Chapter 893: The Wolf Eyes on the Ridge

After taking down Jiang Xiong, Xia Qing gave She Xing a quick gesture, telling her to stay put while she moved forward.

She Xing arranged Jiang Xiong and Qi San’s bodies to look like they were still crouched behind cover on lookout, then lowered her voice over the walkie-talkie. “The western sentries are down. At least nine enemies remain. Our sniper is moving to take out their sniper. Are Liangqing and Beast Squads in position?”

“Copy that, Liangqing Rescue Team is assembled,” replied the level-two Speed Evolver from Liangqing Squad.

“Roger, Beast Rescue Team is ready,” came the reply from the captain of Beast Squad.

She Xing issued her orders. “Good. Both teams advance west 1,500 meters now.”

The fifteen-strong rescue group, fully assembled, began pushing into the abandoned village from the west side.

Using the ruins and trees for cover, Xia Qing crept forward on her stomach until she reached the tallest tree in this area. Swapping to her cat’s claw climbing shoes, she quickly scrambled up the trunk.

But just as she was halfway up, a complication arose. From Jiang Xiong’s walkie-talkie came an inquiry: “Brother Xiong, all clear on the west side?”

“Enemy movement inbound. Hold positions for now.” Xia Qing signaled the rescue squad to halt, then pressed the button on Jiang Xiong’s walkie-talkie, steadily tapping five times with her finger.

Thump. Thump-thump-thump. Thump.

The person asking was also from Dongyang Squad—one with enhanced hearing. Xia Qing was using Dongyang Squad’s coded tap sequence. This particular rhythm meant, ‘all clear.’

If they hadn’t changed their code, maybe this would work.

Sure enough, the other side suspected nothing. “All right, you and Sanzi keep watch for a bit. Dammit, I think I ate something bad—I’ll be in the bushes for a while.”

Having bluffed her way through, Xia Qing tapped the walkie-talkie twice to signal agreement.

From that exchange, she gauged that enemy shift change was imminent, and their new western sentry was going to be their best night scout—a hearing evolutionary.

She had to eliminate their sniper before that guy finished his business.

The more critical the moment, the calmer she needed to be.

Xia Qing did a rapid scan ahead, locating three possible sniper nests. From the height of this tree, she could see all three.

In other words, this treetop spot was sure to be within the enemy sniper’s sightlines. So Xia Qing had to make every move count. If she made the branches shake unnaturally, she’d get spotted.

Finding a steady perch, she controlled her breath and slowing heartbeat, then peered through dense leaves to hunt for their sniper.

First sniper point: empty.

Second sniper point: there’s someone there.

Third sniper point: empty.

There were two more sentries to the north and one visible on the east side.

Her sweep complete, Xia Qing decisively squeezed the trigger. In one shot, she broke the neck of a sniper lying more than 1,400 meters away atop the ruins. Three shots later, she pressed the walkie-talkie and reported, “Enemy sniper neutralized. North side sentry and one on the east also taken out. Rescue squad, move in faster.”

“Copy!”

“Roger!”

When they heard Qinglong’s sniper had taken down three hostiles in quick succession, the rescue squads surged forward with a new burst of confidence.

“Pew pew!”

Two bullets streaked from five hundred meters away, glowing as they flew straight for Xia Qing’s hiding place in the tree. The enemy had another sniper—and he had Xia Qing in his sights!

One round punched clean through the tree, half a meter thick. If Xia Qing hadn’t dodged in time, that bullet would’ve torn through her gut.

Her snakeskin jacket and special protective suit wouldn’t have been pierced, but a hit still would’ve hurt like hell. The round scrapped over the top of her protective mask with a screeching ring.

As she slid down the trunk, Xia Qing grabbed the rope, climbed a few steps up, then hooked her cat’s claw shoes tight to the bark. While snapping out to the left with her rifle, another shot flared in the dark, and she fired back at the enemy sniper.

“Clang!”

Her bullet smacked into something metallic—a steel plate. In eleven years of raids, scavengers picked these ruins clean of steel for credits, so it was unusual.

That clinched it. The enemy sniper was hiding behind a bulletproof steel plate, which also explained why Xia Qing’s night vision couldn’t pick him up.

“Bang!”

Another glowing bullet tore a hole in her tree. That confirmed it: the steel plate stopped rounds, but trapped the enemy in place.

That made things simple.

Xia Qing quickly scaled higher, pulled a grenade from her bag, and tossed it. Then another. Then a third…

Five hundred meters put grenades out of normal range, which was why the sniper with steel cover dared to hold ground. He must’ve figured Xia Qing had no heavy long-range firepower.

But whoever said grenades could only be tossed a few dozen meters?

“Boom!”

“Boom!”

“Boom!”

Xia Qing lobbed special grenades in quick succession, blowing the enemy sniper’s cover to smithereens and forcing him to shrink back, too scared to lift his head.

A regular grenade wouldn’t even make that distance, but Xia Qing had custom heavy-duty rocket grenades from Xin Yu. With rocket boosters attached, they could easily blast targets up to six hundred meters—no sweat if her aim was true!

“Rat-tat-tat—”

No sooner had Xia Qing suppressed the enemy sniper with grenades than their machine gunner swung around and opened fire on her.

Unfazed by the hail of bullets, Xia Qing hurled another grenade, then whipped up her sniper rifle and retaliated with a crack—”Bang!”

Her sharp hearing told her the enemy wielded a light machine gun with an effective range of just 800 meters. Trying to spray a hearing-evolved sniper at 1,300 meters? That was suicide.

“Boom!”

Once she confirmed the sniper round cut through cover and took out the machine gunner, Xia Qing resumed her grenade barrage, pounding the enemy sniper, and reported over the walkie-talkie, “One enemy machine gunner down. Enemy sniper suppressed.”

“Copy that!” The sixteen-person rescue team stormed into the ruins where Chen Dongyang was holed up, riding a wave of morale.

Getting people out from under Chen Dongyang’s nose was the rescue team’s job now. For Xia Qing the sniper, only one task remained: the showdown with the steel-clad sniper on the rack building.

While running fast, she tossed grenades with pinpoint accuracy, keeping the enemy sniper pinned.

She still had over thirty grenades and twenty hand grenades in her backpack. She never went on a mission without this gear. If she could just reach the first sniper nest, those enemies cowering between the ruins and steel plates would be easy pickings.

Turns out, the steel-plated sniper wasn’t eager for a standoff. After realizing Xia Qing had plenty of ammo and advanced sniping skills, he slipped out from behind his shield and made a break for it.

The gunfire and shouting raged inside the ruins. Outside, only the whisper of wind and the night vision’s glare of drifting smoke remained.

Kneeling behind cover at the first sniper nest, Xia Qing aimed her rifle ahead. When the fleeing enemy thought he’d outrun her range, he broke into a sprint. She squeezed the trigger.

“Bang!”

The bullet streaked past, nicking the edge of his protective mask and sparking bright under the night vision. The target lunged forward and vanished into the night.

Distance: 2,030 meters. Xia Qing missed the shot; the enemy got away.

Xia Qing turned her head, spotting a pair of glowing blue wolf’s eyes shining from a distant mountaintop to the west. The moment her gaze met theirs, the wolf’s eyes vanished.