The Ultimate Evolution

***

Shooter: F (temporary nickname)

Reason for the Nickname: A blue band with the letter F is tied to his head. The band is judged after careful observation to not possess any special properties. There is a 61.4% chance that it is worn to commemorate someone.

It can be deduced from this that F may have experienced something unhappy recently, so he has an increased chance of becoming impulsive, getting irritated easily, and trading injuries in a fight.

Profession: Sniper (Awakener)

Specialty 1: Based on the information available, F’s specialty seems to be somewhat unique. He is unlike most other snipers who either have very powerful shots or very long range. He has fired three shots so far, and each shot has only reached its target after bouncing off a surface, like in billiards. This is the fundamental reason why the escort troops is still unable to locate him.

Specialty 2: F’s bullets did not bounce off an existing surface, but a transparent barrier he made in the air himself, from range! From this, it can be judged that F’s Intelligence is not low.

Specialty 3: F’s shooting is very accurate. The three vehicles he shot are a Xiaolong B1 armoured vehicle, a ZTZ99 tank, and a Mengshi Z5 armoured vehicle. The internal structures of the three vehicles are different and so are the positions of the drivers inside, but F managed to hit all three in the head with a single shot.

We can thus infer two possibilities. The first possibility is that F is very familiar with the structure of the three vehicles in service. The second possibility is that F has a high Perceptive Sense and can directly sense the situation inside. According to my analysis, the latter’s probability is as high as 87.1%.

Conclusion: F is most probably an alternative type among sniper. His primary attribute is very likely Perceptive Sense or Intelligence instead of Agility or Strength. His M.O. focuses on stealth. Although his offensive power is not that impressive, he probably has many life-saving methods derived from his high Perceptive Sense and Intelligence. To deal with him, explosiveness is a must! We can’t give him any chance to catch a breath or run away.

***

This information appeared in front of every Party Ace member at the same time. Sheyan’s voice then transmitted over the communication channel:

“This is a summary of my analysis of all the information we’ve gathered. Take a look and see if I’ve missed anything.”

After looking over it carefully, Zi added, “Could F possibly be a mage-type contestant? Maybe he’s equipping a sniper rifle with low requirements, and he’s making up for his lack of stats in the relevant attributes with his other equipment? This way, he’ll have a great advantage in the fight against other mage-type contestants. I know that some of the higher military ranks have the privileges to ignore equipping requirements.”

Zi’s opinion sent Sheyan into deep contemplation.

Reef also added, “It’s possible. After all, magic spells that have comparable range to sniper rifles are extremely rare. Mage-type contestants are known for their fragile bodies. If they’re hit by a sniper bullet before the fight has even started, they’d immediately lose the upper hand. If they’re hit twice, it’ll be really difficult for them to win anymore. Zi’s theory makes sense.”

“I understand,” Sheyan turned to Sanzi next. “Do you have anything to add?”

Sanzi said very earnestly, “The three vehicles just now were shot when they were moving forward. Although they weren’t moving very fast, they still maintained a speed of about 60 kilometers per hour. However, after they were shot, each one of them was actually pushed back a couple of meters from the impact.”

After Sanzi had signed a soul pact with Kulutego, he could also sense the earth in a special way. Therefore, what he told them now was not something that he observed with the naked eye, but what the ground “told” him.

Sheyan immediately gave Sanzi an appreciative look. Seeing that, Sanzi was encouraged. He continued with more confidence, “So I think the sniper rifle’s power likely exceeds our expectations. It can even push tanks and armoured vehicles moving at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour back by a few meters with a single shot. This kind of firepower is already comparable to a direct hit from a cannon!”

The rest of Party Ace instantly checked the crime scene again. They found that it was indeed so. The seemingly weak headshots had actually forced all three vehicles back by several meters, leaving deep tire marks on the ground. It was evident from this how much power the bullets carried.

“If that’s the case….” Sheyan’s eyes narrowed. “Then this guy might be a very tough opponent, maybe even a dual-attribute specialist. His high Perceptive Sense makes it difficult for us to approach him unnoticed, while his long attack range and strong attack power means that he’ll have many ways to escape.”

Sheyan turned to Old Charlie. “To tell you the truth, Freddy has given me a huge surprise. From how tough the Sphinx was, it stands to reason that Old Zandala shouldn’t have been so easy to deal with, yet he had perished so easily to Freddy. That makes me look forward to his performance even more. I really want to know what his limits are, so that I can lay out better plans in the future. Can you try and see if you can kill this contestant?”

