A cafeteria in Whale Island region.
Baiji Military District Commanding Officer Shanta stepped in and surveyed the inside. He cracked a bright smile. "Aren't you guys early!"
Ma Jika and Luo Sha, commanders of the exploratory spaceships Fomalhaut and Arcturus, looked up and then turned away when they saw Shanta.
"Oh? Why aren't you guys saying anything when you see an old friend?" Shanta was beaming as he dragged a chair over to sit down. "You guys used to be constantly on the move. How rare for us to be able to meet."
Commander Luo Sha said impatiently, "The sight of you irks me!"
Shanta's chuckled even more heartily. "Hahahaha! From a certain angle, you two are my benefactors. Hah! Thanks for blocking Fang Zhao's application back then!"
At that time, if these two spaceship commanders hadn't blocked Fang Zhao's application, Fang Zhao wouldn't have gone to Planet Baiji. He wouldn't have discovered the new ore and Baiji Military District wouldn't have been established that quickly!
Compared to Shanta, the two spaceship commanders Luo Sha and Ma Jika were in rather heavy moods. The discovery of the Alkaid meant that there might possibly be changes to exploratory missions on a whole and that the two of them would be very passive at this time. Thus, it was understandable that Commander Luo Sha was in a bad mood when Shanta took a jab at his sore spot.
Shanta also wasn't too upset that the two spaceship commanders didn't bother about him. He turned around and saw Wai Base Commanding Officer Huo Yi, who was trying to sneak off. He called out immediately, "Huo Yi, I heard that your Wai Base is developing rather well recently. Why is it that I heard something today about you even wanting to steal someone else's dog?"
Baiji Military District had naturally gotten wind of Huo Yi's recommendation of Fang Zhao to the inspection team for the Whale Island Conference. Perhaps if it had been anyone else, the matter would not have been reported to Shanta. As the Commanding Officer of a military district, he was very busy every day and simply didn't have any time to bother with these small matters. However, because of the special significance Fang Zhao had, once Baiji Military District received the news, it had been reported to Shanta.
Naturally, Shanta wouldn't obstruct Fang Zhao's opportunity to gain merits. After making discreet inquiries and learning that it was Wai Base's Huo Yi who had personally made the recommendation, Shanta started to ponder. Huo Yi couldn't be the only one allowed to leave a favorable impression! Shanta still had hopes that Fang Zhao would join his own military district if he got tired or decided to leave the artistic path. How many people were coveting Fang Zhao's years now?
Therefore, Baiji Military District and Wai Base had both helped facilitate it. Therefore, after the audit was passed, the draft notice had been issued to Fang Zhao. Otherwise, someone on reserve duty like Fang Zhao wouldn't have been called over here with just Curly Hair as the sole reason.
Back when Fang Zhao had converted to reserve duty after his military service on Planet Baiji, Shanta had changed Baiji Military District's allocations to first, ahead of Yanzhou Military District. Therefore, Shanta had made Fang Zhao a soldier of his own military district long ago. However, now that Huo Yi had designs on Fang Zhao and even wanted to snatch his dog, Shanta had no choice but to be on buard. He came out on the offensive when the two commanding officers met.
Huo Yi might be able to be a figure of authority and might before others, but he could only quake before Shanta. With an insincere smile, he said, "How can we compete with the ore you have? Our lives on our side aren't so good. Our spaceport facilities can't keep up and we have limited power. All we can do is find other means to attract a few more dogs."
Not too far away, Bu Base Commanding Officer Flemington's face twitched as he heard this exchange. How I wish to take a gun to blow up your ores, produce and facilities to bits! If it comes to being poor, who can compete with our Planet Bu? If not for Fang Zhao heading over for poverty alleviation and discovering the Alkaid, we would still be eating dirt at Bu Base!
There were already seven or eight high ranking military officers in this small cafeteria. There were exploratory spaceship commanders, commanding officers of garrisoned bases on foreign planets, and special forces officers. To put it simply, these were all people that had left their home planet to work and earn some benefits.
