Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 476 Accident
Chu City has a permanent population of over 15 million. If you include the floating population and migrant workers, the total number is an astonishing figure.

With so many people facing the threat of the Tiger virus, Lingo knew that this time, he absolutely could not allow any accidents to happen. He couldn't imagine how terrifying it would be if the virus spread among so many people, or even continued to spread outwards.

This time, it wasn't just him, the police dogs, cats, handlers, and police officers working hard; countless people throughout Chu City, Chu Province, and even the entire country were toiling away, giving their all. Unseen by Lin Ge, government officials, doctors, researchers, and many others were tirelessly working to completely eradicate this threat. Even the military had countless personnel on high alert, ready to join the battle if things spiraled out of control, forming a solid dam against the flood. If, at this moment, a mistake occurred due to his own actions, turning everyone's hard work into regret, he himself would be unable to forgive himself.

On the other hand...

When people are united, they can move mountains!
Lin Ge didn't believe that, given these preparations, the enemy could still bring the virus into Chu City. No matter how powerful or cunning they were, their plot would surely be thwarted!
"Mimi, you can lead them around here. If you get tired, you can rest by the service desk. Water and cat food are ready, and there's a litter box at the back. This lady and I will help you here."

Li Siyu led Lin Ge to the service counter in the middle of the terminal and pointed to the pretty female ground staff in front of him, giving Lin Ge some instructions.

The female ground staff member was well aware of the importance of this incident, and upon hearing this, she smiled and greeted Lin Ge and his subordinates behind him. Although some of the cats looked a little dirty, there was no sign of impatience on her face.

Looking at the bustling crowd in the hall, Lin Ge's assessment of the difficulty of the upcoming task also increased.

Another crucial point is the large flow of people at the scene. If the suspect releases the virus, it could infect those already there, spreading the infection and potentially spreading it to even more people. Therefore, identifying and controlling the target as quickly as possible is the most urgent and important task. Otherwise, if we are forced to control everyone at the entire airport, the situation and public opinion will become much more complicated. Furthermore, there are many foreigners present; if chaos ensues, the country's reputation will be damaged. Therefore, in case the enemy discovers the plan is unfeasible and decides to go all out, immediately isolating the virus from others is also a vital task.

Furthermore, the Military World Games last for ten days. Adding the opening ceremony and the preparations that began before the games, it's a full two weeks long. Who knows exactly when the target will appear?

This required everyone, including all the police dogs and cats, to remain on high alert at all times for the next ten days or so, without a moment's slackening. Although shifts had been arranged for the police dog handlers and Lin Ge had divided the cats into several teams, no one could guarantee that things wouldn't become lax over time. Therefore, the only thing Lin Ge could do at this point was to desperately urge himself to give it his all and do as much as possible.

"Anyway, cats don't need long periods of sleep; a nap now and then is enough for their rest. It's only a couple of weeks; they can definitely manage. Go, Lin Ge! You can do it!"

While silently encouraging himself, Lin Ge jumped onto the service counter and squinted as he looked around.

Besides those who are clearly foreigners, all those with yellow skin exiting the station must also be carefully examined. Learning from Zhu Wentao's experience, Lin Ge cannot allow any accidents to occur. Spies or traitors, they must be arrested.

Time passed slowly, and the constant flow of people made Lin Ge dizzy.

Especially when planes land and passengers disembark, the number of travelers and those waiting to pick up passengers merges together, creating an exaggeratedly large and chaotic scene. The exit is directly in front of Lin Ge, and the number of people waiting there is never small. Add to that the people who wander around bored while waiting to board, and the reporters with cameras who seem to be there for no apparent reason, and Lin Ge's field of vision is always a dense, jostling crowd.

The cats following behind Lingo got tired after more than an hour. Perhaps out of boredom or something else, they all became distracted, and some even started wandering around aimlessly.

The cats that appeared at the airport attracted a lot of attention, but ultimately didn't cause any trouble. Lin Ge even overheard people talking about why the airport was more strictly managed than before, with police dogs patrolling the entrance. The fact that his companions were out of sight finally put Lin Ge at ease, but he still couldn't help feeling a little uncomfortable when he occasionally heard people questioning whether the process was like checking criminals.

And whether it was just his imagination or not, starting around noon, the number of people at the exit inexplicably increased. Most of them were young men and women. They seemed to be gathering at the exit in an organized manner, whispering excitedly. Lin Ge even saw them assembling welcome signs on the spot, and reporters who had been loitering around earlier also came closer, chatting with them with excited smiles.

Lin Ge listened intently and realized that a celebrity group was coming to Chu City for a concert and had announced their arrival time in the fan group, urging fans to come and pick them up at the airport.

