Fatal Shot

The distance between the ruins of NC-3475 and Silvermoon City was under 100 miles. NC-3475 was a place that resembled the old ruins of NC-5504. However, as it had originally been a smaller town, its surface area was also comparatively smaller.

Looking across the horizon, other than the trees and weeds growing on the ground, the place was only left with six to seven abandoned buildings that were still standing. Due to the extremely low monster levels here—between Level 10 and 20—as well as the significant distance from Silvermoon City, there were barely any players of any level who would step foot in this place.

About 700 meters away from the target location, Feng Luo had concealed himself in a bush on high ground. The barrel of his M110 could be seen sticking out of the bush. With the help of its sniping scope, he methodically surveyed the abandoned buildings and woods in front of him. He paid extra attention while inspecting places that could potentially shelter hostiles lying in ambush. Hunters faced significantly life-threatening dangers while carrying out their missions. The most dangerous among them all was the risk of wanted players hiring mercenaries to plant traps and organizing ambushes to catch the hunters off-guard.

Although Feng Luo wished to complete this mission as soon as possible and reach Level 42, he could not act impulsively. After all, vigilance and patience were the must-have qualities of a sniper.

Three minutes later, he had screened through the entire zone successfully. Meanwhile, the system notified him again about the detected location, confirming that the target was still located in one of the buildings. Strangely enough, they had remained fairly stationary.

Feng Luo shifted his line of sight away from his sniper rifle. In the past, he would have changed his position to continue his observation so that he could cover all of the blind spots that could not be seen from his current scope of vision. But now, he did not need to go through that kind of hassle anymore.

Feng Luo set down the M110 and reached out to pat the patch of grass in front of “24K,” his Golden King Beetle. It was originally a luxurious golden color, but it was currently camouflaged to look like a regular, boring beetle.

“24K” was the name he had given it. It also had a nickname: “Little Gold.” However, this was only an abbreviation. Its full name was “24K Pure Gold,” a fairly old-fashioned name. However, the old-fashioned name did not affect 24K’s understanding of the meaning behind its name.

A second later, the scene in front of Feng Luo quaked. The surroundings of woods and ruins, blue sky and white clouds changed completely.

The new view resembled an aged, colorless, black-and-white scene with colorful beams and balls of light superimposed on it. Through the unstable, continuously shaking view, he could see that he was facing a faraway building. About 500 meters away from Feng Luo, a transparent beetle roughly the size of a fingernail was flying silently toward the target’s location.

The perspective of the Scout Beetle was sent to the King Beetle, which would then transfer it via their mental link to Feng Luo’s eyes. It was nothing like the vision seen by human eyes. It was basic vision constructed by the images perceived by the six pairs of eyes located around the Scout Beetle’s body.

The various colorful beams and balls of light had their own respective meaning. For example, they might represent an individual, a monster, a crystal, or the frequency of an energy source. This created a very complicated picture. Moreover, it covered all 360 degrees and was three-dimensional. An average player would have lacked the brainpower to comprehend the entire image. However, back when Feng Luo had gained possession of the Scout Beetle, in less than half a day, he had learned to filter out the required information from this bizarre scene. He was capable of this because he had an extraordinarily active mind that he put to use.

Three minutes later, the Scout Beetle arrived on the roof of the designated building. It started to circle the building, level by level, attempting to locate their target, a Fire Manipulator.

Feng Luo felt that what he was doing seemed like cheating. Nevertheless, he did not feel overly guilty about it, as pets were technically regarded as part of a player’s ability.

After flying around the building for a few minutes, the Scout Beetle had scanned through five floors, yet there was still no sign of the wanted Fire Manipulator. However, at that moment, a dim, distorted ray of blue light flashed past in the neighboring building, which was picked up by the vision Feng Luo shared with the Beetle.

The ray of light was fuzzy, but it made Feng Luo furrow his brows. The meaning represented by this color of light, in the eyes of the Scout Beetle, was categorized as the “Water Energy Wave”!

The problem was, the wanted player with the ID of “Huo Yanyan” was undoubtedly a Level-45 Fire Manipulator.

