Book 2 Chapter 3.4

Book 2 Chapter 3.4 - Soldier

The muzzle of Su’s gun released a blast of fire, causing flames to fly out from the sides and back. After making contact with concrete ot the ground, it then bounced back up. The flames fiercely swept past Su’s left hand that held held the trigger, yet it could not leave behind the slightest mark on his exquisite skin. 

A bullet flew out from the muzzle, every single engraving on its surface releasing light. The light wasn’t particularly blinding, but it consistently removed the air resistance around it, allowing the bullet’s flight to be more ruthless and unhindered. 

The bullet landed on the off-road vehicle’s armor. Under the tremendous momentum, the armor was blasted open, and at the same time, the outer shell began to deform. Soon after, the scorching metal stream and heavy sharp bullet core continued to penetrate through, breaking through the final layer of thin armor before finally entering the engine cabin. The body of the roaring engine might as well have been a sheet of paper as the bullet core easily tore into its center. It entered through one side of the engine, crushing the piston and then re-merging from the other side before ultimately nailing itself into the inner lining of the vehicle armor on the other side. 

The scorching metal stream ignited the oil and gas that was pouring outwards. The explosion brought about by this high heat content fuel was far greater than the power of olden era gasoline. 

Under Su’s vision, the commanding vehicle’s enormous body suddenly jumped. Then, a world-shaking explosion erupted, and the lid of the engine directly flew a hundred meters into the air. The engine itself shattered into hundreds of components, and the front of the vehicle flew outwards. The driving compartment was completely distorted, and while practically sticking to the armored rear cabin, cracks appeared on its protective armor before it eventually shattered into pieces. The damage the rear cabin experienced was a bit smaller, but a third of its body was also blasted apart. It seemed like it would be hard for anyone inside to survive this attack. 

Su’s green eye was as calm as water. The same type of bullet was loaded into the gun barrel again. 

The two soldier transporting vehicles seemed to be somewhat disordered. They immediately drew out an S shaped trajectory to block the next snipe, and at the same time, fruitlessly search for the hidden expert. However, how could they find the sniper hidden in the darkness from the narrow observation window? When the tank used its installed radar and computer to calculate Su’s sniping location and bombarded it with more than ten artillery shells, making the ruins appear even more like ruins, Su had long gone missing. 

After making another circle, the two tanks returned to the area where the command vehicle was ambushed even though it was clear from the wreckage that no one could have survived the explosion. Of course, they still took preventative measures. The cannons on the two tanks continuously moved about, releasing several blasts into the ruins and laying down a layer of anti-infantry landmines. Only after this was done did the back door of one of the tanks open. Six soldiers got out and quickly ran towards the command vehicle’s wreckage. 

Tong! Another gunshot that wasn’t particularly loud or clear rang out, and it made almost all of the Blue Scorpion soldiers jump in fright. A faint tracing streak suddenly flew through the air, one end rising from the ruins, and the other end disappearing into the opened door of the tank. The Blue Scorpion soldiers watched with stunned expressions as enormous balls of bright flames burst from within, their temporarily blank consciousness unable to even process the fate of the driver and gunner within. 

The position the bullet was shot from was right from the center of the landmines. After their analysis produced this result, the other tank’s gunner stared distractedly for a few seconds before switching the landmine artillery that was already loaded with a highly explosive artillery shell. Even though its power was far less effective than the landmine rockets against soldiers on foot, seeing how the intelligent landmines had already lost efficacy, this was the only other option. 

Under the rumbling artillery barrage, the minefield was damaged beyond repair. From the observation lens, the only thing that could be seen was large amounts of smoke and fluttering rocks. It was impossible to tell if it had hit a human. However, the gunner had a feeling that these shots of his didn’t hit anything. No one could escape the pursuit of the anti-infantry landmines, so could it be that the one that fired the snipe was not human?

The gunner suddenly realized that the palms of his arms were covered in sweat, and that it continuously slid on the control lever. It was an extremely uncomfortable feeling. He forcefully wiped it on his military uniform, but the sweat only continued to increase, and no matter what he did, he couldn’t wipe it clean. Almost as an instinctive reaction towards this fear he felt, he suddenly changed the direction the cannon faced and fired madly again and again!

He hit the target! Even though the observation lens still didn’t reveal anything other than smoke and dust, the gunner still had this feeling. His heart madly jumped, his chest feeling as if there was an enormous boulder resting against it. 

The tank that ferociously fired finally stopped. A narrow opening was opened in the door, and the six Blue Scorpion soldiers immediately rushed inside the vehicle. Who knew if that extremely dangerous sniper was alive or dead? No one was willing to stay in the wilderness without any cover, and not even the inside of the tank was absolutely safe. No one dared to try to clean up their companions’ remains, and they were even more opposed to the idea of trying to seek confirmation of their opponent’s death. 

The tank’s door closed with difficulty, and soon after, it made a sharp turn before speeding away, leaving behind the wreckage of the two burning tanks. 

After an unknown amount of time had passed, an area in the ruins composed of brick and cement moved. Several pieces of cement tumbled down, and then an arm that was covered in blood and ashes reached out. This arm was a bit rigid, and it struggled quite a bit before pushing apart the crushed stones. It then groped around its surroundings. 

Another hand with a Black Dragonrider tactical glove reached out. It gripped the hand that was covered in blood and pulled Su out from the ruins. 

“Was just blasted a few times by a tank’s cannon. It’s not that big of a deal.” Su laughed weakly a few times. He pulled back his mask to spit out a bloody clump of spittle, and then he moved his body a bit before saying, “Today’s luck is truly bad!”

“In my opinion, your luck is too good, or else you would have been blown into pieces by the bombardment.” Enzo spoke while handing Su a water canteen. This canteen that was made entirely out of steel was rather delicate and small. An eagle's head was carved on its surface. 

Su didn’t act too politely and downed it with a single gulp. The water inside had a bit of a bitter and fishy scent. It was enriched with nutrients, hormones to stimulate his body’s immune system, as well as a broad spectrum antibiotic. This was the battlefield nutrient fluid of the Black Dragonriders, and its price was definitely not cheap. 

Su moved his body around a bit more, his left shoulder and left part of his chest sending back waves of pain. These wounds were unrelated to the artillery fire, and were instead the bruises the rifle left on him. The recoil force from these special bullets that could penetrate an armored command vehicle could only be described as horrifying. Even with Su’s level of body control and two levels of defensive ability, his breastbone was still injured by the recoil force. He reckoned that he would at most be able to fire four shots of those special bullets. 

Enzo did a rough sweep with his eyes over the traces of the battlefield before saying, “There should be another tank.”

“It got away, most likely returned to Pendulum City.” Su replied while skillfully removing the barrel and chest portion to exchange them for their original components. 

When Enzo saw the gun barrel’s length and caliber, his eyes jumped and he cursed in a low voice, “Combat Domain lunatics…” He was quite clear on the fact that with his current constitution, it was completely impossible to use a sniper rifle of this caliber. Those Combat Domain abilities users could easily use even gatling guns, but as for the accuracy of those shots, it could only be described as tragic. When god closed a door, he would definitely open another one, and vice versa. Of course, Su’s accuracy in sniping had already been selectively ignored by the lieutenant. 

“What did you say?” Su, who was wholeheartedly adjusting his firearm didn’t hear the lieutenant’s words too clearly. 

“Nothing, nothing! We have to formulate a new plan. Roxland’s people supply quite a bit of help for us.” Lieutenant Enzo pulled out a tactical tablet.