Chapter 77: Forest Assassin

The bullet from the heavy sniper pierced through the target’s head. Like a watermelon pounded by a hammer, the head disintegrated into bits and pieces.

Through the video feed transmitted from the spider, Han Xiao adjusted his position and stabilized himself again, before firing a shot at another sentry guard. One shot after another, the sentry guards were eliminated. The interface flashed with each successful kill made by Han Xiao.

_____________________

The sudden blast is charged up to 200% and ready to be deployed.

The enemy has been successfully eliminated by the fatal blast. You have dealt 190 points of damage to the enemy.

You have successfully eliminated the sentry guard. 500 EXP gained from the attack.

_____________________

The sudden blast is charged up to 200% and ready to be deployed.

The enemy has been successfully eliminated by the fatal blast. You have dealt 201 points of damage to the enemy.

You have successfully eliminated the sentry guard. 500 EXP gained from the attack.

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

These level 10 sentry guards were merely ordinary troops. Their fighting abilities were similar to those of the guards back at the lab where Han Xiao had once been held captive. Han Xiao had no issues wiping out the lab guards back then. Likewise, he had no problems now.

One after another, the sentry guards were killed, and Han Xiao gained 18,000 EXP from the kills.

[Forest Assassin mission completed, you gained 18,000 EXP.]

The mission proceeded smoothly. After killing so many sentry guards, reinforcements were bound to arrive... and there they came!

The Spider detected three fully-armed quick-response teams approaching in their jeeps. After the jeeps pulled up, the team members hopped down and started conducting thorough searches.

The sentry guards had their earpieces, which enabled them to connect main communications network. If a sentry guard was killed, their radio channel would fall silent. If a large number of channels operated by the sentry guards fell silent, it would raise suspicions at the Dark Crow Valley Base, which would dispatch quick-response teams to the field to investigate the situation in response.

Han Xiao predicted that once the quick-response teams discovered the murdered sentry-guards, they would start searching intensely. Through the ‘eyes’ of the Spider, which he shifted up the tree, he could observe that the troopers were equipped with Jackson machine guns, high-explosive grenades, and RPG rocket launchers. Instantly, Han Xiao called off the plan of challenging these heavily armed troopers

It was the perfect time for Han Xiao to flee.

Han Xiao disassembled the heavy sniper and lugged it onto his shoulders. Clad in his camouflage suit, he sneakily shuffled to the trench he had dug. He transferred all the unnecessary accessories into the toolbox and then dumped both his sniper rifle and toolbox into the trench.

At that instant, the search-teams discovered the headless sentry guards. The armed troopers immediately started searching warily, using the torchlights on their machine guns.

The tree beside the trench was Han Xiao’s hiding spot. The spot had been carefully selected by Han Xiao. It was at the edge of the high-alert sector. The further away from the enemy base, the more dispersed the enemy troopers would be. It was likely that the troopers would search the area alone.

The rays of a torchlight flashed beside the tree. Han Xiao gradually lowered his body and held the thin metal wires tightly. He concentrated all the energy in his legs and was preparing to launch himself forward like a mantis.

The moment the trooper’s foot crossed the tree’s body, Han Xiao moved his body like a phantom and instantly went behind the sentry guard. Although the enemy had already detected Han Xiao’s movement and had intended to fire at him and call for help, Han Xiao reacted faster and managed to strangle the trooper by coiling the metal cables around the trooper’s neck.

Han Xiao then kicked the trooper’s machine gun to one side. After which, he wrestled the trooper to the ground. The trooper’s entire upper body was resting beneath his knees.

The suffocation caused the trooper’s face to turn purple. It was as if the blood was going to burst out of the vessels. At this point in time, the metal cables had already pierced into the flesh of the trooper. The trooper waved his hands hysterically, trying to grab Han Xiao by any means, but it was to no avail. The trooper’s eyes also flipped upwards.

Han Xiao maintained the tension until the interface indicated that the trooper was dead.

Throughout the entire process, he had managed to keep the struggling trooper silent.

Han Xiao quickly changed into the trooper’s uniform. The trooper was a Caucasian of similar height to himself. He quickly used his pocket knife to trim his hair. After which, he straightened his collar and pulled the sleeves tight to ensure none of his skin was showing, since he was of a different skin tone from the trooper. He then used his finger to tap his forehead to activate the face scanner. A light beam emerged from his forehead and scanned the dead trooper’s face.

Replicate the scan!

Almost immediately, Han Xiao’s face morphed into that of the trooper!

That was the trump card to be used in his successful infiltration.

