Dawn approached and the sky whirled with dark and light in coexistence.
The life on the island had not stirred yet but the humans who’d invaded it were already busy with activity. Ahn Suhyeong’s men lit the piles of wood with the help of oil, and the fires quickly started, sending out thick plumes of smoke. The morning breeze soon brought the smoke to the peak. The smoke was thickest at Xia Lei’s ‘death line’ and one could hardly see the rock or vegetation there.
“We may begin.” Hyena’s voice came from over the walkie-talkie; it was like it had been bathed in ice.
“Roger that.” Ahn Suhyeong copied, then shouted, “Charge!”
Over 20 gunmen charged towards the peak under the cover of smoke. They split up and moved quickly, coming to Xia Lei’s ‘death line’ in the blink of an eye.
There were no gunshots and no one was killed. Xia Lei really did seem like he had fallen ill on the peak and lost all his combat ability. This smooth proceeding gave the gunmen the false impression that Xia Lei might even be dead up there.
Amidst these thoughts, a Russian gunman in the smoke had half his head blown away by a bullet. He died cleanly, without pain, and without anyone discovering his corpse. The thick smoke obscured the vision of his colleagues.
Pew! Another bullet came flying silently over and a Korean gunmen fell. About 20 metres away from him, his Korean colleague continued his forward charge. He had not seen him. Five seconds later, that colleague met a similar fate, and half his head was blown away by a bullet.
Xia Lei continued his merciless slaughter. The thick smoke affected him somewhat but its effect was pitiably small. It was because the smoke did not obscure his sight in the areas close to him, and it was gathering below the peak, a few metres thick. His left eye could track all of the enemy’s movements and he could pick them off easily.
It was not as relaxing for the gunmen in the thick smoke. They thought Xia Lei could not see them because they could not see him. Additionally, it had rained yesterday and they thought Xia Lei was incapacitated by illness.
Whumpa whumpa…
The helicopter lifted off from the beach and climbed towards the peak.
Ahn Suhyeong had wanted the helicopter to scout out the situation yesterday but Hyena had stopped him for fear of alerting the target. Ahn Suhyeong had given up on the idea after some consideration. He was also worried that Xia Lei would see the helicopter and flee before the grand attack because he feared an aerial attack.
Unfortunately for Hyena and Ahn Suhyeong, they were unaware that Xia Lei had already destroyed several helicopters. In all honesty, if Ahn Suhyeong had mobilised his helicopter yesterday, it would have been destroyed yesterday.
Ahn Suhyeong finally emerged from the forest and walked to the peak as the helicopter flew to it. He had presumed that Xia Lei had lost his ability to fight but he was still cautious. He held a bulletproof shield in his hands and he wore that set of special bulletproof armour.
Ahn Suhyeong was entirely suited to be the protagonist in a heroic Hollywood movie in that getup; like Captain America, or Batman or something. He was just so cool. *
Ahn Suhyeong and his men had begun the battle, but Hyena seemed to have disappeared from this battlefield.
Where was he?
No one knew.
Neither did Xia Lei.
The helicopter got up to the peak in seconds.
A Korean gunman surveyed the huge rock with his binoculars as he reported the situation. “Young Master, there is a huge rock on the peak. I don’t see Xia Lei and that woman.”
“Impossible!” Ahn Suhyeong’s voice came from over the walkie-talkie. He shouted, “Look properly!”
“Wait, that’s…” He was cut off. A bullet had come from the peak and shattered the binoculars. It went straight into his eye.
“What happened?” Ahn Suhyeong seemed to have sensed something.
Unfortunately for him, the Korean gunman had already fallen from the helicopter. His body was suspended in the air for seconds before smashing to the ground.
Unfortunately for Ahn Suhyeong and his men, they did not discover this because they were ensnared in the thick smoke.
The other gunman on the helicopter did discover this and he screamed into the walkie-talkie, “He’s on that rock! He’s camouflaged!”
It was actually not camouflage but Xia Lei’s special raincover. It was in a camouflage print and matched the colour of the rock very well.
The gunman’s report ended there. A bullet came flying over immediately, through the windscreen of the helicopter, and into the pilot’s brain. The out-of-control helicopter went past the peak and down in the forest on the other side.
Ahn Suhyeong knew something was going on then. The remaining gunman on the helicopter cried for help over the walkie-talkie in terror, and there was a great explosion from the other side of the peak.
Ahn Suhyeong’s heart grew cold with fear, and that cold spread from his heart to every nerve in his body. According to his plan, the helicopter was to harass Xia Lei from the air. It had not lasted beyond a minute.
