In the pitch-black depths of the forest, the moonlight was blocked by the dense canopy, with only a few strands of light sparsely penetrating through, unable to alleviate the darkness on the forest floor. Countless unidentified insects chirped, adding a touch of vitality to this dark world. A faint sound of footsteps arose, and suddenly, several pairs of black and white eyes appeared from behind the trees, their presence in the pitch-black night sowhat eerie. Once it beca clear who was approaching, the eyes shrank back, continuing to hide behind the trees.
The person arriving was Luo Zheng, returning from reconnaissance. He stopped under a large tree near the group, leaned against it, and spoke through the headset in a cold whisper, "Brothers, a total of five, two of them wounded, one acting as a lookout. Levsky is still there, Shijing not in sight."
"He might just be elsewhere. Does anyone have any thoughts?" Lan Xue's cool voice erged in everyone's headsets, also very faint, but clear.
"Take them out, capture Levsky for interrogation," Snow Leopard suggested. Compared to Ghost Hand's caution and Mountain Eagle's calmness, Snow Leopard tended to be more ferocious, preferring the simplest and most direct thods to achieve his goals.
"What if they escape? It'll likely be difficult to track them afterward," Mountain Eagle said irritably.
"We're about a two days' journey from the border. The Arctic Bear Military could co chasing after us at any ti. I suggest we don't rush to take action; let's wait until we're out of the country. With them around, the Arctic Bear Military won't focus on us, which could save us so trouble," Ghost Hand said calmly in a low voice.
After the three expressed their opinions, they all fell silent. Lan Xue didn't say anything. After a while, Luo Zheng suddenly spoke up, "Everyone makes good points, but one thing we can't overlook is that the Arctic Bear Military could arrive at any mont. If we kill or capture all of them, we'll still have no leads, and the difficulty of our withdrawal will be imnse. Rather than that, we might as well act tonight. We have night vision devices; they don't—that's our advantage."
"I agree with this suggestion. In this pitch-black night, it's impossible to navigate without a night vision device, unless you have a huge torch, but that's suicidal. We could surround them from all sides, establish distance, and only move in once everyone is subdued. The enemy are all experts; we can't afford to be careless," Lan Xue said softly.
"Agreed," Luo Zheng glanced at his watch. The atomic watch emitted a cold blue glow, the ti displayed was very clear. Luo Zheng spoke softly, "I'll take the north, Mountain Eagle the east, Xue Er the west, Ghost Hand and Snow Leopard, you two take the south. Get into position in ten minutes and wait for my command to act in unison."
"Yes." Everyone imdiately sprang into action, heading towards their respective directions. With night vision devices, moving through the pitch-dark night wasn't too much of a problem. Luo Zheng followed the route he had scouted earlier and stopped about two hundred ters from the lookout, where he found a large tree to use as cover, crouched under it, and raised his sniper rifle.
The Type 09 sniper rifle not only had a white-light scope but also an infrared thermal imaging scope for nightti use. Luo Zheng quickly swapped to the thermal imaging scope, checked the magazine—Type 09 sniper rifles used a double-row magazine with a five-round capacity—filled it with sniper bullets, loaded it, and swiftly searched for the lookout.
Through the thermal imaging scope, Luo Zheng quickly located the target, hiding in a fallen tree on the ground. The tree was rotting, its hollow center large enough to accommodate a person. If Luo Zheng hadn't been ticulous, noticing that a bush beside the tree had been trampled, he might not have paid any attention to the lookout.
The sentry hid inside the hollow of a tree, but the angle at which the tree had fallen and the angle from which Luo Zheng stood were forty-five degrees apart. From his position, Luo Zheng could just make out the shoes of the hidden person within the hollow. If it were head-on, the hollow and the person inside would not be visible.
The target was still there. Luo Zheng wasn't in a hurry and patiently waited. After a while, through his earpiece ca everyone's reports of being in position. The enemy was surrounded. Luo Zheng spirited up, quickly aid at the hollow tree, estimated the sentry's hidden location, and whispered, "Rember, we need Levsky alive."
"Understood," everyone replied softly.
In the darkness of night, the inky forest suddenly seed to bristle with an aura of death. The few people by the campfire instantly beca alert, stood up, and raised their guns, searching for any suspicious targets. Seeing this, Luo Zheng sneered. It was already too late. They might have had a chance to escape before the encirclent, but now? Taking a deep breath, Luo Zheng focused, a flash of determination in his eyes, and without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.
"Whiz!" A sniper bullet suddenly sounded in the dark night, silencing the insects that had been chirping all around. The eerie shriek of the bullet was the only sound, as if the Grim Reaper had appeared in the woods, suffocating all who heard it.
"Thud!" The sniper bullet drilled into the fallen hollow tree, eliciting a muffled noise. Afterwards, silence once again settled all around, even the insects that had been singing ceaselessly were now too scared to make a sound. Only the rustling of the treetop leaves in the wind remained, as a pall of death spread throughout, driving one to despair.
By the campfire, the remaining people gazed around warily, standing like they were facing a grave threat. One of them said sothing, then another dashed off to one side and took cover behind a large tree, and the remaining three quickly dispersed, each taking up defensive positions in different directions, forming a circular formation.
It had to be said that in the darkness of a nightti forest, the best strategy against an unknown enemy was to form a circular defense rather than to run about chaotically. Of course, this excluded those wearing night vision devices. Watching the scene calmly, Luo Zheng spoke in a lowered voice, "The enemy is quick to adapt. Everyone be careful. Don't fire unless you have a clear shot."
All pressed their earpieces, giving a rustling acknowledgnt to Luo Zheng's instruction. Luo Zheng moved forward a certain distance and saw a person lying inside the fallen hollow tree, shot in the chest with blood having already saturated the shirt, void of life. He silently breathed a sigh of relief and continued forward, stopping about two hundred ters away from the campfire and coldly watched ahead.
In the silent night forest, after the gunshot, there was no further movent. An invisible pressure enveloped the four remaining people by the campfire. They dared not move rashly, using the light from the fire to remain vigilantly aware of their surroundings, curling their bodies as tightly as possible to minimize the target area. Their composure was admirable.
"Whiz!" Another sniper rifle sounded, shattering the silent night again. Imdiately after, a muffled grunt was heard as one person fell into a pool of blood. The bullet had struck near the waist, and blood gushed out like a fountain, pouring forth. The person scread sothing, the sound harrowing and particularly eerie in the night. The remaining three gave the fallen comrade a sympathetic glance, their faces ashen, but they dared not move recklessly. Facing a sniper, to move was to welco death.
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