Animal Detective

The pilot saw it too and immediately changed direction, flying toward it.

Before they even got close, the optical pod zoomed in and found the target.

A motorcycle with two people. That had to be them.

On the vast grassland, the view was wide open. The two men had already seen the helicopter flying toward them and suddenly turned, heading west.

The co-pilot notified the command center, reporting their coordinates, while excitedly gesturing to the pilot.

The pilot lowered their altitude and gave chase at high speed.

’There wasn’t a single place to hide on this vast grassland. It would be a cold day in hell if they let them get away.’

In an instant, the helicopter roared past, flying low over the motorcycle.

A voice boomed from the helicopter’s high-powered police loudspeaker, ordering the motorcycle to stop immediately for inspection.

The dust kicked up by the helicopter blew right into Sangbu’s face.

He slammed on the brakes and asked in a panic, "Dawag, what do we do?"

His older brother, Dawag, who was riding behind him, suddenly raised a gun. He wrapped one arm around Sangbu’s neck in a chokehold and pressed the gun to his head with the other, shouting, "Stay back! I have a hostage!"

’He had met up with Sangbu for two reasons: first, to make his escape easier, and second, to use him as a hostage at a critical moment.’

"Dawag, you motherfucker!" Sangbu screamed, furious.

’He’d been threatening me the whole way, holding a gun to my head.’

Fine. Sangbu had accepted the reality of his situation and resigned himself to it.

’But now he was using him as a human shield? Did he really think he was such a pushover?’

He started to struggle, but Dawag quickly stopped him. "Don’t move! This is just for show, for them to see."

He then shouted at the helicopter again.

’But who could possibly hear him from this far away?’

Dawag didn’t care. He signaled for Sangbu to get going.

The helicopter’s rear cabin door suddenly slid open. A SWAT officer holding a sniper rifle aimed down at them.

A warning came over the loudspeaker: if they didn’t stop, they would open fire.

After three warnings, the pair below only sped up.

The SWAT officer received the order and decisively fired a warning shot.

BANG! A bullet struck a rock on the path ahead of the motorcycle, sending stone fragments flying.

Dawag paid it no mind, just urging Sangbu to drive faster.

Sangbu was at the peak of his panic. "Dawag, let’s just surrender!" he yelled.

"Drive faster!"

Dawag pressed the gun against Sangbu’s head.

’Surrender?’

’Considering everything he’d done... simple poaching would have gotten him less than five years.’

’But now?’

’He’d broken into the police station’s camp and committed a violent robbery.’

’He’d also attacked Liao Lei, nearly strangling him to death. A charge of attempted murder wouldn’t be a problem.’

’The nature of his crimes was heinous. He’d get the maximum sentence for all of them.’

’Under these circumstances, with the sentences served consecutively, he’d be looking at a life sentence at the very least.’

He wasn’t willing to spend the rest of his life in a foreign prison. The border was just ahead. If he could just make it across, he would be free.

Through the helicopter’s video feed, the command center watched the fleeing criminals in real-time.

Huang Mingjie felt a sense of relief.

The team below asked if they should fire again, perhaps at the motorcycle’s tires.

But there was a small problem. Sangbu’s situation was still under investigation; it wasn’t yet confirmed that he was the criminal’s accomplice.

It was all just speculation.

Firing from a hovering helicopter risked injuring Sangbu.

"No rush."

Huang Mingjie calmly sat back down.

’We’ve deployed so many people and expended so many resources just to corner these two clowns.’

’Now that they’re in the bag, we might as well let them experience what true fear feels like.’

Li He had been Huang Mingjie’s partner for years and knew him inside and out. He glanced at the large screen and said no more.

They were surrounded on all sides—truly like shooting fish in a barrel.

The two men at the scene were quite the "spectacle."

They had a helicopter escort.

Sangbu’s face was a mask of terror, with Dawag constantly in his ear, urging him to ride faster.

He wanted to twist the throttle all the way.

In his panic, he didn’t see the ground clearly. The motorcycle’s front wheel hit a large rock, sending it into a death wobble before it flipped onto its side and skidded a long way.

Sangbu was thrown hard to the ground, the pain making him see stars.

The motorcycle lay not far off, its rear wheel still spinning wildly in the air.

Dawag was also badly thrown and could barely get up.

The helicopter roared overhead.

The stirred-up dust covered them both. Dawag struggled to his feet and rushed to right the motorcycle.

He had planned to ditch Sangbu and run on his own, but just as he started the engine, he had a sudden realization: if he ran alone, he’d be giving the police a clear shot.

So he ran back and yanked hard on Sangbu.

"Get up! Run!"

Sangbu’s whole body ached. He waved his hand weakly. "I’m not running anymore. You go on your own."

Dawag hauled him up, but Sangbu wouldn’t cooperate, slumping to the ground like a dead fish. There was no way Dawag could drag him.

The helicopter circled overhead, its loudspeaker repeating the order for Dawag to surrender.

Dawag grabbed Sangbu by the arm, trying to drag him toward the bike.

But after dragging him a few meters, he turned to look back at the motorcycle and felt so hopeless he could almost cry.

He pulled out his gun, pressed it to Sangbu’s forehead, and roared, "Are you going to run or not?!"

Sangbu didn’t speak, just shook his head weakly.

Dawag was so angry he wanted to blow his brains out right then and there.

’But if he shot him, he’d lose his bargaining chip.’

’Then again, what good was a bargaining chip? To negotiate with the police?’

’You think if you ask the police for a car, they’re just going to give you one?’

The fight suddenly drained out of him. Dawag’s body went limp, and he collapsed onto the ground.

He wasn’t stupid. He knew that in this situation, once he was spotted, there was no escape.

Lying on his back and staring up at the clear, blue sky, Dawag felt no remorse or regret. Instead, a strange thought popped into his head.

’I wonder how much that falcon is actually worth.’

’Anyway, that guy told me it would be at least a million USD.’

’But how much could it really sell for?’

’And a million USD... how much money is that? It could probably fill a whole travel bag, right?’

In a daze, Dawag wasn’t sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him. High up in the sky, he saw a black speck.

’It looked like... the falcon!’

A quarter of an hour later, several military jeeps arrived.

Half an hour after that, a fleet of police cars came roaring onto the scene.

Dawag, surrounded by soldiers, sat slumped on the ground, his head tilted back, staring intently at the sky.

He was sure now. It was the falcon.

It was circling high above.

It was so close, it felt like he could just reach out and grab it.

Just then, a young man got out of one of the police cars. Dawag recognized him at once. It was that Shen guy.

At that moment, the falcon that had been circling in the sky swooped down as if it had seen a long-lost relative, landing steadily on Shen Xin’s shoulder.

Dawag confirmed it. The videos he’d seen were real. For some unknown reason, this falcon had attached itself to Shen Xin.

’But why?’

’For this falcon, he had suffered so much on the grassland, and now he had even dragged his own brother into it.’

’And what was the result? Here you are, getting all lovey-dovey with a complete stranger, you son of a bitch.’

Seeing the falcon continuously nuzzling against Shen Xin’s cheek, Dawag completely broke down. This feeling was worse than failing to escape and getting caught; it was a stifling, unbearable frustration.