Chapter 1398: Sniper in Position

「Awooo——————」

After Blind-Eye Tiger killed those six humans whose scent it had memorized, it ran upward through the killing snow to the highest peak of Mountain Thirty-Six and howled loudly, proclaiming its dominion.

The western tiger pack's fierce tigers answered one after another. The western wolf king, wearing a chin-stone necklace, sprinted swiftly, climbed to the highest peak of its core territory, glanced at the helicopter bound with giant eagle claws in the sky, raised its head, and let out a long, majestic wolf howl.

After receiving the message from Di Ming, Xia Qing put away her phone and gave the order, "Eryong, lower altitude by 300 meters. Peng Jian, start recording."

"Copy." Eryong lowered the helicopter's altitude.

The helicopter flew over the western wolf pack's territory and reached the airspace above the tiger pack's territory. Seeing Blind-Eye Tiger standing on the snow mountain, Peng Jian in the co-pilot seat feigned surprise, "Sister Qing, there seem to be humans below the Evolution Tiger's peak on Mountain Thirty-Six ahead."

Eryong, piloting the helicopter, asked in feigned puzzlement, "Brother Jian, look again carefully. How could there possibly be humans in the Evolution Tiger's core territory? They might be large wild beasts."

Peng Jian got angry, "My visual evolution may only be level five, but I'm not so bad that I can't tell a human from a wild beast!"

Xia Qing calmly ordered, "Eryong, lower altitude to 300 meters."

Three hundred meters is already the minimum permitted flight altitude for crossing the Evolution Forest during the killing-snow period. Any lower, and the helicopter's noise would disturb the ground animals, triggering killing-evolved raptors to take off and attack.

"Copy."

The helicopter arrived over Mountain Thirty-Six. Peng Jian reported precisely, "Confirmed four humans on the ground. Thermal imaging analysis shows they are corpses with a time of death under half an hour. The bodies haven't been covered by killing snow yet, and no obvious markings are visible on their protective suits. We can only confirm they aren't officers or soldiers from our base."

Xia Qing ordered, "Send the video and photos to Brother Luo immediately, have him confirm whether any combat squad is on a mission here. Eryong, raise altitude, head to the front line."

"Copy." Peng Jian turned off the recording, sent the video to Captain Luo while speaking with a grin, "Blind-Eye Tiger finished the job that fast—beautiful!"

Xia Qing responded with a sound, hugged her rifle, and gazed out the window.

Eryong asked, "Sister Qing, why didn't the tiger pack go support Blind-Eye Tiger when it ran to the valley of Mountain Thirty-Seven to fight the wolf pack during the third killing rain, but now that it stands on the peak howling, the tiger pack howls along with it?"

"It might be because the information carried in its howl is different." Blind-Eye Tiger during the killing-rain period was already on the verge of losing control. The tiger pack could certainly judge its state from its cry, knowing that a companion that has lost control can no longer be counted as a companion. She carefully watched the familiar beast trails in the Evolution Forest below and quickly spotted a gray evolution wolf sprinting.

Old Four was leading its three newly recruited companions back. Looking at the direction, they weren't heading for the cliff of Mountain Twenty-Two in Hui Three, but for the southern wolf pack's core territory—Mountain Twenty-Nine in Hui One.

Xia Qing ordered, "Old Four is below. Eryong, lower the altitude. I'm going to open the cabin door in a bit and say hello to it."

When the helicopter reached the airspace above one wolf and three mastiffs, Xia Qing opened the cabin door, leaned out, and shouted downward, "Old Four—want a ride on the helicopter—"

Old Four, which had long since spotted the helicopter, stopped. Before it could speak, the three mastiffs behind it raised their heads and roared loudly at the helicopter.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Old Four roared majestiously, pounced on them, and began to tackle and bite, disciplining the three new members who didn't know the rules.

"Raise altitude, head straight for the destination."

Seeing the three mastiffs still hadn't been properly disciplined, Xia Qing knew Old Four couldn't hitch a ride. She closed the cabin door.

As the helicopter approached the base's southern boundary, Xia Qing dialed the phone of An Hua, the frontline commander for disaster resistance in the southern Evolution Forest. "Commander An, this is Xia Qing. Where should the helicopter I'm on land?"

An Hua immediately ordered, "The beast tide at Hui Five is only 30 li from the base boundary. Please, Director Xia, land at the top of the third peak of Mountain Domain Thirty-Two in northern Hui Five. Ground forces will kill the two speed-evolved lynxes in the beast tide. Our military has obtained entry clearance for the northern Hui Five Evolution Forest."

"Copy, heading to the third peak of Mountain Domain Thirty-Two in Hui Five immediately."

Hearing Xia Qing's reply, Eryong immediately adjusted the flight direction and headed straight for the destination.

The old wolf running swiftly through the Evolution Forest saw the helicopter turn, led its three filthy new companions, and hurried on.

"Sister Qing, the infrared equipment has detected the beast tide." Peng Jian looked at a very bright, impossible-to-ignore cluster of heat-source signals on the display screen. His heart heavy, he reported in as calm a tone as he could manage.

Xia Qing glanced at the calm Evolution Forest outside the window, stood up, and said, "You come to the back. Let me see the speed of those two lynxes."

"Okay."

Xia Qing sat in the co-pilot seat, switched the display screen in front of her to high-magnification optical camera mode, and zoomed in, pulling the beast tide 18 kilometers away in the rising snow fog right before her eyes. She searched for her mission targets among the sprinting wild oxen, wild deer, and wild boars.

Found them!

An extremely fast lynx, using shrubs, rocks, and trees as cover, was leaping and changing direction at high speed, occasionally flashing onto the display screen.

The path ahead of the beast tide had no open ground, making it impossible to complete the sniping mission from the air. So the sniper needed to lie in ambush within the Evolution Forest to snipe. The vicinity of the third peak of Mountain Domain Thirty-Two in Hui Five was certainly the best ambush spot along this route.

Over the next fifteen minutes, Xia Qing continuously adjusted the optical camera's focal length, her eyes fixed tightly on the screen, searching for and observing the two sniping targets.

After the helicopter lowered its altitude, Xia Qing could no longer capture the sniping targets through the instruments. She stood up, shouldered her backpack and sniper rifle.

Although not a trace of tension could be seen on Xia Qing's face, Peng Jian knew this was her first mission resisting a large-scale beast tide as a top-tier sniper. He spoke to comfort her, telling her not to be too nervous. "Sister Qing, three stone walls have already been built ahead. They can intercept and shoot the large animals in the beast tide in echelons. Don't feel pressure. It's perfectly normal not to hit the target in this kind of situation."

After the helicopter landed, Eryong also said, "We're still 200 kilometers of Evolution Forest from our base's safe zone. With so many of us, we'll definitely be able to stop the beast tide."

"Understood. You stay safe too." Xia Qing put on her protective mask, adjusted the walkie-talkie channel, opened the cabin door, jumped down from the helicopter, met up with the three military evolvers waiting for her, and headed for the sniping point.

These were the three assistants the commander assigned her: one visual evolver responsible for sniping observation, and two speed evolvers responsible for carrying Xia Qing and the observer while evading the beast tide.

After reaching the designated sniping position, Xia Qing pressed the walkie-talkie button and reported, "Sniper Team One, Xia Qing, has reached the sniping point."