S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 58

Misplaced of the Three Murderers 05 – Cat and Dogs vs Drones

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In the evening, outside the Institute of Natural Science and Technology in downtown S City, an RV spray-painted with flora and fauna designs slowly drove in.

This vehicle was actually a police mobile command vehicle in disguise. Jiang Ping and Bai Chi were in the process of connecting the car's surveillance system to the insectarium's surveillance.

This was the third time this surveillance car had come in. Zhan Zhao and the others had been stationed for two days but still found nothing.

The Institute of Natural Science and Technology had opened for business early this morning, but since it wasn't a holiday, there were only a small number of visitors coming in to see the institute.

Jiang Ping was busy tapping on the keyboard to connect the monitoring system. A large row of monitoring screens lit up one by one, and Xiao Bai Chi looked over them one by one, seemingly looking for something.

Zhan Zhao yawned, leaning against Lisbon who was used as a pillow, and pulled out his cell phone by habit.

Gongsun, who had followed along to watch the fun, noticed that on Zhan Zhao's cell phone was Google Maps and that the image he was looking at appeared to be the area of the Amazon rainforest.

"Is it this one?"

At this time, Bai Chi suddenly pointed at something on the screen and asked Jiang Ping.

Everyone else raised their heads.

Jiang Ping looked closer, "That's right!"

Zhan Zhao was happy, "They'll take action tonight?"

Jiang Ping nodded, "Probably."

Saying this, he pointed to the surveillance screen that Bai Chi had just noticed, "There are a few black boxes mounted in the corners of the wall, which were not there before."

"What are they?" Gongsun was curious.

"Signal points." Jiang Ping explained, "If the drone used to steal insect specimens has a grabbing arm, it must have been modified. The drone has to be lightweight, the less additional equipment the better, and to manoeuvre the grabbing arm through the drone, then it's not actually a drone, but a flying robot."

Everyone nodded as they thought about it.

"So the best method is actually to have a small grabbing device attached to the drone, the drone will fly into the insectarium, fly to a designated location and stop, and then steal the specimen by manually controlling the grabbing arm."

Jiang Ping's explanation was not difficult to understand. Gongsun asked, "To put it simply, it's two sets of control systems, right?"

Jiang Ping nodded, "The grabbing arm should be quite small, with a couple of pivots to enhance the signal."

"There's one here too."

As he spoke, Bai Chi found another one.

Jiang Ping glanced at it and rubbed his chin, "Hmm..."

"What's wrong?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"This is far away from the one we just found, it basically feels like opposite doors, one in the east and one in the west." Jiang Ping replied.

"In other words, there should be two drones that will be involved, and there will be at least two culprits as well, is that what you mean?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Jiang Ping nodded, "That's it!"

Zhan Zhao rubbed his hands together, "Then let's split into two."

Saying this, Zhan Zhao picked up the walkie-talkie, "Dog Column, Dog Column, please answer when you hear me, this is Black Cat Sheriff, over!" (Angel: Dog Column is a game)

On the other end of the walkie-talkie, Bai Yutang's helpless voice came, "Someone's coming?"

"Please use the code word to communicate, over!"

Bai Yutang picked up the walkie-talkie, "You're just a black cat bookworm at best, what sheriff, over."

Zhan Zhao narrowed his eyes, and Gongsun coughed on the side, which meant – Be serious! If you want to flirt, go home and fool around!

Zhan Zhao stopped joking and told Bai Yutang, "Execute plan B. The other party should enter from the east and west entrances."

Bai Yutang stretched out his finger and gestured "two" to Ma Han and Zhao Hu in the backseat, and the two of them got out of the car.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han were both dressed as renovation workers and walked through the entrances on the east and west sides of the insectarium.

This insectarium was located in the middle of the Institute of Natural Science and Technology and was accessible from the front and back, with several flower beds nearby and green trees surrounding it, so it was easy to hide.

The east and west entrances of the insectarium were ordinary glass sensor doors, and above the doors, there was a square ventilation window.

Ma Han, "They should be planning to enter through this vent."

