On the highway, over a dozen vehicles sped forward, packed with fully armed individuals brimming with excitement.
But at that moment, a small hole suddenly appeared with a 'crack' on the windshield of the lead car. Simultaneously, the driver's head exploded in a spray of blood, and the vehicle screeched to a halt.
"Ambush! Ambush!!" the passenger shouted twice before his head also burst with a 'pop,' splattering blood across the cabin.
The following vehicles quickly stopped, and the armed men inside leaped out, scrambling for cover.
"Boom!" The man manning the roof-mounted heavy machine gun toppled down headfirst.
"Sniper! Take cover!!" A squad leader immediately hid behind a vehicle, pulling out binoculars to scan the roadside—but not a single soul was in sight.
"What's going on?" Diao Da also jumped out of the car, striding over with Ji Zhen in tow.
"Boss, there's a sniper—killed three of our men!" the squad leader reported.
"A sniper? Where'd a sniper come from?" Ji Zhen, confident in her skills, boldly stuck her head out to look.
"Whoosh!" A gleaming bullet shot toward her. With a cold laugh, Ji Zhen's jade-white hand flashed, and a Battle Blade appeared, slicing upward. A metallic 'clang' rang out as the bullet was deflected.
However, she had underestimated the bullet's force. The impact numbed her wrist, and the Battle Blade slipped from her grasp, flying out of her hand.
Her expression darkened as she quickly crouched down. When she looked at the Battle Blade again, her face turned even grimmer.
The blade had been cleanly split in two!
"Seems they were prepared," Diao Da sneered. "Think one sniper can stop us? Eagle Eye, come here~"
"Here, boss!" A young man scurried over in a crouch.
"Handle this. We're moving forward. I've got a feeling—we're about to hit the jackpot!" Diao Da grinned viciously.
"Heh, leave it to me, boss!" Eagle Eye chuckled, immediately taking a sniper rifle from one of his men.
Diao Da barked orders: "Everyone, cover fire! Deploy Smoke Grenades! Where are the Mortars? Bring them out!!"
"Got it, boss!" Over two hundred armed men began blindly firing toward the wasteland on the right. On the last truck, seven or eight men set up a Mortar and launched a shell.
"Boom…" A deafening explosion erupted, flames surging from the wasteland.
Others tossed Smoke Grenades, quickly shrouding the convoy in thick smoke.
"Everyone, back in the vehicles! Eagle Eye, hold the rear—find that damn sniper." Diao Da smirked and climbed into his car.
The convoy moved on, leaving only Eagle Eye and the Mortar squad behind.
"BOOM!" A massive explosion lit up the sky as the Shell box on the ground detonated violently, obliterating the entire Mortar team.
"Damn it!" Eagle Eye ducked for cover, cursing furiously.
Through the thick smoke, the enemy was able to accurately detonate the mortar shells—how was that possible?
"Could they be a Vision Ability User like me?" Eagle Eye clutched his rifle, not daring to expose himself.
Meanwhile, the convoy had already left the area at top speed, meaning his mission was effectively complete. Whether he had killed the enemy or not was just a matter of excuse now.
Fifteen hundred meters away from the highway, Ghost One lay prone, his sniper rifle's electronic scope locked onto the heat signature of his target, motionless.
Ghost One's professionalism was leagues above that of his amateur opponent. He knew full well that a single sniper could turn the tide of battle, so he had no intention of letting this guy go.
"Thunderbolt Five is just a decoy!"
He swiftly switched to an EMP round and pulled the trigger.
"Bang!" A bullet streaked through the air and exploded right above Eagle Eye's head, releasing a blue energy pulse. Dazed by the pulse, Eagle Eye felt his Ability Value rapidly draining away.
To his horror, he realized his enhanced vision had suddenly failed him!
"What the hell is this thing? It can nullify my ability?!" Panicked and furious, he immediately pulled out several hand grenades from his pocket and hurled them outward before sprinting away.
The explosions from the grenades could disrupt the enemy's thermal imaging, giving him a chance to escape.
But he was wrong. Before he could run more than a few meters, a bullet precisely shattered his skull.
Ghost One didn't linger. He immediately dashed toward the mining site.
By now, the convoy had arrived at the mining site. The gate was riddled with holes by their heavy machine guns before they stormed in, unleashing a hail of bullets.
"Rat-tat-tat-tat…" The machine guns roared as countless armed men charged in under the cover of the armored cars.
But what left them stunned was the sight of a towering Steel Fortress, over twenty meters high, standing imposingly at the center of the mining site. It looked utterly indestructible. Why hadn't Long Er mentioned this in his intel?
"Boss, since we're here, we might as well make the best of it. We brought mortars this time—we can blast our way in," Ji Zhen said.
Diao Da nodded coldly. "We'll settle the score with Long Er later. A Steel Fortress this big must be packed with supplies. We've hit the jackpot."
"Men, prepare the mortars!!"
At Diao Da's command, over twenty underlings swiftly set up the mortars with practiced ease.
Inside the fortress, in Bai Wen's room, Bai Wen had his sniper rifle trained on the enemy's mortar setup. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.
"Thud…" A bullet thicker than an arm's width tore through the barrel and effortlessly pierced through an armored car, appearing right in front of one of the underlings.
"Thwack…" The upper half of his body was blown clean off, leaving only his lower half crouching in place. Blood sprayed everywhere, drenching the others.
"Damn it, another sniper!" Diao Da cursed furiously. "Ape, charge forward for me!!"
"Yes, Boss!"
Ape, an Ability User with ape-like powers, was incredibly agile and astonishingly fast. With a single leap covering seven or eight meters, he reached the base of the fortress in just a few bounds and hurled dozens of Smoke Grenades in one go.
But at that moment, rapid gunfire suddenly erupted from the fortress, and a swarm of 8mm Metal Spikes came pouring out. Ape let out a startled cry as he dodged frantically, but there were too many Metal Spikes. In the next instant, one struck his leg, and the searing pain made him scream in agony.