Strongest Soldier King

An excellent Sniper is pragmatic by nature and will never act without certainty, which is established based on an understanding of the situation. With the enemy evacuating in a truck to an unknown destination and the possibility of ambushes ahead unknown, Luo Zheng did not answer the Scholar's question, but instead began to analyze the psychology of the Wild Wolf Mercenary Group.

After several deaths in a row, given the Wild Wolf Mercenary Group's strong desire for revenge, they were bound to take action. What would they do? Set up an ambush? Lay traps? Or perhaps something else? After pondering for a while without a clue, Luo Zheng felt the vehicle slowing down, looked up to see the Scholar standing and lifting the canvas to look out. He stood up as well and saw a glimmer of vehicle lights in the distance.

"Perfect, it must be them," the Scholar said excitedly, thumping the hood of the cab and shouting, "Follow them, but don't turn on the lights, lest we reveal our position. These bastards, I'm going to skin them alive." With that, he checked his weapons.

Luo Zheng also checked his weapons and loaded them, his expression was as deep as the ocean, calm, yet his heart was anything but serene. The East Yi Yun Members were not terrible, but the Wild Wolf Mercenary Group was too powerful. In the past two days, they had clashed three times: once when they attempted a reconnaissance, wanting to capture a prisoner but were killed by him at close range; another time it was a Sniper ambush, again trying to capture him alive but he was alerted just in time, retaliating in their last moments, hitting them with random fire; the third time, two of them attempted a back hill stealth attack, but he had detected them first and killed one, causing panic and counter-ambushing with grenades, shooting the enemy in the chaos.

Each of the three encounters looked like victories for him, but Luo Zheng was well aware that besides luck, a more important reason was that the enemy had not taken him seriously, had been too confident in their own strength, and had dismissed him, allowing him to take advantage of their carelessness. After three failed attempts, the Wild Wolf Mercenary Group would not make the same mistakes again. Luo Zheng recalled the first time he had dealt with the Wild Wolf Mercenary Group; even someone as formidable as Lan Xue had not gained any advantage against them. Luo Zheng was acutely aware that he could not compare to Lan Xue and gripped his gun tighter.

"Are you okay?" the Scholar asked, surprised.

"Eh? I'm fine," Luo Zheng exhaled a heavy breath.

"Are you worried about those mercenaries?" the Scholar continued to ask. Seeing Luo Zheng neither confirm nor deny with a light chuckle, the Scholar went on, "You really don't have to worry. In all three clashes, you came out on top, whether by luck or by strength. These things don't matter; what is important is that you won in the end. If you can win three times in a row, it means you can defeat them and keep winning. You need to have confidence in yourself."

Luo Zheng's eyes brightened like brilliant stars shining in the dark night sky, his confidence surged, and he smiled, gripping the gun in his hand even tighter as he said, "You really think highly of me."

"Screech!" The truck came to a halt. Luo Zheng and the Scholar exchanged glances, stood up in sync, lifted the canvas to look out, and saw a cluster of lights on the plain in the distance. Luo Zheng set up his sniper rifle and began to observe through the scope. It was a village, looking to have over two thousand households, crowded together, too far away to see clearly.

"Do you see anything? What's the situation?" the Scholar asked.

"It's a village, too far to see clearly, the truck has entered the village," Luo Zheng responded offhandedly while continuing his observation. He saw the truck stop in front of a building in the center of the village; the distance was too great to see the details clearly.

"Gardener, keep moving forward, but don't make too much noise, be careful not to reveal our position," the Scholar suggested.

"No, I'm worried about an ambush ahead," Luo Zheng immediately objected.

Seeing the disagreement between the two, the Gardener was somewhat troubled. He then heard the Scholar say, "You have a point, it's better to assess the situation first. Turn off the engine." Surprised, the Gardener glanced at the Scholar and agreed, shutting off the motor.

Everyone got out of the vehicle and gathered on one side of the truck. The Gardener asked, "Captain, what's the plan?"

The Scholar didn't respond but looked at Luo Zheng and said, "Let's hear everyone's ideas and discuss together. This matter concerns the life and death of our farmer brothers; we cannot act rashly."

"The situation is unclear. I'll go in and do some reconnaissance, and you guys provide support from the outside. What do you think?" the Gardener proposed.

"One person might not be enough, I'll support you in the action," Monk said.

"Everyone, don't rush. Let's listen to Brother Luo Zheng's opinion," the Scholar proposed.

"Listen to me," Luo Zheng weighed in, "I'll go in and scout the situation, and you guys will provide support." Saying this, he took off the sniper rifle and two M16 automatic rifles he was carrying, took out the magazines, placed them on the ground, and continued, "Gardener, you're in charge of sniper cover."

"No way, I can snipe, but not as well as you. You should do it; it gives us more peace of mind," the Gardener immediately objected.

Without taking on the role of captain, fearful of making another mistake, and with no leader to decide, everyone's opinions diverged. After a brief argument, they all looked to the Scholar. In the end, though the Scholar was the captain appointed by superiors, he was in a tight spot—no matter who went, it would be a life-and-death situation for brothers. Finally, he said with a bitter smile, "You all want the glory; I'm not a coward either. Let's draw straws—four of us. Whoever gets the shortest one goes. I'll make the straws."

"Agreed," everyone consented. Drawing straws was fair and square. The Scholar quickly picked up a few grass roots and made the straws. The Gardener drew first, followed by the Monk. Luo Zheng was third, and the Scholar took the last one. Upon comparison, Luo Zheng's was indeed the shortest, and so the decision was made.

Luo Zheng checked his pistol and bullets, his gear including an M9 knife and a small short blade for self-defense—the kind the East Yi Yun Members used for cutting meat—and left all other weapons behind. Too many weapons weren't needed for stealthy infiltration. After preparing himself, Luo Zheng turned to leave. From behind, he heard the Scholar's voice, "Brother, take care."

"Take care," the Gardener and Monk also called out, their voices tinged with solemnity.

Luo Zheng's figure paused; without looking back, he dashed forward swiftly. Within a few leaps, he disappeared into the night, leaving the Scholar and the others astonished at his speed. "He's too fast," said the Gardener, his face filled with shock. "Captain, of all of us, you have the fastest burst of speed, and Monk, you have the strongest endurance and quite the burst too. How do you compare to him?"

The Scholar shook his head and looked towards Monk. The Monk, solemn, pondered for a moment before saying, "In terms of burst speed, we should be similar, haven't tested endurance, but his movement technique is light and elusive, hard to grasp. Like a ghost in the night, even if there are ambushes ahead, it would be difficult to lock onto his position."

"Ghost? Good name," the Scholar and the Gardener glanced into the night where Luo Zheng had vanished as if he had utterly disappeared, truly as elusive as a ghost. They couldn't help but exclaim in unison.