Chapter 1517: Showdown of Top-Tier Snipers

Fiery-Bomb Force evolver Jiang Hongbiao reported, "At six o'clock, the only large animals within scout range are a few crocodiles. Monkey brains aren't worth eating—better to catch a crocodile."

"I'm not interested in monkey brains or crocodiles. I want bear paws—Brother Lin, can I cut off a couple when we leave?" Sniper Feng Ziyu spoke again; the mere mention of wild game noticeably lifted the squad's spirits.

Leaning against a large tree, the modified human Huo Lin—his whole body aching from a lack of medicaments—spoke slowly, "Cut them. And kill a few wolves while you're at it. Have Little Eagle splash the bear blood and wolf blood over Xia Qing and Professor Fu Tianfeng's territory. Let these beasts trample it flat."

Jiang Hongbiao chimed in, "Right—anyone who destroyed our Fiery Volcano gets off easy over my dead body!"

Looking down from his elevated position, Feng Ziyu reported again, "Two wolves have appeared by the lake, slightly smaller build—visually assessed as ordinary wolves. Their target should be the baboon troop.

If the wolves hunt the baboons, the noise will very likely startle the giant python in the lake and disrupt their plan.

Huo Lin gave the order, "Ziyu, shoot the wolves or drive them off."

Feng Ziyu pressed the walkie-talkie button, "Target is outside sniper range."

Huo Lin gave another order, "Old Jia, head over. Do you need Little Eagle to assist with scouting?"

Hearing evolver Old Jia came online, "No need—it's just two wolves."

Explosive-power evolver Old Qin came online, "Let's see if it's a green light. I've been choking on rations these past few days—about to puke."

Huo Lin came online again, "Little Eagle stays put. Ziyu does high-altitude recon. Old Jia finishes it fast."

"Copy."

In the night's thick fog, visual scouting ability was reduced to its lowest. Knowing full well his teammate was moving through the fog, Feng Ziyu—standing in the tree—still couldn't spot his figure. The feeling irritated the sniper immensely. Feng Ziyu spoke, "Old Jia, give me a bearing with your lighter."

Old Jia, advancing through the fog, raised a hand and tapped his protective mask lightly, indicating he had already locked onto the target and didn't need the sniper's overwatch support.

He stood in place, pricked up his ears and listened carefully. After confirming there were no large predators' breathing or movement within twenty meters, he began using his hearing to scout the distance.

About 160 meters ahead, there was the sound of damp earth being turned over, and a small baboon let out a young, joyful cry—seemingly showing off the food it had found to its mother…

Two wolves, crawling forward, were moving toward the baboon troop.

The hungry wolves locked onto the foraging baboons; the hearing-evolved human locked onto the wolves; the wolf king in the tree, holding its breath with eyes closed, locked onto the human below.

Locating by sound and firing blind was ace hearing evolver Old Jia's signature skill. Just as he confidently drew his gun and raised his arm, the wolf king in the tree opened its eyes and leapt down!

Hearing a gust of wind pounce fiercely from above, Old Jia hadn't even time to react before he was tackled!

"Pfft!"

His finger instinctively pulled the trigger; the silenced handgun gave a low report. At last, a smell familiar to humans drifted through this dense forest—the smell of gunpowder.

Seeing the muzzle flash and bright tracer streak appear in the fog below toward the lake, Feng Ziyu warned, "Old Jia, shift your muzzle thirty degrees left."

"Wooo—"

"Crack!"

Hearing the beast's low howl and the sound of a protective mask's neck guard shattering come through the walkie-talkie, Fiery Squad Two's hearing evolver growled, "Shit! Old Jia's been attacked by an evolved wolf!"

"All hands on alert. Old Qin, send Little Eagle over…"

"Squeak!!!"

Before Huo Lin could finish, the small baboon by the lake let out an extremely high-pitched, piercing cry, laden with the most primal terror and agony. The sound violently reverberated through the white fog, assaulting the baboon troop's eardrums.

"Squeak squeak!!"

"Screeech—!"

