Superstars of Tomorrow

Fang Zhao didn’t say anything about the request for additional dog food being turned down. However, he ate even more every time he went to the dining hall. Even though he didn’t eat until he was completely full, he would at least eat until he was seventy to eighty percent full. However, even this much was enough to scare quite a lot of people.

Everyone’s image of Fang Zhao went from “the celebrity with very good hearing ability” to “the king of eating who can eat a whole potload in one sitting”.

As for his allocated foodstuffs such as energy bars, compressed biscuits and nutrient fluids, Fang Zhao kept it all for Curly Hair since Curly Hair had a wide diet and strong digestive ability. He could eat most things without issue.

This continued until the day before the conference began. The number of people entering Whale Island Airport was at its peak.

Fang Zhao had been dispatched to the luggage section. After all, he was a public figure. The Inspection Team tried to limit the number of times he appeared in public.

At Whale Island’s entry point, reporters from all the various large news and media outlets formed long queues to go through layers of security checks.

“As expected of Whale Island! The atmosphere here just isn’t the same,” a reporter on his first time here said nervously while taking deep breaths.

“The security checks are really strict! Even tea leaves can’t be brought in? Luckily I didn’t try to sneak stuff in.”

“Prohibited items absolutely mustn’t be brought. Take a look around. There are specially trained staff, high tech equipment, elite sniffer dogs, and even some special military dogs. How can anything pass them so easily?” Someone said as the reporters were discussing quietly.

A group of people had just arrived at the airport and were several hundred meters away from the media channel. The passage that these people took had different procedures from the ones the members of the media had to go through. They also weren’t separated from their luggage, and quite a number from this party were holding suitcases.

A major-general walked over and greeted, “Guests from the Inter-planetary Fund, please come with me.”

As he spoke, the major-general’s gaze fell on a kid slightly ahead of the group. That kid was dressed in a shirt that had a bear head printed on the front. He was playing with a black elastic ball… That should be an elastic ball right?

As if sensing his gaze, the little kid flashed a childlike smile at the major general.

Deep down, the major-general’s vigilance soared. He forced out a stiff smile and turned around to lead the way.

Superintelligence Little Bear didn’t bother about the curious glances he received from the soldiers. Rather, he was curiously checking out the surroundings and occasionally evaluating the security facilities and installations.

Much stronger than before, but still not good enough.

Luggage Inspection Area.

Fang Zhao and Curly Hair were standing by the conveyor belt. If there was anything suspicious among the luggage, Curly Hair would find it.

The service dogs here each had their own areas of expertise. There were dogs adept in detecting explosives and combustibles, while others were more sensitive towards suspicious allergens. Also, the team had passed through the break-in period smoothly. Curly Hair was the catalyst after that allowed the team to calm down after stifling the two other top dogs. However, every service dog would be graded by results. After the Whale Island Conference concluded, the service dogs would also get merits logged into their files according to their results. Therefore, there was still competition among them.

There was starting to be overtime, and Fang Zhao was temporarily posted to the night shift team. He would be on duty until 8 AM the next morning before being relieved to get some rest.

In between luggage checks and night patrols, Fang Zhao found some time to feed Curly Hair some extra food. Otherwise, who knew what this little thing would eat behind his back once he got hungry.

As the sun rose on the second day, the overtime was completed. It was already close to 8:30 AM after a short debrief and change of shifts. Fang Zhao and the other team members who had done overtime left the warehouse together. With this sort of workload, both the team members and inspection dogs were very tired.

Curly Hair seemed a little dejected — but not from being tired. This amount of work might have tired the other inspection dogs, but it really wasn’t a big deal for Curly Hair. He appeared somewhat listless just like the other dogs, but only because he was hungry.

“I’ll make something for you when we get to the dining hall later,” Fang Zhao whispered as he patted Curly Hair’s head lightly.

Curly Hair wagged his tail but didn’t seem overly happy. He wasn’t just hungry. He hadn’t gotten to play any games for many days.

There were many dining halls in Whale Island Region. Fang Zhao followed the other team members to the nearest dining hall to eat. The inspection dogs had also finished their dog food, but Curly Hair only perked up after Fang Zhao found time to slip him a snack.

“Let’s go. We have to head back and rest. There is still work to do when we wake up.” The team member leader took a look at the time and instructed the other team members.

It was rare for people to have free time at Whale Island Region. Besides the building where the inspection team stayed, the other most common sights were troops and convoys.

The little night shift team left.

As Fang Zhao and the others were leaving, they saw some kids following their teacher into the dining hall.

The whole conference would last at least three days. They couldn’t hold the conference for the entire time though. They needed to liven up the atmosphere as there had to be both tension and relaxation. There would be performances of all age groups ranging from kindergarten kids to elderly performance troupes. These little stage performers were just like all the others who were at the Whale Island Conference to perform.

Many of the kids looked over curiously when they saw the inspection team’s dogs.

Fang Zhao even heard a little boy turn and shout towards his fellow students behind, “Look, even the dogs are so orderly. How can we lose to dogs!”

When returning from the dining hall to their accommodations, they passed by Whale Island Region’s central public square, where the guard of honor contingent was standing in position.

At the stroke of 9 AM, music filled the air.