What did this prove?
Xia Lei was still alive and not sick at all!
Ahn Suhyeong was unable to take a step further in that thick smoke. He lusted for the scene where Xia Lei would be killed, and wanted to be the one to shoot him, to tear him apart. However, this situation before him was completely different from what he had imagined. He stood frozen for a few seconds, then turned and ran back, towards the forest.
Ahn Suhyeong’s plan had changed now. It was best if his men and Hyena were able to kill Xia Lei. If not, he would still have time to escape and leave this place quickly!
“Running?” Up on the peak, a faint sneer appeared in the corners of Xia Lei’s mouth. He squeezed the trigger.
The XL2500 shook, and the bullet left the barrel. It covered 1,000 metres in a second and struck Ahn Suhyeong viciously in the bend of his right leg.
Ahn Suhyeong thumped to the ground.
He was dressed in very advanced armour but Xia Lei had chosen to shoot him in the bend of his leg, which was one of the weakest points in his armour. It was simple – there was no way the manufacturer could make areas like the bends of knees as hard as the breastplate. Too rigid and the suit will lose its maneuverability.
Xia Lei had observed well and chosen the spot to attack well. The joints of Ahn Suhyeong’s suit was not carbon fibre like the rest of the suit but a special connecting material. It was very tough and flexible and provided great flexibility in the joints but it was not bulletproof.
“Argh!” Ahn Suhyeong cried out after he hit the ground. The pain which washed over him nearly made him faint. He struggled to crawl to his feet but to his horror, he discovered in the next second that his right left had been torn away. The leg below his knee would have fallen to the ground if it had not been for the armour encasing his leg!
Blood streamed from the wound but Ahn Suhyeong was left with no chance to stem it. He crawled on his hands. Thoughts of killing Xia Lei off were gone from his mind now. He was consumed by one thought – leaving this island alive!
“Too late.” Xia Lei adjusted his gun and another bullet flew from the XL2500 sniper rifle in the next second. It tore the bend of Ahn Suhyeong’s left leg apart.
Ahn Suhyeong fainted from having both his legs broken in this way.
Bang! A bullet grazed past Xia Lei’s head and hit the ‘rock wall’ on the right. A chunk of rock broke off from the rock and a shard pierced Xia Lei’s cheek. The cut burned.
Xia Lei moved his head back. A bullet struck again right after he moved, hitting the ‘rock wall’.
Hyena was finally making his move.
The shot shots Hyena had made had come from the left side of the forest.
The first shot was a test. He needed to gauge the effect of wind speed on the bullet, and that shot had nearly hit Xia Lei.
Xia Lei would have been hit by Hyena’s second shot if he hadn’t moved!
Hyena needed just one shot to get all the information he needed to control the situation. His experience and strength had reached terrifying levels!
Xia Lei snatched up the helmet he had set aside to collect rainwater, and moved slowly to the edge of the rock.
The helmet had just been stuck out a little when it was hit by an armour-piercing bullet and smashed to smithereens!
Hyena had locked-on to this place, and he was not giving Xia Lei any chances to shoot down at the gunmen below!
The gunmen had gotten to the 300-metre range down below. Assault rifle blasts hit the rock like rain, and it sounded like a drumroll to death.
They could not be allowed to advance further. If they got close, they would start throwing grenades. Xia Lei would die from the shrapnel even if he did not die from the blast.
“Ruyi! Suppression fire!” shouted Xia Lei.
Jiang Ruyi held her arms around her head still. Her face was ashen and she shook all over. Her mind was a blank now and she was not able to fight at all.
Xia Lei snatched the M16A2 with the grenade-launcher attachment from her hands. He raised the launcher and released a grenade into the sky. The grenade fell down, down and exploded in the blink of an eye.
Boom! A Korean gunman was blasted by the shrapnel.
“Ruyi! Get hold of yourself! See that? Use the grenade launcher like I did just now. I need your help!” Xia Lei grabbed Jiang Ruyi’s shoulder and shook her.
Jiang Ruyi snapped back to her senses and nodded, hard.
Xia Lei loaded a grenade on the launcher and handed the M16A2 assault rifle to Jiang Ruyi.
She copied what Xia Lei did and let loose a grenade into the air.
Boom! Another explosion came from down below. She had not calculated the angle. This grenade had not killed anyone but it had scared some gunmen into slowing down.
Xia Lei had no time to teach her how to use the weapon. He grabbed his XL2500 sniper rifle and searched cautiously at the edge of the rock for his target. Jiang Ruyi was going to gain some time for him, and he was going to use this time to kill Hyena!
