Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 679 Big Event

The very next morning at 9:30 sharp, Zhang Yong's premonition came true.

Deputy Director Yang of Zhangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau personally called to report that the Zhanghe Waterborne Flight Research Center, located in the Zhanghe Reservoir, had suffered a serious theft!

Research data on an ultralight unmanned low-altitude seaplane, independently developed and designed by Zhangzhou City, which has passed its first test flight, is currently undergoing optimization, and is scheduled to be exhibited at the UAE World Expo next year, has been stolen.

The thief entered the research center in an unexpected way, then made his way unimpeded to the R&D department, easily copying and taking away the data.

The research center only discovered this situation this morning when its staff came to work.

"Are you kidding me! Who in their right mind would steal something like this? Are you sure it's not a foreign spy?"

Zhang Yong was shocked.

It's important to know that the predecessor of the Zhangzhou Waterborne Flight Research Center was the renowned National Aviation Special Flight Equipment Research Institute, codenamed Wudongliu, one of the country's key military security units. Although it now researches civilian flight equipment such as seaplanes, firefighting aircraft, agricultural aircraft, amphibious aircraft, and ground effect vehicles, the data stored within the institute are all genuine state secrets. The fact that it still retains its research institute codename suggests it's not an ordinary organization.
This organization was robbed, and someone even broke in and stole their latest research findings...

Does something like this happen so easily?

This kind of thing is truly earth-shattering!
Zhang Yong couldn't help but curse in his heart.

Moreover, upon hearing about ultralight unmanned low-altitude seaplanes, Zhang Yong's first thought was the Taiwan Strait!

Furthermore, Zhang Yong is also familiar with the global military strategy's development towards unmanned combat aircraft, and as for the progress of domestic research in this area...

Was it just the specific data on this aircraft that was stolen, or did it also include information related to other domestic drone technologies...?

Just thinking about it sends chills down your spine.

"Are you kidding me?"

Zhang Yong swallowed hard.

"Would I joke like that with you first thing in the morning?"

On the other end of the phone, Yang Ye's tone was serious, even somewhat cold, as he said, "The Municipal Public Security Bureau, the Armed Police, and the National Security Department have all gone to the research institute. They investigated the surveillance footage and security equipment, but found nothing. On the contrary, the police dogs and military dogs easily tracked the person's movements. He actually entered the research institute through the main gate without any effort; the security guards at the gate were lax and didn't check properly; the staff inside thought that with security guards there was nothing to worry about, and had no sense of vigilance whatsoever! The data was left on the computer at his workstation, intending to be used again today, but someone easily found the target and took him away smoothly..."

"Director Yang, is it really necessary to explain this to me so clearly?"

Zhang Yong swallowed again, feeling that he, as an ordinary captain in a local police station, was not qualified to hear such detailed information.

"I just learned that you were operating around the Zhangshi Reservoir last night, so I wanted to know if you found anything suspicious last night."

Yang Ye paused for a moment, then slowly continued, "Based on our assessment, the target likely left the research institute around 11 PM last night and then disappeared in the nearby residential area. This person is probably quite professional, possessing a set of specialized methods to counter tracking. But as long as he can't become invisible, he will definitely leave traces. Although the surveillance cameras can't find him, we have already dispatched police dogs and military dogs to conduct a comprehensive search and investigation of the surrounding area! The entire city of Zhangzhou is fully under surveillance and we absolutely will not let him leave! Even if he has a way to shield himself from technological means, I absolutely do not believe that he can escape the noses of police dogs and the eyes of the public!"

"So you wanted Mimi's help!"

Zhang Yong immediately understood Yang Ye's meaning. He certainly wouldn't refuse at this point, but he was a little worried. "But Director Yang, the other party already got their hands on the information last night. What if they've already used network equipment to transmit it away..."

"It's impossible!"

Yang Ye immediately interrupted Zhang Yong, "Although he copied the hard drive data, it is absolutely impossible to transfer the content without the relevant equipment! This is not something that can be done with just a computer. First, the systems are incompatible, and second, any remote transfer will cause the data to self-destruct."

"Oh! The data contained a virus, which was copied along with it."

Zhang Yong understood Yang Ye's meaning using his own interpretation.

"In other words, he must take that mobile device to a place with specialized tools, and most likely directly out of the country. Otherwise, the data inside is still safe. As long as we arrest him in time and retrieve the device, there won't be any leaks. Is that right, Director Yang? I'll have someone send Mimi there right now. I'll also immediately investigate the surrounding area to see if we're lucky enough to have anyone seen him!"

Although relieved, Zhang Yong was well aware of the seriousness of the matter. While annoyed that this had to happen in Zhangzhou City, specifically within the jurisdiction of the Zhanghe Police Station, Zhang Yong quickly took action, assigning tasks to everyone.

"spy?"

Lin Ge looked up at Zhang Yong in astonishment, completely unexpected to encounter such a thing at this time.

Are spies and such things too far removed from ordinary people?
And why would they come to Zhangzhou, a fifth-tier city? If they have the ability to steal, wouldn't it be better to steal from more advanced military research institutes? Damn, the Zhangzhou Research Center is now researching helium airships, what good stuff could they possibly have here?

