Just as the giant octopus that suggested escaping had pried open a crack with its tentacles, the lid was gently pressed back down with a "snap".
The giant octopus was so frightened that it quickly retracted its tentacles, pretending to be nonchalant.
Xia Zhining leaned closer to the seam of the box, her voice tinged with laughter: "Don't be nervous, Octopus Brother."
"I didn't buy this to eat; I just wanted to ask you for a favor. I'll take you home after you're done."
As she spoke, she took out several pre-selected and thoroughly cleaned colorful seashells from the plastic bag and gently placed them into the seams.
The commotion inside the box stopped instantly.
A few seconds later, a rustling sound came from inside:
[You...can you understand us?]
[Are you really not going to eat us?]
After receiving this gift, the octopuses, who had just been full of mischief, suddenly became much friendlier.
Octopuses are a group of clean animals. They use the funnel-shaped tube under their heads as a faucet to bathe themselves, clean their nests, and even set up special garbage dumps around their nests. They also like to eat cleaned live animals.
The clean shellfish that Xia Zhining gave them clearly appealed to them.
[This seashell is so pretty and clean! I love it!]
[What kind of help do you need? Let me make it clear first, we're very expensive!]
Octopuses, despite their large size, are actually quite intelligent. They can remember human faces, distinguish between kindness and goodwill, and even extend the same trust to friendly humans.
"Don't worry, the reward is plentiful." Xia Zhining gently tapped the side of the box. "And after it's done, I guarantee I'll send you back to your most comfortable old home in the rock crevice."
Deep inside the box, several tentacles quietly touched the smooth seashells, then touched each other.
[...Well then, let's listen to it first.]
Xia Zhining led the newly formed "Octopus Detective Team" to the pool where the "Seahorse 173" was docked.
With the help of the coast guard, Xia Zhining carefully opened the box after finding two welding marks marked by her brother that were suspected to be left by the murderer.
“Come on, Squidward, please touch this,” she said, pointing to the fine lines on the metal. “Remember this feel.”
"We're going to a place later where there are a lot of ships. I need you to help me find those with very similar textures."
Xia Zhining lowered her voice, as if sharing a fun secret: "This is a kind of intellectual game we humans play. Whoever finds it first proves that they are smarter than the most sophisticated human instruments!"
The five octopuses took turns extending their tentacles, using their suckers to carefully sense the two cold, metallic lines.
Their wrists and feet deftly brushed over every bump and dent, as if memorizing a "code" that only they could understand.
[Got it, got it, a piece of cake!]
Immediately afterwards, Xia Zhining and Feng Sixiao dragged their suitcases to the dock filled with impounded illegal vessels.
Feng Sixiao greeted his colleague who came to make contact: "Old Li, bring the expert over to do a trace comparison."
My colleague, Lao Li, nodded solemnly, a welcoming smile already on his face, ready to greet this trace evidence expert.
Then, five round heads and a bunch of waving arms and legs slowly poked out of the box.
Old Li's eyes widened in shock: "...This is an expert?"
He watched as five octopuses were carefully placed into the water, and then these "experts" stretched out their bodies and swam to different boats.
They attach themselves to the bottom of the ship with their enormous tentacles, crawling and exploring nimbly, their suction cups meticulously caressing every inch of the metal surface.
That professional yet strange demeanor left the experienced coast guard officers on shore speechless, so much so that they forgot to turn the pages of their notebooks.
Only the soft splashing of water and the faint rustling of five octopuses diligently "working" on the bottom of the boat remained on the dock.
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