Chapter 84: Poaching Tibetan Antelope Case
The rundown pickup truck sped across the vast plain of the Nature Reserve, with a weathered man sitting in the passenger seat.
There was a ferocious scar on his left cheek like a centipede, and his triangular eyes were full of cold menace.
“Boss, today’s harvest is pretty good. When are we heading back?”
Sitting in the driver’s seat was a man with greasy shoulder-length long hair and a stubbly face whose features were unclear; he said excitedly.
There were just the two of them in the car, with the shotgun placed on the back seat by the two men.
Scarface took a deep drag on the cheap cigarette, and the orange-red cigarette butt instantly brightened.
“Heading back? This little bit satisfies you?”
Scarface’s voice was rough and gravelly; he wasn’t speaking Huaxia, but some kind of dialect.
“Boss, do you know of other places?”
Seeing that the boss still had more in stock, the long hair man’s tone became lighter and more upbeat.
A group of Tibetan Antelope usually has a fixed activity range. The few Tibetan Antelope corpses that Chang Ning discovered earlier were from a small group that these two poachers had stalked for many days, totaling only five or six.
This small number naturally couldn’t satisfy these criminals whose greed was as bottomless and immeasurable as an abyss.
Scarface gave his younger brother a deep look without speaking. At this moment, the long hair man began trembling uncontrollably; clearly, he was afraid.
He hadn’t been following Scarface for long, but he had witnessed Scarface’s methods.
Once when they were handling goods, they were spotted by another group. Scarface said nothing, picked up his gun in his left hand and a knife in his right, and single-handedly slashed them down until they knelt begging for mercy.
That wasn’t the end; Scarface personally chopped off the left hands of all those who dared to offend him.
After that, no one in the Tibetan Antelope fur business ever dared to mess with Scarface’s business again. At the time, the long hair man was still a newcomer just brought into the trade by Scarface.
He had turned to poaching Tibetan Antelope because his family was too poor to get by.
Mainly because this stuff was too profitable; foreigners were waving stacks of cash to buy it, and now supply couldn’t meet demand.
The green dollars emitted that alluring scent; the long hair man felt he would never forget it in his life.
“Boss, sorry, I won’t dare again.”
Seeing the boss’s displeased expression, the long hair man said tremblingly.
He stopped the car and at the same time drew the dagger from his waist, slashing hard across the back of his own hand; blood immediately flowed out.
Seeing the long hair man cut a deep, bone-visible wound on the back of his own hand, Scarface finally withdrew his gaze and tossed the cigarette butt out of the car.
“Don’t dirty the car; the car wash fee is pretty expensive.”
Scarface took the medical kit from the glove compartment and threw it to his younger brother; he always considered himself fair in settling scores.
Since the younger brother had deeply recognized his mistake, he would naturally forgive him.
“Thanks, boss!”
A flash of hatred passed through the long hair man’s eyes, but when he took the medical kit, his gaze toward Scarface was again filled with worship and fear, burying that hatred deep in his heart.
“Treat the wound properly and drive well. Don’t ask what you shouldn’t!”
“Yes.”
The long hair man said with a fully respectful face.
Chang Ning followed the tire tracks all the way to the side of a highway and then lost trace of the vehicle.
“Looks like that car has already left.”
Chang Ning felt indescribable disappointment in his heart. Now there was a new problem: whether he should report the situation here to Captain Li via satellite phone.
Calling the police would be somewhat troublesome; they would definitely ask him for information according to procedure.
Tracking the poachers had wasted five or six hours, and he still had to arrive at the Armed Police Border Station on time, so notifying Captain Li to explain the situation to the police would be better.
But reporting the situation here to Captain Li—would that mean he was judged eliminated?
Chang Ning was now in a dilemma.
“Told you to show off! Told you to meddle! What now?”
Chang Ning began to agonize, but encountering a crime and doing nothing felt like betraying the uniform he wore.
If he could do it over, Chang Ning would still rush in and quickly make the call.
Some things can’t be overthought; overthinking leads to hesitation and second-guessing.
“If I’d called right then, this group probably wouldn’t have gotten away successfully.”
Chang Ning took out the satellite phone and said somewhat self-reproachfully.
He was now preparing to make the call and was ready to be eliminated.
Wolf Fang could try again next year, but these criminals couldn’t be allowed to escape justice; even staying an extra day outside wasn’t okay—who knew what harm they might cause.
“Beep… beep… beep…”
Three seconds later, the call connected.
“Chang Ning, what trouble have you run into? Where are you? I’ll come pick you up right away.”
Captain Li’s tone was very serious; Chang Ning calling him meant he had encountered trouble.
