Superstars of Tomorrow

Fang Zhao first went over to the kennels.

The base had provided the unprocessed and comprehensive sound recording. Regardless of what a normal person was able to hear or not hear, in Fang Zhao’s mind, all the sounds created a comprehensive scene.

Every person, every dog, and all their activities and paths formed a clear picture in his mind.

The spot where the sniper had concealed himself had been planned meticulously. Perhaps he had already been observing for many days.

The first shot had been taken when the dogs had finished their meal in the kennel, when they’d been looking for a spot to rest.

Curly Hair’s alertness was very high. He had evaded before the assassin had fired. Following that, he had taken to his heels and chased the perpetrator while dodging the second shot.

Fang Zhao left the kennels, walked over to a large tree, and examined the traces beneath it.

This was where the third shot had struck Curly Hair’s backside, but Curly Hair had only slightly pause for a bit before continuing to give chase. Surveillance footage here had been obstructed by the rapidly growing branches and twigs from the trees.

And the base soldiers that had rushed over behind Curly Hair had not been able to discover any bullet traces here, nor had they been able to determine precisely where the assassin had been.

Moving further forward, this was the area where Curly Hair had been restrained by the soldiers from the flying transport.

The sounds in the recording and the traces on the ground all showed that Curly Hair had been very irritable. Curly Hair had been barking away, starting from when he was restrained continuing even after he was brought back to base. Huo Yi and the others felt that Curly Hair had been like this because he had experienced a shock, but looking at it now...

Curly Hair had probably been scolding them.

After all, he had been so close to apprehending the assassin. It was unfortunate that he had been restrained by the base’s personnel. He couldn’t be blamed for being irritable.

All the way from the kennel to this spot, the men that Huo Yi had dispatched had followed Fang Zhao, but shortly after, they lost Fang Zhao. The lieutenant colonel only knew this much.

In the base, when Huo Yi listened to the lieutenant colonel’s report, he wore an amazed look.

"At first, the path he took was the same path that Curly Hair took back then." Although Huo Yi had already made mental preparations, when he heard this, he could not help but feel that it was miraculous. "Those ears of Fang Zhao’s are really even more impressive than a dog’s!"

"That is why he is called Divine Ears," lamented an aide standing beside Huo Yi.

"Indeed, a dog is like his master. Curly Hair was able to find so many sealed prohibited items, and Fang Zhao can hear sounds that other people are unable to hear. Curly Hair’s nose and Fang Zhao’s ears, I wish I could keep both of them here." Huo Yi did not hide his own opinions. If it was anybody else, they would surely also feel the same.

"Actually, Commander, if you really wish to keep the dog, you can try. My grandfather once said that something that can be loaned out isn’t really important, and a really important object would never be loaned out. Since Fang Zhao previously lent us the dog, as long as we are able to show enough sincerity and offer sufficient trading terms, Fang Zhao will surely lend us the dog once again. Commander, if you are able to give him more benefits and sacrifice more, perhaps Fang Zhao might even sell the dog to us!" the aide said.

Huo Yi sighed deeply and shook his head in silence.

If it was anybody else, Huo Yi might still have considered discussing it, but Fang Zhao was just too difficult to deal with. Fang Zhao did not lack money, and he wasn’t obsessed with power or privilege. If Fang Zhao had really wished to develop further in the military, he would have stayed on planet Baiji. Baiji military district even treated Fang Zhao as a mascot and a treasure. Planet Baiji had much better development prospects than planet Wai.

At this moment, his internal comms device starting ringing.

Huo Yi was flabbergasted. "Southeast garrison region?"

"Commander, Fang Zhao has requested Southeast Garrison Region Three’s original sound recordings and surveillance footage," stated the other side.

Huo Yi was astonished. He has already arrived there? How is his speed so fast? "Give it to him!" Huo Yi exclaimed. As long as Fang Zhao was able to find the target, any assistance to Fang Zhao was fine. Today, the base’s southeast direction did not have any training activities, so there was no need to maintain secrecy.

Five minutes later.

"Commander! According to the leads that Fang Zhao has provided, we have found a suspicious target. We aren’t able to see his face and he is wearing our base’s uniform. We have already confirmed that it is stolen. The person probably isn’t from our base... Twenty minutes ago, the party entered the primeval forest in front of the southeast garrison region. According to ecology and environmental protection regulations, besides the sentry towers, we don’t have any monitoring equipment inside. It will be quite difficult to track the target."

