There's a chat group for pets in my neighborhood.

Deep inside the concrete pipe, the sheriff was bewildered by the name Charlie had suddenly uttered, and it murmured, repeating, "Ares?"

"That's right, Ares from Tiancheng Community! It said that as long as it finds you, there's definitely a way to save it."

It took Tanuki quite a while to remember who Ares was.

"A month ago, a German Shepherd named Ares went missing from our neighborhood!" Tanuki's eyes gleamed. "His owner posted missing dog notices in our neighborhood several times. Other pet owners also asked us to look for him, but we couldn't find him, so we gave up."

When the matter was brought up, the sheriff finally remembered that there really was such a thing.

"Save it? What do you mean?" But it also keenly grasped the key point in Charlie's words.

Charlie seemed a little excited, and after coughing three or four times, he finally spoke:

"About two weeks ago, the nanny took me out for a walk..." Charlie's voice was weak, and his eyes were filled with unyielding fear, as if he had returned to that nightmare-like afternoon.

"I'm a bit playful and like to roll around in the grass. At that time, my nanny had just turned around to answer the phone. Suddenly, an old van pulled up to the side of the road, the door opened, and a large net with a strong, fishy smell covered me up."

"I only had time to let out a whimper or two before I was dragged into the van, the door was closed, and they quickly fled the scene. The whole process was extremely practiced, and it was clear that it was premeditated."

Charlie took a breath, and the orange cat came over with a hint of pity and licked its chapped nose.

"When I got out of the net, I was locked in a dark and damp factory. The cages there were cramped and small, and there were dozens of stolen dogs besides me."

"It was there that I met the black-skinned athlete, who was a very optimistic and brave dog."

A glint of light flashed in Charlie's eyes when he mentioned the dark-skinned athlete.

"During the darkest days, it was always taking care of us, but because it always stood up for itself, it was beaten the worst. There were hardly any patches of intact skin left on its body. But even so, when it came back, it still comforted us and told us that even if the sky fell, it would be tall enough to hold it up and that we shouldn't be afraid."

At this point, Charlie recalled the moments he shared with the black-skinned PE student in the factory, and his eyes welled up with tears.

"No wonder we couldn't find the black-skinned athlete. He was kidnapped by those damned dog dealers. We hope those beasts don't fall into our hands!" Tanuki angrily waved his paws, wishing he could tear those dog thieves to pieces right now.

"And then, how did you escape?" The sheriff asked calmly, suppressing his anger.

"A few days ago, those dog thieves seemed to have received some big order." Charlie's body trembled slightly as he recalled the memory: "They wanted to load us all onto big trucks and send us to a slaughterhouse in another province to be killed."

"The dark-skinned PE student knew that once we got on that bus, we'd never come back!"

"So the night before, while the dog dealer was drunk, it went crazy and started tearing at the rusty wire mesh."

"Its mouth was rubbed raw and bleeding, and it even broke a tooth, but it didn't give up and managed to tear open a small gash."

Charlie couldn't hold back any longer. He trembled all over, and large tears rolled down his cheeks. "It...it said we should go first because it's too big to get out, and even if it gets out in its current state, it won't get far."

"In the end, only a few of us small dogs could squeeze through that opening. Blackie, afraid I would hesitate any longer, pushed me out of the barbed wire fence. As I escaped, he stared intently at me, telling me to keep heading north to Tiancheng Residential Area to find the sheriff. The sheriff must have a way!"

Charlie looked up, his gaze fixed intently on the black and white cat in front of him: "It says it believes you!"

The sheriff listened in silence, his dark, vertical green pupils slightly contracting in the darkness.

It didn't speak, but the raccoon who knew it well knew that the sheriff was now truly enraged.

"I ran for my life, but they still found us. Then they shot us with crossbows. A teddy bear next to me was pinned to the ground and died. My leg was also injured at that time."

"But... I had no idea where Tiancheng Residential Area was. I dragged my injured leg and wandered aimlessly until I finally collapsed on the roadside."

At this point, Charlie nudged the orange cat beside him with his head: "It was this cat that found me unconscious and dragged me to this abandoned red brick factory."

"But it's just a stray cat, and it can't even get enough to eat itself. To keep me from starving, it desperately goes out to find food, but it brings back too little. In desperation, it has no choice but to take the risk of stealing protection money. It never tells me where these things come from, it just tells me to eat without worry, and it will figure out everything."

"I ate all that protection money; it only ate a little bit when it was starving," Charlie cried uncontrollably. "My mom is rich; I'll have her pay you back all that protection money."

"But before that, I beg you, you must save Blackie, the PE student! He's already been taken to the slaughterhouse and could die at any moment!"

"Charlie has been in a bad state these days, and this is the first time I've heard the whole story." The orange cat lowered its head and stood between Charlie and Tanuki. "No matter what, I took the protection money, so if anyone should be punished, it should be me, not Charlie."

It closed its eyes, bracing itself for the fury from Tanuki, but to its surprise, the murderous aura that had been shrouding it had vanished without a trace.

"You stupid cat, if you wanted to save the dog, you should have said so earlier. What's the point of hiding like this? It makes me look like a scoundrel who bullies men and women."

Tanuki frowned impatiently, which stunned the orange cat beside him.

"Aren't you punishing me according to the rules of the underworld?" it asked in a low voice.

"Do you know what Tanuki's original intention was in collecting protection money?" The sheriff, who had been silent for a long time, walked up and patted the orange cat on the shoulder.

"I don't know." It shook its head.

"There are many stray cats in Tiancheng Community, including me and Li Ge. At first, many stray cats didn't have enough to eat and died of starvation, being bitten to death, or even being killed."

"Brother Tanuki stepped in and brought the stray cats together, helping the pets resolve conflicts and troubles. In return, the pets contributed their cat food, canned food, and other food as protection money, which Brother Tanuki then distributed."

"Therefore, the original purpose of protection fees was to prevent stray animals from starving to death."