"Any information related to drones?"

In the other police car, Li Yiduo seemed to know more. Hearing this, he said into the walkie-talkie, "Although I've heard that some foreign countries are using drones to replace fighter jets or even the military, our drone technology here... isn't it a bit of an exaggeration to send spies over?"

"Don't always think that only big countries like the United States and Russia have spies. Small and poor countries that don't have their own research and development capabilities can also make up for this gap by stealing."

Zhang Yong adjusted his posture, glanced southwest, and replied into the walkie-talkie, "Or it could be some individuals or organizations stealing valuable data and selling it to countries that need it; that's quite normal. This kind of thing happens frequently in large research institutes in China, but I didn't expect it to come to a small place like ours this time. And although what they stole is just civilian technology, it's still the result of hundreds of millions of yuan and many years of research; it's worth a good price outside."

Upon hearing this on the walkie-talkie, everyone immediately understood.

"Internal...or external?"

Hu Lijun offered another guess.

"Once we catch him, we'll get to the bottom of things! But whoever he is, this time we'll grind him to dust!"

Zhang Yong gritted his teeth.

Everyone, including the water police cars, understood the seriousness of the situation. Following Zhang Yong's instructions, they quickly dispersed, using the Zhangzhou Waterborne Flight Research Center as a central point, and sped outwards in all directions.

Lin Ge sat in one of the police cars and was driven by Li Siyu to the Zhangzhou Waterborne Flight Research Center at an extremely fast speed.

Along the way, I saw several armed police vehicles, and even armored patrol vehicles speeding by. I also saw many police cars with sirens blaring shuttling back and forth. Their presence added a touch of oppression to the peaceful city of Zhangzhou and made the people on the roadside feel an inexplicable sense of urgency.

Things that require the deployment of armed police or even armored vehicles are usually not trivial matters. Some people started to discuss it and took out their phones to ask if anything had happened.

However, this time, there was absolutely no related information online; everything was completely blocked.

Li Siyu brought Lin Ge to the entrance of the research institute, only to find that the area was completely under the control of the armed police. Even though they arrived in a police car, they were asked to get out and undergo a search, and were even scanned with a scanning device.

Even Lin Ge couldn't escape the fate of being checked, and it took him quite a while to finally get into the research institute.

At this time, everyone in the entire research institute was under investigation, and even the residents of the institute's family quarters were all required to be questioned.

In particular, some of the non-family members who rented the place were required to undergo quarantine and investigation. They were questioned in detail about everything from their identity and occupation to who they had recently been in contact with.

The entire research institute was filled with a sense of unease and tension.

Those in the know were asked to remain silent, while those unaware speculated wildly, creating a slightly chaotic scene. The hurried movement of police officers in the courtyard and the watchful eyes of heavily armed police officers on every stranger prevented anyone from daring to step forward.

This tense atmosphere made even Lingo serious.

He and Li Siyu did not see Yang Ye. After verifying their identities, they were quickly taken to Song Guoren's side in the lobby on the first floor of the research institute.

Song Guoren and Li Mei stood side by side, but their subordinates had all been dispersed.

After Lin Ge arrived, the expressions of the Song people visibly softened. At such a crucial moment, any extra help was a good thing; not to mention that Lin Ge's abilities had been tested and proven, which made the Song people even more trustworthy.

Although this might make the police dog squadron seem rather incompetent.

"Enough with the unnecessary words, Li Siyu, you and Mimi get moving! I can't give you any scent of the suspect right now, so Mimi, just use your skills and hopefully you can find that damn guy!"

Without any pleasantries, the Song people urged Lin Ge to get to work.

Lin Ge knew what was important and wouldn't act recklessly now. He glanced at Li Siyu and walked directly towards the office where the incident had occurred. He didn't need anyone to guide him; several investigators were busy inside, trying to find even the slightest clue.

Lin Ge entered the office and found the room to be filled with a cacophony of smells. Indeed, many people had come here since the incident—police officers, armed police, research institute leaders, government officials, and personnel from relevant departments—leaving very little to form a definitive conclusion. One had to consider whether the suspect had prepared any equipment to isolate odors, bodily fluids, skin flakes, hair, etc., making it extremely difficult to pinpoint the suspect based solely on smell.

"Didn't the surveillance footage find anything?"

Li Siyu glanced at the several semi-circular bowls above her head, wondering how the other person had disappeared from under these cameras.

"The surveillance has been cut off, and the people in the monitoring room are fast asleep."

The faces of the Song people were as black as ink.

"..."

Lin Ge was speechless, yet he couldn't understand.

After all, this place has never had any problems for so many years. In recent years, it has started to be converted from military to civilian use, and its status and security requirements have dropped sharply. It is inevitable that the night shift security guards will become lax.

Of course, after this incident, a few unlucky guys will probably have to go to jail.

At the very least, the institute's security chief will definitely be serving several years in prison.