Lin Ge occasionally heard news about this trio called 'IPX' on the street. They even had quite a few students in the oil city who were their fans. Of course, this was none of Lin Ge's business; he wasn't interested in celebrities. But today shouldn't be the weekend, right? It wasn't a holiday either. So what was the situation with these young men and women here?
Skipping classes? Taking leave or even skipping classes just to come here and support your favorite celebrity at the airport?
Lin Ge's eyes widened, somewhat displeased that this was something students shouldn't be doing. Especially those guys who looked like reporters or paparazzi, knowing they were students, how dare they let them hold up support signs and take pictures?
He really wanted to go up and send those kids who should be in the classroom going back to study, and he was also angry that this IPX group had to come to Chu City to cause trouble at this crucial time.

Putting everything else aside, this one arrival hall is already being disrupted by the noisy crowd of over a hundred people. These excited fans have no intention of calming down; they're chattering and running around everywhere, causing considerable trouble for Lin Ge's work.

Under the arrangement of some of them, these people even went to passersby to promote the IPX group, saying how excellent the members of the group were and how worthy they were of everyone's support...

Ground staff responsible for maintaining order came over to ask them to be quiet, but they ignored them. As time went on, more and more fans gathered, even causing congestion in the arrival hall. If the fans had simply behaved themselves, it would have been fine, but some were selling CDs, others were promoting their memberships, and still others were encouraging everyone to contribute money and effort to boost IPX's chart rankings—a chaotic mess that left the scene utterly disorganized.

At this point, not only were passersby being obstructed, but even the police involved in the Tiger virus operation were affected. Wei Zhengxun in the monitoring room used a walkie-talkie to notify a team of airport police to disperse the group, but they were incited by several leading men and women to refuse to leave. Their loud noise even drew more attention, making Lin Ge, who overheard the scene, grit his teeth in anger. He simply couldn't understand why the fans' behavior could blind these children; did mere celebrities really have such a strong appeal?
To put it bluntly, it's not even certain whether a singing group can be called a star!

The conflict over there had become quite serious. Police intervention not only failed to sway the fans, but actually made them more agitated. Unfortunately, the international airport had a large number of foreigners coming and going, making it difficult for the police to take coercive measures against such a large group.

As time went by, the number of fans gathering actually continued to increase. Unsuspecting passersby might even genuinely believe that some incredibly famous or influential person had arrived.

"Just a few idols created and packaged by hype!"

Lin Ge gritted his teeth in annoyance.

Li Siyu, standing next to her, was also puzzled, not understanding why fans would make such a grand gesture over a simple airport pickup, and even consider it sacred. It wasn't until a ground staff member whispered an explanation to her that she finally understood.

It turns out that even getting a spot to greet your idol at the airport costs money. And when the idol appears, the closer you are to the back of the aisle, the higher the price. Just like concert tickets where the closer to the stage, the more expensive they are. The seats further inside the aisle, where you might be able to interact with your idol, are ridiculously expensive. And the idol will indeed interact with or sign autographs for those further inside, fulfilling fans' wishes for close contact. In other words, it's all business, and a huge business where every airport pickup is a lucrative opportunity. They've turned this process into a standardized, assembly-line routine, with all sorts of hype and even brainwashing beforehand, all to squeeze every penny out of fans' pockets. And fans, having spent money, are certainly not willing to give up so easily. Whether it's for the sake of their idol or for the money they've spent, they'd rather defy the police than leave.

"So-called idols are just tools for some people to swindle money from fans! We've seen this too many times, and there's really no way to control it. We can only try our best to restrain them from affecting others."

The ground staff member sighed and gave a final summary of the matter.

"That's outrageous."

Li Siyu nodded absentmindedly.

"Idols are like products on an assembly line; if one is gone, a new one can be produced. But if this damn IPX group causes an accident in the fight against the virus, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to skin these bugs alive."

Lin Ge squinted, when he suddenly heard an airport announcement reminding him that a flight from Beijing was about to arrive. This announcement immediately excited the fans who came to greet him, and under the guidance of several members of the group, they quickly lined up in the designated order.

"During military training or morning exercises at school, you probably never thought you could line up this neatly, right?"

Lin Ge looked disdainfully at the men and women holding up their support signs, their expressions solemn and expectant. He didn't know how to judge them. However, Lin Ge didn't have time to concern himself with that, because every flight arriving in Chu City represented the possibility of the Tiger virus infiltrating the city. Therefore, he temporarily ignored these people and focused on the direction from which the passengers were exiting, carefully scrutinizing everyone who walked out of the passageway.

Regardless of whether they came from abroad or other cities, no oversight was allowed. Although a team of handlers with police dogs would screen departing passengers before Lin Ge, he remained 100% vigilant and never let his guard down. He was even prepared to live here for the next ten days or so without sleep, taking naps whenever there were no flights, and making sure not to miss a single flight.

