Mercenary's War

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Two rockets took out the two cars posing the greatest threat, and then, with a few short bursts from the automatic rifle, the drivers of two advancing cars were killed. Witnessing such an improbable event happen before his eyes, Gao Yang knew he had encountered an extraordinary figure, one of formidable strength.

Gao Yang found himself in a rather awkward situation; he was too close to the gunman. No matter the stranger's background, Gao Yang feared that the slightest noise from him would result in getting shot without a chance to explain himself. Thus, he thought it best to lie flat and still, hoping to remain undetected.

After bringing all the cars to a halt and despite the continuous shooting from those vehicles that had stopped, the gunman in the dark completely ignored the bullets whizzing past. He ran to the other side of a car, dragged the dead driver out, jumped in, and quietly said, "Now's our chance, get in the car quickly, we can leave."

Although the car was started, the driver did not turn on the headlights. Gao Yang figured they should easily make their escape since no other vehicles would be able to chase them for the time being.

Gao Yang also hoped these three could leave because only then would he be safe. Unfortunately, wishes often go awry. Almost simultaneously, the parked cars farther away turned off their headlights, and the people who were shooting blindly into the darkness also stopped their gunfire.

It seemed that calm had returned. Seizing the opportunity, the two who had previously taken cover on the ground quickly jumped into the car. But before the vehicle could drive away, a dull gunshot rang out, and a bullet from one of the distant parked cars was fired.

The bullet hit the front bumper of the car, and after the sharp clang of metal on metal, the slightly slowed bullet, along with metal fragments, struck the driver.

"Get out, they have night vision!"

After a groan, the driver mumbled something indistinctly, and the two who had just jumped into the car leapt out even faster and lay flat on the ground again. The driver also tried to get out, but he was too weak to jump, collapsing to the ground after opening the door.

One of the two who jumped out crawled forward a few steps and quietly called out, "Moses, Moses, how are you?"

The man's reply sounded as though he had something in his mouth, fuzzy and indistinct, "I've been shot in the lungs, I can't move, just go without me, boss."

Listening to the desperate conversation of the three people, Gao Yang cursed inwardly. He didn't want to know who these people were; he just hoped they wouldn't bring trouble his way. Just as this thought had barely taken shape, a gust past his face and a "buzz" by his ear left him deaf on the left side.

After being momentarily stunned, Gao realized a bullet had just grazed his left cheek. Someone was shooting at him. As the urgency of the situation dawned on him, he rolled and scrambled forward before the next bullet could reach him.

As soon as Gao had moved from his original spot, a bullet hit where he had just been. Had he been half a second slower, his head would have been a bloody mess.

As Gao charged towards the only car that could offer some cover, the two people behind it shouted, "Who's there?"

In his panic, Gao didn't have time for explanations, only managing to yell back, "Friend, don't shoot!"

When Gao reached the rear of the car, he was no longer threatened by incoming bullets. It was then he swiftly said to the two next to him, "I'm not the enemy, f**k, I got dragged into this. Forget asking who I am right now; let's just figure out how not to let them come over and kill us all."

Gao was seething, having not provoked or bothered anyone, only to inexplicably invite a potentially deadly gunfight. His only explanation was that the adversaries possessed night vision goggles or a night vision scope; only then could the shooters find Gao hiding in the bushes and fire at him.

After his outburst, Gao took cover behind the tire, sticking only his gun barrel past the front of the car to fire a barrage of bullets in the general direction of the shooter. Both parties were hidden in the dark, and without sight, even accurate shooting was futile.

Following several long bursts, Gao retracted his rifle and his mind raced, pondering how to save his own life. His enemies had night vision, and to them, he was as good as blind. The situation was lopsided; he could only wait passively to be shot.

"F**k, if I had night vision, I'd kill them all, the bastards. Taking advantage of night vision to bully me."

Although he knew it was of no use, with no other options available, Gao let off steam with harsh words. Caught up in his anger, he extended his gun barrel again and emptied the magazine of bullets.

Gao was exasperated with the inexplicable fatal gunfights he kept finding himself in. As he grumbled and replaced the magazine, the person crouching behind him timidly said, "Um, we've got a night vision scope in the car. Do you want it?"

