Having received the details of the mission, the next step was to collate all the necessary information, come up with a battle plan and prepare for their next steps.
Although Ninth Si had provided them with rather comprehensive information, Xu Zhenyu was an elite soldier and, apart from his own comrades, he would not easily trust anyone during this period.
Not to mention that this mission was extremely important and there was no room for any mistakes.
And Ninth Si was such an enigma that Xu Zhenyu had to keep his guard up against him.
As a result, their first step would be to affirm the accuracy of the information. Some of the world’s best military scouts were part of this operation, so this assignment had been handed to them.
“Bang bang bang—”
Si Yiyan was aiming and shooting a Barrett M82A1 sniper rifle from Country M. He maintained his stance from start to finish, but was able to strike all his targets from all directions.
Jiang Hongjie, the soldier who had previously picked a quarrel with Si Yiyan, was standing in the shadows. He was awestruck.
He may look young, but he was well-known throughout his team as an excellent sharpshooter.
He was allowed to join this overseas mission because of his exemplary marksmanship.
He had pitted his shooting skills with some of the other foreign marksmen and found that his standards were right up there with the best of them. This filled his heart with tremendous pride.
“Bang…” A whistling bullet suddenly sliced through the air and went straight at him.
Jiang Hongjie’s mind went blank. All the self-preservation skills he had learned during training were completely useless now. His pupils dilated as he stared at the incoming golden bullet.
Sweat drenched his forehead and his back. Even his breathing felt extremely labored.
“Pffftt…”
The bullet whizzed past his ear.
Jiang Hongjie’s legs went soft and he nearly collapsed on the ground. Since he enlisted in the army, he had participated in many missions and encountered several life-and-death situations. Nevertheless, he had never experienced this level of fear before.
His fear was not because he was scared of death.
It was because he did not even get the chance to react to his impending death. All he could do was just watch the bullet penetrate his body and die without even the opportunity to fight back.
To a soldier, this was the scariest way to die.
Jiang Hongjie was panting heavily and emitting rasping sounds from his throat.
At this moment, he finally realized just how foolish he was to have picked a quarrel with that person. The fact that the person had only thrown him a kick before was already a great mercy.
Even Team Leader Xu did not give him such a terrifying and oppressive feel.
Jiang Hongjie turned around and saw the bullet lodged in the wall behind him. It glinted coldly.
Si Yiyan put down his gun and gave him a mild glance. He had no intention of shooting anymore.
Fools rushed in where angels feared to tread. Jiang Hongjie hustled over to Si Siyan and asked, “Your shooting skills are really good. How did you get so good?”
After his brief bout of fear, Jiang Hongjie’s heart was now full of ardent idolization. As the sharpshooter in his team, his only goal in life was to improve his shooting skills and surpass his own limitations.
Si Yiyan paused, his boots stepping heavily into the ground. “Do you wish to know?”
Jiang Hongjie was dumbfounded!
Having known Ninth Si for so long, everyone knew just how enigmatic and cold this guy was. Apart from Team Leader Xu, he ignored everyone else and seldom spoke.
He had asked the question without much hope of getting an answer. He never expected Ninth Si to actually reply.
Having heard no response, Si Yiyan started to leave.
Jiang Hongjie finally snapped out of his trance. “Yes, I wish to know. Please tell me!”
At this point, Jiang Hongjie was extremely excited. His face was completely flushed and his heart raced wildly.
Si Yiyan threw a piece of black cloth at him. “Put this blindfold on.”
His cool voice was lined with an undoubted authority.
Grinning foolishly, Jiang Hongjie hurriedly blindfolded himself. “Is this alright?”
Without waiting for him to get ready, a series of gunfire sounds erupted. Eyes completely blindfolded, Jiang Hongjie was engulfed in darkness, such that his other senses became amplified. He could feel the bullets whizz by him one by one.
There was even one bullet that scratched the skin on his neck. The pain startled him and he started dodging wildly.
“Keep calm!” The cool voice commanded.
Jiang Hongjie’s body went limp as he cast aside all defenses.
“Do you want to know the secret behind shooting well?” Si Yiyan aimed his gun at Jiang Hongjie. He suddenly pulled the trigger and a bullet flew right by his ear.
Jiang Hongjie went stiff as fear arose in his heart. “It’s… it’s technique!”
At this point, Jiang Hongjie finally realized that there would always be someone better than you. His shooting skills, which he had been so proud of, were actually nothing at all.
From the moment he had blindfolded himself, the person had shot seven bullets in his direction. Four of them had brushed by his clothes while three had scraped past his skin. He was bleeding, but they were only superficial wounds. This precise level of control was awe-inspiring.
His instructor had told him before that a person was only a true sniper after he gained complete mastery of the gun.
However, he now had a new understanding. A person was only a true sniper when he could make the bullet go wherever he pleased.
“Technique only teaches you superficial knowledge. Let me tell you now what is called true shooting.”
Si Yiyan stepped heavily as he raised his sniper rifle and came before Jiang Hongjie.
“You must learn to feel.”
With that, he bashed his gun viciously against Jiang Hongjie’s leg.
“Crack!” The bloodcurdling sound of dislocating bones rang out.
Jiang Hongjie’s leg lost its mobility and he collapsed into a kneeling position. He was drenched in cold sweat from the pain.
Si Yiyan suddenly rammed his gun against Jiang Hongjie’s other leg.
“Ah—” Jiang Hongjie whimpered.
He had once broken his leg during training but had never felt such intense pain. He could vaguely understand Ninth Si’s intentions.
A blindfolded person would find his other senses amplified. Even pain would feel more intense. This was a person’s natural physical response.
Si Yiyan continued to use his gun to hit every single one of Jiang Hongjie’s joints, dislocating them all. Every strike was precise, quick and utterly vicious.
After losing all mobility, Jiang Hongjie sprawled on the ground in complete agony.
