First Battlefield Commander! - Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Partner
"Corpses." The four of them hadn't been lying there long before being escorted down the mountain by arriving instructors. White flags were conspicuously planted behind them to signal to those hiding in the shadows that they were already eliminated participants.
Fang Jianchen was deeply reflecting on himself: "If I'd known earlier, I wouldn't have gone for kills right at the start—what a waste of bullets! Who could've guessed there'd be so many people at the second point so soon after starting? I mean—"
The instructor coldly cut him off: "You're not allowed to speak."
"Huh?" Corpse No. 1 turned back in astonishment. "We can't even chat?"
Instructor: "You can."
Fang Jianchen: "..."
"I thought you said you were going to become the king dominating this mountain, using the first-mover advantage to lead the individual combat department brothers to collective victory—I assumed that was true." The team instructor gave him a sidelong glance. "Heh."
Fang Jianchen: "..."
Fang Jianchen covered his mouth and said mournfully, "Instructor, I can explain!"
When Fang Jianchen came down from the mountain, everyone was shocked.
Dejectedly hugging his helmet, he sighed and looked up sorrowfully at the sky.
Zhao Zhuoluo and two other teammates came over and surrounded him, scrutinizing him with accusatory gazes.
As a sniper, he felt his dignity had been wounded.
"What exactly did you do up there?" Zhao Zhuoluo said incredulously. "You just... came back like this?"
Fang Jianchen sat on a nearby rock, removing his heavy gear as he said dispiritedly, "I want some peace and quiet."
"You? Wanting peace and quiet?" Cheng Ze raised an eyebrow. "If you're quiet, the whole world would be quiet."
Fang Jianchen looked up and indignantly protested, "I met someone with faster reflexes than me. We exchanged gunfire, and when I ran low on ammo, she successfully sent me back to camp."
The three: "..."
Fang Jianchen quickly redeemed himself: "But my hand speed was faster than hers. In terms of speed, I won!"
Cheng Ze said coldly, "In terms of speed, switching to a machine gun would be fastest."
Fang Jianchen said aggrievedly, "That hurts, bro."
Cheng Ze said, "Going up so early only to come back this soon—you should recognize your mistakes, old buddy."
As the team's only delicate hand, they'd been counting on him to scout the situation and cover them. Instead, this guy had gone and screwed up.
Couldn't he be even slightly reliable?
Cheng Ze asked, "Did you leave any guns behind?"
Fang Jianchen: "No."
Cheng Ze: "Ammo?"
Fang Jianchen: "Nope."
Cheng Ze said incredulously, "You didn't even get a supply crate?"
Fang Jianchen raised a hand, with some inexplicable confidence, and said, "I only checked two points—one was fake, and the other was taken by that freakishly quick-eyed person."
Cheng Ze: "..."
Seeing Cheng Ze looked ready to hit someone, Ye Buqing said, "So everyone should be careful and not underestimate the enemy. But I believe Old Zhao can handle it alone."
Cheng Ze turned and asked, "Are you still choosing a pistol?"
Originally, it was meant to coordinate with Fang Jianchen's sniper rifle, but now that their cover man had returned first, choosing a pistol seemed less appropriate.
Zhao Zhuoluo said, "Yeah, let's stick to the original plan."
Fang Jianchen muttered, "If we stick to the original plan, I'll be unhappy—it'll seem like it makes no difference whether I'm here or not..."
Ye Buqing pressed his head down: "Bro, stop humiliating yourself."
Over there, the instructor waved a hand: "Zhao Zhuoluo, prepare to go up the mountain!"
Zhao Zhuoluo acknowledged and went to gear up.
Fang Jianchen took off his shoes, tossed them into a nearby box, and ran over. Slapping a hand on Zhao Zhuoluo's shoulder, he passed the heavy responsibility to him: "Avenge me, please. Be careful of that woman."
Ye Buqing said in surprise, "Who? You actually remembered her?"
Fang Jianchen suddenly froze, realizing he hadn't checked her name tag. He looked up and exclaimed, "Oh no!"
The others: "..."
Fang Jianchen said, "But she just got four kills—you can definitely find out by checking the stats."
Zhao Zhuoluo replied, "Probably that new student from the command department."
"What new student? How come I haven't heard of such a skilled new student?" Fang Jianchen asked. "Does anyone know her?"
The group fell silent.
Being from different majors and having just transferred departments, with the exercise only starting a few days ago—how could they possibly know her?
Fang Jianchen asked again, "Does anyone know her?"
Zhao Zhuoluo, fastening his belt, replied, "I've seen her."
"Oh?" Fang Jianchen hadn't expected Zhao Zhuoluo to be the first to speak up. Excited, he asked, "What's she like?"
Zhao Zhuoluo answered objectively, "Poor stamina. Bad personality. Hard to get along with."
Fang Jianchen sighed deeply in disappointment.
Zhao Zhuoluo continued, "But very smart."
Fang Jianchen: "How smart?"
Zhao Zhuoluo looked at him: "Just shot you dead with one bullet."
"..." Fang Jianchen said, "Extremely smart. Definitely extremely smart."
Their team instructor said earnestly, "Zhao Zhuoluo, hang in there, score more points. Don't be like him—talking even after death and getting two points deducted."
The others: "..."
Zhao Zhuoluo finished gearing up, stamped his feet, and nodded. "I'm heading out."
Lian Sheng carried her gun and carefully made her way to the spot where she'd first found the marker the day before. She wasn't sure if the supply crate there had been discovered yet.
