Chapter 1149: A True Top-Tier Sniper

"All teams, listen up. Bird situation bulletin: in ten minutes, a flock of approximately 3,000 large migratory birds will arrive at the hunting zone. All teams, take your positions."

After the all-team broadcast ended, the voice of the sniper squad leader came through Xia Qing's walkie-talkie. "All snipers, be in position within three minutes. Acknowledge."

The snipers' main task was to intercept raptors and beasts that suddenly leapt out from the air or ground to "snatch the prize," so they had to be in position early.

Xia Qing pulled her gaze back from the north, swept past the darkening sunset in the western sky, pressed the walkie-talkie button, and said, "Sniper Point One, Xia Qing, acknowledged."

Zhang Ling, sniping three hundred meters to Xia Qing's left, followed up. "Sniper Point Two, Qinglong Yelu, acknowledged."

"Sniper Point Three, Jiguang Zhou Chuan'an, acknowledged." A lazy voice sounded. Xia Qing recognized it as Zhou Tuzi, a Level Six vision-evolved sniper from the Jiguang Squad, ranked second in Hui Three.

"Sniper Point Four, Molu Yanluo, acknowledged." A familiar smoky voice sounded. This was Mo Shaozhi, a Level Five vision-evolved sniper from the Molu Squad, ranked third in Hui Three.

"Sniper Point Five, Yin Yue Wei Yingui, acknowledged." This was the captain of the Yin Yue Squad, ranked fourth in Hui Three, a Level Seven vision evolver.

Xia Qing was not unfamiliar with his voice, because after her strength as a top-tier sniper was exposed, Wei Yingui had called her several times, sincerely inviting her to join his squad.

"Sniper Point Six, Shiyue, acknowledged."

Xia Qing had heard this voice before too. Last time, when sniping a giant eagle in the Shi Zhu forest of Mountain Eight, this military senior sniper had also been present.

"Sniper Point Seven, Xueya, acknowledged."

This was the only unfamiliar voice, probably a sniper from the military or hired from another base. Anyone dispatched for this mission had to be at least a senior sniper.

"Good, all members present. Please keep the walkie-talkie channel clear."

The moment the squad leader's voice fell, Zhou Tuzi came online. "Qinglong Yelu, after you took down that giant eagle in July, you vanished. Have you been doing special training at Mountain Forty-Nine? What's your effective range now?"

Zhang Ling answered calmly, "1,820 meters."

The snipers who had teamed up with Yelu last time to hunt the giant eagle all twitched their lips at once. Because after Yelu shot down the speed-evolved giant eagle at 2,050 meters altitude last time, when Zhou Tuzi asked her effective range, she had reported the same number.

1,820 meters—just 20 meters above the passing line for a senior sniper.

But they didn't know that the "Yelu" last time was Xia Qing, and this time's Yelu was Zhang Ling. Zhang Ling had passed the squad leader's verification just a few days ago, and her effective range really was that number now.

Zhang Ling was calm about it, because not everyone had the potential to become a top-tier sniper. Her current results were also earned shot by shot through hard training.

Zhou Tuzi's lazy voice carried a hint of fire. "Good, good, good, 1,820! Director Xia, I've long admired your reputation. You're the only top-tier sniper in our squad. Tonight, we're counting on you."

Xia Qing was taking advantage of the remaining light to carefully observe the terrain here, and had no time to reply to such nonsense.

The squad leader reminded over the commander channel, "Five minutes until the flock arrives. Ground temperature 19°C, wind speed Level Five, turbulence at 1,800–2,500 meters altitude, Qian elements abnormally active… all snipers, calibrate your scopes."

High-end sniper rifles all came with scopes. These scopes ranged from basic mechanical models to advanced ones, such as the ballistic-optimized infrared scope.

As a top-tier sniper—especially one operating in the complex conditions of an evolved forest—one could not rely too heavily on advanced scopes. Because advanced scopes contained electronic components, and even with special material shielding layers added, those electronic components were still susceptible to interference from strong magnetic fields and abnormally active Qian elements, causing the scope to deviate.