Soon, after about half an hour, travelers from Beijing quickly emerged from the passageway. The commotion among the fans made Lin Ge glance at them, but his attention remained mostly on those leaving.

So far, no problems have been found.

Or rather, airports do have security checks, and passengers generally can't carry any dangerous items. Besides, it's a domestic flight, which is now considered a regular mode of transportation. Therefore, Lin Ge didn't deliberately target anything, just quietly watching passengers push their luggage past him. After about ten minutes, the number of passengers exiting the station thinned out, but the IPX group, which fans had been eagerly anticipating, still hadn't appeared.

"Did you deliberately fall behind?"

Lin Ge scoffed dismissively, fully aware of the purpose behind this combination's actions.

Then... when four burly men in black suits and sunglasses appeared, the fans suddenly erupted in cheers.

Lin Ge couldn't help but look up as well.

The crowd slowly approached. Behind the four bodyguards were three stylishly dressed, distinctively styled, and undeniably handsome young men. They were flanked by four more bodyguards, followed by assistants and others—a group of over ten people in total. Despite the deafening cheers and screams that erupted even before they got close, the three young men flashed business-like smiles, waving as they moved closer.

As they appeared, the fans who came to greet them became even more excited, surging towards the center. Even with airport security personnel working hard to maintain order, the line seemed to be on the verge of collapse, and several fans even let out muffled groans of pain.

"IPX! IPX!"

The fans' desperate shouts drew curious glances from passersby.

The idols and fans quickly converged, making the atmosphere even more lively. Eight bodyguards worked hard to prevent fans from rushing towards the idols, while the three members of the group casually chatted with the nearest fans as they walked. Even a simple act of taking an autographed poster and scribbling on it caused several girls who received the honor to scream with excitement, almost fainting, and spurred the fans behind them to push forward even more, desperately trying to reach out their hands. The scene looked somewhat chaotic, but the fan group had a systematic airport greeting procedure. To maintain long-term business and avoid accidents, coupled with the airport security's efforts to maintain order, everything seemed to be under control.

The group gradually followed their idols toward Lingo, until the three so-called idols got closer and closer to Lingo, at which point he suddenly twitched his nose and smelled an unusual odor.

It has nothing to do with the Tiger virus, but rather has a slightly familiar, toxic smell.

The smell was very faint; in fact, if the man hadn't started interacting and joking with the fans, Lin Ge wouldn't have been able to smell it at all. But when he got closer to Lin Ge and high-fived a female fan, the smell became clearly audible as soon as he opened his mouth.

Lin Ge's eyes narrowed slowly.

While the most important thing right now is dealing with the Tiger virus, I never expected such an unexpected discovery. My idol, using drugs?

Lin Ge thought for a moment and decided not to alert the man for now. He would first make sure the man looked familiar, and then inform the Chu City Public Security Bureau when he had time. Hmph! He wouldn't let him get away with it.

"Brother Haotian is choosing concubines again!"

Suddenly, a soft sigh reached Lin Ge's ears. He turned around abruptly and saw the assistants following behind the three members of the group. One of them, a somewhat short and stout man, was pushing a suitcase and whispering to his companion, both of them wearing mocking smiles.

"I wonder which ones will be so lucky this time to be chosen by Brother Haotian to become his princesses in Chu City."

"He must have picked from among those who gave him a high five, otherwise why would he make a move on them? Brother Haotian likes young girls, so he's probably among those pretty students."

"Hehe, I wonder if I'll have a chance to take advantage this time."

"If you follow Brother Haotian, you'll definitely have opportunities. All you need to do is try to please him."

"You still need to tell me?"

The two exchanged a lewd smile, which made Lin Ge's expression turn extremely ugly when he overheard the conversation.

What do you mean?
Choosing a concubine?

He attacked the fans?
Even... even these bastards under his command can take advantage of fans?

Lin Ge was stunned for a moment, and it took him quite a while to realize what the two were talking about. That bastard Haotian actually thought he was an emperor and treated the fans who came to greet him at the airport like his harem?

What a joke!
Judging from the conversation between the two assistants, this isn't the first time they've done this, is it? What do they take their fans for? They even gathered a crowd...

Lin Ge originally planned to ignore the matter, only reminding Wei Zhengxun and leaving it to Chu City to handle. However, the thought that some naive girls might be deceived, harmed, or even gang-raped because of their idol worship filled Lin Ge with rage. Is this how an idol treats his fans? Treating them like objects to be manipulated? What a joke, you scoundrel! And he even uses drugs!
Thinking of this, Lin Ge finally couldn't hold back any longer. Ignoring the fact that there was still an important matter called the Tiger virus battle, he roared and jumped down from the service desk, rushing straight towards Haotian from the IPX team!

Several cats, unaware of what was happening, quickly followed their leader and rushed out.

"Ouch!"

(End of this chapter)