Sniping

Sniping

From the attributes of the four Knowledge Light Orbs displayed before him, David could tell that they were essentially the abilities those four mercenaries excelled at.

What he hadn't expected was that Long Sword Mastery had reached the 80% mastery level, while Spear Mastery had reached an astonishing 99% mastery.

Needless to say, Long Sword Mastery (80% mastery) belonged to Captain Froman, while the mercenary Crock possessed Spear Mastery (99% mastery).

Even though David knew little about Armored Warriors, he could guess that Crock had plenty of secrets. But Crock was dead now, and those secrets had vanished with him.

Still, these two abilities gave David a glimpse of just how formidable Gallen was.

Two powerful Armored Warriors with mastery-level combat skills had been like infants before Gallen, utterly unable to fight back as he killed them with ease.

David couldn't help recalling the word "Transcendent" that Captain Froman had uttered before dying. Unfortunately, Froman hadn't been able to say more, but even that had given David some ideas about what lay beyond the ranks of Armored Warriors.

"That's still a long way off for me!" he murmured.

A day had passed since he last fused with a Knowledge Light Orb, so he could absorb and fuse with another one now.

This time, he had plenty of options. Mastery of various weapons covered nearly all the weapons commonly used by Armored Warriors. In particular, after obtaining two Level 2 Longswords, he was sorely tempted by Long Sword Mastery (80% mastery).

In the end, though, he decided to absorb and fuse with the Sniping (20% proficiency) Knowledge Light Orb today. He already had War Hammer Mastery at 83% proficiency for close combat, giving him some ability to fight at close range. He had always envied sniping as a means of attacking from afar.

Safe, efficient, powerful—that was the Sniper Armored Warrior.

Far from the battlefield, the Sniper Armored Warrior was the enemy's God of Death and the protector of his allies.

In David's memories, his former self had always felt a special connection to Sniper Armored Warriors. Now that David thought about it, that feeling had actually come from his father, Hans, who had been a Sniper Armored Warrior.

Because his former self had struggled to understand his feelings toward his father, he had redirected that love toward the profession of Sniper Armored Warrior.

His former self had planned to test for Sniping Talent after getting into university, but he had been killed before he could do so.

Besides, no matter which Knowledge Light Orb he absorbed and fused with over the past few days, he hadn't had time to practice. Lately, all his time had been taken up by practicing the Storm Hammer Technique.

David took a deep breath to steady himself, then controlled the Shadow Servant to move the Sniping (20% proficiency) Knowledge Light Orb into his body.

In an instant, he found himself at the edge of a battlefield, lying prone on a boulder. In front of him was an extraordinarily long sniper rifle, over four meters long, most of which was barrel.

Having fused with combat Knowledge Light Orbs several times before, David was already used to being unable to control the body while still sensing everything it felt, including its assessment of the enemy and its process of analysis.

On the battlefield, five Armored Warriors formed a combat squad. Two Defense Armored Warriors stood at the front, each holding a Great Shield. They repeatedly struck the approaching Spiked Pincer Insects with their shields, using the shortest possible movements to keep them at a distance.

David remembered that the illustrated guide described the Spiked Pincer Insect as having two sharp pincers and six tentacles on its back, each tipped with a venomous stinger that could thrust at high speed over short distances. Its combat strength was above average among Level 1 Zerg.

There were five Spiked Pincer Insects. Without the support of defensive equipment, five Armored Warriors facing five of them were bound to lose.

The only uncertainty was the Sniper Armored Warrior lying on the distant boulder.

Behind the two Defense Armored Warriors, two Armored Warriors wielding War Hammers leaped out from behind the defensive line and unleashed a powerful round of attacks on the Spiked Pincer Insects. Judging by David's War Hammer Mastery, their skill was at least 50% proficiency.

Unfortunately, the two War Hammer Armored Warriors only forced two Spiked Pincer Insects back and failed to score a kill.

That was only natural. With five Spiked Pincer Insects before them, the two War Hammer Armored Warriors didn't dare stray too far from the Defense Armored Warriors.

After their attack, the War Hammer Armored Warriors retreated behind the Great Shields, while the Spear Armored Warrior held back a Spiked Pincer Insect that charged in right afterward.

