"Good luck." Ace nodded subconsciously. "This should be the closest spawn to the East Building, right?"
The target he had locked onto was the East Building Manager's Office.
This was a Red Card room. Although most players didn't have cards right now, the regular supplies there included a small safe — and this round, a large safe had spawned there.
It was a high-risk, high-reward situation.
However, as the holder of the East Building's prime spawn, he had the first-mover advantage.
Others would never expect someone in the East Building's prime spot to not go for the large safe first, but instead choose to hold a firing line in the corridor.
After squatting for a minute, he heard faint footsteps in his headphones, coming from the left — and it wasn't just one person!
It sounded like they were searching or preparing to open a door.
Ace immediately held his breath and quietly moved his Stinger into position.
He positioned himself in a corner where he could observe the Manager's Office door, with his flank protected by a thick wall.
He switched to a breath-holding state, his AK-12 held steadily aimed at the doorway.
They're here!
The Manager's Office door was pushed open a crack, and a figure cautiously poked his head out, gun in hand, to observe the corridor.
Ace didn't rush to shoot.
He was waiting — waiting for the target to be fully exposed, or... waiting for his teammates.
Sure enough, after confirming it was safe, the first Vyron player made a gesture behind him — actually just the marking key.
Another D-Wolf player followed him out. Both seemed relatively relaxed, clearly not expecting someone to be holding a firing line deep in the corridor.
"Good. Two."
"First, check their gear... one Tier 2 armor, one..." Ace's pupils contracted slightly. "Huh? Tier 3 armor?!"
The D-Wolf player was wearing Tier 3 armor, gleaming with a metallic luster!
This was definitely rare equipment in the early game. Even if Ahsarah Guard Shield Soldiers had a chance to drop Tier 3 armor, the probability was very small.
"Time for an armor-piercing test!" Ace's heart tightened, but it was more excitement.
This was the moment he had been waiting for!
He didn't choose to shoot the easier-to-deal-with Tier 2 armor Vyron first. Instead, he locked his crosshairs firmly on the Tier 3 armor D-Wolf's chest.
Held his breath. Pulled the trigger!
"Da-da-da-da—!"
The carefully tuned AK-12 let out a deep, steady roar!
The recoil was suppressed extremely well by the combined effect of the RK-0 Foregrip and the Practical Compensator. The muzzle jump was minimal, and bullets accurately sprayed onto the D-Wolf's armor!
"Clink, clank!" Crisp hit sounds rang out continuously.
The durability bar of the Tier 3 armor plummeted like an avalanche, and the D-Wolf player was clearly stunned!
He probably thought that wearing Tier 3 armor made him invincible in Standard Dam — completely unprepared for such a fierce and armor-specific attack.
He didn't even have time to figure out where the enemy was.
"Click!" A clear cracking sound came!
The durability of the Tier 3 armor on the D-Wolf instantly dropped to zero — completely shattered.
And shattered armor meant his life was about to end. Although 27 flesh damage was low, it only took 5 bullets to finish him off.
If this D-Wolf had been hit once in the limbs by a bot on his way to the Manager's Office... then it would take only four shots.
[Operator · FFFF — Eliminated]
The system prompt popped up.
From firing the first shot to shattering the armor and taking him down — it took less than a second!
Precisely validating the 0.4-second data from the training camp!
"Beautiful!"
Ace praised silently, but his muzzle didn't hesitate for a moment — immediately sweeping towards the Vyron next to him, who had already reacted, raised his gun, and aimed!
"Da-da-da!"
Another precise burst!
The Vyron's Tier 2 armor was like paper in front of the AK-12, instantly pierced, and blood splattered!
[Operator · LiangBoy_GetHimALiveOne — Eliminated]
[Team Wiped!]
Clean and decisive. A direct double kill.
The entire combat process was lightning fast. From the first gunshot to both falling, it probably only took two seconds.
The Tier 3 armor D-Wolf didn't even fire a single shot!
Ace immediately stepped forward to quickly loot the boxes.