Choosing an angle, Ma Han and Zhao Hu made a few white marks not far from the door.

Not long after, Luo Tian drove in with an electric trailer, and together with Qin Ou, they unloaded a few wooden lattices and placed them at the markings.

These were the things that the dogs would use to conceal themselves so that they wouldn't be photographed by the drones when they entered.

After the arrangements were made, it was almost dark.

Zhan Zhao made arrangements for the dogs to enter.

Jiang Ping was quite curious, "So early? There are still a lot of people on the streets right now!"

Zhan Zhao smiled, "Actually, the more people there are, the safer it is to steal. It's actually not a good idea to do it in the dead of night, instead, the other party should have it done by nine o'clock."

SCI had enlisted a total of twelve dogs, four at each of the east and west entrances, and for insurance purposes, two at each of the north and south entrances as well.

The dogs were all well-trained working dogs, except for Dunbu and RT, who had been enlisted from private citizens. But their owners, Chen Mi and Chen Yin, both had controlling personalities and required obedience from their dogs, so the combination of Dunbu and RT were no less obedient than the working dogs.

With that, the dogs were divided into four sub-groups, A, B, C and D.

Group A, guarding the east entrance, consisted of: Dunbu (Komondor), RT (German Shepherds), and a Cocker Spaniel called Kaka borrowed from the narcotics team. It wasn't clear whether the person who named it was a fan or not. (Angel: Kaka is a former Brazilian footballer)

Group B, guarding the west entrance, consisted of: Mwah Mwah (Old English Sheepdog), Niu Niu (Border Collie), and Black Beauty (Newfoundland). Both Niu Niu and Black Beauty are rescue dogs, and Black Beauty in particular was exceptionally good in the water, which would help prevent the drones from sinking into the nearby pond. There was also a Shiba Inu called Tchaikovsky, nicknamed Tchai Tchai.

Groups C and D served as auxiliary groups, further away from the two entrances, and were both police dogs.

Group C was two adult Dobermans, Andrew and Annelle.

Group D was two Kunming dogs, Jian Jian and Kang Kang.

Both groups C and D were somewhat aggressive, fast, and very obedient. The police dog team sent two dog handlers to assist SCI. If the dogs started running in a while, groups C and D were under the direction of the dog handlers, and the four of them did not have to be deployed if the other side did not resist or if there were no surprises.

Everything was ready, the obedient dogs were lying in place behind the lattice covers, while Zhan Zhao and the others were watching the surveillance cameras in the command car.

Bai Yutang, Luo Tian and Qin Ou drove three cars and stood guard at several exits, while Ma Han and Zhao Hu were squatting in the flower beds near the east and west entrances. Chen Yin also ran over and hid in the flower beds with Ma Han.

A little bit of time passed, Gongsun removed his gaze from the surveillance screen and glanced back at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao glanced down at his cell phone from time to time. There was a topographical map on his phone, and a clear red dot, which seemed to be monitoring something.

Gongsun thought for a moment and moved over to ask in a low voice, "Who are you keeping an eye on now?"

Zhan Zhao blinked.

Gongsun tentatively asked, "Zhao Jue's cell phone?"

Zhan Zhao held his chin, "Since he gave me his cell phone number, it means he's not afraid of me tracking him..."

Gongsun sat down and asked, "So where is he now?"

Zhan Zhao showed him his cell phone, "It seems that he is also in the middle of grassroots work. This dot has been parked at a location on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, it should be a hotel."

"Did he go into the jungle?" Gongsun was curious.

"Not yet, it hasn't moved in the past few days." Zhan Zhao gently tapped his chin with his cell phone, "It's also possible that that guy just stuffed his cell phone in the hotel and ran away by himself."

Gongsun was puzzled, "I've never seen you so concerned about what he's doing before?"

Zhan Zhao frowned, his slender fingers gently poking his head, "I keep feeling that he should have some big action this time, and it's related to the Xia Rui, Zhang Rui, whatever Rui that we're investigating this time."

As they were chatting, they heard Bai Chi suddenly say, "Something's wrong!"

