Strongest Soldier King

The opponent's continuous actions made Luo Zheng feel immense pressure enveloping him, first with the sniper assassination and then the kidnapping of Lan Xing. Luo Zheng could sense that the sniper assassination was a warning, a threat, and a display of prowess, to make him cautious, while the kidnapping served as leverage. Without the sniper assassination, Luo Zheng would have certainly retaliated with full force, but after witnessing the opponent's formidable tactics, Luo Zheng had to exercise caution, reassuring Lan Xue to endure temporarily.

Lan Xue also understood the opponent's power; acting recklessly would be counterproductive, placing Lan Xing in extreme danger. Despite the unreliability of the opponent's words, they had to wait. With a cold expression, she said, "These bastards got hold of a sniper rifle; they are definitely not ordinary assassins or mercenaries. What are you planning to do?"

"Though the transaction is abroad, the kidnappers are domestic, and the hostage must be hidden somewhere within the country. We cannot act, but we can let Shi Feng handle it." Suddenly inspired, Luo Zheng spoke, pulling out his phone.

Soon, the call connected, and Luo Zheng said to Shi Feng, "Can we conduct a security inspection across the city under the guise of tracking the sniper? To startle the snake and flush out the gunman."

"Understood, I will apply immediately, but the approval might be slow." Shi Feng quickly agreed.

"Leave the approval problem to us, you just file the report immediately." Luo Zheng instructed, hanging up the call, then looking at Lan Xue, continued, "The purpose of tracking the sniper is to locate the kidnappers and hostage, to disrupt their usual transaction."

"Understood, I'll arrange it. Additionally, should Ghost Hand lead his underworld guys to find them?" Lan Xue agreed and asked, seeing Luo Zheng nod, she went to the side to make a phone call.

Luo Zheng picked up the hotel's paper and pen, writing down words like kidnappers, hostage, sniper, and Lan Xing, attempting to find correlations. On another sheet, he wrote terms like kidnapping, hacker, sniper, and anesthetic gas, trying to discern the opponent's operational style.

Looking at the keywords on the white paper, Luo Zheng felt a sense of familiarity but couldn't pinpoint it. Lan Xue came over, nodded to Luo Zheng, indicating things were arranged, and curiously looked at the keywords on both sheets. After pondering for a while, she suddenly said, "Why does it feel like every step was calculated?"

"Why do you say that?" Luo Zheng curiously inquired.

"Kidnapping the hostage is the trigger, secretly hiding them and then demanding ransom. If we hadn't appeared, the sniper assassination and Lan Xing's kidnapping wouldn't happen. They would wait to collect the money. Once finding our presence, they immediately got alert, quickly setting two traps, one targeting your sniping action. After the action failed, they promptly kidnapped Lan Xing, step by step in succession. Clearly, the opponent not only knows you but is very familiar with us; otherwise, they couldn't quickly take a series of actions. Who could it be?" Lan Xue pondered confusedly.

Luo Zheng couldn't think of who it could be for a while. He looked at the keywords on the white paper and pondered until it was nighttime, feeling hungry, and had the hotel send up some food. Around eight at night, Shi Feng called to say the action plan was specially approved upstairs, preparing to conduct an all-night check across the city at nine.

Whether such a large-scale inspection would be effective was uncertain. Luo Zheng waited for news in the hotel. Around ten, a call came in, and Luo Zheng suspiciously picked it up to find it was Lan Xing's, startling him. He immediately gestured for Lan Xue not to speak, pressed the speakerphone, and coldly said, "Who are you?"

"Old friend, you've forgotten me so quickly; should I feel happy about it?" A pleasant female voice sounded, with a hint of provocation.

"Is it you?" Luo Zheng found the voice familiar, and a person flashed in his mind, angrily asking, "You didn't run for your life, yet came back to make such a big move. Seems I underestimated you, Tang Tian, why did you kidnap my person?"

Lan Xue also recognized the voice. She didn't expect Tang Tian to be the kidnapper. Suddenly she thought of something, looked toward Luo Zheng, who also realized something, signaling Lan Xue not to rush.

"Simple, the reason has been told to you, I don't want to repeat it. With your intelligence, you should guess my purpose for calling." Tang Tian's voice sounded from the receiver.

"I don't quite understand what you're saying." Luo Zheng coldly replied.

"Playing dumb is uninteresting; we don't need a guessing game. Stop the inspection immediately." Tang Tian coldly stated.

"I think you misunderstood; that is a public security action, unrelated to me. Of course, I have a way to stop their action, but what's in it for me? If you release the hostage, I'll stop the action immediately." Luo Zheng coldly stated.

"If you don't stop the action, I don't mind killing." Tang Tian unyieldingly said.

"Fine, kill then, after you kill, you can forget about completing the transaction with the Song family. You've gone to such lengths, extorting such money, if the kidnapping fails, your situation won't be good either, right? Now release the hostage, and I'll immediately stop the inspection. As for your matter with the Song family, it's unrelated to me, how about it?" Luo Zheng coldly retorted.

"A good proposal, but I don't trust you." Tang Tian coldly rebuffed, "You can test my limit; if you don't stop your action within three minutes, I don't mind mutual destruction."

"Okay, no need for three minutes, negotiations are off." Luo Zheng decisively hung up the phone, looking toward Lan Xue. Lan Xue understood Luo Zheng was employing psychological tactics, nodding in understanding, indicating Luo Zheng shouldn't feel psychological pressure.

Whether he could gain the upper hand in negotiations and force Tang Tian to concede, Luo Zheng felt uncertain, staring at the phone anxiously. The room fell silent, with the occasional sound of cars whizzing past the window. The two patiently waited. Whoever initiated a call meant they lost. This psychological warfare had to endure toughly.

"Tang Tian suddenly getting tense shows that the police must be closing in on their location. Otherwise, Tang Tian wouldn't have called, exposing her identity. Should I call Shi Feng and have him increase the inspection intensity?" Lan Xue softly suggested.

"Tang Tian exposing her identity actively signifies showing off before me, hoping her reputation will make me compromise, indicating she's internally tense or the police are nearing her. As long as we hold on, victory is surely ours." Luo Zheng reassured, though internally, he was worried sick. If Lan Xing lost his life due to his erroneous judgment, how would he face Lan Xue in the future?

"Uh." Lan Xue softly replied, yet she felt anxious like burning inside.