Chapter 323: Either You Die, or I Live!

Buzz......

An echo reverberated through the valley, and the calm lake surface rippled.

The upturned‑billed fish that was about to bite the hook in the water was suddenly startled and quickly dove down to flee.

By the lake, after guarding all night, the fisherman who was finally about to start got so angry he almost snapped his fishing rod.

He stood up and shouted at the mountain opening where the distant noise came: "You spicy neighbor, again shooting birds, again playing firecrackers—never ending, huh?"

A companion beside him urged, "Lao Wang, don't get angry, don't get angry, let's move to another spot to fish."

The fisherman fumed, "It's a rare vacation, my wife even took the kids back to her parents' house, and just trying to fish peacefully is damn so hard!"

"Alright, alright, the most important thing is to be happy; let's go fish at the artificial lake on the east side, the fish there are definitely plenty."

"We can't go there, there's a sign up, looks like someone has a lease?"

"Ah, that's exactly why the fish are abundant—someone's leasing it."

The two fishermen exchanged a smile, preparing to head to the leased fish farm to catch a few and bring them back.

But just as they were packing up to leave, two troop transport trucks rolled toward them.

Before they could react, a squad of armed soldiers leapt out of the trucks in a hurry and charged toward them.

Frightened, the two fishermen quickly dropped their gear, raised their hands, fearing the troops would think they were up to some illegal act.

Yang Yong stepped forward briskly and saluted, "Fellow countryman, may I ask—did you just hear gunfire?"

"Uh-huh, yes, over there."

The fisherman quickly pointed toward the mountain behind them.

But then, following that, he also indicated the mid‑mountain direction.

"Just now, someone over there set off firecrackers, scaring all our fish away."

"Firecrackers?"

Yang Yong paused briefly, then immediately caught on.

It must have been a grenade, explosives, or the detonation of a fuse.

Earlier they were too far to hear clearly, but now that they know the exact location, it's much easier.

Yang Yong quickly ordered, "You go over there, you climb up from this side, the rest follow me! Lan Li, you're agile—take those two and try to climb up from here!"

"Yes!"

The Zhencha Daitui mobilized at once.

Lan Li, shouldering a sniper rifle, led the group toward the stone wall.

Passing the two fishermen, he glanced at their empty fishing gear and small bucket, leaving two characters.

"Air Force."

"???"

"No, he—did he just scold us?"

"Probably not. Maybe they're doing joint training with the Air Force?"

"Oh, I thought he was berating us. Let's move, otherwise the crack‑bang will scare the fish again, truly an Air Force situation..."

On the other side, a sudden explosion startled Lao Sun just as he was about to open the car door.

He watched the dust and smoke rising from the slope behind, and the drizzle of gravel and earth tumbling down the mountain.

Lao Sun looked at Kui Ge, "The bait grenade—detonated?"

Kui Ge hummed, "Yeah, the tail's completely gone this time; we can go now."

"Cool, Kui Ge!"

Shou Zi's eyes were full of admiration.

That move was insane!

In just a couple of moves he turned a grenade into a trap!

No wonder so many police fell into Kui Ge's hands—he's just too strong!

"Kui Ge, could you teach me after we get back? You know I'm timid and can't hold a gun up front."

"Heh, you think it's that easy to learn?"

Kui Ge flung open the door, sat in the driver's seat, fished the key from under the seat, inserted it and started the engine.

The other two hurried to the back seat and shut the door; but Lao Sun still glanced back anxiously.

After confirming no one was chasing from behind, he finally relaxed.

However, the earlier scene of Kui Ge silently setting the bait grenade truly amazed him.

Even though he'd worked in the militia department and received basic training, he'd only heard of such a skill, never seen it.

He guessed the guy who'd been tailing them all the way had already been blown to pieces by a grenade.

Kui Ge shifted to neutral, pressed the clutch, and began steering backward; just as he re‑engaged the forward gear and started moving.

Bang!

A gunshot struck the left door, leaving a small hole.

The two in the back crouched in fear, looking at the blood dripping onto the seat; Shou Zi now had a gaping wound on his leg.

Clutching his bleeding thigh, he screamed, "Ah, ahhh, I got shot, I got shot!"

Two more gunshots followed; the front wheel clearly hissed as it lost air, and the car sank toward the left‑front.

Kui Ge ducked his head to the ground, but a peripheral glance in the rearview mirror caught a blood‑splattered, disheveled figure stumbling forward, pistol raised.

"Damn, he didn't get blown up!"

