Lu Yu

Biodata

Background

Before the nuclear blast, Lu Yu was studying in Munich. By the time he encounters Song Zhi in Zone C, he is serving as Group A’s sniper under the K organization 1 2.

Appearance

Lu Yu is exceptionally tall and muscular, with black eyes, long, narrow eyes, and thin lips 8 23 24 25.

• Build: Broad shoulders, a strongly defined back, and eight-pack abdominal muscles 41 42.
• Clothing: Usually wears combat fatigues or training clothes, adding a bulletproof vest and other tactical equipment during operations 25 40 41.
• Camouflage: Uses terrain-matched ghillie suits, including desert-gray camouflage in Algiers and concealment among coastal bushes in Sri Lanka 11 38.

Personality

Lu Yu is flirtatious, theatrical, and fond of provocative jokes. He frequently teases Song Zhi with suggestive wordplay, exaggerated complaints, and displays of his physique. Their shared language and cultural references also give them a private vein of humor, particularly when she describes her shooter-game experience as military service 4 24 25 29.

His playful manner disappears when he becomes serious about combat or survival. During firearms instruction, he methodically explains weapon mechanics, corrects Song Zhi’s posture, and checks the equipment before leaving. His concern during her swimming lesson is equally direct: he fears that her inability to survive independently could get her killed 8 25.

His affection coexists with coercive behavior. He enforces Song Zhi’s forced recruitment, uses threats during interrogation, and participates in a staged sexual assault during her capture exercise. His later care for her does not erase his willingness to intimidate or override her wishes 2 8 30.

Lu Yu is openly jealous of attention given to the other men, but he also performs practical acts of care: carrying Song Zhi when she is exhausted, drying her hair, lending her clean clothing, and washing her uniform 8 18 25 39 42.

Abilities & Skills

Sniping and Concealment

Lu Yu is Group A’s dedicated sniper and calls himself a “Gun King,” a title he says belongs only to the world’s best snipers 24.

• Conceals himself beneath desert cover and remains motionless while observing through his scope 11.
• Selects elevated firing positions and searches an area coordinate by coordinate 31.
• Destroys an approaching speedboat with a Barrett armor-piercing round, then relocates under cover of the explosion 38.
• Shoots an enemy rocket-launcher operator during Group A’s helicopter escape 40.
• Recognizes that Wilk’s mines restrict his repositioning during an exercise and reports Song Zhi’s exposed position as a suspected trap 33.

Firearms Handling and Instruction

Lu Yu teaches weapon operation, assembly, recoil control, shooting posture, and maintenance 24 25 26.

• Demonstrates single shots, short bursts, and controlled automatic fire with an HK416 25.
• Coaches Song Zhi from missing every rifle shot to landing twenty of thirty rounds, including six bullseyes 25.
• Adjusts his instruction to her ability, recommending semiautomatic fire to establish accuracy before speed 25.
• Checks guns, magazines, and safeties before packing away the training weapons 25.

Close-Quarters Combat

Lu Yu can fight Hill without either man gaining a decisive advantage 24.

• Combines agile evasions, powerful punches, and elbow strikes 24.
• Teaches Song Zhi underhanded attacks aimed at an opponent’s lower body 24.
• Withstands a fierce sparring match shortly after his hospital discharge, treating it as a welcome return to activity 24.

Swimming and Water Rescue

Lu Yu is a capable swimmer who teaches Song Zhi basic water-survival techniques 8.

• Retrieves her when she begins to drown during his lesson 8.
• Coaches breath-holding, relaxation, floating, and basic paddling 8.
• Swims while supporting her and later carries her from the island’s seawater pool to shore 42.

Interrogation and Communication

Lu Yu conducts Song Zhi’s initial interrogation after the squad notices that she is calmer around him 2.

• Speaks fluent Mandarin and translates the mercenaries’ statements for her 1 2.
• Uses information recovered from her shelter to question her survival history and research 2.
• Shifts from reassurance about K’s resources to psychological pressure when she refuses recruitment 2.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Barrett sniper rifle — His principal documented sniper weapon, used with armor-piercing ammunition against enemy personnel and a landing boat 25 38 40.
• Pistol — Used to stop Song Zhi’s initial escape in the jungle 1.
• HK416 assault rifle — Used for demonstrations and Song Zhi’s rifle training 25.
• Tactical tablet — Displays mission information, messages, and material recovered during the search of Song Zhi’s shelter 2 11.
• Ghillie suits — Provide concealment in desert and coastal environments 11 38.
• Bulletproof vest and tactical gear — Worn during combat operations 40 41.

