Blazing Armor

After the team event, Ren Yi sat with Gong Yingxian and Gong Feilan in the stands, cheering for the warriors participating in the individual competitions.

Although many friends and relatives of the competitors were present, the brother and sister duo stood out due to their striking appearance, attracting the most attention.

As they watched, Wang Xuan came over carrying two boxes of iced cola. Ren Yi took a few bottles, handing them to Gong Yingxian and Gong Feilan. Gong Feilan gladly accepted, while Gong Yingxian firmly declined, saying, “I don’t drink carbonated drinks.”

“Hard to please, aren’t you,” Ren Yi remarked, swapping the cola for a bottle of water.

Gong Feilan couldn’t help but nod. “Cousin is really picky about his food.”

“Choosing what’s right for your body isn’t called being picky,” Gong Yingxian retorted.

Ren Yi scoffed. “Not eating this or that? That’s exactly what being picky means in layman’s terms.”

Gong Yingxian shot him a sidelong glance. “I didn’t ask you to cater to me, so why are you complaining?”

“Who would dare complain,” Ren Yi replied sarcastically.

Gong Feilan sighed in exasperation. “You two, can you stop bickering?”

Ren Yi cleared his throat and changed the topic. “So, what’s the progress with the Cai Wan case?”

“I followed a lot of leads and connected it to Cai Wan’s brother, Cai Cheng. This guy’s been a drifter for years, doing odd jobs like security work and delivering parcels here in Tianqi, but he never stuck around long. Last year, he went back to his hometown. There’s evidence he came back to Tianqi recently, but he didn’t use any state-run transport systems, and there are no ID records.”

“Did he come after the bar fire?” Ren Yi asked. “That’s pretty suspicious.”

“Exactly. And he deliberately avoided public attention when returning to Tianqi, making him difficult to track. I had Captain Qiu help me contact local police, and after a bit of investigation, we found Cai Cheng’s been spending money unusually lavishly, likely from some shady source.”

“Have you caught him yet?”

“Not yet. Cash transactions are hard to trace, so we need solid evidence first. But it shouldn’t take long.”

“If we manage to bring Cai Wan to justice, we’ll have to thank Captain Qiu,” Ren Yi said nonchalantly. “Didn’t you call her ‘Sister Yan’?”

“Yan-jiejie? What about her?” Gong Feilan turned to ask.

“You know her?”

“Of course! Our families go way back. We’ve known each other since we were kids.”

“…”

At that moment, Gong Yingxian’s phone rang, and he stepped aside to take the call.

Unable to resist, Ren Yi turned to Gong Feilan and asked, “Feilan, are your cousin and Captain Qiu really childhood sweethearts?”

“Definitely not. They’re seven or eight years apart. How could they have played together growing up?”

Ren Yi nodded.

“But I’m sure my cousin likes her,” Gong Feilan said confidently.

Ren Yi was taken aback. “…Really?”

“Yeah, she’s the only woman he’s close with. And she’s so beautiful and talented. Knowing my cousin’s personality, if he didn’t like her, he wouldn’t treat her so well.”

Ren Yi muttered under his breath, “That makes sense. They do seem like a good match…”

“Ah!” Gong Feilan suddenly exclaimed, looking nervously at Ren Yi. “Captain Ren, don’t tell me you’ve fallen for Sister Yan too?”

Ren Yi smiled faintly. “How could I? We’ve only met for two minutes.”

Gong Feilan eyed him suspiciously.

“I was just curious since your cousin seemed so at ease talking and laughing with her,” Ren Yi explained.

“Oh, good. That makes sense. My cousin really is different around her,” Gong Feilan sighed. “It’s a shame he’s been back in the country for so long and hasn’t made a move. It’s frustrating.”

Ren Yi wasn’t sure how he felt. He suddenly felt a little down but also amused. So, Gong Yingxian wasn’t as unattached to the world as he seemed—he just had his sights set on one person.

When Gong Yingxian returned from his call, both Ren Yi and Gong Feilan tried to act casual. He immediately sensed something was off and asked, “What were you two just talking about?”

“Nothing, just cheering for the warriors,” Ren Yi replied casually.

Gong Feilan smiled mischievously but said nothing.

Gong Yingxian squinted his eyes, clearly not buying it.

Just then, Ren Yi’s phone rang again. He looked down and saw that it was Xu Jin calling: “Hello, Chief of Staff.”

“Ren Yi, where are you?”

“I’m at the competition grounds.”

“There’s an emergency. A high-rise apartment on Anmin Road caught fire, and the blaze is severe. Get over here immediately.”

Ren Yi shot to his feet. “Wang Xuan, stay here and look after the participants still competing. Everyone else, we’re responding now. Let’s go.”

The group quickly stood up. Cui Yisheng asked, “Captain Ren, what’s happening? Where’s the incident?”

“A high-rise apartment on Anmin Road,” Ren Yi explained as he led his team toward their fire truck. “Chief Xu just called me.”

Although Anmin Road wasn’t within Ren Yi’s jurisdiction—it was under the Aixin Bridge Squad—it was closer to the competition grounds. For large emergencies, multiple squads, or even several brigades, often had to collaborate. Judging by Xu Jin’s tone, the situation was dire.

As Ren Yi was putting on his gear and getting ready to board the truck, Gong Yingxian’s voice came from behind: “Captain Ren, can I come with you?”

Ren Yi turned around, just now remembering the two of them. Whenever there was an emergency, he would get so focused that he forgot about everything else. He nodded toward the truck. “Get in.”

