Chapter 591: Number One Fugitive, Captured

Damn it, Yang Jin finally arrived!

The instant Xia Qing dropped flat, a sharp gust of cutting wind swept over her, followed immediately by a violent explosion.

"Boom!"

Right after the explosion came the "bang bang" of fists and feet clashing in combat.

"Night Heron, immediately retreat to Evolution Forest Five in the western sector. Luo Pei and Squad Three's Gunners One and Two, cover."

"Night Heron, copy."

Once Xia Qing's ears stopped ringing from the blast, she heard a familiar voice:

"Luo Pei, copy."

With Brother Luo covering, what is there to fear! Xia Qing scrambled up and sprinted toward Evolution Forest Five in the western sector.

She braved the artillery fire to reach Luo Pei's side. Before she could catch her breath, she heard Xie Yu issue the order: "Based on combat assessment, Sufeng's Liu Zheng and Qi Hong have taken Yi Element Stimulant, and the rest of Sufeng's squad have also taken combat-power boosters raising them one to two levels. Switch to Attack Plan B."

"Copy."

"Copy."

After the two squad leaders acknowledged, Xie Yu asked Xia Qing, "Squad Three's Night Heron, can you tell which one is the Azure Dragon Squad's Tang Zhou?"

Xia Qing took a deep breath to steady herself, quickly pressed the walkie-talkie button, and said, "I can tell. Tang Zhou is currently engaging Sufeng's Liu Zheng."

Azure Dragon Squad's fourth combat-power Tang Zhou was matched against Sufeng's seventh combat-power Liu Zheng, who had taken Yi Element Stimulant. Azure Dragon Squad's first combat-power Yang Jin was matched against Sufeng's first combat-power Tang Zhengsu and sixth combat-power Qi Hong.

Xie Yu ordered, "Very good. Night Heron, coordinate with Tang Zhou—kill Liu Zheng within two minutes, then Tang Zhou links up with Yang Jin."

"Night Heron, copy. Liu Zheng dead within two minutes." Xia Qing released the walkie-talkie button, took another deep breath, quickly climbed a large tree, steadied herself, steadied her rifle, and aimed at Liu Zheng.

Liu Zheng's evolution ability was similar to Xia Qing's, but his combat power was far higher. Xia Qing's was enhanced strength; Liu Zheng's was explosive power evolution. Explosive power is related to strength, but this ability is a combination of strength, speed, and the coordination between different muscle groups.

Put simply and intuitively: at the same level, in prolonged load-bearing, explosive-power evolution is inferior to strength evolution; but in close combat, strength evolution is inferior to explosive-power evolution.

Liu Zheng, having taken Yi Element Stimulant, had doubled combat power—Tang Zhou was no match for him at all. But Tang Zhou's current objective wasn't to defeat Liu Zheng, but to create openings for the sniper to take him down. That was far simpler.

Coordinating combat with a sniper is basic operation for speed evolvers.

Half a minute later, when Liu Zheng kicked through a waist-thick tree, Tang Zhou rapidly retreated, and a bullet shot like a meteor, precisely striking Liu Zheng's neck.

Though Liu Zheng's protective suit shielded him and the bullet didn't pierce his neck, the impact of the shot still knocked him off balance. In that instant, Tang Zhou surged forward and stomped viciously into Liu Zheng's abdomen.

As Liu Zheng was kicked flying and slammed into the rock behind him, a bullet precisely struck his protective face shield.

"Bang!"

The bullet still failed to pierce the face shield, but it damaged it and rattled Liu Zheng badly.

"Luo Pei!"

Damn it—Luo Pei didn't go coordinate with Yang Jin to fight Brother Su and Old Hong, but instead teamed up with Tang Zhou against him.

Liu Zheng instantly lost his will to fight. One Tang Zhou he didn't fear, but Luo Pei plus Tang Zhou together—he was the one who'd die.

Run!

"Left!" Hearing the voice in the walkie-talkie, Tang Zhou immediately sprang left. Through his night-vision goggles, he saw a beam of light pierce the back of Liu Zheng's right-leg hollow as he was turning, and rushed in at once.

