Chapter 632: A Successful Escape
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
What was happening in the Love Lovely Pet Breeding Base made Old Time Tea and Famous furious. n.o.body could watch their own kind get treated inhumanely without doing anything, especially not these two, who had a great sense of justice.
Famous nudged the puppy on its back, asking it to come down.
Old Time Tea helped Famous loosen its collar.
Famous"s collar had a buckle style which could be easily adjusted, like a belt. Together with Old Time Tea, they adjusted the collar to its largest size and tied the poodle puppy tightly behind its neck. Fortunately, the puppy was smaller than those around its age. It would"ve been hard to tie otherwise. They"d decided to take the poodle puppy away from the farm. If it winded up with people like Zhang w.a.n.guo again, it wouldn"t be able to escape the fate of getting abused.
Zhang w.a.n.guo scanned the vicinity along with the other two guys for a while, but the puppy was nowhere to be found.
The three men returned to the shed disappointed, and stopped at the entrance.
"What happened? Where"d the dog go?" one of them asked.
"Well, it can"t get out of the breeding base. Let"s keep on searching tomorrow." The other guy was sleepy, and yawned as he talked.
Zhang w.a.n.guo frowned. He felt like strange things were happening that night. Like when the lights turned off for no reason, or when his arms were pushed by someone, and then the missing puppy. It was an unlucky day for him.
"Fine, let"s look tomorrow, then. Tell the guards and ask them to pay more attention." He shook his head helplessly, and went inside.
In a flash of a bright light, the syringe filled with solution dropped silently, landing straight into Zhang w.a.n.guo"s shoulder. The needle stopped after reaching the bone, but the plunger went down with gravity, injecting some of the solution into his muscles.
"Ah!" Zhang w.a.n.guo felt a chill in his shoulder as the sharp object pierced him through his clothes. He felt the cold liquid get injected into his body. He screamed in panic. The syringe was still stuck in his shoulder. The other two guys saw it from behind and immediately yanked it out for him.
At first, Zhang w.a.n.guo thought it was only a nail. As he rubbed his shoulder and looked at his wound, his face turned green. Almost half of the liquid in the syringe had been injected into his body.
"F*ck! Who the h.e.l.l did this? Get the f*ck out here!" He was going completely insane, yelling at the top of his lungs.
The other two looked around aimlessly. This was obviously purposely done by someone. It was too serious to be a joke. If Zhang w.a.n.guo hadn"t gone through the door first, the syringe would have ended up in one of them, and the home-made lipolytic solution made of G.o.d-knows-what ingredients would"ve be injected into one of their bodies.
Zhang w.a.n.guo was still loudly yelling, but n.o.body responded. This made him even madder. He jumped and cursed. All sorts of foul language poured out of his mouth.
The employees who hadn"t gone to bed yet and those on night duty heard the commotion. They came over one after the other to check out the situation. Without knowing what was going on, they circled around each other asking questions. The two guys retold the story with some exaggeration.
More and more people gathered at the scene. Almost everybody who was still awake at the breeding base came over to watch the drama.
Old Time Tea and Famous went separate paths and snuck into different sheds. They unlocked the cage latches one by one to open the doors. All of the kittens and puppies had never been outside of their cages, ever since they"d been born. Even now that the doors were open, they didn"t know how to escape, and kept circling around the cage door. Fortunately, because of this, Famous and Old Time Tea had enough time to open almost all the cages before anyone found out. However, the great animal escape that Famous and Old Time Tea had imagined didn"t happen. The puppies and kittens had been caged for too long and had lost their free nature. Maybe that was one of the Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base"s goals, to make them stay obedient.
Zhang w.a.n.guo"s cursing grew weaker and weaker. After the cathartic meltdown, his anger dwindled and he grew tired of cursing. Instead of being seen as a clown, it would be more effective to go home and do research on the side effects of lipolytic injections.
As the crowd dispersed, Famous and Old Time Tea met up again.
"What should we do?" Famous was anxious and angry. "These dumb cats and dogs don"t even know that they should escape!"
The wise Old Time Tea couldn"t think of a good solution.
If this went on, within just a couple of minutes, someone would see that the cages were open.
The poodle puppy on Famous"s back suddenly moved violently, as if it wanted to escape from the collar and jump off Famous"s back.
"Stay still," said Famous as it tilted its head. Unable to see behind it, it could feel the puppy moving, but didn"t know what it wanted.
Old Time Tea took a quick glance, and saw that the puppy seemed to be longing for affection. It wondered why. As it focused on listening, it heard a weak sound come from somewhere.
"Check it out over there." Old Time Tea pointed at one of the sheds.
Famous went under the shed"s canvas with the puppy still on its back. The shed was full of all kinds of small dogs.
"Woo!" The puppy was struggling even more violently.
Famous sniffed, and recognized the faint smells of thousands of different scents. They seemed to be similar the puppy"s scent.
It followed the smells, and reached one of the cages.
Old Time Tea opened the cage door. A normal-sized adult female poodle was in the cage, lying in dried feces. Its fur coat was filthy and smelled terrible. It heard the puppy"s whine, and struggled to open its eyes, casting a glance outside the cage with a look of both hope and despair.