He focused on checking the D-Wolf's box. Aside from the completely shattered Tier 3 armor, there was indeed nothing particularly good.
But the Vyron's box contained a Crushing Pliers (Purple) worth over 40,000.
This was a two-slot purple — not bad.
"A loss. The Tier 3 armor shattered." Ace pouted, but his mood wasn't bad.
His goal was achieved — validating the terrifying armor-piercing capability and cost-effectiveness of the budget AK-12 in actual combat!
Even Tier 3 armor couldn't withstand his AK-12 for more than a second!
If he had used Tier 3 bullets instead of Tier 2 bullets just now... the D-Wolf probably wouldn't have lasted even a second. Would have died at light speed.
He put away his spoils but didn't immediately enter the Manager's Office.
Firstly, all the other safes — big and small — in the Manager's Office, except for the Red Card room, must have already been looted by those two players. Secondly, the gunshots just now would definitely attract nearby players.
Ace carried the two boxes into the Manager's Office, then closed the door, and once again lay down in his previous shadowy spot.
It was very difficult to spot him here unless someone looked carefully, or if someone came from directly in front. But if he remained still, he wouldn't make footsteps, while the opponent would — giving him the first move.
It just went from a 90% chance of successful ambush to a 70% chance of success. Not a big problem.
Perhaps it was because players in this round were more cautious, or they had already engaged in fierce battles elsewhere, but only five people entered the East Building Manager's Office throughout the entire round.
This was even including the D-Wolf and Vyron from the start, meaning Ace only ambushed three people afterward.
And these three people were all solo kills — which meant they were not from the same team.
A Dam lobby usually has 6–7 teams, typically 18 players. Occasionally, there's a solo-trio or duo team, and he had already taken the solo-trio spot this round... The D-Wolf and Vyron were one team. Their teammates might have died early in the game. The two Stingers and one Vyron that came later were from three different teams. Adding them up makes four teams.
Now, at most two teams remained, and with 12 minutes left until the game ended, those two teams had likely already extracted.
"Time to feast!" Having finished his analysis, Ace got up from the ground and walked into the Manager's Office.
He had only looted the boxes of the first two people. The three people who came later — he had only moved their boxes into the Manager's Office but hadn't tasted what was inside.
"Storage Card (Blue)? Only 7,500 for one slot — even dogs wouldn't eat that."
He examined the boxes, discarding low-value small blues.
"Military Rations (Blue). 15,000 for one slot — delicious!"
"There can be small blues worth 15,000 per slot?"
"This is even more valuable than some small purples, don't you agree, Horn Ornament?"
He stuffed the Military Rations into his backpack while discarding the Horn Ornament.
This item took up two slots but was only worth 19,200 HAF. And there were market fees, meaning it would be worth even less when sold to the Special Operations Department.
As a purple item, its actual value was even less than some blues. It was hard to understand what this thing was designed for.
"High-Speed Solid-State Drive (Gold)?" Ace was slightly taken aback. "A small gold item just left out in the open — that rich?"
"Who cares, let me see... 75,007!"
A small gold item worth nearly 100,000 HAF. This single small gold item alone was worth more than half an AK-12!
He immediately put it into his safe. This player might not have put it in a safe because he was still looting, but Ace wasn't taking chances. Losing this small gold item would be a huge loss.
Although the High-Speed Solid-State Drive
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gave Ace a pleasant surprise, nothing else good appeared afterward — only some small blues and a Golden Medallion (Two-slot Purple) worth 11,000 per slot.
[Harvest: 975,500 HAF]
[Loss: 17,370 HAF]
It must be said — the cost of ambushing in Delta Force is truly low, and the earnings are truly high.
His backpack was already full, and Ace didn't get greedy. Instead, he chose to go directly to the extraction point.
Only seven minutes remained. Getting any greedier might lead to a failed extraction.
Although he was quite curious if there would be any difference between a failed extraction due to time running out and a failed extraction due to being killed by others, his current bag contained 970,000 HAF. Dying would be too much of a loss.
He could try it later with no gear.