by <unknown>
“Snipers! Kill the pilots!” Chen Li was yelling in exasperation.
“We will handle the helicopters. Other snipers, go and stop the ground troops from coming in!” The Hornet Brothers gave an order in the communication net from the central fortress. Thereafter, they started shooting at the helicopters.
Even with the dense curtains of rain, Han Xiao could see the sparks generated when the sniper rounds landed on the exterior armor of the helicopters. The pilot’s window was made high-grade bullet-proof glasses. It would require at least seven to eight rounds to penetrate.
Han Xiao suddenly felt something was wrong. He swiftly shouldered his gun and moved away from the sniping window.
“How dare you leave your post without authorization…” Big beard guy was infuriated by what he saw. However, he was only half way through his words when the sound of a violent explosion stopped him. The fortress wall exploded violently, and big beard guy was instantly struck flying by the shockwave and landed on the other wall. His arms were completely broken, and he cried in pain.
The two Y5-Snake helicopters were equipped with four airstrike missiles, which were used to directly blow up the three fortresses. The central fortress was hit the heaviest—it exploded into complete ruins, and as a result, the Hornet Brothers were killed instantly. Their flesh, together with dust and shattered bricks, was tossed out of the place by the shockwave.
The three fortresses had been blown up!
Without the threat of snipers, the helicopters became much more aggressive, like a horny wild dog. The massive firepower had the mercenaries hiding under cover, and they dared not even expose their heads.
Although Han Xiao successfully dodged the explosion, he was hit by the shockwave. He did not suffer much damage. However, the roof over his head was completely blown up, and the heavy rain poured directly into his area. As a result, he was directly exposed in the enemies’ field of vision. He was in a terrible situation.
The enemy had land, air, and sea superiority. The manor was being attacked in three different ways!
He turned around and glanced at the horrifying scene of the battle.
The mercenaries cannot hold on anymore.
His eyes were looking worried.
…
“The people outside cannot withstand the attack anymore.”
Two men were looking out the window at the battle from the living room of the mansion in the center of River Valley Manor. One of them had both of his hands pressing on the windowsill; he was a bald old man. He wore black-frame glasses, and his eyebrows and beard were complete white.
The other person stood behind the old man at an angle with folded arms. He appeared to be a middle age man. His short jet-black hair was slicked-back, and there was only a slight graying on the hair near his temples. The only unordinary thing about him was probably his disposition. He wore a gentle smile on his face, which made him look rather friendly.
The man with the gentle disposition chuckled. “Seems like it’s time for me to act.”
The bald old man nodded. “We have defended for so long. Xena should have eradicated all the traitors in the organization. My life depends on you now, my old friend.”
The gentle man nodded and prepared to walk out. Suddenly, he stopped his footsteps and noticed a sudden change in the battle situation.
“Seems like there is an interesting guy who just appeared. They don’t need me anymore.”
“Hmm?” The bald old man was startled and looked out the window.
…
Hiding inside the defense structure, Chen Li shouted loudly into his walkie talkie, “Is there any sniper who is still alive? Without taking down the two helicopters, we are all going to die here!”
Suddenly, a crimson bullet penetrated through the rain curtain and shot the ammunition belt on one of the helicopters’ machine canons with extreme accuracy. The crimson round then cracked, and a flame erupted from within it in the heavy downpour.
High-explosive round!
Homm!
The orange high-explosive gas filled every single gap it touched, and it travelled through the split between the armored exterior and ignited the ammunition belt. The helicopter, which had been acting all triumphant a moment ago, exploded in that instant as all the canon rounds exploded at once. The high-explosive round was not powerful by itself, but it ignited the fatal large-caliber canon rounds, which were as powerful as land mines. Those in the helicopter were all killed. The flying ball-bearings pierced through the pilot’s neck, and the blood splashed onto the side window.
The helicopter span out of control before it dropped from the sky onto the ground. Both parties could feel the violent vibration on the ground.
In the half ruins of the left fortress, Han Xiao, who fired that shot, cocked his sniper rifle to unload the cartridge that was still smoking hot. His eyes were serious and calm. In that critical juncture, he had pumped a large amount of EXP into [Sniping] such that it rose to Lv.9! This was the reason he had managed to shoot a round with such accuracy. He had hit the canon rounds on the helicopter’s ammunition belt from an extremely obscure angle!
However, this shot had also caused several bad consequences. The other Y5-Snake helicopter aimed all its firepower at the left fortress. In addition, the enemy ground troops knew that the helicopters were their trump card; therefore, they all cooperated and fired at the fortress together. A terrifying number of rounds smashed the rain curtain and exploded on the left fortress!
Big beard guy’s face turned ghostly pale as he thought he was going to be blown up in pieces. How could he run faster than the canon rounds with his two short legs? Right in his moment of desperation, he suddenly felt a large hand picking him up by the scruff of his neck and a great force that dragged him along to run away at lightning speed. The next instant, the entire left fortress blew up into ruins.
If it had been a second earlier, big beard guy would have been blown to smithereens.