The female dog had the puppy"s scent, and the puppy had the scent of the female dog.
Needless to say, Famous knew that this female poodle was the mother of the puppy on its back.
In the cage next door, a few poodle puppies were wandering near the cage door, without escaping or barking. They stared at the female poodle and the puppy on Famous"s back. They also carried the same scent as the female poodle, but very weakly. They could have been siblings from the same litter, who were spared from the lipolytic injections because of their normal sizes.
Famous turned around.
Old Time Tea knew that they didn"t have much time, but sighed and unfastened the buckle for Famous to release the puppy.
The puppy stumbled into its mother"s cage.
The dying female poodle moved its neck and struggled to lift its head. It nudged the puppy with its nose. Despite the fact that this puppy wasn"t the same size as the other ones, it was still its child, and blood was thicker than water.
The puppy laid down quietly next its mother, and gazed at it with big, affectionate eyes. If the female poodle was in better health, it would have been a warm and beautiful scene.
Famous was trembling with sadness and anger.
Old Time Tea jumped onto the shed roof, and watched over by Zhang w.a.n.guo. The crowd was dissipating, and some people were heading their way. They might look inside as they pa.s.sed by, which would ruin all the good work they"d already done.
"Famous, we have to leave!" Old Time Tea jumped off the roof and hurried back in. Its tone remained calm, but held a hint of anxiety. Considering their current situation, as the kittens and puppies didn"t even know how to escape, they could only save those that could be saved.
Famous couldn"t do any better. It could save itself along with Old Time Tea, but was unable to take all the cats and dogs with them.
It turned around, and found the puppy lingering next to its mother, unwilling to leave. It wanted to put its snout into the cage and take the puppy by force.
The female poodle didn"t care how filthy and smelly it was. It licked the puppy"s fur with affection. There wasn"t much saliva left on its tongue, but it still licked with great care, as if it wanted to leave its scent on its baby forever.
Seeing Famous approaching, its eyes sparkled with an intimidating flare. It struggled to stand up. Using the last of its strength, it pushed the puppy out of the cage with its forehead.
The puppy didn"t understand what was going on. Everything was fine, but its mother suddenly didn"t want it anymore? Its body was small and light. Although the female poodle was weak, the push rolled the puppy out of the cage.
It stood up shakily, and stood on its short legs, trying to get back into the cage next to its mother. But the female poodle moved the cage door with its front paw, closing it with a loud bang.
The puppy hit the cage door, and stepped back shakily. It walked forward again, and hit the cage door again. It whimpered and sadly sat on the ground.
It was too young to understand what a cage door was. All it wanted to do was go back to its mother, and have its fur licked. This was one of the few moments where it could get all of its mother"s affection for itself, without being bothered by its other siblings.
The female poodle stopped looking at it. It turned around and laid behind the cage door on its back, not responding to the puppy"s whimpering.
It knew that it couldn"t move or run away. That was why it was acting that way. It wanted to face death alone, and leave any chance of survival for its baby.
Famous cheeks felt cold, but its stomach was burning.
Old Time Tea sighed gently and whispered, "What can we do to repay the mother"s affection? As long as I breathe, I will keep the mother and the puppy safe!"
Famous turned around. "Old Time Tea!"
They read each other"s mind. Old Time Tea opened the cage and went inside to check on the poodle.
The female poodle looked at the strange and foreign species in front of it, and didn"t even have the instinct to be afraid. No matter what Old Time Tea did, it wouldn"t fight back.
Old Time Tea knew that the poodle was in terrible shape and could die at any moment. It tried to push the dog out of its cage, but didn"t dare use too much strength. The cage was extremely narrow. Luckily, it was an elfin with the Strength of Faith, and could use force and its limbs much better than a cat. It carefully pushed the female poodle out of the cage.
The puppy jumped to its mother joyfully, and started licking the stain around its eyes with its tiny tongue. It mimicked its mother"s actions from before, without caring about the filth.
Outside of the shed, the sound of people was getting closer. They were laughing at Zhang w.a.n.guo"s misadventures, as a late night joke.
"Hurry up, Old Time Tea!" Famous said anxiously.
Old Time Tea put its front paws under the poodle"s body, and held it up to Famous"s back.
The puppy stumbled behind its mother, no matter where it went.
Rip!
Old Time Tea tore off a strip of canvas, and tied the weak female poodle onto Famous"s back. It strapped the puppy behind its neck with the collar. It pulled everything tight after finis.h.i.+ng. It was holding well, and neither of them should"ve been able to fall off.
"Famous, thanks for the hard work," said Old Time Tea. It couldn"t help, even though it wanted to. Cats didn"t have stable collar bones, and weren"t able to carry things on their back.
Famous shook its head. "It"s not that bad, really. Let"s get going!"
Old Time Tea nodded. It was a shame that they couldn"t save all the cats and dogs there. This was the best they could do.
As they were looking for a way out, the poodle on Famous"s back seemed to understand their intentions, and barked gently.
