Luo Jun had gone through countless brushes with death during his mercenary career, but what he feared most was not dying from bullets, but from the killers of Mother Nature.
The sea snake glided among the rocks and vegetation on the seafloor, its black and white striped body sending chills down one's spine.
Luo Jun dared not make any rash moves, as it would not attack unless disturbed.
So when Luo Jun saw it, he immediately gave up swimming so as not to startle it.
"How can it still be hibernating at this time of year!? Damn it, this is just creepy!"
And so, Luo Jun held his breath.
After a long while, the sea snake burrowed into the sandy soil beneath the rocks and disappeared. Only then did Luo Jun hurriedly flip over and bite down on his gun barrel to take a deep breath.
Luo Jun did not dare linger for long, as the shallow waters here likely harbored jellyfish among the vegetation, even more fearsome than sea snakes.
A sea snake's bite is painless, but death comes after three hours or a day or two, whereas jellyfish stings bring excruciating pain, often leading to death in a short time, or even instant shock.
At fifty meters, Luo Jun surfaced twice for air before finally poking his head out by a huge reef.
His body was already frozen stiff, and his trembling hands had lost all sensation, numb even against the cold, rough reef.
Shaking all over, he gingerly crawled ashore.
Using the lush red trees growing on the coast as cover, he slinked on all fours into the woods and collapsed onto a patch of dry sand.
He struggled to control his shivering as he assembled his rifle.
At times like these, one must control bodily tremors, or it would be impossible to fight.
But right now there was no way for him to get warm. He had no choice but to use an "inner heat generation" method - nothing fancy, just something ordinary people could quickly achieve results with too.
For instance, imagine something incredibly embarrassing to make yourself "blush". A physiological heat would be generated from this psychological phenomenon.
If that didn't work, he could also imagine himself in a scorching desert, the agonizing heat drenching him in sweat. Constantly simulating such imagery would send the brain incorrect signals, stopping the trembling.
After all, shaking itself was a physiological reaction to cold temperatures. With the brain receiving faulty signals, this reaction would cease.
But this would not truly warm up the body.
If the above two methods failed, then the last resort was "self-pleasure". Quite uncouth, but extremely practical - it could stimulate adrenaline production, accelerate heartbeat, and speed up blood circulation!
Moreover, the high-frequency hand motions, coupled with imagining intimacy between man and woman, would fully immerse one's body and mind in that environment.
Thereby swiftly restoring body heat in a short time.
Luo Jun was not yet reduced to using this last method. His cold-resistance training allowed him to recover normal body temperature through the first two means.
Additionally, he breathed more strongly and inhaled more oxygen. This would hasten his heartbeat and blood circulation.
But this was no simple deep breathing. It followed a certain rhythmic breathing technique. If he just repeatedly took deep breaths, while it would accelerate his heartbeat and cause palpitations and sweating, it would also lead to oxygen deprivation and dizziness.
Proper utilization in combat required training to master one's own breathing methods.
After five minutes, Luo Jun's body had returned to normal. His hands no longer shook, and he could not feel the piercing cold.
With his rifle assembled, he began moving through the woods, because the enemy's rocky position was ten meters high. He could not see their location from here, let alone their escape route.
The only advantageous sniping spot was a small hill two hundred meters away.
Luo Jun scaled the hill as swiftly as he could and crouched behind a thick tree trunk, with dense bushes providing excellent concealment ahead.
He steadied his breathing and observed the tall rock through his scope.
Its top was uneven, strewn with massive boulders. Soon, Luo Jun spotted two men in ghillie suits lying atop the rock, aiming at where he was before.
"Such professional snipers, just who are these guys?"
Luo Jun was very curious to communicate with them and learn about the island's circumstances, but that was impossible. Bullets would be their only means of exchange.
From here the targets were just two hundred meters away. Even with degraded accuracy from waterlogged guns, Luo Jun could still take them out.
Luo Jun regulated his breathing and centered his crosshairs on the sniper intently watching.
After ensuring no "sparrows" were behind, he opened fire.
Bang! The bullet instantly pierced through the spine of the sniper with a boonie hat. His upright posture collapsed forward, devoid of any life.
The spotter reacted extremely quickly. Seeing this, he turned and fled!
Their escape route afforded Luo Jun's sight just six meters. Fortunately his was an automatic rifle, capable of burst fire. The instant the spotter entered the bushes, Luo Jun's bullets struck his thigh.
Knocked off balance mid-sprint, the man tumbled forward.
Luo Jun never intended to kill him, because he wanted intel about the island!
Through his scope Luo Jun saw the man crawl away, so he shot his other leg. Now totally immobilized, there was no escaping on just his hands.
Luo Jun stowed his rifle and ran towards the man.
In under a minute, Luo Jun reached around twenty meters of where the man fell. Naturally he would not approach recklessly, as spotters carried sidearms.
To prevent him from committing suicide, Luo Jun stealthily closed in.
He saw the man crawl to a tree trunk and slump against it, panting heavily. Both legs were completely paralyzed, still bleeding profusely.
The agony on his face made him raise his gun, nearly ready to end it all.
The first time he lowered it, but when he brought up the pistol again, Luo Jun instantly shot his wrist. The gun flew a meter away.
Howling in pain, he tried crawling over to grab it left-handed, but Luo Jun's bullet was much faster, striking his left arm too.
Even if his injured hand reached the gun, he would be too powerless to pull the trigger.
Luo Jun closed in quickly with his own pistol drawn. Right when the man was about to retrieve his, Luo Jun kicked it away.
Mercenaries never bent down to pick up guns in front of live enemies. They would kick them away instead.
The reason is very simple. A dying man will use every means to attack his enemy. If he bends down to pick up a gun, he will directly expose multiple weaknesses, and the opponent will most likely pounce on him and bite his ear or carotid artery, or even stab his eyes with the exposed bones of his severed limbs.
Luo Jun put away his pistol and took out a dagger, slashing directly at the man's left and right armpits, completely severing the tendons in both arms.
The man screamed in agony through gritted teeth.
"If you want a quick, painless death, then cooperate nicely with me. Otherwise, I can make you live another forty-eight hours."
Luo Jun looked coldly at the man in extreme agony and said.
At this moment, Luo Jun was like an asura from hell, with terrifying, ruthless eyes that left no doubt that he could rip off a piece of flesh from this man and eat it at any time.