Chapter Forty-Five: The Deadly Weapon

“Pfft—” The first shot rang out with only a faint sound, reminiscent of a sharp sword slicing through the air. A suppressor wouldn’t completely eliminate the noise, but it would drastically reduce the volume. Still, at such a distance, there was no way the other side could hear it.

“Bang—” The bullet arrived in an instant, and what happened next filled Wu Hua with joy.

Blood spurted from the back of the gunman, and above his head a red damage value—“−2390”—appeared. Immediately, two other gunmen aligned in front of him also had red damage numbers float above their helmets: “−710” and “−233.”

The purple-grade armor-piercing rounds were indeed formidable, piercing through three people in one shot—this was the true potential of a spike bullet, and the damage was nearly at its maximum.

The “−2390” value proved the effect of “ignoring defenses below 500 points.” Wu Hua knew well that, with most gunmen’s current gear, even with full defensive equipment, reaching 500 defense points was highly unlikely.

The gunman wasn’t stupid. As soon as his HP dropped drastically, he shouted, “Someone’s behind us!” He wasn’t slow to react, but he was too inexperienced.

When attacked from behind, the right move is to dodge sideways; instead, he chose to raise his AK and spin around—

“Pfft—” The second bullet was fired, this time aimed right at his nose.

With a wet thud, the gunman’s face was mangled on the spot, and a green damage value of “−6988” appeared above his head. He was hit as if struck by lightning, flinging backward and dissolving into a flash of white light in midair.

Such a death was unspeakably eerie and horrifying in this gloomy tomb. The remaining fourteen people were all stunned. Many of them were gunmen too and had witnessed the damage dealt by those two shots. The thought racing through their minds was, “There’s a sniper behind us with a suppressor on the gun.”

But they quickly cursed themselves for being fools. If there really was a sniper, and if he’d added a suppressor to a sniper rifle, he was definitely an amateur. Why would anyone add a suppressor to a sniper rifle? A good sniper always seeks long-range, high-power shots—a suppressor only reduces attack power.

A vague fear crept into every heart.

While they hesitated, the third and fourth shots came. “Bang! Bang!” The sound of bullets tearing into flesh.

“−2384!”

“−2409!”

Nearly 5000 points of damage. Even a level-30 gunman specialized entirely in vitality would be severely injured, let alone a group of level-20 gunmen.

A scream, a flash of white light. Anyone unaware of the situation might really suspect this tomb passage to be haunted.

“How is it?” Tuo Shao, unable to see the situation from the rotunda, asked Wu Hua.

Wu Hua closed his left eye, firing as he smiled. “That was the third one.”

Tuo Shao was delighted. “I knew you were the prince of instant kills!”

The three doctors, Lanlan and her companions, exchanged doubtful glances. They wondered if he was bluffing—three kills with only six shots? There was no way an AUG could be that powerful.

“Get down!” The opposing team’s captain, “Back to Afghanistan,” gave a decisive order. These two shots definitely weren’t from a sniper rifle—probably from a purple-grade rifle like the M4 or FN. A master had entered the tomb.

“May I ask who’s behind us?” Back to Afghanistan called out smartly. “We’re all just here for the quest, we have no quarrel. If we’re blocking your way, just say so—we don’t need to PK maliciously, do we?” He was clever; instead of admitting his own team’s aggression, he accused Wu Hua of starting things.

But no sooner had he finished speaking, the gunman lying at the front suddenly stiffened and stopped moving, blood spreading beneath his face and staining the ground, a green damage value of “−5855” hovering above his head.

Another flash of white light!

Everyone shivered inside. They could imagine the cold, ruthless, inhuman expression on the face of the gunman on the other side.

“Damn it!” The three gunmen in front lost control, jumped up, raised their AKs, and unleashed a wild barrage.

Gunfire thundered through the passage, the muzzle flashes flickering like monstrous tongues in the darkness.

But their attack was pointless. The AKM’s effective range was 180 meters, at best 200 meters with red-grade mods, while the AUG’s effective range was double that.

In Star Wars, every gun had an effective range. Take the AKM, for example; its range was 1,500 meters, but at that distance, bullets slowed so much even a warrior could deflect them with sword or shield, and hitting someone caused next to no damage. That’s why guns had an effective range—beyond it, bullets were as harmless as toy pellets.

Currently the two sides were over 280 meters apart. Bullets hit the ground in front of Wu Hua, sending up sparks and dust, the hit rate laughably low. Occasionally, a stray round struck Wu Hua, showing damage values like “−9, −10, −8.” With Wu Hua’s HP regeneration at 10 points per second, the attacks were effectively useless.

Soon, Wu Hua taught the three gunmen the meaning of “impulse is the devil.” Before their AKs were even empty, all three had been sent flying, off to play cards in the Federation’s General Affairs Hall.

“Damn it all.” Back to Afghanistan was furious. He’d already lost six people; the rest could only crawl forward.

Wu Hua understood their strategy perfectly—he could see it all through his scope. Two chip warriors crawled at the front, relying on their alloy armor to absorb damage, while a doctor behind kept healing them.

This time, a bullet struck the warrior’s helmet with a dazzling spray of sparks.

Red damage: “−1133!”

Their alloy armor clearly had over 500 defense, blocking 1,000 points of attack. The AUG’s power was cut in half.

“Get down, fall back,” Wu Hua signaled to the three doctors.

Lanlan and her companions could only obey, unable to see what was happening ahead.

Wu Hua supported his gun with one hand as he crawled backward.

“Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!” The chip warriors, though highly armored, were secretly suffering. They didn’t know what kind of gun the other side was using. Their octa-alloy had 100% integrity; even an AKM would only reduce it by 3% per shot. But the enemy’s marksmanship was so precise, and each bullet caused 8% damage. Once the integrity dropped to zero, the armor would need repairs, and they’d be defenseless—so fragile, even weaker than psychic controllers.

After crawling back more than 50 meters, Wu Hua had exited the rotunda and was back in the entrance passage. One of the chip warriors at the front finally couldn’t move any further. The tenth bullet harvested his last 600 HP; even with a doctor’s healing, it was useless—doctors could only increase HP regeneration, not instantly restore thousands at once.

On the fourth floor of the ancient tomb, a silent battle was underway at both the east and west ends. After retreating another 100 meters and emptying a magazine, Wu Hua saw that the remaining chip warrior, too, had earned himself a free, high-class return to town, leaving behind a red energy sword as a toll.

With the chip warriors gone, the others were left completely unprotected. The AUG’s scope now fully came into play—whether they lay flat or not, every shot struck their heads. The passage was too narrow to dodge; all they could do was fret helplessly.

Wu Hua’s retreat was deliberate and cautious, moving slower than the enemy’s crawl. The sensor constantly updated their distance: “270m, 260m, 250m…”

He also signaled the three doctors to keep healing him, their skills shooting beams of colored energy down the corridor and illuminating the passage, making his position visible to the enemy and thus luring them forward.

Wu Hua had thoroughly grasped Back to Afghanistan’s mentality. If he fled downward, his fallen comrades would have died for nothing; if they advanced, they still couldn’t reach him. So Wu Hua kept the distance at around 200 meters, giving them hope but keeping them just out of range—enough to drive them mad with frustration. The more agitated they got, the more reckless they became, which was just what Wu Hua wanted.