On the road leading to Dolphin Bay, several police cars sped past, their sirens blaring through the night.
This was the police force from Taiji Town, mobilized due to international protests, where every year, nurous foreign activists flocked to Dolphin Bay to prevent Japanese fishern from hunting dolphins and whales.
As a result, the locals had beco accustod to the presence of these foreign activists, and a well-trained police force had been assembled to deal with them.
"Chief, we’re three minutes away from Dolphin Bay."
In the passenger seat of the leading police car sat a petite female officer nad Nagata no, a fresh graduate from the police academy and a rookie cop, usually tasked with patrol and clerical duties.
However, due to the heightened tensions at Dolphin Bay this ti, she was deployed to join the police team on this mission.
"Little Yanai, rember, do not engage in conflicts with those activists. Just drive them away. If they capture footage and post it online, we’ll face another wave of criticism."
The team leader, Furukawa Masaki, adjusted his glasses and advised the rookie.
"Please, Chief, stop calling Little Yanai; I’m already 22."
Nagata no pouted, but her 150 cm stature and round apple-like face gave her the appearance of a middle schooler, rendering her words ineffective and inviting playful teasing instead.
"Haha, alright, Little Yanai."
Furukawa Masaki’s words made Nagata no roll her eyes in exasperation.
"By the way, Chief, about those calls we received earlier ntioning a ’Sea Monster.’ What’s that about?"
Nagata no asked while checking her equipnt, feeling a bit nervous as this was her first ti on a potentially dangerous mission with the main force.
"Isn’t it obvious? Those foreign activists are trying to scare away the fishern to stop the Dolphin Bay activities. They’ll do anything to achieve their goals."
Furukawa Masaki chuckled, confidently sharing his thoughts.
"But the fishern on the phone sounded anxious, and we couldn’t reach them afterwards."
"This suggests that the activists have gone too far, frightening the fishern."
Furukawa Masaki shook his head, and then, as if sothing occurred to him, he glanced at Nagata no with a half-smile: "What’s the matter, Little Yanai, you don’t really believe in the Sea Monster rumor, do you?"
"Of course not."
Nagata no awkwardly tried to smile, even though she had just thought about it.
To avoid being teased by the Chief, as they approached the iron gate ahead, Nagata no quickly changed the subject: "Chief, we’re here."
A massive iron gate appeared ahead of the police cars.
This was the only entrance to Dolphin Bay. To prevent foreign animal rights activists from entering, the gate was fitted with sharp spikes, and the area was surrounded by barbed wire and sharp fences, with warning signs indicating danger and prohibitions.
On regular days, fishern ard with knives would patrol here to deter activists from entering Dolphin Bay. If a video of the dolphin and whale hunts were to surface, public relations would beco challenging.
Seven to eight police cars stopped, and about thirty officers disembarked, all wearing tactical vests, so carrying riot shields, tear gas, tasers, and even real guns, which was unusual for Japanese police.
Due to past incidents involving extre animal rights activists, resulting in chaos and injuries, Japanese police bring real firearms on Dolphin Bay missions as a precaution.
As they reached the entrance of Dolphin Bay, Nagata no was startled.
The massive iron gate was half-collapsed, seemingly battered by so force, twisted and blocking the path to Dolphin Bay. The fishern who were supposed to be guarding the gate were nowhere in sight.
"These bastards have breached the gate again!"
Furukawa Masaki hurried forward, a serious expression on his face, realizing that this could escalate quickly, and he ordered, "Quickly, follow to maintain order and prevent the foreign activists from causing injuries. Warn them with gunfire if necessary."
As an experienced officer, Furukawa Masaki had faced similar situations before.
These extre animal rights activists would often storm the gate in their cars, and a face-off with the fishern could easily lead to violent physical confrontations.
With that, Furukawa Masaki vaulted over the collapsed gate and ran in the direction of Dolphin Bay, followed closely by the other officers.
Nagata no, flashlight in hand, slipped as she climbed over the gate and fell.
The flashlight slipped from her hand and rolled on the ground.
"Ouch ouch ouch!"
Clumsily, Nagata no got to her feet, bending to retrieve the flashlight.
Whoosh!
Just then, the flashlight beam lit up a small wooded area, where a shadow seed to flicker past, vanishing in an instant.
"What was that?"
Nagata no recoiled slightly, shining the flashlight into the woods but finding nothing. It seed she had rely imagined it.
Looking at the surrounding darkness, the sea breeze rustling the leaves, Nagata no felt an inexplicable sense of unease, as if sothing was lurking in the shadows, watching her.
"Little Yanai, what are you doing back there? Hurry up and follow!"
Furukawa Masaki’s voice shouted from ahead, urging the lagging Nagata no to catch up with the team.
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