I can upgrade the shelter-Chapter 170 - 168: Accident

As usual, the special police team’s vehicle arrived punctually at the entrance of Chen Xin’s refuge, bringing the supplies for exchange while also preparing to transport the vegetables Chen Xin had produced this month. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

What’s strange to Chen Xin was that it was not Qin Lan accompanying the car today, but the young officer who had come before along with another officer he didn’t recognize.

"Why are you guys here today, isn’t Lan coming?" Chen Xin asked the two officers retrieving goods, furrowing his brow.

Qin Lan had previously agreed with him to come and stay for two days every month when fetching the goods. She wasn’t someone who would break her word; unless something had delayed her, Qin Lan would never miss the appointment.

Sure enough, asked about why Qin Lan hadn’t come, the two officers exchanged glances, with expressions of hesitation and unease appearing on their faces.

This made Chen Xin increasingly worried, he asked the two nervously, "What’s happened to Lan? Did something happen?"

"This... Chen, don’t be nervous, Lan didn’t come because she got injured and is currently in the hospital!" The young officer, who had come before, hurriedly tried to soothe Chen Xin’s emotions, knowing that his relationship with Qin Lan was not ordinary, he quickly explained the situation: "Yesterday, Lan went on a mission, and an accident occurred, she got shot by a stray bullet in the shoulder and is now receiving treatment in the hospital."

Perhaps to assuage Chen Xin’s worries, the young officer added reassuringly: "Chen, don’t worry too much, Lan was only grazed by the bullet, the situation isn’t serious, the doctor is just worried about her wound getting infected, that’s why she’s hospitalized, she really is fine!"

Listening to the young officer’s explanation, Chen Xin’s face completely darkened, he hadn’t imagined Qin Lan would encounter such an incident.

Though the young officer seemed to downplay the severity, saying it was just a graze, anyone could think and deduce that being grazed by a bullet implies there had been a gunfight - where else would the stray bullet come from?

Qin Lan being a sniper, a supposedly most concealed unit on the battlefield, yet even the sniper got injured, how fierce must the battle have been?

Chen Xin couldn’t contain his concern anymore, wanting to rush to the hospital to see Qin Lan right away.

But he had to solve the matter at hand first before he could go to the hospital.

Thus Chen Xin could only suppress his tension and worries, helping the two officers to count this month’s vegetables for trade, not even checking the supplies they delivered, he let them pile them haphazardly in the prep room by the main entrance and prepared to drive downtown to visit Qin Lan.

Seeing Chen Xin so agitated, the two officers hurriedly stopped him.

"Chen, calm down, if you drive to the hospital like this, it’s easy to get into trouble on the road, it’s better to go in our car!" The young officer didn’t stop Chen Xin from going to the hospital, but prevented him from driving himself: "The road conditions are bad now, Lan is fine there, don’t get into trouble yourself, Chen!"

Listening to the young officer, Chen Xin hesitated for a moment but quickly abandoned the thought of driving himself downtown, nodded, secured the refuge’s door, and went to the city with them by car.

In the city hospital, Qin Lan was lying with her arm hanging by the bedside, a look of self-reproach and fear on her face.

Her jacket and clothes were undone, exposing her left arm and shoulder, which were now wrapped in thick bandages hanging from her neck.

Being hit by a stray bullet was something Qin Lan hadn’t anticipated at all, she hadn’t imagined that after the criminals were subdued, she could still be hit by a stray bullet.

However, recalling yesterday’s mission, Qin Lan couldn’t help but feel her heartbeat quicken, feeling fearful of those criminals’ viciousness.

Back then, after the temporary command team delivered the final ultimatum to the criminals occupying the refuge, those criminals chose to open the door, everyone thought the mission was over.

The criminals coming out were subdued, handcuffed, ready to be transported back to the city, but no one expected one of them had hidden explosives and detonated the fuse.

Two officers nearby were killed instantly in the explosion, and a dozen officers and armed soldiers were injured to varying degrees.

After the explosion, another prepared group of criminals stormed out from the refuge, seized guns from the injured special police and armed soldiers, intending to resist till the end, even planning a counterattack.

The sides broke into a fierce firefight, even the rotary cannon that wasn’t initially intended to be used roared in a sweep against the criminals.

Qin Lan, responsible as the sniper for support, naturally joined the battle without hesitation, in fact, she should have been the first to notice the anomaly, as she saw through the sniper scope the criminal detonating the fuse and immediately pulled the trigger intending to kill the criminal.

But as she pulled the trigger, it was already too late, though the criminal was killed, the fuse was already ignited.

Despite the firefight not lasting too long, and at the refuge gate lacking cover, the criminals soon were killed, during the conflict, a stray bullet still hit Qin Lan’s shoulder.

After the battle ended, all wounded were immediately sent to the city hospital for emergency treatment, but three needed urgent care due to severe injuries and could not be rescued successfully, while five severely injured are still undergoing treatment.

Among everyone, it was Qin Lan, hit by the stray bullet, who had the lightest injury.

This made her feel both relieved and fearful, yet couldn’t help but blame herself, if she had shot even one second earlier, perhaps such a tragic outcome wouldn’t have occurred, a total of five dead, five severely injured, and over a dozen slightly wounded, it could be said to be the city’s heaviest loss in the police system since the founding of the nation.

Thinking about comrades she lived alongside now sacrificed and injured because she shot too late, Qin Lan felt unbearable anguish, and the shoulder wound pain equally affected her so much that she hadn’t closed her eyes from last night after surgery to remove the bullet until now.

She just stared blankly at the ceiling lamp, eyes bloodshot, her mind endlessly replaying yesterday’s scenes.

If only she could have shot one second earlier, if only she could have detected the anomaly sooner, then so many wouldn’t have been sacrificed or injured!

This thought lingered in Qin Lan’s mind, making her repeatedly revisit yesterday’s scene, attempting to find evidence to convince herself that she wasn’t late in shooting, also searching for overlooked "evidence" of anomalies.

But that didn’t help at all, rather it exacerbated her self-blame and regret, almost consuming her until Chen Xin burst into the ward, pulling her out from the endless cycle of recollections.