Although the battle seemed evenly matched for the moment, the Spiked Pincer Insects hadn't yet used their six venomous stingers. They were probably still toying with their prey.

Just then, David's normal vision was replaced by the view through the sniper scope. It was the familiar T3 Sniper Auxiliary Device, but the one mounted on this extra-long sniper rifle displayed far more information.

In an instant, David received the Sniper Armored Warrior's analysis. It included assessments of the air temperature, humidity, wind direction, distance, and more.

The Sniper Armored Warrior's hand made a slight adjustment to the rifle. David understood that he was switching ammunition.

A Sniper Armored Warrior could use ordinary silenced sniper rounds to lure Zerg from a distance, allowing the squad to face only one at a time and improving both its combat efficiency and its chances of survival.

But when a Sniper Armored Warrior needed to launch a lethal attack on a Zerg, he had to switch to special ammunition.

For instance, the Spiked Pincer Insects in front of him were Level 1 Zerg, so the Sniper Armored Warrior's special ammunition needed warheads made of at least Level 1 material.

These precious warheads were expensive. They might not weigh as much as a Level 1 Weapon, but they still couldn't be wasted.

Sniper Armored Warriors didn't get many chances to attack. To shoot at the Spiked Pincer Insects, the Sniper Armored Warrior had to disable silenced mode. Though silenced mode reduced the gunshot, it also greatly diminished the shot's damage.

David heard a bullet slide into the chamber, and a new piece of knowledge entered his mind. Experienced Sniper Armored Warriors could tell what kind of bullet it was just by listening to it slide into the chamber.

On the display of the T3 Sniper Auxiliary Device, a Spiked Pincer Insect had rammed into one of the Defense Armored Warriors' Great Shields, forcing him back a step. That single step had opened a gap in what had been a solid defensive formation.

The Spiked Pincer Insects seemed to have grown tired of playing, too. The moment the formation opened up, the six stingers on the insect's back drew inward, ready to fire.

At that instant, the sniper rifle roared. A bullet made of Level 1 material burst from the barrel in a flash of flame.

David felt the tremendous recoil from the rifle. Fortunately, the Exoskeleton Armor worn by the Sniper Armored Warrior absorbed most of the force, and the Sniper Armored Warrior used his powerful body to suppress the rest.

David sensed the Sniper Armored Warrior's condition. To keep the rifle from shifting, the Sniper Armored Warrior forcibly suppressed all the recoil, leaving him short of breath for a moment.

In that state, the Sniper Armored Warrior skillfully loaded a Level 1 Bullet into the chamber and fired again.

The recoil wasn't as simple as one plus one equals two. The impact on the Sniper Armored Warrior's body from two consecutive shots was no weaker than what an Armored Warrior fighting on the front line would suffer from a direct Zerg attack.

In fact, to deal a lethal blow to a Level 1 Zerg like the Spiked Pincer Insect, a sniper rifle had to unleash an instantaneous force far greater than the defensive strength of its Insect Shell, and the shot also had to hit a vital weak point.

The first Level 1 Bullet slipped through a gap between the Great Shields and struck the white spot beneath the Spiked Pincer Insect's head.

Another piece of knowledge entered David's mind: the creature's heart lay directly behind that white spot beneath its head. Most of the time, the Spiked Pincer Insect's thick head armor protected this vital point.

Only when it attacked did it expose this fatal weak point.

The Level 1 Bullet crossed five hundred meters and hit the white spot beneath the Spiked Pincer Insect's head almost as soon as the gunshot rang out. It punched through the insect's shell, spraying green fluid, followed by the insect's shrill screech.

The second shot, a Level 2 Bullet, followed less than half a second after the first. It passed through a gap between the Great Shields again and hit another Spiked Pincer Insect charging at them.

This time, the shot struck the insect's eye. Black fluid sprayed as it let out a miserable shriek; the Spiked Pincer Insect was badly wounded.

In just one second, the tide of battle had turned. The Sniper Armored Warrior's terrifying power was on full display.

Thanks to "Yuchen Xiaoke'ai" for tipping 100 Qidian Coins!! Thanks to "Jia2Jia" for tipping 100 Qidian Coins!!