Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 624 Hide-and-Seek Master

"Heh heh...Trying to catch me? You're dreaming!"

In the filthy hold below the surface, Walmart wiped the grease off his face and casually smeared a black mark on it. The black mark effectively concealed the special foundation dampened by sweat, and also made his skin, which would have been flawless upon close inspection, appear seamless again.

At this time, he was a temporary worker hired by the ship's owner, responsible for maintaining the engine room and performing routine tasks. The ship owner couldn't afford permanent workers and could only hire outside help during months when manpower was needed. Walmart contacted the ship owner this way, gaining his trust by offering a lower price than other workers. And because the price was so incredibly cheap, the ship owner didn't dare object to his occasional unruly absences or staying out all night.

Even though his appearance was so elusive this time, the boat owner didn't dare to ask or think too much, and simply pretended not to see him.

"San'er, the police outside said they're not leaving yet! Apparently, a prisoner has escaped or something, and they need to investigate before they can set sail."

An old man with a full beard, dark skin, and messy hair that looked like he never washed it, rubbed his bulbous nose with his rough, dark fingers and poked his head out of the cabin.

"None of my business!"

Walmart impatiently threw the wrench onto the metal plate, then walked out of the cabin with a gloomy expression and stood at the stern, quietly smoking.

In his view, the beach was in complete chaos. Since the police at the pier reported not seeing any strangers, they continued searching the island, suspecting the target had hidden in a previously explored area.

Of course, some police officers did question the civilian boats at the dock, but the boat owners were all people the marine police knew, and there were no extra or missing workers on board, so no suspicion was found.

"These are the Chinese police! They're utterly foolish!"

Walmart sneered, thoroughly enjoying watching the police officers in the distance frantically searching for their way through the crowd. As a professional elite within the mutual aid society, holding three or four identities was commonplace; how could he possibly be caught by these policemen?
"Boat owner!"

At that moment, two policemen carrying a cat walked up to the dock. Walmart's expression changed, he quickly stubbed out his cigarette and turned back to the cabin.

He hates that cat!

"Could we go up and take a look? You know, this needs to be resolved as soon as possible! What if someone is hiding on the boat, right? The sooner it's resolved, the sooner you can go back and rest. Hehe... Please cooperate with the police, thank you!"

Zhang Yong spoke cheerfully, his attitude warm and polite, but he did not allow the other party to object.

The three ships in front of Walmart, who were hiding on this ship, didn't have any objections. Anyway, there was nothing shameful on board, so let the police look if they wanted to!

They were just curious why these policemen were carrying a cat when they went out. Was the cat sniffing around with its nose out of its mouth because it wanted to eat fish? Tsk tsk! It's a pity that it's the fishing ban period now, and the fishing boats won't be able to work for about half a month.

Of course, it is precisely because the boats are out there with no work that they are willing to accept the recruitment of the marine police to help out, as they can earn a lot of money for each trip!
Soon, Zhang Yong led Sun Chang and Lin Ge to inspect the outermost few ships.

Neither the boat owner nor the boatmen noticed anything amiss, and there were no signs of anyone hiding on board. Zhang Yong had great confidence in Lin Ge in this regard; regardless of whether he was a suspect or not, the scent of two people was ultimately different from that of three.

Then, the group arrived at the ship where Walmart was located.

This ship looked noticeably dirtier than the others, with a lot of paint peeling off and rust covering the walls.

Most fishing boats would immediately clean off the rust and apply anti-rust paint to prevent further corrosion. However, this boat seemed to be giving off a "just getting by" vibe, as if it was just going to take it one day at a time and give up once it rusted away.

The boat owner was quite old, unkempt and disheveled, but seemed to have a lot of clever tricks up his sleeve.

He waited on the edge of the boat for Zhang Yong to come over. After they greeted each other, he started complaining about how much longer they would have to wait and how the police would have to pay more compensation if things got delayed.

Zhang Yong smiled and brushed it off, saying that if there was a problem, he should complain to the water police department.

