Super Soldier in the City
Chapter 1132 - 1178: Waiting for a Rabbit by a Stump

Chapter 1132: Chapter 1178: Waiting for a Rabbit by a Stump

Li Yifei’s guess wasn’t wrong; indeed, there were no crocodiles in this swamp, but there was another kind of ferocious animal living within, a creature even more ferocious than the crocodiles. If a crocodile were to fight this animal, the crocodile would have an eighty percent chance of losing.

All five members were vigilantly watching the surface of the water, moving forward slowly. Zheng Mingrui, who was bringing up the rear, suddenly stopped in his tracks as he finally saw a dark shadow shooting up from under the water, aiming straight for him, the last in line.

It was a water python, its head seemingly not much smaller than a human’s. When it opened its mouth, it resembled a washbasin, coming straight for Zheng Mingrui’s shoulder.

The water python is perhaps the largest snake in the world: nonvenomous but of immense size, with astonishing constriction power. Once it bites its prey, it immediately wraps around them, tightening its grip with each breath the victim takes, until they suffocate to death. Only then will it consume its prey.

Some movies show scenes where pythons swallow people whole, with the victims screaming as they go down. That’s complete nonsense—a python won’t eat its prey without suffocating it first.

The python’s biting speed is incredibly fast, but because Zheng Mingrui was prepared, he immediately shrugged his shoulder and struck fiercely at the side of the python’s head.

The power of Zheng Mingrui’s blow was enormous. Even the robust python was knocked off course by the strike, its body heavily hitting the surface of the water before sinking back down.

Pythons capture their prey through surprise attacks. If they miss on the first attempt, they will submerge and prepare again. They are not as difficult to deal with as lions and tigers on land. As long as you’re not bitten the first time, you’re likely to be safe.

But Li Yifei and his team didn’t dare to be careless. Although this python had failed its ambush and wouldn’t attack again, who knew how many pythons there were under the surface of the water? Everyone immediately quickened their pace towards the shore; in such a place, their combat effectiveness was greatly diminished, and the risk was simply too high.

Finally making it to shore, Zheng Mingrui exhaled and cursed, "Damn it, who chose this lousy place, with such freakish things in it?"

The other two team members, Xiao Qiang and Qu Shouping, seemed pretty relaxed. Qu Shouping said with a grin, "I don’t think the place itself is wrecked. It’s just that our landing spot was unlucky, dropping us right into this swamp. Fortunately, there isn’t any of that man-swallowing sludge here, otherwise, it would be even more troublesome."

This was indeed true. If they had encountered deep mud, it would be even more dangerous than quicksand. If one got stuck in it, it would be incredibly difficult to get out. Last time in the Quicksand, if Li Yifei hadn’t found an unexpected escape, he would have really been done for.

The group only paused briefly at the shore before quickly submerging into the dense woods, concealing themselves—this was their most crucial task.

Li Yifei and his team had this idea, and so did others. At this point, no one wanted to expose themselves prematurely. The island was almost entirely primitive forest. Making the first move was not only difficult in finding the enemy but also made one vulnerable to ambush. No one would be so foolish as to take that risk now.

However, the initial rules were quite strict, precisely to prevent this situation. It was specified that one must reach the gathering point within a certain time to be considered valid. Thus, although they wanted to hide, they still had to make their way to the gathering point.

And the closer they were to the gathering point, the greater the chance of encountering others, the higher the possibility of being attacked, but also the more opportunities there might be.

On the first day, Li Yifei and his team had no mishaps. After a day’s analysis, they decided to change their strategy. Though preserving their strength was wise, they would inevitably meet many strong opponents later on, and the risks would be enormous. Whether they could really make it out safely was uncertain.

Therefore, Li Yifei decided to take a proactive approach during this period. With everyone spread out widely, they could quickly eliminate an opponent team and other teams wouldn’t be able to arrive fast enough. The success rate would be higher than if they waited until the end to strike.

However, this approach had a downside: by acting this way, their chances of being exposed increased. They would need to be even more meticulous in hiding their movements.

Nonetheless, the advantages clearly outweighed the dangers. After discussing with the four others, Li Yifei decided to adopt a bolder strategy.