String instruments, flute music and military drums created a bereaving melody that also carried inspiration and hope. It sounded like a mild wind that seemed to signify the peace and tranquility after war.

Flags of the twelve continents and the emblems of various military bases were raised along with the music, commemorating the longest fight for survival in the history of mankind. It honored those who had sacrificed their blood so that others could see the dawn of the New Era.

When the music started, the small overtime team stopped walking and held a salute until the music ended before continuing to make their way back.

The Whale Island Conference had officially started. And in the next three days of the conference, the inspection team’s tasks would become even greater. Thus, after returning back to the dormitory, nothing much was said. Sleep came first. They had to make the most of the little time they had to replenish their energy.

After waking up, Fang Zhao’s next tasks were to patrol some buildings.

There were special rest areas for inspection dogs at the first level of every building. There were special dog toilets that included automated cleaning, massages and other services. All it required was a scan of the work badge hanging from the dog’s collar. The treatment of service dogs was really good here.

After finishing going through one building, Fang Zhao brought Curly Hair to the dog toilet.

When they got there, Fang Zhao saw Thornhead’s trainer waiting outside the toilet. Thornhead’s trainer smiled and called out when he saw Fang Zhao coming over. “Our team was just patrolling the building next door. There were too many people there, so I brought Thornhead over here.”

Thornhead was too overbearing and found his own territory and personal space to be very important. He would even make other dogs stick close to the wall when he visited the toilets. Back at his own home, Thornhead even had his own special toilet. Having gotten used to his overbearing ways, Thornhead treated these public dog toilets as his own. His trainer was also helpless and had to bring Thornhead to find another toilet each time. This dog was capable, and his results on duty at Whale Island Region during this period were exceptional. The higher-ups were willing to give him some special privileges and were also willing to put up with his little temper.

The leashes on the dogs’ collars were automatically retractable. Fang Zhao released the leash and let Curly Hair enter the toilet himself before conversing with Thornhead’s instructor.

Inside the toilet, Thornhead was squatting down solemnly taking a crap. Startled, he tensed up and wailed.

Curly Hair shot him a passing glance and continued to make his way inside. He selected an upright post and raised his hind leg to urinate. After he was done, Curly Hair scratched his claws on the post, totally ignoring Thornhead beside him. He was about to head to the rest area beside to relax with a message and a fur comb.

Suddenly, Curly Hair’s nose twitched and he turned around. He moved closer to the wall and started sniffing meticulously.

The trainers waiting outside rushed in when they heard Thornhead’s wail. When they saw that they didn’t fight, they stood by the door and kept an eye on them.

“What has he caught scent of?” Thornhead’s trainer asked.

Fang Zhao was also watching and saw Curly Hair use his paws to make a hole in the wall. Curly used his mouth to take out a cylindrical shaped object.

The trainer, who was about to lambaste the shoddy construction work of the toilet, was immediately startled. “Deodorant?”

Curly Hair placed the cylindrical object at Fang Zhao’s feet. Thornhead’s trainer fished out an apparatus and give it a quick scan. No reaction. He then looked at Thornhead at the side and didn’t see any special response from the dog either. Only then did he let down some of his vigilance.

“What is he biting deodorant for? Could it be that he doesn’t like deodorant? Or does he dislike the mechanical sound it makes when it sprays?” Thornhead’s trainer didn’t really understand.

That trainer had barely finished speaking when Curly Hair bit open the outer shell of the cylindrical deodorizer.

Thornhead, whose eyes had been firmly fixed on Curly Hair, now turned to stare at that deodorizer with its casing broken. Meanwhile, his trainer’s apparatus, which hadn’t been shut off, flashed red. Urgent beeps sounded from it with red flashing.

Without further ado, Fang Zhao hurriedly contacted the Inspection Team Captain and reported the situation here.

The other trainer stared at the small cylindrical object as though it was a bomb and said to Fang Zhao, “This thing shouldn’t explode right away. However, the stuff inside is something that shouldn’t appear here. We shouldn’t disclose this until the person behind this is caught. For now, we have to deal with this thing.”

“How do we deal with it?”

Fang Zhao had just finished asking this when he saw Curly Hair’s mouth moving closer. Curly Hair was trying to bite the cylinder.

“This can’t be eaten!” Fang Zhao stopped him.

“Don’t touch it!” That trainer had shouted at the same time as Fang Zhao. His face had turned white.

Although it likely wouldn’t explode straightaway, there was always a chance. What if there were other unknown substances inside? What if it exploded when subjected to force? Curly Hair’s professional ability was really very strong, but he wasn’t experienced enough. How could he try to bite something like that?!

And what is “this can’t be eaten”? Fang Zhao’s command was totally wrong! It could cause service dogs to make errors!

That trainer had a whole lot of things he wished to say, but now wasn’t the time. He would wait until the matter at hand was settled before speaking to Fang Zhao in private later on.

After quietly handling the matter here, Fang Zhao and the other trainers brought their dogs out as if nothing had happened. Investigation personnel on Whale Island had also been mobilized to deal with the matter and find the culprit.

Fang Zhao continued to patrol the buildings. When nobody was paying attention, he pried open Curly Hair’s mouth to check that there weren’t any suspicious substances or debris in his mouth. He exhorted once again, “Don’t eat anything randomly!”