The puppies in the next cage overheard their mother calling, and jumped out of the cage one after the other. They landed on the ground and followed Famous, sniffing around everywhere.
Following their example, the other puppies under the shed also jumped out, carefully exploring the strange world outside of the cage.
The footsteps from outside the shed sounded like they were right in front of them. Somebody said, "Did you hear that? There are some weird noises coming from in there!"
Another person answered half-heartedly, "What"s wrong? Do you really hear something? Are you taking that Zhang w.a.n.guo dude"s words seriously?"
"No, no. Something"s wrong. The dogs should be sleeping right now, and should be quiet. Why are they being so noisy today? Should we check inside?"
"Hey, you"re just asking for more work! It"s nasty inside. What"s there to see? Maybe someone"s stealing some dogs. We have so many dogs in the breeding base, what"s one or two less? We don"t pay for them anyways." The other guy complained impatiently.
The former guy insisted, "Don"t say that! It"s almost Spring Festival, and our boss still owes us our end-of-year bonus. What if something does happen, and he uses it as an excuse for not paying us our bonus? It"ll be our loss, right?"
The other guy was convinced, and softened his tone. "You are right. Let"s check it out then."
As soon as they pushed aside the canvas curtain, two strong, dark figures jumped at their faces.
"F*ck! What the h.e.l.l!"
They covered their faces, and bent down reflexively, while Famous and Old Time Tea jumped over them, followed by the huge pack of puppies.
The fresh air outside made the puppies as happy and free as fish in the sea. They ran around everywhere in excitement, making all sorts of cheers.
Some of them ran into other sheds, making even more kittens and puppies restless.
Soon, the entire breeding base was in chaos, with fleeing cats and dogs everywhere.
"Somebody help! Cats and dogs are run—" yelled someone who noticed the situation. Before he could finish his sentence, he got kicked in the face by a furry dog leg. He spun around in circles, and his unfinished sentence was cut off.
"Woo! Woo!" Famous howled towards the sky, cheering the puppies" spirits. They gathered towards it.
Because Famous and Old Time Tea were still carrying a little bit of Fina"s scent, the kittens crowded around them too.
Famous and Old Time Tea saw the pack of animals behind them, and yelled simultaneously, "Forward!"
Old Time Tea and Famous were leading the path under the darkness. Those who ran into them were either kicked in the face or stomach before they could respond, making them too dizzy to move.
Soon, thousands of cats and dog were following them, and flooding towards the front gate of the breeding base. Except for a few old and sick animals who were too weak to move, all of the cats and dogs from the base were there.
It was too cold to be outside, and the security guarding the gate were hiding inside the security room, with a bag of peanuts and dried jerky. They were watching a TV show while they ate, and n.o.body noticed what was happening through the surveillance camera.
Ever since the breeding base was founded, no major incidents had ever happened. n.o.body was bored enough to steal cats or dogs in the suburbs. The security guards loved the laid back work, and all of them wanted to work the night s.h.i.+ft. They could eat, drink, and sleep while making easy money.
They were watching their show while snacking, and focused on the pretty girls on TV. They would occasionally tell dirty jokes, and chuckle in response. The only shame was that alcohol wasn"t allowed during their s.h.i.+ft. Otherwise, they certainly would"ve taken a few shots.
The loud noise from the TV and their laughter masked the noise coming from all the animals. They didn"t even notice that the iron gate had quietly been opened. Because the cats and dogs were so short, none of them even noticed that packs of them were running out of the base.
"h.e.l.lo! h.e.l.lo!" The walkie-talkie that they"d left on the side was suddenly buzzing.
After arguing back and forth with each other, one of the guards finally walked over and lazily picked up the walkie-talkie. "What"s the matter? Do you want us to run errands and buy stuff for you again? I"m telling you, none of us are going to do it if you don"t pay us."
The loud reply from the walkie-talkie almost made him deaf. "Shut up! Are you stupid morons blind? Close the gate! All of the animals are escaping! Our boss will go crazy if he finds out about this!"
The guard didn"t quite believe him, and figured that he was joking. As he glanced back outside and saw the open gate, he stretched his neck further and saw the cats and dogs running under the window. He started to panic and felt his face change color.
"Sh*t! Stop eating! Shut the gate!" He kicked the table over. The peanuts and jerky were all over the floor. "The animals are escaping!"
"What? No way!"
The inappropriately dressed guards started putting on their hats and shoes, and grabbed their batons. Everything was in chaos.
"Sh*t! What"s wrong? Who locked the door?"
They wanted to rush outside and make a last-minute attempt to catch as many animals as they could. At least then they could tell their boss that they tried. But something was pus.h.i.+ng against the security"s room door from the outside. Anti-theft iron bars were installed around the windows, so they couldn"t leave that way either. The only thing they could do was watch the last cats and dogs disappear into the dark night of the suburbs.
They stared at each other with wide eyes. It was over. The cats and dogs were gone, along with their salary and end-of-the-year bonus. Their boss would surely lose his mind, and maybe even ask them to pay for the loss. Together, they thought, Should we run away too?