HLM -Chapter 1139 A Chance for the Local Dogs

As December arrived, with no more preparations needed for the sled race, Wang Bo felt like he didn’t have much work left to do.

At the moment, his main focus was on the selection of a new campus site for Lincoln University. This was a school he was determined to secure.

The more he learned about Lincoln University, the more he felt it was a perfect match for Sunset Town.

It was New Zealand’s only university—and one of the few in the world—that focused on “land” as its core academic discipline, closely aligned with New Zealand’s pillar industries, development strategies, and the needs of economic and social growth.

What Lincoln University specialized in most was land productivity: from agriculture and food to the entire industry chain—environment, production, processing, circulation, marketing, end consumers—then on to land planning and sustainable development, including landscape design, environmental management planning, land and property management, tourism management, and more…

These were precisely all of Sunset Town’s industries: land and tourism.

Based on his estimation, as long as Lincoln University established a campus in Sunset Town, he wouldn’t need to hire workers for his farms and ranches anymore—he could just arrange for students to intern there.

Interns were more enthusiastic than workers, better educated, and cheaper too—simply the perfect labor force.

That afternoon, while Wang Bo was contacting some influential alumni who had graduated from Lincoln University, he suddenly received a call from Tony.

The moment the call connected, before Wang Bo could ask what was going on, Tony was already shouting on the other end:

“Hey, Wang, my good buddy! Can you come to the outdoor shop at the foot of the mountain? There are several dogs here—whose dogs are these?”

Wang Bo asked, “Are they a yellow one and a black-and-white one?”

“Yes!”

He laughed. “Those are mine too. I picked them up. What’s wrong?”

Tony asked, “Did you bring these dogs from the Northern Hemisphere? From China to New Zealand?”

Wang Bo froze for a moment and asked warily, “Uh… what’s going on?”

Of course, these dogs were from China—but they hadn’t gone through customs. He had sent them directly to Sunset Town using the sandbox, and at the time handed them over to the Queen to raise.

Tony said, “They’re suitable for sled racing!”

Wang Bo found this a bit unbelievable. He knew that Chinese village dogs were excellent.

His family had always kept dogs, right up until he went to university. But because there were too many dog thieves in the village and they lost dogs several times, they eventually stopped keeping them.

In his impression, without using the Heart of the Soul, Chinese village dogs were smarter than foreign breeds—especially older local dogs, which were practically human-like in their understanding.

But as for pulling sleds, he didn’t think Chinese village dogs were suitable for that kind of work.

This had to do with evolutionary direction. Chinese village dogs excelled in territory defense, vigilance, and guarding, because for hundreds or even thousands of years, their task on Chinese soil had been exactly that.

This was the result of artificial selection. And similarly, sled dogs had been selectively bred to pull sleds—their endurance was absolutely stronger than that of Chinese village dogs.

Still, Tony was an expert in this field. Since he said so, there must be some reason behind it. Wang Bo got into his car and drove over.

Once again, he drove the Marauder. The car was undeniably imposing, but also a bit too clumsy—especially now that Sunset Town was becoming increasingly prosperous, with more people and vehicles around. Driving this thing around was no longer suitable.

“Damn it, I’ll buy a car later,” Wang Bo muttered to himself. He needed to get Eva a vehicle for daily use anyway, since she had taken the Aston Martin vintage car.

When he arrived at the outdoor shop, the employees shrugged at him. Someone asked, “Boss, is that guy your friend? He was just teasing Big Yellow and White Flower and almost got bitten!”

Tony had already spotted Wang Bo—mainly because the Marauder was far too domineering to ignore.

He waved excitedly at Wang Bo. Several Chinese village dogs stood alert around him, some even baring their teeth.

But when they saw Wang Bo, they immediately relaxed, then ran up excitedly, circling around his legs.

Only then, reminded by Tony’s call, did Wang Bo notice that all the Chinese village dogs he had brought with him had grown this big!

Back in China, he had seen plenty of village dogs—they were medium-sized dogs. But now these ones were quite large, a bit smaller than Alaskan Malamutes, yet with smoother, more defined muscle lines.

After thinking it over, Wang Bo understood. After all, they had been influenced by the Heart of the Beast Field, and from childhood they had eaten beef, lamb, and pork produced by the ranch. Naturally, they developed strong, robust bodies.

Tony walked over, and several dogs immediately moved to protect Wang Bo, staring Tony down with wide eyes, their vigilance unmistakable.

This was the greatest advantage of Chinese village dogs: loyalty and protectiveness toward their owner. Breeds like huskies, Samoyeds, and golden retrievers had been selectively bred with their temperaments deliberately adjusted to make them enthusiastic and friendly.

Chinese village dogs, on the other hand, were loyal to their owners and wary of strangers. They were guard dogs—meant to watch over homes and courtyards—while golden retrievers and Labradors were companion dogs, bred to accompany people.

Seeing this, Tony became even more excited.

“These dogs are yours too? You’re unbelievable, Wang! You’re a true dog-lover—any dog in your hands ends up in top condition!”

Wang Bo concealed the dogs’ true origins and asked, “You really think they’re suitable for sled racing? That doesn’t sound right.”

Tony replied, “Why not? First, look at their build—so strong, such good lines. That reduces wind resistance and lets them move faster through the snow.”

“Then, Wang, look at their muscle mass. They absolutely have incredible endurance. This isn’t just my guess—I’ve observed them all morning and half the afternoon. They’ve been running wildly through the mountains, going up and down nonstop, chasing rabbits and pheasants, barely ever resting!”

“Finally, there’s their fur. They’re still growing thick coats right now. What does that mean? It means they have excellent cold resistance!”

When these dogs were sent to Sunset Town, the town was in the middle of winter. They were just puppies at the time, right when they were growing fur. After arriving, they kept growing thicker coats to keep out the cold.

Wang Bo hesitated and said, “They’re… pretty young.”

Not just “pretty young”—they were extremely young. These pups were only a bit over six months old. The reason they had grown so fast and so large was entirely due to high-quality food and the Heart of the Beast Field.

To participate in sled racing, dogs usually needed to be at least two years old—that was when their physical strength and endurance peaked.

Of course, dogs raised in a beast field might manage in one year, but less than half a year was still far too short.

Tony asked, “How old are they?”

To protect the village dogs, Wang Bo told the truth. “About six or seven months.”

When he first got them, they were only three months old. After one winter, they were at most seven months old.

Tony didn’t believe him. “Six or seven months? That size? That kind of endurance?”

Wang Bo gave a bitter smile. “It’s true.”

Tony said, “I don’t believe it. How about this—let them go on a long-distance run. Let’s test their stamina and let them show their abilities themselves.”