Strongest Soldier King

The middle-aged man, seeing that Luo Zheng and his companions did not pursue quickly, calculated that they dared not openly draw their guns and sneered. He hurried toward the first-class cabin with a middle-aged woman and a child, and passersby quickly made way. The three of them soon reached the entrance of the first-class cabin where someone hurriedly ran out, head down, moving quickly, and bumped right into the middle-aged man at the door as they dodged each other.

Both moving swiftly and the narrow doorway made their collision inevitable, after which the apologetic person stepping out paused to let the other party through, then darted out, catching up with the arriving Luo Zheng and his companions who were momentarily stunned. When they noticed a smug smile on the face of the departing person, Lan Xue gestured for everyone to stop.

The one coming out was Drunkard, who upon seeing Luo Zheng and others gaining on him, gestured for them to retreat. Luo Zheng was startled and looked at the target, shocked to find him lying at the doorway with the middle-aged people and the child screaming in panic and shouting something as a crowd gathered.

"Don't look anymore, let's go," Lan Xue whispered, pulling Luo Zheng to turn around and leave.

"Did it work?" Luo Zheng asked in surprise.

"Yes," Lan Xue whispered back, then explained upon seeing the puzzled expression on Luo Zheng's face, "Drunkard is a master of Golden Needle Acupuncture, a tiny short needle can take a life. The collision just now was intentional; he took the opportunity to act, and no one could spot the flaw."

"This guy has that skill too?" Luo Zheng marveled.

"You think being an Elite Soldier King is for nothing? Everyone has their own unique skills," Lan Xue said in a low voice, quickening their pace. Seeing the Ghost Hand and others also heading back, and Drunkard catching up, Luo Zheng nodded in acknowledgment and decided, impressed, to learn this skill somehow—killing without anyone noticing.

Everyone reached the regular waiting hall where travelers were starting to board. No one knew what had just happened, nor cared to check; Luo Zheng intentionally fell behind and, not seeing Drunkard's three brothers catch up, he curiously approached Drunkard and whispered, "What about those three brothers?"

"They stayed back to confirm the target's identity. If it checks out, they'll return to the team immediately; if there was a mistake, they'll revive him," Drunkard explained quietly.

"Revive? He's not dead?" Luo Zheng exclaimed, asking hurriedly.

"Given the target's physical condition and vitality, he can last about half a minute without dying. If no action is taken within half a minute to save him, he'll definitely die," Drunkard explained quietly.

"Impressive, teach me?" Luo Zheng asked with a surprised face, his eyes filled with anticipation.

"You? Sure, but not yet, you have too many basic skills to learn first. We'll talk about it once you master them," Drunkard said ambiguously, and seeing the three brothers signaling victory, he relaxed, whispered, "It's done, we should head home."

"Alright, when we get back, we'll fight again; you lose a move, you owe me a drink," Luo Zheng said joyfully, having just eliminated the last assassin, finally feeling vindicated. As for whether the Reincarnation Killer Organization would seek revenge, that was a concern for later. At the moment, becoming stronger was the urgent priority. After witnessing how effortlessly the drunk killed, Luo Zheng realized that killing didn't necessarily require guns or ostentatious battles; it could be done silently, stealthily, in the blink of an eye, leaving no traces behind—that was the real skill.

A few minutes later, everyone arrived at the boarding gate for the flight back home. Half an hour later, they began boarding the plane. Once it was airborne, everyone sighed with relief. Luo Zheng looked over at Lan Xue sitting beside him and whispered, "We can finally go home now. Everyone is safe; that's great."

"Yes, the New Year is just a few days away," Lan Xue whispered back. "After completing this mission, the higher-ups will definitely give our squad a few days off. I need to go back to Beijing to see my family and spend time with my grandfather. What are your plans?"

"Captain, not taking the young master to visit?" Ghost Hand teased in a low voice from the seat in front. Since everyone was in first class, sitting close to each other, and had sharp hearing, anything said was clear to all. Snow Leopard and Mountain Eagle also looked over, smiling good-naturedly, their eyes filled with blessings.

"Shut your mouth. No one will think you're mute if you don't talk," Lan Xue said sternly, her face tense.

"Alright, mouth shut, mouth shut, not disturbing your lovely dovey moments. Just wondering if certain people might feel so heartbroken they'd think of jumping out of the plane?" Ghost Hand quickly made a zipping gesture with his lips, but his gaze slyly shifted to the drunk, who closed his eyes to rest, seemingly oblivious to the conversation around him.

"I plan to train rigorously. The drunk was right; I lack systematic training and still need to master many basic skills like maritime, aerial, and terrestrial infiltration, decapitation, escort and anti-terrorism actions, special reconnaissance, the use of various modern equipment, and informationized warfare, to name a few. It will take at least half a year to master these. Besides these skills, there are also mountain, snowfield, desert, and urban special combat tactics that I need to train in," Luo Zheng said earnestly, his gaze inadvertently shifting towards the drunk.

"You want to learn his unique skills?" Lan Xue asked, understandingly. Seeing Luo Zheng nod, she thought for a while and then said, "You make sense. Currently, you are familiar with jungle warfare, and your hand-to-hand combat, physical fitness, and sniping are decent. But other areas are still lacking. That's also fine, but, it will be tough on you."

"It's okay, for the two of us," Luo Zheng grasped Lan Xue's hand. Lan Xue stiffened for a moment but soon relaxed, flashing a gentle smile and interlocking her fingers with Luo Zheng's. She leaned her head on Luo Zheng's shoulder, whispering, "Be careful during training, balance work with rest. I won't be accompanying you over the New Year; I'm going to get some sleep first."

"Mm." Luo Zheng felt Lan Xue leaning into him, her body soft yet strong, emitting a faint fragrance that was intoxicating. He took a deep breath, suppressing the tender thoughts in his heart, wrapped his arm around Lan Xue's waist from the back, and closed his eyes to rest as well.

However, Luo Zheng couldn't sleep at all. Thoughts of the Song family and the several times he had nearly died in battle intensified the hatred in his heart. It was mercenaries last time, assassins this time. What about next time? Given the Song family's vindictive nature, there would definitely be other schemes. How should he respond?

Merely being passively beaten would only make things worse. It seemed he had to find a way to strike back. Just that, the enemy held high positions of power. If not for being under the jurisdiction of the Military's National Blade Special Team, where no return was expected, he probably would have been doomed long ago. He wasn't able to cope at all; how should he proceed? Thinking about these things filled Luo Zheng with rage.

Perhaps sensing Luo Zheng's anger, Lan Xue gripped his hand a bit tighter and softly said, "Don't worry, things will get better. No matter what, no one can separate us, no one can, right?"

"Right, no one can." Luo Zheng's heart warmed, and his resentment dissipated slightly. His eyes became resolute; for Lan Xue, for himself, there was no turning back. He only had to fight to the end, clenching his fist tightly.