The person on the other end in charge of giving the report had actually wanted to say that they were poor and had limited funding. In these non-open places, there were only a few old facilities, and the machines there might even be defective, as nobody had maintained them in a long while. However, to save face, he could not speak too directly, just enough that the commander could understand.

Huo Yi could naturally understand what the other party was trying to say. "Where is Fang Zhao?" Huo Yi asked.

"Fang Zhao... Fang Zhao said he would be heading into the primeval forest to search for the target."

Huo Yi became even more alert. "Let him in! You people follow him! Follow him tightly!"

"Yes!"

Two minutes later.

"Commander, reporting... We lost him."

Huo Yi sat in front of his desk, his face as black as when he received rejections to his requests for additional expenditures.

The lieutenant colonel beside him heaved a sigh of relief. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one that lost him. Everyone is useless too. Brothers in the southeast garrison region, you guys are comrades who have gone through the same trials and tribulations as I!

The reporting personnel from Southeast garrison region asked cautiously, "Commander, what do we do now?"

Huo Yi really wanted to wave his hand and shout "Find him," but thinking rationally, now was not a good time to send people in. The primeval forest was an original forest on planet Wai. Although there weren’t fierce and savage creatures like on planet Baiji, there were still dangers. Now, it was already getting dark, and the amount of people that could be transferred over to the southeast garrison region was limited. They would also be practically useless if they went. It would still be all right if they had been following Fang Zhao. At least they would still have had someone to follow, but if they were unable to keep track of him, then forget about it.

"Remain on standby where you are!" Huo Yi said through clenched teeth.

————

In the primeval forest southeast of the base, a black figure was moving.

Bang!

A snake darted out from the underbrush, but its head exploded. Snake blood splattered on the underbrush and tree trunks.

The sound of gunfire suppressed by a silencer wasn’t very loud, and it was very quickly muffled by the sounds of the snake’s head exploding and blood splattering.

In the gradually darkening forest, these sounds were clear yet not very abrupt..

Nightfall descended and the figure finally stopped.

This was a person that did not seem to have any distinguishing characteristics. He might even be wearing a mask. With his appearance now, even if he was captured by surveillance cameras, it would be difficult for someone to remember his face with just a glance.

After this person stopped, he leaned against the trunk of a tree and closed his eyelids slightly. He maintained a specific breathing rhythm and was so quiet that he appeared to blend into the surrounding forest. Not moving for some time, it appeared like he was already sound asleep.

"Tsk!"

The person who seemed like he was sleeping soundly suddenly sneered. Raising his eyebrows, he looked in the direction of Wai base, his expression full of disdain.

Weren’t the troops garrisoned on planet Wai supposed to be more impressive than the troops on military districts back on earth? Looking at things now, it seems like this wasn’t the case!

It made sense. Before planet Wai had made a name for itself, it had just been a small and barren place. Species here were ordinary and did not pose much threat. Over time, the basic quality of the military here might even be weaker than the military districts of the various continents.

Relaxing his frayed nerves, he fished out a palm-sized communications device. Then he attached an additional device. This was to camouflage the signal to prevent the military team at the sentry tower in the primeval forest from intercepting his communications signal.

He was contacting someone who was waiting in the film entertainment complex.

"Have you succeeded?" The other party’s voice was rough. It wasn’t his real voice.

"Failed. That tiny thing is rather difficult to deal with. The price has to be increased. Three times the previous price and I will not let it board the transport. Otherwise, you better find someone else." While he conversed softly, he remained vigilant of his surroundings.

The person on the other end reacted as if he had heard something unfathomable. His rough voice became shrill and ear piercing. "What did you say? Failed? Aren’t you the ’Dog Butcher’ known as the number one at slaughtering dogs? With such a high reward, you actually failed? Now we are really doubting your professional ability."

A hint of fury flashed across the face of the person with the nickname of "Dog Butcher," but he calmed down quickly. "Since you don’t believe me, go find someone else. But I advise you all to hurry. I reckon that dog will be taken away by Fang Zhao shortly and won’t remain on Wai base."

