Animal Detective

Chapter 540: Chapter 443: The Arrest

"Brother Quan."

Zhu Kun offered the greeting with a cautious smile on his face.

The middle-aged man before him was Cai Xingquan.

He was under fifty, in his prime. He wasn’t tall, only about five-foot-four, but he was stocky and solidly built.

Cai Xingquan stepped forward, embraced Zhu Kun, and asked with a smile if the drive had been smooth and if anyone had been tailing him.

Zhu Kun shook his head. "No, Brother Quan. You know me, I’m always careful."

Cai Xingquan nodded with a slight smile.

Zhu Kun had been with him for many years. Cai Xingquan entrusted many things to him precisely because he valued his cautious nature.

In his view, it was the kind of personality that could achieve great things.

As Zhu Kun unloaded things from the car, he said, "Brother Quan, on the way here, I noticed some broken branches on the path. Has someone been here?"

The path leading here wasn’t a proper road. It was overgrown with weeds, small trees, and bushes, so dense they nearly obscured the track.

But as he drove, Zhu Kun had noticed that in the narrowest section, some branches had been torn off.

It looked as though a vehicle had forced its way through.

At the mention of this, Cai Xingquan looked exasperated. "Don’t even get me started. You know that pond on the way out? The day before yesterday, some fisherman showed up. I have no idea how he found this place."

Out here in the middle of nowhere, there’s just this one crappy pond, and it still managed to attract a fisherman.

"He drove up to the barrier, got out of his car, and started yelling this way, asking if anyone was around."

"I was in the middle of working. Hearing someone shout scared the life out of me. I was thinking that if I had to take him out, there’d be no way to dispose of the body."

"Luckily, he didn’t come in. If he had, it would’ve been a real mess."

Hearing this, Zhu Kun immediately became alert.

After a moment’s thought, Zhu Kun asked, "Brother Quan, could it have been a cop?"

Disguised as a fisherman to do some reconnaissance.

Cai Xingquan shook his head. "I don’t think so. I watched him secretly. He fished there all afternoon and barely caught anything. No way that was a cop in disguise."

Zhu Kun nodded but still reminded Cai Xingquan to be careful.

The police had just cracked down on them last month and busted their factory.

Cai Xingquan, however, was calm. "Like I said, it’s darkest right under the lamp. The cops are probably celebrating right now. They’d never expect us to be back in business already."

"Anyway, once this batch is finished, we’ll lie low for a couple of years, then start up again."

Zhu Kun nodded and asked how much raw material was left.

"Almost done. A week at most. Then we’ll clear out. I’ve already contacted a buyer. We’ll offload it to Angdu."

Cai Xingquan pulled out an exquisite cigar box from inside the house, offered one to Zhu Kun, and they lit up together.

"Angdu?"

Zhu Kun frowned. "Brother Quan, that guy’s a madman. Besides, doesn’t he deal in plant-based drugs? Why would he want our stuff?"

Cai Xingquan elegantly lit his cigar. "There’s money to be made. He’s not going to turn down good money, is he? And as for him being hostile to meth, that’s just to make sure his own stuff has a market. It’s not a conflict of interest."

Zhu Kun nodded and said no more.

The two chatted for a while longer before starting to load the finished product into the car.

"Be careful."

Cai Xingquan said with a final warning, waving him off.

Meanwhile, perched on a nearby tree, Er Long sat quietly, watching everything through the camera.

"Er Long, follow him."

Shen Xin’s command came through the helmet’s speaker.

Without hesitation, Er Long flapped his wings and followed Zhu Kun.

By now, Shen Xin and his team had already turned around, left the small path, and returned to the county road.

Finding the lab was one objective. Another was to continue tailing Zhu Kun to see if he was transporting the finished product and, if so, where he was taking it.

"I’d estimate twenty kilograms," Wang Feng said, his expression ecstatic.

A black duffel bag could hold a lot; the weight must be substantial.

Shen Xin said, "Captain Wang, we can make our move now, right?"

Now that the lab’s location was confirmed, they could just go in and make the arrest.

Wang Feng smiled and nodded, telling Shen Xin to keep an eye on things. He then immediately pulled out his phone to contact Chen Ruidong.

As soon as the call connected, before Wang Feng could speak, Chen Ruidong said, "You don’t have to say anything. I’ve already seen it. You guys stay on Zhu Kun. I’ll make the arrangements on this end."

After giving his instructions, he couldn’t help but add, "And tell Xiaoshen... he’s incredible."

Given Zhu Kun’s level of caution, tailing him with people would have been extremely difficult.

Especially after he turned into the mountains, getting too close would have risked detection.

Even if they had managed to follow him, they could never have captured the meeting between the two so clearly on camera like this.

Not even a drone could have gotten so close so silently.

From Chen Ruidong’s perspective, it was like they had attached a personal camera to Zhu Kun, capturing all his criminal activities and turning them into irrefutable evidence.

Lu Chunze shared the same thought.

"Old Lu, this is incredible," Li Jing said excitedly.

He felt it was like having a divine eye; it was an unbeatable tool for tracking drug traffickers.

Lu Chunze nodded in deep agreement. It was a real eye-opener for him as well.

"Lao Li, if we had methods like this, investigating cases would be so much easier."

Take drug deals, for example.

Er Long could be right at the scene, perched in a tree, and no one would ever notice while he filmed everything.

Moreover, Lu Chunze knew very well that the hardest part of a drug case was never the arrest, but the initial investigation.

Those traffickers were all as crafty as monkeys, suspicious of every shadow. If they had Er Long...

Gathering evidence, surveillance, and tailing suspects would be a piece of cake.

Li Jing nodded and, after a moment’s thought, said, "Old Lu, do you think it’s possible... to keep him here?"

He shot him a meaningful look.

