"Azure Dragon 73 lost response..."
"Azure Dragon 49 lost response..."
"Azure Dragon 16 is retreating to the southeast. Target Giant is pursuing... Azure Dragon 16 lost response..."
"New enemy sighted. Suspected ability to control air or summon tornadoes. Hurricane reaction observed. Speed is very fast. We..."
"Vermilion Bird 08 lost response. Target image not transmitted back."
A flood of communications poured into the channel non-stop, automatically recorded and archived by high-level AI, and synchronously reported to the on-site commander—Tian Jie.
Listening to his comrades losing their lives one by one, Tian Jie's eyes were as cold as iron. He unslung the startlingly long special sniper rifle from his back.
Although he wasn't as skilled in sniping as [Critical Sniper], nor could he perform ultra-long-range sniping from hundreds of kiloters away, he was confident in one thing: the power of his shots.
'Tian Jie' was the na of a constellation, also known as Void Constellation (Xu Xiu). Because it was surrounded by stars with nas like Weeping Star, Crying Star, and Mortar of Defeat, this star had carried an ominous aning since ancient tis.
In ancient tis, Void Constellation governed autumn and also carried the aning of肃杀 (stern killing/desolation).
Choosing such a code na in Project South Heaven Gate reflected his style of action.
Muscles on Tian Jie's left arm expanded explosively, supporting the slender stock of the Gauss sniper rifle. His eyes instantly turned azure blue, resembling the luster of gems.
This wasn't a particularly precious Mystic Eye, but even a common modified Gem Mystic Eye, in the hands of a Reincarnator and combined with a specific build, was enough to kill many people.
He instantly gained the effects of far-sight, X-ray vision, and slight [Future Sight]. He raised the sniper rifle, and his entire body slowly floated up.
On this special Gauss sniper rifle, a magic core quickly lit up.
Not only was it the power of the sniper rifle itself, but the magical energy within his body was also surging.
He swayed the sniper rifle, his sight already locking onto a Reincarnator three kiloters away who had wrapped herself in wind to interfere with image capture equipnt.
After aiming for a mont, he pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The imnse recoil forced Tian Jie back from mid-air to the ground.
The air in front of him caved in instantly. Then, accompanied by a thunderous gunshot, the bullet pierced through all resistance.
Not even a vapor trail appeared.
Enhanced by magic, the electromagnetic round from the Gauss sniper rifle shattered all the trees in its path. A huge void was carved out of the forest in a straight line, ending precisely at the hurricane that had appeared there.
Boom!
The hurricane shattered with a bang. A figure erged from within—a woman with short, pale blue hair. Her stature was tall, and at first glance, she looked no different from a man.
Her features were also very rugged, with a pale blue tattoo pattern on half of her face.
At this mont, the arrogant smile on this woman's face hadn't yet faded, but her physical strength and body temperature were rapidly draining away.
She looked at the shattered barrier and amulets in front of her, then looked down at her chest. A massive hole had destroyed almost all her internal organs.
Furthermore, a strong magical energy was suppressing her regeneration ability. Although injuries of this magnitude couldn't be healed without special items anyway, that damn magical energy was killing her cells with an intensely stinging sensation.
"Careful. It's [Tian Jie]. The people attacking us are Dongxia's..."
Bang!
With the second gunshot, the woman's head exploded completely. Losing control of the hurricane, her corpse crashed to the ground.
[You have killed Reincarnator BV82154662 in the real world. Slaughter Points 1]
[Assessing relative strength...]
...
A string of ssages refreshed on the Space panel. Tian Jie knew that the woman was likely the Reincarnator codenad [Feng Xi], a considerably powerful esper who had once caused huge chaos in the White Elephant Country (India).
He pressed his earpiece and spoke:
"Enemy in the hurricane is confird dead. Vermilion Bird Squad, continue searching for targets."
The battle continued. The giant had been driven to a dead end and was frantically attacking everything around him.
Tian Jie didn't fire again. This kind of Reincarnator with no special abilities was perfect for [Project South Heaven Gate] to train troops on.
Only by perfecting a mature tactical system could they defend order and hunt other Reincarnators without relying on elite Reincarnators like him or [Inspector Sato].
Even if the price was death, this experience had to be accumulated.
Tian Jie suddenly felt the surrounding air turn sowhat cold. Turning his head, he saw a pitch-black shadow vanish into the forest floor. Frowning, he took out infrared equipnt but still saw nothing abnormal.
