On a pitch-black rainy night, the entire space seed to be engulfed by the torrential downpour. Nothing was visible except for the faint flickering lights in the distance, as if they could extinguish at any mont. These were electric lights in the middle of the enemy camp, mounted on a piece of wood. Luo Zheng couldn't figure out how the enemy was generating electricity and didn't bother to dwell on it. After a mont of reflection, he said, "Madela, how's your sniping skill?"
"Not too great," Madela replied humbly, not daring to boast after witnessing Luo Zheng's sniping prowess. As a capable soldier, Madela could use a sniper rifle but wasn't particularly skilled with it.
"As long as you can use it," Luo Zheng said, after gazing thoughtfully at the enemy camp in the distance. "We're about a thousand ters from the enemy. There's a hill five hundred ters ahead. You should lie in ambush there and be ready to support us. The sniper scope has infrared capabilities, so this stormy night shouldn't be a problem at five hundred ters, right?"
"No problem," Madela replied earnestly after estimating the distance and considering the environnt.
"Then it's settled. You're responsible for covering us while the two of us go down," Luo Zheng said solemnly, looking at Ghost Hand.
"No problem," Ghost Hand replied seriously. The thought that his fiancée might be below stirred him up imdiately, and he tightened his grip on his steel gun.
Madela had seen Luo Zheng and Ghost Hand's close combat skills. Compared to them, he really wasn't as good, and going down wouldn't be of much help. Staying behind to cover them was the most suitable option, so he happily agreed, "Don't worry, the back route is in my hands."
"Thanks," Luo Zheng said seriously, looking at Madela. After Madela nodded, Luo Zheng turned to Ghost Hand, who also nodded. The two exchanged a knowing smile and strode forward, turning off their flashlights to avoid detection by the enemy. Advancing in the dark wasn't too difficult for them, just a matter of moving a bit slower.
Before long, they reached the five hundred-ter mark. Madela found a place to conceal himself while Luo Zheng and Ghost Hand continued forward. Before they knew it, they had reached the enemy camp. It was too dark to worry about being seen. They continued onward, nearing the camp and lying on the ground to observe.
In front of them were several tents. It was unclear how many people were inside. In one tent, there seed to be people gambling as the light was on, while further ahead, there were many more tents. There was no patrol, perhaps because they believed nobody would co on such a dark night? Luo Zheng signaled to Ghost Hand. Using the camp's faint light, they moved forward. In a few jumps, they arrived beside a tent.
Luo Zheng perked up his ears to eavesdrop, discovering that the tent next to them was empty. Maybe it was a tent for the pursuing soldiers who hadn't returned, leaving it unused. They lurked by the tent for a while, observing their surroundings before moving toward the cave.
After so walking, Luo Zheng suddenly sensed movent in front of them in a depression. Startled, he quickly pulled Ghost Hand to hide under a nearby tent. With faint light ahead, they saw soone relieving themselves. Ghost Hand made a throat-slitting gesture, but Luo Zheng shook his head and made a circular detour gesture. Ghost Hand nodded in understanding, and they quickly scouted around and approached from another side.
The rain poured intensely, and the night was as dark as ink. Visibility was impossible until one was near. Luo Zheng and Ghost Hand cautiously pushed forward, avoiding tents with occupants. Before long, they reached the middle of the camp, where they discovered a patrol. They realized that the enemy's defense was focused on the ridgeline, which was the direction of their dayti attack, while completely ignoring the rear mountain forest direction.
For whatever reason, this was to their advantage. Luo Zheng and Ghost Hand continued to move forward, agile as cats, alternating in covering each other's assault. Unknowingly, they arrived near the cave, where there was light and another patrol guarding the entrance. They couldn't enter directly through the cave mouth, so they gestured and quickly moved to the top of the cave.
The top of the cave was a gentle ridge with tents and people sleeping, seemingly deeply. They dared not disturb the enemy and stealthily climbed up, ensuring no noise was made. Finally, they reached the edge of a deep trench and realized for the first ti that the cave indeed looked like a land fissure from above.
The trench was no more than two ters across, easily jumpable. Further out was invisible, the darkness below was impenetrable with no way down. Luo Zheng examined the trench suspiciously when Ghost Hand suddenly tugged his arm, pointing toward the cave entrance.
Luo Zheng turned his head, seeing light on the other side of the cave entrance, arousing his curiosity. The two cautiously approached the light source, like starving wolves closing in on their prey, silently. The light rain buffered their faint footsteps, the blackness concealing their bodies. The patrol ten ters away noticed nothing amiss.
Quietly, they neared the entrance, looking down. Up close, they found that five to six ters into the cave, it changed direction. No wonder they couldn't see what lay inside during the day. A flat, artificially created ledge rested at the turning cliff, illuminated by light from one side, leading to a cave chamber.
The crevice snaked into unknown depths, shrouded in darkness. At the starting cliff, an artificial platform was built, roomy enough to park a truck. The entrance to the cave chamber had an irregular round shape with a diater of about three ters, glowing from within whose size was unknown.
"Could it be a naturally ford cave chamber, converted into a stronghold?" Luo Zheng pondered, seeing the scene, without daring to probe further. Just then, a ten-man squad erged sleepily from inside, yawning as they walked across the platform and from the cave entrance toward the patrol direction. Soon after, the previous patrol returned, passed through the cave entrance, across the platform, and entered the chamber.
Luo Zheng couldn't make out the structure of the cave entrance and exit. The ground above wasn't a crevice, leaving the interior view of the cave hidden. Entering the chamber seed possible only via two paths: through the cave entrance or jumping from the ground to the cliff-platform, which was ten ters high and unprotected. A bad leap could send one tumbling into the fathomless gorge.
"What now?" Ghost Hand signaled, inquiring.
Luo Zheng didn't imdiately answer, instead calmly observing the surrounding terrain for a strategy. The descent carried too much risk. If soone lurked inside the entrance, a jump could be fatal. Clearly, they had to force their way inside through the cave mouth. With this resolve, Luo Zheng's eyes sharpened, glowing brightly in the stormy night.
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