Chapter 20: Not Much Firepower?
Su Xiao’s breathing slowed. Each time he pulled the trigger, a dwarf crossbowman fell on the fortress half a kilometer away. He had noticed earlier, after firing his first shot, that killing a dwarf crossbowman granted 60 Battle Merit.
How could Su Xiao miss such an opportunity? He wasn’t using the 17.36mm special armor-piercing rounds but instead ordinary low-quality bullets. These bullets weren’t expensive to produce and weren’t from Reincarnation Paradise; he had them forged in Mechanical Street for emergencies.
Special armor-piercing rounds cost 150 Paradise Coins each, far too expensive. The counterfeit low-quality bullets, at 25 Paradise Coins each, had only one-fifth the attack power of the special rounds but were still enough to kill dwarf crossbowmen.
On the fortress.
Crack! Brain matter splattered. A dwarf crossbowman was shot in the head, his headless body knocked back a step by the bullet’s impact before collapsing. The dwarves weren’t laughing anymore.
This was just the beginning. Within a few short minutes, over fifty dwarf crossbowmen were killed. Of course, other contractors also contributed with bullets or ranged attacks—Su Xiao wasn’t alone.
Although the tribal side had many dwarf crossbowmen, they couldn’t withstand such losses. Training a dwarf crossbowman was costly; these dwarves had weak melee capabilities and only knew how to operate the “City-Defense Heavy Repeating Crossbows.”
Su Xiao’s sniping of the dwarf crossbowmen reduced the pressure on the imperial side as they piled up stones. The battlefield commander, Carlos, was somewhat surprised.
The rapid deaths of the dwarf crossbowmen caught the attention of the Mountain Dwarf King on the fortress.
The Mountain Dwarf King surveyed the imperial army below. The roaring battle cries drowned out the gunfire, preventing him from locating Su Xiao.
The Mountain Dwarf King couldn’t find him, but the contractors from Apocalypse Paradise could. Among them were snipers, and both sides had already begun exchanging fire.
“Target spotted, 11 o’clock on the slope. Decent accuracy, but the sniper rifle looks weak. Long barrel, just a paper tiger.”
A man with short brown hair, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, spotted Su Xiao’s position. He stood at the edge of the city wall, in front of a one-meter-high obsidian low wall. Originally built to prevent imperial soldiers from falling off the fortress, it now served as cover for the enemy.
Only the man’s head was exposed above the cover, with several teammates beside him.
“Black Gun, find a way to take him out.”
The contractor squad leader spoke.
“No problem. His firepower isn’t on the same level as mine.”
Black Gun pulled out a heavy sniper rifle, about a meter long. Though imposing, compared to the nearly two-meter-long Spider Empress, this gun was like a “teenager” still in middle school. By Reincarnation Paradise’s rank system, it was a purple-quality, high-rated sniper rifle.
“Having fun killing, huh?”
Black Gun spat out his cigarette and kissed his rifle.
Aim, fire—the movements were fluid. In the chaos of the battlefield, sensing this shot was impossible unless the target specialized in perception skills.
The moment the bullet left the barrel, Black Gun knew it would hit.
On the imperial side, Su Xiao, who was sniping enemies, felt a sense of crisis. But with soldiers surging forward all around, he couldn’t pinpoint the direction of the attack.
Slap!
Blood splattered. Su Xiao was hit—in the thigh. The enemy had aimed for his head, but he rolled half a turn on the ground at the critical moment. Though the move was awkward, it saved him from a headshot.
Su Xiao’s thigh muscles tightened. The bullet had penetrated deeply. If his stamina attribute weren’t high, it would have hit the bone.
He squeezed the bullet out of the muscle. The enemy’s second shot arrived, but Su Xiao was now on guard and wouldn’t be hit again.
Ding!
The bullet struck the energy shield in front of him. Based on the impact point, Su Xiao determined the enemy’s general direction.
Through the scope, he spotted a sniper on the fortress with only his head and gun barrel exposed.
Ding!
Another bullet hit the energy shield. Su Xiao ejected the magazine from Spider Empress, loaded a fresh one filled with 17.36mm special armor-piercing rounds, pulled the bolt, deactivated the energy shield, aimed, and fired.
On the fortress, the sniper named Black Gun had already ducked behind the obsidian low wall.
Whoosh~
A whistling sound passed over Black Gun’s head, making him flinch. His nearby teammates instinctively ducked too.
