Volume 2 – Bloom of the Other Shore Flower, Chapter 51: Sniping
The few customers inside the shop immediately noticed the clear signs of wear of the parts with just a glance and lost interest. They looked at Qianye, their gazes tinged with disdain.
A young soldier examined the origin guns on the counter and immediately said, “Shit, what kind of shitty store is this? There isn’t even a grade two gun here!”
Old 1’s face immediately darkened and pointed at the ragged canvas bag in front of Qianye. “I have better things than grade two guns!”
The few soldiers that were perusing the shop looked between the canvas bag and the worn down parts in Qianye’s hands. They started laughing and assuming that poverty had driven the old man insane.
After those people left, a cold smile appeared at the corner of Qianye’s mouth.
These parts were actually almost brand new, Old 1 had simply used a special method to make them look old. This body of the Eagleshot was seventy percent new, and a few of its important parts were eighty percent new. Just these few parts alone would bring the Eagleshot’s precision to a new level.
The soldiers that had just left probably wouldn’t see an Eagleshot their entire lives, so of course they wouldn’t recognize these special parts. In comparison, Qianye had learned to use all of the standard guns of the Empire, how to maintain them, as well as the way their internal structure worked. Qianye’s camp had included almost every gun below grade five in its curriculum, so even if the Scorpion Needle in the hands of a Red Scorpion soldier were destroyed, they would be able to pick up any dark race gun and use them immediately.
Qianye inspected the components of the Eagleshot one by one. As he did, Old 1’s became stranger and stranger.
After Qianye placed the last component into his bag and closed it up, Old 1 finally couldn’t help but ask, “Are you not going to assemble it and try it yourself?”
“All the parts are here, so there’s no need for me to assemble it.” Qianye threw the canvas bag over his back and carried it.
Old 1’s eyes held a glimmer of light as he carefully said, “The number of those who have seen an Eagleshot is already quite small. Those who understand how their internal structure works are even fewer in number.”
“People who can make an Eagleshot are also very rare, right?”
Both men, young and old, stared at each other for a while, and then Qianye left.
Returning to the small hotel he was staying at, Qianye ordered some food and ate it. Then he changed his appearance once more and began assembling the Eagleshot.
Soon enough, Qianye held a two-meter-long sniper rifle in his hands.
Qianye channeled a bit of his origin power into the gun, but its dark body did not shine with even a hint of reflected light. In spite of this, he could feel origin power surging within the energy-condensing component. Only when one stared at the muzzle of the gun could they see a bundle of green light in the barrel. Not even the tiniest hint of light leaked from it. This was truly a lethal weapon! Qianye was very satisfied with it.
The night was dark, yet Darkblood City was still very lively. In this city, people sought fun and thrills at any time. Soldiers, hunters, and adventurers walked the line between life and death at every moment of every day, not knowing if they would live to tomorrow. These people loved to let themselves go.
In this city, expeditionary soldiers had statuses that weren’t much higher than those of hunters. Despite the fearsome power of the expeditionary army, the military era was already over. The major corps were now on their own, and factions existed everywhere,
Qianye used a cloth to cover the Eagleshot and carried it on his back before leaving the hotel. He quickly blended into the night of Darkblood City, becoming one of the millions of people moving about.
After a moment, Qianye arrived beside the Sky Snake Gang’s courtyard. He silently circled around the courtyard and climbed up the side of a large building. This building had twenty floors and looked dirty and black, obviously suffering from neglect. Countless families were stuffed inside of this building, each of the small apartments cramped with seven to eight people.
Rubbish was littered everywhere in the building alongside filthy water and miscellaneous items. Qianye climbed the stairs, kicking a rotting corpse into an unconscious drunkard before he reaching the top floor. Qianye looked through a broken window into a room, looking for a suitable vantage point before breaking in.
This was a small room that had two military-style beds taking up most of the space within. Inside were four people, two women and two men. The moment that Qianye barged in, one couple was asleep in a bed. The other two were hugging each other in the other, intensely doing the deed. When the man saw Qianye, shock filled him and he released the woman, trembling.
Under the threat of a black gun muzzle, the four of them obediently let Qianye tie them up before he squatted in a corner. The two nearly naked women squirmed, trying to rub against Qianye’s thigh.
However, Qianye only felt repulsed by their bodies. He was completely indifferent to these bodies that hadn’t been washed in months. He pushed the Eagleshot against their snow white yet saggy chests and pushed them away. As if the long metal rod that was the Eagleshot’s barrel weren’t the type of rod they were seeking, the women shivered and retreated to the side, obediently staying still.
The thick scent of sex lingered in the room, wafting through the air and mixing with a stench that came from years without sunlight and a few other strange, unrecognizable smells.
Qianye, however, was extremely satisfied with this place. Such a thick stench completely hid his own scent. Therefore, even if the enemy found this place, they wouldn’t be able to use it to track him, eliminating one possible clue.
