Luo Jun was still unaware of the women's plight, nor did he dare imagine it. The worst case scenario was that Jones had killed them all.
Regardless, rescuing these survivors was the most important task at hand.
Luo Jun followed them stealthily, constantly seeking an opportunity to attack them, for they had not yet rested, marching in a line. Using grenades against them in this formation would greatly reduce the casualties.
So, Luo Jun waited for them to rest. In such a formation, when resting, the survivors would often be herded together in one group, while the mercenaries would form their own circle.
The best plan would be to wait until nightfall.
When they pitched their tents and slept, Luo Jun could first kill the sentries, then toss grenades into their tents.
Sleeping in tents, once grenades were tossed in, there would be practically no chance of escape.
This was the nightmare of soldiers engaged in jungle or mountain warfare.
Some soldiers who returned alive from the battlefield subsequently suffered from claustrophobia, not only avoiding sleeping in tents but also refusing to take elevators and the like.
In severe cases, they would not even sleep in comfortable houses, opting to sleep on the rooftop in a beach chair every night.
Under the gloomy sunlight, they marched over ten more kilometers. The sun would set in half an hour.
They stopped at a clearing that had been logged before, evidently where the previous squad had camped!
Luo Jun knew that the route he was informed of did not lead here. Jones had clearly lied to him, only revealing half of the route.
Now Luo Jun suspected Jones. He might even know the exact location of the mysterious island's heart!
He had intentionally disclosed only half the route, just enough to deal with these people. The coordinates of the heart would be of immense value to anyone.
Jones had most likely betrayed them for this valuable intelligence.
Pondering this, Luo Jun carefully hid under a short tree, observing their every move.
They ordered the survivors to gather dry firewood from the surrounding forest. Those with axes simply chopped down dead or fallen trees.
Soon, they brought back a five-meter-long dry tree trunk.
It was a tree struck by lightning. They trimmed the branches, laid it on the ground, and lit bonfires at both ends and the middle, using the thick trunk as the core fuel.
The bonfires were large enough to last them through the night.
Due to the limited clearing, they could only pitch two tents. The mercenaries would have to take turns resting in them, with eight people at a time, leaving eight or nine mercenaries on sentry duty.
This situation was far more difficult than Luo Jun had imagined.
They were all experienced mercenaries. Luo Jun would either have to sneak close and toss grenades into the tents, or directly at the bonfires. Either way, only a few would be killed.
The survivors were not far away, so the grenade shrapnel would undoubtedly injure them too.
If he used his pistol to shoot at them, even with his rapid rate of fire, he could only manage five or six shots per second. These were mercenaries seasoned in killing. If he exposed himself, he would likely be riddled with bullets.
Considering everything, Luo Jun decided to blow up the mercenaries outside the tents.
The reason was simple: the mercenaries outside the tents were alert, capable of inflicting casualties and mobile, while those inside, even if awakened by the sounds of battle, would be unable to immediately join the fight. As they emerged from the tents, Luo Jun could still shoot at them.
As for the nearby survivors, Luo Jun could only leave them to their fate.
After all, he was alone, and saving so many people would inevitably require some sacrifice.
Luo Jun found a tree and crouched beneath it, waiting patiently for their rest period, then he would act when the mercenaries in the tents were asleep.
Five hours later, they finally began to rest.
With nine mercenaries on sentry duty, there were only eight in the tents.
Luo Jun still did not act, waiting until they were fully asleep and the sentries grew weary before making his move.
As for Luo Jun himself, he was not tired at all, nor would he be, for he was one man against seventeen armed mercenaries. Such a dangerous adversarial situation allowed him to maintain intense focus.
An ordinary person would undoubtedly be tense.
But Luo Jun, with his strict military training and abundant combat experience, had long since transformed such battlefield tension into a moment of adrenaline rush.
Generally, in such a battle, he could stay awake for three days and three nights.
New recruits on the battlefield exhibited a similar trait, sleeping soundly only after utter exhaustion. But for veterans, being unable to sleep was an entirely different concept.
For the former, it was anxiety and fear. For the latter, it was a contradictory combination of exhilaration and vigilance.
Three more hours passed, and Luo Jun noticed that the sentries were growing weary. Initially, they had been very alert, likely worried that something might happen, for their previous squad members had mysteriously disappeared or gone insane. They could not possibly ignore such a situation.
But until now, there had been no disturbance, allowing their taut nerves to relax as drowsiness set in.
Not only did Luo Jun have two sniper rifles, but he also had several pistols taken from the bodies of snipers, as well as eight grenades!
He only needed to toss out three, then draw his dual pistols to finish the job.
Luo Jun stealthily crept closer, reaching a clump of dense bushes. He removed three grenades, clenching the pull rings in his teeth. Taking aim, he pulled the rings, silently counting 1001, 1002, 1003!
Three seconds later, he immediately tossed them out.
The mercenaries gathered around the three bonfires saw the grenades suddenly drop in front of them, their pupils dilating in shock.
"Get down!"
Someone shouted, immediately dropping to the ground, but it was too late. With a thunderous boom, the three grenades exploded simultaneously, sending a massive shockwave outward like a violent gale.
The sparks from the bonfires were also scattered into the air, instantly darkening the environment.
"Damn it!" Luo Jun cursed, his lack of jungle warfare experience causing him to overlook this.
Relying on his memory and the faint light, he drew his pistols and rapidly fired at the tents, hitting whatever he could.
After emptying both pistols, he stopped.
The forest fell silent, no one daring to make a sound.
Whoever made a noise now would draw fire from the darkness. The survivors were also men with a keen sense of danger. They were probably lying flat on the ground, motionless.
Luo Jun discarded the empty pistols and took out two fresh ones.
He decided to make those survivors take the risk!
Although inhumane, he had to do it, or else everyone would die here!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
