NOVEL NEXT Chapter 909 Elite Group
Putting oneself in the shoes of the perpetrator can sometimes make it easier to find clues.
Bi Fang arrived at the base of the tree he had pointed out as a good spot for an ambush. Indeed, just as he had predicted, there were clear scratch marks on the trunk, arranged in segmental blocks.
"The scraped bark proves that someone has climbed it."
Many of Bi Fang's viewers, who had followed him in his "Wander Around," could perhaps be considered experienced and knowledgeable in their own right.
They knew that if it were a bear or another animal fond of scratching against trees to relieve itchiness, the marks they left would be below a certain height, and the scratches would be clearer. Sometimes the bark would be completely stripped off, revealing the white cambium layer underneath. If an animal took a particular liking to a tree, it might even scrape out the heartwood.
Secondly, if it were a tree-climbing animal, like a leopard, the tracks would be even more apparent, with claw-like rather than patchy marks.
Most of the audience had seen these with their own eyes while following Bi Fang and didn't need Old Fang to explain. Many long-time fans began to enlighten the new viewers on their own.
"Look, some of the patches are faint, but others are deeper with curved, smooth edges. These are the imprints of shoes."
"In outdoor actions, everyone wears hard-soled shoes, not soft-soled ones geared for comfort, because in the wild, where accidents are common, safety is more important than comfort."
Hard soles are heavier and sturdier, stepping on the trunk, naturally, they are more likely to scrape off the bark and leave marks.
Upon closer inspection of the marks, one can deduce that they were not made by the same pair of shoes—indicating that more than one person had climbed the tree.
To avoid destroying the evidence, Bi Fang took off his shoes, found a side with fewer marks, and climbed more challenging direction to the treetop.
There were even more traces up there. On the branches where the trunk forked, one could clearly see where ropes had been tied around.
Bi Fang stroked the scraped-off bark and quickly reconstructed the scene in his mind through the evidence of the rope marks.
"A platform had been constructed in the tree, overlooking the direction of the dead elephant."
For hunters, a tree is an excellent ambush point.
Most animals don't climb trees, immediately eliminating many dangers, and the tree itself offers excellent concealment.
From outside the tree, one can't see inside—an inappropriate analogy might be human bangs. Others can't see the eyes of someone with bangs, as they are completely covered by hair, yet the person with bangs can easily observe the outside world with almost no interference.
This is why, after closely observing the surroundings, Bi Fang immediately assessed this tree as suitable for an ambush.
Only it wasn't clear what the other party intended to do.
Bi Fang jumped down from the tree and returned to the elephant's carcass.
These poachers were very cunning. To cover up their crime, they often dissected the carcasses after poaching, attracting scavengers like vultures and wild dogs to disturb the crime scene and obscure the facts.
Some, poachers went as far as to gouge out the eyes of rhinoceroses, believing that if the animals saw their misdeeds, they would remember them forever. Some even held ceremonies after the poaching, hoping to morally absolve themselves of their actions.
It had rained on the last two evenings, turning the soil wet and slippery, blurring many traces.
The stench of decay mingled with the earthy smell, masking a multitude of complex scents.
The elephant, the ambush platform...
A very obvious trap.
As for the trap's intended catch, what could it be?
Bi Fang instinctively felt something was amiss. For one thing, elephant hunting was against the rules—these were undoubtedly criminals, or more bluntly, poachers.
But the location they had chosen was peculiar.
If he remembered correctly, he and Harley had reached the edge of the Kenya Conservation Area.
This was where they had first found Harley, and even Bi Fang was unsure if they were still within the protected bounds.
"Many laws are regional. Once you get to the borders, there are plenty of loopholes, and many significant criminal activities could become of little consequence."
"Such a high-cost enticement, specifically placed at the edge of a conservation area, indicates a strong purpose; whoever is behind this is certainly no small-time crook."
"I smelled the scent of a conspiracy."
"Don't sleep too deeply tonight, the big one is coming."
"The medicine is here, the medicine is here, damn it, drink, why won't you drink?"
In the face of the livestream, Bi Fang didn't hide anything and candidly shared his conjectures with everyone, also revealing to them a corner of the poacher's world.
"Ordinary people don't have many channels of knowledge. In fact, poachers are also ranked in a hierarchy."
"The vast majority of poachers are expendables, usually those struggling on the brink of survival, with no way out, like men from tribes who can't make a living, those with elderly mothers at home, or children who are ill. With a gun in hand, they can become competent fighters, after all, they only face a group of animals. Just one successful shot can end the fight."
"These people are irrelevant in the grand scheme of the illegal trade chain. If they are caught or die, the crime organization can immediately find replacements."
"Capturing these people cannot solve the whole trade chain, nor can it effectively stop poaching from happening."
"Also, this group poses the least threat relatively speaking. Their weapons and equipment would be considered obsolete even in a war, not to mention systematic training. Their counter-surveillance abilities are limited, and their understanding of the law is rudimentary at best. Some don't even realize they are committing a crime, and their methods are foolish."
"After cutting off a rhino's horn, they gouge out the rhino's eyes because they believe that the rhino, having seen their crime, will remember them forever."
"Or they perform some sort of ritual after poaching, hoping to absolve themselves morally for their crime and to alleviate discomfort."
"Is that so?"
"There really is a bottom rung in every profession."
"Didn't Old Fang encounter one before? I feel like they seemed pretty impressive."
"It's because I had bad luck that time and encountered another kind. And it seems my bad luck may follow me continuously."
Bi Fang narrowed his eyes.
The opposite of ordinary poachers were the very few elite hunters.
Unlike expendables, these elites were more like private armies of the crime syndicates, with their most basic unit being ex-military personnel.
They were well-organized, well-trained, well-equipped, with a strong sense of counter-surveillance. They didn't do any messy rituals after hunting.
After poaching, they knew to dissect the bodies to attract scavengers such as vultures and hunting dogs, which would disturb the crime scene and conceal the criminal facts.
Alternatively, they would lure animals out of the conservation area into private territories, then procure hunting licenses to poach in an unobjectionable, legal manner.
The degree of difficulty far exceeded that of ordinary poachers.
This was undoubtedly Bi Fang's greatest worry.
But even if he didn't want to admit it, everything now pointed to him encountering such an organized and premeditated group of elites.
"I just checked the insects on the elephant carcass. Although I didn't count them precisely, combining the weather and temperature of the past few days, the time of the elephant's death is roughly between two and three days ago, just a rough estimate,"
"Awesome, how can you tell?"
"Forensic entomology basics, jpg"
"Different kinds of insects arrive on a corpse at different times, and different species decompose the body at varying speeds. The type and number of the dominant species can be used to estimate the time of death."
"Also, the development speed of the insects is relatively fixed; based on their developmental stage, you can also estimate the time of death."
"That's pretty well learned."
"Without taking samples, and not knowing the differences between elephant and human body tissue, judging from the video, I feel it's about two to three days as well."
Someone replied, saving Bi Fang the effort.
He wanted to flip over the elephant to check the wounds, but unfortunately, although half decayed, the remaining weight wasn't something he could manage alone. Moreover, forcing the carcass to turn would only destroy clues.
"Let's go, we'll look around nearby and see if there are any other clues. It has rained in the past few days, but only light rain, so some traces should still be there."