“Hey! My boat is small, there’s only so much space, it can’t hide anyone! Look, there’s only a cargo hold and a wheelhouse, where can you hide someone? You mean him? There are only the two of us on this boat, me and him, it’s not easy for one person to operate the boat to dock or leave the shore.”

The boat owner chuckled as he spoke, then pointed to the bow of the boat, seemingly disliking to communicate with people, and kept his subordinates with cold faces throughout.

However, knowing that the other party was looking for someone, the subordinate did not hide, but openly showed his dirty face to the police. He was confident that he had no odor on him and that there was absolutely no way the police could smell anything wrong with him.

"Yeah! There wasn't a single trace of Walmart's scent on him. Even when those two cops brought him back, he didn't pick up a single trace of their smell. This guy's scent-eliminating stuff is pretty amazing. With something like that, all the police dogs would be out of a job!"

Lin Ge spoke with emotion, but inwardly he couldn't help but sneer.

The biggest difference between him and ordinary police dogs that rely on their sense of smell is that he can analyze and reason. He doesn't just blindly search for scents; he also looks for inconsistencies!

Take this guy, for example… he barely smelled fish anymore, and most of the fishy smell came from his dirty denim overalls. The deodorant he used also removed the sweat and fishy odor!
It's generally difficult for most people to detect this kind of thing unless it's right next to their skin.

But for Lin Ge, this was like a monk in a barbershop, extremely conspicuous.

A man working on a fishing boat didn't smell much fishy at all.
"He actually... hid in a place like this! How did he manage to cross the dock, and how did he convince the boat owner to help him cover for a criminal suspect, even though he knew the police were looking for one?"

Lin Ge was puzzled, but he subtly stepped on Sun Chang's chest.

"Well?"

Sun Chang was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized what was going on. Especially when she saw Mimi lazily turn around and curl up in her arms, she understood that Mimi was telling her that work was over.

In other words... the person has been found!
where?

On this ship!

So she remained silent and didn't remind Zhang Yong. Zhang Yong apologized to the boat owner, returned to the dock, and continued walking forward; Sun Chang didn't make any unusual moves.

Because she knew that this opponent was no ordinary one, and any extra move could alert them.

Sun Chang simply slipped his phone into his pocket while holding Mimi in his arms, clearly indicating that he would not give any warnings.

Zhang Yong understood.

Zhang Yong continued walking towards the next ship.

Walmart, which had been keeping a close eye on the two men, breathed a sigh of relief when the two police officers did not show any unusual behavior.

As expected, Chinese police are incompetent, lazy, and perfunctory in their work! Do they really think they can investigate a case this way? They might as well just frame someone and make them a suspect!
"They didn't even turn on the password!"

Lin Ge pressed the unlock button once, and the phone returned to the usable interface. He discovered that it was actually in facial recognition unlock mode, and couldn't help but marvel at how quickly technology was advancing; new things were appearing one after another.

If even mobile phones can be facial recognition, where will those wanted criminals who have been included in the police database be able to run to in the future?
While gloating and lost in thought, Lin Ge tapped the call log with his paw. Sure enough, the first number was Zhang Ke's. After tapping it, a long list of call records appeared, making Lin Ge look up at Sun Chang speechlessly.

"What are you looking at!"

Sun Chang flicked Lin Ge's nose in embarrassment and annoyance.

Lin Ge licked his tongue and ignored her, directly dialing Zhang Ke's number with his little paw.

After Zhang Ke answered the phone, there was no response from either side. After a few seconds of silence, Zhang Ke understood the meaning of the call and decisively hung up.

"No one's coming, let's go!"

After inspecting the boat next to Walmart, Zhang Yong stretched and gestured for Sun Chang to hang in there a little longer, and the two continued walking forward.

There are only four ships left. Once we finish those, we can call it a day.

However, unnoticed by anyone, the two marine police patrol boats that were circling around Guanyin Island quietly changed direction and headed straight towards the Guanyin Island pier.

Meanwhile, the police on the shore began to notify each other to line up and prepare, slowly converging on the dock at an inconspicuous but steady pace, in coordination with the timing of the marine police patrol boats.

