"Boss... Old Ghost is dead."
A young Asian man came over to a middle-aged man with a short beard and said heavily, "He took a shot to the head. That man's a good shot. He must've had proper military training."
Leaning against a pair of car tires, the burly, short-bearded man nodded slightly. "I know."
"..."
"What's wrong? You taking it hard?"
"...Yeah."
"You should be happy for him. Dying to an enemy's bullet is the ultimate end for a mercenary like him, and the highest honor he could've hoped for in his life." The leader of the Black Snake mercenaries, Nicholas, spoke calmly. "Old Ghost always wanted to die. He just couldn't bear to leave us, his comrades. Now he got his wish. He died by the enemy's gun and ended his sinful life. Maybe he'll go to hell, but at least he's free. And we..."
Click, click!
Nicholas slid a magazine into his gun. "In the words of your Buddhist faith, we'll help the dead move on. Either we send our enemies on their way, or they send us on ours." As he spoke, his closed eyes snapped open.
They were the eyes of a beast!
"Arthur! Have you found their sniper?" Nicholas pressed his wireless earpiece and asked in a low voice.
"Boss, he's slippery. He fired once, then hid. But don't worry. If he shows his head again, I'll blow it off."
"Mm." Nicholas fell silent for a moment, then said, "Don't underestimate him."
"Haha. Don't worry, boss. I see nothing but the target." The other man hung up.
Nicholas immediately issued orders over the shared channel. "Fox, White Mouse, go after Target Two and draw out their sniper. Blue Whale, Sagittarius, take Target One. Mori, Asen, provide covering fire and close in on the central intersection! Take them out as quickly as possible!"
"Yes, boss."
"No problem. Leave it to me."
"Understood!"
***************************************
Rat-tat... rat-tat-tat...
A torrent of bullets poured from the muzzles, as if a rain of fire were falling. Muzzle flashes and sparks from bullets striking steel lent the dark night a little light.
Light that brought death!
The Black Snake strike team steadily pushed forward, overwhelming their opponents with sheer force.
Li Shuangmu and Yin Kuang could do nothing but crouch behind cover. Against mercenaries who outclassed them in discipline, combat ability, and equipment, the group of teenagers who had only just finished high school didn't stand a chance.
"Damn Headmaster!" Yin Kuang, still hiding in the clothing store, was growing more and more frustrated. "They're all like some kind of suicide squad! Does he have any brains, giving a mission like this to a bunch of people who've never even held a gun? He might as well just kill us!"
Suddenly, something trailing a stream of white smoke flew in from outside. With a hiss, white gas poured from it.
"Fuck! They're even using tear gas!" Yin Kuang, who never cursed people's mothers, was furious. He frantically grabbed a piece of cloth... well, what he called a piece of cloth was two triangles joined by a few red strings. He clamped it over his mouth and ducked deeper into the store.
Yin Kuang wondered why they didn't just toss in a big pineapple and blow him all the way back to that damned school, but that clearly wasn't something he needed to think about right now. In truth, he was just venting.
"Just give me a chance. This time, I won't hesitate again!"
Even a clay Buddha had a temper, and Yin Kuang was no exception.
The enemy's fire had kept him pinned down, scurrying from cover to cover like a rat. He'd never suffered such humiliation before, and he'd been simmering with anger for a while now.
"Maybe if they come in here, I can use the layout to fight back." He looked at the rows of clothes in the shop. The careful interior design made the most of the space, but the store was already small, and now it seemed even narrower—practically a miniature maze.
Hidden among the clothes, Yin Kuang found himself hoping the enemy would come inside. He knew the odds were slim; they had no reason to come in and engage him. Even so, he couldn't help hoping.
Yin Kuang had no way of knowing that Umbrella Corporation's mercenaries weren't blowing him up because they were using him to draw out the sniper lurking in the shadows.
A sniper—the ghost and reaper of the battlefield—had to be dealt with immediately! A hidden sniper could even turn the tide of the entire battle.
They were using their comrade's peril to draw the sniper out.
The two men who had exposed themselves by throwing the tear gas were bait, too.
With two lures in play, Nicholas couldn't believe the enemy sniper would keep his nerve.
***********************************
"Damn it! I almost got caught with my pants down."
Inside a house lit by flickering lights, Zeng Fei spat at the Zombie lying dead on the floor.
His Combat Knife was embedded in the Zombie's forehead, driven in so hard that a third of the handle had disappeared. Of course, that was partly because the T-Virus had made the Zombie's brain fragile. Otherwise, Zeng Fei could never have managed it, no matter how strong he was.
Zeng Fei looked a mess. He'd been locked in a struggle with a Zombie that had suddenly leapt out at him, and it was a miracle he hadn't been bitten. His face was deathly pale, his expression worn; fear, panic, and anger mingled in his eyes.
Why wasn't he on the rooftop? Why had he come to this house?
Simple. To hide.
He'd fired once. The ten percent boost to his accuracy from Precision Strike kicked in, and he'd blown the Black man's head off with a single shot. Before he could even start feeling sick and vomiting over having killed someone, a strange chill had seized him, forcing him to abandon his sniping position and retreat.
And even without that icy sensation of mortal danger, he would have retreated anyway.
"Fire once, then move!" That was what his father had taught him.
"What matters most to a sniper? It isn't killing the target! It's staying hidden." Zeng Fei could almost picture that summer last year, out in the open countryside as his father taught him to shoot. "The perfect hiding place is one where the enemy can't see you, but you can keep track of the target at all times. As long as the target is in your sights, you can pull the trigger whenever you want and take him out!"
"Dad, I still don't know why you wouldn't let me stay in the army... But I've never forgotten what you taught me. Now it's time to put your lessons to the test... I've already killed someone..." He'd vomited until there was nothing left in his stomach, but the thought of the Black man's head bursting apart still made him feel like throwing up.
But he didn't try to suppress his fear or the revulsion he felt after killing someone. Instead, he let himself feel it all. "Once I've done it once... I can do it again! I'm not afraid to kill anymore!"
No wonder the Headmaster had given him the Qualified Soldier skill. Zeng Fei still seemed green, but his ability to adapt was undeniably impressive.
"Now it's time for a sniper's duel."
Zeng Fei murmured to himself.
He hadn't actually seen the enemy sniper, and he didn't even know whether one existed. But he trusted his instincts. He didn't know if that was because his Perception was nine points, or for some other reason. Either way, he was sure a pair of eyes was searching for him from the shadows.
That's right, a pair of eyes! Zeng Fei was certain there was only one sniper!
Otherwise, with two snipers working together, he'd already be dead!
Looking at the Zombie on the floor, Zeng Fei's eyes gleamed...
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