Fatal Shot
chapter-18

The equipment of these players was quite decent. Plus, they had a unified and centralized command. Although the Mutant Mountain Monkeys were more numerous, they clearly could not create too many problems for the players. So, very quickly, after most of the Mutant Mountain Monkey were cleared away by the group of players, the morale of those remaining collapsed. After reassessing the situation and seeing that it was no longer in their favor, they retreated while squealing. These players did not pursue them. Instead, they continued moving forward after picking up all the dropped items from their victory.

After ensuring that the two scouts protecting the group's flank had left, Feng Luo packed his M110 into his spacial backpack and followed along.

To prevent being discovered, Feng Luo intentionally kept a safe distance of around 100 meters between them. With over 100 people traversing through the forest, there was no way they would not leave any trail. For Feng Luo, who had been professionally trained in tracking, this degree of tracking was very easy.

As he moved forward, Feng Luo paid special attention to the corpses of the monsters that had been killed and left behind. In War, the corpses of monsters would remain for a longer period of time before they refreshed. This was mainly to make it more convenient for life profession players to collect materials. Players who were more experienced could easily get a ton of useful information from the corpses of monsters.

After approximately 30 minutes, Feng Luo noticed, for the first time, a corpse in the form of a human body. The body wore a camouflage combat uniform and wielded an assault rifle as a weapon. The face of the corpse was not much different from normal people, but beneath the combat uniform, the surface of its skin was covered with a dense layer of brown scales.

Rebel army!

Feng Luo confirmed the identity of this "human." This was indeed a soldier of the rebel army. As for the scales on its body, they were the product of genetic modification technology.

Of all the information released by the Federation, the most important piece of information was that the rebel army conducted immoral and illegal practices, including mass-producing clone soldiers and creating genetically modified beast soldiers through genetic biotechnology. It was also one of the reasons the federal government continued to accuse the rebel army of breaking the law.

The rebel soldier on the ground was clearly one of those genetically modified beast soldier!

Judging by the wounds on its body and the damage to its equipment, it was not hard to deduce that the HP and defense of the beast Warrior were higher than a player of the same level. The catch was that the AI level was unknown.

Feng Luo was delayed a little as he observed the body of the rebel army soldier. By the time he caught up with the players in front of him again, he suddenly discovered something shocking. Behind the two scouts, a black shadow was quietly following behind them!

It was a genetically modified beast Warrior from the rebel army with the silhouette of a human body. It wore no shoes and had the features of an ape, allowing it to grab hold of tree branches and move swiftly through the trees.

Even the abilities of two scouts around Level 40, at a distance of only 20 to 30 meters away, were not enough to discover that they were being followed!

Rebel army Reconnoiter!

Feng Luo's eyes brightened. He was certain that this was the profession similar to the scout in the rebel army. According to rumors, these beast soldiers had a retro title: "Reconnoitre!"

The rebel army Reconnoiter tracking the players was agile, and its speed was amazing. Not only was it able to move up and down trees over ten meters tall, but it also made practically no sound when running over ground covered with dried branches and leaves. In addition, there was the brownish-green combat uniform it wore, giving it excellent camouflage ability. Feng Luo estimated that if he hadn't been behind the enemy, it would have been difficult for him to have noticed it.

It probably appeared before I caught up, thought Feng Luo. Otherwise, it might have already noticed me. But the key question is, just what exactly is this Reconnoiter trying to do, following so close behind players? Forget it. I'll find out once I catch up.

Feng Luo thought about this a bit. Then, just to be safe, he took an army knife out of his anti-gravity spacial backpack and positioned it on his waist where it was easily accessible.

The appearance of the army knife was nothing to fawn over, but if one were to have studied it in detail, one would definitely have discovered its uniqueness. The black epoxy glass knife handle could withstand the impact from pistol rounds, and the bright white blade was covered with a layer of hardened chrome as if emanating a sharp, murderous aura. It was none other than the famous ATAK military knife, aka "Mad Dog."

ATAK Advanced Tactical Military Knife

Grade: Rare

Attack: 370

Attack Coefficient: D+

Material Coefficient: D

Strength +15

Bonus Effects: 20% chance of directly breaking defense below grade C (not inclusive)

Level Requirement: Level 33

Overall Evaluation: Perfect

This had been Feng Luo's one and only Rare-grade piece of equipment before getting his hands on the Desert Eagle. Although the level requirement was only 33, in terms of its power and damage, it was not inferior to some Level-40 military piercing weapons.

The attribute of "Strength +15" was almost comparable to the two-handed sword previously dropped by the silver-armored Warrior. Having that military knife in hand during close-quarters combat would be undeniably advantageous. However, the most important trait of the weapon was the rare attribute of a 20 percent chance to break defense below grade C!

Equipment in War was only categorized into four grades, namely, Normal, Fine, Excellent, and Rare. Normal equipment was the white equipment commonly referred to by players, and their attributes were more common.

Fine equipment would have an increase in attribute number compared to normal equipment, and Excellent equipment would be another level up compared to Fine equipment. At the same level, the fundamental attribute of a piece of Excellent equipment could even be 50 percent stronger than a piece of Normal equipment.

However, the difference between the first three equipment grades was only the value of the attributes. As such, it was only a numerical change. Only equipment at the Rare grade was fundamentally different. That was because, compared to an Excellent-grade piece of equipment, a Rare-grade piece of equipment would have an additional bonus effect.

The primary reason that Rare equipment was so rare was because of this additional bonus effect. The strength of attributes also determined the value of a piece of Rare equipment. For example, the Desert Eagle wielded by Feng Luo had a Rare attribute of "Increase movement speed by 10 percent when holding the weapon." This was, of course, a strong attribute. This was especially true for professions afraid of being closed down on by fighters like Manipulators and Gunners. A 10 percent movement increase was certainly practical, which was also why the price had soared so high during the auction in the nightclub.

The Rare attribute of the military knife "Mad Dog" was even stronger: a 20 percent chance of breaking defense below C grade. For a close-range weapon, it was nearly perfect!

It was important to note that the defense coefficient of most players could never reach C grade. Even the alloy armor of many Heavy Armor Warriors had defense coefficients lower than C grade. That meant that, in theory, when in close-quarters combat, there was a chance for Feng Luo to penetrate through the alloy shield of a Heavy Armor Warrior straight away with the ATAK military knife in his hands. The "Mad Dog" tactical military knife, hailed by so many in his world, certainly lived up to its name.

After equipping the military knife, Feng Luo intentionally waited for a while. After increasing the distance between himself and the rebel army Reconnoiter, he became even more vigilant as he progressed forward.

However, several minutes after he started moving, the sounds of intense battle erupted in front of him.

Compared to the scuffle a while before, the sound this time was more distinct and noisier; it seemed like the situation was quite intense. There was even a possibility that it surpassed the battle against the Mutant Mountain Monkeys.

Did they encounter a large group of monsters? Or is it a large squad of the rebel army?

Feng Luo accelerated his advances while hiding cautiously. After passing a tree that had been blocking his view, he saw the situation faced by the players.

Hundreds of rebel army beast fighters—clone soldiers wearing military garments of the rebel army—rushed out of the forest, initiating attacks from three sides against the players. A barrage of bullets tore through trees and plants. Energy lights of all colors flashed by as they transformed into wind blades, fireballs, or ice arrows. There were also many beast soldiers roaring into the air as they rushed forward while holding their alloy longswords.

In addition, two "Hydra" six-barrelled heavy machine guns were set up on two strong gun stands. They were controlled by two rebel army beast soldiers with thick, muscular arms, shooting tightly packed bullets at the players!