Half a minute later, Liu Zheng lay dead at Tang Zhou's feet.

Xia Qing had just completed her mission and barely glanced at Yang Jin fighting two opponents alone when she heard Xie Yu issue another order: "Squad Three's Night Heron, team up with Azure Dragon's Wang Liang, move immediately to Forest Seven in the western sector, and kill any escapees who enter firing range."

"Night Heron, copy." Xia Qing had just acknowledged when Wang Liang arrived beneath the tree and signaled her to jump down.

Xia Qing jumped from the tree; Wang Liang caught her, swung her onto his back, and shot forward as if springs were fitted to his feet.

Only now did Xia Qing understand why a Level-Four strength evolver like Wang Liang could join Yang Jin's squad—the top-ranked combat-power squad within the Azure Dragon Squad.

He wasn't just a Level-Four speed evolver—he was also an advanced elasticity evolver!

After a brief daze, Xia Qing immediately used her visual and magnetic-sense evolution abilities to guide Wang Liang.

"Thanks." The two reached Forest Seven quickly, and Xia Qing thanked him in a lowered voice.

Wang Liang laughed softly and replied in a low voice, "No need. Just let me last a bit longer in the next training session."

In the last three training sessions, Wang Liang had been taken out by Xia Qing less than fifteen minutes in each time, earning him plenty of punishment. He'd long wanted to say this to Xia Qing.

Xia Qing knew Wang Liang had recognized her, and she smiled and nodded.

After their brief exchange, Xia Qing quickly found a sniper position and began picking off Sufeng members who were fleeing in panic because Azure Dragon and Hui-Three had dispatched reinforcements.

"Target One is fleeing from Forest Six toward Forest Seven. Night Heron, Wang Liang."

"Copy." From her elevated position, Xia Qing quickly used her vision to catch a streak of residual shadow rushing toward her.

Having raised speed-evolution red squirrels for so long, Xia Qing's eyes could already accurately track fast-moving objects, but she had no certainty of a one-shot kill.

But by great luck, Tang Zhengsu was charging straight at her—that made things far simpler.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

The bullets leaving the muzzle flew like three meteors toward Tang Zhengsu, sealing off his leftward dodge. From Xia Qing's observation, when Tang Zhengsu shifted position in combat, he habitually turned left rather than right.

The right and lower directions were covered by Tang Zhou in Forest Seven.

As if aided by the gods, Xia Qing's very first bullet struck the chest armor of Tang Zhengsu, halting him!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Xia Qing fired three more shots, each one aimed to take his life.

Tang Zhengsu, who had only broken free of Luo Pei and Yang Jin by detonating the explosives on Qi Hong, knew the opposing sniper was no easy mark. He braked hard to change direction, only to have Wang Liang spring out and block his path.

Tang Zhengsu was tangled up with Xia Qing and Wang Liang for over a dozen seconds when a streak of residual shadow caught up. Wang Liang fell back, and between the two streaks of residual shadow—the showdown between Hui-Three First Squad Captain Tang Zhengsu and Hui-Three Second Squad Captain Yang Jin—began.

Trees in Forest Seven toppled one after another, rocks flew wildly, startled crows cawed in chaos. This was a duel between experts; there was no longer any opening for Xia Qing to snipe.

She immediately retreated, once again taking the high ground to snipe any Sufeng escapees who strayed into her firing range.

"Bang!"

"Crack—snap."

A few minutes later, another great tree toppled, and Xia Qing heard Yang Jin's breathless voice come through the walkie-talkie:

"Fugitive Number One, Tang Zhengsu, has been captured."

Captured, not killed? Xia Qing turned her gaze toward the battlefield over there.

Xie Yu's voice came through, "Jin-ge is escorting Tang Zhengsu back to the safe zone; the rest of you, keep pursuing the fugitives."

"Copy."

After the two dark shadows swiftly departed, Xia Qing left her sniper's perch, leaping from treetop to treetop, and arrived at Yang Jin's side, raising her right fist.

Yang Jin raised his right fist and bumped it against Xia Qing's.

Tonight, they had won!