Strongest Soldier King

At the brink of life and death, everyone's fighting spirit surged, resembling wounded tigers. Lan Xue's words deeply moved Luo Zheng, but he knew now was not the time for tender sentiments; they hadn't reached a dead end yet. His expression darkened as he shouted loudly, "What are you fighting for? Retreat quickly."

"Where should we retreat to?" Ghost Hand and others looked at Luo Zheng in surprise, even Lan Xue turned to look.

Luo Zheng pointed to the pool and ordered, "I'll cover our backs, hurry up."

Startled, Lan Xue and the others quickly ran to the edge of the pool and burst into laughter, feeling the exhilaration of having survived a disaster. In such critical times, no one played the hero, and they all jumped in. War isn't a soap opera, where hesitation only wastes time. Leaving a second earlier gave those covering the rear a better chance at survival.

Soon, everyone had jumped down. Luo Zheng saw that although the armed men outside were firing wildly, no one dared to rush in recklessly. He turned and ran, dived into the pool, restored the wire mesh, and hurried along the drainage channel, bending over as he went. He turned on his flashlight and saw Ghost Hand and the others struggling to move forward in the dark. With the light, everyone's pace quickened considerably. Thinking of the boss, he quickly reminded, "There should be someone waiting at the exit ahead, don't mistake them for the enemy."

A few minutes later, everyone saw the light at the exit and hurriedly quickened their pace, bursting out of the drainage channel in one breath. Luo Zheng also rushed out, saw the rising sun, and laughed joyously, exhaling a breath of stale air and releasing all the pent-up frustration and gloom in his heart as he exclaimed, "We've finally made it out."

"Brother, well done; finding such a hidden drainage channel is impressive," Mountain Eagle shouted excitedly.

Luo Zheng was startled, then remembered the boss and how he had been too happy earlier and had not seen him. He looked around, no one in sight, and guessed that the boss might have left alone after seeing no one emerge at dawn. Without further explanation, he looked at Lan Xue. With a gentle smile, Lan Xue had already considered Luo Zheng her man since their first kiss at the vent entrance. She said, "Don't look at me. What should we do now? You tell us, we'll listen to you."

"Who's that?" Mountain Eagle suddenly shouted loudly.

Luo Zheng looked in the direction of the voice, and from a nearby bush emerged a person, the boss. Surprised and overjoyed, Luo Zheng shouted, "It's you, you haven't left. I thought you had gone ahead."

"Is everyone out?" the boss quickly jogged over and asked.

"Everyone is out, we should not stay here for long, let's move," Luo Zheng said, walking forward, with everyone closely following.

Soon, they saw a Ferrari and couldn't help but laugh. Luo Zheng took the driver's seat, Lan Xue sat in the passenger seat, while Ghost Hand, Mountain Eagle, Snow Leopard, and the boss squeezed into the back. The car was small, and the four of them were packed tightly together. In their desperation to escape, they didn't care about the discomfort. Luo Zheng started the Ferrari and sped off fiercely.

To increase speed, Luo Zheng turned on the car lights, no longer caring about hiding their tracks. A few minutes later, the Ferrari hit the highway and, seeing many armed men chasing after them, bullets flying wildly, everyone quickly ducked down to avoid being hit by stray bullets. Luo Zheng floored the accelerator, and the Ferrari roared away like a primal fierce beast.

Soon, the armed assailants were left behind, and due to their identities, it was impossible for them to pursue by car. On the road, no one knew the boss's identity, so they refrained from speaking carelessly. Once Luo Zheng had rescued Lan Xue and the others, he relaxed completely, looking very tired, and since he had to concentrate on driving, there was no chat.

Half an hour later, Luo Zheng had the boss direct him to his villa. The two of them had been there before. It wasn't far from the small town and was very convenient. The Ferrari stopped at the entrance of the villa, everyone got out, the boss went inside to turn on the lights, and led everyone to the living room.

"Boss, bring out whatever food you have," Luo Zheng called out, then turned to Lan Xue with concern and asked, "Are you hurt, do you need any medical supplies?"

"I'm not injured, just haven't had anything to eat or drink, not even water, I'm starving," Lan Xue said with a wry smile.

The boss rushed into the kitchen and brought out a lot of food, and nobody hesitated to start eating voraciously. Luo Zheng watched everyone devouring the food and laughed bitterly, then asked the boss to distribute bottled water to everyone. Everything else could wait until everyone had their fill; at least they were safe for now. In a little while, the Drunkards would also arrive, and they would discuss what to do next.

The Wata Guerrilla had committed this act, and the country would certainly not compromise. That organization must be eradicated, as well as the Reincarnation Killer Organization. It's a matter of national dignity, non-negotiable. Thinking of the boss's help along the way, Luo Zheng's expression became uneasy. He looked at the boss, who was deep in thought, walked over, patted his shoulder, and said softly, "Regardless, I couldn't have rescued everyone safely without your help. I owe you a big favor, and I'll make sure you're safe."

"Thank you," the boss said gratefully, his eyes filled with worry.

Luo Zheng knew the boss was thinking about his father; it wasn't something easy to console. After a while, when everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they started sharing their experiences. Lan Xue and the others had a simple story; they had voluntarily been taken hostage to secure the safe departure of their survey team and hadn't been treated too unfairly, except for not being given food or water, nearly starving to death.

Everyone was deeply moved by Luo Zheng's story, realizing he had endured so much adversity, truly a matter of life and death. They looked at Luo Zheng with gratitude and admiration, while Lan Xue continued to drink water to regain strength, her eyes filled with happiness. Snow Leopard sighed and said, "Brother, I owe you one again."

"Why talk like that among us? That's being too formal," Luo Zheng replied with a smile. Seeing that everyone was respectful towards the boss, he let out a sigh of relief and gave the boss a comforting look. The boss responded with a wry smile of understanding.

"Enough with the politeness, let's sleep for a few hours. Once the reinforcements arrive, we'll strike back and release this pent-up anger. Those damned Reincarnation Killers almost starved me to death," Snow Leopard said.

"Okay, I'm going to take a shower first. Everyone rest up for now. We definitely need to retaliate for the sake of national dignity, but the immediate priority is to recover our strength," Lan Xue calmly said, looking at Luo Zheng and continuing to instruct, "You're in the best shape here; take charge of keeping watch. Also, inform the headquarters and have the Drunkard meet us here." Saying this, she went to ask the boss for clean clothes for the bathroom.

Luo Zheng agreed, realizing the armed assailants could very well track them down here. Without any help or weapons, it was dangerous. He needed to inform headquarters and have the Drunkard rush over. He agreed, took out his satellite phone, and dialed the secret number.

"Da da da," sudden bursts of gunfire erupted from outside.