Chris's good news was like a shot of adrenaline.
The clouds of gloom that had hung over the Seals after losing a team member to a sniper seemed to have dispersed.
The news quickly spread back to Warrior Camp.
Lieutenant Colonel Mandres was also greatly heartened.
"Well done, lads!"
That's how he encouraged and praised the Seals over the channel.
"All units, accelerate your advance; we must take the A-F zone before noon."
The A-F zone he mentioned was a small area marked on the map.
Today, Warrior Camp was in charge of Area 5, and Lieutenant Colonel Mandres had divided the entire Area 5 into several smaller zones alphabetically.
This method is commonly used in military operations for the purposes of command and communication, and it also facilitates the setting of advance sequences.
A-F meant from Zone A to Zone F, including the building where Chris had marked the sniper.
Now for Vincent and Lieutenant Colonel Mandres, confirming the identity of the sniper was very important.
After all, being able to confirm the kill of a sniper from the "Hunter" organization would make writing the post-battle report much easier, marking a tactical objective achieved and a significant accomplishment.
Hearing that the "Hunter's" sniper had been killed, the soldiers from Warrior Camp and Sword Camp relaxed their tense nerves.
Previously, what they had feared most was the sniper.
Now that the sniper was dead, everyone suddenly loosened up and started to clear the area.
It must be said, the role of a sniper on the modern battlefield, besides delaying the enemy's infantry, is very important for morale.
Once the sniper was gone, the attacking teams, as if injected with adrenaline, no longer had so many reservations.
Vincent's vanguard squad started to accelerate its advance.
Song Heping saw all this through his binoculars.
Samir said, "Boss, we are safe here now."
Song Heping turned back; he saw a few soldiers from Sword Camp on the opposite rooftop.
They saw Song Heping and waved their hands in greeting.
This meant that the nearby buildings had been cleared.
Everyone suddenly relaxed.
The chef from the opposite building was also in position.
He stood on the rooftop shouting towards this side.
Song Heping warned him over the channel, "Chef, duck down and hide."
The chef was puzzled, "The sniper is dead!"
Song Heping said, "You believe the Seals just like that? We haven't seen the body yet, how certain are you that they killed the 'Hunter's' sniper?"
Hearing this, the chef felt it made sense and quickly disappeared from the opposite rooftop.
He hid behind the concrete parapet and asked Song Heping, "Song, aren't you being overly suspicious?"
Song Heping said, "Better safe than sorry. This is a battlefield—anything can happen. If you think I'm a coward, stand up."
The chef thought about it, but still didn't have the courage to stand up again.
Meanwhile, Hunter lifted his eyes from the scope and looked back at Song Heping, saying, "Boss, what do we do now?"
"What do we do?" Song Heping said, "What do you want to do?"
Hunter pointed forward, "They've all moved up, should we follow them?"
"Follow them where?" Song Heping looked towards the west, "Can't you control the field from here?"
"I can," Hunter said. "F zone is within my effective firing range."
Song Heping sneered, "Then isn't that settled? Continue with the clearance of F zone before noon. If you can control the field from here, why run around? Do you think you're not conspicuous enough?"
"Alright then."
Hunter sat up, began rummaging through his bag, took out some food, and threw a package to Disaster Star.
"Let's rest here then."
At that moment, they suddenly heard noises from the staircase.
Song Heping quickly raised his gun and gave a sign to Samir, who was closest to the rooftop entrance.
Samir crouched and ran to the left side of the entrance to ambush.
Several people focused on the entrance, ready to alert.
When the person emerged from the entrance, they all relaxed and lowered their guns.
It was Chris.
Looking at the somewhat tense group, he nonchalantly said, "Why so tense?"
As Chris spoke, his gaze fell on Song Heping's face.
"Not bad, killing so many armed militants. You guys killed everyone in this building, huh?"
Samir started to speak, but Song Heping gave him a look that silenced him.
Once this guy started talking, there would be no end.
He liked straightforwardness, so he asked Chris, "You fancy this place?"
This building certainly was a very good sniping position.
The rooftops across the small square didn't have as good a view and were too far from Zone F, unlike this place.
To support Vincent's team, setting up a sniping position here was a good choice.
Chris, without any semblance of politeness, directly came beside Hunter, looked at his rifle and the person, and said, "Make some room, find another spot. Anyway, you're just responsible for the outer guard, no need to use this sniping point."
Hunter was annoyed and just about to stand up and argue.
"Hunter, let's go,"
Song Heping ordered Hunter to leave and then turned to Samir and Queen, and Disaster Star, saying, "We pack up and head to Cook's place."
Cook's place was in the building opposite.
The position was actually similar, only this rooftop had a broader view.
Hunter glared fiercely at Chris.
Chris, chewing on his gum, gave a half-smile as he watched the former rogue sniper, his eyes full of provocation, until Song Heping and his group left.
As they went downstairs, Hunter grumbled bitterly, "It was the boss who fought fiercely for that building. Why should we give it up just because they say so? Who do they think they are?"
Song Heping remained good-natured, "Let it go, let it go. Do you think that sniping point was good?"
Hunter paused for a moment.
Samir curiously asked, "How could it not be good?"
Indeed, the building's position was very good.
Especially the rooftop, with sufficient height, a good view covering a large area to the west.
As long as the range of the gun was far enough, it could control a sufficiently distant area.
"It's good, but that's exactly why it's not," Song Heping said. "If you were Hunter's sniper, and you were opposite, which would you prioritize watching?"
"Watching..."
Samir instinctively thought of here.
He understood then.
