Without a doubt, at such a critical juncture, Yang Lin's return to the artificial lake was like striking everyone's heart with a hammer.
"Oh my god, there can't be more."
"Which bastard released the crocodiles here."
"Are you kidding me, like fried oil pancake, this is like fried fish with essence."
"In ancient times, Wu Song fought tigers, and today, Director Yang catches crocodiles with his bare hands."
"As expected, human crimes are handled by the police, and animal crimes are handled by Director Yang."
.....
Under the anxious gaze of the crowd, Yang Lin's hand once again reached into the artificial lake.
After a search, he pulled another big guy out of the lake.
Upon first sight of this behemoth, everyone was startled by its ferocious appearance.
Especially the spikes all over its body and its aggressive head.
Unlike the Siamese crocodile before, this time, someone quickly recognized its identity.
"Isn't this an alligator snapping turtle? Can these things grow this big in natural waters?"
"This ugly thing is an alligator snapping turtle."
"It's both ugly and fierce."
"It's over, there are probably no animals left in this artificial lake."
"No wonder all the fish fry we put in before never showed up, they must have been devoured by these two giants."
"With an alligator snapping turtle around, forget fish fry, it'll even chew up snails."
.....
While everyone was still pointing and gesturing on the shore, Yang Lin had already come ashore holding a large alligator snapping turtle nearly 80 centimeters long.
Looking at the alligator snapping turtle, which looked fiercer than the crocodile, the anti-smuggling police couldn't help but marvel.
"Director Yang, is that all now?"
Upon hearing the question, Yang Lin first wiped the mud from his hands and then replied: "That's all for this place, but there are probably many more in the entire Port City."
"Many!"
Receiving Yang Lin's answer, the anti-smuggling police looked at each other in dismay.
After a period of silence, the young police officer who had been following Yang Lin spoke into his walkie-talkie:
"Captain, send a few more vehicles over, and preferably more officers. We've run into big trouble this time."
"I'm not kidding, our city is full of invasive species. Bring that large truck over."
.....
An hour later, the team that had initially followed Yang Lin had expanded.
From just a few cars at the beginning, it had grown into a convoy of over ten vehicles of various models.
And on these vehicles were nothing but invasive or wild animals that had been roaming the city undetected.
During this process, both the anti-smuggling team and the citizens of Port City had their eyes opened wide.
Burmese pythons, reticulated pythons, giant African land snails, giant ants, red imported fire ants, Malayan tapirs, sugar gliders.
The most bizarre was a Bengal monitor lizard, also known as "Third Sister," discovered in a farmhouse.
Every time a new alien species appeared, the anti-smuggling police felt their worldview being refreshed.
Although a considerable portion of these had legally entered China, they had ended up outside due to various reasons, posing a significant threat to the local ecological balance.
Even though there were no apparent consequences at the moment, these problems would eventually erupt.
After a full day of work, Yang Lin finally led the anti-smuggling police back.
When they returned to the station, they found that the once empty courtyard was now filled with various sizes of iron cages.
According to preliminary statistics, from morning to afternoon, the entire team had found 545 live animals from different countries.
Some were introduced to China as pets, while others were brought in for different purposes.
The result left not only the anti-smuggling team in silence but also the leaders of Port City speechless.
When they received the report that morning, they were told that only 30 juvenile lizards had escaped.
How did it become over 500 by evening? That was enough to open a zoo.
Many small zoos didn't even have such a variety of animals.
After a long silence, Gao Jin, the captain of the anti-smuggling team, took a deep breath.
"Director Yang, this is our dereliction of duty. I never expected so many foreign animals to be living in this city."
Before he could finish, Yang Lin interrupted him.
"It's not entirely your fault. Most of these were legally imported, but they were abandoned or escaped for various reasons."
"The root cause is that common pets can no longer satisfy the needs of modern young people."
Hearing this, Gao Jin nodded immediately, then his face showed a hint of distress.
"Director Yang, we don't have any experience handling so many animals at once. You have to help us with this."
"After all, we can't just throw all these animals across the border."
As he spoke, Gao Jin's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Why not send all these animals to Xihong Zoo? Isn't that your Guixi Wild Animal Rescue Center?"
"Send them to us?"
"It's not impossible, but you know..."
Before Yang Lin could finish speaking, Gao Jin gave him a knowing look.
Half an hour later, two freshly made banners were brought in, along with several local television reporters.
"Director Yang, I know you value your personal reputation the most, and this is the sentiment of our entire team."
"Come on, everyone, let's take a photo with Director Yang to thank him for helping us so much."
Caught off guard, a group of uniformed police officers, uncles and brothers, crowded around him.
The two people holding the banners stood by his sides very thoughtfully.
The next second, reporters started shooting with cameras and video recorders.
After the shooting, Gao Jin didn't forget to instruct:
"Reporter Wang, remember to put this on the front page tomorrow."
"Also, post it on your official accounts and Douyin. Emphasize Director Yang's personal capabilities and selfless spirit."
"Make sure Director Yang is trending tomorrow."
Listening to Gao Jin's words, and looking at the two banners in his hands, Yang Lin couldn't help but give a wry smile.
"This isn't what I wanted, shouldn't you provide some initial food expenses?"
"Over 500 animals, how much of my food will that take?"
Before he could voice his thoughts, the system notification sounded again.