"Ah-Zhai, are all the photos you’ve taken recently here?" Lin Xiaoqiang pointed to the thick stack of photos piled up on the table. The photos covered a wide range of subjects—children playing in the park, cats napping on trees, and of course, a large number of stray dogs in various scenarios.
Ah-Zhai nodded weakly, so exhausted he could barely speak. “They’re all there… you go through them… I… I need a nap…” With that, he collapsed onto the couch and immediately began snoring loudly.
Wang Meili gave Ah-Zhai a helpless glance, then picked up the stack of photos and began flipping through them with Lin Xiaoqiang.
“These all look pretty normal to me—just daily life shots of dogs,” Wang Meili said, thumbing through images of dogs eating, sleeping, or chasing each other around.
Lin Xiaoqiang furrowed his brow, carefully scanning the background of each photo. He tried to recall the thoughts he’d recently heard from the dogs, hoping to spot something suspicious in the seemingly mundane scenes.
Suddenly, he paused at one photo. It showed the Dog King standing atop a rundown amusement structure, with an old, ivy-covered building in the background.
“This place…” Lin Xiaoqiang narrowed his eyes. The building looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it.
“That’s the abandoned fertilizer factory behind the neighborhood, right? I heard it used to make fertilizer but shut down ages ago,” Wang Meili said, recognizing the location.
“The fertilizer factory!” Lin Xiaoqiang’s eyes lit up. He remembered hearing some of the dogs last night muttering about “fermentation” and “strong smells.” Could that be where they were manufacturing the virus?!
“We need to check it out—now!” Lin Xiaoqiang said urgently, jumping to his feet.
Wang Meili also sensed the gravity of the situation. She nodded and tugged at the still-snoring Ah-Zhai. “Hey! Ah-Zhai! Get up! We’ve made a discovery!”
Ah-Zhai blinked blearily, struggling to sit up. “What… discovery…? I’m so tired…”
“Maybe it’s the key to breaking you out of this zombie state!” Wang Meili half-dragged, half-pulled him off the couch.
The trio hurried to the abandoned fertilizer factory behind the community. The factory’s gate was rusted and half-open, the air thick with an indescribably pungent stench—something between rot and fermentation.
Lin Xiaoqiang perked up his ears—and immediately heard the thoughts of animals inside.
“How’s the ‘ingredient’ collection going today? Do we have enough to make the next batch of Lazy Spray?” came the voice of the Dog King.
“No worries, boss! We’ve already collected plenty of ‘essence’ from those two-leggers who love sunbathing on benches!” another dog replied smugly.
Lin Xiaoqiang’s expression darkened. “So it really is here… They’re actually manufacturing that disgusting virus!”
The three of them cautiously pushed open the gate and stepped inside. The factory was dark, filled with abandoned machinery and rusted barrels. In one corner, they saw a group of dogs huddled around a massive container bubbling ominously and emitting an even more nauseating stench.
And there, standing on a raised platform, was the Dog King—gleefully directing his “research team.”
“Excellent! Now add in some of that ‘special fluid’ we collected from the sneezy two-legger! It’ll boost the virus’s transmissibility!” the Dog King barked, waving his paw like a mad scientist.
“You despicable mutts! You’re really doing this?!” Lin Xiaoqiang couldn’t hold back his fury any longer.
Hearing the shout, the Dog King whipped around. When he saw Lin Xiaoqiang, Wang Meili, and the groggy Ah-Zhai, his face twisted into a mixture of shock and rage.
“It’s you! You miserable two-leggers! How dare you trespass into my secret base!”
A ridiculous showdown between a bunch of half-baked superpowered misfits and a canine mad scientist was about to unfold in this reeking, abandoned factory!
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