Song Heping continued, "Everything has its pros and cons, sniping positions included. You think this spot is good, a sniper as excellent as you would also think it's good, so he would focus here first, which means this spot carries higher risk. The building opposite has poor visibility and obstructions in front, so they wouldn't pay as much attention to that position."
The group descended the building and crossed the road to the opposite building.
At that moment, the road was filled with armored vehicles and tanks lined up, pushing forward; today's start was promising.
Ground cooperated, Seal Team pulled out a tooth.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly.
They went upstairs and found the chef, who was quite surprised to see them.
"How did you get here?"
Song Heping said, "We were driven here by the Seal."
"Didn't hit them? You gave them face, huh?"
The chef's bad temper was known to all, and he began swearing under his breath.
"This is good, we can rest now. Let the Seals show their performance."
The group arranged a guard shift and then sat in a circle to drink water and rest.
In the distance, the sounds of artillery and gunfire roared, but here, the scenery was uniquely pleasant.
Everyone suddenly felt this was quite nice.
Thinking back to the fierce fighting just now left them all in a cold sweat.
War means people die.
When fighting, fear not death, but don't seek it without cause.
Mercenaries, after all, should not act recklessly.
They sat on the ground chatting idly for a full hour.
The sound of gunfire suddenly stopped.
The sentinel Hunter turned back and said, "They've finished fighting."
Curious, the chef asked, "I wonder if that Chris hit the most fearsome Grim Reaper sniper from the Hunters?"
Song Heping said, "Why don't you ask?"
"I'll ask."
The chef, thick-skinned as he was, actually switched to the public channel and called out to Vincent.
"Nanny calling Hawkeye, respond if you hear me."
After calling several times, Vincent finally responded.
"Hawkeye receiving, go ahead."
"Was the sniper you just killed from the Hunters?"
"Correct, confirmed."
Vincent's voice sounded a bit smug.
"Found a body in a building about 1450 meters from the small square, a lone wolf with an SVD next to him."
The chef quickly asked, "Are you selling that SVD? Sell it to me, I'll pay top dollar!"
"Hmph!"
Vincent replied irritably, "That's our spoil of war, the Seal Team isn't short of your few pennies!"
After saying that, he cut off the conversation.
The chef grumbled resentfully, "Suka! These guys, too arrogant."
Song Heping said, "Vincent knows his stuff. If that gun could shoot 1450 meters, it's definitely a modified masterpiece. Did you really think he'd sell it to you?"
The chef was still uncomfortable, "I just wanted to take a look, to see what kind of modification it was."
Song Heping said, "Heavy modifications, you wouldn't recognize it even if you saw it. Modifying the gun barrel, the suspension, changing the upper receiver cover for a rail, replacing with a better, higher magnification scope, even modifying the trigger pressure, and hand-loading the ammunition..."
"Illiguo has such an impressive armory department?" The chef seemed incredulous.
Song Heping said, "You don't need an armory department if you're determined to modify; it's just a matter of money and interest..."
He suddenly stopped talking.
The chef noticed Song Heping's expression seemed to change.
"What's wrong?"
"Something's not right..."
Song Heping muttered to himself.
He abruptly picked up the binoculars, then ran to the fence, carefully finding a hidden spot to look into the distance.
The binoculars' view moved slowly from right to left.
Song Heping was searching Zone F.
Vincent's squad's two tanks and Humvees were parked on a roadside.
Moving to Zone E.
He saw the assembly area of the Warrior Camp.
There were armored vehicles and Humvees, and also tanks.
Song Heping suddenly stopped the slowly moving hand.
His gaze focused on an armored command vehicle.
Lieutenant Colonel Mandres stood by the door, discussing something with a few officers.
Song Heping immediately switched the channel: "Nanny calling Warrior! Nanny calling Warrior!"
After several calls, there was no response.
In his binoculars, Song Heping saw the communication officer inside the command vehicle hand the walkie-talkie to Lieutenant Colonel Mandres several times, but Mandres seemed unconcerned and didn't take it.
"Idiot!"
Song Heping couldn't help but curse: "Good hearts can't stop the ghosts who seek death!"
The nearby chef, seeing Song Heping so angry, couldn't resist asking, "Song, what happened?"
Song Heping no longer had time to respond to the chef.
He continued to switch channels, calling Vincent: "Nanny calling Hawkeye! Nanny calling Hawkeye!"
It was a while again.
Eventually, Vincent replied impatiently, "Hawkeye receiving, you'd better have something urgent or I'll report to my superior to get rid of you guys who just issue commands and talk all day!"
Song Heping said, "Fuck you damn idiot!"
He harshly cursed before saying, "Quickly get that stupid Mandres to get in the vehicle! Unless he wants to die!"
"What?!"
Vincent was baffled by the scolding.
"I'm saying, there's another sniper nearby! He's looking for targets! Hurry and get that stupid Mandres in the vehicle! I called him, but he's not listening!"
Vincent seemed slow to react.
"Fast!" Song Heping cursed again, "Otherwise he'll die!"
Vincent seemed to react this time.
But instead of calling Mandres directly, he actually picked up the binoculars to look for Mandres.
In Song Heping's binoculars, Mandres was still talking with the officers by the vehicle, the communication officer nowhere to be seen...
"Damn it."
He turned to the Hunter and said, "Targeting Lieutenant Colonel Mandres in Zone E, search all buildings within a range of 1200 to 1600 meters, field of view 45 degrees..."
Bang—
A gun fired.
Song Heping's heart sank.
Through the binoculars, a burst of blood spurted from Mandres's chest, and he collapsed beside the vehicle.