The bird was one of a kind, but the man... he was a rare talent.

With Shen Xin’s skills applied to anti-narcotics, he was the chosen one.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Lu Chunze snorted. "The problem is, he’s from Ningjiang. Even if you want him, they have to be willing to let him go."

If you can see he’s a talent, you think they can’t?

You have a need for him in narcotics, but don’t they?

Not to mention Shen Xin is a criminal investigator, completely focused on solving cases.

Li Jing said, "I know, but it’s worth a shot. What if he wants to come himself? Then you could pull some strings with the ministry and coordinate. There might be a chance."

Lu Chunze was noncommittal. "We’ll talk about it later. Let’s handle the matter at hand first. This guy’s got some nerve, getting busted last month and daring to come back for more."

A murderous glint flashed in his eyes as he pulled out his phone and called the Dehong City Bureau to ask about the specific operational arrangements.

The chief of the Dehong City Bureau was named Wan Xiaoyang.

"Old Lu, we’ve got the place completely scoped out. Don’t worry. If he gets away, I’ll turn in my badge as chief."

Wan Xiaoyang was in his fifties, tall and burly, with a firm and resonant voice. After a brief chat, he hung up.

He directly contacted the team in Lianjiang to coordinate the overall situation, mobilizing SWAT, border defense, and formulating an action plan.

Now that they’d been found, there was no reason to let them stay the night.

They were just waiting for Shen Xin’s team to confirm where Zhu Kun was stashing the drugs, and then both sides would move in for the arrest simultaneously.

Since Cai Xingquan was holed up in the mountains, they would mobilize enough personnel to surround the entire mountain and ensure he couldn’t escape.

Meanwhile, Shen Xin and his team were still tailing Zhu Kun.

"Just as I thought. He’s heading to Hudian."

Pan Chenghai, who was driving, snorted softly.

Just a moment ago, he had been discussing with Wang Feng that the most likely place for Zhu Kun to hide the drugs was Hudian.

And he’d been right.

Zhu Kun drove back from Xiongjia Mountain to County Road 309, turned right, and followed it toward Hudian.

The mountain road twisted and turned for twenty or thirty kilometers. Just before reaching Hudian Town, he turned right, drove for almost two more kilometers, and then turned onto a small path.

Clearly visible in the camera feed was a compound at the foot of the mountain, covering several acres and surrounded by high walls.

Outside stood an arched gateway with several large characters written on it.

[Yijing High-End Bonsai Base]

Er Long had a high-altitude view, so he could see everything clearly.

The main gate was on the west side. Inside, it resembled a Jiangnan garden, with numerous bonsai trees, a man-made creek and pond, and a pavilion built next to them.

To the north stood a three-story, gray-white, European-style villa, along with some auxiliary buildings.

The iron gate was shut tight. Zhu Kun stopped at the entrance and waited for a moment. He probably made a phone call, because someone then came out of the villa to open the gate.

Er Long looked around, flapped his wings, and landed on the pavilion.

No one paid him any mind.

Zhu Kun got out of the car with the bag, exchanged greetings, and headed straight for the villa in the distance.

He walked right through the middle, passing the pavilion, but didn’t even glance at Er Long.

There was one person who opened the gate, and another waiting in front of the villa.

Only two people were visible.

Ten-odd minutes later, Zhu Kun came out of the building. The duffel bag was gone.

"This is the place."

Wang Feng pointed at the screen and immediately pulled out his phone to call Chen Ruidong and report the situation.

The factory location was confirmed, and the stash house for the finished product was confirmed. It was time to move.

Shen Xin turned his head to see Zhu Kun driving away, taking the same route back.

The guy had set out at 9:20 a.m., reached the city district by 11:00, and only then turned onto Route 309 for Xiongjia Mountain.

And now it was 1:30 in the afternoon.

The battery in Er Long’s helmet was also about to die.

They waited until the Highlander was out of sight.

Shen Xin whistled toward the sky, though he didn’t really need to. Er Long remembered Pan Wenhai’s car and was already flying back on his own.

Shen Xin opened the window and held out his hand, and Er Long landed precisely on it.

"Let me give you a kiss."

When Wang Feng saw Er Long, his eyes crinkled with laughter. He insisted on snatching the bird and giving it a couple of pecks.

"What are you doing?"

Er Long tilted his head, trying to dodge.

In the front seat, Pan Chenghai had the same expression. He reached out to stroke Er Long’s head, praising how amazing he was.

Tracking for dozens of kilometers without losing the target... if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it.

Shen Xin asked if they should continue tailing him.

The helmet battery was sealed and couldn’t be swapped out directly, but they had a spare helmet, which would be faster to change.

"No need. We’ll head straight to the lab."

Wang Feng shook his head with a grin. He left someone to keep an eye on the location and told Pan Chenghai to head back to Xiongjia Mountain.

The arrest operation was about to begin.

「Far away in Lianjiang.」

The members of the Narcotics Division had already assembled.

Chen Ruidong had also arrived with his people from Simao.

This was Simao’s case; he couldn’t afford to be absent.

Accompanying them was a deputy chief from the Dehong City Bureau, there to command and coordinate.

Even Lu Chunze had been alerted. The reconnaissance phase had gone so perfectly; if something went wrong at the last minute, the City Bureau couldn’t bear the responsibility.

When narcotics divisions from the interior conducted operations, they carried pistols.

Here in Dehong, they carried assault rifles.

Everyone had a bulletproof vest.

And that was just for the regular officers. The SWAT team was fully armed, wielding JH16 submachine guns with attachments and 50-round high-capacity magazines. In just a few seconds, they could unleash a storm of bullets on the traffickers.

"Move out!"

With the deputy chief’s command, a convoy of vehicles rolled out of the Public Security Bureau.

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