Strongest Soldier King

It wasn't easy finding Lan Xue and the others. Just as Luo Zheng had no time to feel joy, someone entered the room hastily, the gun aimed and ready to fire. Luo Zheng had worked so hard to find them and didn't want to lose track of everyone again. He prepared himself for a hard fight, relieved that the three men with beards mumbled a few words, closed the door, and left.

Luo Zheng let out a sigh of relief, feeling his back drenched in nervous sweat. He took a careful look and noticed that Lan Xue and the others looked haggard, much thinner, and their spirits were very down, as if they hadn't eaten in days. Escaping safely in this condition wouldn't be easy, let alone climbing up through the ventilation duct. What to do?

Time was of the essence, and he couldn't wait any longer. The thugs that had just come in were probably there to check on them, to prevent escapes. Who knew when the next check would be? Luo Zheng scanned the surroundings for a while and saw only one way to escape—through the ventilation duct. The duct wasn't large enough for a person to fit through.

Decisively, Luo Zheng pulled out his M9 combat knife and began to dismantle the aluminum cover of the duct. With the cover removed, the opening was larger. The screws were no match for the M9 combat knife; Luo Zheng quickly removed them and gently pulled away the cover, letting the dust above fall down.

Beneath, Lan Xue, who had been resting with her eyes closed, opened her puzzled eyes as Luo Zheng keenly noticed. She was facing upwards, directly looking at the dismantled duct opening, and instantly woke up. Instead of yelling, she got up and cautiously looked around, showcasing her professional training and good psychological quality.

Luo Zheng breathed a sigh of relief and carefully peered down, making a gesture while shining his flashlight on his face to help Lan Xue recognize him in the pitch darkness with low visibility. Lan Xue, seeing Luo Zheng, immediately covered her mouth in surprise, nearly shouting. Her eyes filled with joy, she quickly nodded and began waking up Ghost Hand and the others. Upon seeing Luo Zheng, they too smiled in surprise and looked at him with admiration in their eyes.

All of them were tied up, which made movement difficult, but without waiting for Luo Zheng to speak, Ghost Hand bit through the ropes binding Lan Xue in no time. Lan Xue helped to free the others. While no one had come to their rescue, they hadn't bothered with the ropes, letting themselves remain bound. But now that someone was there to save them, they knew how to break free.

Lan Xue tied all the ropes together and threw one end up to Luo Zheng at the vent. After catching it, Luo Zheng tied the rope around his waist and dropped a handgun down, which Ghost Hand caught. Ghost Hand quickly moved to the side of the iron door to stand guard, while Snow Leopard crouched down, interlaced his hands in front of his stomach, and looked at Lan Xue. Without any fuss, Lan Xue stepped onto Snow Leopard's hands, and with a boost from him, she shot upwards into the duct and was pulled in by Luo Zheng.

Luo Zheng pulled Lan Xue up. There was no time for after-trouble joy or longing expressions. Lan Xue climbed over Luo Zheng's body; the duct was too small for them to avoid each other, and they were tightly pressed together. In another situation, this close contact could have led to romantic fantasies, but at that moment, Luo Zheng's mind was solely focused on the rescue, void of any amorous thoughts.

As Lan Xue climbed to a position above Luo Zheng's head, she looked at him affectionately, then leaned down quickly. Their lips met briefly, and then she hurriedly climbed past him. Although it was but a fleeting kiss, Luo Zheng felt his body stiffen, overwhelmed by a tremendous sense of joy, wishing he could hold Lan Xue and kiss her thoroughly.

By then, Lan Xue had climbed over him. Luo Zheng took a deep breath, feeling sweet satisfaction inside, everything felt worthwhile. Seeing Mountain Eagle also being pulled up, he quickly grabbed hold of him and then lay flat in the ventilation duct, waiting for Mountain Eagle to climb over him too.

Mountain Eagle climbed to Luo Zheng's head position, gratefully looking at Luo Zheng, the two shared a tacit smile. Mountain Eagle quickly climbed past, and by this time, Snow Leopard also came up. After Snow Leopard climbed over them, Luo Zheng tugged on the rope, which was very heavy on the other end—it must be Ghost Hand. The others could help each other up, but Ghost Hand had to climb up using the rope alone, and Luo Zheng strained to pull him up.

Soon, Ghost Hand was also pulled up, everyone carefully crawled along the passage, with Lan Xue, who had come up first, in the lead. Unfamiliar with the tunnel and unable to see, Lan Xue crawled forward until she found a bend and moved past it, making way for Luo Zheng to take the lead and follow.

Having been here once before, Luo Zheng led the way with ease, guiding everyone to the toilet, Luo Zheng was about to open the ventilation cover when he was surprised to find someone using the toilet. He quickly stopped, and the rest of the team, well-trained and mentally tough, noticing Luo Zheng's inaction, knew something was up and silently held their breath and waited patiently.

Waiting was anxious and heart-wrenching, Luo Zheng realized the person below was defecating and had no choice but to wait until they were done. The person below took a whole three minutes to finish, finally getting up, pulling up his pants and flushing the toilet, only then did he notice footprints on the toilet seat and looked up with a startled suspicion.

"Not good," Luo Zheng was taken aback, realizing they were suspected, he decided to go all out, drew his military knife, and like a giant python, lunged down from the air vent. Mid-air, Luo Zheng saw the person about to shout, so he threw his knife, plunging it directly into the man's mouth. The man groaned in pain, bending over and clutching his throat.

Luo Zheng hit the ground and immediately grabbed the man's neck, twisting it with force, a crunching sound indicating he had broken the man's neck. He then smoothly pulled out the military knife, and as someone else entered pushing the door, Luo Zheng signaled to the others in the ventilation pipe to come down while he, like a fierce tiger, charged forward.

The person who entered looked at Luo Zheng in disbelief, stupefied. Luo Zheng seized the opportunity and pounced like lightning, his knife slashing across the man's neck. However, just as he did so, someone outside the door happened to walk by, saw the scene, and raised their gun. Luo Zheng was shocked as his military knife flew from his hand, striking straight into the newcomer's chest, but the gunshot still went off.

The sound of the gunshot sent many armed militants in the workshop rushing over. Luo Zheng picked up an AK47 from the ground and defended the door, firing fiercely at those who approached, shouting, "Quick, come down fast!"

Lan Xue and the others jumped down one after another and took cover. Ghost Hand shouted, "Brothers, I didn't expect that we're still out of luck. We can only fight to the death now, hand me a gun, I'm nearly going mad."

"Fight to the death, I've been itching for this," Snow Leopard roared loudly, full of murderous intent.

After emptying the bullets in his magazine, Luo Zheng saw that the workshop's armed militants had all taken cover and returned fire. Amidst the chaos, he looked at Lan Xue, who with a resigned expression, said, "I didn't think I'd see you again. Let's fight, even if it means dying together, I'm content."