Live Cat Appraisal: Starting with a Beast That's Got a Long Prison Record

Chapter 219 Limited-Time Mission - Chasing Cats in the White Night!
The anticipated domineering 'biological weapon' did not appear.

Instead, it has a diluted animal musk scent.

Jiang Fengyu was all too familiar with this scent! He had been forced to wear this 'perfume' for several days before!

It almost got marinated to perfection!
He looked down and met the big civet's small, round eyes, which were filled with fear and helplessness.

Hiss
The large civet cat weakly let out two feeble warning cries at Jiang Fengyu.

Then, it seemed to have completely given up resisting.

They deflated and ceased maintaining their defensive posture.

Instead, her body went limp, and she flipped over completely, exposing her soft and vulnerable abdomen to Jiang Fengyu.

This sudden show of weakness made Jiang Fengyu and Chen Nian think about even more things.

"This is absolutely not the reaction a wild Indian civet would have!"

Jiang Fengyu's voice was low and deep.

Even the weakest wild individuals will remain highly vigilant when faced with threats and will never so easily expose their vitals.

Although he felt heavy-hearted, this also gave Jiang Fengyu an opportunity to observe closely.

He immediately stepped forward cautiously.

My gaze was sharply focused on the perineal glands of the large Indian civet, which are the scent glands.

Wild Indian civets' glands are usually in a natural state, with secretions varying naturally with the seasons and their physiological cycles.

Because frequent rubbing of the markings is required.

Therefore, the area around the gland opening of wild individuals may appear slightly rough or show signs of natural wear.

But this one is completely different!
Its glands were not only unusually clear, but more importantly, the hair in the surrounding area was trimmed cleanly, leaving obvious signs of artificial grooming.

Just like a meticulously 'managed' oil production facility!

And that strange fragrance
Jiang Fengyu leaned closer and took a gentle sniff, his brows furrowing even more.

This is not a naturally emitted fragrance at all. It is clearly the 'lingering fragrance' emitted by the glands after excessive and frequent squeezing and extraction, which have been squeezed to the limit and can only seep out a little residual juice!
This means that its perfume production capacity has already been overdrawn.

Now let's look at the large Indian civet cat as a whole.

Although its fur was covered in dust from its escape, it was exceptionally clean and smooth, showing no signs of the harshness that one would expect from surviving in the wild, and even indicating that it had been carefully fed.

All the evidence points to one conclusion—

This large Indian civet was being professionally and illegally kept in captivity!
Jiang Fengyu left the quarantine area with a sullen face.

Chen Nian and Xu Dafei quickly came over: "Old Jiang, what's going on?"

"It's confirmed that it was raised by a human."

"And the other party is very professional; they're an experienced person!"

Jiang Fengyu explained carefully: "There are usually two ways to obtain perfume from civet cats."

One method is 'scraping the incense'.

“Taking advantage of the Indian civet’s habit of rubbing and applying scented ointment on fixed objects, we regularly scrape off the ointment that adheres to the walls of the cage. This is the least disturbing and relatively humane way to treat the animals.”

"And the other one is 'squeezing fragrance'!"

He emphasized his tone:

"The civet needs to be restrained, and its scent gland sac needs to be squeezed manually to force the scent balm out."

"This method requires a very high level of technical skill. Improper operation can easily cause severe discomfort and pain in animals, and even lead to inflammation and infection of the glands!"

“And this large civet cat has obvious and frequent signs of ‘squeezing’ its scent!”

"Most importantly, the technique was extremely professional and skillful; despite such overexertion, no obvious physical damage was caused!"

"This is definitely a seasoned repeat offender!"

The expressions on the three people's faces instantly turned extremely serious.

The term "habitual offender" implies that there is likely more than one large Indian civet suffering the same torment.

There is a high possibility that a hidden, illegal industrial chain is operating in the shadows!

"I can also confirm that there are no licensed institutions or farms in the vicinity that can legally keep civets."

Jiang Fengyu clenched his fist: "This is absolutely an illegal private operation for breeding and profit!"

Upon hearing this, a cat lover couldn't help but ask a question.

"Isn't the Indian civet cat a national treasure? Why would anyone dare to break the law? Is its incense really that valuable?"

Chen Nian happened to know this.

He replied in a deep voice, "Unprocessed natural civet balm can fetch thousands or even tens of thousands of US dollars per kilogram on the international market!"

"Holy crap?! It's so expensive?!"

Cat lovers were instantly stunned by this number.

