Daily dose of this week’s last chapter 3/3
Edited by WhitesRabbit
Round 3.1
The special law enforcement units were police units who were responsible for certain special tasks. These special units were elites in the police department. Their responsibilities included various dangerous tasks such as: saving hostages, besieging terrorists or heavy-armed gangsters, and the like. In the United States, this special unit was called the Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT). In Hong Kong, the people called it the Flying Tiger Team, or Special Duties Unit (SDU). They called it the Thunder Squad in Taiwan.
In China, there was one called the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force (PAP), or the armed police and another one called the Public Security Special Team.
The Public Security Special Team referred to the special police unit that was established within the public security system. Its function overlapped with the armed police in some areas such as anti-terrorism, raiding, detonation, and anti-hijacking.
The Public Security Special Team, however, were police officers that belonged to the Ministry of Public Security, so they were civil servants. The armed police were active military personnel. As their nature was very different, their status was also completely different.
More than a decade ago, S city, as the large international city, took the lead to establish their own special unit. This was the unification of the Public Security Special Team and Chinese People’s Armed Police Force. It was called The Black Panther Special Police Force or in English, The Panther Team.
It was named the “Black Panther” because the panther is a great killer in the animal world. It is strong, fierce, witty, calm, sensitive, and fast. When they were hunting their prey, they would approach them quietly and sneak up on them. This nature was also similar to how this special unit worked and their spirit.
In the past 10 years of its existence, The Panther Team had handled nearly 30 cases of kidnapping and hijacking in S city. The perpetrator was shot to death by their snipers in only 6 cases. In the rest, they captured the criminals alive and they managed to rescue all of the hostages in every case. So, they accomplished their mission successfully, with a 100% rescue rate, and no hostage casualties. Every member of the team was picked from the best units and already had to have a certain amount of experience before they could officially join The Panther Team. They also had to master numerous necessary military skills, some even had very deep practical experience.
The team sounded very formidable; but to become an official member of the Panther Team was so difficult, it could make ordinary people want to cry of sadness. Aside from having physical strength and a healthy psych, they also had to go through 5 different assessments. There they would experience the most brutal competition in their lives. In the end, only a few people might be selected but sometimes there would be no one.
Even if they were selected, they still had to undergo a particularly strict semi-military training. They went through such an intense physical and martial arts training that they barely stayed alive; so, there were much who dropped midway. Based on the final examination, they would get sorted into different units like the Main Assault unit, Side Wings unit, Protection unit, and Sniper unit.
Each time they got a mission, The Panthers wouldn’t send out everyone but only the core member of each unit: such as snipers, raiders, communicators, medics, back-up supports, and command vehicles.
That was the line up.
Therefore, even if you became the official member of the team, you might warm the bench for a lifetime.
Just like how in ancient times an emperor would select new members of court every three years, The Panthers would recruit new men every two years.
The Black Panther Special Police Force was located in the suburbs of S city, close to the neighbouring province. Their base covered a large area. Before, it had been used as a prison that was later abandoned. Even if it was no longer functioning as a prison, you couldn’t wipe its traces from the building. The perimeter walls were very high, about 10 meters, and it was also surrounded by an electric fence. On the inside of the wall was painted 3 big words, “Serve The People!”, in red. From the entrance you could immediately see that there was a small hill in the back of the facility, but it wasn’t some amazing view that you needed to look at. Rather, it was the cemetery of The Black Panther Force. If one of member from Black Panther died in line of mission, they would bury them there. Everyone called it the Cat Garden because when a panther was alive they could frighten anyone, but when they died they were a mere cat. Here they did not call it cat to disgrace those who had fallen, but to make them remember that they had lived to the fullest when they were alive.
Today was the day the newcomers would enter the team. There weren’t many people who were selected. From 3000 peoples there were only 5 people left– half of them were failed because they had been badly injured.
XiaoXiao parked her car in her own private parking spot, got out, and opened the door for Sesame. When Sesame was here, he didn’t need collar as this was his former work place.
“Sesame!” A crisps voice sounded out, making Sesame look sideways. He didn’t run towards the voice, though. An excellent police dog wouldn’t do anything without his owner order. He wouldn’t move from his owner even a single step if he wasn’t ordered to.
A person ran over from far away dressed in a huge white coat. They looked about 25 or 26 years old; had an intellectual, slim, and curvy appearance; and were charging towards Sesame.