Zhan Zhao and Gongsun immediately turned their attention to the surveillance screens.

Over the walkie-talkie, Bai Yutang's voice came through, "No drones have appeared at the entrance."

Luo Tian and Qin Ou also said that they didn't see any.

"The dogs are moving! Look!" Bai Chi pointed at a few dogs.

It was then that the eight dogs from teams A and B collectively tilted their heads and gazed in a certain direction, and then their heads slowly moved as if the thing they were gazing at was moving.

"Incoming!"

At this moment, Zhao Hu, who had been hiding in the flowerbed for half a day feeding the mosquitoes, suddenly sent out a signal.

When they looked at the surveillance again, they saw two small drones appearing at the east and west vents of the insectarium.

Jiang Ping was confused, "Huh? Where did they fly in from?"

Gongsun and Bai Chi also shook their heads, they didn't see them.

The dogs of both teams A and B stared at the drones, their ears perked up, staring fixedly.

Gongsun thought it was funny, "They're quite well-behaved, just lying down and not moving."

"Mhmm, now we just have to wait for the drones to complete their mission and come out." On the other end of the walkie-talkie, Zhao Hu lamented, "That went really well."

Chen Yin, who had come along to join the ambush, was also holding a walkie-talkie, and he and Ma Han were lying in ambush in the flowerbed on the other side. Chen Yin was obviously satisfied with the dogs' performance and said with a smile, "Dogs are highly obedient animals, this mission is actually very simple, as long as there are no accidents, it will surely be completed smoothly."

Ma Han thought about it and asked, "What counts as an accident?"

Chen Yin was just about to open his mouth to answer when suddenly, a "meow~" could be heard coming from somewhere.

Everyone froze.

Not far away, a chubby little yellow cat walked over. It must have just eaten, the cat walked quite comfortably, slipping past the entrance of the insectarium. When it turned its face, it saw team A lying at the entrance.

Dunbu, RT and Kaka, who were originally looking at the vent with their faces up, simultaneously turned their faces and looked at the little fat cat that had frozen.

The one cat and four dogs stared at each other for roughly four seconds.

Chen Yin opened his mouth wide, "Not... not good!"

"What's not good?" As soon as Zhan Zhao asked, he heard the little yellow cat suddenly "Meow!" before turning around and running away. Without a moment's delay, Dunbu rushed out with a whoosh, followed by RT and Kaka.

The little fat cat panicked and rushed towards the glass door of the insectarium.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Chi drew a breath of cold air, don't crash into it...

But before the two of them could react, that glass induction door unexpectedly opened.

A cat with a string of dogs dashed forward and rushed into the insectarium.

Zhan Zhao was horrified, "This pavilion doesn't even lock its doors after hours?!"

Bai Chi remembered, "We spoke to the institution, maybe they didn't lock the door because they wanted to make it easier for us to work the case?"

Zhan Zhao was fixated on the monitor, "This door sensor is too good, even a cat can be sensed!"

Bai Chi held his forehead, "Because most of the visitors to the Institute of Natural Science and Technology are small children, if the sensors weren't good, I'm afraid there might be security problems..."

As he spoke, there was a big mess in the science and technology institute, with a cat meowing and dogs barking one after another, and the sound of tables and chairs falling over.

Bai Chi covered his face, "It's over! Dunbu is definitely going to knock over the display cabinets!"

Jiang Ping scratched his head, "We'll definitely have to pay for it, Bao Sir is going to be furious!"

During the disturbance in the insectarium, team B also rushed out. It's not clear if the dogs were particularly sensitive to cat calls, but they couldn't stop them.

Fortunately, the two dog trainers went to hold back two teams C and D who also started to look around.

Chen Yin said into the walkie-talkie, "Emergency situation, emergency situation!"

Bai Yutang listened to the movement in the insectarium and held his forehead – He never expected... to actually be thrown to clean the bathrooms by Bao Sir...

Zhan Zhao touched his chin and nodded, "Sure enough, it's a natural enemy relationship..."

"Crap."

