The Favored Son of Heaven

“Sigh, poor recruit Qin Fen. For his right arm to recover from the bone fracture in the shortest time, he had to try his best to reduce the vibration from the recoil of the gun body on his body by choosing not to withstand the stock[1] of the gun.” The voice of the commentator carried a slight disappointment.

“All the recruits, please keep your weapons and enter your hidden state.” The referee’s shout was heard in the earpiece of all the recruits, “We are now initiating the countdown. The battle begins in ten seconds. If any contestants have their weapons out and seek their opponent before the countdown ends, he will be considered cheating and will be disqualified.”

“Ten… nine… eight… three… two… one!”

Three recruits moved their counterattack radar immediately toward the direction they scanned previously, in which they expect their opponents to appear.

Boom!

As the bunker was pierced through by the fake bullets, three recruits fell on their back almost at the same time. The fake bullets exploded on their chests to release a pool of artificial blood.

“Ugh… ugh.. ugh…”

With three muffled grunts from the recruits, they released their counterattack radar equipment upon their bodies hitting the ground. Even for a fake bullet, to be struck by a sniper at such a distance, there was still a certain amount of impact.

Although it would not be lethal, nor would any bones be shattered, it would not be not surprising for a wide area of the chest to be reddened and for the victim to suffer from breathing difficulties for a short time upon taking a shot.

A bad start.

The recruit’s sniper tournament had just begun and three recruits had already been shot. The commanders have displayed a capability that was equal to the boasts they made before the tournament.

“African military region’s recruit number seventy-six Barry is shot and is out of the tournament. East Asian military region’s recruit number thirty-nine Zhao Zhiqiu is shot and is out of the tournament…”

From the earpiece, the recruits heard numbers of recruits who were their comrades and as well as their opponents that were eliminated from the tournament.

The other recruits who were close to the shot recruits were stunned. Isn’t their speed too fast? Did all the commanders start off as snipers? The three recruits that were shot had the agility comparable to a professional sniper and had the most precise hiding movements. How did those commanders determine that they were hidden behind those bunkers so accurately? 

Those recruits that only heard the announcement through the earpiece were also dumbfounded. Isn’t this too fast? The battle had just begun, and three recruits are already eliminated? 

The three recruits stood up, dejected, both their hands on their waist as they shook their heads repeatedly. This defeat is too random. There was nobody behind the predicted bunkers, and even they were shot, they were still unable to tell where the bullet came from.

Just as the three recruits stood up, frustrated, a recruit that did not even move an inch and was hiding behind a bunker felt a burning pain in his back. His body fell forward onto the ground and red blood could be seen on his back. A crisp firing shot sound also traveled from a distance.

“African military region’s recruit…”

Another recruit’s elimination was heard from the earpiece.

Qin Fen licked his slightly dry lips and had a faint smile in his eyes, “Interesting. To go against this group of commanders, it seems…”

A gunshot sound came from a position around four hundred meters away. The earpiece once again announced, “Real identity being Captain Lathy had been shot. Her takedown results before elimination are two recruits.”

“Oh my god! It actually hit!” The commentator shouted excitedly, “Did everyone see that? The shot was fired by the East Asian female recruit from the furthest position!”

Military enthusiasts viewed the replay in the small screen still dumbfounded. Dodge! Shoot! Return to the bunker! In just one second, the East Asian female recruit who was at the furthest position did all of this! If the dodging, shooting and returning to the bunker were to be divided into three parts, then the East Asian female recruit only took point thirty-three seconds in the shooting cycle.

With such a time, it would be barely enough just to pull the trigger. How did she find the time to search, aim and lock the target? Is it possible that her shot was a blind shot? What amount of luck do you need to pull off such a feat? Perhaps it would be less likely than striking the jackpot from the lottery?

Captain Lathy from America sat on the floor with a blank face. She stared at the bullet hole made by the fake bullet in the rock in front of her.

I’ve been pierced by a bullet that appeared out of nowhere just when my gun was out of the bunker for the third time, before I could even pull the trigger.

“How is this possible?” Lathy touched the red liquid on her chest. There was no sense of being targeted when that shot was taken, nor were there any feelings of being observed. It was as if the bullet was sent with God’s assistance.

No lock-on? Lathy scratched her head. Can a person shoot without locking on? Impossible! It must be locked-on! Only that that person completely concealed their locking on aura! This batch of recruits has such a talented person?

The other commanders patted their earpiece gently. Did their earpiece have a defect? Captain Lathy had been shot? She was someone who had participated in three consecutive recruit tournaments and had never been hit by anyone before. Especially during her second tournament, she was targeted by seven sniper recruits and was chased and attacked by all of them at once. Yet she still managed to escape and counterattacked, eliminating the seven experienced recruits.

Such a person could be eliminated at the start of the tournament? Was she careless? No, she couldn’t be! She excelled in hiding her aura up till the moment she takes her shot. Who shot her?