Relationships

• Song Zhi — Initially his captive and recruitment target, later Group A’s guide, his student, and the subject of his romantic advances. He and Wilk support keeping her in the squad. Song Zhi responds to his flirting with a mixture of affection, suspicion, and retaliation 2 25 29 42.
• Lai'en — His commanding lieutenant. Lu Yu follows his tactical orders, including withdrawing from a suspected ambush, while privately questioning his concealed intentions toward Song Zhi 25 33.
• Wilk — Teammate and fellow supporter of Song Zhi’s inclusion in Group A. They share a hospital room after Algiers and compete for her attention; Wilk later designs an exercise trap around Lu Yu’s need to reposition 17 25 33 41.
• Hill — Teammate, evenly matched sparring partner, and rival for Song Zhi’s attention. Their exchanges alternate between combat enthusiasm and pointed teasing 24 34 39.
• Kelante — Teammate with whom Lu Yu wagers over Song Zhi’s shooting ability. Kelante’s abstention indirectly supports Lu Yu and Wilk’s proposal to retain her, though the two also compete for her affection 4 25 36.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Song Zhi’s Capture and Recruitment

Lu Yu intercepts Song Zhi after she escapes another mercenary in Zone C. Hearing his Mandarin prompts her to surrender. He subsequently interrogates her about her solitary survival, soil samples, and medicinal-plant research, then tells her that K intends to recruit her without offering a right to refuse 1 2.

After her forced enlistment, he becomes the first squad member assigned to watch her continuously. During the rainforest fighting, he provides radio guidance and rewards her kills with energy bars. He later attempts to address her lack of swimming skills, eventually teaching her to float 3 4 8.

Algiers and Hospital Recovery

While deployed in Algiers, Lu Yu receives Miller’s photograph of Song Zhi studying at the Sri Lanka base. He keeps watch from a concealed desert position while following messages about her life there 11.

He returns injured and shares a hospital room with Wilk. Lu Yu describes his injury as minor, though facial movement still causes him pain. Song Zhi visits, shares an apple between the two men, and removes his finished IV needle. After his discharge, he embraces her and claims that looking at her photograph helped him survive Algiers 17 18 23.

Training and Induction Exercise

Lu Yu takes responsibility for Song Zhi’s shooting lessons, supplements her combat training, and introduces her to rifle handling and gun maintenance 24 25 26.

During the urban exercise, he serves on the opposing team and participates in the staged punishment following her capture. When the exercise becomes Group A’s live-ammunition welcome ceremony, he hunts Song Zhi and Wilk from sniper positions. Their traps force him to acknowledge that he has underestimated them 29 30 31 33.

Defense and Escape from Sri Lanka

After missiles strike the harbor, Lu Yu catches Song Zhi when she nearly faints, then joins the defense of the base. He uses his Barrett against an enemy speedboat before Song Zhi returns to extract the squad 36 38 39.

During the helicopter escape, he kills a rocket-launcher operator threatening their aircraft. Once airborne, he admits that he believed Song Zhi had died aboard a destroyed transport plane and had contemplated dying on the beach himself 40.

Refuge on the Island

After fuel shortages force the squad to land on an unnamed island, Lu Yu takes the abandoned lighthouse’s attic as its sniper. He offers to stay beside Song Zhi when her fear of ghosts makes her reluctant to sleep alone 40 41.

At the seawater pool, his teasing gives way to practical care: he dries her hair, supplies a clean shirt, and washes their clothing. Hill’s thoughts reveal that Lu Yu carries a bounty of five hundred gold bars. He later helps forage along the shoreline while Song Zhi and Lai'en search inland for fresh water 42 44.

Notable Quotes

“Hmph! Because I'm a sniper. Only the best snipers in the world can be called gun kings.” 24

“No one on the battlefield will give you a second chance. You need to control your breathing and rhythm to hit your target more accurately.” 25

“Leave no one behind! Never give up! You're the Xu Sanduo in my heart! I love you to death!” 39