Most people in the favela had to leave early to find work or food.
Otherwise, they might not have anything to eat that day.
Very few could afford to simply lie around doing nothing.
As a result, Rock’s infiltration attracted little attention.
The only person he encountered was a drunken man stumbling around a corner.
Rock knocked him unconscious with a clean strike to the neck.
His Intermediate Kung Fu Skill now gave him excellent control over his strength.
After several detailed conversations with Elena, Rock had learned where the people controlling a favela usually established their headquarters.
Once inside, he climbed onto a rooftop and surveyed the terrain.
He soon spotted a high point guarded by gunmen.
Rock moved quickly through the narrow alleys while taking care not to draw the attention of the nearby shopkeepers.
From time to time, he had to climb steps or vault over walls.
Slightly out of breath, he reached the entrance of an alley near the highest point in the favela, a position formed by two connected buildings.
Just then, more than a dozen gang members filed out through the entrance below.
The building stood beside a Y-shaped intersection formed by two roads.
From there, the gang could monitor and control most of the favela.
Rock had arrived just in time.
He quickly pulled the SIG SG551 from his backpack, unfolded the stock, and put on his tactical vest, which was packed with magazines.
His last grenade was still clipped to the vest.
He coupled three translucent SG551 magazines together.
Special locking tabs on their sides allowed them to be joined, reducing the time needed to switch magazines.
Through the scope, Rock saw the gang members dressed in open-collared shirts and T-shirts, laughing and carrying themselves with open arrogance.
A row of motorcycles had been parked along the alley below, making it obvious that the group was preparing to head out.
The gang members talked and laughed while putting on masks, scarves, and balaclavas.
Combined with the actions of the scout who had visited the convenience store earlier, it was easy to guess what they were planning.
They intended to abduct Fatima again.
They had probably brought so many men to make sure they would not be ambushed a second time.
Most of them carried AK-series assault rifles, and many also had various handguns tucked into their waistbands.
Several men were already starting the motorcycles.
It was the moment when their guard was at its lowest.
Rock chambered a round and opened fire.
He was positioned roughly fifty meters from the two buildings.
He had chosen the spot well, placing himself inside the blind zone of the gunmen above.
With the accuracy of the SIG SG551 and its 4x scope, precise shooting was possible at distances of up to four hundred meters.
At fifty meters, even if Rock could not hit the exact point he aimed at every time, none of his shots would miss completely.
He fired in controlled three-round bursts, targeting the two men who had been giving orders first.
Within moments, half the gang members were down.
The survivors threw themselves to the ground and desperately scrambled for cover.
Their experience with gunfights showed.
Even before locating the shooter, they extended their rifles around cover and fired wildly in Rock’s general direction.
Rock remained calm behind the corner wall, unaffected by the frantic barrage.
He maintained a steady rhythm, firing whenever part of a body appeared through an opening.
Street fighting was different from combat on a conventional battlefield.
There was no need to relocate after every few shots.
A well-chosen firing position could inflict tremendous damage on its own.
By the time Rock emptied the magazine, only two or three of the gang members who had emerged managed to retreat into the building.
The two guards stationed on the rooftop had also dropped behind the parapet and were frantically searching for the attacker.
Rock remained at the alley corner and watched for a while.
None of the bodies scattered near the entrance showed any sign of movement.
Combined with the Experience Cards and Skills appearing in the System, he could safely assume that almost none of them had survived.
All he had to do now was eliminate the remaining gang members inside the stronghold.
Then the raid would be complete.
He moved quickly through the alleys while directing part of his attention toward the System screen in his mind.
The recent kills had produced another batch of Experience Cards and Skills.
50-point Experience Card ×8
Street Battle: Beginner (75/100)
Quick Draw: Beginner (95/100)
Rifle Shooting: Beginner (97/100)
Pistol Shooting: Intermediate (15/400)
It was an impressive haul.
Even if Rock put away his weapon and left immediately, the trip would already have been worthwhile.
Several of the opponents he had just killed had been fairly skilled.
Judging by the Skills they dropped, they had been close to advancing from Beginner to Intermediate.
Fortunately, Rock had taken them by surprise.
In a direct confrontation, he might not have been able to defeat them so easily.
He could not collect their weapons and ammunition yet, but the experience and Skills they dropped could strengthen him immediately.
That was one of the main reasons Rock had been so eager to launch this attack.
With a System granting him such an overwhelming advantage, he had no desire to keep living as he had before, working himself to exhaustion and suppressing everything he wanted.
For a while, he wanted to live entirely on his own terms.
Only through constant battle could he continue growing stronger, and the intensity of gang warfare in Brazil’s favelas was perfectly suited to his development.
Had he been transported onto a battlefield where large military forces were fighting, he might have leveled up faster.
But one moment of carelessness could also have ended with him being wiped out by a barrage of rockets.
The intensity of conventional warfare was far beyond anything found in a gang conflict.
Rock quickly merged the Skills.
Street Battle: Beginner (93/100)
Quick Draw: Intermediate (225/400)
Rifle Shooting: Advanced (98/1000)
Pistol Shooting: Intermediate (107/400)
He then allocated the four hundred experience points from the Experience Cards.
There was a strong chance that the next stage of the attack would involve close-range combat, so drawing speed would be critical.
Rock raised Quick Draw to Advanced and distributed the remaining experience among Danger Sense, Street Battle, and Rifle Shooting.
Quick Draw: Advanced (15/1000)
Danger Sense: Intermediate (18/400)
Street Battle: Intermediate (5/400)
Rifle Shooting: Advanced (196/1000)
Waves of warmth flowed through his mind and body.
Rock’s understanding of firearms deepened, while his body became even better adapted to handling weapons and performing tactical movements.
As his abilities improved, his steps grew lighter while he ran.
His positioning also became more precise, allowing him to dive behind the best available cover at any moment.
Following the route he had observed earlier, Rock rushed through a house and climbed directly to its third-floor rooftop.
The family had apparently already left for work.
The empty house spared him from having to deal with any unexpected complications.
The building stood roughly parallel to the gang’s stronghold.
When Rock reached the rooftop, he saw seven armed men searching the surrounding streets from the connected roof of the two buildings.
One of them was positioned behind a light machine gun.
The long ammunition belt feeding into it showed that they had plenty of firepower.
Another gang member beside him was holding an RPG.
Against that level of firepower, an ordinary person would have had almost no chance of approaching from the front.
Rock caught his breath, quietly raised his rifle, and centered the machine gunner in his scope.
With Rifle Shooting at the Advanced level, Rock’s marksmanship would qualify him as a designated marksman even within the military.
A sharp crack rang out.
Blood burst from the machine gunner’s head, and he collapsed to the side.
The gang member holding the RPG fell next.
Rock picked off five of the seven men on the rooftop one after another.
The remaining two stumbled and scrambled into the stairwell.
The raid had now reached its most critical stage.
Rock glanced at the System screen.
50-point Experience Card ×3
Machine Gun Shooting: Beginner (75/100)
Rock immediately invested all one hundred and fifty experience points into Rifle Shooting.
He intended to push one Skill to Master as quickly as possible.
Once he had one overwhelming specialty, he could rely on it in almost any situation.
Rifle Shooting: Advanced (346/1000)
Although the Skill was still far from reaching the next level, every increase in experience deepened Rock’s understanding of it.
He could now perform several advanced handling techniques with the rifle.
That was the benefit of accumulating experience.
What came next would be the most dangerous part.
Rock was going inside the enemy stronghold.