After escaping from danger, big beard guy felt his collar being released. His butt landed right on the ground. He quickly turned around and looked at the person who saved him. The sight of Han Xiao, who was dressed in black, standing in the heavy rain appeared in his eyes.
Big beard guy did not bother with thanking Han Xiao for saving his life before he asked in shock, “How did you run so fast‽”
“Because I am as free as the wind.”
Big beard guy was completely dumbfounded. What kind of crap are you talking about‽
As soon as Han Xiao finished quipping, his both feet landed on the ground. His Electromagnetic Hover-boots then lit up with a dark blue glow, and electromagnetic force blasted out of them, causing Han Xiao to slide out swiftly as he was skating on ice. He was moving faster than a car, and so, with two to three slides, he reached the top of the raft of the outside wall. Much to the mercenaries’ astonishment, Han Xiao was dashing left and right rapidly like dark-colored lightning on the wall raft—no enemy could accurately lock onto him. He dodged all enemy fire.
“See my majestic skill!”
Han Xiao started sniping whilst he was moving around at high-speed. The field of vision for sniping was a few times greater there than that in the left fortress. His Snipe skill, which had just reached Lv.9, could control the entire battlefield. The movement provided by the hover boots was smooth and steady, so Han Xiao did not spend much of his effort controlling the boots. The difficulty in controlling the boots was only as high as those commercial electronic skating shoes; therefore, the high-speed movement did not affect the accuracy of Han Xiao’s shots significantly.
Rounds after rounds were fired at the enemies. High-explosive, Hayme, Flash, and Penetration rounds took turns to be fired from the sniper rifle. The most useful bullet was always used at the most appropriate time and place. For instance, when a vehicle was attempting to fire a grenade at one of the manor’s machine guns, a Flash bullet appeared at the most opportune time and made the enemy fire at the wrong angle.
; _____________
You are currently sniping while on the move.
You learned a [Moving Snipe] technique (1/100).
——————————————————————
Triggered the learning of a new skill? Han Xiao’s eyes brightened—this skill could only be triggered when the Snipe skill was above Lv.8. He fired a few more shots and realized, when he successfully shot a target, he gained a progress point. He immediately became more enthusiastic in sniping the enemies.
Han Xiao evaded the majority of attacks from the enemies with the help of the hover boots. However, the enemies recognized his area-control ability as a sniper. They would have much difficulty taking the next step without bringing him down.
Thus, Han Xiao soon felt their ‘intense enthusiasm’, and he once again received concentrated fire from the enemies. The pressure on him increased sharply, and he was frequently shot by stray rounds. He had no choice but to shield his body with his magnetic armor.
The last Y-5 Snake helicopter swayed left and right to prevent Han Xiao from sniping its vital parts. The machine canon fired consistently, causing much trouble for Han Xiao. Even with the magnetic armor, it was painful for him to take a few canon rounds.
To make matters worse, the canon rounds had a push-back effect, which already made Han Xiao miss quite a few of his shots.
The armor on his chest received three more large-caliber canon rounds. Han Xiao felt his chest tightening; he was pushed a few meters back and almost fell off the wall raft. However, the damage was not significant to him—his current HP count was more than 2000, and with the help of the magnetic retractable armor, he could suffer through much greater damage.
At this moment, the mercenaries in the manor started fighting back and actively complement Han Xiao’s battle tactics.
“Oi, sniper, stop daydreaming. Continue fighting like before; we will coordinate with your attacks!” Chen Li shouted in the communication device.
Chapter 110. The Main Character of Planet Aquamarine |
Someone once said that if one reviewed one’s previous life, one would realize that one’s wrongdoings in the past would come back to haunt one.
If those words were true, Han Xiao felt that he was bound to become a haunted house owner, surrounded by hateful specters, since every enemy that he killed stared hard at him with vengeful, angry eyes.
At the most critical juncture, Han Xiao used his amazing sniping skills to stabilize the battle situation. He gave the mercenaries time to regroup, and the rest of the surviving snipers also made use of the opportunity to head to new hideouts.
The mercenaries made Han Xiao the main fighter, and all of them provided support for him. The enemy’s plan to suppress Han Xiao with heavy fire failed badly. The troops working with Han Xiao managed to relieve his stress and pressure. In turn, this brought out the best of his strength and made his fighting easier.
——————————————————————
You are currently sniping while on the move.
You learned a [Moving Snipe] technique. (100/100)
You successfully grasped [Moving Snipe]!
Moving Snipe Lv.1 (0/4,500): Reduction of the loss of accuracy from shooting in motion, +2% explosive firing accuracy, +1% fire rate when equipped with sniper rifles.
——————————————————————
Han Xiao realized that [Moving Snipe] did not require large sums of EXP points. He channeled his additional EXP points into the skill and raised the skill to Lv.4. He became more comfortable with operating a sniper rifle and could use the weapon to the best of its ability.
