Chapter 591: Turning the Tide in the Western Forest

Damn, Yang Jin finally made it!

The moment Xia Qing hit the ground, a sharp whistling tore through the air above her—then a deafening blast followed.

“Boom!”

Right after the explosion, the thudding rhythm of fists and kicks crashing together filled the air.

“Night Heron, fall back to the Western Lands, Section Five of the Evolved Forest. Luo Pei and Squad Three’s artillery numbers One and Two will cover you.”

“Night Heron copying.”

Xia Qing’s ears rang from the explosion, but she still managed to respond. Then another familiar voice reached her.

“Luo Pei, copying.”

With Luo covering her, nothing could scare her now! Xia Qing scrambled up and dashed toward Section Five of the Evolved Forest in the Western Lands.

She broke through the artillery fire and reached Luo Pei’s side, barely catching her breath before Xie Yu gave out a new order. “Based on combat analysis, Su Feng’s Liu Zheng and Qi Hong have used Evolution Element stim shakes. The other Su Feng members have taken drugs to boost their strength by one or two levels. Switch to Plan B attack.”

“Copy.”

“Copy.”

After the two squad leaders replied, Xie Yu addressed Xia Qing: “Night Heron from Squad Three, can you identify which one is Tang Zhou from Azure Dragon Squad?”

Xia Qing took a deep breath to steady herself, then quickly pressed her walkie-talkie. “I can. Tang Zhou is fighting Liu Zheng from Su Feng right now.”

Azure Dragon Squad’s number four, Tang Zhou, was up against Su Feng’s number seven, Liu Zheng, who’d taken an Evolution Element stim shake. Azure Dragon’s top fighter, Yang Jin, was facing off against Su Feng’s top dog, Tang Zhengsu, and number six, Qi Hong.

Xie Yu gave the order. “Good. Night Heron, assist Tang Zhou. Take Liu Zheng out within two minutes, then Tang Zhou teams up with Yang Jin.”

“Night Heron understands. Liu Zheng will be dead in two minutes.” Xia Qing let go of the walkie-talkie, drew another breath, then scrambled up a tall tree. She steadied herself and her gun, taking aim at Liu Zheng.

Liu Zheng’s evolution ability was similar to Xia Qing’s, but his overall combat power was far higher. Xia Qing’s talent centered on raw strength, while Liu Zheng specialized in explosive force. Explosive power and strength are related, but explosive force is the coordination of strength, speed, and multiple muscle groups working together.

Simply put, at the same level, explosive evolvers can’t outlift strength evolvers. But in close combat, strength evolvers can’t outfight explosive ones.

With that stim shake, Liu Zheng’s power had doubled; Tang Zhou couldn’t win in a straight fight. But Tang Zhou’s job wasn’t to beat Liu Zheng—just to create an opening for a sniper shot. Much easier.

Working with a sniper is just standard fare for a speed evolver.

Thirty seconds later, as Liu Zheng kicked a thick tree clean in half, Tang Zhou pulled back in an instant—and a bullet streaked like a shooting star, slamming into Liu Zheng’s neck.

Even though his protective suit saved him from a fatal shot, the impact rattled Liu Zheng badly and threw him off balance. In that split second, Tang Zhou charged in and landed a kick straight to Liu Zheng’s gut.

Liu Zheng went flying into a rocky outcrop just in time for a second bullet to punch into his protective mask.

“Bang!”

The mask withstood the bullet, but it sent a tremor crashing through Liu Zheng and cracked the mask in the process.

“Luo Pei!”

Damn it, instead of helping Yang Jin deal with Tang Zhengsu and Lao Hong, Luo Pei was teaming up with Tang Zhou to take him down.

Liu Zheng’s urge to keep fighting vanished. Tang Zhou alone wasn’t scary but adding Luo Pei? That was a death sentence.

Run!

