed up and down as they ran.

So, to ensure the transmitted video was stable enough and the laser guidance was accurate, professional gimbal support was a must.

"I get it. In other words, they’re expensive. They even use carbon fiber," Shen Xin finally typed.

According to Li Mo, not only was the helmet made of high-strength nylon, but it was also covered in carbon fiber.

’Carbon fiber, huh? Why not just use Kevlar? Is this thing supposed to be bulletproof?’

Li Mo’s reply came.

"Well, you can’t blame them. They’re professionals in this field. I heard their sales pitch—they also want to install chips, use AI for automatic facial and license plate recognition, and so on. Oh, right, they also mentioned installing a Taser module to zap people directly." freewebnoveℓ.com

Shen Xin broke out in a cold sweat.

’If they go through with all that, won’t they really become the Paw Patrol?’

Then Li Mo asked Shen Xin what he wanted to choose. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Director Zhao had previously told Shen Xin to handle it as he saw fit.

But could Shen Xin really just make the call himself?

"Draw up a budget proposal, show it to Director Zhao, and let him decide."

The cheap ones cost three or four thousand, didn’t have many features, and their communication modules weren’t even encrypted.

The mid-range ones were around ten thousand, and the more expensive ones went up to twenty thousand.

Buying ten would cost over a hundred thousand yuan.

This money had to be spent transparently. When it came to finances within the department, Shen Xin didn’t dare be careless.

Li Mo agreed.

Just then, the bus was about to reach its destination.

The competition was being held at the Ningshan Police Dog Base, located in Ningshan’s Tianpu District at the foot of Dongling Mountain. It covered an area of over sixty mu, which wasn’t small.

Their accommodations were at the Bao Li Hotel, near the base.

Today was the 23rd. The competing teams from the thirteen municipal police dog bases in Ningjiang Province would all be arriving throughout the day.

A banner had even been specially hung outside the hotel.

As their group got off the bus, they happened to see another team ahead of them, also with police dogs, unloading food from their vehicle.

They had brought a considerable amount of various dog foods and canned goods.

For some reason, they had also brought a stuffed Ultraman doll. ’Could it be a toy for one of the police dogs?’

A glance at the license plate made it clear—it was the Pingyu team.

In all of Ningjiang Province, besides Ningshan’s police dog research institute, only the Nanjiang and Pingyu police dog bases were cooperative demonstration bases for the Provincial Public Security Department.

This was because they were tasked with the scientific research of breeding and developing new police dog breeds, namely the Pingyu Taicang Dog.

Since the two bases were close neighbors, they clearly interacted a lot.

The moment Li Yinjiang got off the bus, he went right over to say hello.

The opposing team leader was a middle-aged man with glasses who looked a bit frail. Even though it was only March, he was wearing a thin jacket and his forehead was covered in sweat.

But he was very enthusiastic, pulling Li Yinjiang into a conversation.

The handlers from that team also came over to greet them. One of them, a young man with slightly darker skin, was surprised to see Li Jiahui.

"Jiahui, what are you doing here?"

He asked, a little surprised. In his memory, Simba, the dog Li Jiahui trained, wasn’t particularly strong. There was no way she should have been chosen to represent Nanjiang in the competition.

Li Jiahui picked up on the subtext and said, exasperated, "Yang Lichuan, if you don’t know how to talk, then just shut up. I didn’t bring Simba this time. Come on, Celestial Skill, say hello to your Uncle Lichuan."

With that, she led Celestial Skill forward.

Yang Lichuan muttered speechlessly, ’How did I end up in the same generation as a police dog?’

But when he took a good look, he was stunned. "Jiahui, what breed is this dog? I’ve never seen one like it."

With his professional eye, he could tell Celestial Skill was a medium-sized dog, but looking at its muzzle, ears, tail, and build, he was completely unable to identify the breed.

Li Jiahui said with a proud look on her face, "Don’t recognize it, do you? This is a premium native dog, hand-picked by the man himself. Way better than your foreign breeds."

Based on his appearance, Tian Kui could be classified as a Wolf Green.

And one of the main police dog breeds currently in use is a native one, the Kunming Dog.

The Kunming Dog breed includes a Wolf Green variety, so Yang Lichuan didn’t think much of it when he saw Tian Kui.

But Celestial Skill truly stunned him.

It wasn’t just him. His shout drew the other members of the Pingyu team over, and they all gathered around to examine Celestial Skill curiously.

"Seems well-behaved."

"Yeah, and pretty brave, too. Not scared at all."

"So what breed is it? Just a native dog?"

As the men chatted, their team leader, Shi Xianbo, asked, "Old Li, is this your secret weapon?"

Li Yinjiang nodded proudly. "Of course, Old Shi. You guys better watch out later. Actually, what do you have to watch out for? You’re basically at the bottom every year anyway."

"Hey!"

Shi Xianbo’s eyebrow twitched. He said, exasperated, "Old Li, you don’t have to hit a guy where it hurts."

As they were talking, two more vehicles pulled up behind them.

Shi Xianbo glanced over and said in a sour tone, "Peng An’s team is here."

Shen Xin turned to look.

The license plates indeed confirmed they were from Peng An.

Peng An was the largest city in northern Ningjiang, a major north-south hub.

The key thing was, why did they arrive in two Coaster buses?