About three minutes later, Walmart noticed the anomaly.

"not good!"

His expression changed drastically, and he threw the cigarette butt into the water, quickly standing up to observe carefully.

Sure enough, the police's actions became patterned. On the surface, they appeared to be idly watching over the suspects on the shore, but in reality, they were all converging on the pier. Gradually, a team of more than a dozen fully armed police officers gathered there.

"Are you kidding me...? How...did I get found out?"

Walmart glared menacingly at the old boat owner, who was still standing at the stern watching the commotion, and seriously doubted whether the old man had given himself away. In any case, the old man wouldn't doubt him; in Walmart's eyes, his disguise was absolutely flawless!
Of course, now is not the time to talk about this. The pier is so small, and there is much less room to maneuver than on Guanyin Island!

With a gloomy expression, Walmart turned and crawled into the cabin.

"Go!" As soon as the boatman disappeared, Zhai Xiaojun immediately gave the order, signaling the police to occupy the dock and prevent him from boarding other boats.

As for diving, there's no need to worry. There aren't any islands or footholds within a kilometer radius. Even if he's a strong swimmer, the professional marine police force can easily torment him on their home turf.

Unfortunately, the dock was too narrow, so the police officers had to jog slowly in a line, stumbling and staggering for almost a minute before finally reaching the ship where Walmart was located, and then they quickly jumped onto the ship one by one.

Other police officers quickly seized control of the other boats on both sides, determined to prevent any unexpected reinforcements from appearing.

"What happened?"

The old boat owner was completely bewildered and startled by the police's actions. Before he could even ask, two policemen grabbed his shoulders and restrained him, handcuffing him behind his back.

The old ship owner immediately went limp when the slightly warm handcuffs were placed against his wrists.

"I confess! I...I...I also participated in gambling here! But...but I only gambled a small amount, I would only lose a hundred or two each time before going home!"

In a panic, the old boat owner quickly surrendered himself.

The police officers paused for a moment, but ignored him. After checking the cockpit and finding no one, the three men quickly went to the bottom compartment entrance, but when they lifted the cover, they found it was locked from the inside.

"key!"

Pan Yingxi turned around and roared at the old boat owner.

"The key...the key is with San'er! I...I don't usually go down there; San'er does the work down there by himself! Officer, did he do something wrong? It has nothing to do with me; I'm innocent!"

The old ship owner suddenly realized what was happening and began to argue loudly again.

'Boom! '

Several policemen tried kicking and prying, but couldn't pry open the sealed metal cover. Various threats and notifications were ineffective; the people inside simply ignored them, leaving the police above helpless against the contraption.

"Get out of my way!"

Frustrated, Pan Yingxi pulled out a small pistol from his waist and decided to try smashing the keyhole directly.

"Wait a moment!"

Suddenly, Zhang Yong squeezed through the crowd from the other end of the dock with some difficulty, a cat's head hanging on his head, like he was wearing a hat.

After the police occupied the dock, the remaining space was very narrow, making his crossing extremely difficult. But even so, Zhang Yong didn't stop, quickly risking falling into the water several times to run over and signal to Pan Yingxi not to make any rash moves.

"That guy is most likely not down there!"

Zhang Yong gave his reasons.

"but……"

Pan Yingxi looked up at Zhang Yong. After receiving Zhang Ke's warning, they had been keeping an eye on this side and were certain that the guy had disappeared in the cabin.

“My men saw it very clearly through the drones; that guy went into the water. He was just using a visual illusion to make you think he was hiding inside the cabin. The cabin is locked and can't be opened, which will give him enough time to buy time!”

As Zhang Yong spoke, he pointed to the top of his head.

Pan Yingxi and several police officers around him looked up and, sure enough, saw a faint black dot high in the sky. Even with close scrutiny, it was difficult to make out clearly; who would have guessed it was a drone?

However, Pan Yingxi had to admit that the drone's view was definitely better than that of the police, whose view was blocked by the ships outside.