He dumped the dead trooper’s body and the unwanted accessories into a hole and buried the contents. He then marked out the area. Han Xiao, clad in a trooper’s uniform, made his way forward blatantly. He could also clearly hear the conversations on the enemy’s communication channel.

“This is H103 reporting. Everything is fine in the northwest sector.”

“This is H141 reporting. Everything is fine in the southeast sector.”

The call-sign of the trooper that Han Xiao had killed was H223. Han Xiao made his report in a similar fashion using his suppressed voice.

“H223, what happened to your voice?” A man that seemed to be his captain spoke.

“I have a sore throat.”

After ‘searching’ the area for a while, Han Xiao was recalled. More than twenty troopers gathered at the jeep, and Han Xiao had not yet raised any suspicions.

The captain asked, “None of you found anything?”

“No sir,” the troopers replied.

The captain frowned and said, “Get in the car. Let’s head back to base.”

Han Xiao squinted. He had managed to infiltrate the team, and it was all part of his plan to enter the Dark Crow Valley base.

...

The car drove into a cave, and three minutes later, an unexpected sight appeared before Han Xiao’s eyes.

There was something special about the cave; it was actually a mini car-park.

The jeep pulled over, and the troopers alighted from it. Han Xiao tagged along with the team and came before a wall of rocks. The captain pulled out a rock that was actually a modified metal casing that contained a card-scanner.

The captain scanned his identity card, and following a boom, the rock wall split open. At this point, Han Xiao realized that the rock wall was a metal gate in disguise. The gate was sprayed with a greyish paint, and it looked very much like a rock. One would be unable to tell the difference if he or she did not examine the wall closely.

How strange. This looks exactly like what the agents from Hesla reported. Han Xiao was confused. All of this had actually been detailed in Ye Fan’s intelligence reports. It was all accurate information. However, why did the interface claim that ‘Reconnaissance 2’ was not yet completed?

What was the problem exactly? Could it be something to do with the time? Perhaps the base appeared differently at different times of the day?

Han Xiao proceeded together with the rest, and they came upon a gantry. After scanning his identity card, he was finally into the base.

The base was hidden deep in the ground. It was supported by metallic structure, which added a cool greyish tone everywhere. There were winding corridors and many rooms. The troopers were busy transporting containers of items.

Han Xiao lifted his head, and he could see a surveillance camera positioned at the corner of the ceiling. He retracted his neck instinctively.

Going behind enemy lines alone was tough, and Han Xiao prayed for the success of his operation.

So, now that I am in the base, what shall I do next? Hang around aimlessly or chat someone up... better not. Chatting with someone will likely reveal my identity. What information am I hunting for exactly? Since for ‘Reconnaissance 2’, I am supposed to uncover critical intelligence with regards to the Dark Crow Valley base, there must be some loopholes here! Since the low-ranking officers serve merely as bait, most of the people are not likely to have access to important information. I need to find someone that looks and acts differently from the rest. Once this thought flashed in Han Xiao’s mind, he started wandering about the base, carefully examining every inch.

...

“13 sentry guards were killed?”

Ji Jie frowned in disbelief. Based on his prediction, since the enemy agents had obtained the necessary intelligence, they would not kill any sentry guards. Unless, they were suspicious of the information they stole.

It appeared that these invaders were indeed meticulous and careful with their actions.

Ji Jie shook his head and said proudly, “But they are still greenhorns.”

The double-server network was the best trap Ji Jie had ever planted during his stint as the assistant officer in-charge of the base. Its sole purpose was to prevent invaders from attacking, and now, the security network’s effect was finally showing.

If only false information was planted, it would only raise the suspicions of the invading agents. Therefore, to deceive his enemies, Ji Jie was willing to risk his life and included some true information in the bait. The information included were the exact location of the base, the deployment of the sentry guards, and defense mechanisms in the third and sixth high-alert sectors. To successfully trick the enemies, a certain degree of true information needed to be weaved in with the false. The final two sectors had defense mechanisms with firepower that was more than ten times stronger than the rest. There was also another trump card.

“The chief has approved the path of the retreat. Reinforcements will arrive in five days. That will also be the day for the retreat. For now, let’s deliver a huge present to Hesla.”

The main forces of the Germinal organization were concentrated on the continent of Andrea. The Germinal Organization had also covertly extended its influence to the other continents through setting up secret facilities and bases. These bases remained hidden, and if they were discovered, the Germinal Organization would order the retreat as it was impossible for a single facility to withstand the raids from the military forces of the six nations.

Ji Jie was highly confident of his trap. He was not afraid to expose real information and the location of the base. He had one trump card in his hand. All the other troopers, and even the base itself, could be sacrificed in order to deal a strategic and painful blow to Hesla.