Fatal Shot
chapter-51

"The Black Panther will lose!"

In the spectator's area in the dueling arena, the eyebrows of Red Queen, who sat beside a glass table, were raised slightly.

"This method of his, it's a bit shameless." Glazed Ice wore a snow-colored energy robe, and her voice gave off a feeling of purity that was pleasant to the ear; it was quite suited to her ID.

She considered Feng Luo's trap somewhat shameless because she felt that this method would only work on a PK map. On a PK map, as soon as one side died, every item that was thrown on the ground would return to the backpack of the player, so setting a trap like this meant that no losses would be incurred. If it were a map in the wild, if a player were to be killed or if the player strayed too far away, the item left on the ground was very likely to be judged by the system as abandoned. So, normally, players would not dare to use their equipment as traps.

However, what she did not know was that Feng Luo was just that sort of daring person. Even if he were to fight in the wild, he still would have been willing to risk losing the item to create a backup plan. This was Feng Luo's gaming principle, which was to use all environmental factors and tools to maximize his likelihood of winning.

"When it comes to tactics, it's either a success or a failure," said Red Queen softly. "This game suits people who know how to use their brains more than it suits pure combat experts!" Clearly, Red Queen's view was similar to that of Feng Luo. She then asked Glazed Ice, "Has the information we asked Hunting Dog to acquire been sent over?"

"Yes!" Glazed Ice nodded and answered as she opened a page in the communicator.

Feng Zhi Luoye. Level 40. Combat Profession: Sniper. Life Profession: Gun Mechanic, Ammunition Manufacturer. Among them, it is estimated that he has reached the Expert Level for his Gun Mechanic Profession. His level for Ammunition Manufacturer is unknown.

As she read through this, shock flashed in Glazed Ice's eyes.

Registered as a D-rank hunter in the Hunter's Guild. Total accepted Red-Name Bounty Missions: 17 times. Success Rate: 94%. Five days ago, Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group (B-grade Evaluation) of Silvermoon City issued 5,000 credits per level's bounty, and three days ago, it was upgraded by 1,000 credits per level…

Overall Evaluation: A−, highly capable with a slightly lower level. Incredibly high potential.

"Hunting Dogs" was a unique mediator organization in the game. They sold information rather than items and equipment. Whether it was information on NPCs or players, as long as one could afford it, they would be able to find the information you wanted. Moreover, they were very fast and efficient. They were in high demand among higher-end players and powers in War.

"Not bad," said Red Queen, nodding. "It'll be him, then!"

******

In the PK map, Black Panther continued to stare at his HP value with the peripheral vision of his sharp eyes. Since the debuff reduced HP based on a percentage, the HP of both players was at 30 percent. Moreover, the rate of HP reduction right now had reached 0.3 percent per second! That meant that if neither of them moved, in around one minute, both of them would die.

However, it would not be a draw since the automatic recovery rates of their HP were certainly different. Whoever recovered HP faster would be the ultimate victor.

Could it be that he is very confident about his HP recovery rate? Or perhaps his talent is an HP recovery type?

Noticing that his opponent, "Feng Luo," still did not yet plan to appear, doubt started to germinate in Black Panther's mind. But he wasn't worried. Right now, he had the initiative. He only needed to fire a single shot to be victorious!

Time passed second by second. Throughout this time, Black Panther paid more attention to inspecting and observing that sand dune and noticed that the location of the steel helmet had changed slightly.

That was enough to indicate that the opponent was indeed hidden behind that dune.

HP was reduced to 25 percent!

"Just a little more!"

Black Panther licked his dried lips due to the lack of moisture. He wanted a guaranteed a one-shot kill, so theoretically, the remaining HP could not exceed 1,000. If he were to take into consideration the HP recovery talent of the opponent, he would need to wait a little longer for better insurance.

25 percent... 22 percent… 19 percent... 18.5 percent...