Therefore, Xia Qing's sniper rifle was fitted with a laser rangefinding scope. Of course, she also had an optoelectronic hybrid scope and a thermal imaging scope in her pack, ready for emergencies.

"Sniper squad, listen up: eight raptors spotted to the southeast, their flight target is our target flock. Point One, your target is the speed-evolved Philippine eagle leading the raptors, estimated flight altitude 2,080 meters. Prepare to engage."

This was humanity's hunting zone. The Philippine eagles had come to steal the three thousand-plus birds weighing tens of thousands of jin. Humanity had to fight back. They had to let the raptors, beasts, and scouts from other bases hiding in the shadows see the determination and ability of Hui Three's evolvers to defend the hunting zone.

Targets beyond 2,000 meters—only a top-tier sniper had any certainty of a hit.

"Acknowledged."

Xia Qing, lying prone at her sniper point, replied calmly. She opened her hearing and vision to the fullest, adjusted her breathing and heartbeat to their optimal state, swung the muzzle toward the southeastern sky, and quickly adjusted her body posture.

After tens of thousands of repetitions, Xia Qing had already built muscle memory for the automated action chain of shoulder-bracing and cheek-welding. Maintaining this posture gave her the highest shooting accuracy.

Of course, her ability to hold this posture steadily and accurately while aiming at the target for long periods was thanks to another of her evolver abilities—strength evolution.

Vision and hearing enhanced Xia Qing's ability to observe the environment; strength evolution maintained her shooting accuracy; and her powerful emotional control kept her undisturbed by the environment, allowing her to quickly focus and lock onto the target.

Even for a speed-evolved raptor at 2,080 meters altitude, she didn't have full confidence of a one-shot kill. But it didn't matter—on this mission, the ammunition she used would be reimbursed, so she could afford to fire a couple more shots.

"Bang bang bang!"

Once the target entered range, Xia Qing fired three shots in succession, every one hitting the target.

The Philippine eagle, now missing its head and neck, burst into a cloud of blood in the air. Its body plummeted straight down, and the feathers torn from its body were carried away by the wind. The remaining raptors, startled, scattered in all directions.

Zhang Ling, who had been sweating for Xia Qing, secretly exclaimed: Awesome!

"Awesome! Truly a top-tier sniper!" Mo Shaozhi's excited smoky voice rang out over the commander channel. "Squad leader, hurry and post the video—let those blind folks see the strength of our base's second top-tier sniper!"

Zhou Tuzi followed up. "Director Xia, I admire you."

Xia Qing was also quite pleased. She liked these kinds of shooting-practice opportunities that earned points and reimbursed her bullets.

After the food-stealing raptors were driven off, the ground squads immediately deployed bird lure. The three thousand-plus large migratory birds that had appeared in the northern sky did not disappoint and descended.

The squads and military forces lying in ambush moved at the same time, capturing two-thirds of the fat birds. The remaining one-third spread their wings and took to the sky, continuing their migration.

Xia Qing pulled the trigger again, hitting the tree trunk next to an evolved leopard that had been lying in wait at 2,060 meters, preparing to hunt the squad, and scared the evolved leopard away.

News of Xia Qing's two brilliant sniper results made it back to the safe zone, and Base Commander Qi Zhongye's eyes lit up. Top-tier, absolutely top-tier. This girl was bringing so much face to Base Commander Hui Three!

Having finished the first wave of sniping, Xia Qing was now sitting in her tent checking the messages on her phone, 【incomplete sentence in source】.

Yang Jin, who was leading the bird hunt at Mountain Forty-Nine, performed very well. He didn't let the large flocks of migratory birds land by the reservoir in her territory, so no raptors had fixed their eyes on her territory or damaged her greenhouses.

Just as Xia Qing was about to put away her phone, a message came in from Hu Zi Feng, who was stationed at Territory Three: "Sister Qing, the swallows of Territory Three have joined the migration and flown off."