The Favored Son of Heaven

Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

The commander who had been targeted by Qin Fen immediately threw his sniper aside. Supporting his body on his two palms, his body writhed like a snake in the grass as he shot towards the rear of another bunker using the move Snake Escape.

Right then, the bullet penetrated through the bunker he was previously behind. The commander who had just escaped to the rear of another bunker stared blankly at the huge bullet hole before him, as well as his chest that was dyed with red.

I have been hit! In the situation where I dodge to another bunker and got rid of the lock on me, I still got hit!

The commander turned his head as he looked at the place from where he had just escaped. The anti-sniper equipment was quietly lying there. There wasn’t a single bullet hole around it.

The commander shook his head, again and again. How can a new recruit study sniping and anti-sniping psychology so thoroughly? He had never planned on shooting at the original position from the first place!? He had already calculated that the place where the battle would end would be this bunker!?

“I saw Qin Fen at…”

An American commander wearing a major general’s uniform shouted into his communicator. Immediately, all other commanders aimed their snipers at the coordinates from the tactical caller.

Qin Fen! Right! That’s the recruit who appeared on the projection screen! He has actually fled to such a distant position and can still shoot the target dead-on! No wonder he was so arrogant before the battle, he does, indeed, have the capital to be arrogant.

However…

Only one thought crossed the minds of the remaining commander at the same time: Brat, your time to be arrogant is over.

Almost ten snipers were simultaneously aimed at Qin Fen, locking onto Qin Fen.

“Qin Fen is about to lose…” The commentator grabbed the mike nervously. “He had angered all the commanders. I am afraid he had to really withdraw from the tournament this time. Poor Qin Fen, he has somehow become a scapegoat for Lin Ling…”

“He actually hasn’t moved…” The other two commentators also grabbed their mikes and shouted, extremely perplexed.

The Sniper Tournament had always been for experts, as only they could appreciate the artistry. Even if a layman watched the tournament, they would be unable to enjoy it.

The sniper tournament had always been very dull. Only a single shot would be fired after a very long time before fighting silently for a long period of time once again. Only a few military fans liked watching it.

However, today’s game was completely different from any of the other sniper tournaments held in the previous recruit tournaments. With the commanders being frequently sniped, the commanders weren’t pulling any punches. As always, Qin Fen had subverted the original rhythm of the game. He laid down on the ground and fought the sniper battle in a way similar to a frontal battle.

Qin Fen’s hair stood erect as nearly ten snipers aimed at him. Goosebumps the size of rice grain exploded all over his body. The killing intent of these commanders was transmitted out of nowhere the moment they locked on to him.

Bang… bang… bang…

Almost ten snipers angrily fired a bullet at the same time. They drew beautiful parabolas in the sky that were invisible to a naked eye as they shot towards Qin Fen’s position one after another.

“It’s over, Qin Fen would have to withdraw from the tournament…”

The commentators shouted loudly with their fluid lips. From the beginning to end, Qin Fen remained lying on the ground, motionless, as if he hadn’t been locked on by anyone.

Locked on!? It didn’t mean that the bullet would find its mark! Qin Fen, remaining completely still, squeezed the trigger, continuing to fire lethal rounds at the commander camp.

The closest bullet should hit one and a half meters on the right side of my body! Qin Fen squeezed his right eye twice as the bullet hit the calculated position.

“Unfortunately.” Qin Fen grinned as he continued to pull the trigger. “If it had been replaced by mercury bullets or frangible bullets, I would have run away already.”

Having taken precautions, the commanders were caught unaware and shot to death at the very beginning. Every time these commanders discovered Qin Fen aiming at them, they would execute some kind of movement techniques to escape as soon as possible.

They were afraid, they were really afraid. Qin Fen’s shots were more accurate than the sickle of death reaper itself. Not a single shot had missed at all. The key problem was he was still so far away.

