Animal Detective

Chapter 541: Chapter 444: The Kneeling Elephant

They moved on Zhu Kun first.

According to traffic surveillance, Zhu Kun drove straight back to Lianjiang from Hudian and then went home.

He’d been up since a little after three in the morning. After being busy for so long, he needed to catch up on sleep.

He returned home around 3:10 AM.

By 4:00 AM, the arrest team was in position.

This wasn’t a movie. There would be no explosive, door-smashing entry.

He had a high-security door that even a locksmith would struggle to open.

After getting home, Zhu Kun went straight to bed.

Just as he was drifting off to sleep, his phone rang.

Zhu Kun jolted awake, but he didn’t immediately reach under his pillow.

It wasn’t like he kept a handgun hidden under his pillow.

In his daily life, Zhu Kun went to great lengths to avoid anything that could expose his identity.

He grabbed his phone and glanced at the screen. It was a call from property management.

They were calling to inform him that a contractor’s van, being too long, had scraped his car while backing up. The driver hadn’t left, so they asked Zhu Kun to come down and take a look.

Zhu Kun sat up abruptly, asking where the scrape was and how bad it was. He then complained that the parking spaces designated by property management were too narrow.

"I parked as close to the line as I could, and it’s still a struggle to get out of my car."

Still grumbling, Zhu Kun grabbed his keys and left.

He lived on the 18th floor.

His floor had two elevators serving four apartments. He lived in the easternmost unit. When he got to the elevator bank, he saw that one was out for maintenance.

’Great,’ he grumbled internally, pressing the call button.

The elevator was coming down from the 30th floor.

DING. The elevator arrived and the doors slid open. Zhu Kun instinctively started to step inside.

He froze.

Inside the elevator, two assault rifles were pointed right at him.

Two shouts of "Don’t move!" rang out simultaneously.

Almost simultaneously, the stairwell door burst open. Several more people rushed out, their guns also trained on Zhu Kun.

For a moment, Zhu Kun’s mind went completely blank.

He only snapped out of it when his arms were seized and locked behind him.

"You..."

He opened his mouth to speak, but after just one word, his tongue was tied and he couldn’t go on.

As the cold handcuffs were snapped onto his wrists, a chill shot through Zhu Kun’s heart. He felt a sudden, inexplicable urge to urinate, and then he was shoved forcefully into the elevator.

The elevator went straight down to the first floor.

The ride from the 18th floor down to the 1st was neither long nor short.

In any case, when the elevator DINGED and the doors opened, Zhu Kun’s legs felt as if they were glued to the floor, too weak to move.

He was grabbed on both sides, hauled out of the elevator, shoved into an SUV, and whisked away from the scene.

The drug dealer Zhu Kun had been apprehended.

「Meanwhile, on the distant Xiongjia Mountain.」

The mountain road branching off from Highway 309 was lined with cars.

Shen Xin and Pan Wenhai stood together.

The two of them were not needed for the operation itself.

Their only task was to dispatch Er Long to continue monitoring Cai Xingquan’s activities.

Right now, Er Long was perched in a tree outside the makeshift building, its camera lens trained on the structure.

The dilapidated tin shack was years old, heavily corroded, and drafty on all sides.

The only door was open, and inside, Cai Xingquan could be seen bustling about in a protective suit.

Meanwhile, the arrest team had already been dispatched.

After studying the terrain map, they decided to advance on foot, first circling around to the back of the tin shack to form an encirclement before taking action.

Er Long heard the commotion and turned its head to look.

Ten meters away, a fully-equipped SWAT officer emerged from the dense mountain forest.

Each officer was equipped with a tracking device. On the digital map, their positions formed a clear circle around the tin shack.

After confirming that Cai Xingquan was still preoccupied, Chen Ruidong, who was on-site, decisively gave the order to move in.

In the next instant, more than twenty SWAT officers burst from their concealed positions.

Inside, Cai Xingquan, still wearing his gas mask and focused on his chemical apparatus, was completely oblivious to the fact that the cavalry had arrived.

There were no sharp commands shouted.

