Chapter 16: A Chaotic Melee of Crows, Dogs, Cats, and Humans
“Caw! Caw!”
A large flock of crows, mixed with other birds, descended like a sudden downpour, landing one after another near the residential building. The strange sight instantly drew the attention of nearby residents.
Even the human trafficker living inside leaned out curiously. When he saw the rows of pitch-black crows lining the power lines, a look of disgust appeared on his face.
Lin Jiangye held a cup of milk tea, narrowing his eyes as he sized up the head poking out from the window. The man’s nickname was Xiao Sanzi. He liked to cruise the streets in a van, and once he picked a target, he would snatch them and flee without hesitation.
He had abducted four boys and three girls in total—and had even tortured one child to death.
Lin Jiangye lowered his head, concealing the malice in his eyes.
Sure enough, the very next second after he looked down, the man suddenly turned his head and stared directly toward his direction.
“Why are you acting so jumpy?” his companion mocked when he saw his nervous behavior.
Xiao Sanzi’s expression darkened. Just now, he had felt an intense wave of hostility, but when he followed the direction of that feeling, he found nothing—only two men drinking milk tea and playing on their phones. They looked like ordinary passersby.
After scanning the surroundings and confirming nothing was wrong, he sneered and spat toward them. “Tch. Sissies. What kind of man drinks milk tea?”
“The crows are here. Shall we move?”
Director Zhou put on his hat, disguising himself as an elderly woman. With a genial smile, he issued the order into the communicator at his collar. “Move!”
With the key provided by the landlord, the police entered the residential building smoothly.
Perhaps criminals are born with a sharp instinct for sensing police presence. The moment the officers stepped inside, the man on the second floor suddenly felt the room grow stuffy.
When he opened the door to step outside, he ran straight into a group of people coming upstairs.
Though they were in plain clothes, he recognized at a glance—they were police!
“Pol—” He opened his mouth to warn his accomplices upstairs, but in the next second, a plush toy flew at him and knocked him unconscious.
Everyone froze briefly and looked up. Lin Jiangye, who had thrown the toy, continued walking upstairs expressionlessly, as if he had already known the man would faint from that single blow.
An officer picked up the plush toy to examine it. It was nothing more than a milk tea promotional gift. Slightly heavy, perhaps, but just an ordinary toy.
Well, heavy enough to serve as a sandbag.
But knocking someone out with a sandbag…
Li Wei and the other officers exchanged glances. Their eyes sparkled as they looked at Lin Jiangye.
It would be such a waste if someone like him didn’t become a police officer!
This time, Lin Jiangye’s task was to take the German Shepherd up to the rooftop in case anyone attempted to escape from there.
Tibetan Mastiff crouched on his shoulder, ready to seize the opportunity to attack or track criminals.
Opal and Diamond remained outside the building, directing the other crows.
Since it was daytime, most residents were at work. The building was quiet. Aside from Lin Jiangye, everyone else walked with extreme caution, afraid of making even the slightest sound.
Lin Jiangye, however, did not worry much. As he passed the third and fourth floors, he clearly felt several probing gazes fall upon him.
But once they saw he was accompanied by a cat and a dog—and noticed the key ring in his hand—their suspicion quickly faded.
The moment he reached the rooftop, the quiet below erupted like oil hitting a hot pan. It seemed the police had been discovered after all.
“Time to get to work, babies.” He stroked Tibetan Mastiff’s soft fur. The tabby cat’s pupils had narrowed into thin slits, ready to enter hunting mode at any moment.
As the traffickers clashed with the police below, the rows of crows outside the windows suddenly surged inside, attacking the traffickers’ faces in a coordinated assault.
These crows were not large—only slightly bigger than Opal—perfect for sneak attacks and support.
With the crows interfering, even though the traffickers had weapons, they could barely use half their strength. Before long, they were subdued by the police.
Seeing the situation turn against them, some tried to take the children as hostages. But just as they moved toward them, several officers climbed in from outside and firmly secured the innermost room.
Listening from above, Lin Jiangye thought honestly… it was rather noisy. The traffickers’ curses and threats, the crows’ incessant cawing, the police’s shouts, and the children’s cries all blended together—more symphonic than a symphony.
Soon, he heard footsteps approaching.
“Hm, Director Zhou really predicted it—they’re planning to escape from above.” Tibetan Mastiff leapt from his shoulder onto the stair railing, preparing to give the intruder a sudden “cat punch.”
