Chapter 879 - 394: The True Meaning (2)

Chapter 879: Chapter 394: The True Meaning (2)

"Mr. Zhang! How could this happen? How could the suspect have such a powerful homemade bomb on them? The Qing’an Province Hall didn’t even..."

Li Kai looked at the tragic scene before him in disbelief.

If they had known in advance that the suspect had explosives on them, they would never have rashly attempted a close-range capture. Instead, they would have deployed special police with riot shields and positioned snipers at a distance.

Gu Ji and the other two never expected it.

Zhang Wenjun would unhesitatingly charge forward at this critical moment between life and death.

Or perhaps, it was their only way to survive!

Even though Zhang Wenjun sensed the danger immediately and shot the criminal dead, the amount of explosives wrapped around Sun Weidong were just too considerable.

At close range, Gu Ji and Gao Bo would be either dead or disabled!

"Zhang Zhong, get up! I promise I won’t call you slowpoke behind your back anymore, get up..."

Gao Bo’s eyes turned red with tears the size of peas uncontrollably squeezing out from the corners.

Despite being scolded by Zhang Wenjun ever since police training and then on duty, Gao Bo knew well that Zhang Wenjun was actually giving "special" care to him and Gu Ji.

On one hand, to encourage the two to constantly improve;

On the other, to prevent them from being too reckless and encountering danger.

From the troubles they caused without ever being reprimanded by the City Bureau, it was evident how much pressure Zhang Wenjun was shouldering for them.

Wu Kang stood rooted to the spot, his body rigid.

Even though the time he had known Zhang Wenjun wasn’t as long as Gao Bo and Gu Ji.

He had always seen how Zhang Zhong treated his subordinates daily.

For instance, during operations, whenever danger arose, Zhang Wenjun would always be the first to charge to the front, shielding them behind him.

As for Gu Ji.

"Zhang Wenjun, why..."

Half-leaning on the grass, he stared dazedly at Zhang Wenjun lying in the blood pool, muttering softly.

These words were directed at Zhang Wenjun, yet also a question to himself.

Perhaps others have long forgotten.

But Gu Ji would never forget.

During police training’s "breach and rescue hostages" drill, Zhang Wenjun had once publicly and harshly criticized him for lunging at a grenade.

Yet, at this critical moment, he lunged at the enemy himself.

"You are the tactical commander, the core of the team, you should be the one setting aside all distractions, commanding the team to rescue hostages instead of acting out of impulse for superficial fame!"

Zhang Wenjun’s words of reprimand from the observation platform seemed vividly in mind.

"Hero..."

Gu Ji repeatedly murmured these two words in his heart.

Provincial Public Security Bureau, Special Police Force.

Li Ruilin visibly stiffened, a complex and indescribable emotion surging within him, "Mr. Lei, what did you say..."

"During the operation, Zhang Wenjun sacrificed himself by covering the bomb to protect Gu Ji and others."

"Okay, got it."

Only when Lei Wanshan repeated it the second time over the phone did Li Ruilin slowly put down the phone.

The next second, with a look of sorrow in his eyes, he gazed at the gloomy clouds outside the window.

His reflection on the glass, worn and weathered, yet as memories continuously surfaced, the once young Li Ruilin, who had just taken on the role of head of the Ningzhou City Public Security Bureau’s Dragon and Tiger Assault Team, was brimming with ambition and vigor.

Zhang Wenjun and Liang Xiaojia were talents he personally selected from the special police units across districts for the team.

Especially Zhang Wenjun, exhibited great tactical talent during operations then.

Just as Li Ruilin planned to focus on grooming him.

The 20-year Ningzhou Major Gun Theft case occurred.

During that operation, Liang Xiaojia was shot and killed protecting her companions.

Since then, Zhang Wenjun seemed as if his soul had been taken, roaming absent-mindedly daily, unable to keep up with training progress, eventually leaving the team to return to the sub-bureau, becoming a patrol special policeman, far away from the frontline combat.

And now.

Five years had passed.

Zhang Wenjun’s sacrifice seemed like a fate cycle, fulfilling his obsession.

The clouds dispersed, a few rays of sunlight shone into the room through the window.

