Chapter 580 - 482: Release

Chapter 580: Chapter 482: Release

Mengle Wild Elephant Valley.

This was the only national-level nature reserve for Asian elephants in the country.

When Shen Xin and Ding Yuwei arrived, He Jinglin and his team were busy trying to fit Nan Ji with a GPS tracking collar for monitoring.

It was no easy task.

"Careful," He Jinglin kept calling out from the side.

Shen Xin couldn’t help but say, "Director He, if it’s not working, let’s just forget it. We’re still far from the border anyway."

The original plan was to try and find Nan Ji’s original herd.

He Jinglin had explained that elephants are social creatures that live in matriarchal societies, with a healthy adult female at the core.

They had also discussed why Nan Ji had been separated from her herd.

Because even if a calf got lost, the entire herd would search for it together.

It was unlikely that Nan Ji would have gone searching all by herself.

After thinking it over and over, there was only one explanation.

Cai Xingquan must have found the entire herd, tried to separate them, and then abducted the calf and Nan Ji.

He probably took Nan Ji because he was afraid the calf was too young to survive without its mother.

Later interrogations of Cai Xingquan confirmed this was more or less what had happened.

According to their confession, they had found Nan Ji in the border mountains near Mianguang.

On the Chinese side, this corresponded to Lahu County, under the jurisdiction of Mengle.

He Jinglin had arranged for people to search, but the situation at the border was complex. The primeval forest was dense, making it difficult enough to find a herd of elephants, let alone determine if it was Nan Ji’s original one.

The ideal scenario would be to release her in Lahu County and let Nan Ji find her original herd on her own.

But after some consideration, they decided the calf was still too young, and an accident could easily befall Nan Ji and her calf if they were on their own.

Putting aside the dangers of the wild, a rare white elephant without the protection of a herd would easily attract the covetous eyes of criminals.

Keeping her at the rescue center was another option, but Nan Ji’s wild nature was hard to tame, and she was causing a lot of trouble.

Considering she was perfectly healthy, keeping her in captivity wasn’t ideal and went against the rescue center’s mission of returning elephants to the wild.

After weighing all the factors, they decided to release her in Wild Elephant Valley.

This area was far from the border, crisscrossed by river valleys, and covered in dense forest. It had always been an important habitat for China’s Asian elephant population.

They would release Nan Ji here first, monitor her in the wild for a period, conduct some research, and then decide on the next step.

So when Shen Xin suggested not using the collar, He Jinglin shook his head and refused.

He said that if they didn’t monitor her, he was afraid an accident might happen.

Besides, she was the first wild elephant to be released back into nature in the country, which made her very valuable for research.

"Shen Xin, how about you give us a hand?" He Jinglin asked.

Shen Xin had reason to suspect that He Jinglin’s invitation to witness the release was just a pretext to ask for his help.

But on second thought, Shen Xin figured it wasn’t a bad idea.

’If she’s being monitored, I’ll know what’s going on and can help at any time.’

With that, Shen Xin walked over.

Nan Ji flicked her trunk, forcing the other staff members back, but when it came to Shen Xin, she only gave him a gentle nudge with her neck.

The calf beside her, with its mother present, had reverted to its bold nature. It took the initiative to approach Shen Xin, curiously circling him.

’Don’t.’

This was Nan Ji’s thought; she seemed quite resistant to others touching her.

Her calf’s abduction by Cai Xingquan had likely left her with a psychological scar regarding humans.

"Come on, do me a favor," Shen Xin said with a smile, holding up the collar.

Behind him, He Jinglin, Chen Lei, and the others glanced over, surprised.

It was as if they were thinking, ’That’s all it takes?’

But as it turned out, Nan Ji hesitated for a moment and actually did him the favor. She knelt on her front legs and lowered her head.

Shen Xin went forward and put the collar on her.

A young staff member nearby couldn’t help but mutter, "How did he do that? Did he eat the Favor-Favor Fruit or something?"

Following He Jinglin’s instructions, Shen Xin activated the collar, patted Nan Ji, and guided her out of the cage.

Since he’d already helped this much, Shen Xin went all the way and told He Jinglin he would take the two of them to the release point himself.

As soon as they started walking, Nan Ji nudged Shen Xin with her trunk, then bent her knee and lifted her front leg.

It was an invitation for Shen Xin to climb on.

"I’ll pass."

Shen Xin shook his head with a smile. Being an Elephant Knight once was enough; it was far more dangerous than riding a horse.

’We’re about to say goodbye, so a nice stroll is better.’

Shen Xin led the way, with Nan Ji following obediently. The calf, full of energy, ran around restlessly behind them.

Along the way, Shen Xin couldn’t help but lecture Nan Ji a little.

He told her to watch her calf closely and not lose it again.

If she really did lose it, she should find someone to help.

’Then again, that probably won’t happen. There are people watching over things here in Wild Elephant Valley.’

He also told her to eat and drink well, and that maybe he’d have a chance to come and see her in the future.

"And you, stop running all over the place."

Shen Xin patted the calf’s head.

Nan Ji was too big, but this little one was just the right size.

It curled its mischievous trunk, trumpeted once, and ran off.

All journeys must come to an end.

Shen Xin stopped in an open area of the river valley.

’This is the place.’

"Nan Ji, go on," Shen Xin said, waving at her.

Nan Ji didn’t move. She turned her head to look at Shen Xin and trumpeted.

’Come with me.’

It was an invitation for Shen Xin to go with her.

