"What's wrong?" Luo Zheng asked in surprise.
"Didn't you say that ten trucks had gone past?" Shadow asked calmly. Seeing Luo Zheng nod, he continued, "If they were transporting people, there's no reason for it to be so quiet. Counting twenty people per truck, that's two hundred people for ten trucks. Where did all these people go? If they were spread out around, Mountain Eagle and his team would have definitely discovered them by now and pulled back. If they were transporting supplies, the movent during unloading could easily have been detected by Mountain Eagle's surveillance, and they would have retreated by now."
"Hiss?" Luo Zheng really hadn't thought about this issue that thoroughly. Hearing Shadow's analysis, his expression suddenly grew grave. Looking ahead, a determined gleam in his eyes tinged with worry, he said in a low voice, "Quick, let's go over and check it out."
The two of them quickly advanced, sprinting through the woods for over ten minutes when Shadow suddenly grabbed Luo Zheng, gesturing for him to be silent and pointing ahead. Luo Zheng looked but saw nothing out of the ordinary, eerily quiet, which startled him. He turned to look at Shadow and saw him crouched low, running forward like a nimble cat, his movents fast and most importantly, soundless, casting a long shadow in the moonlight.
"What fast speed, such an eerie movent technique. Truly worthy of being Shadow." Luo Zheng watched in astonishnt as Shadow darted over a hundred ters away in the blink of an eye, full of admiration. Shadow was, indeed, the base's most likely candidate to beco the Strongest Soldier King. That speed, that movent technique, was indeed sothing Luo Zheng could not match.
As he was filled with admiration, Luo Zheng saw Shadow leap forward, swooping like a large bird, covering nearly ten ters in a bound and making no sound under the moonlight, before vanishing into a thicket. Like a hawk striking a rabbit, he swiftly pulled an individual from the brush without the person offering any resistance at all.
"Hiss?" Luo Zheng was greatly surprised, as he hadn't expected soone to be hidden there, nor did he anticipate that Shadow would find the hiding person and effortlessly subdue them. Such keen vision and skill left Luo Zheng in deep respect. Shortly, Luo Zheng realized that the person caught was Ghost Hand, and an uproar surged within him. With Ghost Hand's abilities, the fact that he hadn't avoided Shadow's tracking and capturing, and had been powerless to fight back, was formidable indeed.
By now, Shadow had recognized Ghost Hand and let him go. The two of them whispered to each other, and Luo Zheng hurried over. Seeing Ghost Hand's bitter expression, he understood: powerful individuals have their pride, and anybody would feel uncomfortable being so easily discovered and captured. He looked at Shadow with respect and said with a wry smile, "I didn't expect it to be you, Shadow. How did you find him?"
"Intuition," Shadow said dismissively, without a hint of boasting, as if it were an everyday occurrence. But Luo Zheng knew that such intuition was forged from countless life-and-death struggles on the battlefield, and he greatly admired it. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Shadow continue, "There was also sothing else. Just now I saw a bird fly over your hiding spot. It seed about to land but then flew away, indicating sothing was amiss. Coupled with intuition, I located your hiding spot. Consider it a lesson in survival on the battlefield, hopefully of so use to you in the future."
"Very useful, incredibly so," Ghost Hand said with a bitter smile.
Luo Zheng hadn't even noticed the passing bird and was deeply impressed by Shadow's observational abilities. Looking into the wooded area under the moonlight, he quickly asked, "Ghost Hand brother, there's no sha being discovered by Shadow. Tell , what did you find? Where's Mountain Eagle? Why haven't they retreated after so long?"
"Mountain Eagle is about three hundred ters up ahead. He discovered the convoy entered the military base and hasn't co out yet; the specifics are unclear. Just wait a mont, I'll contact Mountain Eagle right away." Ghost Hand said and then started mimicking the hoot of an owl with his lips. Owls hoot quite commonly in the night-ti woods, so it wouldn't raise any suspicion.
They all hid and waited. Before long, soone hurriedly retreated through the night. Under the moonlight, they recognized a familiar figure. As he got closer, they realized it was Mountain Eagle. Everyone erged from their hiding spots to greet him. Without waiting for Luo Zheng to ask, Mountain Eagle urgently said, "You ca just in ti. We found ten trucks carrying military personnel, along with so wooden crates. The soldiers went into the base and haven't co out. The crates seem to contain weapons and ammunition. The trucks are parked at the gate of the military base, looking like they're staying overnight. Should we continue surveillance?"
"It is indeed the military. Did you discover anything else?" Luo Zheng inquired further.
"Yes, there are so people in police uniforms, about ten or so. They might be prison guards. I suspect it's a shift change, which is why I wanted to keep watching and didn't retreat hastily," Mountain Eagle said quickly.
"Eh?" Luo Zheng pondered. Prison guards working in an underground prison certainly couldn't stay away from ho for long, and it wouldn't be feasible for them to go back and forth daily. The best solution would be a rotation. Could it be that he had stumbled upon their rotation day? His spirit lifting, he looked to Shadow and said, "How about we stay and continue scouting?"
"I understand what you're thinking. There's no need for so many people; I'll stay. If it really is a shift change, it will take so ti to hand over responsibilities. Besides, it's dark, so it might not be until tomorrow that they can leave. But we can't discount the unexpected. Rest assured, if any of the prison guards co out, I'll definitely tail one all the way ho," Shadow confidently stated.
Having witnessed Shadow's skills, Luo Zheng knew there would be no problem with such an assurance. After a mont's thought, he said, "The two of you go back first; I'll also stay. Retreat to the Embassy and wait until we show up." Seeing that Ghost Hand and Mountain Eagle wanted to say sothing, he waved them off, "No need to argue. The more people, the larger the target, the easier it is to be exposed."
"You two be careful," Ghost Hand said, exchanging a look with Mountain Eagle before they both turned and left.
"Why are you staying behind?" Shadow asked Luo Zheng, surprised and questioning.
Luo Zheng didn't directly answer Shadow's question but thoughtfully said, "We can't infiltrate the military no-go area. We can only wait by the road, find a way to sneak onto a truck, secretly capture a couple of people and interrogate them. If possible, we could disguise ourselves and infiltrate the underground prison."
"No, I've tried that before. There's a checkpoint through the military no-go area. Not only do they check identification there, but they also have devices that scan irises and fingerprints. It's difficult to fake identities unless you kill the person and take their irises and fingerprints. But we don't have the tools to preserve these, and by the ti we obtain them and make our move, it would likely already be compromised," Shadow imdiately refuted without hesitation.
"Hiss?" Luo Zheng didn't expect the security to be so stringent and his expression turned cold with irritation, saying, "In that case, we can forget about sneaking in. Let's just launch a fire attack, flush them all out and take it from there."
"A fire attack is certainly a good plan, but they only need to close the entrance to the underground and the fire won't pose a threat to the underground prison. Even if the ground forces withdraw, our chances aren't improved, though it's still worth a try," Shadow reminded him.
It's Monday, do you have any recomndation tickets? What about monthly tickets?
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