Strongest Soldier King

Under the night sky, the cold moonlight bathed the village, and a gentle breeze rustled through the sparse trees by the riverbank, causing the withered leaves to fall. The heavily guarded compound emitted a suffocating aura of murder. Luo Zheng watched coldly at the defense that was as formidable as a turtle's shell, finding no point of entry, his eyes dancing with sparks of battle intent. Regardless, he had to try; he could not return empty-handed.

A direct assault was certainly not feasible, so he had to find another way. The Wild Wolf Mercenary Group's men were surely lying in ambush, but there were no other choices. Relatively speaking, infiltrating from elsewhere posed a lower risk. Having made up his mind, Luo Zheng observed the surrounding terrain and quickly found a route. Just as he was about to set off, something caught his eye in the river water ahead.

Luo Zheng was startled and looked intently. About twenty meters away, near the river by the compound, that section of the river was relatively open, about eight meters wide, with dense river grass on both banks. Due to the moon overhead, the houses couldn't block its light, and the cool lunar illumination made the river surface faintly visible.

After a few glances, Luo Zheng was certain that the small moving black dot must be a head—someone was infiltrating through the river. Such a method would surely not be used by enemies, so there was only one possibility. Luo Zheng immediately thought of Scholar and the others. Could it be that they were worried about him because he had been out too long and there had been a recent battle? Touching upon this thought, Luo Zheng felt a warmth in his heart and couldn't help but smile. With his comrades coming to the rescue, Luo Zheng thought of a method to crack open the "turtle shell" ahead.

Before long, Luo Zheng saw three little black dots stop by the riverbank and remain motionless, probably waiting for the right moment to come ashore. That location was very close to the compound and indeed was a good position for an assault. However, with the enemy's heavy troops laid out, a direct attack would be futile and suicidal. Luo Zheng became very anxious, fearing that Scholar and the others, unaware of the situation, might act rashly. Suddenly, he saw a patrol team walking towards the riverbank.

"Not good," Luo Zheng exclaimed in alarm, decisively chambering a round and darting out of the dark corner, ready to shoot a warning, but then he noticed the patrol's route was slightly off. Quick to react, he hid in the roadside bushes and lay down swiftly to observe.

The patrol team didn't detect anything; it was just a routine check. They were positioned to see the river surface but hadn't noticed the people already concealed in the riverbank bushes. The dense foliage hid Scholar and the others' heads, and their bodies were all submerged in water, which, coupled with the cover of night, prevented their exposure, fortunately avoiding danger.

After the patrol left, Luo Zheng breathed a sigh of relief and slowly moved forward. Under the cover of darkness, like a hunting cheetah seeking its prey, he made no sound. Two minutes later, he found cover behind a mound about ten meters from the compound. He shed his black cloak as the camouflaging effect of his gray-brown Jili suit was better under the moonlight. Since Scholar and the others had appeared in black cloaks, which could lead to mistaken identity, Luo Zheng didn't want to risk friendly fire.

No sooner had he concealed himself than he saw a Black Shadow quickly emerge from the river and stay hunched behind a slightly raised mound of earth. Shortly after, a few faint cricket noises sounded, and two Black Shadows crawled out, spreading apart to find their own hiding spots, not rushing their next move.

After observing for a while, the three Black Shadows headed towards the back of the compound, clearly also realizing that the front entrance was hard to breach. Without any means of communication, Luo Zheng couldn't reach out to them. Watching the three figures disappear into the night in the blink of an eye, he had a stroke of genius, quickly took off his Jili suit, donned the black cloak again, and smeared mud mixed with saliva on his face to make it difficult to identify.

After making all the preparations, Luo Zheng carefully checked the weapons on him, an AK with about ten magazines; during the river crossing, he kept the weaponry and ammunition over his head, preventing them from getting wet and ensuring they wouldn't malfunction. His three comrades had gone to the back door and would surely initiate a surprise attack. The enemy, unclear of the actual situation, would definitely pursue them. Seeing the astonishing fighting capability of the three, it was possible that the entirety of Wild Wolf Mercenary Group would leave their nest, and that would be Luo Zheng's chance.

An outstanding soldier must not only possess the courage to make fearless sacrifices and possess formidable combat abilities but also have the keen ability to seize the right moment in battle. Luo Zheng, with his cool head and extraordinary hiding skills, had been dealing with prey from a young age. His rich experiences granted him the ability to grasp the opportune moment, and his comrades' actions made him realize his opportunity had arrived.

Waiting was a kind of torment, especially when anticipating an unknown outcome. Luo Zheng had no idea how the fight with his comrades would turn out, nor whether the enemy would retaliate with full force. Observing the courtyard that exuded a suffocating murderous aura, Luo Zheng knew that besides waiting, there was no better method to infiltrate, so he could only wait.

As time ticked away second by second, Luo Zheng waited patiently. His mind involuntarily drifted back to when he was twelve years old, when he lay in ambush at a passage to hunt a hungry wolf that had been stealing sheep from the village, motionless for three hours in the heavy snowfall. Eventually, he found the wolf hiding in the shrubbery three hundred meters opposite him, with a wide visual field around it. The only explanation was that the wolf had arrived and concealed itself beforehand. That ambush taught Luo Zheng a lesson: to be a hunter, you must be more patient than the prey.

"Da da da!" Suddenly, a burst of intense gunfire erupted.

Many patrol teams rushed towards the backyard, and a person who looked like an officer rushed out from inside the courtyard, quickly gave several orders to the guards at the door, then turned back in a hurry. Luo Zheng saw the patrols rushing to the back, but the defenses at the courtyard gate were not dismissed; a direct attack was still impossible.

Meanwhile, the firefight at the back of the courtyard became more intense, mixed with the sound of grenade explosions. Luo Zheng wasn't worried about the safety of his comrades. In this village at night, there were covers everywhere, and it was not easy to kill well-trained Special Forces unless the Wild Wolf Mercenary Group was mobilized.

After waiting for a while, the fierce gunfire started to fade but didn't cease. Luo Zheng surmised his comrades, like the Scholar and others, realized a direct assault was futile and had begun to retreat. The enemy in the courtyard was on high alert and fully prepared, with the numerical advantage to boot. Despite the formidable fighting capability of the Scholar and the others, a direct assault to rescue was very difficult once they were discovered.

Hearing the gunfire receding, Luo Zheng smiled. It was impossible for the few dozen members of the East Turkestan armed personnel to repel the likes of the Scholar and his team; the only explanation was that the Wild Wolf Mercenary Group had intervened, and only they were capable of forcing the retreat. Luo Zheng knew it was his time to act.

At the entrance of the courtyard, two heavy machine guns crisscrossed to block the doorway, supplemented by a dozen armed personnel with loaded weapons, behind solid sandbag fortifications. The chance of one man forcefully breaking through was zero. Luo Zheng knew brute force was not an option, but the window of opportunity would close quickly, and he had to come up with a plan fast.