Shen Xin just smiled and waved at her again.

She seemed to understand. After a moment’s hesitation and two more trumpets, a flash of reluctance in her eyes, she finally turned to leave.

The large elephant and the small one walked on along the river valley.

After walking some distance, she stopped again and turned to look back.

She gazed for a long while before turning around again.

She walked a little farther, then stopped once more.

She raised her trunk high and let out a resounding trumpet, as if in a final farewell.

Then she turned and, without looking back again, led her child into the distance until they disappeared from sight.

"Let’s go."

Ding Yuwei came up beside him and took his arm.

Shen Xin nodded, taking one last look in the direction Nan Ji had gone.

’Goodbye.’

Seeing Nan Ji off was another matter settled.

He had reported to the bureau, and Zhao Hongjie had approved Shen Xin’s plan to stay in Dian Nan and carry out the project.

He had thought he would have some time to relax, but who knew he would still be so busy.

The higher-ups’ intention was that they needed not only drug-sniffing dogs, but also police birds.

Shen Xin had given this matter serious thought and had discussed it many times with Chen Wanbin.

In the end, he decided to use crows.

Having participated in a real operation, Shen Xin realized that the ability of flight was an irreplaceable skill.

Furthermore, the idea of letting them roam free along the border long-term was difficult to implement.

The most reasonable method was still to raise them in captivity and send them out on patrols at regular intervals.

By setting up a certain number of signal towers along the border, they could ensure a clear signal and achieve full patrol coverage.

Next came the choice of species.

Logically, considering Dian Nan’s climate, the most suitable choice would be the rook.

But after some thought, Shen Xin still decided on the raven.

They were the most intelligent, could even imitate human speech, had strong comprehension skills, and were the easiest to train.

The ravens in China were mainly the Tibetan subspecies.

Their natural habitat was high-altitude, cold, arid regions.

Dian Nan’s climate was humid, and he had previously considered the problem of them not being able to adapt.

For now, Yifan and the others were on a short-term mission, so it was impossible to determine if there would be problems with long-term survival.

So the plan was to train a small batch, test them out for a period, and observe them long-term.

For this purpose, Shen Xin made a special trip to the Southwest Region, contacted a local animal research institute, and managed to capture a batch of ravens.

The number wasn’t large, only forty birds.

The Dian Nan border was four thousand kilometers long. Based on previous mission experience, a single raven could patrol a very large area.

And in practice, they wouldn’t need to cover the entire four thousand kilometers of the border.

Factoring in the ones that would be culled during training, if thirty remained in the end, it would be more than enough for the initial trial phase.

As for the police dogs, it would be the same batch as before.

Shen Xin’s ultimate plan was to double the number of drug-sniffing dogs in the country.

This was a large-scale undertaking and couldn’t be completed overnight.

After this batch in Spring City finished their training, Shen Xin planned to return to Nanjiang to train the subsequent groups.

This was also the intention of the Ningjiang Hall and the ministry.

Training police dogs had costs, after all. They couldn’t just let every region in the country get it for free, right?

Shen Xin was in charge of the training, and Ding Yuwei stayed to help out.

In the blink of an eye, August arrived.

’It’s time to go back to Nanjiang.’

As usual, they would drive back.

Since they had to bring Teddy and the others, plus Celestial Skill, driving was ultimately more convenient.

With the two of them taking turns driving, it wouldn’t be a problem.

When he had first come to Dian Nan, Shen Xin had thought about making a detour to Ju Province on the way back to visit Li Shi.

’The young one is so young, and the old one is so old... I wonder how they’re doing.’

Nearly half a year had passed, so he might as well go see them.

By the time they reached Ma Chang Town, it was noon on August 11th.

Shen Xin, familiar with the route, headed straight for the Ma Chang Town Police Station.

Just as he got out of the car, he ran into Deputy Chief Sun Yongjie, who was heading out on his motorcycle. Sun Yongjie spotted Shen Xin immediately, his eyes lighting up as he hurried over to greet him.

"My God, Shen Xin!"

He threw his arms around Shen Xin, overwhelmed with excitement.

Without even bothering to greet Ding Yuwei, he eagerly dragged Shen Xin toward the station, shouting for Lao Guo.

Guo Jin came out when he heard the commotion, his eyes also shining at the sight of Shen Xin.

"Shen Xin! I’ve missed you to death! Why did you come without saying anything? I would have picked you up!" Guo Jin hugged Shen Xin, slapping his back with a face full of joy.

His shout brought everyone from the station, like He Xiang and the others, running out.

They had worked together, after all, so their reunion was inevitably a joyous one.

After a good round of pleasantries, Shen Xin finally asked about Li Shi.

"Chief Guo, how’s the kid doing? Has he made any progress?"

When he left, it seemed like Li Shi was determined to improve, but several months had passed, and he didn’t know what the situation was now.

"He has. He’s been working especially hard."

Guo Jin nodded eagerly and explained the situation.

With Li Xingping dead, leaving only his son and daughter, Guo Jin had been keeping an eye on them.

In his words, Li Shi was now studying exceptionally hard.

"Isn’t it summer vacation now? The kid was doing a work-study program, clamoring to go out and get a job. He’s too young, so I didn’t think that was a good idea. I found him a job at the town’s slaughterhouse instead."

"He’s been working so diligently. It’s like he’s a completely new person."

The mention of the slaughterhouse immediately reminded Shen Xin of something.

’That’s where I managed to trick someone out of ten thousand yuan back then.’