Chapter 300: Scheming

Yang Bo didn’t know how to respond to the situation, so he decided to play it by ear.

Yang Bo looked at the young man across from him who seemed completely clueless, then got handcuffed.

Meanwhile, the drone was reading out police legal statements, explaining which Alliance law and clause were used to arrest him, as well as his rights.

The young man seemed confused. How did this happen to the little creature he had raised for years?

Looking at Yang Bo now, he was just an average middle-aged man, dressed like a single, penniless bachelor.

“I think you’re mistaken. Please, let me explain,” the young man hurried to say.

“We have video evidence and an arrest warrant issued by a judge. We will take custody of your pet in accordance with the law,” one officer said.

“Until this is investigated thoroughly, you are not permitted to interact with your pet at all,” the police officer informed him directly.

Maybe the effect of the Lure skill had worn off, as the little creature in Yang Bo’s hand finally reacted, its small eyes looking confusedly at its owner before turning to look at Yang Bo.

“I think it’s scared!” Yang Bo decided not to use the Lure skill again. Who knew what abilities this little creature had? One thing was certain: the collar around its neck was no ordinary collar.

“It must be. It never expected its owner to treat it so roughly.”

“To treat one’s pet so harshly! Imagine what kind of miserable life that poor pet must lead.”

“He even squeezed its mouth. I wouldn’t be surprised if he planned to squeeze it to death.” The officers around began to voice their opinions.

Yang Bo cradled the little creature in his hands. Its stomach was soft, covered in fur, feeling much like a hamster.

However, Yang Bo wasn’t really paying attention to the police but to the other bystanders.

“There are several disguised individuals. Are they here to protect Wang Muxue, or do they have other plans?” Yang Bo noticed several people in Camouflage, likely sent by the Wang Family to protect her.

Yang Bo could only determine who was disguised, not who their affiliations were.

After seeing the owner taken into the police car, Yang Bo, upon the police’s request, went to the police station with the pet.

“I want to know—what happens next with this?” Yang Bo gestured toward the little creature in his hands, asking the cop in front of him.

In front of Yang Bo was a female officer, who was indeed quite attractive and a Superhuman. Her uniform made her draw quite a bit of attention.

“For now, it will be housed at a relevant institution until a judge issues a ruling. Until then, it’s still considered the suspect’s pet. If it’s ruled to be an unowned pet, it’ll be added to the adoption list,” the officer explained.

“Another possibility is that the pet might choose a new owner. If you apply to adopt this pet, and it actively chooses you, then it could legally become yours.”

“This is the pet’s right to choose its own owner.”

Truth be told, Yang Bo had no clear plan. Everything had happened so suddenly.

Upon hearing the officer’s words, Yang Bo was quite surprised. Had the Alliance extended the concept of ‘freedom’ to pets now, too, not just human rights?

“I’ll apply!” Yang Bo decided within two seconds. Part of him wasn’t sure if the police would be like certain places on Earth, where confiscated dogs often wound up in stew pots.

On the other hand, Yang Bo hoped the pet’s owner would bring as much trouble as possible. If they dared to confront him, wouldn’t that just be a great way to rack up new skills?

Here’s a live one! If they came through proper channels, they’d act through official means. If they wanted to handle things illegitimately in private, that was even better.

If this pet had any secrets, then its owner would definitely go to great lengths to cause trouble.

Besides, his identity was fake anyway. No matter how big the mess got, the worst that could happen was that this alias would disappear.

“But I still don’t know what this thing is,” Yang Bo muttered. He didn’t really know the creature’s origin.

“It’s a mammal from Water Blue Star officially known as a soft-armored porpoise… Here’s the detailed information.” The female cop brought up the creature’s data for him to see.

“However, before adopting a pet, the authorities need to review your qualifications. You’ll also need to buy essential supplies for the pet, with a professional organization’s assistance.” The officer began explaining other requirements.

Yang Bo understood instantly. If he really wanted to adopt the pet, he’d need to hire these professionals to help set it up, meaning dealing with a service company to provide its living environment.

Yang Bo recalled how the old fish tank and stand for the goldfish he had raised were arranged by these professional service agencies. Back then, they didn’t charge him any money.

“No problem. I can definitely take good care of it,” Yang Bo replied, although he wasn’t too concerned. If the creature had a rare skill, it might have an ‘accident’ later on.

But for now, it was perfect bait. Let’s see how many people were behind the pet’s original owner.

“Sir, your adoption application was approved. I’m sending you an email with instructions for completion. People who treat pets so harshly don’t deserve to own them,” the officer said, clearly upset by the way the original owner had handled his pet.

Yang Bo flashed what he thought was his most charming smile. “Thank you, Officer. I’ll apply right away.”

Yang Bo opened his wristwatch and applied right in front of the officer. Fortunately, the process was simple, requiring a deposit and contact with a service agency to arrange the pet’s accommodations. The agency also provided detailed care instructions.

Daily walks—how many minutes, how many kilometers? The owner was expected to spend how many hours with the pet each day? Big pet owners even had a vacation time specifically for walks.

It all seemed clear to Yang Bo. This whole thing was just a money grab.

He paid the deposit and contacted an official service agency. Once he filled out the creature’s basic details, the service agency agreed on a time schedule.

Meanwhile, the pet’s former owner was still unaware he was about to lose his pet, busy contacting his lawyer instead.

Three officers, a drone from the Pet Protection Center, and an official from the Animal Protection Agency stood nearby.

The judge was observing remotely as the Animal Protection official placed the creature five meters away from Yang Bo.

This is standard procedure for pets choosing their owner. The official then motioned to Yang Bo, “Mr. John, you may begin.”

“Come here, sweetheart!” Yang Bo called out, slightly excited as he stood opposite the creature.

