Chapter 1947: Natural Evolution or Human Intervention

After Yang Jin sent the photos of the military dogs Hui Yi and Hui Wu that had died from infected evolutionary microorganisms, taken from the Azure Dragon Squad's internal intelligence database, into the temporary meeting group Xia Qing had created, not only Broken-Waist Wolf, but also Zhang San and Xia Qing were looking through the pictures.

Although Xia Qing was a visual evolver, her specialty was long-distance observation of real scenes, which gave her no obvious advantage when comparing photos.

Moreover, the military dogs Yang Jin had sent in were all front-facing shots, while the wild dog corpse in the recording lay rigid on its side after death and had been gnawed into a mess by scavengers, making comparison very difficult.

Xia Qing first selected two military dogs of the same breed as the dead wild dog, and in the end only one remained whose body size and coat color were roughly similar.

Next came comparing the fine details of the two animals' heads, ears, and so on.

Xia Qing first adjusted the clarity of the recording screenshot, then began the comparison. Although the recording had been shot by a high-definition camera on a helicopter, after enlarging it she still couldn't see the details of the dead wild dog's claws, so the image needed editing.

This skill was something Xia Qing had learned from Yang Jin; after she mastered it, she taught it to Broken-Waist Wolf at the price of half a bag of Green Lantern hickory nuts.

Before Xia Qing had finished adjusting, Broken-Waist Wolf raised its big furry head and stared intently at the camera.

Zhang San immediately asked, "Little Duan finished looking? Is the wild dog that died in Mountain Region Fourteen among the military dog photos Yang Jin sent?"

Broken-Waist Wolf pressed its mouth shut.

"No?" Zhang San could already understand what his beloved disciple's behavior meant.

Zhang San was not a wolf-family animal research expert, but based on the appearance comparison he believed the dead giant wild dog closely resembled one of the military dogs in the data. After Broken-Waist Wolf reached its conclusion, he raised a reasonable doubt: "Little Duan, what is the basis for your judgment?"

Broken-Waist Wolf spoke, "Aow~ wuu—"

The certified wolf-human translator Xia Qing then spoke up: "Third Brother, Broken-Waist's basis for judgment is the obvious features—the head size, muzzle length, whether there are obvious scars on the body, whether the ears have notches—comparing the wild dog with the domesticated dog…"

Before Xia Qing had finished, Broken-Waist Wolf raised a front paw and scratched twice.

Xia Qing added, "Mainly the claws and nails. Broken-Waist thinks the claws and nails of that dead wild dog leader are very distinctive."

Broken-Waist Wolf solemnly nodded its big furry head, indicating that what Xia Qing had said was exactly what it meant to express.

Hearing Broken-Waist Wolf's judgment, Xia Qing thought of the wound on the Black Wolf King's neck.

Just as she lowered her head to continue editing the recording screenshot, Yang Jin sent an edited screenshot into the group that clearly showed the outline of the wild dog's front paws and nails: "Everyone can look at this image. Brother Duan is amazing—he could spot the wild dog's claw features just from watching the video."

Broken-Waist Wolf spoke, "Aow!"

Xia Qing jumped in to translate before her idol could tell Yang Jin to shut up: "Brother Jin, Broken-Waist can also adjust focal length and image resolution, so it didn't discover it just from watching the video."

Yang Jin said with sincere admiration, "Brother Duan truly is an evolutionary wolf standing at the top of Blue Star's pyramid—no wonder Her Majesty…"

Broken-Waist Wolf spoke, "Aow!"

"Yang Jin, shut up." After translating the wolf speech, Zhang San said in a gentle voice as he negotiated with the rigorous and studious Broken-Waist Wolf, "Little Duan, lift your front paw and let me see it?"

Broken-Waist Wolf raised a front paw and shoved it right in front of its pink notebook's camera.

