If it matched the wolfdog before them, then there was no mistake. They had found their target.
And whoever had been in contact with and raised this wolfdog—that person was the killer.
That afternoon, Griffin arrived with reinforcements, rushing to the scene.
They skipped the pleasantries and thank-yous. The most important thing right now was to confirm the bite impression.
After several hours of surveillance, they had confirmed a few key things.
There were no signs of any humans around the wolfdog.
Animal experts had identified it, speculating it was a hybrid Groenendael Dog—most likely a cross between a Groenendael Dog and a black-furred gray wolf.
The entire Yellowstone ecosystem has a significant population of black-furred gray wolves.
Second, the wolfdog was active in the vicinity of where it was first spotted. Within a five-kilometer radius, there were no human settlements or man-made structures, but there were hiking trails.
Finally, it had a den in a rock cave that could shelter it from the elements.
This suggested its genes were more dog than wolf.
Typically, wolves don’t establish permanent dens.
Speed was of the essence. York and his team had also been waiting for far too long; they couldn’t bear any more delays.
Once they confirmed no one was near the wolfdog, they immediately dispatched a team.
Shen Xin didn’t go. He watched remotely.
A special operations team, along with technicians, took a helicopter and reached the destination in about ten minutes.
This wasn’t some vicious criminal they were up against—it was just a wolfdog. Against a team of fully armed special operators, it naturally stood no chance.
On camera, the wolfdog was dozing on a rock when it was suddenly startled.
Hit with a tranquilizer dart, it took off running.
In less than a minute, it was already wobbling before it collapsed to the ground.
The whole process was that simple. Deploying six tall, brawny special operators was complete overkill.
By the time the team reached it, the wolfdog was unconscious.
On the treetops nearby, several of the surveillance Ravens watched with cold detachment.
They were even chatting.
"It’s dead!"
"Idiot, it’s not dead yet."
"Too slow."
"Yeah, too slow."
"Does this mean we can clock out?"
"I don’t know."
It was all simple dialogue, but it was enough to leave the special operators below completely stunned.
The forensic personnel had already begun their work, collecting physical evidence.
They were forensics experts from the lab at Quantico headquarters, much like the ones from the famous American TV show *CSI*. The only difference was that this group was a bit more professional.
They had better equipment, after all.
First, they took a dental impression. Besides using silicone rubber to make a direct mold, they also used a portable device to perform a 3D scan of its teeth.
They even used a handheld X-ray machine to scan its skull.
Then they collected hair samples and drew blood.
In this series of cases, very little physical evidence from the human perpetrator had been left behind, especially crucial DNA evidence.
On the other hand, a fair amount of animal-related physical evidence had been found.
Hair, for example.
Animal hairs had been recovered from multiple scenes.
Some of them might have been shed during a struggle, meaning they would still have the follicle attached—enough to test for DNA.
They had even recovered blood.
In one of the ’07 cases, the body was discovered early, and non-human DNA fragments were extracted from the bite wounds.
The theory was that as the wolfdog bit the victim, a metal ornament on the victim’s body cut the inside of its mouth. Through subsequent bites, it left its own blood inside the wounds.
This was also a key reason why York and his team had theorized the existence of this wolfdog, and specifically that it was a Groenendael Dog.
It wasn’t just because of the survivor’s testimony.
But even with so much physical evidence, it was useless. You couldn’t find the wolfdog, and it wasn’t like there was some kind of canine DNA database, like the one for humans, that could give you a direct match to a specific dog.
This was also the main reason the killer didn’t care, boldly leaving behind hair and other evidence. He wasn’t afraid of them investigating, because there was no way for them to do so.
Unfortunately for him, he ran into someone like Shen Xin, who managed to find the wolfdog against all odds.
Once evidence collection was complete, everyone immediately pulled out.
Some twenty minutes later, the wolfdog slowly regained consciousness. It looked around as if waking from a dream, completely unaware of what had happened.
It gazed about in a daze. There was no danger.
But in its memory, it had clearly been attacked.
’Was I imagining things?’
It searched its surroundings restlessly. After confirming there was no danger, the wolfdog cautiously returned to its den.
Meanwhile, the forensics personnel quickly began their work with the collected evidence.
The first result to come back was the bite mark comparison.
It was a match. The impression matched the one from last year’s case.
However, it didn’t match the bite marks from the earlier cases.
This wasn’t a problem. York and the others had long ago theorized that the killer had two wolfdogs—or rather, two generations of them.
After all, the case spanned a very long time.
Over a decade. How long can a dog live? As it gets older, its combat effectiveness weakens.
So, breeding and training a new wolfdog was a very reasonable assumption.
But that was no longer important. The fact that it matched last year’s case was enough to prove that this was the very wolfdog everyone had been desperately searching for.
York threw his arms open and was the first to rush over, pulling Shen Xin into a tight hug.
Then the others followed, one after another.
The scene was like something out of a Hollywood movie, the moment where the main characters save the world yet again and the final MVP tally is announced.
But Shen Xin himself was just as excited.
After all, they had spent so many days searching over two hundred thousand square kilometers. Finding this wolfdog was truly like finding a needle in a haystack.
Besides, with a hundred police dogs, fifty police birds—oh, right, and two cats to round out the numbers...
...with such a massive operation, failing to find the wolfdog would have really tarnished his reputation.
"Feeling relieved now?" Ding Yuwei leaned close to Shen Xin and said softly.