The adult male baboon's roar and the mother baboon's anguished calling rang out at the same time. The baboon troop exploded into chaos; countless small animals that had been feeding scattered in panic, and raptors circling above dove down to hunt.

Damn it!! Huo Lin cursed, "Everyone hold your damn positions! Old Qin, Ziyu!"

Explosive-power evolver Old Qin, holding a display screen, reported, "Little Eagle hasn't spotted the target yet—it's lowering its flight altitude."

As the eagle-owl's flight altitude dropped, a brown-gray evolved wolf crawled forward, silently approaching Old Qin from behind. Ergua in the big tree spotted the wolf and excitedly opened her little mouth—only to be clamped shut and dragged into the tree hollow by Daigua.

Feng Ziyu, in the tallest tree, reported, "The wolf failed to catch the baboon. The baboon troop is throwing stones at the wolf. No movement in the middle of the lake… Shit! A giant python spotted in the reeds by the lake—visually estimated length eighteen meters!"

"One…"

Xia Qing, who had already reached her sniper position amid the chaos, aimed her muzzle upward at a target 2,100 meters away in a straight line, her finger on the trigger, and began counting aloud.

Yang Jin gestured at the evolved wolf baring its teeth at him, telling the two to watch the target instead of staring at him.

Huo Zhun, shielded by his anti-infrared barrier, was in position.

The plucked weasel and the big fellow together locked onto the enemy's scent evolver.

The little wolves that had followed along all lay down on the safe Shanfeng, learning combat techniques.

Feng Ziyu in the big tree continued reporting, "The giant python's target is the baboons."

Huo Lin breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Target spotted? How's Old Jia?"

"Two…"

Old Qin answered furiously, "Spotted. Blood everywhere—a wolf is tearing at his protective suit!"

"Shit! I'm going to stomp that beast flat!"

Huo Lin, very calm, "Everyone…"

"Three!"

Xia Qing's finger, Yang Jin, Huo Zhun, the head wolf, the broken-back wolf, the black wolf, and the broken-leg siblings all moved at once, charging toward their respective targets.

"Bang!" The bullet Xia Qing fired shot straight toward the tree where the sniper was hiding.

"Rat-a-tat-tat!" After Huo Zhun shot down the eagle-owl flashing a red dot in the air, he moved at full speed toward the tallest tree.

Feng Ziyu, executing his recon mission in the big tree, heard the sniper rifle's report and immediately locked onto the enemy sniper's hiding spot by sound. Using his soft shield and the canopy for cover, he swiftly repositioned to prepare his counter-fire. The teammates' cries of alarm and cursing over the walkie-talkie couldn't distract him at all. At this moment, his eyes held only the sniper target.

Because the one hiding at that sniper position was absolutely Hui Three's newly risen top-tier sniper, Xia Qing—so Feng Ziyu dared not be the slightest bit careless.

"Bang! Bang!"

Before Feng Ziyu could fire his first shot, he heard the second and third reports from the enemy sniper. All three shots in succession hit the trunk below him.

Feng Ziyu had just inwardly muttered that things were bad when he heard a "Crack!"—the trunk of the big tree he was hiding in had been broken by the enemy's shot!

Feng Ziyu rapidly adjusted his body posture and, using the trunk for cover during his fall, fired his first shot—"Bang!"

"Zzzt—"

The bullet grazed the top of Xia Qing's protective mask as she had just reached the second sniper position, producing a hair-raising scraping sound and a string of dazzling sparks, exposing her location.

"Bang!"

Feng Ziyu, plummeting rapidly, gave Xia Qing no chance to counterattack, and pulled the trigger a second time from a dominant high position.

As Xia Qing rolled on the spot behind a rock to dodge the sniper round pursuing her, Feng Ziyu fired the crossbow bolt attached to a rope from his left wrist.

The crossbow bolt lodged firmly in the trunk of a large tree, and Feng Ziyu, plummeting rapidly, immediately reeled in the rope.

As long as he entered the thick fog, sniping that greenhorn sniper who killed Hui San would be a trivial matter for him!