Gong Yingxian turned to Gong Feilan. “Wait here. I’ll have a driver come pick you up.”

“Cousin, can’t I come with you…”

“No. Call me when you get home,” Gong Yingxian said before climbing into the truck with Ren Yi.

Alongside Ren Yi’s truck, three other fire trucks also left the competition venue, all clearly dispatched to the scene. Ren Yi sent Gao Ge a quick message on WeChat, asking if his team had received the alert. Gao Ge replied shortly after, saying they hadn’t, likely because they were too far away, and traffic would be terrible at this time.

In the truck, Ding Qing asked, “Captain Ren, what’s the situation?”

“I don’t know yet. Chief Xu is probably extremely busy right now. We’ll find out more when we get to the scene,” Ren Yi frowned. “A residential building on fire at this time of day—it’s going to be tricky.”

It was now Wednesday at 5 p.m. From their experience, most young, able-bodied people and students wouldn’t be home at this time, leaving behind retirees, homemakers, and young children. In incidents like these, the most vulnerable groups—elderly, women, and children—were often at the highest risk, both in terms of self-rescue and being rescued.

And this was a high-rise…

Gong Yingxian sat beside him, looking grim and remaining silent.

Ren Yi glanced at him and softly asked, “Why did you want to come along?” He knew Gong Yingxian wasn’t keen on seeing fire scenes; the last time they visited a burnt-out site, he’d vomited.

“If it’s a fire in Hongwu District, the case might eventually land on my desk,” Gong Yingxian replied in a low voice. “I need to get a head start on the situation.”

“Most likely, this is just an accident, given it’s a residential building catching fire during the day.”

“What if it’s arson?” Gong Yingxian stared intently at Ren Yi. “I won’t rule anything out.”

Ren Yi sighed internally. “When we get there, don’t wander around. Follow my instructions.”

Gong Yingxian nodded.

Before they even reached the scene, they could see a towering column of smoke rising from the distant high-rise. Ren Yi felt a sinking feeling in his gut.

When a high-rise catches fire, if the smoke from a certain floor drifts out at an angle, it usually means the fire hasn’t spread too widely yet. But when smoke starts rising vertically from the top of the building, it indicates the fire is out of control. The building’s stairwells, elevator shafts, ventilation ducts, and utility shafts all act like chimneys, rapidly accelerating the fire. All floors above the initial fire zone are now in danger.

The “chimney effect” in high-rise fires is as terrifying as a demon for firefighters. Once a fire breaks out, it feeds the flames, causing them to spread quickly and intensify. Due to the vertical nature of the fire, it’s incredibly difficult to extinguish. In some super high-rises, even the water cannons on aerial fire trucks can’t reach, leaving firefighters with no choice but to watch the building burn.

Their fire truck arrived at the entrance of the residential complex. The first team on the scene had already cleared a path and guided them to a parking spot.

Once the truck was parked, everyone got off.

Ren Yi was the first to spot the team leader from the Luo Alley brigade, Wang Meng. “Wang Meng, what’s the situation?”

Wang Meng quickly reported, “The fire’s on the 22nd floor of a 28-story building. The people below have been evacuated, but a large group is trapped above. The platform truck has already rescued some, but the fire’s getting worse. The chief of staff wants you to report to him as soon as you arrive.”

Ren Yi led his squad forward, quickly spotting Xu Jin, who was discussing strategy with other team leaders.

Not far from them, two large fire rescue cushions were laid out. Honestly, those things were pretty useless in high-rise fires—anything above the sixth floor, and it didn’t matter if there was something to catch you or not.

Xu Jin saw Ren Yi and immediately called out, “Come over! We need to head up for search and rescue right away.”

Ren Yi glanced at the thick smoke billowing above them, his expression grave.

Xu Jin pointed at the building’s blueprints and said, “The fire on the 26th, 27th, and 28th floors is under control. We’ve already sent two teams up with the platform truck and successfully rescued all civilians on those floors. We’re now working on finding accessible windows for the next four floors. At the same time, we’ll split into two groups—one will search from the 26th floor down, and the other from the 21st floor up. The fire on the 22nd floor is the worst. Ren Yi, you and Wang Meng take four teams up. You’ll be the on-site commander. If you really can’t make it up, report back immediately. No heroics.”

“Understood.”

At that moment, a group of firefighters nearby was shouting, “Don’t jump! Don’t jump!”

Ren Yi looked up just in time to see someone leap from a window with flames licking out of it. He quickly turned his head away, but the sickening thud of the body hitting the ground still pierced through the chaos of the fire scene, reaching everyone’s ears.

Some of the onlookers started to cry.

Ren Yi shook his head to clear it and began organizing his team.

Along with their firefighting gear and oxygen tanks, the squad carried 65mm hoses, axes, crowbars, hydraulic cutters, chainsaws, spare oxygen tanks, and other equipment. Each man bore at least 50 pounds of gear, and they were about to climb the stairs up to the 22nd floor.

Once everything was ready, Ren Yi led his men forward. Suddenly, he noticed Gong Yingxian standing off to the side, watching him, his face pale as a sheet.

Ren Yi felt a sudden tightness in his chest. He took off a glove, gave Gong Yingxian a thumbs-up, and mouthed, “Don’t worry.”

Gong Yingxian’s chest heaved with emotion. He also removed the gloves he always wore and returned Ren Yi’s thumbs-up.