Having made their decision, the five immediately sprang into action.

However, on such a large island, finding other squads is definitely not an easy task. First, the forests on the island are too dense; even if you were just dozens of meters away, you might not see the other party. Moreover, everyone here is skilled at concealing their tracks, making it even more difficult to locate each other.

Li Yifei then proposed a method that immediately excited everyone in Zheng Mingrui’s team, and they all agreed that Yifei’s idea was excellent. Then the five of them immediately started taking action.

The special forces from the Philippines should be considered one of the weaker squads, but the five members of this squad never saw themselves as such. They always believed they were a very strong team. However, they had the misfortune of unintentionally encountering the French special forces.

At this point, there was no other choice but to fight. Both sides wanted to capture the other’s card, and the ten soldiers quickly employed all their skills, launching attacks on each other.

But the Philippine special forces soon realized that they were indeed not as strong. Under the attack of the French special forces, the five of them were completely outmatched. If not for the restriction against inflicting injuries, all five might have already been eliminated by their opponents.

The French special forces also felt it would be somewhat strenuous to take all five of them down and were concerned about others arriving. So, in the end, they only targeted two people. The remaining three members of the Philippine team made a quick decision: to abandon their teammates and run away. After all, this wasn’t actual death; they would just be unable to continue in the competition. With three of them still around, if they found a good opportunity, there was still a chance for them to turn the tables.

Losing two members in their first battle, the remaining three lost all confidence. They decided to quickly make their way to the rally point. As long as they got there, it meant someone survived. Even if they hadn’t captured any cards, they still had three members left. If the other squads were in a chaotic battle, very few might make it out, and they could still manage to place well. That would still count as a commendable achievement when they returned home.

After walking for two hours, the three members of the Philippine special forces had not encountered anyone else, which they found extremely fortunate. They guessed that the other squads hadn’t adopted the same strategy as them, so they might actually succeed.

"Swoosh!" Suddenly, one of the men flew into the air and began screaming. A vine had wrapped around his foot and was tied to a tree branch on the other end. The tree branch was bouncing, leaving the soldier hanging upside down.

"Not good, enemy presence!" the other two shouted at once.

But they were too late to realize this. Four men suddenly leaped out from both sides of the path, completely blocking their escape. It was Zheng Mingrui and his team, who immediately attacked the two soldiers.

The Philippine special forces were indeed outmatched by the Flying Hawk Squad’s capabilities. Even one-on-one, they stood no chance, let alone two against four. Within less than two minutes, the four members had pinned them to the ground and searched their pockets for the cards.

The soldier in the air had managed by then to untangle the vine from his feet. However, by the time he landed, his two comrades had already been thoroughly defeated. Facing four alone, he had no chance at all. He surrendered his card directly to avoid further physical pain.

Zheng Mingrui’s team immediately left the area. Once a location had been used, there was no need to stay.

With a victorious first battle, they had acquired three cards at once, which left the group quite thrilled. They had immense respect for Li Yifei’s strategic approach.

Yifei’s strategy wasn’t exactly brilliant; it was simply a "wait-and-see" trap. They marched quickly to a position ahead and waited for passing teams, setting up traps. If the trap could directly catch one or two, that would be ideal. Even if it didn’t, it was sure to catch the opponents off guard, greatly increasing their chances of victory.

Many methods seem simple when spoken of but are not so easy to apply. The right method must be used at the right moment, and this relies on having a leader with robust analytical abilities.

And indeed, Yifei’s method proved effective. Weaker squads like those from the Philippines fell into the traps since they shared the same idea of leaving early.

In less than half a day, Yifei’s team had already captured thirteen cards. Besides the Philippine special forces, they had wiped out two more squads. And all three times, Yifei hadn’t needed to lift a finger; Zheng Mingrui and his team were enough.

Zheng Mingrui’s team was well-coordinated. Sophia was slightly less so, but Yifei took this opportunity to let them practice teamwork. Among team members, coordination during real combat would enhance their understanding.

Then, as dusk approached, Yifei’s team awaited the arrival of the fourth squad, which made even Yifei cautious. It was the Eastern Kamikaze Special Forces from Japan.

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