XiaoXiao simply nodded as a sign of greeting.
This person was Bai Lu (白露). Her name was taken directly from the term Bailu (白露,)* as she was born during this term. She was the leader of the Black Panther’s medical squadron, and everyone called her XiaoBai.
(*: Bailu is the 15th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 165° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 180°. It usually begins around September 7 and ends around September 23. Source: Wikipedia)
“Sesame, sausage!!” Bai Lu’s pocket was brimming full with all kind of sausages. She fished one out and peeled its skin for Sesame to eat.
“Sausage contains too much salt, which is not very good for a dog’s health and Sesame is already overweight.” XiaoXiao mechanically responded to her enthusiasm.
Bai Lu didn’t seem to care about what she had said. She kept luring Sesame with a sausage in front of his mouth. “He’s already retired, what use does he have to keep maintaining his weight for?”
Sesame was already 4 years old this year. According to the active age of a police dog, he was still in the prime of his life. More than 2 years ago, the former owner of Sesame was shot and killed in line of duty by a gangster. Sesame was also shot when trying to save his owner. People who trained police dogs knew that they couldn’t be hit by a gunshot, because it would make them extremely sensitive and afraid of gunshots. Especially Sesame who also saw his owner being shot– it could be imagined how big the psychological shadow was it created.
Animals also had mental illnesses. Sesame's symptoms were very serious at that time. He didn’t eat nor drink, didn’t move, and became extremely skinny and suffered from a serious skin disease because of all this. The veterinarian had judged that Sesame didn’t seem to want to live anymore, so it was better to perform euthanasia to lessen his suffering.
Fortunately, it happened when XiaoXiao had just returned from abroad, so she decided to adopt him. At that time, the vet didn’t have any hope left; but two months later, Sesame’s appetite and health miraculously recovered. Even so, he still wasn’t suitable to return to being a police dog.
Sesame didn’t even move when facing the floating sausage in front of his face. As it wasn’t his owner that fed him, he wouldn’t eat it.
Bai Lu wasn’t discouraged and shook the sausage, but finally smiled guiltily. “Well, he’s so conscience, to decided what is good or bad.”
XiaoXiao touched Sesame’s head and said, “Go play!”
Hearing the order, Sesame immediately flicked his tail and ran towards the side of the fence where the police dogs training base was. The Panthers have 4 active police dogs and although Sesame was no longer an active one, he was still their brother. He didn’t need to participate in daily training, so he just walked around. Balancing on the beam, flipping the wall, sniffing dangerous stuff, and biting fake a prisoner made from a quilt. It was all purely a game for Sesame. After all, he had been trained since childhood.
Seeing Sesame gone, Bai Lu straightened up. She was very tall and it made XiaoXiao besides her look even more petite.
When the two of them stood side by side, it looked like one was a mature elder sister and the other a young underage loli.
“Dr. Zhang just gave me a call to remind you that you have an appointment at two o’clock with him.”
Xiaoxio acted as if she didn’t hear a thing and just walked straight towards the Martial Arts Hall.
“Duanmu, you must attend the counselling on time!” Bai Lu hastily followed her.
“I don’t need it!!” A cold voice sounded out in rejection.
Bai Lu ran up and stopped in front of her, her sweet looks filled with a solemn expression. “Listen, PTSD is a disease. You need to be prescribed the right medicine. How long have you not been able to sleep well? Do you know what you look like now? A zombie!”
XiaoXiao was originally already very petite, she also wore an oversized men’s windbreaker. It covered up all of her curves, and made her look more like an underage girl. Originally, she was whiter than the average person, but now she had become even paler. It made her skin look almost a transparent white, her dark circle becoming all the more prominent. Coupled with her pallid expression…
Correction, she was a corpse on the verge of changing into a zombie!
Bai Lu knew that her symptoms were already serious, but she was just escaping from this reality.
Translator’s Note:
Yeah we got an editor who would help me edit this story, so give a big round of applause for our new editor WhitesRabbit. 👏
And we might see more of XiaoXiao’s work place in the following chapters. And keep in mind in this arc we wouldn’t delve much on the case. We just gonna get an introduction of the characters.
Editor’s Note:
Hi guys! I’m WhitesRabbit! ヾ(＾∇＾) Just a newbie editor trying my best! Please let me know if you have any feed back or spot a place where I goofed. I’ll be in your care and thanks for reading! m(_ _)m
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