All commanders had Qin Fen’s figure appearing in their minds. Could it be him?

“Real identity being…”

A firing sound traveled from a distance toward the position of the commanding officers. The earpiece once again made an announcement before it could finish describing the previous elimination.

“Captain Yang Junwei was shot and his results before elimination is the elimination of one recruit…”

The commanders’ eyes opened to their widest. In the history of the sniper tournament, only two commanders at most were eliminated throughout the tournament, and it usually occurs close to the end of the tournament. Today, they had already lost two commanders during the beginning of the tournament? Is it possible that today will be the day where the record of most commanders being eliminated be broken?

Qin Fen looked quietly at Lin Ling who was located far behind him. This woman is finally showing what she is capable of after these few days of the tournament.

Two consecutive long-range shots had eliminated two commanders.

“Impressive.” Qin Fen nodded as he sighed. Even if his body was in perfect condition, it was impossible for him to make such a quick shot from Lin Ling’s distance. This woman’s capability in sniping was indeed qualified to win the tournament.

Military enthusiasts were already stunned. If Lin Ling’s first shot was interpreted as a lucky shot, then how would the second shot be explained? Almost without aiming, both shots were quick and accurate when hitting the target.

“It seems that the champion of this tournament would be…”

Halfway through the narrator’s commentary, the audience was bursting with cheers.

Lin Ling fired her third shot in the tournament and the third commander fell to the ground instantly. The recruits had only fired three shots in total, and three officers were eliminated gracefully.

With only three shots from the recruits, the record of only two commanders being shot, a record that was held for so many tournaments before this, had been magically broken!

The commanders were all stunned. Three of us were eliminated in the blink of an eye? Where did these insanely strong recruits come from? From the sound of the gunshot, it came from somewhere far!

If this goes on… the commanders’ faces were a little gray. We will have no face at the end of this tournament! We have to kill the other recruits that are in the way, then concentrate our power on killing the mysterious sniper!

“Everyone, in the history of the Recruit Tournament, the commanders had always held the mentality of playing a game as a way to give a face to the recruits.” The European commander said via the communication system on the earpiece. “So, there was never a complete elimination of recruits in the Recruit Tournament history. But today, we already have three fallen companions. For our glory as commanders, we have to do one thing, which is to destroy all of the recruits.”

“Yeah! Destroy all of them!”

Dozens of commanders cheered with a low voice and the counterattack equipment in their hands revealed its real fangs. Sounds of gunshots came one after another. How was this a sniper tournament? It was completely a tough battle between the two sides. Instantly, the recruits began to fall one by one.

The commanders were killing until their eyes turn red. For the glory of the commanders, they would need to force the hidden sniper out!

“Oh my god! The commanders’ side is too aggressive…”

The commentator’s voice was just heard, but the waves of shouts of excitement from the audience had covered his voice.

The real highlight of this game, the wounded soldier Qin Fen, who had yet to fire a shot finally took his first shot on the huge projection screen! He grabbed the counterattack equipment with his left hand and dashed out of the bunker suddenly. With his body on the ground, he fired quickly. Once! Twice! Thrice…

Military enthusiasts looked dumbfoundedly at Qin Fen’s attacking methods, which were against the sniper rules. The screams of tens of thousands from the audience continued.

What is a sniper? That would be a poisonous snake hidden in the dark! They were like ghosts that carried lethal sniping weapons and appear suddenly from dark corners. Then, they would pull the trigger to deliver a fatal blow. After capturing the name of an enemy, they would once again fade back into their hidden corners like a ghost.

Fire one shot, and then hide. This is the real traditional tactic of a sniper.

However, Qin Fen on the battlefield had no traditional sniper’s tactics at all. He put his gun on the ground, searched and aimed for enemies with his left eye through the sniper scope, and then pulled the trigger. He did the same thing repeatedly, as if he didn’t know what dodging was at all.

The audience spectating the battle screamed excitedly. Qin Fen’s tactics violated the sniper’s style of attacking, but it was consistent with his usual way of fighting in the hearts of the public.

It was like a tank, like a mobile armor dashing forward arrogantly! He flattened every obstacle in front of his sight!

Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Continuous shooting!

Members from the commanders’ side were shot and fell to the ground, one after another. It was like they had rehearsed with Qin Fen in advance, being shot and falling to the ground cooperatively.

With a blink of an eye, four shots had passed…

The commanders that were hidden the whole time sensed that this person who fired consecutive shots could be the person who fired at the beginning of the match. When he fired his shots, there was no sense of being locked on by him!

The fifth shot sounded and the commanders finally found the person who fired the shot. A recruit that was very far away from them, Qin Fen! He was still on the ground, aiming his gun at his next target!

At this moment, the commander that was being pointed at with the muzzle realized that if he didn’t see Qin Fen aiming toward him with his own eyes, he would not have sensed Qin Fen locking onto him at all.

The sound of the fifth and sixth shot was heard at the same time!

Lin Ling had fired!