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Chapter 290: Tracking by Scent

...

Two hours later, a modified ambulance drove out from the gates of Beitian Academy.

In the driver’s seat sat Honglian and Wang Baihu.

Lin Qing and Guagua stayed in the rear rescue cabin.

On top of the cabin was an air collection device, essentially an air intake system that would draw in large amounts of outside air into the chamber and release it through two exhaust vents below. This way, even if the dinosaur didn’t show itself, it would feel like riding in a convertible.

The only two drawbacks were that... February’s air was rather cold, and the wind noise was quite loud.

Wang Baihu peered through the rear window of the driver’s cabin, muttering softly, "I wonder if I’m overthinking..."

"What?" Honglian asked.

"I feel like Guagua has turned into a dragon."

"Huh? You mean its appearance, right?" Honglian responded indifferently.

For some reason, Beitian Academy had specially prepared some equipment for Guagua, like a vest with bulletproof inserts to protect its neck and chest, large Bluetooth headphones connected to a wireless transceiver inside the vest, and a blue blanket draped over its back, resembling an armored warhorse in a decorative painting.

Honglian didn’t understand why they did this, but expressed respect.

Because Guagua seemed quite happy.

"No, it’s the eyes." Wang Baihu emphasized, "The way it looks at me... there’s a bit of distance!"

Honglian rolled her eyes, "Are you serious?"

"Really!" He sounded a bit aggrieved, "I’ve raised it for so long, I know it pretty well. It wouldn’t prefer the spacious Beitian Academy and not want to come home with me, would it?"

"... Theoretically, Guagua belongs to the institution."

"Hearing you say that... I’m relieved." Wang Baihu breathed a sigh of relief.

"However, I also respect every life’s choice," Honglian pivoted, "If Guagua truly shows resistance to you, then I think it’s better to leave it at Beitian Academy. After all, you haven’t really taken care of it, have you?"

"Huh!?"

...

In the rescue cabin, Lin Qing was having a hit-or-miss chat with Chen Xuan, "When do you plan to show up in front of Honglian? I think she’s quite trustworthy."

"Of course, you know her future. If she wasn’t trustworthy, we wouldn’t need to go through so much trouble to win her over." Chen Xuan’s voice came through the earpiece with a touch of static, "The problem is, unlike you, I can’t change my facial features, and my name and identity can be traced by the institution. To be safe, it’s best to wait until she completely breaks away from the institution before I make an appearance."

"That’s certainly the most prudent approach." Lin Qing agreed, shifting her gaze to Guagua, who was lifting its neck, swaying it towards the air outlet, "It’s quite diligent and responsible. It hasn’t even reached the chemical factory and it’s already sniffing around."

"It’s not sniffing, just listening to music." Chen Xuan said.

"Pfft—" Lin Qing choked on her own saliva, "Listening, listening to music?"

"Yeah, it wanted to hear some prairie-style tunes, so I quickly downloaded a few for it from the internet."

"What songs?"

"The Lion King."

Lin Qing rubbed her forehead, "Well... it is a kind of prairie style. If it’s so smart, why doesn’t it learn our language?"

"It can’t. Its throat can’t produce human sounds. But humans can mimic the roar of the Scary Clawed Dragon, which is quite coincidental." Chen Xuan replied, "I know what you’re asking, not only does it not speak, but it also can’t understand human language because no one has ever taught it. It mostly judges our intentions through expressions and body language."

"I see," Lin Qing mused, "So, if you didn’t have the ’language’ skill, our communication with Guagua would still be at the guessing stage?"

"That’s right. Even though I’m a master linguist, learning dragon language in a scenario where our languages are mutually different might take years."

She couldn’t help but chuckle, "With just this skill alone, you could leave a mark in history."

"More than that. If we encountered aliens now, I’d be the only candidate as the Earth’s ambassador." Chen Xuan laughed as well.

This ability doesn’t let him talk to flora and fauna.

Because the other party must know a language first.

But conversely, as long as it was a language, he could definitely master it.

Moreover, his quick mastery of Guagua’s language wasn’t solely due to ’language,’ but also because Guagua was a great teacher. Even if he used this ability to learn English or French, it wouldn’t be as fast as today.

"Knock knock."

At that moment, Wang Baihu knocked on the rear window.

His voice also came through the intercom, "We’ve reached the first inspection site."

Lin Qing glanced at the map, "We’ve reached New Li Daily Chemical Factory. Let Guagua get ready."

Officer Tian had long pulled all the data on daily chemical factories in Jiang City from the bureau. There were five factories in total that required the use of aroma and could accommodate underground detention facilities, mostly outside the third ring.

Chen Xuan switched to Guagua’s channel and said a few words to it.

"Guagua!" Guagua waved a paw, indicating it understood.

"Environmental inspection!" Honglian drove to the factory gate, rolled down the window, and flashed an ID in front of the guard.

The guard, somewhat surprised, took the ID and glanced at it, then said he needed to consult a superior.

After a phone call, the gate barrier lifted.

This was also thanks to the police—under Tian Zhenggang’s arrangement, these chemical factories had indeed received notifications about environmental inspections. However, to avoid alarming anyone, the notification only mentioned checking outdoor air quality without entering the workshop, and the factory didn’t need to assign anyone to accompany them.

Honglian drove around the premises twice and asked Lin Qing, "So, any reaction from Guagua?"

"Nope, on to the next one."

"Are you sure we shouldn’t look around some more?"

"No need. The air fragrance here is completely different from the place where Zhang Zhiqui is held," Lin Qing stated firmly.

This left even Honglian with a peculiar look in her eyes. She set down the intercom and turned to Wang Baihu, asking, "Can Guagua express such complex ideas?"

The latter could only shrug.

"The next place is Hongda Daily Chemical Factory, let’s go," Honglian sighed, "I just hope Miss Lin’s plan is reliable, so we don’t end up making a wasted trip today."

However, when they drove to the next destination, twenty minutes later, they found the factory gate blocked by a row of spherical bollards.

Honglian honked the horn, catching the guard’s attention, "We’re from the environmental bureau doing inspections, you need to move these bollards so we can drive in."

"Today?" The guard seemed quite surprised, "But the factory is already shut down."

"Shut down? Why?"

"They said two mixers malfunctioned, and to ensure safety, the leaders have temporarily stopped operations. They’ll send someone for a comprehensive check tomorrow," the guard explained.

"When did this happen?"

"About an hour ago."

What a coincidence? Honglian frowned, "We just need to circle around the factory, not go inside."

"Sorry... the leaders said today’s factory is closed off, no more visitors," the guard felt a bit awkward, "Do you still need to inspect even if it’s shut down?"

"Yes, we need to go in today! Are you moving them or not? If not, we’ll do it ourselves." Honglian said firmly, "Wang Baihu, move those obstacles."

"Wait, you’re being too domineering." Wang Baihu hastily pulled her into the car, "We’re not on the execution team now, just low-level employees outsourced by the environmental bureau, how much are we getting paid? No need to push this hard! If this factory does have issues, likely someone’s watching the gate right now."

"But we’re not really outsourced employees. Isn’t not getting in exactly what we don’t want?"

"We could leave it as tentative, inspect it last..."

Just then, Lin Qing’s voice suddenly came over the intercom, "Guagua found it, the scent is wafting out from here!"