“Left!” The shout crackled in Tang Zhou’s earpiece. He instantly sprang left, watching through night vision goggles as a beam of light lanced into Liu Zheng’s right knee just as he turned. Seeing his chance, Tang Zhou closed in.

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

Xia Qing had just accomplished her mission and barely glanced at Yang Jin, who was holding off two foes at once, when Xie Yu delivered another command. “Night Heron from Squad Three, team up with Wang Liang of Azure Dragon. Head to Section Seven in the Western Lands. Shoot down any escaping enemies in range.”

“Night Heron, copy.” Xia Qing had just answered when Wang Liang appeared below her tree, gesturing for her to jump down.

She jumped, and Wang Liang caught her, tossing her over his shoulder before springing forward like he had springs for legs.

Only then did Xia Qing realize why a level four strength evolver like Wang Liang was chosen for Yang Jin’s elite Azure Dragon team—the squad ranked number one in combat ability.

He wasn’t just a fourth-level speed evolver—he had advanced elastic evolution too!

Snapping out of her daze, Xia Qing immediately used her evolved eyesight and magnetic sense to guide Wang Liang.

“Thanks.” They reached Section Seven in no time. Xia Qing kept her voice low as she thanked him.

Wang Liang chuckled and whispered back, “Don’t mention it—just let me survive a bit longer in the next team exercise.”

In the last three drills, Wang Liang had barely lasted fifteen minutes before getting taken out by Xia Qing, and he’d gotten no shortage of penalties for it. He’d been waiting to say that.

Xia Qing could tell Wang Liang recognized her. She nodded with a smile.

After their quick exchange, Xia Qing found a good sniping position. She started picking off Su Feng members as they panicked and scattered under the onslaught from Azure Dragon and Hui Three reinforcements.

“Target One is fleeing from Section Six to Section Seven, Night Heron and Wang Liang.”

“Copy.” From her perch, Xia Qing quickly sighted a blur charging her way.

Thanks to all her training with the speed-evolved Red Squirrel, Xia Qing’s eyes could now catch even the fastest targets—though a guaranteed kill was never certain.

But as luck would have it, Tang Zhengsu was running straight at her. That made things way easier.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

Three bullets shot from her rifle and arced toward Tang Zhengsu, sealing off his left-side escape. Xia Qing had noticed he always dodged left, never right, when switching positions in combat.

Tang Zhou had the right and lower paths covered in Section Seven’s woods.

It felt almost supernatural—Xia Qing’s first shot struck Tang Zhengsu’s chest armor dead on, cutting off his advance!

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Another three rounds, each one fired to kill.

After blowing up the bomb strapped to Qi Hong just to shake off Luo Pei and Yang Jin, Tang Zhengsu knew better than to mess with the sniper on the other side. He feinted, turning sharply—only to be blocked by Wang Liang’s sudden appearance.

Tang Zhengsu got tangled up with Xia Qing and Wang Liang for ten seconds before another blur zipped forward. Wang Liang fell back, and then—finally—the ultimate showdown began between Tang Zhengsu, captain of Hui Three’s first team, and Yang Jin, captain of their second.

Trees crashed to the ground in Section Seven, stones went flying, and crows shrieked through the chaos. This was a clash of masters—no room left for snipers like Xia Qing.

She instantly pulled back again, scrambling to higher ground so she could pick off any Su Feng escapees who dared enter her sight.

“Bang!”

“Click—clack.”

A few minutes later, another great tree fell. Xia Qing heard Yang Jin’s breathless voice sound in her earpiece.

“Target One, Tang Zhengsu, has been captured.”

Captured? Not killed? Xia Qing quickly looked over at the battlefield.

Xie Yu’s voice followed. “Jin, escort Tang Zhengsu back to the Safe Zone. Everyone else—continue hunting the escapees.”

“Copy.”

When the two figures disappeared into the dark, Xia Qing left her sniper nest, leapt from tree to tree, and landed beside Yang Jin. She raised her right fist.

Yang Jin raised his fist back, bumping hers with his.

Tonight—they had won!