Yang Bo was thrilled at the prospect. Once the creature was his, the forces behind its original owner would surely come looking.

The creature had spent some time in Yang Bo’s hands, and it wasn’t as familiar with the others, who’d only just arrived. Coupled with the effects of the Lure skill, the little creature quickly scurried to his feet.

“Excellent, we’ll do it one more time,” the Pet Protection official said with a pleased smile.

The second run went much the same. In the end, the judge issued the paperwork, officially severing the pet’s ties with its previous owner.

The paperwork registered the pet under Yang Bo’s alias, with a requirement that he arrange professional housing for it within 24 hours.

The Animal Protection official informed Yang Bo that there would be three random inspections over the next three months.

Yang Bo, of course, agreed. He knew there would be video evidence of all this. If he violated the agreement, he could face jail time.

Meanwhile, in another room, the suspect sat confused as the police and animal protection officials read out the ruling.

“This is theft! I don’t believe it!” the young, handsome man roared with fury, his face twisted with rage.

“Sir, we’ve already shown you the video evidence. Also, your emotional state is too unstable for pet ownership. Our agency will recommend freezing your ability to adopt pets,” the protection officer said sternly.

The young man, handsome and full of sunshine, shouted angrily, “This is cheating! This is robbery! That pet is my private property—I paid a lot for it!”

“But the pet has already chosen a new owner. It has the right to make its own choice…” The Animal Protection official continued matter-of-factly.

“We are simply performing our duty to inform you. If you wish to reclaim your pet, we suggest pursuing legal avenues,” the police officer added bluntly.

And with that, Yang Bo walked out of the police station with the creature in tow, under the watchful eye of the officers.

“What a surreal day,” Yang Bo murmured as he cradled the creature, still feeling that the whole situation was bizarre. He had just been testing a skill.

Yang Bo was walking with the pet toward the gate of his apartment complex when he encountered the Old Pervert.

When the Old Pervert saw the creature nestled in Yang Bo’s arms, a strange smile formed on his lips. “Such a cute little thing.”

There was a hint of something twisted in that smile.

“Sir, at your age, you shouldn’t be hitting on girls like the young ones. It’s not good for your health,” Yang Bo grinned, pretending not to know the Old Pervert’s true nature.

The Old Pervert chuckled lightly. “You’re the first man to steal a woman from me. I hope you keep that carefree attitude of yours.”

“Of course! You have no idea how fun it is to juggle two beautiful women at once,” Yang Bo smiled as they stepped into the elevator.

The Old Pervert glanced at the surveillance camera, barely restraining himself from killing the fool right then and there.

The Old Pervert just gave Yang Bo a strange smile.

Yang Bo returned to ‘John’s’ place and quickly contacted a professional agency to set up living accommodations for the little creature.

The service agency brought over a piece of driftwood—twisted and knotted, with a hollow beneath.

This hollow would be the little creature’s new home, along with specialized pet food and water, and cleaning supplies.

The agency even provided an inspection service and helped handle the paperwork for the Animal Protection Agency.

Yang Bo glanced at the bill. Just that one piece of driftwood cost 10,000 credits. Supposedly, it had gone through 120 stages of eco-friendly processing…

In this world, anything marked ‘eco-friendly’ or ‘organic’ wasn’t cheap.

The tree was barely over a meter tall, about 20 centimeters in diameter, yet three men came over to install it and brought their own equipment.

The random fees on the bill came to a total of 50,000 credits.

And the monthly upkeep was estimated to cost around 5,000 credits.

Yang Bo even received a hefty paper document detailing everything he would need to know to care for this species.

As Yang Bo set up the pet’s habitat, his neighbor, the Old Pervert, was furiously swearing an oath to chop Yang Bo into 180 pieces and make sure he saw it happen.

The others around him weren’t even fazed—after all, the Old Pervert had always been a bit twisted.

Then again, to join the Brotherhood, you had to be twisted. You weren’t fit to be an assassin otherwise. Some missions even required the assassin to kill the target in creative ways.

Chopping people into pieces wasn’t even considered ‘twisted’ in their line of work. Some contracts even asked to return certain parts of the target as proof.

Of course, the more grotesque the method, the higher the fee.

“Captain, I need two hours on Hurricane Night. I’ll slice those two women and his pet to pieces, one cut at a time, right in front of him,” the Old Pervert gritted his teeth and requested.

“An hour is enough. Just don’t make too much noise,” the Captain replied with a shake of his head.

“Captain, you know that’s not enough time for them to fully ‘enjoy’ the despair.” The Old Pervert was still trying to negotiate.

“One hour. You need to control your impulses. If this mission fails because of you, you know what will happen,” the Captain said sternly, glaring at the Old Pervert.

“That pet is worth a small fortune,” another team member said, looking at the info he’d just found online.

“Anything involving pets these days is expensive.”

“That’s just how things are in the Alliance.”

“The Alliance’s upper levels brainwash the lower ones. They use every little issue to divide them, making them fight over trivial matters.”

“Cut it out,” the Captain interrupted when he heard them start discussing those issues again, clearly annoyed.

“Whitehead, if an hour’s not enough, I’ll help out. Sure, those two women are rough around the edges, but hey, at least they’re young,” another young man grinned and said.

“Shut up!” the Old Pervert snapped back.

“Whitehead, pets have chips in them. If you kill one, the police will come after you. You don’t have much time,” another middle-aged man added.

“That just makes things more interesting. I’ll deal with the pet last,” the Old Pervert replied, as if this was only natural.

Meanwhile, in the neighboring room, Yang Bo glanced at the messages on his wristwatch, deep in thought. The blonde from downstairs wanted to come over for a visit?

Second update is coming. No slacking today—I’m totally worn out.