Gao was both shocked and elated. Even though he couldn't see clearly, he turned his head to the speaker and snapped, "Are you f**king stupid? If you don't want to die, get it to me now! What are you waiting for?"

Rebuked by Gao, and realizing the urgency of the situation, the speaker crawled a couple of steps, opened the car door in front of him without daring to stand up, and started pulling out items while lying on the car. After throwing down a large bag and dragging out a rifle, he ducked behind the wheel and began to rummage through the bag.

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"Wait a second, I need to take off the scope on my rifle before I can install the night vision scope. I need a flashlight,"

Gao Yang listened with both urgency and annoyance, suppressing his voice as he said, "Do you want to die? Turn on a flashlight and you'll be a live target? You think the enemy won't move?"

Another person who had been silent until then said, "Just suppress them as much as you can. Don't worry about saving ammo. I'll help him. Bob, what brand and model is the night vision device?"

"It's a Leupold g-114 type, an infrared thermal imaging scope. The battery is already installed, but I haven't had the chance to calibrate it yet," Bob replied.

"Understood, it'll be ready soon. Friend, please try to stall for time," the man said.

Having no other choice but to wait, Gao Yang began to fire short bursts continuously, hoping to slow down the enemy's flanking movement. During this time, the enemy did not fire back, making it impossible for Gao Yang to determine their position from muzzle flashes.

The person who spoke earlier quickly dismantled the scope on the rifle. In no time at all, he removed the original scope and attached the night vision scope.

After installing the night vision scope, the man pressed a button and looked through it. A hint of joy entered his voice, "No problem, it just hasn't been zeroed. You'll need to fire a few shots to adjust the trajectory."

Impatient, Gao Yang discarded his AK47, took the rifle, and suddenly remembered a question.

"What kind of rifle is this?"

The man named Bob said anxiously, "It's an M1A, but it's a special custom version with very accurate precision. But do you know how to use it?"

As soon as Gao Yang heard the words 'M1A', he didn't pay attention to the rest. The 'M1A' is essentially a civilian version of the U.S. military's M14, with the main difference being its semi-automatic operation. Gao Yang had experience with the M14 and was quite fond of it.

He turned off the safety, chambered a round, and quickly used the scope to scan the surroundings. He spotted three people circling to his right, now very close, just forty to fifty meters away at most.

Through the scope, the figures were glowing red silhouettes, but that was enough. In the thermal imaging scope, the enemy couldn't hide unless they found cover thick enough.

Gao held his breath and took a shot at one of the figures.

The scope hadn't been zeroed, and Gao Yang thought the shot wouldn't hit, but the close distance was an advantage. Plus, the deviation of the scope wasn't huge, and his shot hit the target.

After the gunshot, the struck person fell immediately, but the two behind him seemed unaware, continuing forward and even moving faster after Gao Yang's muzzle flash gave away his position.

Knowing the deviation wasn't significant, Gao Yang felt more confident. He aimed at another target and blew its head off with a shot.

He aimed for the chest, but the bullet hit the target's neck. At such a close range, the power of the 7.62x51 NATO rounds was overly potent, severing the target's neck entirely.

The remaining person finally realized what was happening and dropped to the ground. Gao Yang silently estimated the bullet's deviation and took aim. He shot the unlucky one who thought lying down would save him. The bullet hit exactly where Gao Yang had aimed, opening up the target's head.

Having eliminated the immediate threat, Gao Yang turned the gun and crawled under the car to scan the area with the scope. He spotted people coming from the left side, but his view was limited to a few legs.

Without standing or climbing on top of the car to shoot, not wanting to expose himself even a bit, Gao debated how to handle the enemies approaching from the left. He could move to the tail of the car to shoot or crawl forward from under the car to get the enemies fully in his scope's view.

Gao Yang chose neither to move to the car's tail, which would have exposed him and made him vulnerable to wild spraying if they saw his muzzle flash, nor to crawl forward under the car, risking discovery by anyone with night vision.

In the end, Gao Yang stayed put and aimed at one of the legs from under the car. He pulled the trigger.