“Be careful! There is another sniper three hundred meters behind Qin Fen! Her marksmanship is equally accurate…” the American commander wearing the major general uniform had only spoken half his sentence before he stopped. Lin Ling’s shot made this American commander, who was wearing the major general uniform, personally experience what was called a super long-range shooting.

The scalp of commanders’ started to tingle as a chill ran up their spine, shooting straight to their heads. The appearance of a monster such as Qin Fen among the recruits was already giving them a headache. Now, there’s another soldier that was even more difficult to deal with than Qin Fen? Is the history of the sniper tournament going to be completely rewritten in this recruit tournament? Will all the commanders fall in the battle?

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang…

With Qin Fen and Lin Ling as restraints, the commanders did not have much energy to deal with the other recruits.

The recruits participating in the tournament were all gifted. More importantly, as a sniper, they needed to be able to read changes in the battlefield. For the first time, the recruit all realized that the balance of the battle had begun to tilt. The chance to fish in troubled waters was at hand.

Suddenly, gunshots broke the silence of the sniper battlefield as dozens of guns simultaneously popped at the rear of the bunker. Like a bustling scene of firecrackers everywhere on the eve of the new year, the flashes from gunshots appeared on the battlefield.

The commanders who had been dodging were enraged! If these cream recruits were around in a normal situation, they would be nothing more than waste that would be tidied up just as casually! But now, they were actually started to fish in troubled waters by taking advantage of the fact that the commanders have been pinned down by the two super shooters, Qin Fen and Lin Ling.

For the first time since the start of the tournament, the recruits could set up their equipment leisurely and aim at their desired target carefully. They could then fire if they found even a little chance of hitting their target as their targets took evasive maneuvers continuously.

If it was in a normal situation, dozens of guns would not even be able to hit the ten commanders. At most, it would throw them into confusion. The recruits would be beaten to the point where they would not even be able to lift their heads.

But today…

BANG…

A commander was suddenly shot and fell on the ground. The commander pounded his fist on the ground in such anger that he didn’t even notice the sharp pain coming from his chest due to his blood and qi in ebullition.

Disgraceful, absolutely disgraceful!

Not only was he shot dead by a recruit in the battle, but he also didn’t “die” under Qin Fen’s hands. He was killed by an American recruit who was fishing in troubled waters.

Qin Fen, with a nonchalant expression, kept on firing shots one after another. Lin Ling too gave up her cover of the bunker and distanced herself from Qin Fen in the rear by almost four hundred meters. At such a distance, is she still afraid of getting hit?

The rate of fire of the two was also getting faster and faster. Gunshot after gunshot rang to no end. In response, the commanders immediately activated their true energy one after another and used all kinds of evasive actions, causing the dust and rocks to fly into the air, leaving tens of thousands of spectators in marvel.

The expression on the faces of military fans became more and more amazed. At first, they were expecting to see a cold war between vipers, experience that calm hot-blood on the silent battlefield.

However, Qin Fen… the saboteur of rules of engagement had once again broken the regular rules of engagement of sniper tournament like he had done in the pistol shooting tournament and semi-automatic rifle shooting tournament before.

A calm contest between poisonous vipers had been turned into a battlefield encounter with him firing bullets continuously. Both sides had started to attack each other head-on rather than the calm attacks between the vipers.

Such a battle looked like tasty eye candy, but the technical content… the military fans shook their heads helplessly. It can’t be said that the technical content was low; who had ever seen a sniper using a powerful and weighty anti-sniper equipment like a semi-automatic rifle over a very long distance?

There was almost no pause between each gunshot. And each shot was fired with terrifying precision. It should be said that the technical content was in fact higher.

However, in regards to this improved technical content in sniper tournament, the military fans could not really recognize this as a sniper battle.

Two snipers with horrifying accuracy and speed, as well as several dozen snipers with a pretty good foundation and morale soaring like a rainbow, were up against less than ten commanders. For a moment, the new recruits were at an overwhelming advantage.

“Use the dummy help system! Use the dummy help system!”

