Strongest Soldier King

"Motherfucker." Luo Zheng cursed angrily, tossing the magazine aside. The damaged magazine was unusable. With bullets raining down like hail, turning the slope into disarray, there was no way to peek out for an observation. Luo Zheng thought about the magazine on top of the slope, wanting to reach for it, but found it impossible. With dozens of guns pinning him down, making a move meant certain death. Luo Zheng had no choice but to tense up, trying to minimize his target profile and calmly survey his surroundings. Enemies were circling around to both sides, but fortunately, Scholar and the others had already retreated a significant distance.

"How can there be so many enemies?" Luo Zheng glanced quickly and was startled to find there were far more than a hundred enemies. Without time to think further, he replaced his magazine with another one he carried, rolled out three to four meters, sprung up, and dashed toward the distance. After only a few strides, his body twisted strangely to one side, narrowly avoiding a hail of bullets. He ran a few more steps, turned sharply, and continued forward as his gun roared back to life, taking down the most aggressive enemy charge on one side.

"Run fast." Scholar and the others had already found cover and were providing covering fire for Luo Zheng's retreat. With their support, Luo Zheng's pressure eased a lot. He sprinted away--charging forward, zigzagging, leaping like a tiger, rolling--every move executed with practiced decisiveness. Each time, he narrowly evaded the enemy bullets, performing what could be called a classic set of Bullet Avoidance Steps, which even left the speed-savvy Scholar inwardly impressed.

In his mad dash, Luo Zheng suddenly accelerated and leapt, like a large bird, twisting strangely mid-air into a straight line, narrowly escaping a barrage of bullets. Upon landing, his feet pushed hard against the ground, and he shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, bounding over a mound in front of him. Quickly standing up, he crouched behind the mound, fiercely targeting the pursuing enemies with suppressive fire.

"Well done." Scholar shouted loudly, "Brothers, Luo Zheng has made it. Follow my orders: Scholar, Luo Zheng, and Gardener in one group; Farmer and Monk, you two in another; retreat in intervals of a hundred meters, alternating cover."

"Yes." Everyone shouted in response, Farmer and Monk quickly retreated a hundred meters, found a good position for covering, and started shooting. Seeing that they were in position, Scholar ordered a retreat. With Farmer and Monk providing cover, the three of them withdrew more smoothly.

The trio set up an ambush a hundred meters away from Farmer and Monk, covering them as they further retreated. With repeated alternating coverage, the distance between them and the pursuers grew, and after several exchanges, they shook off the pursuers, who didn't continue the chase and fell back.

The three men stopped behind a hillside and lay on the ground panting heavily. The recent battle had been perilously close; a slight misstep could have led to doom. Thankfully, everyone's speed and military quality were high. However, the frantic retreat had drained their energy, so they had no choice but to stop and rest for a moment.

"I didn't expect there to be an ambush in the village, my command was at fault. Please forgive me, brothers. Who is injured? Farmer, you were in front during the village encounter. I saw you weren't quite right; are you badly hurt?" Scholar called out somberly, taking full responsibility for the unexpected battle and apologizing openly, showing his straightforward character.

"It's just a mosquito bite, a grazed skin, nothing serious," Farmer said sullenly.

Hearing this, everyone got up from their rest, gathered around to check on him. Farmer's thigh had been hit by a bullet and was bleeding. Fortunately, it was just a flesh wound and not life-threatening. However, without prompt treatment, there was a risk of infection and potential complications. The problem was they lacked medical supplies and means to treat the injury right then.

"We need to move as soon as possible and find a safer place to hide," Gardener suggested.

"Good, Monk, I'm going to need you to carry Farmer, distribute weapons and ammo among us. Everyone stay alert along the way, look for herbs that could be used for treatment. Brother Luo Zheng, you cover our rear," Scholar said, his face etched with guilt. He felt ashamed and frustrated about the situation they were in.

Luo Zheng didn't object, he just nodded silently. After everyone had gone towards the deeper part of the mountain ranges, he stood observing for a few minutes. Seeing no pursuers, he started to doubt. If these guys were East Yi Yun Members, they should be relentlessly pursuing us at all costs, so why weren't they? Not even a single tracker showed fear, was it because they weren't afraid of us getting away, or was there another reason? What could it be?

As doubts arose, Luo Zheng didn't follow the team but continued to stay and observe the situation, pondering all the while. Since the East Yi Yun Members were planning to surround all the competing teams, there was no reason for them not to chase, unless they were not East Yi Yun Members or they had run out of manpower and lacked sufficient force.

This area was within the influence of the East Yi Yun, so there shouldn't be other armed militants around. It seemed more likely that they were short on manpower, but looking at the fight just now, this group of militants had over two hundred men. Even if some were taken down by us, there were still well over a hundred left, and with their forces deployed, this was the prime time to chase, so why didn't they? Perhaps there was a VIP in the village, and to ensure the VIP's safety, the pursuers didn't dare to chase too closely.

With this thought, Luo Zheng's eyes lit up, spotting a great opportunity. He quickly caught up with the team, shouting, "Brothers, wait a moment, I have something to say."

"What's up? Are there pursuers?" The team stopped, and the scholar looked at Luo Zheng in surprise and asked.

"No," Luo Zheng gestured for everyone to crouch down and said, "As everyone saw in the fight earlier, the enemy was strong and we were weak, so why didn't they chase us? The captain had said before we set off that the East Yi Yun Members would besiege us, and it makes no sense to give up such a good opportunity unless they aren't East Yi Yun Members. But, given that this is their territory, it's unreasonable to think there would be other armed groups. So, I suspect there is a VIP in the village, and the pursuers didn't dare to chase too far, probably going back by now."

"So what?" Monk asked, his voice filled with shock and inquiry.

"Yeah." The others echoed.

"What's our purpose for coming here?" Luo Zheng countered, not waiting for anyone to respond, he continued, "It's to kill for tokens. This is a great opportunity, are you deciding to give up?"

"The enemy's firepower is fierce, and they fight bravely and well, not like ordinary East Yi Yun Members. We have limited ammunition, the farmer brother is injured, do you think with just a few guns in our hands we could defeat that group of enemies? The opportunity is good, but do we even have the strength?" The scholar retorted.

"However, if there really is a VIP, perhaps there's a chance to gather some useful intelligence," Luo Zheng reminded.

ps: Three updates today, thank you for your support, keep encouraging me to burst forth, hehe!