There were a quite a number of such cafeterias in the whole Whale Island region. In the next few days, they would serve as a place for military officers, technicians, engineers and other participants to relax when they arrived. The security works and processes in the entire Whale Island region were also frantically underway at all times.
At a certain spot in the Whale Island region, Fang Zhao took his own allocated items into the dormitory. This building was a specifically constructed residence for members of the inspection team. The furnishing within the dormitory was really good and the facilities for dogs were in no way inferior. Standing beside the window, Fang Zhao could see specifically installed training and activity facilities for dogs in the yard. There were instructors currently playing with dogs.
After tidying up a little, Fang Zhao called Curly Hair over, who had been checking out the dormitory. "Let's go down and meet our team members."
They first went down to the Inspection Team Captain Zhao Chao's office. Zhao Chao was previously from Huangzhou spaceport's Anti-Smuggling Bureau and had assumed the post of this conference's Inspection Team Captain.
Zhao Chao was familiar with the public figure Fang Zhao. However, he was even more curious towards Curly Hair. He was able to place in the top three with his test results despite only being a pet dog! And he was really rather small!
But now wasn't the time to ask about random stuff. Zhao Chao gave Fang Zhao a simple brief about the current state of the Inspection Team.
"We have many team members, but only thirty-five inspection dogs. Curly Hair makes it thirty-six. Everyone gets along rather well…"
He hadn't finished speaking when someone came in. "Captain! Those two are at it again!"
Zhao Chao paused for a bit. He then said to Fang Zhao without so much as a flinch, "There are two exceptions. Let's go over and take a look first."
As they walked over, Zhao Chao explained the situation between the two.
Due to the Whale Island Conference, outstanding military and police dogs from various places had been transferred over. Currently close to half of the dogs in the team used to be on anti-smuggling assignments. All of these canine elites from all sorts of places and posts had gone through a period of familiarization and had started to get used to their new working environment. They were also getting along decently, except for two.
"His name is AK, but we normally call him 'K'. Of course, he'll be happier if you call him 'King'. Smart, daring, confident. Has a great attitude towards instructors, compliant to instructions and can carry out missions independently. He once independently detected an explosive and had a nose that was especially sensitive to prohibited items. K has the bloodline of a hunting hound; he is a large-sized dog, can climb trees, leap over walls and even parachute as well. He can even catch fish in water and can carry out many missions with high difficulty on dry land. He is a naturally gifted fighter and a workaholic.
"The other dog, Thornhead, is also a large-sized dog. He is also very smart and capable, just that he has an explosive temperament. Most of the time, Thornhead is very active in anti-smuggling and other police dog work. Because he received bodyguard training, Thornhead is very fierce towards strangers and won't listen to anyone but those few trainers he is familiar with and accepts. He is quick and efficient in operations and adapts well to the environment. He has a bloodline of a military and police dual service dog. Thornhead is one of the most outstanding police dogs currently. He really is very intelligent… just that his temperament is slightly unstable and has intense changes sometimes."
From Zhao Chao's tone, Fang Zhao could tell that Zhao Chao really liked these two dogs even though they were causing him some minor headaches. However, Fang Zhao could determine that Zhao Chao slightly favored Thornhead. Thornhead had been on many assignments at various large spaceports. Thus, Zhao Chao had naturally interacted with him much more than K, so the bias was understandable.
If placed in the Period of Destruction, these two would be guard dogs with great combat ability. The New Era had seen continuous changes in breeding, and the appearances of these dogs were somewhat different now. However, whether it was intellect or ability, all of this had evolved for the better.
Zhao Chao also lamented with a frown, "These two are also the kings of their own domain. Kings do not meet other kings in ordinary times. At most, they'll have some short encounters during exchange matches or competitions. Now that they are in the same team, the atmosphere isn't so good every time they cross paths despite being on Whale Island together for so many days."