The European Lieutenant Colonel, who was hiding behind the bunker shouted the order repeatedly. Under the ground in the wilderness, behind the stone bunker, over a hundred dummy snipers popped up one after another.

In the precious sniper event of the recruit tournament, the dummy snipers only usually appeared at the last stage, which was the opportunity given to the few surviving recruits to rake in some points. It was also a kind of rewards given to the recruits by the commanders.

These dummy snipers, that were supposed to provide assistance to commanders, had never been taken seriously by the commanders in previous tournaments.

But today, these dummy snipers, that had always been looked down upon, finally become their helper in true sense for the first time.

Once over a hundred dummy snipers popped out, they immediately began to use their search system to locate the recruit who had left their bunkers.

Locate, aim, and fire…

Slow as this kind of electronic system was, they made up for it with their large numbers. For a moment, several over-excited recruits were sent out of the battlefield by dummy bullets.

“So you are here.”

A sliver of a cold smile appeared in Qin Fen’s ice-cold eyes. That European lieutenant colonel was hiding in a very good location. Combined with his first-class camouflaging technique, it had been really difficult to locate him had he not given himself away because of his anxiousness.

“Not good!”

The scalp of European lieutenant colonel hiding suddenly tingled. He flew ten meters straight like an arrow as his feets kicked the ground. On the bunker he had just escaped from, an extra hole could now be found.

Just as the European lieutenant colonel’s feet landed on the ground, he did a roll on the spot. There were traces of fragmented dummy bullets on the place where he had landed just a moment ago.

So fast? The European lieutenant colonel dared not stop his steps even for a moment. He kicked the ground again and shot ten meters straight. Traces of two dummy bullet shots could be found on the route he had just escaped from.

Pushing his finger, Qin Fen ejected the empty clip. While at it, clasping an already loaded clip in with his pinky finger, Qin Fen grabbed the gun in his palm as he moved ten meters across. Immediately after, a dummy bullet hit the position he was just lying.

“Oh, it seems he has a unique background!?”

Qin Fen looked into the distance. While the European lieutenant colonel was escaping, he turned around and had fired a shot, hitting Qin Fen’s position accurately. This could only be done by a professional sniper with a unique background for sure.

The anti-sniper equipment in Lin Ling’s hand roared once more, as a distant commander was shot and eliminated from the game.

Meanwhile, the recruits holed up behind the bunkers one after another. The commanders and the dummy snipers were working almost in perfect concert. The moment someone revealed his or her position, he or she would be immediately shot.

The European lieutenant colonel, the strongest sniper among the line of commanders, was pinned down by Qin Fen. The two kept on firing at each other, one after another.

Meanwhile, Lin Ling aimed her sniper equipment at other drill instructors and pressed the trigger, again and again, very leisurely.

The European lieutenant colonel did not dare to stand still and instead skimmed ten meters, avoiding Qin Fen’s shot. Turning his head and looking in Lin Ling’s direction, he mumbled to himself, “Where did this freak come from? She can actually shoot from such a distance!? If we can’t push another four hundred meters, we won’t be able to hit her.”

After a moment, apart from the dummy snipers, only the European lieutenant colonel from the line of commanders had not been kicked out from the battlefield.

The military fans kept on staring at the battle between Qin Fen and the European lieutenant colonel, regardless of what was being displayed on other screens.

This was the true sniper battle. Both sides were shooting one after another, it was as if two sinister snakes were waiting for their enemy to make a fatal mistake.

European Major General Okosa was even more shocked than anyone else. European Lieutenant Colonel Wolf, who was on the battlefield, was not only a sniper of the special forces but could also be ranked among the top three hundred snipers around the world. Even in the entire Federation army, he could still be ranked among the top five hundred.

If such a super seasoned soldier with that kind of rich combat experience and strength was placed in any of the previous recruit tournament, he alone would be enough to sweep the entire sniper team of recruits, all it would need for him was to invest some time and effort.