After the enemy’s initial strong push, the situation was back in the defenders’ favor. The incoming enemy troops were fatigued. They wanted to use explosives to blow a hole in the exterior walls of the garden and follow-up by driving their vehicles into the compound. However, the tough steel plates and concrete with the urgent repairs going on made the exterior impossible to blow up.
The enemies then changed their plans and wanted to wipe out the guards of the base directly, but instead, they were stopped by the powerful Han Xiao, who suddenly emerged before their eyes. The enemies realized their assault was going down hill. They started their retreat and left piles of dead bodies.
The Y-5 Snake helicopter turned back and flew away from the site. The helicopter did not have the audacity to fly close to the ground. The pilots were afraid that Han Xiao could fire at its fuel-tank and ammunition storage, which would limit the helicopter’s fighting ability, making it less of a threat.
The battle is finally over. Han Xiao heaved a sigh of relief. His HP had dropped by over 600 points. The endurance level of the magnetically-controlled retractable armor was reduced by a great deal, but he had brought some mechanical parts with him, so he could conduct repairs on the damaged item.
The mercenaries by his side were all exhausted. They collapsed to the ground in fatigue. Chen Li walked toward them. He was curious about Han Xiao’s abilities. He wanted to find out Han Xiao’s full fighting capability and asked, “Mr. Black, are you alright?”
Han Xiao waved his hand to indicate that he was doing fine at the current moment.
Although Chen Li appeared relieved, he was in fact slightly shocked. He did not expect the Scorpion-level assassin to be more reliable than the Hornet brothers.
Shooting the enemies under such powerful concentrated enemy fire was not a feat that was attainable by a Scorpion-level individual.
Chen Li suspected that Mr. Black was a new member of the Dark Web, which would explain his rather low level. Based on his performance in the previous battle, as long as he survived, he could easily attain ‘Ghost’ level.
——————————————————————
Third round completed. You gained 150,000 EXP.
Change in Quest Requirement
Fourth Round Requirement: Defend against five waves of attacks.
Reward: 40,000 EXP per wave (Accumulated EXP will be kept if the mission fails.)
Special Reward: 100,000 EXP
——————————————————————
Han Xiao felt helpless. Why is it another defense mission? Can there be more variety?
Three forts have been destroyed, and many mercenary troops have also perished. Is the whole mission going to be an endless defense against enemy attacks‽
The only consolation is probably the experience and the special reward. Perhaps the special reward is the reason behind all the hidden requirements for the mission. What special tactics are they going to run this time round?
Han Xiao made his way to the logistics zone to start the repairs of the damaged equipment and replenish the exhausted ammunition. On his way there, he was met with looks of respect given by the mercenary troops. Their looks seemed like they had given the ‘green light’ to let Han Xiao be the leader of all the snipers in the force instead of the Hornet brothers.
Those troops with injuries spent the night having themselves treated while the troops who were not injured had a peaceful night of sleep.
The rain stopped at twilight. The ground was muddy, mixed with blood and bullet shells. A strange pungent smell was also emitted by the ground.
Han Xiao was prepared to close his eyes to take a short nap when he heard a commotion emerging out of the communication device.
“The targets have appeared!”
Han Xiao opened his eyes and looked toward the mansion.
The bald old man and a fine-looking gentleman appeared behind the fences of the mansion. All the mercenary troops were alarmed, and they stared curiously at the targets that they were supposed to protect.
When all the mercenary troops and assassins arrived before him, the bald open man started speaking. “Thank you for the protection you guys have offered for the past few days. I will now call out the names of some of the guys whom I want to speak with.”
The
bald old man chanted out a list of names. The names belonged to the commanders of the mercenary troops and assassins with outstanding performances in the mission. Mr. Black, which was Han Xiao’s code name, was also mentioned.
“… please enter the mansion in ten minutes. I have something to discuss with you guys.”
——————————————————————
The condition for the mission to fail has changed.
——————————————————————
The condition of no entrance into the mansion, which would directly lead to mission failure, was no longer there.
The appearance of the two mysterious characters created an intense discussion between the curious and puzzled troops.
Waves of unease could be felt in Han Xiao’s heart instead. He managed to recognize one of the guys.
It is him, Bennett Anderson!
No flashy adjectives were required to describe Bennett. In fact, one simple sentence was enough.
Bennett was the main character of Planet Aquamarine!
Amazing, right? There was something even more amazing.
Bennett was another main character on Planet Aquamarine’s main storyline that could lead the players to access missions only available on the main storyline. With that said, it meant that Bennett was an important character that many players wanted to curry-favor with.
Furthermore, Bennett… was a hidden General Skills trainer.
Han Xiao’s eyes glittered. In less than ten minutes, he made a phone call to the Rothschild family.
“Alphonsus, I want to exchange for some items…”
“Er? Aren’t you on the deployment mission? What do you need?”
“The Silver Defender Leaders’ Saber and the Lock HOC Sniper Rifle.”
“… Alright, I did not imagine that you would have such a hobby. I’ll get someone to help you find the items. They will be sent to you in two days.”
_____________
You requested to exchange for the [Silver Defender Leader’s Saber] from the Rothschild Family.