The lead SWAT officer darted into the room, seized Cai Xingquan’s arm with lightning speed, and with a powerful tug, slammed him to the ground.

The next moment, the other officers streamed in and surrounded him, the cold muzzle of a gun pressing against Cai Xingquan’s forehead.

The entire takedown took only two or three seconds. Even after being dragged out of the room, Cai Xingquan was still in a complete daze.

A SWAT officer stepped forward, ripped off his gas mask, and barked, "Name!"

Cai Xingquan stared blankly at the scene before him, especially at the black muzzles of the guns pointed at him. After a long few seconds, he lowered his head.

The drug dealer Cai Xingquan had been apprehended.

By the time Shen Xin arrived on the scene with Chen Ruidong, Wang Feng and his team, who were part of the operation, had already started inventorying the site.

They had found over a hundred kilograms of raw materials, as well as drugs that were still crystallizing.

They also found one handgun with three magazines.

Cai Xingquan’s protective suit had been stripped off. In the hot weather, he was wearing only a pair of shorts underneath. He was now handcuffed and squatting on the ground.

Seeing Chen Ruidong and recognizing his authoritative air, he knew this man must be the leader. He finally looked up, his eyes filled with resentment as he asked, "Was it Zhu Kun? Did he sell me out?"

He’d thought it over and over. It could only have been Zhu Kun who betrayed him.

Otherwise, how could anyone have found him, holed up like this in the mountains?

To stay hidden, even though he had solar panels and batteries, he didn’t even dare turn on a light at night for fear of being noticed.

The only person who knew his location was Zhu Kun.

"What’s your name?" Chen Ruidong asked as he stepped forward.

Cai Xingquan thought for a moment, then stated his name.

Caught red-handed with the goods, he was facing a certain death sentence. He had nothing left to hide.

Chen Ruidong paid him no more mind. He walked into the tin shack, scanned the interior, gave Wang Feng a nod, and turned to leave.

There was still one target left.

Cai Xingquan was led away, leaving a team behind to process the scene.

Chen Ruidong immediately headed for Hudian, where his teams were already in position and awaiting orders.

Shen Xin went along. By the time they arrived, the perimeter situation had already been scouted.

The surrounding wall was high, topped with barbed wire, and there were surveillance cameras at all four corners.

No one had entered or exited since Zhu Kun’s departure.

The business registration for this location was not under Cai Xingquan’s name, and all associated information appeared clean.

After arriving and being briefed on the situation, Chen Ruidong gave the immediate order to move in.

The small road leading up the hill was already sealed off.

The compound’s outer perimeter was also covered; his people were everywhere.

Since they still didn’t know how many people were inside, the plan was simple and direct.

First, cut the power.

Then, two SWAT teams moved out, heading straight for the main gate.

The two men at the front each carried a wide ballistic shield.

Upon reaching the gate, they took up positions on either side.

It was a double-leaf iron gate, bolted from the inside.

A battering ram likely wouldn’t be able to force it open, but that wasn’t an issue.

With the roar of an engine, a SWAT armored car suddenly accelerated. With a deafening CRASH, it violently smashed the iron gate open.

From a distance, Shen Xin watched with an invigorated expression.

’This is exactly the kind of force you should use against these drug traffickers.’

Under the cover of the armored vehicle, the two SWAT teams followed in formation.

It drove straight through the bonsai garden, heading for the small building to the north.

The power cut had already alerted the people inside, and someone had come out to investigate.

Then came the thunderous crash, as the SWAT team descended upon them like an act of God.

As it turned out, faced with this kind of overwhelming force, resistance was the most foolish option.

Shen Xin, waiting outside, heard no gunshots.

After just three or four minutes, the radio crackled to life.

A voice reported that all personnel on-site had been secured.

"And... we found..."

The team leader’s voice on the radio hesitated for a moment before continuing, "We’ve found an elephant."

Chen Ruidong froze, then grabbed his radio and asked for clarification.

"What kind of elephant?"

"Just... an elephant. A live one."

The voice on the other end was filled with bewilderment.

