Mercenary I am the king

Chapter 980: Fire burns the city
The gravel and pebbles made a screeching sound as they were trampled under the military boots.

Song Heping moved like a cheetah through the burning ruins, using broken walls, overturned truck wrecks, or huge concrete blocks as cover with each pause.

The HK416 assault rifle in his hand continuously spat out short, deadly blasts of fire, its 7.62mm NATO rounds whistling as they hurtled towards any enemy who dared to show their face in his way.

A GNA soldier, who was leaning out of a burning window on the right and trying to fire, had his helmet and half his head explode instantly, and his body slumped limply onto the windowsill.

"Two o'clock! Pickup truck! RPG!"

The calamity's roar exploded from the left rear, the fury of his PKM light machine gun tearing through the air like ripping cloth, the barrage of bullets relentlessly suppressing an armed pickup truck attempting to rush towards them from the street corner.

On the back of the pickup truck, a figure carrying an RPG rocket launcher had just peeked out when he was forced back by the Calamity's precise long bursts of fire. The rocket shot off at an off-target angle into the sky, exploding in a useless burst of fire in the distance.

"Hunter! Take it down!"

Song Heping roared without turning his head, his body already lunging behind a pile of twisted steel skeletons.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a relatively intact three-story building ahead, where a machine gun emplacement was spitting fire, blocking the crossroads they had to pass through.

"no problem!"

boom--

laugh!
The hunter's voice and the gunshot rang out almost simultaneously.

He knelt behind a low wall, blood seeping from the wound on his left arm as he moved violently, staining the makeshift pressure bandage red.

But his right arm remained as steady as a rock, and the muzzle of the HK417 trembled slightly.

The PKM machine gun on the distant rooftop, which was firing wildly, suddenly went silent. The gunner leaned back sharply and disappeared behind the rampart.

"Clear!"

The hunter's voice remained cold, as if the gushing blood had nothing to do with him. He quickly pulled back the bolt, ejecting the scalding hot cartridge case, his eyes scanning the next potential threat area like a hawk's.

Haftar followed closely behind Song Heping, occasionally firing a few shots blindly with his AKMSU short assault rifle, but his eyes remained somewhat unfocused and his movements stiff, mechanically following the figure in front of him that was like a sharp knife.

The LNA officer who had previously raised his gun to Song Heping but was intimidated by the calamity star was now also holding a rifle, his face pale, following at the back of the group, looking around in terror, and occasionally firing a few bullets haphazardly into the darkness.

"boom!"

A particularly muffled, loud bang, unlike any other gunshot, came suddenly from the top of a four-story building that had collapsed halfway, like a heavy hammer striking a broken drum, to the left front of the column!

Almost at the same moment the gun fired, the hunter's body jolted violently!
He was about to move, his body poised to lunge forward. In that instant, a high-speed spinning .338 Lapua Magnum sniper round precisely targeted the tiny gap exposed at the edge of his helmet!
"puff!"

The bullet grazed the helmet with a dull thud.

The hunter's FAST tactical helmet was suddenly blown off, spinning as it crashed into a pile of rubble with a loud bang.

A terrifying gash, deep enough to expose bone, appeared above his right temple at the lower edge of the helmet. Blood gushed out like a flood, blurring his vision on the right side and staining half of his cheek and neck red!

The immense impact caused the hunter to stagger backward half a step, his body slamming heavily against a half-broken wall behind him, barely managing to stay upright.

His vision was instantly filled with a crimson glow and stars, and excruciating pain pierced his brain like steel needles, making the world spin.

"Hunter!!!"

The calamity's roar was filled with a tearing terror.

He turned the machine gun around and prepared to fire in the direction from which the bullets were coming.

"do not move!"

The hunter growled hoarsely, struggling to steady himself. He pressed his blood-stained right hand tightly against the horrific wound on his right temple, trying to alleviate the dizziness caused by blood loss and excruciating pain.

His left hand was still gripping the handguard of the HK417 tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.

“SBS…Ace…” he gasped, his voice distorted by the excruciating pain, “Water tower…northwest corner…height…at least…forty meters…there’s a deputy…”

Based on the glimpse of muzzle flash and the loud gunshot he caught in the corner of his eye the moment he was shot, he instantly identified his opponent's identity and location—an ace sniper from the Special Boat Service (SBS) of the Royal Marines!
Only they would use a large-caliber .338 Lapua Magnum in such an environment, pursuing absolute penetration and stopping power!
Moreover, the other side was extremely cunning, choosing the perfect moment when they were moving and the hunters were slightly distracted after completing a shot!
"Suppress him! Cataclysm! Suppress the water tower! Don't let him fire a second shot!"

Song Heping's roar was like thunder.

He had already seen the horrific sight of the hunter's helmet being blown off and blood splattering everywhere; his heart felt as if it were being squeezed tightly by an icy hand.

But he knew that any panic at this moment would be fatal! The information the hunter had obtained at the cost of his serious injury was crucial!
The calamity star's eyes turned bloodshot, and a beast-like roar came from its throat. The PKM light machine gun instantly erupted with an even more ferocious roar.

Long tongues of fire shot toward the northwest corner of the abandoned water tower that stood like the skeleton of a giant beast in the distance.

A dense hail of bullets rained down on the rusted steel walls and concrete structure of the water tower, sending up countless sparks and debris, creating a continuous clanging and popping sound, all in an attempt to completely suppress the deadly sniper behind cover.

"cover me!"

The hunter gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words.

The excruciating pain and dizziness assaulted his will like a tidal wave, and his right eye's vision was completely obscured by the gushing blood.