Jiang Ping saw the two drones that had just entered the ventilation duct not long ago withdraw, "They probably noticed that something was wrong."

Seeing the drones fly out of the ventilation duct, Chen Yin hurriedly contacted teams C and D to pursue them.

The dog handlers of teams C and D released the dogs, and almost at the same time, probably because there was no other way to escape, the yellow kitten flew out of the ventilation duct, scurried far away and landed on the ground. Behind it came the barking sounds of the dogs from inside the ventilation duct, and it was clear that they were unable to jump up to the two-metre-high ventilation duct.

However, just as the cat caught its breath, it saw two Dobermans and two Kunming dogs barking and rushing towards it.

The crowd saw the cat "Meow!" The cat's fur exploded and it turned around and ran, jumping three times to catch up with the drone.

I don't know why, but as the drone flew high and low, the kitten followed it, and the two Dobermans and two Kunming were in hot pursuit.

As soon as the door of the science and technology campus opened, teams A and B also rushed out.

The kitten scampered up a tree and ran across the sky, while the group of dogs ran in hot pursuit below. The drone was forced to crash into the wall several times, and eventually flew higher and higher, directly over the wall outside the archaeological building in the distance.

The wall was estimated to be more than two metres high, and the little fat kitten scampered up.

The dogs chased up to the wall and barked at it fiercely.

Bai Yutang and others also arrived at this time. The drone had disappeared, and the little fat kitten was sitting on the fence looking down at the dogs. When it turned its body... it lost its balance and fell from the wall, letting out a "meow!".

Zhan Zhao also ran to and saw this scene, "Ai! Don't fall to your death, what is behind..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard a human voice coming from behind the wall, as if they were scared by the cat.

Bai Yutang, who was by the wall, backed up a few steps and sprinted up the wall. Looking down, he waved at Zhao Hu and the others.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han also jumped up, and Bai Chi went to get the administrator to open the door of the archaeological pavilion.

Not long after, they saw Bai Yutang walking out with the exhausted little yellow kitten in one hand and two drones in the other, and behind him, Ma Han and Zhao Hu were each escorting a young man in a black hoodie who was carrying a duffel bag.

Ma Han opened their duffel bag and took out a few glass jars with a few insect specimens inside, as well as a piece of paper with numbers and a detailed map of the layout inside the insectarium, with circles drawn on the insect specimens to be stolen.

"I didn't expect it to come in from this side." Zhao Hu pointed at the archaeological pavilion and said, "It turns out that there were a few pieces of glass in the roof that weren't installed properly, in addition, the wall facing the outside of the science and technology campus was only blocked with container boards, there was a big gap, so they slipped in from there."

Gongsun also understood, "So that's why the drones suddenly appeared, and why we didn't see where they flew in from."

Bai Yutang carried the still confused little yellow kitten and shook it, "This time, it's thanks to this one being able to fly over walls."

The group of dogs immediately surrounded them, tilting their faces and wagging their tails at that little fat kitten. The little yellow kitten firmly hugged Bai Yutang's arm, looking down at the group of dogs in disgust.

Bai Chi took a bottle cap, filled it with some water and fed it to the kitten. Zhao Hu took the mineral water bottle and fed it to the dogs. The cat and dogs were exhausted.

Chen Yin stood there with his hands on his waist and scolded the group of dogs, "You guys, you're police dogs and working dogs, a bunch of trained grown men are no match for a little girl passing by!"

Bai Yutang asked Luo Tian and the others to follow the numbers marked on the paper and go retrieve the insect specimens from the insectarium and send them back to the SCI office with the two little thieves to prepare for interrogation.

Zhan Zhao put the kitten at the entrance of the insectarium where it had just passed by, and the kitten hurriedly ran away. Behind it, the group of people holding the dogs collectively waved at it and said bye-bye.

After finishing his work, Zhan Zhao got in the car and yawned, ready to sleep for a while, when he heard the cell phone in his pocket suddenly ding.

Taking out his cell phone and looking at it, Zhan Zhao frowned – That red dot, began to move.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: February 20, 2024 by Angel

Edited: May 16, 2024 by Angel