Zhao Chao hoped that the dogs in the team could get along amicably. What would happen if there was a situation which required several dogs to coordinate and carry out a mission? Therefore, he hoped that all the dogs in the team would get along like comrades before the Whale Island Conference officially began. Only then would any missions be completed perfectly. Therefore, even if those two couldn't get along, Zhao Chao still got their instructors to lead them along to interact. Luckily, those two didn't fight for real too many times. Both had lots of training and discipline, and the instructors were available at the side to separate them.
While talking, Fang Zhao had already seen the two dogs in the passage up ahead. Even though he hadn't seen the two dogs before, he could tell who was who the moment he saw them.
In the passageway, the one facing Fang Zhao was K. Rugged yet not cumbersome, he had the physique of an all purpose hunting hound. He seemed extremely perceptive, and his eyes were clearly glowing with an ominous glint.
And the one with his back to Fang Zhao had short black fur. He was muscular and imposing. There was a small tuft of fur that was slightly longer on his head. It looked like a little thorn. This was Thornhead.
During the tests Curly Hair took before entering Whale Island Conferences' Inspection Team, the two dogs that Curly Hair had ranked behind were K in first place, and Thornhead in second. In terms of comprehensive ability, Thornhead was slightly weaker.
Looking at the situation, if the two could speak, it would probably have gone like this——
K: I am number one!
Thornhead: F*ck off! Daddy doesn't accept it!
Zhao Chao wanted the two to get along amicably, but for now, this was an impossible task.
"During the Period of Destruction, there was only one alpha dog in a team with many dogs," Fang Zhao said softly.
"Of course I know that!" Zhao Chao sighed. "Don't worry, they are smart and won't fight. They are just putting on airs for now."
Curly Hair, who had crouched by Fang Zhao's feet, sneezed and used his paw to brush Fang Zhao's trouser leg.
Fang Zhao took a look at Curly Hair and asked Zhao Chao in a low voice, "Captain, where is the dog toilet?"
"There, Eagle just returned from there." Zhao Chao pointed somewhere towards the front of the passageway.
Up ahead, an instructor was currently leading a rather docile-looking middle-sized dog over. Eagle was the dog's name.
Fang Zhao had already seen the sign for the dog toilet, just that he felt that those two dogs ahead were in the way. He had asked Zhao Chao to find out whether there was another one elsewhere. But now that Zhao Chao had said this, Fang Zhao could only shoot him a probing glance.
Those two dogs were still obstructing the passageway, and the center section was a "warzone".
Zhao Chao knew what Fang Zhao was worried about and said, "It's alright. Take a look at Eagle. Just learn from him and you all will be fine."
Fang Zhao had seen that instructor sticking to the wall and walking over slowly. Eagle lowered his body, drooped his tail, and stuck to the wall as he passed through the "warzone".
"Got it?" Zhao Chao asked.
Fang Zhao mulled for a bit, then nodded. He turned to Curly Hair. "Understand?"
Curly Hair got up and walked over to the side wall.
Zhao Chao was rather pleased when he saw this. Indeed, dogs that could go through these tests were all really smart. However, the smile on Zhao Chao's face turned stiff in no time.
Fang Zhao had stuck close to the wall as he walked and had even lowered his own presence. His speed was neither fast nor slow and was similar to how Eagle's instructor had moved.
The problem was Curly Hair! Although he had also stuck close to the wall, he didn't have the same docile attitude like Eagle had. Instead, his tail wagged happily and he went over in a light jog!
The hearts of a few instructors present skipped a beat. They weren't able to stop Thornhead in time when he turned and snapped his jaws at Curly Hair.
Of course, as a highly trained elite service dog with lots of experience, Thornhead wouldn't really bite out with the intent to seriously injure. He only wanted to establish his dominance and indicate his fury.
Curly Hair, who had been in a little trot towards the toilet, was given a shock. Then, he threw himself forward.
No one expected that this little thing would dare try and bite back!
Immediately, dog barks, shouts, sorrowful cries and frightened wails rang out all around.
In the passageway, within the warzone, the three dogs had started to fight, and the scene was extremely violent and chaotic.