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At this moment, Lobsang Zhaxi felt a bit relieved. After all, at least they knew who took the briefcase, which, in a certain sense, could be reported to the higher-ups.

If there was really no way to retrieve it, it wasn’t their fault. After all, the monkey took the briefcase into the mountains, and throwing it into any river would make it extremely difficult to trace.

However, it wasn’t completely hopeless. At least now they had a clear direction.

Next, what they could do was find an experienced zoologist, preferably one who specialized in researching macaques and was familiar with their living habits, to collaborate with the police to see if they could make any breakthroughs in this area.

The professor’s mood shifted from seeing the glimmer of hope just now to sinking down again, and at this moment he could only nod and say, ”You’ve worked hard during this period.”

Lobsang Zhaxi didn’t have much favorable impression of the professor before him because it was their negligence in improperly safeguarding such important things that led to the subsequent events.

The loss caused was to the research institute, but the investors in this research institute were also some important state-owned enterprises, so in a certain sense, it was also a national loss.

As for Professor Zhang’s apology, he accepted it without much of a response, just casually nodded: ”I’ll go report the situation to the director first. Dan Luo, you have an idea of the direction for the subsequent investigation, right? Go and deploy the tasks, I’ll head back to the county first.”

After explaining some matters, Lobsang Zhaxi solemnly came before Li Younan and shook hands with him, saying: ”This time we owe it to you, Teacher Li! If it weren’t for your insightful analysis, we might still be caught in our own habitual thinking.”

Li Younan thought for a moment and said, ”Your work ahead might still be quite troublesome. Let me briefly introduce this animal, the macaque.”

”It’s important to know, macaques do not live in just one type of environment; they are one of the most widely distributed and adaptable species of all primates, with habitats ranging from tropical rainforests, temperate forests, mountains, hills, and rocky areas, to rivers and valleys.”

”Moreover, their foraging area and range are vast. Theoretically, using the location where the documents were lost as the center, any wild environment within a radius of tens of kilometers could potentially be where you need to investigate.”

”Furthermore, because two days have already passed, it’s even more challenging to recover the documents now.”

Upon hearing Li Younan speak, on one hand, everyone was surprised at his deep understanding of animal habits, while on the other hand, they felt even more hopeless about recovering the items.

However, at this moment, Li Younan changed his tone: ”If you’re determined to find it... I can offer you a suggestion.”

”First of all, macaques have a behavior of collecting. Of course, this collecting behavior is different from humans; they don’t intentionally plan for the future. Hoarding items is driven by instinct, mainly for exploration and play.”

”The briefcase taken might be considered interesting, and they might keep it.”

”Additionally, there’s an interesting phenomenon in monkey groups: if one monkey possesses something novel, especially obtained from humans, it can serve as social capital. Many studies have described how a higher-ranking monkey would monopolize items snatched from humans.”

”So if we can locate the monkey group’s habitat, it might be possible to retrieve the materials.”

Hearing this, Professor Zhang suddenly became excited: ”Then, then how can we find the monkey group’s habitat?”

Li Younan smiled and said, ”No matter where macaques live, their survival environments have three core needs: food, water, and a safe place to spend the night.”

”Let’s talk about the first two: water sources and food.”

”Honestly, in this area, water sources are not an issue at all, given the rivers flowing through, and the forest is filled with springs and streams, so water sources aren’t the core factor affecting macaque habitats.”

”Similarly, food is abundant; the vast expanses of the surrounding primeval forests are full of food, so these two factors aren’t the core elements macaques prioritize in their habitat.”

”So, next, for the macaques around here, the core influencing factor is actually the third one—a safe place to spend the night.”

Everyone present was stunned by Li Younan’s words.

Li Younan continued: ”I’ve observed that just past the forest behind the restaurant is a canyon, and steep cliffs, natural caves, and rock crevices are excellent places for them to sleep securely at night.”

”The cliffs of the canyon provide macaques with perfect nighttime refuges. The canyon isn’t barren; whether it’s the wild fruits, seeds, and tender leaves growing out of the forests on both sides or the moss, lichens, and insects on the cliffs, they are all their food sources.”

Li Younan then sternly said: ”But there’s one more point to emphasize; this short-lived instinct of macaques doesn’t last long. They only maintain interest in an item for two or three days at most, then they discard it at will.”

”And if it’s discarded at will... well, you’d have to search like you’re fishing a needle from the sea.”

”Therefore, if you want to search, time is of the essence, and immediate action must be taken.”

Li Younan’s analysis, instead, made everyone present feel despair.

Because according to Li Younan’s explanation, to recover the lost documents, it would be best to have someone proficient in rock climbing, an animal zoologist familiar with wildlife, and a geologist to assist, thus perfectly matching the monkey groups of Linzhi’s canyon forest.

This is not a simple search but a showdown between experts immersed in nature and the mountains.

Professor Zhang hesitated for a moment before saying to Li Younan, ”Teacher Li... do you think you could spare a day or two to guide us in the mountains?”

”Of course, rest assured, we certainly won’t let you waste your time!”