Shaking his head to dismiss these chaotic thoughts, Lin Ge lowered his head and began sniffing around the room. He hadn't gone two steps before he couldn't help but sneeze, his body jerking and scattering fluff out, much to the displeasure of the on-site inspectors.

However, once they discovered it was Mimi, several of the city bureau investigators were no longer annoyed. They were well aware of this cat's abilities; its incredible sense of smell was equivalent to being able to detect the most difficult things to find using technology.

The invisible and colorless scent is what surveyors most want to locate and is most convenient to use in actual combat; even the most advanced equipment cannot completely block it.

However, with current technology, only police dogs and cats can actually utilize it.

Their existence is an important piece of the puzzle in compensating for the capabilities of surveyors.

"There are too many smells, which one is the suspect?"

Lin Ge stood in front of the computer with his eyes closed, focusing all his energy on identifying the individual scents he could smell. Some were strong, some faint, some pungent, and some even foul. Some scents had lingered for a long time, while others were fresh. However, a fresh scent didn't necessarily belong to the suspect; the police officers and other personnel coming and going at the scene would all interfere with Lin Ge's ability to identify them.

Hmm! And then there are these useless, yet troublesome leaders who insist on coming to the scene to offer their opinions.

Lin Ge inwardly grumbled, while also worrying that making an accurate judgment about the smell at this moment was actually more difficult than leaving a few cat hairs at the scene to affect the surveyors' work.

Cat hair is easy to identify, but the scent that gets in the way of people requires Lin Ge to eliminate it bit by bit.

He spent a long time, until he was exhausted, before he finally narrowed it down to five or six suspicious smells that appeared very infrequently in the office and had little interaction with other odors.

Since the city police dogs confirmed that the target had escaped from the research institute, it meant that they had successfully detected the presence of a suspect somewhere.

But given the gravity of the matter, Lin Ge dared not gamble on whether the scent the dogs found belonged to the suspect. Therefore, he trusted his own judgment and decided to start from the source and search bit by bit.

"Yang Ye said the incident occurred around 10 p.m., and he left the research institute around 11 p.m. Based on this time, there are only three possible odors left."

Shaking his head to clear his head, Lin Ge made his final decision.

After leaving the office, Lin Ge followed the three subtle scents. It turned out that in a makeshift isolation area set up in a conference room not far away, one of the three was sitting there openly, emitting the scent of the person who smelled the most.

Looking up, I saw a government official from the research institute.

Good!

Another one has been eliminated.

Wait a minute! Why would someone who doesn't need to work overtime come to the office at 10 p.m.?
Lin Ge noticed something was wrong.

In the conference room, Zhai Xiaojun was personally questioning these people.

Not afraid of them overhearing or colluding, Zhai Xiaojun questioned them one by one, his expression calm but his eyes cold. He was now particularly eager to discover any collusion, so that he could easily lure out a whole string of suspicious people.

Unfortunately... those who were selected as suspects were all incredibly cunning.

"Mimi?"

At this moment, Zhai Xiaojun noticed Lin Ge standing at the conference room door, staring intently at one of the bald middle-aged men in his fifties.

This person was initially ruled out by Zhai Xiaojun because he lacked a motive for committing the crime.

However, being targeted by Mimi proves that his previous explanation to clear himself of suspicion was most likely a lie!

Ha ha……

Lying at this point is no different from admitting guilt without being asked.
Zhai Xiaojun gave a signal to his men at the door, indicating that they should continue walking aggressively towards the man.

"I confess!"

To everyone's surprise, when this person saw Zhai Xiaojun's expression change, he immediately chose to take the initiative to confess and surrender himself.

“I did come to this office around 9 p.m. last night. But the reason I came had nothing to do with that matter! I just... just... wanted to find a place to chat with my new colleague…”

As he spoke, the man turned his head away, feeling embarrassed.

"chat?"

The police officers were stunned for a moment, but quickly realized what was happening.

What the hell are you talking about! It's clearly someone engaging in illicit activities with their lover or in a sex deal, doing something improper here!
Yes! There is a break room in the office, which was originally used by office staff for their lunch break.

But...aren't there security cameras in this office?
When questioned by Zhai Xiaojun, the middle-aged man lowered his head and said, "I turned off the cameras in the research institute by going to the security room. I knew they only knew how to sleep soundly every night, so I sneaked over and turned off the machines."

"You guy!"

Zhai Xiaojun's eyes widened.

We initially thought the suspect's ability to bypass the cameras and enter the research institute was his own skill, but who would have thought he was actually an inside man?
Moreover, this guy turned off the camera just to make it easier for himself to 'enjoy' it, but little did he know that he was providing a convenience for criminals?

"You call this unrelated to this matter?"

Zhai Xiaojun gritted his teeth.

"But I really didn't mean to!"

The middle-aged man was still trying to argue his way out of things.

Lin Ge had already lost interest in the nonsense going on here.

There were only three suspects by scent to begin with, but this guy's explanation has eliminated two of them!

In other words, the last remaining scent is most likely that of a suspect who committed theft and espionage.

(End of this chapter)