The other party’s voice sounded very calm. "If the dog is taken away, then we don’t have any need to fork out a large some to kill it. Without the dog around, a lot of our goods will not be detected."

"Heh!" Dog Butcher laughed sarcastically. "In no rush, really? Your boss’s business is really big. All along, he liked to strangle potential threats in their cradle. Now that he has got his sights on earning a fortune on planet Wai, shouldn’t he be willing to spend a little more to clear up the path ahead of him?"

The other party revealed a hint of alarm. "You know who my boss is?"

Dog Butcher grinned as his eyes twinkled with greed. "More or less guessed it. Seven years ago, when I was employed to kill Tobey, the ’divine dog’ of spaceports, I had already guessed it. But rest assured, I don’t just serve only one client, and I have never ever revealed who my employers are."

"Then you better pray that the military doesn’t catch you first. Nowadays, interrogation techniques are becoming even more innovative."

"Ha, catch me? Are you talking about that bunch of trash? That bunch of trash isn’t even able to catch my tail!"

Dog Butcher’s self-confident tone somewhat pacified the other side. Thinking about it, Dog Butcher was reliable indeed. People in Muzhou really hated Dog Butcher, yet even after so many years, he had never been caught.

Dog Butcher also had the ability to back up his confidence. Even when he failed an assignment, he rarely left traces for people to find. The only time he had ever suffered defeat was probably 30 years ago, when he had been dealing with what Muzhou people called a king of dogs that only appeared once every 100 years. Although he had ultimately shot dead that king of dogs, he was also bitten by it. Even now, the scar on his arm had not faded, and the police had a record of his DNA. Dog Butcher had not gone for an operation to remove the scar and instead kept it as a reminder.

"Match the price and I will act when I have the opportunity. If you choose not to, I will leave immediately. Staying here isn’t safe. There are people from the base looking for me right now. That little thing runs really fast and is rather vigilant. This sort of unexpected speed and vigilance might not even lose out to Muzhou’s dog kings. We can’t determine the price according to previous calculations."

When he mentioned this, Dog Butcher felt a little depressed deep down. He had fired three shots. The first two shots had missed because his estimations had been wrong, but for the third shot, he had already adjusted. He did not understand. According to reason, that shot should have hit, but seeing the dog full of energy and continuing to chase and seeing that dogs speed, it seemed like that shot had missed too.

Had his marksmanship deteriorated?

Dog Butcher was very displeased.

He had clearly already spent sufficient time adapting to the geography and climate here. Today, his operation might have failed because he hadn’t completely adapted to the conditions on planet Wai. On top of that, that dog’s reactions had far exceeded his expectations, causing him to have errors in judgment.

Next time... Next time, when he fired, he would surely not miss.

As he set his resolve, Dog Butcher’s tone became cold. "What’s your decision? I’m only waiting 10 seconds!" He didn’t wait for the other party to reply and started counting down. "10! 9! 8..."

When the countdown reached two seconds, the other party finally agreed. "You said it. Don’t let the dog board a transport and leave!" the other side exhorted.

"Don’t worry. You people have to believe in my professional ability. When it comes to slaughtering dogs, I’m a professional. I have even slain Muzhou’s king of dogs." Dog Butcher laughed. In the short term, Wai base would not be able to sort out all their chinks. He would still be able to find opportunities to act in this period.

Having negotiated the deal, Dog Butcher told the other side to wait for good news.

After ending the call, Dog Butcher’s lips had barely curled upward, thinking about the large potential payout he would get, when he suddenly froze as he felt a shiver throughout his body.

Having spent many years on this path dithering between life and death while tangling with the police and military countless times, Dog Butcher had trained a sharp sixth sense. In that instant, he felt as if he’d been locked onto by an ice-cold gun barrel laced full of killing intent. He suddenly felt an immense pressure, making Dog Butcher’s entire body shudder.

Who is there!

Since when has there something here?

Man?

Or beast?

...

Wai base.

Huo Yi had just shut his eyes and prepared to sleep when he received an urgent call from the southeast garrison region.

"Commander. Report! Fang Zhao dragged someone out from the primeval forest!"

Huo Yi’s eyebrows arched upward.

The word dragged was subtle.

"Alive or dead?" Huo Yi asked. If the person was dead, Fang Zhao might be in a little trouble.

"The target is still breathing."