But he had no choice.

As a sniper, he was well aware of his importance at this moment.

Forcibly opening his left eye, which still allowed him to see, the hunter ignored the fact that more blood was gushing from the wound on his forehead due to the exertion, and once again placed HK417 against the gap in the broken wall!

The crosshairs of the scope swayed laboriously in the blurry, blood-red vision, trying to capture the cunning opponent lurking in the shadows of the water tower.

At the top of the water tower, inside the sniping position.

Captain Coleman.

The sniper commander of this SBS operation curled up a cold and smug smile.

His TAC-50 sniper rifle still had a faint trail of gunpowder smoke rising from its muzzle.

He was certain that the shot he just fired had severely wounded the troublesome sniper. Although it wasn't a direct headshot, the injury was enough to render the enemy largely incapacitated.

"The target has been severely damaged and confirmed to have lost its ability to retaliate effectively." Coleman reported calmly through the encrypted headset, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"We are looking for Song Heping. Anyone who has seen him, please report his location."

His spotter, an equally experienced veteran, was rapidly reporting correction parameters through high-powered binoculars: "Wind direction northwest, wind speed three meters per second, continuous... wait! The target that was just hit is still moving..."

puff--

A bullet penetrated a high-powered observation scope.

Snapped--

The lens shattered.

Observe the hand falling backward.

"Connor!"

Coleman quickly retreated behind the wall, crouched down, moved to his observer's side, and reached out to pull him up from the ground.

But he quickly gave up on the idea.

Upon seeing the pool of blood splattered from the torn skull and the "tofu pudding" of blood, Coleman knew his observer was beyond saving and had already gone to meet God.

"court death!"

Coleman's eyes flashed coldly, revealing his murderous intent.

He immediately abandoned his search for Song Heping and quickly moved to the other side of the water tower.

The gun barrel was adjusted again, and the crosshairs firmly locked onto the figure who was still trying to fight back in the pool of blood!
The enemy is still there, but they seem to have started to move, as if they are about to change positions.

"Trying to run? Die!"

boom--

The TAC-50 roared again, its sound as deep as thunder!
The immense recoil caused Coleman's strong shoulders to tremble slightly.

Almost at the same instant Coleman pulled the trigger!

In the ruins below, relying on his near-predictive sense of danger honed through countless life-or-death experiences, the hunter made a swift, extreme tactical roll to the right in the split second before the enemy fired a shot!

This was his reaction, a reaction that pushed his body to its last remaining potential!

"Pfft——!"

The deadly .338 bullet grazed his left shoulder and slashed across it!

The Kevlar fibers in the shoulders of the tactical vest were torn apart instantly, and the muscles underneath were ripped open, leaving a deep, bone-revealing gash!
The enormous impact knocked him to the ground!
"Ugh—!"

This time, the hunter could no longer suppress the heart-wrenching roar of pain.

Two severe injuries, especially the dizziness and blood loss caused by the heavy blow to the head, plunged him into complete darkness, and his consciousness, like a candle flickering in the wind, quickly drifted away.

The HK417 flew out of his hand and landed among the nearby rubble.

"Hunter!!!"

The jinx, his eyes blazing with fury, changed positions again, setting up his machine gun and unleashing a torrent of fire at the water tower. Bullets struck the steel platform atop the tower, sending sparks flying and creating a deafening roar, but they could not stop the deadly sniper's position.

"Cover me! Drag him back!"

Song Heping's voice was icy cold.

There was no panic whatsoever, only a resolute determination that froze everything.

Before he finished speaking, his body shot out from behind the cover like an arrow!

The movement was so fast that it left only a blurry afterimage!

Two seconds later, while running at high speed, he miraculously stopped, his body pivoting on his left foot, drawing a near-perfect semicircle on the rubble-strewn ground, instantly transforming from extreme motion to extreme stillness!

At the same time, his right hand, as if it had an independent life of its own, swiftly reached backward!
The movement was so fluid, swift, and precise it was outrageous! It was as if it had been rehearsed hundreds of times!
"Snapped!"

The large, bony hand, covered in sand and gunpowder, firmly grasped the stock of the HK417 sniper rifle that the hunter had dropped into the pile of rubble.

The cold, metallic touch instantly travels to your palm.

Grab the gun!

Spin!

Hold the gun!

The three movements were completed in less than half a second!
The moment Song Heping finished spinning, he had already formed an extremely stable low-profile shooting posture, with the heavy HK417 gun body like an extension of his arm, firmly pressed against his shoulder.

The instant his body completed its rotation, his gaze, like the most precise laser rangefinder, locked onto the deep shadow atop the water tower in the distance!
No scope calibration! No breathing adjustment!

There was no interference from the heartbeat!
All human hesitation and emotion are completely stripped away and discarded at this moment!
His brain was like the most efficient ballistic computer, instantly combining the hunter's position where he fell after being shot, the direction from which the two gunshots came, the structure of the water tower, the angle of the moonlight, and even the trajectory of dust particles in the air...

Countless fragments of information are processed, analyzed, and a single conclusion is reached within a fraction of a second!
Target: The shadow about one meter to the right of the second load-bearing steel column at the northwest corner of the water tower, on the edge of the upper platform!

Time seemed to be infinitely stretched and frozen at this moment.

Song Heping's index finger steadily and resolutely pulled the trigger.

"Bang—Sizzle!"

The HK417's silencer emitted a deep, suppressed roar as the first 7.62mm NATO round was fired!

(End of this chapter)