Pet King

Sheng Ke wanted to say something to Zhang Zian, but the two of them were immediately separated by the Biochemical Specialist Police Unit who were waiting at the door. The mask that Zhang Zian had not completely taken off was also put back on.

“Follow us to carry out the decontamination treatment.” The specialist police pulled Zhang Zian into an inflatable tent that was set up at the side of the door.

The tent was square-shaped and had translucent tarpaulins on all sides––one side was zippered. It was more like a simple shower room than a tent.

After Zhang Zian was shoved inside the tent, and before he could even stand still, a disinfectant with foam was sprayed out from the shower head above him. There was a specialist police officer at the side who sprayed water at him using a high-pressure nozzle. After he was done with one side, he turned and sprayed the other side. He only stopped after the surface of the protective suit was completely sprayed. Lastly, he was rinsed with water and the decontamination process was finally completed.

Not only he, but all the other biochemical specialist police officers who came down after him went through the decontamination treatment. Only after the treatment could they remove the heavy and stuffy protective clothing.

If it was a common poison, they may not require such a formal decontamination process, but when they heard that only 21 micrograms of Palytoxin were needed to poison an adult, the biochemical specialist police officers didn’t dare to treat it lightly––being careful was the only way to survive.

Actually, although the Palytoxin was powerful, it had already been dissolved in water, and it was not a powdery poison. So, it was reasonable to say that there should not be a problem after washing one’s gloves clean. But the shower was just a preventive measure.

The biochemical specialist police officers who left last were carrying a tightly sealed box with all the live stones in Carpenter Wang’s house loaded inside. They grabbed all of them to avoid any being missed.

As for Carpenter Wang’s house, there was a need to go through a disinfection process before anyone could live inside.

After he was done with all the little things, Zhang Zian was finally able to breathe the refreshing air again.

The other police officers were busy with their own affairs, and Bureau Chief Chen was making phone calls one after another. When he saw Zhang Zian coming out, he pressed his hand against the receiver and said, “Xiao Zhang, don’t leave yet! We need you for an interview later. I’m currently on the line with the TV station. We must clarify this matter immediately before malicious rumors start to spread around the whole city.”

Bureau Chief Chen didn’t sound like he was going to take no for an answer. It’s probably because the videos and photos taken by the nearby residents had started to surface on the internet, and they had to be dealt with as soon as possible before they caused unnecessary chaos.

Zhang Zian was not in a hurry to do anything, so he just stood by and watched.

The police car carrying the live rocks drove off with the siren on, and the other police officers began to remove the perimeter cordon. However, the unit where Carpenter Wang lived in was still cordoned off.

When Xiao Liu and Xiao Wang received the notification to stand down, they both let out a sigh of relief and glanced at Zhang Zian with gratitude. It wasn’t convenient for them to come over and say hello, so they just nodded before they led Red Dragon, Prince, and the other police dogs back into their police vehicle.

After Sheng Ke was done with his work, he walked over while massaging his old waist. He smiled and said, “I didn’t expect that this major case was actually because of a few inconspicuous corals. When we heard the news, we were really surprised! Fortunately we have you here, or else we would have made a big fool out of ourselves. We’ll definitely be laughed at by the other stations in the bordering cities…”

Zhang Zian shrugged and said, “Actually, there’s no problem with your response. A similar incident happened recently in the UK, and at that time, the British police were more nervous than you––they cordoned off a whole block.”

“Was it also because of that poison?” Sheng Ke asked.

Zhang Zian nodded.

“That’s d*mn ridiculous! Before today, if you were to tell me that corals could poison people, I never would have believed you! But… sh*t! I guess this group of corals can poison about a hundred people, right? It’s no different from a weapon of mass destruction!” Sheng Ke vented his tension and anxiety through the use of many vulgar words.

“Actually, it’s not so much. It’s only in theory that you can poison a person with 21 micrograms. According to the LD50 value, they had used a purified version of the toxin. The Palytoxin is not as pure, of course, but it’s still very dangerous,” Zhang Zian explained.

“All these aquatic hobbyists… they really don’t want their lives! They can just play with anything! There’s also that blue-ringed octopus that some people raise…” Sheng Ke shook his head and sighed.

Zhang Zian smiled and didn’t say much; it was too much trouble to try to explain it to an amateur. The corals apparently snuck their way into Carpenter Wang’s fish tank, instead of being raised deliberately. But because of the bad impression left by some of the aquatic hobbyists who loved to pursue peculiar salt-water creatures, they were treated with partiality.

However, there was one sentence that was correct—good riders fall off their horses, divers drown in water, good drinkers get drunk on alcohol, and good warriors perish through battles; it is always the experienced ones that failed.

The technical requirements for polyculture of fish and coral were very high. Ordinary saltwater fish players would not be able to handle it. Carpenter Wang’s fish and his coral tank had already proved that he was a highly qualified, experienced hobbyist, but yet he was the one who messed up. It could only show that he was too confident and negligent.

Marine creatures had always had a beautiful and dangerous existence––any kind of negligence and overconfidence could teach one how to start over as a human being. Now, Zian could only hope that Carpenter Wang would get better as soon as possible and learn from his incident.

Sheng Ke was still going on when he suddenly slapped his own head and said, “Right, I almost forgot—you had asked me before about the recent reports on cat abuse. I’ve already gone to the 110 alarm center to inquire, but there have been so many things going on that I forgot to tell you about it… I’m getting old and my memory is no longer as good. If I didn’t see you, I might have even forgotten it!”

“It has nothing to do with your memories! You just have too many things to do,” Zhang Zian comforted him and continued to listen.

“You don’t have to comfort me.” Sheng Ke waved his hand and said, “According to the feedback from the alarm center, there have always been alerts on cat abuse incidents. But recently, there’s been an increase in cat abuse incidents by at least an estimated 50 percent in the last one or two months––maybe even more… This is because cat abuse is not illegal, and it’s also not under our control. Unless the caller insists on it, we would not even dispatch our officers. Even if we do attend to the case, we can only persuade and educate them. Most times, the cat abusers would have already run away, and we have no reason to use police resources to track them down…”

Sheng Ke explained very clearly, and Zhang Zian had expected as much. From the police point of view, because there was really no illegal behavior, and even if the police were interested in taking charge, there was no valid reason that would allow them to. So they could only invest the limited police resources in more needed places.

“What’s wrong?” Sheng Ke observed that Zian didn’t look too good. He patted his shoulder and comforted him, “I know that you’re selling cats, so it’s definitely hard to see people abuse them. These days, I have understood the situation, and it requires legislation on the government level to resolve the problem. You can’t do anything by yourself, so don’t be too upset.”

Zhang Zian nodded, but actually, Sheng Ke only knew one reason and not the other.