"That is good. Don’t let him die. You, personally escort him back here! Now!"

"Yes!"

After ending the call, Huo Yi received a photograph and image of the assassin.

Ah, one look and it could be seen that someone had used the method of dragging him like a sack of rice across the forest floor full of rocks and dirt. His body was full of wounds and bruises and his face was bloodied.

When Huo Yi got to see the Southeast garrison troops and Fang Zhao who entered the base together, Huo Yi jokingly said to Fang Zhao, "Impressive! That ’Divine Ears’ nickname is not in vain! However, I never expected that you would bring him in alive."

Fang Zhao raised an eyebrow. "I’m a law-abiding citizen."

Huo Yi: "...Hehe."

Fang Zhao wasn’t bothered whether Huo Yi believed him or not. He continued, "This person is called Dog Butcher, and he is an experienced hand. I reckon he has business dealings with some people in the film entertainment complex. I suggest handing him over to Muzhou’s side. This person was involved in the murder of Muzhou meritorious service dogs, at least two of them."

Handing him over to Muzhou would let Fang Zhao feel more reassured than leaving him to Wai base.

Huo Yi stroked his stubbled chin, and his eyes were full of admiration. Nodding, he said, "All right, I also had this in mind."

Following normal procedure, this Dog Butcher person might not necessarily die. Perhaps he might be rescued during the process of transporting him from place to place. There was a higher possibility he would be silenced.

But if he was handed over to Muzhou authorities, his fate would probably be, firstly, a life where it would be better to die. Then, a death where he wouldn’t even leave behind a corpse to be buried.

From Huo Yi’s point of view, he could use this opportunity to do a favor to Muzhou and perhaps get another batch of dogs. This would be a rather worthwhile transaction. Meanwhile, Dog Butcher’s outcome would also satisfy Fang Zhao. Beneficial three ways!

Having gotten Huo Yi’s promise, Fang Zhao did not stick around. He left Huo Yi’s office, returning to check on Curly Hair’s condition.

Now, only Huo Yi and his aide were left in his office.

"Commander, Fang Zhao looks just like an artistic person, but I can’t help feel that he is rather dangerous. I have a conjecture, if... I’m just saying if the person caught was not Dog Butcher, would Fang Zhao have dragged him in alive?" The aide had some doubts in his voice when he said this. In any case, the aide did not believe Fang Zhao’s claim that he was "a law-abiding citizen."

Huo Yi replied meaningfully, "Sometimes, we shouldn’t chase too much for answers or think too much. If you overthink, it is easy to become aged. Take a look at this old face of mine. It is because I think too much!"

How could Huo Yi not know what his aide was talking about?

Thinking about it, since Fang Zhao had this sort of frightening tracking ability and the ability to capture Dog Butcher, a wanted criminal that Muzhou had been after for so many years, why hadn’t Fang Zhao pursued him right from the start? Maybe he’d been worried about the dog, but from a different angle, had Fang Zhao had... a motive in giving the assassin some time to leave the base? In the area nearby, the best place to avoid inspection from the internal military departments was the primeval forest.

Inside the primeval forest, what happened was not restricted. Even if Fang Zhao had pursued the target and even killed Dog Butcher inside the primeval forest, as long as he denied it, who could determine what he had done?

Making someone disappear in the primeval forest near Wai base was really too simple.

Having seen Fang Zhao’s military service records on planet Baiji and having seen some confidential files, Huo Yi was just like his aide. He didn’t believe the b*llshit Fang Zhao had spouted about being "a law-abiding citizen"!

An artistic person?

Cough!

A g*ddamn f*cking artistic person!

What sort of artistic person would fight monsters as if he were chopping up vegetables?

What sort of artistic person would head to a completely unfamiliar primeval forest at night to apprehend a suspect and drag him out like a gunny sack?

Do you think that just by draping on the skin of an artistic person, I will not know how dangerous this little fella is?

However, there were times when it was good to act ignorant. After all, the circumstances weren’t bad.

Huo Yi’s lips curled into a grin. He indicated for his aide to leave the room and stretched, moving some of his stiff bones and picking up his communications device to contact an old friend at Muzhou’s Police Dog Academy.

Perhaps he might not be able to retain Curly Hair, but he could use this as an opportunity to get even more dogs.