Sniper! (Part 1)

"Dead people!?" Wang Ning widened his eyes.

Yin Kuang explained, "Dummy! Obviously, we pretend to be dead."

"Oh. You scared me to death. I don't want to die," Wang Ning said. "Playing dead? That's a good idea... but what if a Zombie wanders around and ends up here? What then? I don't want to turn a fake death into a real one."

Yin Kuang said, "That... shouldn't be possible. Besides, I feel that if our enemies were merely Zombies, the Headmaster wouldn't have gone to such lengths to set up this 'Hidden Mission'. A small number of Zombies pose no threat to us, and if there were a large horde... Guide Dog Mary would have been swamped long ago; what would there be left to save?"

Li Shuangmu said with a serious expression, "Perhaps we can interpret this as the enemies we are about to face being formidable enough that there is no need to use Zombies to increase the mission's difficulty. Haven't you noticed? Ever since we met Mike the blind man, it has been exceptionally quiet here, without a single Zombie. You have to realize, Raccoon City is already a world of Zombies; how could there be none? The only explanation is..."

It had to be said, Li Shuangmu possessed a strong sense of the big picture.

"The Headmaster's settings!" Yin Kuang said. "Then, since the enemies we face aren't Zombies but are very powerful, who could they be? Our current enemies consist of Zombies, Licker, Nemesis—which is Matt the Tracker—and mutated animals. I really can't figure out what special connection there is between Matt the Tracker and Guide Dog Mary. Zombies can be ruled out, so that only leaves mutated animals and Licker."

The group still had confidence in dealing with mutated animals. But if it were a Licker...

"If it's a Licker, then we're really going to become dead people," Wang Ning said with a bitter smile.

Li Shuangmu nodded, then shook his head, saying, "You missed one... although I can't figure out the connection between them and this dog either, their possibility cannot be ruled out."

"Them?"

"Umbrella Corporation!" Zeng Fei said in a cold voice.

"How is that possible? Umbrella Corporation? A dog? What on earth is the Headmaster using to link the two? I'd rather believe we're facing a Licker than that damned Umbrella Corporation that created all of this. They are a hornet's nest! We can't afford to provoke them," Wang Ning said.

Li Shuangmu said, "No matter what enemy we face... if we lose confidence now, we are dead for sure! So, pull yourselves together. Thinking about anything else is meaningless! Whether it's a Licker, mutated animals, or the Umbrella Corporation that might have inexplicably intervened, we must face them bravely, right?"

"Yeah!"

Thus, Zeng Fei and Qian Qianqian formed one group, while Li Shuangmu, Yin Kuang, and Wang Ning formed another. Before parting, both sides exchanged signals—Qian Qianqian would hang a Blue Cloth on the roof. If the cloth fell, it meant the enemy was a Licker; if the cloth was pulled in, it meant the enemy was the Umbrella Corporation; if it remained still, it indicated Zombie animals!

"Be careful!"

"You too."

With that, the two groups separated.

Li Shuangmu watched them enter the building, then said, "Let's change our attire too. This getup really doesn't look like dead people. It's just a pity we spent so many Study Points to exchange for these clothes." Li Shuangmu, who never had to worry about money, sighed once again about the importance of money. Of course, this money referred to Study Points.

After a busy spell, the three of them looked slightly more like corpses, then found a spot neither too far nor too close to Mike and lay down to play dead...

**************************************

"Hey! Boss, did the person who issued this damned order get their head caught in a door? They actually want our famous 'Black Snake Mercenaries' organization to capture a Labrador?! Oh, God, I can't believe my ears. Is today April Fool's Day? This is the worst mission I've taken since I started." A fully armed, skinny black man chattered away, working his lips incessantly.

Ever since boarding the helicopter and hearing the mission relayed from above, he had been grumbling tirelessly, rubbing his thick lips. Even now, after getting off the helicopter, he still couldn't keep his sausage-thick lips shut.

"Rona! Shut that mouth of yours, which is as thick as a hot dog, or I'll cut it off and feed it to the dogs!"

Beside the black man Rona, a white brute who couldn't stand him anymore drew a gleaming Nepal Army Knife.

"Hehehe, calm down, William, you should calm down... alright, I apologize, a very sincere apology." Rona finally yielded once again under William's Nepal Army Knife. "But, William, my good friend, don't you think that giving us such a mission is simply an insult to our Black Snake?"

William grunted twice and sheathed his knife. "Shut your mouth. If it were the boss, he would have given you a bullet."

"Alright, alright. I admit, I was just taking advantage of the boss being away to vent to the air. Keeping it bottled up makes me feel terrible! A pile of dog shit!" Rona seemed like a deflated balloon. "I wonder how the boss is doing, whether he's found that damned dog yet."

"Why don't you connect to the wireless channel and ask?"

"Fine, forget I said anything."

Suddenly, William stopped, his beast-like eyes scanning the surroundings.

Because the road was piled with various overturned cars, it was slightly congested. Looking at it, there was nothing but abandoned vehicles.

The cold, eerie night curtain shrouded every corner of Raccoon City.

"Hey, William, why did you stop?"

"Don't you think it's too quiet here?"

"Too quiet? What!? Do you want a bunch of disgusting Zombies to be here saying 'Hey, friend, welcome to my stomach'? Are you crazy?" Rona made a face. "You should thank those idiots in the advance team; they attracted all the Zombies in the city, so we can search for that damned dog like we're taking a walk in the park!"

"..." William ignored Rona's nonsense and pressed the switch on his wireless headset. "Boss, I feel something is wrong. It's too quiet here." As a mercenary forged in iron and blood, William had always trusted his intuition. Because it could keep him alive longer!

"Static... static..." The headset emitted static; even when Rona leaned in, he couldn't hear what the "Boss" was saying.

"Yes, Boss."

After William replied, he said, "The Boss says prepare for combat!" As he spoke, he drew his rifle, checked it, chambered a round, and assumed a standard alert posture, advancing slowly.

His eyes shone brightly in the dark night.

Rona shrugged and said, "Alright, alright."

With that, he drew his gun.

Just then, the clear sound of a dog barking came from not far away. The "Woof, woof, woof" echoed through the street, traveling from far to near, then away again, spreading along the street. In this night that was originally eerily quiet, the abrupt barking sounded extremely strange. Anyone with even a slightly timid heart would have been trembling all over.

However, when Rona heard it, he seemed to be energized. "Hey! It's that damned dog, it must be! My nose has already caught that scent on it that I hate so much. Watch me catch it and give it a good beating!"

Saying this, he squeezed through the gaps between the cars and ran toward the direction the barking came from.

*********************************************

On the roof.

Qian Qianqian put down the Tactical Binoculars that Zeng Fei had spent 30 Study Points to exchange for, and said anxiously, "Zeng Fei, a helicopter has landed over there. I see the Umbrella Corporation logo on it. What should we do?"

Zeng Fei, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them, his round, baby-faced face filled with gravity.

"Damn it! Li Shuangmu guessed right. I didn't expect... it really is the Umbrella Corporation. Hurry and pull the Blue Cloth in."

"Oh, oh!"

Zeng Fei sighed heavily and said, "If I had known, I would have brought more money with me so we could have exchanged for a set of wireless communication equipment... No choice now! Even if it is the Umbrella Corporation... it's too late to give up. Let's go for it!"