But today, Qin Fen was on fighting on par with Lieutenant Colonel Wolf like a raging fire, all the while carrying the anti-sniper equipment with just his left arm due to the small fracture in his right arm.

“Major General Okosa.” Just like before, there was a glass of red wine in Will’s hand. “Who do you think will win among the two?”

Okosa, squinting his eyes, stared at Will. Although this Major General Will looked calm on the surface, since the fall of the mobile armor squad, his forehead was already devoid of its former calmness. Even his words carried a sliver of aggression.

“It’s hard to say.” Okosa shook his head. “I really want my European Lieutenant Colonel Wolf to win, but now it seems his chances of winning are only fifty percent. General Will, are you envious of General Zhao because he found such an outstanding recruit?”

Will’s ears slightly twitched. His eyes were completely transfixed on the swirling red wine in the wineglass. “In addition to envying General Zhao, I also want to thank General Zhao for giving our American recruits the aerial combat championship which we haven’t won for many years.”

The faces of generals of Africa and West Asia turned ashen at the same time. Qin Fen has no hope of winning in the aerial combat because of the injuries in his right arm, but that doesn’t mean that your American team will win for sure.

“General Will.” Okosa picked up a glass of red wine and emptied it in one go. “The champion of aerial combat will not necessarily be America. Since Qin Fen can participate in the sniper tournament with one arm alone, he may exchange pointers with your aerial combat team with one arm alone as well.”

Will lightly shook his index finger. “General Okosa, sniping is different from aerial combat, this point…”

“General Will.” Okosa put down the empty wine glass. “You better not finish your sentence.”

Will gave a cold snort before blowing a whistle proudly. “Wow, European Lieutenant Colonel Wolf is hit, the game is over.”

Qin Fen was sitting on the ground, wiping off the cold sweat on his forehead. The battle was already over. The European lieutenant commander was the last target to be sniped. As for those dummy snipers, they had just been wiped out by the recruits with a burst of shots.

Military fans, who had watched many previous tournaments, were staring blankly at notification flashing on the screen, “All the commanders have been wiped out.”

This had never happened in the history of the recruit tournament. Is this year’s recruit tournament a record-setting tournament?

Meanwhile, Wolf was sitting on the ground in a daze. To Wolf’s dismay, the shot Qin Fen had just fired was actually a flick shot*! More importantly, the bullet, in addition to drawing a complete parabola in the air, drew another horizontal arc!

In the end, it appeared as if Wolf used his own body to slam into that bullet.

Curve Shot!? Wolf turned his gaze towards Qin Fen. A curve shot could be fired with pistols and semi-automatic rifles as well. But he had never heard of anyone using anti-sniper equipment to fire a curve shot!

It was already extremely difficult to hit an enemy at such a long distance using a parabolic calculation. Curve shot!? A wry smile appeared on Wolf’s lips. Rumor has it that only Gun King, that freak, can fire a curve shot using sniper equipment. It seems that Gun King may soon encounter a marksman who has the qualifications to challenge him.

On the huge screen, the scores of recruits flickered quickly. Second: Qin Fen… First: Lin Ling.

A round of exclamation burst forth among the audience. Qin Fen, who had repeatedly won first place, was no longer first!

In contrast, the military fans didn’t look any surprised. Lin Ling, apart from showcasing her super extraordinary abilities, had also picked up some points in between at a bargain.

No doubt, the European lieutenant colonel was powerful. Had Qin Fen not pinned him down with his strength alone so that Lin Ling could easily pick off other opponents one after another and eventually destroy the dummy snipers to rake in the points, it would have been really hard to say who would have been the final winner.

“As expected, Qin Fen still lost.”

“Nothing can be done about it, he is injured after all!”

“Even if he wasn’t injured, I’m afraid he is not as good as that girl. Look at the distance between them.”

A lively round of discussion was taking place at every nook and corner of the grandstands. The military fans, who had been silent all the while, could no longer maintain their silence at this moment.

