Strongest Soldier King

It was normal to find broken wood in the forest, but that was usually caused by natural phenomena, such as wind, lightning, or the impact of wild beasts. The broken ends of the wood on the ground, however, looked more like they had been caused by the blade of a human—reason enough to be careful. Luo Zheng, who had been hunting since his childhood, had developed a cautious nature. He pulled out his Type 65 Army dagger and chopped off a small branch beside him, stripped it of its twigs, and used it as a stick to tentatively poke at the dry leaves ahead—no danger.

Luo Zheng continued a few steps forward, then squatted down, calmly observing the ground in front of him. Lan Xue's curious questions reached his ears, but Luo Zheng didn't answer. Instead, he calmly stared at a thin vine covered by the dry leaves on the ground in front of him. The vine was somewhat withered and, at first glance, seemed unnoticeable; even if spotted, it wouldn't garner much attention as vines like these were commonplace in dense forests. However, Luo Zheng's expression turned grave. He used the stick to move the dry leaves aside and took a more careful look.

The thin vine extended a short distance before entering a bush. At first glance, it looked like it was simply a vine growing out of the bush, but Luo Zheng didn't think so. Decisively, he cut the vine with his dagger and then cautiously used the stick to push aside the broken wood in front of him. His face immediately turned grim.

There was nothing special under the broken wood, but up ahead, two wooden stakes blocked the broken wood, and the vine was tied to the wood. If someone touched or stepped on the broken wood, because of the stakes in front, it would only sway to one side, which would then tug on the vine. Following the vine to the bush, Luo Zheng saw a terrifying land mine buried inside.

It was an anti-infantry directional mine, with a round box on top containing more than 700 steel balls, explosives beneath it, and a grenade buried underneath the explosives. The safety pin was tied to the vine, and a slight pull would detach it, triggering the grenade to set off the explosives, which would then propel the steel balls outwards, sparing no one within a fifty-meter radius.

As Luo Zheng stared at the formidable land mine, his expression grew serious. He carefully isolated the explosives and the grenade, then lifted the grenade out and fixed the partially pulled safety pin back into place. He then cautiously removed the land mine, noticing that its trigger mechanism was actually off. He paused, then realized it was to prevent accidental detonation by wild animals. As long as the broken wood wasn't disturbed, the mine wouldn't explode. Assured of safety, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Using a grenade to detonate a land mine meant that someone didn't need to step on the trigger device to cause an explosion. The person burying the mines must be a psychopath; the simultaneous explosion of a grenade and a mine would be devastatingly powerful. Luo Zheng found the thought terrifying. Looking ahead at the forest, his expression grew even more somber. Upon hearing Lan Xue's question next to him, he simply explained the situation and added, "I feel like this forest is riddled with many traps; disarming them will be quite difficult, making it unsuitable for an attack."

"What does 'many' mean?" Lan Xue asked seriously.

"From the method of mining, the one setting them is a psychopath who stops at nothing, and the camouflage is extremely deceptive, making it hard to recognize. Take, for example, this land mine: to my knowledge, the broken wood is made from barbed wood, which wild animals will definitely not touch. Humans seeing it would instinctively kick it aside—so, the only possibility for this mine to detonate would be for someone to touch the broken wood... Wait," Luo Zheng suddenly grew tense mid-sentence.

"What's happened?" Lan Xue also became tense following Luo Zheng's lead.

Luo Zheng did not immediately respond but continued to observe his surroundings, his eyes full of vigilance. After a while, he moved to a relatively open area nearby and discovered a tripwire covered by dry leaves. He lightly used the stick to brush aside the leaves and saw that the tripwire extended into another bush.

Following the tripwire, Luo Zheng was shocked to see a crossbow trap hidden in the bushes. He looked around, his face turning exceptionally pale, and spoke into his headset, "Come over here and make sure to follow the path I took. Don't go anywhere else and be careful."

Lan Xue was taken aback and responded affirmatively before sliding down the tree and carefully following Luo Zheng's footsteps. Seeing Luo Zheng's ghastly pale face, she quickened her pace. Noticing an open and firm area of ground that seemed suitable to walk on, she slightly diverted her direction only to be startled by Luo Zheng's tense warning. She immediately stopped, not daring to place her lifted foot down, and looked at Luo Zheng with apprehension.

"I told you to follow my footprints, why didn't you listen?" Luo Zheng, a bit angrily, scolded, "Take a step back and don't move, look here."

Lan Xue followed the direction of Luo Zheng's stick and saw a tripwire, her face changing slightly. She had been focused only on her steps and hadn't noticed what was ahead until Luo Zheng explained, "Did you think it was safe and easy to walk up ahead?"

"Yes, indeed," Lan Xue realized, her face turning ashen, "the person who set these traps is an expert, who has taken into account the terrain and predicted people's psychology. It's truly unsafe here."

"If it were only that, it might be fine. But look," Luo Zheng pointed at the surrounding terrain and continued, "The area within one meter ahead of you is safe and very walkable, the view is somewhat clearer. One meter further is a depression, which is also safe. But take two more steps and you'll hit a tripwire. Who would expect a trap there? And even if it's found, how do you deal with it? Throw yourself to the side?"

Lan Xue looked to both sides, one was a slope, the other side was where Luo Zheng stood with broken wood. Her face turned pale, and she cautiously said to Luo Zheng, "It's really cunning. After triggering the tripwire, there must be traps in the bushes ahead, right? The only choice would be to throw oneself toward your side for safety. Upon seeing thorny branches and broken wood, there are two possibilities: one is to push them away with your hands to avoid injuring your head, the other is to ignore them, and after you've passed through safely, in frustration and anger, you'd kick away the broken wood. Either way, it would trigger a land mine explosion. Such calculation."

Having understood the reasoning, Lan Xue felt a chill run down her back and worriedly said, "This is a series of traps. I suspect there are third and fourth connections. It's good that you discovered it early. The traps here are not the scariest part; I'm worried that there might be even more clever and densely packed traps ahead. What do you think?"

"That's my concern, too," Luo Zheng said with a resigned smile. "It seems that the enemy has turned this place into a minefield. I guess the other two sides are the same, making it highly unlikely to stealthily attack the wolf's den from three sides of the mountain. Even if we clear the mines, I estimate it would take several days, and what we've seen so far are just conventional land mines. What if there are smart land mines below? There might also be cameras installed, and once we're spotted, they could remotely control the concealed land mines."

"This is also my biggest concern," Lan Xue, coming from the Mysterious Army, was no less experienced than Luo Zheng and had also thought of this. After a moment of contemplation, she said, "I have a plan, let's go back first and discuss it with everyone."