There's a chat group for pets in my neighborhood.

"I don't have a collar."

The sheriff looked at the small recording pen and frowned in a very human way.

"Of course I know, that's why I've prepared it for you." As if by magic, Lu Fang pulled out a brand new collar from behind his back. The collar was entirely black, with smooth leather and exquisite stitching, clearly a high-end product.

"Ta-da! This thing is custom-made by me. Want to try it out?" he said with a seductive look.

"Who wants to wear that thing? It's so uncomfortable." The sheriff rolled his eyes at him and shook his head in refusal.

"That won't do." Lu Fang held up the recorder in his hand: "Where am I supposed to put the recorder without a collar? Are you suggesting...?"

His gaze gradually moved to a certain indescribable area.

"Brother Tanuki is right, you really are a pervert." This time, the sheriff didn't type first, but meowed to express his anger.

"Sheriff, we're in this together now. If I really take over this pet hospital, wouldn't it belong to everyone? Please help me out!" Seeing that the other party was unwilling, Lu Fang immediately began to appeal to their emotions and reason.

The sheriff knew in his heart that if the pet hospital matter could be settled, he and Tanuki would have an additional base. In case anything happened in the future, they would have a shelter. Helping Lu Fang was actually helping themselves.

Thinking of this, it could only reluctantly lower its head: "Let me tell you beforehand, I don't want to wear this thing. I'll take it off after this incident is over."

Seeing that the police chief had finally relented, Lu Fang naturally tried to appease him, quickly helping the police chief put on the collar and then inserting a small voice recorder into the snap on the collar.

"Press this raised button once to start recording, and press it again to stop." Lu Fang pointed to the switch and demonstrated. "If you leave it on all the time, the battery life is about eight hours, and the sound quality is pretty good. It should be enough for your needs."

"So handsome!"

The sheriff lowered its head, raised its hind paw, and precisely stepped on the button. After a soft beep, a faint red light appeared on the side of the recorder, but it was just covered by its own black fur.

"It shouldn't fall off, right?" It shook its head, testing the tightness of the collar.

"There's a hidden clasp, so it's highly unlikely," Lu Fang explained.

"Alright, I'll let you know as soon as I have any news." The sheriff flicked his tail and nimbly slipped out the window.

In the shadows of the back alley of Tiancheng Residential Area, Tanuki lay there swaggeringly, with a small calico cat fast asleep beside it, clearly exhausted.

The rustling footsteps grew closer, and Tanuki's ears perked up instantly. After recognizing the person, he slowly got up.

"Is your injury fully healed? You've been lying in the house all the time, your bones must be rusting by now." Tanuki looked the sheriff up and down.

Before the sheriff could even speak, it keenly noticed the collar around the other person's neck.

"Tsk tsk tsk, what's up with you, kid? Haven't seen you for a few days, and you've turned into a house cat, even wearing a collar?"

Tanuki circled the sheriff, clicking his tongue in amazement: "I remember after that incident, didn't you swear that you'd be a stray cat for life, protecting Tiancheng Community and never be adopted?"

"I wasn't adopted in the first place!" The sheriff was genuinely annoyed by Tanuki's barrage of attacks, and slapped Tanuki across the face: "I have important business to discuss."

It was rare to see the sheriff so serious, so Tanuki stopped joking and slapped the still-sleeping calico cat on the butt: "Wake up! Your man has important business to attend to. Go somewhere else!"

The calico cat, still a little sleepy, reluctantly stood up, stretched, then winked at the sheriff before swaying and waddling away.

"Can't you do something productive every day?" The sheriff couldn't bear to watch the scene.

"Having children is my most important thing!" Tanuki retorted confidently. "I have no worries about food or clothing, and I don't need to buy a house. The female cats in the neighborhood are my harem. What else would I do if I didn't have children? Go to work?"

Even the sheriff was rendered speechless by the rebuttal.

If the conditions were right, who wouldn't have a child?

"Alright, alright, let's get down to business." The sheriff steered the conversation back on track: "Tonight we need to go to Pet Love Pet Hospital to retrieve some information."

As it spoke, it fiddled with its collar, revealing a small voice recorder on it: "Ideally, it could record something exciting."

"Your equipment is pretty good." Tanuki's eyes lit up, and he slapped it, making the red button on the recorder light up. "But speaking of which, why did you suddenly want to go to Pet Love Pet Hospital? Didn't that place close down? I remember that fat boss used to chase us brothers away with a broom and disinfectant all the time."

"This is a request from a brother in the group, the one I told you about. Its owner wants to take over Pet Love Pet Hospital, but feels something is not right, so he asked us to investigate."

"Who?!" Tanuki's eyes widened instantly. "That damn bomb disposal maniac?! Back when he was at Meiji Pet Hospital, he almost wiped out all my men. He finally left the pet hospital and went to a pet shop, and had a good six months of peace. Now he's opening a pet hospital again?!"

It was furious: "If he really succeeds, what will happen to my brothers?! Those who know know that Tiancheng Community has an invincible band of stray cats, but those who don't might think our Tiancheng Community is some kind of secret police agency!"

The sheriff hurriedly tried to cover Tanuki's mouth, but he was too late.

Goodness, all of these words were recorded.

"The main thing is that he's a decent person. If he really opens a pet hospital, then if any of us brothers get a headache or fever in the future, we'll have somewhere to go, right?"

"Have you forgotten how Xiao Dezi and Xiao Lizi died? They died in agony because they were stray cats and the vet wouldn't take them!"

The sheriff earnestly advised him.

Tanuki lowered his head and fell silent.

Xiao Dezi's hind leg was broken when it was run over by a large truck on the road. It could have survived if it had received timely treatment, but no hospital would take it in, and it eventually died from complications and infections. These things have always been a source of worry for it.

"Alright, alright, I know. It's just gathering some intelligence, right?" Tanuki waved his hand. "This is a piece of cake for us."

"Let me make this clear first, I'm not helping that bomb disposal maniac. The main thing is that you've already accepted the commission, and we men of society have to be honest and can't break our promises!"