Shen Xin was just as stunned. ’Er Long didn’t see an elephant during surveillance.’

’And why an elephant?’

’What would a bunch of drug traffickers be doing with an elephant?’

When he saw Chen Ruidong heading to the scene, Shen Xin quickly followed.

There were indeed two men. They were already under control, squatting on the ground with guns pointed at them, trembling uncontrollably.

Just as they passed through a pavilion, Shen Xin heard the low trumpeting of an elephant.

It was coming from a large, warehouse-like structure to the right of the small building.

The main door was now open, and several SWAT officers were cautiously peeking inside.

The sound was coming from within.

Chen Ruidong spared the two traffickers a glance before walking to the front of the warehouse.

As they drew closer, Shen Xin was hit by a foul stench.

Once inside, the scene became clear.

The warehouse was quite large. The right side was cluttered with a pile of junk.

To the left, there was indeed an elephant.

A fully grown adult.

What was startling was the massive iron chain, as thick as a man’s thigh, wrapped around its neck. The other end was anchored directly into the concrete floor.

Weeds, branches, and other scraps of food were scattered on the ground, along with a broken water bucket.

The arrival of the SWAT team had clearly agitated the elephant. It paced back and forth restlessly, trumpeting as the iron chain around its neck JANGLED loudly.

This was an elephant; no one dared to get close.

"My god, why is there an elephant here?" Wang Feng exclaimed from behind them.

Chen Ruidong was just as baffled.

Shen Xin’s sharp eyes noticed numerous reddish-brown marks on the elephant’s body.

The animal was already filthy, but these marks looked more like dried blood.

They were all over its body, in numerous places, and he couldn’t tell what had caused them.

One of the SWAT officers tried to approach, but the elephant let out a clearly enraged trumpet and charged at him.

The iron chain snapped violently taut.

Its momentum was so powerful it looked like it could have knocked down a brick wall.

"Everyone, stay back!"

Chen Ruidong shouted, then ordered someone to go question the two traffickers about the elephant.

The elephant before them was extremely agitated.

The chain was too thick for it to break. You could clearly see the raw, chafed marks the chain had carved into its neck.

An elephant’s hide is incredibly thick, yet the chain had managed to cut into it.

"Shen Xin, don’t go over there!" Pan Chenghai quickly grabbed him as he saw Shen Xin about to step forward.

"That thing weighs several tons. This is no joke."

"It’s fine."

Shen Xin waved him off and stepped forward.

He could feel the anger radiating from the animal.

With the elephant so agitated, Shen Xin obviously couldn’t get too close. He stopped just outside the chain’s radius, observing it from a distance of several meters.

Up close, he could see more clearly.

It was obvious the elephant had been abused.

Shen Xin had once seen a video on a social media platform explaining that humans used bullhooks to train elephants.

It was a sickle-like hook used to pierce the elephant’s skin, using pain as a motivator.

He suspected the wounds covering its body had been left by just such a tool.

Its tusks were still there, though very short. Looking at its underside, he saw no sign of male anatomy.

It had to be a female.

It swung its trunk, huffing out air and letting out a series of short trumpets.

In the next moment, it noticed Shen Xin.

Slowly, its restlessness subsided. It was clearly sizing Shen Xin up.

It swung its trunk, and the tone of its calls changed.

It stopped struggling, instead taking small, shuffling steps, its gaze fixed on Shen Xin.

Shen Xin nodded to himself. ’Looks like my gift is working.’

Elephants were said to be extremely intelligent, with an IQ on par with dolphins.

’In that case,’ Shen Xin thought, ’it’s probably looking at me the same way Yuexiao and the others do.’

They have a degree of self-awareness and can take a liking or disliking to people.

Shen Xin remained mostly still, simply watching the elephant.

Just then, the elephant before him suddenly took two steps back, and then its front legs slowly buckled, bringing it to a kneeling position.

It lowered its head and trumpeted continuously at Shen Xin.

The sound was low and deep, as if it were a mournful wail.

A jolt went through Shen Xin’s heart.

’It’s... kneeling!’

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