Superstars of Tomorrow

After Zhao Chao brought Curly Hair away, Fang Zhao sat down in his quarantine room to quietly think about the matter. There were other quarantine rooms not too far away housing the island guards, who were also kept in quarantine.

However, compared to Fang Zhao’s calm, the atmosphere there was much more agitated.

How could they sit still knowing that there were still dangerous extremists hiding on the island with a stolen super-grade pathogen! They frequently handled these sorts of matters and knew all too well the consequences of those pathogens being released! But no matter how anxious they were, all they could do was sit still in the quarantine rooms and worry.

Slurp slurp slurp——

Unit manager Nick carried a bowl of instant noodles over and sat in front of the quarantine rooms watching them.

"Unit manager Nick, you are still in the mood for instant noodles?" An island guard stared at Nick as though he was a mysterious new species.

"You are actually eating in your own laboratory?!" Another island guard had a face full of disbelief. He still remembered this unit manager talking about the importance of cleanliness when their small squad had entered. G*ddamn cleanliness!

If it were the previous unit manager, there wouldn’t have been any incident of eating instant noodles inside! Other than the rest lounge, snacks and other small food stuffs had been absolutely prohibited, let alone such a demonic item like instant noodles! This was simply a pollutant!

The current unit manager was no good!

Nick didn’t react the slightest to all the flabbergasted looks and slurped another mouthful before speaking unhurriedly, "This isn’t a laboratory. This is a quarantine floor. The area outside the quarantine rooms are free activity zones. The circulatory system here is highly efficient and will purify and disinfect the air."

Slurp slurp slurp——

"Want some instant noodles? This taste is fascinating," The Unit Manager asked the people in the quarantine rooms.

Island guards in quarantine: "..."

How can we be in the mood to eat instant noodles at this time! Such comical actions at this time just make us more anxious!

"Stay calm," Nick said.

"Who can stay calm in this sort of situation?!" An island guard retorted.

Nick inclined his head to the side.

The island guards turned over to where Nick was looking at and saw Fang Zhao seated on the chair, cool as a cucumber.

Island guards: "..."

They didn’t believe that Fang Zhao was calm deep inside. They were more inclined to believe that the blow Fang Zhao had received was too great. After all, among those in quarantine, the one in most danger with the highest possibility of being infected was Fang Zhao. However, no matter what, Fang Zhao had also saved all of them. If they didn’t know how to console him, it was best to maintain their silence.

Unit manager didn’t have the slightest intention of being silent. He held up the bowl of instant noodles and continued to entice them. "What you are need now is food. Food can replenish your energy and is also a good remedy for anxiety."

"Aren’t you worried at all?" A young island guard couldn’t help ask.

Nick shook his head, "Worried, yes, but it isn’t of any use. All I need is to do my job well. The rest will be left to the professionals. You all must trust your comrades. They aren’t useless. Under the current circumstances, even if they aren’t able to capture the perpetrator in the short term, they won’t allow the person to escape either."

"But what if?" Yet another island guard asked. He tended to always think of the worst-case scenarios.

Unit manager Nick said extremely confidently, "Given the island’s armed forces, there is no what if. Unless people can suddenly vanish."

Elsewhere, the mobilized personnel had already set off from Unit Three of the research facility. The inspection team had brought over seven dogs to assist in the search, including the two ace dogs, K and Thornhead.

Curly Hair was alone at the front.

Now, it wasn’t Zhao Chao leading, but rather, Curly Hair was dragging Zhao Chao along. Sometimes he would even turn his head back and give a few urging barks when he felt that Zhao Chao was running too slowly.

The island guards following behind had slightly skeptical attitudes.

"There is sufficient momentum and its speed is quick enough. But is that dog really in pursuit? Or is it blindly running?"

"It’s probably running while following the scent. Look, those dogs behind are also following the same route."

"It coincides with the clues surveillance provided us with. It should be correct."

Not every area had surveillance footage. Furthermore, someone had tampered with the surveillance footage. Some portions had five to ten second pauses. This was the overall situation, and relevant personnel had gone to handle it. Now, Zhao Chao and the inspection team’s mission was to quickly find the sealed vial that was lost.

As Curly Hair was running, he suddenly stopped and put his nose to the ground.

"Why have you stopped?" The Whale Island Guard captain who was following closely behind asked Zhao Chao.

Zhao Chao shook his head quietly and kept his eyes on Curly Hair.

Curly Hair sniffed the ground before looking up and twitching his nose. "Woof woof woof!"

Zhao Chao and the Whale Island Guard captain exchanged glances. They then called for a ladder to remove the ceiling boards.

"It’s here!!" The Whale Island Guard captain was delighted. Wearing gloves, he placed the ceiling board on the ground and gently took hold of the sealed vial before studying it carefully. He confirmed that this was the vial that was lost and that it hadn’t suffered any damage.

He got his men to bring the storage container and sealed the vial inside.

"How devious. Knowing that he was being pursued by many and couldn’t bring the item out, he chose to hide it above. It would have bypassed the search of most inspection dogs." The island guard captain chuckled.

The lost super-grade pathogen had been the priority of the search. It was fine if the perpetrator wasn’t found, but the pathogen had to be retrieved.

Now, everyone could collectively heave a sigh of relief.

The dogs had followed the scent to track the perpetrator. Other than a few innately talented dogs, most would have missed this spot in the pursuit.

"This dog isn’t too bad! Very impressive!" The Whale Island Guard captain gazed at Curly Hair as though he was some sort of treasure.

Zhao Chao appeared pleased, but it quickly turned into worry. "This time, we really have Fang Zhao to thank. If not for him tracking that suspect, we wouldn’t have been able to find the lost item so quickly. Every minute that passes is an added variable. Now, the dog that retrieved the pathogen also belongs to Fang Zhao."