They couldn't believe that the taste, described as so terrifying, was worth more than gold!
"Expensive?" Chen Nian shook her head, her tone filled with regret: "Everyone should know that a healthy Indian civet cat, even under legal and regulated breeding conditions, can only produce about 50 grams of fetuses per year!"

"But these privately owned farms don't care about any of that!" "They don't consider animal welfare or sustainability at all! They only care about extracting the maximum profit in the shortest amount of time, so they over-exploit them at a high frequency! The weakened state of this civet is irrefutable proof of being over-exploited!"

Chen Nian's gaze was complicated.

No wonder the big cat struggled so weakly when he lifted it up.

It wasn't his affable aura that worked; rather, the poor fellow was already completely drained and didn't even have the strength to struggle.

"Oh shit."

"Isn't this no different from poaching?"

"Good heavens, that giant civet cat is the top dog in the country. If it gets caught, how long will it have to sit on a sewing machine?"

Upon seeing the words "arrested," Chen Nian had a sudden inspiration, turned sharply to Jiang Fengyu, and spoke urgently:

"Quickly! Call the police immediately!"

"This large Indian civet likely escaped today and was just happened to be found and brought back by Dian Dian. Once the owner discovers it's missing, he'll definitely be guilty and immediately move other evidence and animals! This period of time is the best, and possibly only, chance to catch him!"

Jiang and Xu instantly became alert!

That's right, time is of the essence!
Jiang Fengyu immediately contacted the forest police, and Xu Dafei simultaneously reported the incident to the forestry bureau.

In addition, Chen Nian was involved.

The three parties have joined forces again since the 'Golden Leopard Incident'!

Within half an hour, forest police and forestry bureau law enforcement officers arrived at the scene.

The situation has been basically explained over the phone.

After collecting evidence, taking photos, and recording the condition of the Indian civet at the scene, this case of "illegally raising and profiting from products of a Class I protected animal in China" was quickly classified as such!
Such a heinous case was discovered right under the nose of a national protected area.

All the law enforcement officers looked extremely grim.

The higher-ups called and issued a direct order: "The case must be solved within three days!"

But problems also arise.

Where are the people?
How to catch it?
Just as everyone was staring at the map at a loss, Chen Nian had an idea.

He knew very well the fixed route and activity range that Dian Dian took to and from the courtyard every day.

If Dian Dian was a large Indian civet cat 'picked up' on the road, then the illegal breeding site must be near this route, and not too far away!

Chen Nian immediately shared her speculation.

Instantly, everyone's eyes lit up!

“That makes sense!” Jiang Fengyu slammed his fist on his palm. “This giant spirit cat is extremely weak and can’t run far! Its escape radius must be limited! It’s very likely that it’s somewhere along Dian Dian’s path!”

Everyone quickly gathered around the map.

The daily routes described by Chen Nian were compared and analyzed.

Soon, the target was identified as a small village about ten kilometers away from Xinlong County – Rulong Town.

The village is called Rulong Town.

"On this route, only Rulong Town offers the conditions for hiding!"

"Is Rulong Town really that close to Xinlong County?"

"This guy doesn't respect us at all!"

The crowd was both angry and relieved.

They all cast grateful glances at Chen Nian.

If it weren't for Chen Nian, who knows how much longer this hidden black industry chain would have continued!
Chen Nian: It wasn't me, it was Dian Dian!

Target locked, operation launched immediately.

Since Rulong Town is not large, in order to avoid alerting the suspects, the task force decided to first send out a small, well-trained team to conduct undercover reconnaissance to pinpoint the exact location before making the arrest.

After a moment's thought, Chen Nian volunteered:
"Can I come along? I'm quite sensitive to animal scents, so maybe I can help."

He wanted to rescue any other possible large civets as soon as possible.

"No problem! But please be careful!"

After a brief consideration, the person in charge readily agreed.

So Xu Dafei stayed behind to look after the rescue center.

After saying a few words to her cat lovers, Chen Nian turned off the live stream and got into an ordinary-looking local car, heading towards Rulong Town.

That is, when Chen Nian suggested going together.

The long-absent system notification sounded again.

[Limited-time event activated]

Task Name: Chasing a Cat in the White Night
Mission: Travel to Rulong Township to assist law enforcement officers in locating and finding illegally kept Indian civets and other possible animals, and ensure their safe rescue.

Reward: Cat Intimacy +1, Animal Affinity Aura (Level 2)

(Let's take a nap together with the cat~ Good afternoon!)
(End of this chapter)