Since the people from Zhanghe Police Station had already said so, Pan Yingxi naturally wouldn't waste any more time.

He raised the muzzle of his gun, thinking for a moment before loading it. Then, he cautiously looked left and right as he approached the ship's side, trying to find any trace of someone entering the water from the ripples on the slightly swaying hull.

Unfortunately, no abnormalities were observed.

"Shall we go into the water and take a look?"

Pan Yingxi pointed to several policemen around him, saying that regardless of their swimming skills, they could see what problems might arise by clinging to the edge of the boat and looking down.

Upon receiving orders, the two police officers immediately removed their shoes and socks, and also unloaded their stun guns, cell phones, walkie-talkies, body cameras, and other equipment. After stretching slightly and glancing up at Pan Yingxi, they received his approval and immediately jumped into the water.

"whispering sound!"

Pan Yingxi looked disgusted at the several large splashes of water. If the suspect had made such a big commotion, would he have been fooled?
"Team leader, there's no one down here!"

A policeman surfaced, wiped his face with his hand, and shook his head at Pan Yingxi.

Then another policeman swam from the bottom of the boat to the other side, also clinging to the edge of the boat and popping his head out, silently shaking his head at Pan Yingxi.

"Keep looking!"

Pan Yingxi's expression was serious.

After resting for a moment and taking a deep breath, the two continued their descent. This time, they thoroughly checked all the surrounding ships to make sure there were no people hiding under or near them.

Moreover, to be honest, the water quality of Zhanghe Reservoir is very clear. After all, it is the drinking water for the people of Zhangzhou. Even without people going down to check, you can basically see the situation at the bottom of the water just by standing at the bow of the boat.

Whether someone is swimming below or not, it's perfectly clear from above.

"Did that guy perform magic again in front of us? How exactly did he do that sleight of hand under the drone? How did he disappear? Zhang Yong, tell your drone operator whether he saw it clearly or not?"

As time passed, Pan Yingxi grew increasingly annoyed and once again placed his suspicions on the ship's cabin.

Zhang Yong frowned slightly. How could they not find anyone?

Lin Ge jumped off Zhang Yong and slowly walked to the stern of the boat, peering over the railing. Although the water was somewhat murky due to the two policemen's actions, it was still fairly clear what was happening below. But Walmart was nowhere to be found?

"How exactly did that guy manage to hide himself?"

Lin Ge was puzzled and realized another problem with relying on smell to find people. The water surface could block the transmission of scents, so unless he jumped into the water, he really had no way to find someone hiding underwater.

But letting a cat go into the water... is a bit too much for the cat.

Lin Ge twitched his ears, took two steps back, and looked around to see if there was anything he had overlooked.

But it shouldn't be that difficult, after all, Li Yiduo's drone was watching closely from the sky. In just a moment, Walmart not only had to avoid the sight of the police and the police cat, but also had to deceive the drone overhead. Isn't that a bit too difficult?

Considering Walmart's identity and his previous abilities, Lingo felt he shouldn't underestimate him.

About ten minutes later, the marine police patrol boat arrived.

Upon hearing that the suspect had jumped into the water, two patrol boats immediately began searching the surrounding area; two more professional marine police officers, carrying equipment, jumped into the water and, together with several other officers in the water, conducted a more detailed search and investigation of the target vessel's hull and surrounding area.

However, as time passed, the police searched almost the entire surrounding waterway, but Walmart was still nowhere to be found.

Could he really become invisible?

Lin Ge was somewhat annoyed, and the group of police officers on the shore also became agitated.

Until this person is found, the boats on Guanyin Island cannot move. Not only is the case's progress affected, but the arrested criminals cannot remain there indefinitely; the entire process is stalled here.

'Ka'

On the fishing boat, Pan Yingxi, accompanied by two policemen, finally managed to pry open the cabin door.

But when he went down and came back up, his face was as black as ink.

Just as Zhang Yong had said, the cabin below was indeed empty; the foreigner had escaped from the police's sight right before everyone's eyes!
This is incredible!

(End of this chapter)