Fatal Shot
chapter-62

Bang!

−445

−2655

This was Feng Luo's 19th shot. The bullet flew through the back of the neck of the last pirate's combat uniform, finally finishing off the pirate minion who was scared sh*tless and had lowered his head and rolled himself into a ball to hide behind his dead mate's corpse.

By now, the first assault boat's six pirates were completely annihilated!

Bang!

−3155

At almost the same time, Black Panther also fired the last shot. A glowing, blue light emanated from the armor-piercing bullet as it hit the last bald pirate's chest on the second assault boat, puncturing a hole in the ragged black vest he was wearing, completely mincing his heart.

Black Panther removed the empty magazine 15-round magazine from his sniper rifle with a calm expression before putting in a new one. With the amazing effect of the C-grade unique bullets, as long as he hit the pirate's body, it was a one-hit kill. So, in comparison, Black Panther was more efficient than Feng Luo.

This round, both of them were neck and neck. There was only one assault boat left. Its distance to the cruise ship was only around 300 meters. The two shirtless pirates on the ship had already stood up and started firing away at the cruise ship with their AKs.

However, the biggest weakness of the AK-47 was its low accuracy at long range. From 300 meters away, it was impossible to shoot accurately, so although the two pirates fired at the cruise ship, their bullets did not really hit anyone.

By contrast, on the ship, the luxurious staff that was almost half a person's height, held by Red Queen—who had kept a blank face all the while—started to be surrounded by illusory red flame energy from the bottom to the top.

The pirate on the assault boat was shocked to discover that the originally gray colored water suddenly turned red. It became redder than the prior sunrise.

The seawater became red? No, it's not that the sea turned red. It's that the sky turned red!

On top of the last assault boat, more than a dozen red fireballs with black smoke covered several hundred meters of the sky, which formed a "Fire Rain" that fell toward the sea!

The Level-40 ultimate skill of Fire Manipulators: "Meteor Rain!"

Compared to the Meteor Rain cast by the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group's Fire Manipulator, Red Queen's skill was far stronger visually as well as perceptually. That was because, in the game, skills were not their ultimate form immediately after being learned; most skills required training to increase familiarity.

From Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, to Expert level… Every level up would change the skill attributes as well as its visual effect. Red Queen's Level-40 skill had undeniably reached the Expert Level.

The pirates on the third assault boat looked pale. The driver tried to steer the assault boat clear of the falling meteors. However, the coverage of the Meteor Rain was just too big.

Boom!

A fireball meteor dropped into the assault boat, and immediately after that, with a boom, it burst into flames.

−1300

A damage value of over 1,000 appeared instantly over the head of the pirate who was hit. What was worse was that overtop of his head, several lower-digit damage numbers kept appearing.

−130

−130

−130

These numbers were the manifestation of bonus damage that could be from poison, bleeding, or burning. Almost all Fire Manipulator skills had a burning effect. This was also the reason why the attacks of Fire Manipulators were among the strongest of the four types of Energy Manipulators.

However, common burning damage was around 20 to 40 percent of the skill's original damage.

The burning effect of Meteor Rain at the Expert Level lasted for ten seconds. With 130 damage per second, ten seconds would equate to 1,300 damage from burning, which meant that Red Queen's burning skill damage was as high as 100 percent! Moreover, she definitely had equipment on her that increased her attack range, so skills cast from beyond 300 meters still maintained high damage.

"I knew it. Red Queen is the strongest one among all of us here!"

The damage of Fire Manipulators was already quite scary to begin with. What was more was that Red Queen's equipment was definitely among the best. With her 100 percent burning damage, Feng Luo felt that his 3,700 HP would probably only be able to take two or three of her Fireballs if he didn't take any blood tonics.

"I wonder. With Big Pineapple's defense, how many could he take?" While mumbling to himself, Feng Luo turned around and found that Big Pineapple, who was beside him, also had a blank expression.

"F*ck! This woman's damage is way too crazy!" he said. "If I didn't use my shield, I'd probably, at most, take 10 of her fireballs before dying!"

You're yet another crazy person! Feng Luo thought.

To be able to take 10 of Red Queen's fireballs without using a shield! That meant that a normal Manipulator would probably need at least 20 fireballs to hit before taking care of him. Of course, Manipulators would not continuously use the same basic fireball attack, but neither would Big Pineapple keep his shield stowed away for all that time. And it was important to note that a Heavy Armor Warrior with and without a shield could practically be regarded as two entirely different professions.

By comparison, Feng Luo could not help but regard himself as the weakest among the seven, at least in terms of skills and equipment. This made the ever-confident Feng Luo feel a bit down, but his attention was quickly pulled toward a loud explosion.

On the surface of the sea, when the fourth fireball hit the assault boat, the boat, which had turned red due to the burning, suddenly exploded into pieces. Flames burst into the air while seven- to eight-meter waves were produced. Considering the situation, it was highly probable that the micro-torpedoes on the assault boat had exploded from the flames, which had created this dazzling explosion.

All three assault boats were eliminated. However, the danger was not over. The pirate ship behind them still maintained its full speed while pursuing them relentlessly. The distance between them was being narrowed!

"How long before the railgun and the close-in cannon can be fixed?" asked Red Queen with a frown as she watched the pirate ship gradually closing in.

"It's not an easy fix!" said a middle-aged NPC crew member. He was roughly 40 years old and who wore gray maintenance uniform. He was currently shaking the six-barreled electromagnetic railgun at the back of the ship while covered in sweat. "They threw a few core parts into the sea. Unless we disassemble the parts from the machine gun in front to use them here, there is no way we can fix it."

Red Queen looked resolute. "Then disassemble them!" After speaking, she extended her hand into her backpack and grabbed an item that she passed to Feng Luo. "For you!"

"What?" Feng Luo was a little puzzled.

A system notification came up.

Red Queen requests to exchange "Maximum Shooting" skill chip!

"You're giving it to me now?" Feng Luo looked at her, slightly surprised.

After signing the electronic agreement, Red Queen had the authority to only hand over the skill chip as payment to him after the mission was finished. Of course, it did not matter whether the mission succeeded or failed.

"I believe in you!" Red Queen said coldly.

"Okay!" Feng Luo accepted the chip, and the system judged that there had been a change in ownership. Now, the chip belonged to him.

Of course, he would ignore and not take to heart such pleasantries as, "I believe in you!" However, in the current situation, the effect of long-range sniping would definitely improve a lot after learning Maximum Shooting from the chip. It was beneficial to the concurrent battle plans. Red Queen definitely had the same idea.

After receiving the chip, Feng Luo plugged it into his personal terminal. Then after that, the terminal connected to the human body loaded a huge string of complex data. After a few seconds, a system notification popped up.

Learned Maximum Shooting. Skill Effect: Weakens the half-range reduction effect when fired bullets reach half of their maximum range. The maximum range bullet has 80 percent of its normal damage!

As previously mentioned, due to the half-range reduction setting of War, all attacks outside half of the maximum range would have their damage reduced, and it was getting worse every year. No matter how strong the bullets coming from a sniper's rifle were, when they reached their theoretical maximum shooting range, they would only produce 50 percent of their damage.

After learning Maximum Shooting, this reduction effect would be weakened, so even when the bullet reached its maximum distance, the damage would still be 80 percent.

For Feng Luo, this sort of skill, which improved long-range capability, was the best he could ask for.