The Whale Island Guard captain nodded in approval. "We really have to log this as a big merit. If... I’m just saying, if Fang Zhao really gets infected and can’t make it..."

"Sssh!" Zhao Chao hurriedly made a gesture to keep silent while his gaze was on the dog beside his feet.

Curly Hair was originally crouching at the side. His two ears stood up when he heard what the Whale Island Captain said and glanced at the two captains. He whimpered, then stood up, wanting to run back in the direction they came from.

Zhao Chao dragged the leash. "Stop! Curly Hair!"

The Whale Island Guard captain also helped hold the leash back. "Hey, what is it trying to do?"

"What else? It wants to return! Don’t think that dogs can’t understand human speech! You said that his master might get infected and die. Of course he would surely want to run back!" Zhao Chao exclaimed.

Being in contact with many intelligent dogs, Zhao Chao knew that some smarter dogs that were trained from a young age or animals that frequently interacted with humans could understand human speech. They might not be able to fully comprehend, but they could at least understand some. The two ace dogs, Thornhead and K, belonged to the group that could understand quite a bit.

Previously, he had seen Fang Zhao speak to Curly Hair. He had never expected Curly Hair to fully understand. Fang Zhao had said a lot and Curly Hair surely wouldn’t remember everything. At most, he thought that Curly Hair would only remember the important words. But now it seemed like Curly Hair could really understand a lot.

Besides understanding quite a lot, Zhao Chao hadn’t expected Curly Hair to have so much strength. He hadn’t been able to hold Curly Hair back alone.

"Curly Hair! Stop! This is an order! Don’t forget the mission that Fang Zhao gave you hasn’t been completed!"

Sensing less force on the leash, Zhao Chao put in more strength. "The orders Fang Zhao gave you are to find the pathogen and find the perpetrator! We have only found the pathogen currently. We still haven’t apprehended the perpetrator!"

Curly Hair stopped and looked at Zhao Chao.

Zhao Chao didn’t avoid Curly Hair’s gaze. He answered solemnly with a sincere expression, "Curly Hair, Fang Zhao is still very safe. He hasn’t been infected yet. We have to continue with the mission. Come, let us catch the person who stole the pathogen."

Zhao Chao pointed ahead as he spoke. The one who stole the pathogen had run in this direction. They had stopped over here because of the discovery of the sealed pathogen, whereas the others had continued on with the pursuit.

Curly Hair’s ears drooped and he trudged over to Zhao Chao’s side. His little eyes were pitiful, and Zhao Chao’s heart softened when he saw it.

Sighing, Zhao Chao stooped down and planned to pet him tenderly.

But before Zhao Chao’s hand reached his head, Curly Hair suddenly bit out. He didn’t bite Zhao Chao though. Instead, he pulled the leash out of Zhao Chao’s hand. After that, he starting running forward. This time, he didn’t run back and instead started to pursue the trail.

The Whale Island Guard captain standing beside him was stunned.

Zhao Chao cursed silently and stood up to whack the Whale Island Guard captain’s shoulder. "What are you looking at? Hurry up and chase!"

Curly Hair, who had forcibly seized back his leash, was simply like a wild dog. The two captains exerted all their efforts to chase but only discovered that the gap was continuously widening.

Very quickly, Curly Hair surpassed the teams ahead that were in pursuit.

Personnel from the island guard and inspection team only felt a gust of wind. They glimpsed a figure passing by in a flash and couldn’t stop it.

"Was that... a professional racing dog?" An island guard asked.

"No, that was a former shepherd dog, current interim inspection dog and full-time pet dog," an inspection team member explained.

In a certain basement.

A figure was traveling quickly like an agile monkey avoiding obstacles. A voice continuously spoke through the micro receiver in his ear, feeding him instructions on where to flee and how long he had for each path.

Suddenly, the receiver in his ear made sputtering noises as if there was interference.

The sounds of static became even more obvious and the words transmitted through the receiver were no longer clear.

The change had been sudden and it was intensifying rapidly. He only felt a buzzing in his ear which seemed like it had intensified tenfold, then a hundredfold.

Time seemed to slow down, and his perception and senses felt sluggish.

Behind him, there was something rapidly closing in.

His mind was blank.

His vision turned dark abruptly.

...

Zhao Chao’s face turned pale when he and the others caught up to this spot and saw Curly Hair lying on the ground.

Fortunately, Curly Hair was still breathing and his heart rate was normal.

Curly Hair woke up very quickly and he looked around puzzled.

The other dogs were also circling on the spot.

"The scent disappeared here," an inspection team member said.

No one was satisfied with this outcome.

To actually be able to vanish from this many layers of encirclement? Investigate thoroughly!

Why did this whole area of surveillance suffer a 10 second malfunction just now?!

Why were all communications suddenly cut?!

Did the perpetrator use some sort of secret weapon? Or perhaps something unknown to the world?

Everyone was livid.

With the pursuit being fruitless, Zhao Chao could only get his team to return. They hadn’t been able to apprehend the perpetrator, but fortunately, the pathogen had been found.

"What exactly happened just now? How can a fully grown human just suddenly vanish?" Zhao Chao just couldn’t understand.

"Perhaps it knows." The Whale Island Guard captain pointed at Curly Hair at the side.

As if knowing that he was being talked about, Curly Hair raised his head and glanced at the Whale Island Guard captain.

Facing those limpid innocent eyes, the island guard captain shook his head. "Never mind. It’s useless to ask it anyway."

Curly Hair drooped his head and continued walking, this time obediently following the team.

He released a belch as they walked and stuck his tongue out to lick his snout.

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