Given that this man was from Wolf Fang’s Selection Training Camp and had exceptional skills, in Captain Li’s mind, for Chang Ning to call meant the trouble was extremely serious, very likely a life-threatening danger.
“Leader, nothing’s wrong on my end. I’m calling you to…”
Chang Ning reported the whole story of encountering the poachers to Captain Li in detail.
“I’ve got the news. Why didn’t you report it to the police? You know what making this call means; I don’t need to spell it out.”
Captain Li said.
“First, not going to the police is because their procedures would waste my time; I only have four days left.
Second, as a soldier, how could I see a crime and not react at all?”
After hearing Chang Ning’s answer on the other end, Captain Li continued, “But if you’d gone straight to the police, at least you wouldn’t be judged eliminated.”
“Leader, that’s not how the math works.
If I’d called the police, they definitely would’ve taken me back to give a statement.
Then to complete the mission, I’d have to get them to bring me back here, which would waste even more time coming and going.
That way, I definitely couldn’t return to the Border Station on schedule.
But calling you directly, without asking for rescue, whether the mission fails is up to you.
Probability about 50%; either way, going through you gives better odds.”
Chang Ning’s analysis made Captain Li inwardly praise how shrewdly he calculated.
Then he said he’d report it to the police. After that, he hung up without saying if Chang Ning was eliminated.
Not saying was the best answer; Chang Ning knew he’d bet right.
Actually, it wasn’t really a gamble; Chang Ning had indeed followed the rules.
Though he used the satellite phone, it wasn’t to seek help, so while it seemed like a gamble, the answer was actually obvious.
What Chang Ning did was the same nature as when Geng Jihui encountered an injured comrade unable to walk in the jungle and decided to carry him back.
Even Geng Jihui wasn’t eliminated; naturally, Chang Ning was fine.
With the matter settled, Chang Ning recalibrated his direction and set off again, while at the provincial public security hall, a major shakeup was occurring.
“This is utterly outrageous!
What the hell are you all doing!
Today they dare openly slaughter Tibetan Antelope here; tomorrow will they dare killing people?”
The provincial Public Security Director was furious in the meeting room, and today another poaching case had occurred—reported to them by Armed Police Border Station people.
Not a single lead; utterly humiliating.
Seeing the director raging, the cadres sitting below didn’t dare speak; they waited for his anger to subside before reporting work.
“Report!”
But today it seemed all major matters were piling up; a clerk from the confidential section was reporting outside with a folder.
Through the frosted glass, the cadres could vaguely see the clerk’s grave expression.
Everyone’s heart sank: Another big event!
“Come in.”
The director took a deep breath, calmed his emotions, and let the clerk in.
“Director, important intelligence.”
The clerk handed the folder to the director.
“Pa! Take a look, all of you!”
After carefully reading the documents, the director slammed the folder on the table.
“Look, just as I said—these people are lawless; they really dare killing!
This is provocation against Huaxia law! Gentlemen, come up with a plan!”
Hearing that someone had really been killed, all the cadres in the room instantly darkened their faces; a fatality was a whole different ballgame!
“Report!”
The meeting room was flooded with successive reports.
“Xiao Liu, you speak; after all, this is in your jurisdiction.”
“Yes.
Not to mention anything else, give me a month.
No, twenty days. Just twenty days; I guarantee to catch these criminals!”
“Alright, I’ll wait for your good news. If necessary, others cooperate with Xiao Liu.
Meeting adjourned!”
After adjournment, Xiao Liu left hurriedly alone.
Everyone understood him and said nothing more. After all, the case was huge, and the Nature Reserve area was vast.
If those criminals ran, with their manpower, it really wouldn’t be easy to capture them; even calling in more people wouldn’t help.
Back at the county, Xiao Liu relayed the provincial meeting content to relevant cadres.
Everyone brainstormed and came up with two plans: protection and capture.
The so-called protection was to form a dedicated team to protect wild animals, equipping them with weapons. Capture meant the public security department devising a strict plan to secretly investigate the wild animal fur transaction chain.
The protection team’s leader was Deputy Secretary Suo Nan Da.
Chang Ning hadn’t expected his discovery to spark a Nature Reserve wild animal anti-poaching campaign.
The overseas market for Tibetan Antelope fur was simply too big, dooming this to a prolonged campaign.
Where there’s demand, someone will risk it all for money; after all, no one complains about hot cash.
As the person involved, Chang Ning was completely unaware of the impact of what he’d done; at this moment, he was worrying about what to eat next.
This chapter was supposed to be released last night at eleven, but it got blocked; deeply sorry about that.
