Strongest Soldier King

Tracking wasn't difficult for elite soldiers with special training, especially with so many clues on the ground: dense footprints, corpses appearing continuously, and fresh blood. Soon, everyone arrived at the base of a mountain. All clues indicated that Luo Zheng had gone up the mountain. Scholar and the others didn't hesitate to charge up to the mountain ridge, heading straight for the summit.

Minutes later, everyone reached the top and looked around. A few hundred meters away, several bodies were lying; they were all East Yi Yun Members. Someone went over to help collect dog tags. Scholar and the others were frantic and didn't care about these things. One of the warriors collecting dog tags on a steep slope noticed something unusual and shouted loudly, "Come over here."

Upon hearing the shout, Scholar thought something had happened to Luo Zheng and his heart skipped a beat, but he still rushed over like the wind. He didn't find Luo Zheng, but there were many bodies lying around. The shouting warrior explained, "There are the most bodies here, and some are under a huge rock. This position cannot be shot from above. Could it be that..."

"Exactly, Luo Zheng must have realized he was surrounded and broke out from here. Hurry." Monk shouted and was the first to rush down, running breathlessly to the foot of the mountain. He soon found new clues and while following them yelled, "Hurry, this way."

Scholar and the others quickly followed. Soon, everyone reached a cliff. On the cliff, there were more than a dozen bodies. Someone peeked over the cliff edge and saw a nearly hundred-meter-deep gorge with trees shattered by grenades. Many branches were scattered on the ground and faintly, everyone saw scorch marks on the ground.

Seeing this scene, everyone's heart sank. With such a massive explosion, survival was impossible, but no one could bring themselves to verbalize it.

"He must be down there." Gardener said anxiously, his eyes filled with worry. Looking left and right, he quickly found a way down and ran there without hesitation.

"Farmer, brother, you have a wound on your leg, just wait here, we'll go down." Scholar grabbed Farmer, who also wanted to go down, and hurriedly spoke. After Farmer reluctantly nodded, Scholar also ran quickly, climbing down the cliff, all the while concerned about Luo Zheng, not minding the danger.

Scholar, Gardener, and Monk descended from different spots and soon discovered bloodstains, which startled them and made them speed up. Upon jumping down into the gorge, they found many bodies, all East Yi Yun Members. Thinking that Luo Zheng might have caused this, they shouted out loud.

In the gorge, only the rustling of the leaves stirred by the wind could be heard, and everyone's heart tightened as they searched carefully. They converged unconsciously at the area of the massive explosion. The ground had burn marks and the trees' trunks were full of shrapnel, but there was no sign of anyone. The three exchanged glances, each seeing surprise in the others' eyes.

"Did he run far?" Gardener said.

"It doesn't seem like it. From the looks of the site, the enemy must have thrown grenades first, then sent people down to check. The people on the cliff died, and those who came down to check also died. If Luo Zheng had run away earlier, who killed these people? Let's search carefully." Scholar spoke sternly, his eyes unwittingly glancing at a pile of huge rocks, feeling a hunch, and walked over.

Monk and Gardener noticed Scholar's unusual behavior and also saw the huge rocks, exchanged a look, and walked over too. Soon, they found a space piled up with huge rocks; inside was a person, indeed Luo Zheng, and they were overjoyed, rushing up to him. Scholar led, and upon reaching the gap, he immediately saw the wound on Luo Zheng's leg and couldn't help but shout anxiously, "Brother Luo Zheng?"

"Did you find him?" the anxious voice of Farmer shouted from the cliff.

"Found him," Monk replied, stepping forward quickly. He too saw the unconscious Luo Zheng and the wound on his leg. His expression drastically changed, and he quickly said, "This is bad, quick, see if he has a fever?"

The scholar had already reached out his hand, but as soon as he touched Luo Zheng's forehead, he recoiled from the heat, his face greatly changed as he anxiously said, "Not good, high fever, quick, everyone step back, I'll carry him out."

"Be careful, check if there any other injuries, and make sure not to touch them," the gardener reminded with concern, stepping back with a worried expression on his face.

The scholar nodded, carefully examined Luo Zheng's body, and noticed something off about his kneecap. Finding no other wounds for the moment, he carefully lifted Luo Zheng's body and slowly made his way outside where the gardener and the monk were clearing branches off the ground to make space.

"Slowly, slowly," the gardener came over to help, continuously reminding him. He looked at the unconscious Luo Zheng, gently touched his forehead, his face changed drastically and he turned to the monk and scholar, "This leg seems to have been hit by a bullet, he's lost a lot of blood, and with the high fever, it's going to be troublesome without timely treatment. What do we do?"

"We don't have the means to treat him, right, the medicine, there's still medicine in the car." The scholar said anxiously, suddenly standing up and shouting at the top of the cliff, "Can someone help get some gunshot wound medicine from the car, see if there's any fever reducer too, quick."

Someone at the cliff yelled back in response. The scholar crouched down again, looking at the unconscious Luo Zheng with concern, and said heavily, "Guys, even having fever reducers and gunshot wound medicine won't solve the problem, Brother Luo Zheng has lost too much blood. If we don't transfuse blood soon, I'm afraid it will be troublesome."

The gardener and the monk also realized the severity of the situation, looking at each other helplessly. In the middle of nowhere, how could they arrange a blood transfusion? Even if possible, they didn't know Luo Zheng's blood type, and random transfusions could be dangerous. Watching Luo Zheng's vitality waning, the monk said solemnly, "What do we do?"

"For now, let's get Brother Luo Zheng up the cliff first," suggested the gardener.

"It's pointless, the situation is already very clear. We don't even know if there's any fever reducer, and just his high fever could be enough to ruin Brother Luo Zheng, not to mention the excessive blood loss. With the high fall, we don't know if there's internal bleeding. We shouldn't move him now as it could cause even more harm. I have an idea, but I need your agreement," the scholar said earnestly, looking at them with eyes that turned resolutely anxious.

"It's urgent, just say it," the gardener urged impatiently.

The scholar didn't directly respond but instead took out the communicator he had kept well-hidden, issued during the competition, one per squad managed by the squad leader. Using it meant giving up the competition, and as everyone saw what the scholar took out, their expressions changed slightly.

For soldiers, honor is above all. This competition is of great importance, and everyone is carrying the expectations and honor of the entire Group Army. If they give up now, how would they face everyone on return? Yet, everyone understood that this was the only way to save Luo Zheng. Choosing between honor and a comrade, they couldn't do the former.

This was indeed a tough choice.

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