Kui Ge grabbed the 56‑C from the passenger seat, disengaged the safety, and fired toward that direction.

Lu Yang's vision was blurred, and a ringing still persisted in his ears.

Even though his five senses were out of sync and he was severely wounded, he still relied on his solid shooting skill, using a gun he was unfamiliar with to blast the car tire, successfully buying some time.

As the opponent, furious and embarrassed, swept fire toward this side, Lu Yang's reflexes made him tumble to the ground quickly.

Bullets whizzed past his head, and he quickly rolled twice on the ground, taking cover behind the raised mound of earth beside him.

After getting out of the car, Kui Ge glanced at the left front wheel and indeed it was blown out; this feeling of being unable to shake it off or kill it made him both nauseated and angry.

"Bastard!"

"Monkey, change the tire quickly; Lao Sun, grab your weapon, take him down!"

Kui Ge stepped forward a few paces, his submachine gun rattling as it poured fire toward the mound where Lu Yang was hiding.

With the submachine gun's high rate of fire, Lu Yang had no chance to expose himself or to escape.

On the other side, Lao Sun loaded two rounds into his hunting rifle, flanked around, preparing to finish off Lu Yang.

Shou Zi staggered out of the car, hurriedly pulling a spare tire and tools from the trunk.

But the deadly part was that he had never changed a spare tire; he didn't know how!

"How the heck do you change this thing?"

"Fuck you, why don't you just die? You can't even change a tire!"

Hearing that, Kui Ge's desire to kill was sparked.

What the hell are these pig teammates?

"You have three minutes; if the tire isn't fixed, I'll take your life!"

Kui Ge's threat scared Shou Zi into not daring to delay a moment; dragging his injured leg, he staggered over to change the tire.

Lu Yang took advantage of the moment Kui Ge was reloading, timed his move, and fled down the trail on the other side, hoping to regain distance with his speed.

But this time, he clearly felt his strength failing; each step tugged at his wounds, the pain contorting his features.

This also caused his speed and reflexes to drop sharply, and several times he nearly got hit by bullets sweeping from behind.

Glancing back at the two relentless pursuers, the gravely wounded Lu Yang cursed his mother in fury.

"What the hell, why didn't you chase earlier? Only now that I'm injured do you chase; no sense of chivalry!"

Fortunately, a dilapidated house made of stacked stones appeared by the roadside ahead.

Occasionally, forest rangers patrol the mountains, and this house was probably built for them.

However, it seemed long abandoned; the surrounding weeds were at least a meter high, and the doors and windows were broken.

With no other cover nearby and nowhere to escape, Lu Yang made a savage charge, slamming into the door.

Seeing Lu Yang scramble into a stone house, Kui Ge slowed his pace and raised his hand, signaling Lao Sun.

The two, guns raised, cautiously surrounded the house, preparing to eliminate this guy who had disgusted them all the way.

The stone house was small, yet it rigidly divided the interior and exterior into two rooms.

Lu Yang hid behind the inner wall, gulping breath heavily, his breathing sounding as rough as a broken bellows.

He looked down at his injuries and his right hand already stained red with blood, a helpless expression of resignation on his disheveled face.

"Careless..."

If only I hadn't stepped on that booby trap.

But it's too late to say anything now; the enemies are clearly more experienced.

It was at this moment that he realized he had always been a flower growing in a greenhouse.

Although he excelled on the arena, training grounds, and drills, there was still a huge gap when facing these blood‑licking veterans who had actually seen combat.

If his mind weren't quick, if he weren't fast and reflexive, he would already be a corpse now.

Fortunately, when he was blown away earlier, Lu Yang decisively used his last Second‑Class Merit to exchange a "Body Recovery" in the mall.

Otherwise, with such severe injuries, he would probably struggle even to stand now.

Currently, with the system's help, the bleeding and healing are counteracting each other.

But because the wounds are serious, Lu Yang doesn't know how long this state can last.

However, he cannot sit and wait for death, nor does he want to become a martyr; he knows his parents would be very sad if he died.

Lu Yang doesn't want to be his parents' regret, doesn't want his comrades to shed tears for him, doesn't want his brand‑new life to end here before it even begins.

As a dutiful son, a reliable comrade, and a Lieutenant Platoon Leader with boundless potential, he must find a way to kill the enemies to survive!

Just as he mustered his fighting spirit and slowly rose, faint footsteps sounded outside, and a gun barrel suddenly protruded, pointing straight at Lu Yang's chest.......