Broken-Waist Wolf's paw pads were thick and rough, its nails short and blunt, the claw tips curving inward. This was a typical evolved wolf's claw, clearly different from the nails of the wild dog in the picture Yang Jin had sent.

Of the three meeting participants, Xia Qing, who was most familiar with wolves, began her analysis: "Relative to the wild dog's body size, its front-paw nails are too wide and the curve is too shallow—it's definitely abnormal."

Wolves and humans think differently. When people look at a wild dog, they first notice its coat color, body size, and breed. When Broken-Waist Wolf looks at a wild dog, it first looks at its attack power—teeth and claws are their weapons.

Yang Jin picked up the thread: "The front paws of the Hui Yi and Hui Wu military dogs don't match this feature either."

The hind paws? The hind paws of the dog corpse in the helicopter footage were blocked by tree branches and couldn't be seen.

Xia Qing promptly delivered praise: "Broken-Waist, you're really amazing!"

Zhang San nodded: "Little Duan's observation is extremely meticulous. Wolf-family animals' claw tips all curve inward, which helps them grip the ground and control prey. But this wild dog's claw tips are almost sticking straight forward—this claw shape doesn't look like one for hunting, it looks more like…"

Yang Jin took over: "More like a claw shape specifically for digging soil and burrowing."

Broken-Waist Wolf quickly scraped twice with its front paws. Xia Qing translated: "Broken-Waist says aardvark front paws look exactly like this."

After seeing the shape of the wild dog's front paws, Xia Qing could confirm that the Black Wolf King's neck and the back of the Eastern Jackal Group's Number Two Leader had both been clawed by this wild dog.

In combat, this wild dog leader was very skilled at using the thick, unusually shaped nails that had grown on its front paws.

Yang Jin asked, "Third Brother, in your opinion, did this wild dog's nails grow like this from natural evolution or from human intervention?"

Blue Star's evolution types were diverse. If Old Wolf hadn't suspected this wild dog was a spy, and Broken-Waist Wolf hadn't specifically pointed out the abnormality of the wild dog's nails, Yang Jin wouldn't have raised such a question.

Xia Qing looked at her idol and quietly waited for his answer.

Zhang San's expression was grave: "We need a professional to do a detailed examination of the corpse before we can possibly reach a conclusion. Xia Qing, when you came back, was the wild dog corpse still in its original position?"

Xia Qing answered, "In its original position. The belly had been hollowed out, but the head and forelimbs were still there."

Plenty of wild beasts died out of control in the evolutionary forest during the Injurious Rain Period, and carnivores weren't short on food, so they hadn't yet gnawed the wild dog corpse that had died the night before last clean.

Zhang San's face was stern: "On the premise that we cannot rule out human intervention, we must recover and test the corpse as soon as possible to confirm. Where is Little Four now?"

Xia Qing answered, "It's still inside the Eastern Wild Dog Group's territory."

Zhang San gave the order: "Tell it to withdraw as soon as possible. I'm contacting the base commander now to send humans to collect the corpse."

"Understood." Xia Qing immediately contacted Old Wolf.

Zhang San continued issuing orders: "Yang Jin, are there any Azure Dragon Squad members or reconnaissance birds inside Mountain Region Fourteen?"

Yang Jin answered, "No. But Xie Yu's squad is equipped with individual flight devices. The squad's advanced speed evolver and elasticity evolver can reach the wild dog corpse's location within twenty minutes, and the reconnaissance birds can arrive at the same time."

Zhang San instructed: "Have them get ready to depart. They must take proper protection and pay attention to safety. Set the mission level to C. Don't act too panicky, or you'll scare the snake. If this wild dog really is an experimentally released subject, there may be human-installed cameras inside the Eastern Wild Dog Group."

Yang Jin responded, "Copy that."

While dialing the base commander on his work phone, Zhang San uneasily instructed Broken-Waist Wolf: "Little Duan, stay in your territory and check for suspicious predators. Don't run off to Mountain Region Fourteen to watch the excitement."