This situation smells fishy!

******

The Energy Wave had exploded from a secluded room in the building adjacent to Feng Luo’s targeted building.

“Leaf, did I not tell you to refrain from using your skills?”

A Scout Player with pinched eyebrows was admonishing an innocent-looking female player who stood behind him. She was a Water Manipulator, characterized by her attire of an Energy Robe.

“But there was a Mutant Rat! It’s so disgusting!” the female Manipulator whined with a displeased face. Just moments ago, she had fired an energy-charged Ice Arrow that had nailed a Level-20 Mutant Rat to death on the wall.

“It’s okay, Captain! Stop scolding Leaf,” simpered a Light Armor Warrior. “I hate to see those rodents too! If it weren’t for the mission to ambush Feng Zhi Luoye, I would’ve killed them all off earlier for you, Leaf.”

He was obviously trying to help the female Water Manipulator by easing the tense atmosphere. Judging by the tone of his voice, it seemed like he was trying to please her.

“Such attitudes…” muttered the Scout Player as he shook his head.

None of the players in the room noticed the fingernail-sized beetle descending unobtrusively from the sky. The moment it alighted on the windowsill, its body, along with its wings, turned into an almost identical color to the structure beneath it.

“Boss Light Wind said that if we fail this mission again, our bonus for the month will be forfeited completely!” the Scout Player warned as he realized that his comrades were not taking his words seriously.

“Ah! Captain, I heard through the grapevine that Boss Lightwind intends to run for the position of the Vice Chairman of the council… Is that true?” As if she had suddenly thought of the matter, the innocent female player brought up the question in a flirtatious tone.

“We’re not supposed to discuss any matters pertaining to our superiors!” replied the Scout sternly.

“All right, all right…” The female player dragged her syllables as she replied. However, from her expression, it was clear that she had no intention to let the matter rest.

“All right, everyone, stop chattering and hide properly. I believe that Feng Zhi Luoye is about to arrive!” the Captain Scout said with finality.

They did not realize that their conversation had already been relayed to Feng Luo’s eyes and ears by the beetle concealed on the window of that room.

700 meters away, Feng Luo’s expression had turned dark. He recalled the Scout Beetle, picked up his M110, and left the scene without turning back. Knowing when to retreat was also something that a true Sniper had to know.

******

In a luxurious suite at the players’ Exchange in Silvermoon City, Roaring Dragon “Lightwind,” dressed smartly in his white suit, lounged on a leather sofa while nursing a cup of gourmet coffee that had been brewed from the loot dropped by defeated monsters.

On the table in front of him was a holoscreen projected by some high-tech devices. Various characters and diagrams were displayed on the screen. The names and logos representing Roaring Dragon “Invincible,” the council, the Veterans Tribe, the Lu Conglomerate, etc., were projected on the screen, linked together by multiple lines and arrows.

Roaring Dragon Lightwind extended his finger and paused underneath the name of Roaring Dragon Invincible. Then he drew a horizontal line underneath it.

His eyes transitioned between a plethora of emotions. It started off with frostiness, then hesitance. Eventually, his gaze turned calm yet determined. Nobody knew what the Number Two of Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group was thinking.

Ding!

A notification chirped from his communicator and shook Roaring Dragon Lightwind from his stupor.

“You have a voice message from an unknown number. Do you want to listen now?”

When he glanced at his communicator and saw the ID of the message’s sender, Roaring Dragon Lightwind’s expression turned solemn.

“Mister Roaring Dragon Lightwind, your underlings are obviously amateurs.” The voice on the message sounded calm, but it was clear that the sender was speaking in a mocking tone while trying to suppress his laughter. “In fact, they practically presented their heads to me on silver platters! If there’s a next time, please hire people who are more professional. On another note, do convey my warmest regards to the ladies of your family.”

Crack!

Roaring Dragon Lightwind had snapped the teaspoon that he was using to stir his coffee. The coffee from the cup splashed onto his white suit, creating a series of unappealing, revolting stains.