Maintaining his composure, he pressed his earpiece, adjusted the channel, and spoke:
"This is Tian Jie, on-site commander of Project South Heaven Gate Phase 1. Suspected observation of Yin Spirit or Cursed Spirit type entities. Beyond response capability. Requesting ability user cooperation."
"This is Tiangong. Request received. Transferring to Ability User Dispatch Center."
"Ability User Dispatch Center received request. Reinforcents will arrive in approximately two hours. Please preserve effective strength."
He scanned the surroundings coldly but didn't find the Yin Spirit making any more moves.
Is a third-party Reincarnator observing the situation?
Tian Jie ford a hypothesis. His gaze swept around, and suddenly, he raised his gun and fired in another direction.
Bang!—
In a dense forest on the Kokang border, Kaito Shirogane stood on the canopy of a tree with his hands behind his back.
A black Yin Spirit erged from the ground and then rged into his body.
He savored the scenes he saw from the spirit body as it entered him.
Exoskeleton armor, combat-type chanical dogs, the Armored Titan from Attack on Titan, the wind-manipulating Reincarnator, and that official Reincarnator using a special sniper rifle...
He began to have so understanding of the Dongxia governnt's combat thods. Clearly, this operational plan was well-prepared. They even had rough preparations for the target Reincarnators' abilities and types.
He suddenly clicked his tongue, revealing a strange smile.
With so much deceit and treachery among Reincarnators, betrayal was indeed easy in this situation.
"Well? Who has the upper hand over there?"
Behind him, Lee Chae-rin threw away a remote control. The drone she prepared had been destroyed, so she couldn't see the scene.
Kaito rely smiled playfully.
"For now, Dongxia's special ops team has the upper hand. They'll probably kill a few Reincarnators, though they'll suffer so losses themselves. However..."
"Reincarnator battles are rarely this fair and square."
Although Dongxia's battle plan could be considered effective, it wasn't novel enough. At least the current combat thods were all within Kaito's expectations.
Exploiting the Reincarnators' greatest weakness—image transmission—was almost the first choice for every weakling facing a Reincarnator. When he ca to Northern Myanmar and learned of Grinder's strength, his first reaction was also to use this thod.
This thod was naturally effective during intelligence preparation, but among Reincarnators, there were also many types with weird abilities.
Just like how Kaito had just used the trait of [Calamity Yin Spirit] to release the Yin Spirit from his body for reconnaissance, the troops over there had no better way to deal with it.
This led Kaito to two conclusions.
First, Dongxia must have a secondary plan internally. Or rather, the so-called [Project South Heaven Gate] must have another set of plans to deal with special ability Reincarnators beyond this technological swarm combat.
Second, there was a traitor on [The Final Day]'s side!
That traitor sold intelligence on the Reincarnators responsible for the teleportation reception in Myanmar to Dongxia, which was why they were caught off guard by such a targeted attack.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted from dozens of kiloters away. Red flas could be vaguely seen rising into the sky.
That location was the center of the Kokang Special Region, where the Four Major Families were located.
Kaito shook his head, turned around, and threw out a narrow blue-and-white single-person striker boat. He stepped onto it, and intense electricity surged from his heart.
In the next mont, the Cloud Dials at the rear of the speedboat began to work. Lee Chae-rin also stepped onto the back of the boat. The two broke through the air, imdiately rising into the sky with trailing clouds.
"Ha! At a ti like this, we should get a piece of the pie too!"
"Momiji, where the hell are you?!"
"We are under attack by Dongxia. The enemy has a powerful sniper. We need your reinforcent!"
The voice in the earpiece was anxious, but the woman simply took off the earpiece and crushed it in her hand.
She sighed and said:
"Sorry, everyone. Who asked to have a whole family, old and young, to take care of..."
Imdiately, she raised her head. There was no guilt on her face; instead, she wore a smile.
That smile sent chills down Akira (Ming Qichang)'s spine.
"Miss Momiji, is there a problem?"
Momiji raised a finger, and a fla ignited at the tip.
Seeing the other party use superpowers right in front of him, Akira still didn't understand the aning. However, another hired Reincarnator in a suit standing in the room turned pale.
"Careful! She's going to..."
Boom!
Crimson flas exploded violently.
~~~
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