Sniper Kill

Inside the Blue Sky Residential District, on the rooftop of a 21-story apartment building.

The six members of the Fire Hammer Squad were all peering intently through binoculars at the scene below, an action they had maintained for over two hours straight.

Luo Zhe held his binoculars in his left hand while taking a light sip of water from a canteen in his right. He then lowered the binoculars, tightened the cap, and tucked the canteen into his backpack. After a brief stretch, he resumed watching the area below through his lenses.

"Captain, are we just going to sit here like idiots?" Luo Feng asked, clearly finding this tedious search quite different from the intense combat he had imagined.

Luo Zhe also turned to look at Gao Feng, clearly feeling a bit stifled by the long hours of staring through binoculars.

"What do you know?" Gao Feng lowered his binoculars and smiled as he explained to Luo Zhe and the others, "In this vicinity, this 21-story building is quite tall. From the rooftop, with the help of binoculars, we can survey a radius of four or five miles. How big is this entire county-level city, anyway? Of course, due to building obstructions, our efficiency isn't perfect, but this is still an extremely high-yield method. It allows everyone to rest while scouting for monsters. It's the best approach."

"Captain, we've got a hit!" Zhang Ke, who had been facing away from the others, suddenly exclaimed, pointing toward a specific direction below.

Whoosh!

The others immediately rushed over, each raising their binoculars to scan the area carefully. Following the direction Zhang Ke pointed, Luo Zhe saw through his lenses that scattered One-Horned Wild Boars and Iron-Haired Wild Boars were appearing across several streets in the northwest corner. In total, there were hundreds of them, and the number of porcine monsters within their field of vision was still increasing.

On one of the streets, a bizarre, entirely red monster that looked like a tank was moving slowly, surrounded by a crowd of other porcine monsters.

"Is that a Bloodthirsty Tank?" Luo Zhe asked, feeling uncertain. Although he had studied some reference images of monsters, there were simply too many species, and he had only memorized a portion of the more common ones.

He had only managed to memorize the characteristics of the Bloodthirsty Tank—the second-ranked species among porcine monsters—by putting in extra effort.

Despite the name, the Bloodthirsty Tank was indeed a type of porcine monster. Its entire body was covered in thick, heavy scales, granting it astonishing defense. At a glance, it looked just like an armored tank, and in terms of defensive power and impact, it was no weaker than the real thing.

"It is indeed a Bloodthirsty Tank!" Wei Tie, having overheard Luo Zhe's mutterings, confirmed.

With his wealth of experience, he could identify the monster at a glance. "Looks like we've hooked a big fish."

"Captain, look at the color of its scales. It should be a 'Low-Level Beast General,' getting close to 'Mid-Level Beast General' status," Zhang Ke added, unable to contain his excitement. To encounter such a valuable prize on their very first day in the 0201 County City was a fantastic start!

"Mm, the price for a Bloodthirsty Tank is quite high," Captain Gao Feng grinned. "Even though it's only a Low-Level Beast General, its value rivals that of some Mid-Level Beast General monsters. This one is already approaching the Mid-Level, so it's a big catch! Everyone, stay sharp."

"Old Chen."

"Chen Gu."

The repeated calls from his teammates finally made Chen Gu open his eyes. He stood up with a smile: "Boys, did you find a Beast General-level monster?"

"You bet, we found a big one," Zhang Ke laughed, handing over his binoculars. "Take a look for yourself."

Chen Gu took the binoculars, walked over quickly, and looked down in the direction Zhang Ke indicated. He was startled: "Damn, it's actually a Bloodthirsty Tank, the second-ranked monster among the porcine species. This guy has incredible defense; the armor-piercing rounds I brought—most bullets probably wouldn't even scratch its scales! Looks like I'll have to use my secret weapon."

"Go on then, bullets aren't worth that much," Gao Feng urged.

Under the curious gazes of Luo Zhe and Luo Feng, Chen Gu rushed to an iron case, took out three blood-red cartridges, and loaded them into his sniper rifle.

Luo Feng leaned toward Luo Zhe and whispered, "Brother Zhe, do you know what those are?"

Luo Zhe shook his head. He didn't have much research into firearms, knowing only the more famous ones like the Desert Eagle or the Barrett.

Pfft!

Chen Gu lay prone on the edge of the rooftop, propping up his silver-gray heavy sniper rifle. The barrel glinted under the sunlight. Chen Gu extended a palm to sense the wind direction and speed, performing careful calculations before adjusting his optical sight. The other six members of the Fire Hammer Squad didn't dare to make a sound.

Suddenly—

BOOM! A low, powerful sound rang out.

Almost instantly, the bullet tore through space. This alloy armor-piercing round had terrifying power, and its muzzle velocity was several times the speed of sound. Because it traveled far faster than sound, the sonic boom reached the ears of the Beast General-level monster only after the bullet had already struck.

The Bloodthirsty Tank was moving slowly down the street, surrounded by a large number of monsters, looking quite imposing.

Pfft!

Suddenly, the scales behind the ear where the Bloodthirsty Tank's ear stood upright sparked, and a hole burst open as the bullet forced its way through.

"Awoo—" The Bloodthirsty Tank let out a pained roar, its body staggering and swaying to the side. Once it regained its footing, it let out a series of pained, furious bellows. Immediately, the large number of porcine monsters that had been idling nearby swarmed toward it. Blood seeped from the wound behind the Bloodthirsty Tank's ear, and it roared in rage, yet it had no way of knowing where the bullet had come from.

On the rooftop, Chen Gu lifted his head slightly, moving his eye away from the scope. He said confidently: "Luck was on our side. I hit a vital spot. This Bloodthirsty Tank has high vitality, so it might not die immediately, but it will definitely collapse within five minutes." Long-range sniping was most effective on the first shot, as the Beast General-level monster had no defenses prepared.

However, if the first shot failed to hit a vital organ, things would get troublesome.

Since Beast General-level monsters had such high defense, it was already impressive for a bullet to penetrate at all. Therefore, they generally used "armor-piercing rounds" that prioritized penetration over high-explosive rounds. After all, if you couldn't even penetrate the hide, there was no point in talking about lethality.

"Great shot," Zhang Ke said with a smile, giving a thumbs-up.

"The Bloodthirsty Tank's skull is the hardest part. If we had shot at its body scales, even with the power of an armor-piercing round, it wouldn't have had much effect once it entered," Gao Feng smiled. "Chen Gu, that was a hell of a shot." If Chen Gu hadn't succeeded in one hit, it would have been extremely difficult to kill a Bloodthirsty Tank guarded by so many monsters!

"Don't flatter me."

Chen Gu laughed: "You guys should be thinking about how to get your hands on the carcass. That Bloodthirsty Tank is surrounded by hundreds of monsters. Besides, if we're too slow... who knows, some other warrior squad might swoop in and pick up the prize."

"Don't jinx it. There are probably only two or three warrior squads in this entire city," Gao Feng laughed. "Alright, everyone pack up. Let's move out and go down there to secure the body."

"Yes!" the six of them replied in unison.