Insights Chapter 4: Review and Summary

Chapter 4: Review and Summary

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

The environment inside the bus was unclear, prompting the special police team to quickly change their plan and prepare for a forced assault. The entire situation suddenly changed, making the battle even more intense. Despite some leaders being in the midst of disputes, even Shen Junci sat upright, eyes fixed on the large screen ahead.

Two black armored vehicles, carrying fully armed special police officers, swiftly entered the scene. Explosive devices the size of buttons were attached to the bus windows. With a light bang, several windows of the bus shattered instantly, and smoke dispersed from within as the special police officers raised their guns and rushed into the bus.

Almost simultaneously, the robbers inside the bus also took action. Gu Yanchen seemed to have been waiting for this moment. He scattered a deck of playing cards into the air, creating a flurry of cards in the mist, disrupting people’s vision.

After scattering the deck of cards, Gu Yanchen and one of the robbers guarded the rear of the vehicle. Confronting two special police officers leaping from behind, Gu Yanchen kicked one of them off the bus with a swift motion.

The “robbers,” who were just laughing and playing cards a moment ago, quickly changed their stance. They rolled on the ground, crouching below the windows of the bus, raising their guns steadily. In this situation, the special police attacked while the robbers defended, but both sides were well-trained. The special police officers’ vision was momentarily disturbed, and they had to worry about the safety of the hostages. Their guns were longer, requiring time to confirm the positions of the criminals and aim.

The criminals, one by one, waited like predators, disregarding the lives of others, and pulled their triggers without hesitation. Gunshots rang out in the cramped bus compartment, even though they were using training rounds, the proximity still resulted in flashes of light. Amidst the rapid gunfire, several special police officers were hit, and their life-or-death indicators extinguished. One officer attempted to turn the tide, raising his gun to shoot, but one of the robbers delivered a knee strike, deflecting the barrel, and the bullet hit the roof of the bus.

Gu Yanchen showed no mercy, delivering a powerful punch to the side of the special police officer’s face, followed by a second punch to the abdomen. In a swift sequence, he disarmed the officer, cooperating with another robber to take away the officer’s gun and capturing him alive.

After these actions, the robbers crouched down and concealed themselves again. All these changes occurred within a minute, like a flash of lightning. The cards fell, and the dust settled, leaving chaos inside the bus. The robbers emerged victorious, and the police suffered a devastating defeat. In the command room, the leaders, even with some foresight, were shocked by the disparity in the battle, and the special police seemed powerless.

Deputy Director Chen’s face was almost ashen, and he sat slumped in his seat, chest heaving, showing signs of a potential hypertension episode.

The defeat was so severe that Director Ding didn’t know what to say. He pressed his temples with two fingers, seemingly overwhelmed. A calm voice came over the communication system, “Hello, does the exercise need to continue? If it does, there might be too many bodies, and the inside of the vehicle will be a bit crowded.”

Despite the practicality of the statement, the timing of such a remark was highly ironic. The criminals originally didn’t have communication devices, but from the monitoring, it was evident that Gu Yanchen had taken a captured officer’s radio and initiated communication with the command room.

As the smoke cleared in the monitoring footage, the scene became clearer. The special police officers who had been “sacrificed” were squatting on the side, with the most unfortunate one, captured like a zongzi (rice dumpling), beaten and bound with ropes.

The “robbers” brazenly dismantled their equipment, yielding a rich harvest of guns and ammunition. As these “robbers” were usually members of the criminal investigation team, they hadn’t seen special police guns much before. Now, holding and examining them, they remarked, “Hey, this gun is pretty good.”

Seeing this scene, Deputy Director Chen was infuriated. Director Ding regained his composure, cleared his throat, and said, “The exercise is over, everyone worked hard.” Then he added, “Gu Yanchen, Wang Haocun, come up. Let’s have a simple review and summary.”

With this command, the tense atmosphere was finally broken. The leader of the special police team went over to collect the personnel, and the special police officers dishearteningly descended from the bus.

With the exercise officially concluded, Director Ding finally had time to explain to Shen Junci. He walked to the back row with a somewhat apologetic expression, saying, “Doctor Shen, you saw it too; there’s a bit of a situation here. I’ll deal with it quickly.”

“No problem, you go ahead,” Shen Junci replied politely, smiling. Then he asked, “Is our Special Criminal Division’s Captain Gu by any chance involved?”

Director Ding chuckled, “Exactly him. He’ll be up shortly, and you’ll get to know him too.”

Shen Junci nodded in acknowledgment.

Director Ding went to greet others, and he returned to sit at the back. The officers responsible for monitoring, who had been holding their breath, finally started whispering.

“How come I didn’t know there was such a person in the City Bureau?”

“Is he really just handling logistics? Such a waste of talent.”

“Setting that aside, he was too impressive just now…”

As they spoke, Gu Yanchen and Captain Wang pushed open the command room door and entered one after the other. The entire command room fell silent for a moment. On the large screen, the fight footage from earlier was being replayed. Deputy Director Dong, Deputy Director Chen, and Director Ding stood in front of the screen.

