Strongest Soldier King

The red sun enveloped the land, with rays of morning light scattered across the sky, making the forest appear clad in an enchanting hue, extraordinarily beautiful. The leaves swayed with the wind, rustling as if green waves were rippling. Birds shot out from the green waves, flitting high into the sky with joyful calls, calling their companions, quickly disappearing out of sight.

Beneath a dense forest, Luo Zheng and others leaned against a large tree, dozing off. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, warming their bodies. The visibility in the forest greatly increased, and Luo Zheng opened his eyes, swiftly climbing a large tree with a metal box in hand, speaking through the earpiece, "Lan Xing?"

"Here!" Lan Xing replied with surprise, "Are all of you alright? Last night your signal suddenly disappeared. Later, I heard you guys fighting and didn't dare to interrupt. From what you said, it seems like you got the item, right? I've already contacted the relevant experts to appraise it for you anytime."

"Great, let them take a look." Luo Zheng didn't expect Lan Xing to be so thorough and said with satisfaction, opening the metal box with a code. The code had been revealed half an hour ago when Cheng He woke up. The metal box code is fixed, unchangeable, and cannot be wrong; otherwise, it will explode automatically.

The box quickly opened, revealing the items inside—a square box that Luo Zheng couldn't understand. He took it out and held it in his hands, saw many interfaces, then took out a military knife, used the tip to unscrew it, and discovered that the outer metal plate was bulletproof, with many circuit boards and components inside, which made Luo Zheng even more puzzled. He couldn't help but ask, "How is it? Can you see it?"

"Adjusting the satellite now, it will take one more minute." Lan Xing hurriedly answered.

Luo Zheng, helpless, had to wait on the tree. A minute later, Lan Xing's voice came through the earpiece: "I can see it now, but it's partly blocked by branches above. Not a big problem, hold on, I'll have the expert confirm."

After a while, a voice said: "Turn it over and take a look, best to extend it forward a bit to avoid the branches above, for a clearer view."

The voice was somewhat mature, which made Luo Zheng estimate he was an expert. He glanced upward and saw indeed branches were obstructing. Drawing out the military knife, he chopped the branches above a few times, creating a larger space. After a moment, the mature voice had Luo Zheng turn it, examining all four sides, finally confirming with joy, "Confirmed, it's the activation device."

"Good, I'll destroy it once we're done." Luo Zheng said casually, heaving a sigh of relief; as long as the item was real, everyone's sacrifice wasn't in vain.

"You can't destroy it, find a way to bring it back, there's only this one, and much data inside isn't backed up." The mature voice urged with urgency and anticipation.

"Huh?" Luo Zheng was shocked, his face turning grim. This thing was like a time bomb, carrying it would bring endless pursuit and plunder.

"Quickly restore it, cover it up, abnormal signals detected, might be other countries' satellites monitoring." Lan Xing hurriedly reminded.

Luo Zheng was greatly alarmed, immediately taking the item down the tree, finding a place with dense treetops to stop, restoring the activation device to its original state. Seeing Lan Xue and Mountain Eagle approaching, Luo Zheng said gravely, "Our position is exposed, we must evacuate quickly, also, it seems we have to bring this thing back."

"Huh?" Lan Xue and Mountain Eagle looked at Luo Zheng in shock. Pursuers weren't terrifying; just find a way to ditch them, but taking the activation device meant enduring endless pursuit and plunder. Everyone was already exhausted, with insufficient ammo and rations, making this battle tough.

"Let's retreat first, and then adapt to circumstances." Luo Zheng didn't have a better plan. His initial idea was to find an open area to let the satellites of various countries discover and then destroy the activation device. With the device destroyed, teams sent to plunder would naturally retreat. With insufficient interests, none would want to offend Huaxia Country, securing everyone's safety. Now the situation changed, and the surrounding strong enemies certainly wouldn't give up.

Back at the stronghold, Luo Zheng's grave gaze fell on Hook, sparking an idea, though immature yet, immediately walked to Hook and said, "Old friend, we're exposed, we must leave here quickly, let's craft some stretchers while moving to carry the wounded, is there a suitable place to hide?"

"The best place is our tribal territory, it's our turf, we know the terrain well, with traps set all around, but it will take a three-day forced march to get there." Hook immediately responded.

"Three days it is, let's go." Luo Zheng said, the team exhausted, needing a place to rest, and the wounded required stabilization for proper healing.

The group quickly mobilized, carrying the wounded along. As for Hook's fallen men, left in the forest directly, it's a tradition of Hook Tribe—taken from the forest, returned to the forest. According to Hook, living depends on the forest; returning upon death is rightful, be it being eaten by beasts or turning into fertilizer, all for the forest's propagation.

Luo Zheng had witnessed Hook and others' method for handling bodies before and didn't say anything. Seeing Zhou Gang and others discussing it quietly, he explained the customs of Hook Tribe. Everyone nodded in understanding, looking at Hook and others with more respect, revering nature, giving back to nature, unlike so-called civilized people who only take, possess, and plunder. People like this deserved to be called the masters of this primeval forest.

During the march, Zhou Gang and others chopped trees and vines to weave some stretchers, carrying the wounded, increasing their pace significantly. Hook, observing the stretchers' usefulness, had his subordinates learn the skill promptly. Meanwhile, Luo Zheng detached from the main group, searching for herbs in the cool, moist places around with Lan Xue helping, gathering quite a lot to apply for everyone.

Unbeknownst to time, it reached noon, weary from traveling, the group stopped to rest on a mountain ridge lined with towering trees, whose shade kept the ground cool and moist. Everyone sat on the exposed tree roots to rest while Mountain Eagle organized the guard. The rest took out the limited rations and shared them. Water wasn't an issue, with grapevines and the like filled with water abundant with vitamins all around benefiting the body, but running out of rations posed a problem. Hunting required fire, and fire would mean exposure.

Luo Zheng leaned against a big tree, deep in thought, with tiger eyes flickering sharp light, contemplating that even without using fire, the surrounding powerful enemies would track them down. Suddenly, a wolf's howl broke out, startling Luo Zheng, who sprang up with a terrifying burst of murderous aura in his eyes.

Everyone else heard the howl as well, immediately on edge, watching the surroundings like encountering a formidable enemy, their sharp gazes filled with boiling fighting spirit.