“What do you know! A distinction between a sniper isn’t just about who can shoot farther, there are many factors in it to consider, for example, rate of fire, prediction, as well as camouflaging skills! Apart from the distance, Qin Fen is better than the current champion in any other skills! Not to mention, his opponent, that European lieutenant colonel was definitely a special sniper in the special forces! The champion might not be able to deal with him! If Qin Fen and that girl exchanged their roles, Qin Fen could have scored higher than that girl!”

The audience in the proximity of the military fans stared at this group of people, who usually remained silent and had arrogance overflowing in their gazes, stunned. How come they are suddenly so agitated? Are they die-hard fans of Qin Fen?

“Oh! Second place! Qin Fen, the most popular player since the start of the tournament, had only scored the second place. Director, please give a close-up on Qin Fen, thank you.” The commentator grabbed the miked and asked quickly. “Excuse me, how do you feel about getting second place? Do you think that your injuries affected your play? What if you were in your heyday?”

“Heyday…” Qin Fen turned his head and looked at Lin Ling before replying calmly, “The injury had not affected my performance. Even if I was at my peak, I would have still lost. Snipers never believe in luck, they only compete with their strength. In this regard, she is indeed stronger than me. At that kind of distance, I cannot guarantee that I will hit the target.”

“Are… are you admitting defeat?” The commentator looked at Qin Fen in disbelief, “You are actually admitting you lost!?”

Qin Fen lightly nodded his agreement. Lose!? No one wanted to lose. But if one lost and gave excuses, then, he or she wasn’t really brave! If one was afraid to admit or face his or her failures, and only knew how to give excuses, he or she would never succeed in life.

The bustling audience suddenly became quiet. They found such an answer somewhat unacceptable.

On the other hand, Zeus, looking at Qin Fen on the screen, slowly stood and spoke in a more serious tone than usual, “This man is very likely going to be my opponent in the finals.”

“Perhaps, he is going to be my opponent in the finals.” Solomon stood up and ran his fingers through his chestnut-colored, long hair. “It’s already very difficult for one to face his failure. And to admit his failure in front of tens of thousands of people, and that too at the peak of his prominence. This man’s courage…”

“With just this kind of courage…” Yang Lie focused his gaze at Qin Fen on the screen. “He is indeed worthy to compete with me for the finals.”

“This kind of courage…” Sky Splitter Brooks covered his face with his hat. “That punch of his is indeed unrivaled. I’d love to meet him in a match.”

“General Zhao.” Will turned the seat under his ass. “Your recruit is already injured. So, I would like to ask you again, are you sure you want to let him fight with our American aerial combat team?”

Zhao Huzi’s thick eyebrows were squeezed by some strange force as he tapped on the armrest. Qin Fen indeed requires some rest to recuperate. It’s indeed unsuitable for him to continue fighting. But if Qin Fen gave up in light of this, it would mean losing thrice in one day. And the final defeat would be a defeat without a fight. It would truly affect Qin Fen’s momentum.

But  if he fought! ? Zhao Huzi’s thick beard moved up and down several times. If he lost, it would still mean losing thrice in one day.

“General Will.” Zhao Huzi slowly started speaking. “The spar between both sides has always been based on voluntary participation. Whether Qin Fen is going to fight or not, it will depend on him.”

“Alright.” Will waved his hand, beckoning the adjutant by his side. “Invite Qin Fen here, I would love to hear this recruit’s answer in person so that no one misunderstands his answer.”

Okosa stared at Will gloomily. This American major general is as vicious as a snake. By inviting Qin Fen here, it was equal to asking him whether he dares to fight or not in front of East Asia general! How could Qin Fen say no for the glory of the East Asian army?

Qin Fen is going to fight!? General Zhao lightly heaved a sigh. Operating a fighter jet with one hand!? In the end, he will become a stepping stone for the American aerial combat team to rise in prominence.