Their HP continued to fall. The moment their HP crossed the 20 percent mark, the HP reduction rate increased to a decrease of 0.5 percent every second!

"It's time!"

When his HP reached 17 percent, Black Panther squinted one eye, and his right index finger pressed the trigger of the sniper rifle.

Bang!

A specially made D-grade armor-piercing bullet with 20 percent bonus damage—accompanied by the strong smell of gunpowder and murderous intent—flew across a distance of 700 meters while rotating at high speed before accurately hitting the target.

Bang!

The camouflage helmet was hit by the bullet. After that, it flew into the air. The impact of the bullet also blasted the surrounding sand into the air.

The long premeditated final shot did not show any damage indicator after the target was hit. Black Panther looked stunned for a while before quickly reacting.

"That's not right… Why is there no damage? Sh*t, it's a trap!"

The only problem was, it was already too late!

A double armor-piercing bullet came flying into the side of his camouflage helmet as if a heavy hammer had just hit the side of his temple.

−587

Black Panther raised his head before falling to the ground. His remaining 15 percent HP was instantly emptied. His body turned into a white flash of light before disappearing.

In his one o'clock direction, the smoke from Feng Luo's M110 gun barrel slowly dissipated. His tactic of "drawing the snake out of its hole" had worked effectively. However, Black Panther's forbearance had exceeded Feng Luo's expectations. To be able to hold out until his HP had fallen to 17 percent before taking the shot—this had nearly forced Feng Luo to expose himself.

Feng Luo did not know that it was actually because of Black Panther's odd preference and an error in judging his talent that the duel was delayed long enough to reach a situation where victory was decided in one shot.

******

Pow!

The capsule door of the virtual pod opened before being forcefully closed again. Black Panther walked out of it with a dark expression.

On the other side, Feng Luo opened his capsule door slowly with a calm expression. It was clear who was the winner and who was the loser.

"You've won," Black Panther said coldly to Feng Luo. "But it's impossible to use this kind of tactic in a real battle, don't you think? Do you think that being sneaky and using the dueling rules of the PK map to your benefit is fair?"

"Fair? Heh. Maybe." Feng Luo looked calm and did not express his opinion.

What Black Panther did not know was that, in a certain sense, this PK wasn't fair for Feng Luo from the beginning. It was not due only to the inferior equipment; it was also because Feng Luo's normal attack was forcefully reduced and could only deal 75 percent damage. Even after the M110 was modified and the attack had increased substantially, there was no way his damage could be higher. In a PK between Snipers, since both sides would have the awareness to protect their weaknesses, it was practically impossible to deal weak-point damage or lethal damage. So the difficulty for Feng Luo to win had already been pretty high from the beginning.

"Humph!" said Black Panther. "The equipment in the game sucks. In real life, with two basic pieces of equipment, the G-27 particle imager and the super-long-range life detecting machine, your simple trick would never have been able to fool anyone. Even the outdated CF series sniper rifle could ignore the sand barrier within 20 meters and directly kill the person hiding behind it…"

Black Panther spoke hatefully. He was clearly annoyed that he had been tricked.

Red Queen's face darkened. "Black Panther, shut up. You've lost. Stop making excuses!" Then he looked at Feng Luo and said, "Mr. Feng, I welcome you in joining us for this mission. Please take a look first, and if there isn't any problem, please sign on this electronic agreement!"

Red Queen sent Feng Luo an electronic agreement through the terminal.

In the game, an electronic agreement was protected by the Federation's law. If one were to breach the agreement, one could be sued in court, and the one who breached the contract would receive heavy punishment. Of course, game agreements also had word traps, so in uncertain situations, most players would not sign an agreement.

"Okay!" Feng Luo lowered his head to check the agreement. Very quickly, he showed a shocked expression. He raised his head and said to Red Queen, "The mission objective is to head toward a military base in the Gray Waters?"

"To be precise, it is a military base abandoned for many years!"