Not enough Japanese devils to kill? 1.4 billion people volunteer for the Battle of Shanghai.

From the tree canopy, Xu Yuanzhou's gaze locked onto Li Huai, Wang Jin, and Tan Ming.

His eyes, like an eagle's, pierced through the gaps in the layers of branches and leaves, revealing the three moving figures.

"Was that feeling of being watched just now coming from these three people?" He tapped his fingers lightly on the butt of the sniper rifle twice, as if he was thinking.

Then, he chuckled softly, with a condescending, cat-like composure.

"These three are clever; they know how to charge forward without any strategy. Compared to moving forward in a straight line and becoming sitting ducks, this is indeed a better approach."

His gaze followed Li Huai's figure, moving from left to right, and from right to left.

"But..." Xu Yuanzhou narrowed his eyes.

"For a sniper like me, no matter what you do, you can't escape the same fate: being killed by me!"

He prepared to adjust his body posture, to turn the angle of his gun, and to kill these three people—one by one—with a single shot.

He had already planned out the order in his mind: first the one on the left wearing glasses, then the one on the right with the entrenching tool, and finally the short one in the middle.

Three people, three bullets, that's enough.

But just as he was about to make a move, he suddenly realized something.

"No, these are three baits, they're cicadas."

"And I am that praying mantis."

"So, there's another oriole behind us."

His gaze shifted from Li Huai and the other two, and he began searching the bushes behind them. He scanned every clump of bushes, every stone, and every fallen tree.

Like a spider crouching in the center of its web, waiting for the oriole to reveal its true colors.

But Li Huai and his two companions continued their advance without stopping, heading straight for the big tree.

Xu Yuanzhou frowned.

"They're after me. These three people know I'm in this tree."

As a sniper, once someone gets close, it's basically game over.

His sniper rifle was no match for a fire poker at close range, and his dagger was no match for a machete.

We must not let them get close.

But the three who rushed in clearly intended to take out the sniper before continuing to advance.

These three people, along with those lurking in the shadows, were not comfortable exposing their backs to him.

They were afraid of him sniping them, afraid of him ambushing them, afraid that he would shoot them one by one from behind after they rushed out.

So they had to take him down first, pull out this nail, and get rid of this old sly fellow hiding in the tree.

"Can we make a deal? I won't shoot, and you shouldn't even think about taking me down. Let's each compromise." Xu Yuanzhou gave a bitter smile.

He knew it was impossible.

On the battlefield, it's a fight to the death. There's no room for compromise, no handshakes, no peaceful coexistence.

Either he kills them, or they knock him out.

"Now, be patient!" Xu Yuanzhou took a deep breath and began searching again.

Finally, his gaze caught a glimpse of two more figures in the bushes behind Li Huai and the other two.

The two people were seated separately, one on the left and one on the right, one in front and one behind.

Xu Yuanzhou began to observe their hands, their shoulders, their posture. There were no gun barrels, no scopes, no stocks.

The person crouching behind the fallen log wasn't carrying a gun on their shoulder, but a tree trunk.

A tree trunk thicker than an arm.

Xu Yuanzhou's lips twitched slightly.

trunk?

What are you doing carrying a tree trunk on your back?

If I can't figure it out, I'll stop thinking about it.

"Which one should I fight?" Xu Yuanzhou faced a choice once again. His gaze swept back and forth between the two figures several times.

Should we shoot the guy on the left carrying the tree trunk?

Should we attack the one on the right with the knife?

Or should we attack the three that are rushing in this direction?

Meanwhile, in the jungle, Li Huai's brows furrowed as well. He didn't stop walking, his mind racing.

He wondered why the sniper hadn't fired yet.

The three of them had advanced so far, exposed themselves so obviously, and made themselves sitting ducks. Why hadn't he fired?

What was he thinking? Taking out all three of them was definitely the best option. Three men, three bullets, three seconds, all gone. He

What are you hesitating about?

Li Huai's brows furrowed more and more tightly.

"Damn it!" Li Huai growled, the sound squeezed out of his throat, filled with frustration.

Then, he made a decision.

He ran while speaking loudly.

It was loud enough that the sniper in that tree could definitely hear it.

"That turtle hiding in the tree, ugh!"

He paused, then raised his voice again.

"Are you some kind of turtle? Lying there motionless, waiting to lay eggs?"

"I'm asking you, are you a sniper or a coward? Go ahead and shoot! Aim for my chest! If you miss, you're a coward! If you hit, I'll admit defeat!"

"But you fucking stop lying up there pretending to be dead! Hiding in the tree canopy like a woman, aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

His voice grew louder and louder.

"Are you out of bullets, you idiot? Or is your damn gun jammed? Want me to send you a round?"

"You wait, I'm coming up here and loading it for you myself! After I'm done, I'm going to carve two words on your forehead—'Coward!'"

From the treetop, Xu Yuanzhou listened to the curses. His lips twitched slightly.

He did not fire a shot, nor was he provoked.

He was just thinking that this person's skill in cursing was even more impressive than his tactics.

"Interesting," Xu Yuanzhou said softly. "The cursing even rhymes."

He decided to shoot the guy on the left who wears glasses.

His eyes were narrowed, and in the crosshairs, Li Huai's chest was rising and falling.

I chose this person not because he insulted me.

This is simply making the most appropriate choice.

He wanted to take out Li Huai and his two companions first. He was confident he could hit them from this distance.

Moreover, he had discovered the pattern of the three men's advance: they changed direction every three steps and changed speed every five steps.

He calculated where they would step next, where they would turn next, and what flaws they would reveal next.

And most importantly, he couldn't let those three advance any further.

He'd be in danger once they got close enough to the tree where he was hiding. Snipers can't be allowed to get close.

This is an ironclad rule, a bottom line, and a matter of life and death.

Xu Yuanzhou no longer hesitated. His body sprang up like a spring, quickly adjusting his shooting posture.

"Since you want to be cicadas, then I'll eat you up."

"Your cicada chirping is really unsettling."

"As for the mantis behind me, he doesn't have any long-range weapons and is some distance away, so he's no threat."

"I'll kill you all first!"

In a flash, the sniper rifle's muzzle was precisely aimed at Li Huai's chest. The bullet was ready to fire...