Camilla returned around noon carrying a backpack.
She dropped it beside Rock, who was still familiarizing himself with the guns, and it landed with a heavy thud.
Her face lit up with excitement.
“Honey, look what I got.”
Rock eyed the bulging backpack curiously.
It looked like there was quite a lot packed inside.
Without hesitation, he unzipped it and pulled out a heavy bulletproof vest.
It weighed around ten kilograms and felt solid in his hands.
With his limited knowledge, Rock could tell that it was made of Kevlar and was still in fairly good condition.
The heavy armor plates inside offered a reassuring sense of protection.
“Honey, I went to Cavallero’s territory on the next street.
I sold the gold jewelry for 6,200 reais, then spent 4,000 on this.
It can stop a direct AK shot at close range.”
Camilla looked as though she was waiting for him to praise her.
Rock obliged, pulling her into his arms and kissing her.
“Camilla, you’re amazing.
With this, our chances of succeeding are even better.”
Camilla smiled in satisfaction.
“Old Sidney also had full-body armor that could even protect down there, but it was too expensive.
Besides, Rio is so hot that wearing something that enclosed could make you pass out from the heat, so I chose this one…”
Beaming with pride, Camilla told Rock all about buying the vest from the arms dealer.
She explained what she had considered before choosing it and how she had haggled with Old Sidney over the price.
Rock listened with a smile.
As he reached into the backpack that had held the vest, he felt that there was still something inside.
He rummaged around and pulled out a small pair of binoculars and a set of clothes.
“These will let you observe things without getting too close.
And the clothes you’re wearing were taken off someone else.
I thought you might like some new clothes of your own.”
Camilla smiled sweetly as she explained why she had bought them.
“So, out of the 6,200 reais, there’s only…”
“1,200 left.”
Camilla finally looked a little embarrassed.
She had spent the money like water, and every bit of it belonged to Rock.
“All right, Camilla.
Put the rest somewhere safe and get some sleep.
We need to leave early.”
Although Camilla had just returned, Rock had spent the entire morning resting.
He told her to take a short break before they headed out.
There was an old saying: act quickly and decisively, because delay invites complications.
Rock believed Elena would not betray him, but Camilla had gone into another faction’s territory to trade and shop.
There was no guarantee word had not already reached Ricardo.
The intelligence they had received was current.
If they waited too long, there was no telling what new arrangements Ricardo might make.
He might already be gathering men and preparing to come after them.
Even if Elena continued to bar Ricardo’s people from entering Slope 21, his gunmen could still block every route in and out once they knew exactly who they were looking for.
They might not be able to get in, but they could make sure Rock and Camilla could not get out either.
While Camilla slept nearby, Rock laid out the weapons.
This time, he would carry two Glocks.
For rifles, he chose the AKS-74U and the FN FAL, along with two 75-round drums and two 50-round drums.
The two weapons complemented each other at short and long range.
The AKS-74U would handle close-range fire within two hundred meters.
The FN FAL, with an effective range of up to seven hundred meters, could serve as a designated marksman rifle.
He also had the two Glocks for close quarters, along with the protection of the bulletproof vest.
He was armed to the teeth.
After Camilla had rested for an hour, they set out.
Rock borrowed a motorcycle from Elena.
Otherwise, walking to the Stone River favela would have taken them until midnight.
The rifles were wrapped in cardboard and secured with tape.
Rock tucked the Glocks into his waistband and carried the bulletproof vest on his back, planning to put it on just before the operation.
He had tried it earlier.
With his current Physical Constitution, ten kilograms was hardly a burden.
Camilla carried only one Glock.
Her main job was to guide Rock there, keep watch from outside during the operation, and pick him up afterward.
Having grown up in Rio’s favelas, Camilla knew the side streets and hidden paths extremely well.
She was also an excellent rider and always managed to take Rock along secluded routes.
Rock sat behind her on the motorcycle, one arm wrapped tightly around her slender but strong waist.
With his other hand, he balanced the two cardboard-wrapped rifles on his shoulder.
A hole had already been cut into the cardboard.
If anything happened, Rock could fire without fully unwrapping them.
In the lawless City of God, few people who dared operate in isolated areas were harmless.
Perhaps the way Rock carried the cardboard-wrapped rifles made it obvious what was inside.
Either way, the trip from the Slope neighborhood to the Stone River neighborhood passed without incident.
They stopped on a small hillside overlooking most of the Stone River neighborhood.
Only a single road separated it from the wealthy district next door.
Police cars with flashing lights occasionally cruised along the road, but the two sides belonged to completely different worlds.
Rock told Camilla to cross the road and park beside a shopping mall in the wealthy district.
The moment she heard gunfire, she was to ride back up the hill and wait for him.
Carrying both rifles, Rock rushed into the roadside bushes.
He needed to infiltrate the Stone River favela from there.
After discussing it with Camilla, they had chosen the hillside as his entry point.
Ricardo’s men were bound to have checkpoints and lookouts around Stone River, but drug dealers were not trained soldiers.
Their vigilance would be much lower.
Rock was betting on their confidence in their control over the favela, as well as his own marksmanship.
Without the Guns and Roses system, he would still be nothing more than an amateur military enthusiast.
Then again, without the system, he might still be lounging on a beach in Sanya, basking in the sun and avoiding the grind of everyday work.
The Nightingale Bar stood not far from the road.
Ricardo felt so secure there that even the police would not bother interfering.
From Rock’s position in the woods, he could clearly observe the bar’s entrance through the binoculars.
It was roughly five hundred meters away, close enough for the FN FAL to make the shot.
Elena’s intelligence included a photograph of Ricardo and noted that he usually arrived at the bar around four every afternoon to enjoy himself, then left sometime after eight at night.
It was now 3:50 p.m.
Rock gathered a few branches and used them as camouflage.
He had never received formal training in it, but hiding behind branches felt like something every child back home instinctively knew how to do.
He did not expect Ricardo to arrive exactly on time.
Punctuality was hardly something he could rely on here.
For Ricardo, keeping an unpredictable schedule only made him safer.
Before leaving, Rock and Camilla had prepared several plans.
The ideal outcome was to kill Ricardo from a distance with the FN FAL.
If he could not get a clear shot, Rock would have to risk charging into the bar and fighting his way through.
For that reason, he had brought their only two offensive grenades, saving them for the moment they would matter most.
He unwrapped both rifles and slung the AKS-74U diagonally across his back.
Rock raised the FN FAL and steadily aimed at the bar’s entrance, but then he ran into a problem.
The holographic sight mounted on the FN FAL worked best between two hundred and four hundred meters.
The bar’s entrance was clearly more than four hundred meters away.
The red dot sight on the AKS-74U was most accurate within two hundred meters.
Both rifle sights were designed for engagements at roughly that range.
If he removed the sight and relied entirely on the iron sights, Rock did not believe he could hit a target from five hundred meters away.
Not unless he upgraded Rifle Shooting to master level.
To accomplish his goal, he would have to move closer.