Old Charlie was very calm as he answered.

“Freddy’s power has increased tremendously, but if he wants to kill a contestant, three conditions must be met first.”

“One, the contestant must be in an emotional state, be it great joy or great sorrow.”

“Two, the contestant’s mind can’t be too clear. For example, if the contestant is in a drowsy state, the success rate will certainly be higher than if he’s in a focused state. If he’s suffered a heavy knock to the head, the success rate will certainly be higher than if he hasn’t.”

“Three, the contestant must not consciously guard against or resist the attack. This is the most important point. As soon as the opponent realise that it’s a dream attack, the success rate will become extremely low.”

“In conclusion, master, I should be able to handle him, but it might take a while, and most importantly, I may not be able to protect the Galaxy System.”

Sheyan nodded. “That’s not a problem, just try your best. I’ve realised that the Galaxy System this convoy is escorting might not be real. The troops look to me like they’re just stalling for time. Have you guys noticed? Normally, the vehicle transporting the Galaxy System is placed at the very center of the formation, but the model of the center vehicle in this convoy is rather old and outdated.”

“But more importantly, the surrounding vehicles aren’t tightly protecting it. After the convoy was attacked, instead of shrinking the perimeter to tighten up the defence, the surrounding vehicles actually spread even further to look for the sniper. It almost seems like they’re deliberately exposing the center vehicle. But the enemies appear to be much better informed than us; they’ve obviously split up and moved separately. Some of them must be intercepting the other routes. Well, let’s begin then.”

***

Gullis observed the snake-like convoy ahead of him through his scope.

That’s right, the convoy was ahead of him.

No one could have predicted that his actual position was in a river behind the convoy.

When he fired a shot, the bullet would fly out and bounce off an MP barrier hundreds of meters in front of the convoy. The barrier would accelerate the bullet and increase its power. That created the illusion that the sniper was ahead of the convoy. Most of the search effort was wasted in the area ahead, which was of course in vain.

The river flowed slowly, and it was murky. At least half of the water was actually mud. Even the nearby aquatic plants had a layer of mud on them. Gullis was hiding beneath the roots of a reed. An invisible shield around him pushed the water away from his body. The sniper rifle in his hands looked a little big, but that was because a plethora of enhancement items were equipped on the gun barrel. If these enhancement items were removed, the sniper rifle would actually look quite small.

“Looks like the convoy I’m attacking is a decoy,” Gullis also discovered the flaws Sheyan had noticed. When he realised this, his focus instantly slackened. For him, his job was already complete. It must be known that every time he fired a shot, the cost was as high as 14,000 utility points!

It was not just the cost of the bullet. The main thing was the MP barrier which could increase the bullet’s power when the bullet bounced off of it — it required a casting material! And the casting material was a type of unknown mysterious item!

Although these unknown mysterious items could only be traded in for one achievement point each, they were still unknown mysterious items after all. The cheapest cut cake was still worth more than the most expensive cake. Therefore, Gullis no longer intended to burn away his money by firing any more shots.

The area 500 meters around him was actually covered in a biological electric network, with every living plant acting as a node of the biogrid. It would be extremely difficult for anyone to sneak up on him.

Since he was sure that he would only be a bystander after this and that his safety was guaranteed, Gullis immediately slackened off and yawned. Yes, it was perfectly normal that he would yawn. In the last few days, Gullis’ party had worked non-stop and utilised their advantage as the early birds to destroy eleven special-model long-distance ships one after another. In the most tiring battle among them, Gullis had stayed in the same spot for seven hours before he destroyed the target with a single shot!

Such accomplishments had pushed their party to the very top of the scoreboard, leading the second placed party by more than 500 points. It was no wonder that he was getting tired.

“I definitely have to take a rest after meeting up with the others,” Gullis couldn’t help yawning again. He felt his eyelids getting heavier and heavier. “Maybe I can take a short nap now? These ordinary people will never find me anyway. Even if they do, the magic traps I laid down will alert me. Hmm….**zzzzzzz**.”

Gullis did not notice that a mysterious, vicious face had suddenly formed within the water that was constantly flowing around his body. The mouth on the face curled into a huge grin. The face moved swiftly towards the invisible protective shield surrounding Gullis and disappeared into it!