Strongest Soldier King

"I must shoot as quickly as possible," Luo Zheng cautioned himself, gauging the enemy's approximate position with his heart and waiting patiently. Death was inevitable either way, and there was only one chance. All in.

The footsteps grew closer and closer, and Luo Zheng did not understand why the enemy had not yet discovered his concealed position. He continued to search each direction carefully, curling his body as small as possible to minimize the chance of being detected. At this point, the enemy was still searching and not attacking with purpose. Luo Zheng knew he had not been exposed yet, and his heart completely calmed down as he blended in with the tree.

The rustling footsteps drew nearer, and Luo Zheng estimated the enemy to be no more than ten meters away—a distance at which the dirt sprayer was guaranteed to hit. Since there was no time to aim, he decided not to aim at all. Gritting his teeth, Luo Zheng struck swiftly, firing a shot towards the possible location of the enemy and then quickly retracting, drawing his military dagger in preparation for close combat.

However, no one came to attack. Instead, there came the sound of a bellows, "Huhu!" Somewhat surprised, Luo Zheng cautiously extended his cap on the muzzle of his gun. Unfired upon as he expected, he peeked out and saw a person lying in a pool of blood, with blood gushing from his neck—half of it was blasted away.

"Eh?" Luo Zheng hadn't expected his luck to be so good, mistakenly eliminating the opponent by accident. He couldn't help but rejoice, hurrying over to check. Seeing the enemy's eyes filled with unwillingness and confusion, he stabbed the military dagger into the opponent's chest without hesitation, just in case. Once he saw the enemy's eyes stopped moving, clearly dead, he breathed a sigh of relief, searched the body, and found three magazines and two offensive grenades.

Luo Zheng noticed that the enemy's weapon was the same as his own, with compatible ammunition, which solved his problem. He took all the weapons and quickly left the scene, crouching low. After a few steps, he stopped, remembering the trap mines Xue Mao mentioned, went back, took the enemy's camouflage for himself, placed a grenade under the body to set a trap mine, looked around to make sure he wasn't noticed, and then quickly headed towards the direction of the gunfire.

The unexpected killing of an enemy boosted Luo Zheng's morale; having an extra opponent to cushion his fall, he would die without regrets. Ten minutes later, Luo Zheng saw someone shooting from a bush on a hillside and immediately hit the ground, carefully observing. Soon, Luo Zheng spotted another person shooting from a different location, but they aimed in the same direction, indicating both were targeting the same object. Lan Xue was alone; she couldn't be the one attacking.

With this in mind, Luo Zheng confirmed that Lan Xue must be hiding within the attackers' range, more than two kilometers from him, while the nearest enemy was beyond a kilometer. Looking around, he quickly found a high ground from where he could see the closest enemy to himself and started moving towards it, crouching rapidly.

Before long, Luo Zheng was startled by a gunshot from that high ground. He immediately lay down to check and saw someone quickly leaving the high point, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

"Such speed," Luo Zheng thought, lying still on the ground, not daring to move. He wore the enemy's camouflage and wondered if he would be recognized. With this thought, Luo Zheng looked around; nothing seemed amiss. He figured that going up now might not be helpful and would be better off checking the enemy camp, which might yield some benefits.

Luo Zheng caught up solely to seek vengeance, but upon learning that Lan Xue's target was a traitor to the country, he prioritized national enmity over his personal grudge. With this in mind, Luo Zheng immediately changed course and headed toward the enemy camp. About ten minutes later, Luo Zheng felt there might be people ahead; he quickly went prone, extended his gun, and began to observe through the sniper scope. Finding nothing, Luo Zheng thought for a moment, spotted a large tree not far away, slung his rifle over his back, and swiftly dashed to it, climbing up to the canopy in no time.

The forest around was dense with trees, significantly obstructing the view, but the vantage point in the tree crown expanded his view greatly. Through the sniper scope, Luo Zheng quickly noticed many people hidden in the woods ahead, dressed in civilian clothes and resembling bandits. They looked completely different from those he had killed before, which piqued his curiosity. He searched carefully and soon spotted a middle-aged man in the crowd who looked like a professor, anxiously scanning the surroundings and communicating with someone nearby.

"Could that be Lan Xue's target?" Luo Zheng wondered in surprise. Thinking that he might be the traitor, a surge of indignation welled up within him. Since Lan Xue was being closely watched from a distance, he believed these people would never expect him to come along and kill someone unexpectedly. In their eyes, he was just a rookie, easily dealt with by one person. In other words, he had become an unexpected variable. Wouldn't it be wasteful not to take advantage of this?

With that thought, Luo Zheng silently slid down the large tree, using the techniques Lan Xue had taught him, constantly keeping himself hidden in the dead corners and moving quickly forward with the trees as cover. As he got closer, he slowed his pace, worrying that the sound of his footsteps would draw the enemy's attention, and carefully crept forward.

The dense forest was littered with dry branches and leaves on the ground, making it easy to make noise. Luo Zheng did not dare to continue advancing but instead circled around to one side. After getting directly opposite the target, he quickly climbed up a large tree, concealed himself among the branches, and slowly extended his rifle, aiming at the target.

Luo Zheng estimated the distance to be around six hundred meters. He didn't have any confidence at this range and, after some thought, switched the rifle to three-round burst mode. Since the target was Lan Xue's mission and Lan Xue was currently trapped, he decided to take over. Luo Zheng regulated his breathing, relaxed as much as possible, and slowly pressed on the trigger.

A gentle breeze moved the leaves, and the sunlight streamed down through the gaps, casting mottled patterns on the ground. The streaks of golden light, however, interrupted one's judgement of sight. Luo Zheng observed for a full three minutes but still had no absolute confidence. Looking up at the sky, he cursed the sun for the first time, inhaled deeply, forced himself to calm down, expunged the negative emotions, and aimed again.

"I can't delay any longer," Luo Zheng admonished himself. Success or failure depended on this moment, and since he couldn't rely on his shooting skills to execute an effective kill, he decided, what the heck, to treat his gun like a dirt sprayer. With that in mind, Luo Zheng's mind settled. After aiming at the target, considering the wind direction and speed, he slightly adjusted the barrel. Whether it worked or not, he couldn't care less at this point.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" Luo Zheng pulled the trigger, and three bullets roared out. The recoil shook the rifle in his hands, but Luo Zheng ignored the pain the kickback caused his shoulder and quickly searched through the sniper scope. He discovered that he had actually hit the target, one bullet in the right shoulder and another in the thigh. Both wounds were bleeding profusely, a difficult situation to survive without proper medical aid.

"Da da da!" Countless bullets showered his way. Knowing he had been exposed, Luo Zheng hurriedly slid down the large tree and sprinted for his life.