Animal Whisperer: Take Back My Life and Love Chapter 370: The Rodent Network

The small sand rat squeezed to the front and added excitedly, "That's right! When the bad man ran away, he was in such a panic he almost stepped on my tail! And the smell on his heavy boots was very strange. It had the fresh scent of pine needles, just like the wind that blows down from the snow mountains!"

Sand rats had an incredible sense of smell. Nancy immediately handed over twenty seeds to the little guy, keeping her end of the bargain without hesitation.

The rat was stunned by his sudden fortune. In that single moment, he decided he was going to follow Nancy to the ends of the earth.

Graham pointed to a large circled area on the map, his face grim. "This is tricky. Our target is an expert at using the terrain. His trail crosses between the desert and the snow mountains, two extreme environments. He’s using the landscape to cut off our tracking lines. This is a seasoned, dangerous player."

The Northwest was a place of extremes. In the middle of the endless desert, you’d often find mountains capped with snow all year round. This mix of fire and ice created countless natural hiding spots that were easy to defend and hard to attack, providing perfect cover for criminals.

Simon looked at the lynx den. "These people use animal burrows and natural activity as a shield. I bet they’ve installed similar monitoring devices in other dens across the area."

He turned to his sister. "Nancy, you’re the only one who can break this wide open. Since they’re hiding in the shadows of nature, we’ll use the eyes of nature to find them. Can you get your desert friends to hunt down these hidden eyes and ears?"

Logan’s eyes lit up, and he punched his cast. "Exactly! These guys must have buried devices all over the place!"

Nancy patted the snack bag at her waist. "No problem! With the sand rats helping out, we’ll dig up everything they’ve hidden!"

She knelt down and issued a territory-wide bounty to the rats. "You guys have a massive network. Start asking around. Check every burrow for strange metal lumps. Has anyone seen buzzing metal birds or rumbling metal camels?"

Nancy used her tablet to play the sounds of drones and sand bikes, and even opened a small bottle of gasoline so the pungent smell would stick in their minds.

"There are rewards for any real leads!"

She thought about the freezing winter and added a warm touch. "If other animals help out, I’ll put together custom care packages for them too."

Finally, she pulled out a small mesh bag like a magic trick and waved it in front of the rats. "Once we catch the bad guys, every single member of your family gets a snack bag just like this!"

The bag was stuffed with mixed seeds, dried fruit, and green stalks. The scent wafted through the mesh. The lead rat took a deep breath, his face full of bliss.

"Don't worry, Boss! We'll get it done!"

The rats were fired up. For the sake of winter food and glory, they vanished behind the dunes to start their mission.

Graham and Logan watched the tiny figures disappear, looking completely floored by how easily Nancy handled them.

Graham shook his head in disbelief. "My god... in just a few minutes, you’ve built an animal intelligence network. That's more efficient than anything the military has!"

Logan agreed. "Your ability is incredible."

Nancy blushed, feeling a bit embarrassed by the praise. "I'm just doing what I can. We're all just using our strengths to help the country."

Her humility only made everyone admire her more. Nancy looked toward the silhouette of the snow mountains and sighed softly.

"The rats are great for ground and underground work, but their network stays low. If we could find a messenger in the sky, the grid would be perfect."

Nancy looked up at the blue sky. A few birds flew past, and she tried to send out a friendly call. But the birds just chirped and kept flying, probably thinking she was just another tourist trying to bother them.

Graham saw her looking at the sky and snapped his fingers. "Speaking of the sky... I just remembered something!"