“It looks like it was a combat encounter,” analyzed the adjutant as he checked the corpses of the seven barbarians through the video feed in the command vehicle.
“It wasn’t an encounter.” P5092 shook his head and said, “Look at the terrain here. There’s only a single mountain path leading through the front and the back, and the terrain is rather narrow too. It’s a semi-enclosed space.”
“Sir, you mean…” His adjutant was not stupid. He immediately reacted and said, “Of all the locations where the battles happened, the number of barbarian corpses here was the most, with seven of them killed. They were likely responsible for pursuing those two snipers but ended up being led here by them. The unique feature of the terrain here made it so that when the barbarians realized they could not win, they could not escape even if they wanted to. Therefore, those two snipers must’ve been confident enough to lure them here.”
“That’s right.” P5092 nodded. “If the seven of them were to escape in separate directions, it would definitely take some effort to capture them. But with only one path leading through here, even if the barbarians tried to escape, they would only be able to run in one direction.”
“Those two snipers are really ruthless, aren’t they?” his adjutant wondered. “To kill seven barbarians in a direct battle, they would have to be supernatural beings.”
“Not only that.” P5092 shook his head again. “Those two people were not injured at all. They were able to completely crush these seven barbarians, and I believe that even if there were a few more barbarians, the outcome would still be the same. Therefore, they killed seven barbarians because only seven of them were here, not because they could only defeat seven of them.”
So it was very difficult for them to estimate the snipers’ strength based on the number of barbarians killed. They only knew the other party was very strong. If it were the T5s that had encountered them, they would probably end up dead as well.
There were not many such people in this world.
The adjutant wondered, “Do you think it might be the person you mentioned before… I mean, the person who controls White Mask?”
“That’s a possibility. If he were the one who came, it would make sense.” P5092 nodded and said, “Continue the carpet search and mark every spot on the map where the barbarian corpses were discovered. Include the number of barbarians that died as well.”
Nearby, the combat staff officers quickly got to work upon receiving the commander’s instructions. But when they made marks on the map with a red pen, everyone was surprised to see it was entirely covered in red.
P5092 sighed and said, “The scope of their activities is way too large. In just half a day, they’ve already killed more than 50 barbarians? If we wait another two days, wouldn’t they have wiped out all the barbarians in the whole of Mt. Dashi?”
However, what P5092 could not understand the most was how the people who hunted the barbarians in the mountains were able to locate them so precisely. Was it because they understood the barbarians really well?
At this moment, a gunshot sounded over the radio in the command vehicle. The adjutant picked up the radio transceiver and asked calmly, “What happened?”
“Sir, there was a sniper gunshot about 400 meters away from us just now. I think those two snipers are very close by!”
As he spoke, another gunshot rang out. Immediately after, a series of gunshots could be heard. It sounded like an intense exchange of gunfire had taken place over there.
P5092 immediately said, “Find their target and get closer. Do not try to approach those two snipers.”
With that, ten platoons at the front line responsible for the carpet search immediately started moving.
Although the 400-meter straight line distance seemed very close, it would take close to an hour to cover that distance between the mountain ridges.
By the time they arrived at the battlefield, the gunshots had already stopped, and no one knew where the snipers had disappeared to.
Right afterwards, the Pyro Company’s soldiers got started with searching for the snipers’ target. They fanned out from the location of the snipers’ gunshots and searched the area within a 1.5-kilometer radius.
If typical snipers had fired those shots, they would just need to cover a radius of 800 meters for the search. It would already be very impressive for most snipers to hit their targets accurately from an 800-meter range. However, these two snipers were too skilled. They were simply the best of the best.
Soon after, they discovered a battlefield by a riverbank where more than 20 barbarians were lying dead. Their corpses stretched all the way from the riverbank into the forest. The blood of the barbarians was still flowing, turning the soil on the shore red.
There were even water pouches made of animal skin scattered all over the ground. Upon opening them, they were found to be empty.
As the Pyro Company soldiers slowly approached, orders sounded out on the radio. “Check for footprints in the forest to see if anyone in their group has escaped.”
Very quickly, a Pyro Company soldier reported, “It’s been confirmed that this group of barbarians were wiped out by the riverside. The only footprints in the forest we found were of them coming here. There are no signs that any of them had escaped.”
Due to the damp soil at the riverbank, it was impossible for the barbarians to completely conceal their footprints.
In the command vehicle, P5092 frowned. “So those two snipers probably predicted these barbarians would go there to collect water, so they set up an ambush for them.”
He took out the map but could not tell what was so special about the location the barbarians collected their water from.
“That’s strange. Why were they so sure the barbarians would go there to get water? Three rivers pass through the mountain range, and there’s also more than ten streams. Why were they so sure it would be there?” his adjutant wondered.
“Perhaps that’s what their special skill is.” P5092 sighed.
In the morning, the barbarians predicted soldiers would go to the riverside to fetch water. So they set up an ambush in the river but were taken out by the snipers there. Later in the afternoon, these barbarians also ended up being ambushed over a matter as simple as getting water when they encountered the snipers again.
This felt like someone was able to see the future on the battlefield, dictating the balance between life and death.
Initially, some of the Pyro Company soldiers felt that they were being observed like prey while searching for the barbarians.
But now, the real hunter had arrived, and the barbarians became their prey instead.
P5092 said to the frontline commanders over the radio, “Leave your individual rations where you are and retreat. Don’t stay there any longer.”
His adjutant asked, “Are you leaving the rations for them?”
“They might not go and retrieve them, but I believe they will see my goodwill,” P5092 said.
As he spoke, he kept staring at the map. Then he used a red marker to mark the location of the river and the number of barbarian deaths there.
He suddenly realized something. “The snipers’ radius of operation seems to be a fan. Why does it feel like they’re thinking the same thing as us? They’re shepherding the barbarians towards Longtan Canyon as well.”
In P5092’s battle strategy, he had planned to force all the barbarians to the vicinity of Longtan Canyon and wipe them out there in one fell swoop. In the end, the snipers were doing the same too.
Was it unintentional, or did the other party deduce his intent through the movements of the scouts ahead? In that case, were they working to help him finish the plan?
If it were the latter, then their intuition was insanely sharp.