Lin Jiangye concealed himself in the shadows. When the man appeared, holding a child in his arms, Lin Jiangye clicked his tongue inwardly.
Using the difference in angles, he signaled Tibetan Mastiff with a glance to act now and scare the man.
The Mastiff lunged fiercely. Its sharp claws raked from the corner of the man’s eye down to his chin. The pain and shock made him instinctively loosen his grip.
At that exact moment, Lin Jiangye sprang from the corner, snatched the child, and delivered a punch.
The man collapsed unconscious, nearly causing the people behind him to tumble down as well.
The three men behind had not expected someone to appear here. Though the young man looked thin, they hadn’t forgotten what they had just seen.
One punch had knocked their boss senseless. Could they withstand that force?
Even fearful, they had no choice but to move forward. The floors below were surrounded by police. One of them had jumped from the fourth floor, only to be pinned down immediately by officers lying in ambush. Another managed to escape from a second-floor platform, but after only a few steps, he was besieged by stray dogs that appeared out of nowhere.
What the hell was going on? Had all the crows and dogs nearby gone mad?
They had considered using other residents upstairs as hostages, but when they checked—more police!
Why were there police everywhere?!
They deeply suspected the entire building was surrounded.
Finally reaching the rooftop—their last escape route—if they couldn’t get away…
“He’s holding a child! There are three of us! He won’t dare risk his life fighting us!” That was true. To protect the child, Lin Jiangye could only use one hand, and they indeed managed to exploit a gap and slip past him.
But when they ran onto the rooftop, sharp cat claws and the wide-open jaws of the German Shepherd greeted them.
“Ahhh!” The one in front took the brunt of the attack, while Xiao Sanzi, hiding behind him, narrowly escaped.
Hearing the Shepherd’s growls, Xiao Sanzi shoved his former accomplice forward as a shield.
Tibetan Mastiff tried repeatedly to attack him, but even with blood and flesh torn open, he refused to let go.
The Mastiff grew furious, meowing and cursing loudly.
“Let go! Let go! If you’ve got guts, let go and fight me one-on-one!” The little cat had never seen such shamelessness.
Before Lin Jiangye arrived, Xiao Sanzi finally broke free from the cat and dog and escaped onto the neighboring building’s rooftop.
Holding the unconscious child, Lin Jiangye stood coldly above, looking down at him.
Just as the man turned around to celebrate his escape, he saw the rooftop railing lined densely with crows.
“…”
The next second, screams rang out again.
“Told you not to run. See? Dead end.” Lin Jiangye extended his arm, catching Diamond as it descended from the sky.
“Master, everyone has been captured. The little ones are safe.”
“Very good. I’ll get some nuts from the car later and treat you all to a feast.” Hm, he hadn’t brought enough meat. The police could handle feeding the dogs.
Once all suspects were confirmed captured, Lin Jiangye returned downstairs with a cat, a dog, a bird—and a rescued child.
He handed the child to the police, then took out tissues to wipe the birds’ claws clean.
Diamond’s talons were covered in blood. As an adult crow, its claws were sharper and its attacks more vicious.
While wiping them, Lin Jiangye noticed a couple of familiar “faces” among the crows.
“Caw, caw! Human, are there gemstones this time?”
They were the same crows that had helped him catch drug dealers before. Somehow, they had made their way to another district.
“Not this time. Only food.” He stroked their feathers. Though disappointed about the lack of gemstones, their spirits quickly lifted when they saw the large, plump nuts he took out.
“So tasty! Anything the human feeds is tasty!” The crows ate happily, drawing curious looks from the surrounding officers.
Shang Fuyan was more direct. He walked over, grabbed a nut, and popped it into his mouth—right in front of a crow about to snatch it.
“Bad human! Thief! Food thief!” The crow’s feathers fluffed up in anger, forcing Lin Jiangye to soothe it for quite some time.
Afterward, he gave the man a hard elbow to the waist, landing a solid blow to his kidney.
From start to finish, the entire operation took less than an hour. The police arrested all sixteen criminals and successfully protected seven children without any injuries.
Videos of the arrest—police working alongside crows and stray dogs—were uploaded online by passersby. Many netizens asked how the police had managed to mobilize these animals.
Unexpectedly, a day later, the Public Security Bureau of Wen’an District in Yue City replied cheerfully in the comment section:
“They’re our secret weapon (^?^)”
