Chapter Fifteen: Counter-Sniping!

“Wang Cheng, that was incredible. From this far away, and with such a small mirror, you took it out with one shot… You really are a professional Gunfighter.”

On the small hill, Li Tao’s voice of admiration reached Wang Cheng’s ears, causing a trace of pride to rise in his heart.

After all, back in school, his marksmanship alone was enough to place him in the top ten of his entire year.

That was when he was just an ordinary person. Now, he had become an Iron-rank Evolver, and was about to advance to Bronze-rank. In terms of eyesight, reflexes, control, and calculation speed, he far surpassed his former self.

Hitting a palm-sized mirror from seven hundred meters away—wasn’t that child’s play?

Still, he quite enjoyed the praise ringing in his ears.

After all, not everyone is gifted enough to become a professional Gunfighter.

Sure, everyone could use guns.

But shooting skills? That’s not something just anyone can master.

That takes talent!

‘Gun sense’—an invisible, intangible thing—yet it truly exists.

“It’s a pity, though. I don’t know what happened, but the moment I fired, that guy suddenly paused… Otherwise, that shot would have been enough to blow his head off.”

Wang Cheng coughed, then spoke with some regret.

He was genuinely disappointed, even dissatisfied.

He had aimed right at the man’s head. Under normal circumstances, sniping an unsuspecting target at this distance should have been effortless. But the sudden pause threw off his shot… Though he still hit the man’s shoulder, missing the headshot left him vexed.

He took great pride in his marksmanship.

“No matter how good your shooting is, it still wasn’t a one-shot kill, was it? Wang Cheng, let me be clear—going after this guy was your idea. I saw the two shots he used to kill the Gale Tiger; their power wasn’t ordinary… Don’t bite off more than you can chew and drag the team down with you.”

At this point, a bald young man in camouflage beside him spoke coldly.

Wang Cheng’s brow furrowed instantly, his gaze turning frosty.

Zhou Yang—just as annoying as ever.

But naturally, Wang Cheng wouldn’t show weakness. He replied coolly, “Relax. If I dared to make a move, I’m absolutely confident.”

He paused, then continued, “You think those two shots were impressive? Of course—they were ‘Blazing Fire.’ In gunfighting techniques, ‘Blazing Fire’ is powerful, no doubt. Killing a Gale Tiger with two shots isn’t much to brag about.”

“But judging by the power of those shots, he’s probably just an Iron-rank Evolver. ‘Blazing Fire’ is potent, but it eats up genetic energy too fast. At the Iron rank, you can only fire one or two shots at most. Only someone with mastery in high-level energy arts would choose it, or a clueless rookie who knows ‘Blazing Fire’ is strong but is unaware of its crippling energy drain, and so picks it rashly.”

“And those who can practice high-level energy arts would never act alone. So, that man is most likely just a rookie without much foundation, relying on ‘Blazing Fire’ to hunt above his rank.”

“He was lucky earlier and happened to dodge my bullet, so I didn’t get a headshot. I also didn’t want to waste genetic energy using my gunfighting technique… Otherwise, he’d already be dead.”

Wang Cheng’s tone was indifferent; he and Zhou Yang had always been at odds in the team. Still, with two others present, he felt compelled to make his reasoning clear, to dispel any doubts.

He was set on the Gunfighter path. Having a strong close-combat team was a huge boon for him. The three around him were all Bronze-rank Evolvers, while he himself was only Iron-rank… though he was about to advance.

“Hmph, talk is cheap. You make it sound grand, but you still didn’t kill him in one shot, did you? I only care about results.”

Zhou Yang snorted coldly.

“You—!” Wang Cheng’s anger flared.

“Come on, let’s all calm down,” Li Tao, lying nearby, hurried to smooth things over. “We’re on the same team, what’s the use in fighting? That guy used the mirror to check us out, clearly intending to strike back. Let’s kill him first.”

At these words, Wang Cheng snorted, saying nothing more. Zhou Yang glanced at him, curled his lip, and fell silent as well.

Wang Cheng was seething. Once he got the Gale Tiger, the resources he’d amass would be enough to break through to Bronze-rank. Then he could join a Silver-rank team, and these guys could play by themselves.

A professional Gunfighter is a rare commodity on the battlefield, often able to join teams above their rank.

Thinking of this, his eyes burned as he looked at the Gale Tiger’s corpse through the scope.

When he first reached Iron-rank, he chose the ‘Venom Fang’ gunfighting technique, which could fire poisonous bullets. But against Bronze-rank battlefield beasts, the poison’s effect was weaker.

He’d considered ‘Blazing Fire’ before, but after researching its insane energy drain, he gave up. Exhausting your genetic energy is never a good thing, even if you’re with a team.

Without a killer move like ‘Blazing Fire,’ even with his team, killing a Gale Tiger—a Bronze-rank beast—was risky. They needed teamwork, with him using ‘Venom Fang’ for suppression while the others attacked…

If the Gale Tiger went berserk, someone could still die.

So, when they suddenly found a Gale Tiger killed by a lone ‘rookie’ Gunfighter, what was there to discuss?

Of course they’d kill him!

This wasn’t the first time he’d killed for loot.

After all, this was the battlefield…

As Wang Cheng was deep in thought, suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a shadow darting out from beside the tiger’s corpse through his scope.

The man was trying to escape!

Wang Cheng’s heart leaped, but then he sneered.

Sixty or seventy meters away? If I let you get away, what kind of Gunfighter am I?

“Go to hell.”

His reflexes were pushed to the limit. In an instant, he swung his rifle, locking onto the black figure. Thinking to prevent any accidents, he decided to use ‘Venom Fang.’

For an Iron-rank Evolver, a single shot from ‘Venom Fang’ was almost always fatal—no matter where it hit.

With that thought, a surge of genetic energy flooded into the gun, and a faint green glow shimmered on the barrel. The next moment, the rifle thundered.

Bang!

Through the scope, he saw the fleeing figure struck clean through, hurled violently aside.

A smile flickered across his face.

But before the smile could fully bloom, he froze.

Something’s wrong!

That wasn’t the feel of a bullet hitting flesh!

It was a trap!

With a jolt, he whipped his rifle back to the tiger’s corpse.

There he saw a figure standing upright behind the tiger’s body. Through the scope, he could see the man’s expression—calm and cold.

A surge of danger rushed over Wang Cheng.

And in the next instant—

Crack!

Boom!

A searing heat exploded by his side. Agonizing pain engulfed the entire left side of his body.

“Li Tao!”

“It’s ‘Blazing Fire’!… Damn it!”

The other two cried out in alarm.