The Hound knelt on one knee, blood seeping from his tactical pants into his combat boots. He gritted his teeth, his right hand swiftly making a tactical gesture:
[Enemy sniper – 11 o'clock direction – high position]
[Team B cover – Team A flank – Team C evacuate wounded]
Damn it, who is on the other side?
A surprise attack injured 2 people, 1 combat casualty!
The dispersed team members on the other side immediately followed orders, their movements clean and precise. Two team members helped up their injured comrade and quickly retreated behind the Gothic stone pillars.
The four members of Team B simultaneously threw smoke grenades, and a thick, greyish-white fog instantly engulfed the entire central corridor.
The three members of Team A, using the smoke as cover, flanked upwards along the spiral staircase in the side hall, their tactical boots making almost no sound on the stone steps.
The Hound pulled a tourniquet from his leg pouch, bit one end, and used his left hand to help tighten the tourniquet around his knee.
He stood up, limping, the pain making his mind clearer.
His eyes were grim, and Team A's report came through his earpiece: "Team A in position, confirming sniper has not moved."
The Hound sneered: "Suppressing fire – cross coverage."
The next second.
Da da da! Da da da!
Two HK416s fired simultaneously, bullets accurately piercing through the smoke, blocking all possible routes for Zhang Jie to move.
5.56mm bullets tore cracks into the Gothic stone pillars, and wood chips and shattered stone splattered in the hail of bullets.
Zhang Jie was forced to shrink back behind cover, a bullet grazing his earlobe, a burning pain.
[Crisis Reaction Lv1 (88 → 92 / 100)]
Zhang Jie leaned against the stone pillar, the dull thud of bullets hitting the stone echoing in his ears. He took a deep breath, then suddenly closed his eyes.
John's voice echoed in his mind:
"True shooting isn't with your eyes, it's with muscle memory."
Instinct is king!
No matter how good the stats look, they are just paper data; they need to be actualized.
He didn't have a system; being able to see proficiency was already an incredible cheat.
When he opened his eyes again, his pupils contracted slightly, his gaze piercing through the smoke, locking onto a faint, indistinct outline.
[Shooting Lv3 (15 → 18 / 100)]
He suddenly turned sideways, the HK416's stock against his shoulder, firing a three-round burst in one smooth motion.
Da! Da! Da!
The first bullet pierced through the smoke, ricocheted off the edge of the stone pillar, and sparked off a hunting team member's bulletproof vest;
The second bullet accurately hit the opponent's gun barrel, the metallic clang piercingly loud;
The third bullet directly penetrated the gap in the facemask, blood splattering on the wall.
"Target moving!" The hunting team immediately changed formation, but Zhang Jie had already vanished into the smoke.
Zhang Jie's back was pressed against the cold stone wall, the barrel of his HK416 slightly hot, the continuous firing causing the metal to emit a faint warmth in the cold night.
"They've reformed," James's voice came through the earpiece, pressed extremely low, "Team A is flanking from the west staircase."
Zhang Jie didn't reply, his gaze fixed on the marble floor fifteen meters away, where dozens of brass bullet casings lay scattered, gleaming with a dull golden luster in the faint light.
He slowly exhaled a puff of white air, then suddenly raised his gun.
Bang!
The bullet accurately struck a casing on the ground.
Ding—!
The brass casing drew a shining arc in the darkness, ricocheting off the stone pillar.
Almost simultaneously, a muffled groan came from the end of the corridor.
A slight smile played on his lips as he raised his gun and shot the iron chain of a distant chandelier.
Bang!
The heavy chandelier crashed down, landing in the center of the hunting team's formation. Splintered glass flew like shrapnel, forcing them to disperse.
Amidst the chaos, Zhang Jie performed a tactical roll to the window, having already changed magazines, and the muzzle of his HK416 spat fire.
Da da da!
Two team members fell to the ground, their bulletproof vests torn by armor-piercing rounds, revealing gruesome wounds.
Turn and finish them!
Bang! Bang!
[Environmental Analysis Lv1 (25 → 35 / 100)]
James was lurking in the shadows of the second-floor gallery, the barrel of his Beretta slightly hot as he watched Team B advancing below.
One team member's positioning was too close to the corridor pillar.
"Opportunity."
Just as he was about to fire, the leader of Team B suddenly raised his hand:
[Attention second floor – reconnaissance fire]
Three bullets grazed the stone carving where James was hiding, forcing him to move.
At the same moment.
Razor Girl appeared like a ghost from around the corner behind them, the cold glint of her razor flashing!
Swish!
The blade precisely slit the throat of the last team member, blood splattering on her gas mask. She took the opportunity to snatch the opponent's HK416 and rolled into a room.
The hunting team instantly lost one member.
James, meanwhile, suddenly stood up and fired his Beretta continuously.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bullets deliberately struck the marble floor near the hunting team's feet, the bouncing debris and ricochets forcing them to contract their formation.
It wasn't that he didn't want to hit accurately; accurate hits take time, and that time would be enough for the opponent to riddle him with bullets. So the simplest method was to quickly fire three shots for suppressive fire to force the opponent back.
"Second floor!" The Hound roared, and the team's firepower immediately shifted.
At this very moment.
Razor Girl descended from above again, the cold glint of her razor flashing!
Swish!
The blade precisely slit the throat of the last team member, blood splattering on her gas mask. She took the opportunity to snatch the opponent's HK416 and performed a tactical roll into a side room.
Her specialty was appearing and disappearing like a ghost.
KH Team instantly lost another member.
The Hound was furious and made a gesture:
[Team C incendiary grenades – block path]
[Team A flashbangs – clear area]
How long has it been, and they've already lost 6 members in combat!
This was a very serious loss for them!
Two team members immediately threw Molotov cocktails, and flames instantly engulfed the entire corridor.
At the same time, three flashbangs rolled towards Zhang Jie's hiding place.
Zhang Jie's pupils constricted, and he instinctively dove towards the side hall. The blast wave threw him back, his back slamming hard against the wall.
Boom!
Ringing in his ears, dizziness, nausea!
He couldn't even stand steadily.
Vision blurring... This is bad!
Although his mind knew that his current state was very disadvantageous, his body simply couldn't react.
Vaguely, he seemed to see a figure rushing towards him, but at this moment, his body was completely out of control, unable to defend or counterattack. At the critical moment.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, and the person rushing towards him immediately fell to the ground.
Zhang Jie, who recovered after a while, turned his head and saw James standing on the second floor, the muzzle of his Beretta still smoking.
"Thanks!"
By this point, the 13-person hunting team had suffered 7 combat casualties, 2 injured, and 4 unharmed.
Their performance was clearly observed by Oriska behind the scenes; the speed of combat attrition far exceeded his imagination.
He hadn't expected these three individuals to be so formidable.
His current understanding of the entire battlefield was limited to the video collector on The Hound's chest; all other monitors had long been destroyed by Zhang Jie and James.
Only a few peripheral monitors remained operational in front of him; all other screens were black.
"I underestimated you three, but do you still have ammunition?"
Even with resupplies, what then? How could the ammunition reserves of three people compare to those of thirteen?
Even though they had already lost 7 people.
Oriska didn't believe that Zhang Jie and his two companions could continue to hold on; he had confidence in his hunting team.
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