“Didn’t you say it was no problem?”
The contractor squad leader glared at Black Gun. Black Gun said nothing, sensing something was off. The enemy had taken his shot—only in the leg—but the casual attitude was too exaggerated, like a stamina-specialist taking a hit. He glanced at his sniper rifle, wondering if he was holding a toy.
“It’s fine. This obsidian wall is sturdy. Bullets can’t pen—”
Crack!
Black stone chips flew, stinging Black Gun’s cheek. A warm liquid splashed across his face.
Black Gun wiped his face, his hand coming away red—blood!
Thud. A middle-aged man collapsed at Black Gun’s feet, convulsing a few times before going still. Most of his torso had been blown apart.
As the man fell, the others behind the wall all hit the ground.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Three consecutive shots struck, shattering the obsidian wall. Stone fragments flew everywhere, creating a violent, brutal impression.
The contractor squad leader glared furiously at Black Gun.
“This is what you call not much firepower? You take a shot and show me.”
Black Gun was speechless. He began crawling toward the inner side of the wall. Anyone who stood up now would die.
Through his scope, Su Xiao observed the broken stone wall, waiting for the enemy to show themselves.
[Tip: Hunter successfully killed an enemy contractor, gaining 3 Reincarnation Paradise Merits.]
After so long in the war, Su Xiao finally earned Paradise Merits. Though he had taken a hit, it was a good start.
Killing an average enemy contractor earned 3 Paradise Merits. Reincarnation Paradise’s intent was clear: encourage contractors to kill enemy contractors.
After watching for a while, Su Xiao saw no one emerge. They seemed scared off.
He swapped magazines and resumed sniping dwarf crossbowmen. He had been enjoying the kills when the enemy decided to provoke him. Why not snipe imperial officers on the fortress instead?
Thinking of officers, Su Xiao scanned the fortress through his scope. He didn’t see any dwarf leaders, but a dwarf holding a small flag on the high wall caught his eye. Some allied snipers had tried to kill him before, but a transparent barrier around him—likely alchemical or magical—blocked them.
After a moment’s hesitation, Su Xiao loaded three special armor-piercing rounds into Spider Empress’s chamber. That cost 450 Paradise Coins.
Aim, fire.
Bang!
Before the sound spread, the bullet struck the barrier in front of the dwarf flag-bearer.
Crack. Cracks appeared on the transparent barrier. The dwarf flag-bearer inside stood frozen, likely stunned by the impact.
Bang, bang, bang…
Several gunshots rang out from the imperial army—other snipers trying to steal the kill. In the early stages of this war, melee-type contractors were struggling, only able to watch, while ranged types raked in rewards.
Each of Su Xiao’s bullets cost 150 Paradise Coins. How could he let others steal the prize? His second bullet was already fired before those shots landed.
The transparent barrier was blasted open with a fist-sized hole. The dwarf flag-bearer was shattered, exploding into a cloud of flesh that stuck to the inside of the barrier.
[Tip: Hunter killed an enemy special unit: City-Defense Heavy Repeating Crossbow Command Flag-Bearer, gaining 200 Battle Merit.]
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao raised an eyebrow. This reward was likely close to killing an enemy leader.
The war continued unnoticed for half an hour. Wave after wave of dwarf crossbowmen died on the fortress.
Compared to the dwarf crossbowmen’s losses, the imperial soldiers’ deaths were more staggering. In about half an hour, at least 60,000 imperial soldiers had died. Yes, 60,000. A single volley from the City-Defense Heavy Repeating Crossbows wiped out a group, and the imperial soldiers kept advancing.
The tribal side wasn’t just using the “City-Defense Heavy Repeating Crossbows” to kill. Green phosphorus fire bottles and goblin artillery shells were thrown down from the fortress like they cost nothing. Below, a sea of green fire raged. As the outer layers of corpses burned, the slope of flesh and stone lowered slightly.
The imperial side suffered heavy losses but was close to breaching the fortress. The slope was now ten meters from level with the fortress.
The tribal army had once charged up the fortress this way. Today, the imperial side would use the same method to storm it.
Reaching the fortress didn’t mean victory; that was just the start of the war. On the other side of the fortress, a neat stone slope had already been built by the tribal side.
Once both sides of the fortress had stone slopes for access, it would no longer be a siege but a high-ground battle. Both sides would charge at each other, and whoever pushed the other down would claim Black Earth Fortress.