Qianye pushed open the only window that wasn’t nailed with wooden planks and looked outside. The main building of the Sky Snake Gang was in sight and in range, just like he thought. Qianye removed a few wooden planks, making space for surveillance and shooting before taking out the Eagleshot, situating the huge, lethal weapon in the window frame.
Qianye moved a chair over and sat in front of the window, patiently waiting.
Sky Snake was currently enjoying himself outside, but he would definitely return to the main building later on in the night.
Qianye sat about a thousand meters away from the main door of the main building. This distance was longer than the range of many origin guns, and was even close to the limit of the powerful Eagleshot origin sniper rifle. Perhaps the Daybreak Pulsating Cannon
or similar origin guns could launch a precise attack from such a long distance. These were weapons that were capable of causing widespread casualties throughout the battlefield. Not even the Empire’s main army normally had a reason to use such weapons, so it was impossible to find guns of that caliber in all of Darkblood City.
Sky Snake would never imagine being attacked from such a distance.
After two hours, Qianye finally saw a procession of small cars return to the Sky Snake Gang. Sky Snake emerged from one of the cars. He seemed to be quite tired as he stretched lazily.
Qianye had already aimed the gun steadily at Sky Snake, origin power instantly filling all of the origin power compartment. Qianye held his breath, and with a calm heart, he pulled the trigger.
The Eagleshot suddenly trembled with a loud resounding bang that filled the entire building, pushing Qianye and his chair a meter backward! A dark red origin power bullet drew a line through the night sky as it flew at Sky Snake.
Sky Snake was dumbfounded. Even with his many years of fighting experience, he had only been able to barely come to his senses. Origin power surged through his body as a pale green shield of energy condensed and enveloped him.
The origin power bullet shattered Sky Snake’s shield with a bang and sent his huge body flying backward. Origin power scattered through the air, descending from the sky like shimmering red fireworks. Sky Snake flew a few meters, crashed into a wall, and slid to the ground.
Although he teetered between life and death, he could still move. He rolled to the side and crawled toward the door of the main building, hiding where Qianye couldn’t shoot him. The moment he entered the building, Sky Snake got to his knees. He suddenly vomited a large amount of blood, spraying it a few meters!
Sky Snake’s body swayed, and he fell to the floor unconscious.
The Eagleshot wasn’t called “Sniper King” for nothing. Even at the limit of its range, it did enough damage to heavily injure Sky Snake, a rank five warrior who focused on body strengthening. Despite being a grade four sniper gun, its damage far surpassed that of weapons of the same grade. According to the records of the Empire, Eagleshot’s power level was twelve while the power level of normal rank four guns was only eight.
Qianye could only barely use an Eagleshot. Just one shot had already used up half of his origin power. It only consumed half because his origin power was thicker and more potent than that of cultivators of the same rank. A normal rank three soldier could never use an Eagleshot. Not even rank four soldiers were meant to use it. The Eagleshot was a weapon designed for rank four soldiers that specialized in sniping.
Qianye already knew that one shot was not enough to kill Sky Snake. Even without seeing the results, he immediately stood up and put away the gun. He dismantled the still hot Eagleshot into two pieces and wrapped it up. He then took out a small vial of stimulants and drank it, instantly energizing himself. This counteracted of the effects of overusing his origin power.
Qianye began walking out of the room and suddenly saw the four people tied up in a corner. He instinctively thought that the best method to cover his tracks was to start a fire and kill these people. Yet Qianye furrowed his brow in hesitation.
In the end, Qianye shook his head and dispelled the thought. These four were normal citizens. They couldn’t see through his disguise, and if he left them alive, they wouldn’t be able to provide any useful clues. Sky Snake wouldn’t be able to find him with what they knew.
Qianye took out his dagger and cut these people free from their bindings. He spoke in a deep, calm voice, saying, “The more you know, the faster you die, so quickly forget everything you just saw.”
Finishing what he had to say, Qianye walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. After leaving, he sighed in relief. He knew that if there we too much at risk, he would have killed them. However, he still considered citizens as different from soldiers.
Qianye walked down the dark cramped staircase unhurriedly. There weren’t very many doors in the building that were open. The huge bang that had resounded throughout the building hadn’t caused any particular reaction. It seemed like these people already learned a harsh truth of reality.
—Unless an omen came knocking on their door, it didn’t exist.
As he turned another corner in the staircase, a young lady rushing up the stairs nearly bumped into him!
In that instant, Qianye and the young lady both twisted their bodies at the same time, narrowly missing each other.
Both of them immediately realized just how much of a threat the other one was!
A dark red light shone from the depths of Qianye’s eyes. His dark vision enabled, he grabbed the dagger at his waist. The young lady suddenly bowed, extending her fingers.