Countless specks of dust danced in the glaring light, landing on the police uniform jacket hanging on the coat rack.

"Prepare the vehicle."

Li Ruilin picked up the phone, instructed the driver with just two words, then stood up, walked towards the coat rack, decisively grabbed the police uniform, and turned around to leave.

Wu Province Police General Hospital.

Negative one morgue hallway.

"Hoo hoo..."

Zhou Yang rushed over anxiously, only to see the three of them, Gu Ji, leaning forlorn against the wall, while heartrending cries came from inside the morgue, "I came over as soon as I got the call, how could this..."

The 5.28 wanted fugitive capture operation ended with two suspects shot dead, Zhang Wenjun sacrificed.

By the time the main force and ambulance arrived, Zhang Wenjun’s body had been transported to the public health hospital.

Then it was about notifying family and colleagues.

Zhou Yang was originally accompanying his girlfriend to entertain relatives; upon receiving the call, he rushed over immediately, while Zhao Hua and Liu Weijun were not in Ningzhou, and could only take the nearest high-speed railway back.

"It happened too suddenly; we never expected the suspect to have a homemade bomb on them. Zhang Zhong did it to protect us..."

Seeing Gu Ji and Gao Bo silent, Wu Kang quietly approached to explain the whole situation to Zhou Yang.

Zhou Yang listened with reddened eyes, pointing to the morgue door, "Can I go in now..."

"City bureau leaders, Mr. Li, Mr. Lei, and others are accompanying Zhang Zhong’s family inside, let’s wait a bit."

No sooner had Wu Kang finished speaking, the morgue door was pushed open.

In uniform, Li Ruilin and Lei Wanshan supported an old woman sobbing to the point of collapse, who was Zhang Wenjun’s mother, alongside Zhang Zhong’s father and younger sister.

After comforting the family, Zhou Yang entered the morgue.

After seeing off Zhang Wenjun’s family, Li Ruilin turned back, looking at Gu Ji and Gao Bo, who leaned persistently against the wall, lost in despair, intending to say something but not knowing where to start.

Yet if nothing was done, he feared the two might retrace Zhang Wenjun’s path.

If that were the case, given Gu Ji’s current talents in tactical command and counter-terrorism operations, it would be a considerable loss for the Dragon Tiger Assault Team, the Wu Province special police circle, and even the entire police system.

After a long while, he grabbed Lei Wanshan by the shoulder.

"Mr. Lei, please talk to these two for me."

"Alright,"

Lei Wanshan answered decisively.

He slowly walked up to them.

Seeing the polished boots before him, Gao Bo looked up, out of respect, he called out "Mr. Lei".

Gu Ji, seeing Lei Wanshan, instinctively asked the very question he had at the capture scene.

Why;

Zhang Wenjun had forbidden him severely during police training yet today leaped at the bomb without hesitation.

"Because he could only say so, and only do so."

Unexpectedly, with just one sentence, Lei Wanshan yanked Gu Ji back from his trance-like state, "’Self-sacrifice’ this heroic act is a spontaneous action, arising from personal rational judgment as an inevitable optimal solution."

"I’ve carefully gone through your and the criminal investigation brigade’s oral accounts of the operation, at that moment Zhang Wenjun had already decisively taken down the suspect, but the stopping power of a handgun is weak, and given your proximity to the explosive, inaction would lead to unbearable risks."

"In an upright stance, the explosive’s shockwave and fragments would pose a threat to all team members, if tackled to the ground and subdued beneath, the damage scope is considerably reduced."

This was the first time hearing Lei Wanshan speak so extensively.

Unable to resist, Gao Bo asked.

"Mr. Lei, what do you mean by your first sentence..."

"You all should understand, neither instructors nor superiors can encourage, incite, or command subordinates to sacrifice, it’s a person’s right and choice, and others have no right to interfere; you can choose to sacrifice yourself, but have no right to order others to die. However, as police officers, from the day we took the oath beneath the police emblem, no officer in action would wish for harm upon companions and citizens, instinctive experience will drive you to make the most correct choice."

At this, Lei Wanshan paused, meeting Gu Ji’s gaze, "I think this is the real lesson Zhang Wenjun intended to teach you."