As they approached, a technical debriefing began. Director Ding took the lead and asked, “Captain Wang, Captain Gu, please share your thoughts on the exercise.”

Captain Wang started the discussion, “Originally, we planned to start with sniping, but when we realized the environmental conditions didn’t allow it, we switched to a forced assault. Now, considering it, there were some shortcomings… The team’s preparation was also inadequate.”

Gu Yanchen spoke seriously, “After drawing the bandit sign this time, we conducted basic planning. The bus environment is cramped, and to prevent sniping, we had to work on the vertical and horizontal lines of sight.” He paused for a moment, “In addition, Deputy Director Chen has a hot temper and lacks patience. If the sniping plan fails, he will definitely hastily launch a forced assault, creating many vulnerabilities. Once the special police enter, it’s difficult to get out. Then, it’s about predicting the entry points and the number of special police…”

Playing cards, electronic cigarettes, seemingly casual requests, all had their purposes. The limited number of attackers and the pattern of window choices were considered.

Gu Yanchen even specifically reviewed the records of previous bus exercises over the years and studied related hostage-taking videos. He considered every factor to the extreme, even anticipating Deputy Director Chen’s reactions.

Director Ding continuously nodded while listening to this analysis. Deputy Director Chen was displeased and said, “Director Ding, listen to this. These are just some tricks. This exercise is fundamentally unfair. Gu Yanchen is familiar with all police tactics, knows everything about us, designs based on our arrangements, and what’s the point of this?”

Deputy Director Dong, cutting to the chase, said, “Old Chen, you’re not angry because his methods are unsightly; you’re just upset that the special police lost.”

It was almost as if he was directly asking Deputy Director Chen if he couldn’t handle losing.

Deputy Director Chen became even more unwilling, “This exercise is supposed to simulate real combat conditions. How can ordinary criminals know so clearly about the police’s tactics? Our City Bureau holds police exercises to enhance the qualities of officers, not to undermine their confidence!”

Gu Yanchen spoke, “Deputy Director Chen, if I were a real criminal, your people would probably all be dead by now.”

His tone was calm, but the content of his words was chilling. Deputy Director Chen, experienced in many battles, imagined this possibility for a moment and couldn’t help shivering. But what he said was not entirely wrong. In a real battle, facing a clever criminal, the special police and hostages would suffer heavy casualties.

Director Ding hadn’t spoken earlier. Now, seeing that they had talked enough, he stepped forward to mediate, “Alright, alright, we know you’re skilled, Gu Yanchen. Captain Wang, take some time to review and adjust the operational plan. Gu Yanchen didn’t use any excessive means. The military even emphasizes Red vs. Blue confrontations; in the end, whether it’s a win or loss, it’s still our police force triumphing, right?”

Captain Wang nodded, accepting the outcome.

Gu Yanchen remained silent, standing quietly on the side, listening to the leaders’ speeches. He pulled up the sleeve of his exercise suit, exposing a strong and powerful section of his arm with clearly defined knuckles.

Director Ding said, “Captain Gu, a few days ago, we all saw the exercise. You’ve been handling logistics for a few years, yet your sniper skills have become even more outstanding. In the future, if there’s a sudden incident in Penang, you’ll inevitably have to go along.”

Deputy Director Dong added, “Yes, capable people should take on more responsibilities. In other city police forces, there are precedents. When I was in Xin Cheng, there was a Captain Pang. He wasn’t from the special police, but because he was good with firearms, he was always called in to snipe. Once, he was at home helping his child with homework when suddenly there was a subway hijacking case. He rushed over in his boxers and slippers, lay at the subway entrance for half a minute, completing the mission. Later, someone even filmed that and posted it online.”

Gu Yanchen also knew about that incident. He had no objections to this arrangement and said, “As the leaders arrange.”

Director Ding turned to Deputy Director Chen, “Old Chen, you have to acknowledge a good result. Criminals are even more despicable than they imagine. Now, these team members are not very old and lack practical experience. I think it’s time to teach them a lesson. Sweating more in exercises means bleeding less in real battles; it’s a good thing.”

With these words, Director Ding essentially determined the nature of the exercise results. Finally handling the related matters, Gu Yanchen was about to leave when Director Ding stopped him, saying he had something to discuss. Gu Yanchen turned around to find Shen Junci.

Seeing that he was finally looking for him, Shen Junci stood up. Gu Yanchen’s gaze followed Director Ding as he looked into the crowd, and when he saw Shen Junci, he abruptly stopped.

Director Ding introduced them, “Gu Yanchen, this is Shen Junci, the medical examiner from the Special Criminal Division. Xiao Shen, this is Captain Gu. Cooperate well in the future.”

As Shen Junci walked over, Gu Yanchen’s gaze lingered on him for a moment before directly asking, “Have we met before?”

Shen Junci shook his head, smiling confidently, “No, I haven’t met you before, Captain Gu. Someone like you would surely leave an impression.”

“Looking familiar is good; it means we’re fated,” Director Ding greeted them, “Come to my office; I have something to discuss with you both.”