With that kind of grand entrance, anyone who didn’t know better would think some high-level leaders were here for an inspection.

The two vehicles stopped, and a group of people got out. They started unloading their things without any intention of coming over to say hello.

Shen Xin muttered, "Pretty arrogant."

Yang Lichuan heard him and snorted. "They get first place every year. It’s normal for them to be a little arrogant."

Shen Xin smiled to himself. ’Competition really is everywhere,’ he thought. ’Wherever there are people, there will be rivalry.’

Li Yinjiang grunted, told everyone to ignore them, and called for his team to unload their gear.

The Pingyu team had finished unloading earlier, so they lent a hand.

But then, Shi Xianbo did a quick count and asked strangely, "Wait a minute, Old Li, how come you brought eight police dogs? Do you have a reserve team?"

He remembered the competition rules didn’t allow for swapping out dogs.

Li Yinjiang pointed to Tian Kui and Celestial Skill. "You wouldn’t understand. We got wild cards."

"Wild cards?"

Shi Xianbo’s brows furrowed. He had never heard of any wild cards.

"Old Li, that’s not playing fair."

Shi Xianbo put down the cardboard box he was about to carry.

’This is a police dog competition. You guys can still pull strings to get connections in?’

Yang Lichuan and the others silently put down the things they were about to carry as well.

Li Yinjiang didn’t bother to explain, nor did he care. ’Nanjiang has the skills, so what if you’re jealous?’

At that moment, the organizers appeared.

Meng Fuqiang was the director of the Ningshan Police Dog Base, where the competition was being held.

With him was a friendly-looking, middle-aged man with a square-shaped face.

According to Li Jiahui’s introduction, he was Wan Chao, the section chief of the Police Dog Technology Section, under the Provincial Criminal Investigation Corps.

His rank was the same as Meng Fuqiang’s—both were high-ranking deputy division chiefs.

But his position held real authority; he was arguably the direct superior for all the various police dog bases.

That’s why Fang Weijie, the team leader from Peng An who was over there directing his subordinates, immediately bowed slightly and hurried over with a beaming smile.

"Tch!"

Shi Xianbo and Li Yinjiang snorted in perfect unison, their faces full of disdain.

Wan Chao gave Fang Weijie a brief handshake, then quickly walked past him and headed straight for the Nanjiang team.

Leaving Fang Weijie hanging there.

His hair was a bit sparse, and the situation was undeniably awkward.

But if you refuse to be embarrassed, then others will be embarrassed for you. He immediately followed after them.

Wan Chao smiled and first greeted Li Yinjiang and Shi Xianbo before asking, "Which one of you is Shen Xin?"

His question made Shen Xin, who was standing in the back, freeze for a moment.

Although they weren’t in the same direct chain of command, the man was a deputy division chief, a higher rank than even Lv Youwei. Shen Xin couldn’t afford to be disrespectful. He quickly stepped forward and introduced himself under the puzzled gazes of the crowd.

"Very good."

Wan Chao shook Shen Xin’s hand and said with a smile, "I’m always hearing Old Meng talk about you. He praises you to the high heavens. I’m glad to finally meet you today."

Once he said that, the stares directed at Shen Xin grew a few degrees hotter.

Shen Xin was used to it.

There was nothing he could do; he was always being praised by his superiors. It was impossible not to get used to it.

’That’s just how leaders are.’

Wan Chao got right to it. "That project your municipal bureau is running is excellent. I think it’s very meaningful. It’s great that you have this talent; it’s a perfect case of putting skills to good use."

Shen Xin was surprised. He hadn’t expected the provincial department to be paying attention to his project.

Wan Chao then asked where the police dogs trained by Shen Xin were.

He was the one who had approved the two wild card slots.

Shen Xin quickly brought Tian Kui and Celestial Skill forward.

"Excellent."

Wan Chao praised them again. Intending to test the two dogs, he gave them the command to lie down.

Celestial Skill reacted instantly.

Tian Kui, on the other hand, lay down slowly with a look of utter reluctance.

Wan Chao was taken aback. He pointed at Tian Kui and said, "Old Meng, did you see that? I get the feeling he’s looking down on me."

It was mainly because the unwilling, ’forced-to-go-through-the-motions’ expression on Tian Kui’s face was just too obvious.

Meng Fuqiang nodded, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Shen Xin quickly explained that the dog was just like that.

"It’s fine, I get it." Wan Chao wasn’t bothered in the slightest. He knew that Tian Kui had been a stray, so having a quirky personality was only normal.

He tried a few more commands, and both dogs completed them quickly.

Wan Chao couldn’t help but nod as he watched. Then he said, "Shen Xin, what you’ve done this time is truly meaningful. In fact, for our country’s police dog breeding programs, it’s historic and groundbreaking."

Huh?

His words didn’t just stun everyone present; Shen Xin himself was dumbfounded.

’Isn’t Wan Chao exaggerating a bit? Groundbreaking?’

"What, am I wrong?"

Wan Chao chuckled, then pointed at Tian Kui and Celestial Skill and said to Shi Xianbo and the others, "Old Shi, Old Prescription, you two don’t know yet, do you? Both of these dogs were strays."

The two men’s eyes instantly went wide.

Strays?

’If even strays can be trained into police dogs, then what does that make the purebred dogs we spend tens of thousands on? A bunch of suckers?’