Her endurance was lacking, the gun was heavy and inconvenient to carry, the path there was rugged and hard to traverse, and she was alone now. From every angle, her current situation wasn't optimistic.
Her only advantage was probably—patience.
From a distance, she stopped first and checked with her scope, confirming the supply crate was still there. She couldn't be sure if anyone was around.
So she first chose a sniper spot between two large rocks. She gathered some dry branches and piled them nearby to block the line of sight. The area was already overgrown with weeds, so it didn't stand out.
After setting up her equipment in the middle, she began to wait.
Because of Lian Sheng's earlier unbelievable performance, Instructor Fu hadn't been able to suppress his delighted expression during subsequent training.
She'd really made him proud this time. Lian Sheng had truly made him proud. Not bad, not bad—definitely worth bragging about.
At lunchtime, he wandered over to the monitoring room to check on Lian Sheng's status.
He pushed open the door. The few instructors on duty inside glanced back at him, then casually pointed to a nearby chair. "Hey, here to help?"
"How's it going? How many points?" Instructor Fu pulled up a chair and sat down, grinning. "The one with the fastest four kills this morning—yeah, that's my student!"
The instructor: "..."
The instructor said, "She's been lying motionless for over an hour now—hasn't moved an inch."
Instructor Fu said in shock, "...No way?"
The instructor zoomed in on the screen and pointed it out to him. Instructor Fu could only determine her position based on the outlined silhouette.
Even under surveillance, her figure was almost invisible, proving how well-hidden she was. The grass and branches covering her showed no signs of being out of place.
Lian Sheng didn't move a muscle.
Instructor Fu: "How long did you say she's been like this?"
"Since she got here," the instructor said. "She even threw away the water and bread from the supply crate—only took the ammo."
Discarding water and food didn't seem strange to Instructor Fu. The exercise wasn't long, and carrying those things would be cumbersome.
"Is the spot too remote? Has no one come by?" Instructor Fu's eyes darted around. "I remember there's a supply point nearby. She must know that, which is why she's lying in ambush here."
If it was an ambush, she couldn't just be waiting idly.
"The spot's not remote, just a bit deep. Three groups have already come by—she just didn't move." The monitoring instructor said, "Here come two more—see?"
Instructor Fu frowned and leaned in for a closer look.
Two male students walked up from below, backs pressed together, cautiously hunched over. They slowly entered Lian Sheng's line of sight, even circling in front of her for a while. They seemed to be searching for a supply crate.
But the crate was too well-hidden—the two didn't find it and eventually left.
Instructor Fu drummed his fingers on the table. He strongly suspected Lian Sheng was using this opportunity to take a nap. Unfortunately, the surveillance only showed the top of her head—not her face.
The instructor beside him, seeing this, wore an "as expected" expression and turned to watch other screens.
Instructor Fu coughed and explained on her behalf, "Well, it's actually because the timing wasn't right."
Lian Sheng indeed hadn't had the right timing—because her current goal wasn't scoring points but finding a partner. Someone with strong skills, preferably alone like her, to serve as cannon fodder... no, a vanguard.
Carrying a sniper rifle had another major drawback besides extreme passivity: after firing one shot, she had to immediately relocate, or her hiding spot would be exposed.
She wasn't fast to begin with, and the mountain paths were hard to traverse. Once her position was exposed, she'd be in serious danger.
At this stage of the exercise, most participants had already formed small teams to act together. Going solo put her at a particular disadvantage.
If she sniped anyone now and had them taken away by instructors, it would alert others nearby. Until she found someone to provide mutual cover, she wasn't prepared to take risks—hence the continued waiting.
Several people had passed by this area, only to leave safely. She could now confirm there were no immediate enemies nearby. Among those who'd already gone up the mountain, no one knew about this marked spot, or no one had come here first.
The ideal candidate was Zhao Zhuoluo, but Lian Sheng didn't know his number or whether he was already in a team, so she wasn't specifically waiting for him.
She just had bad luck—even after over an hour, she hadn't found a suitable candidate.
Instructor Fu jiggled his leg as he continued watching.
He knew maintaining one position was agonizing, but Lian Sheng had stayed completely still for nearly two hours.
So what exactly was this gloomy woman planning?
Fifteen minutes later, someone finally reappeared in Lian Sheng's line of sight.
The person crouched low, hidden behind a tree, scanning the surroundings carefully. He didn't emerge or leave—just observed intently before finally fixing his gaze on Lian Sheng's position.
Lian Sheng's eyelids twitched.
The two moved simultaneously.
Lian Sheng retreated behind the rock, while the other person dashed to the side of the rock in two strides.
Once they were both exposed to each other's view, they raised their guns and aimed at each other.
Strong observational skills, agile movements, decisive reactions.
This person was excellent.
Lian Sheng immediately asked, "Want to team up?"
Zhao Zhuoluo: "What's your plan?"
Lian Sheng found his voice familiar and raised an eyebrow. "Zhao Zhuoluo?"
They were too far apart to see each other's name tags. Zhao Zhuoluo thought for a moment. "The new student?"
Lian Sheng quickly laid out her terms: "I have ammo."
Zhao Zhuoluo tilted his head and made a silencing gesture. Two voices could faintly be heard talking in the distance.
Lian Sheng holstered her gun and lay back down, making room for him. Zhao Zhuoluo leaped over and crouched beside her.
The two in the distance gradually approached, finally stopping behind a thick tree not far away. Their vital areas were all blocked by the trunk.
They were still discussing quietly.
"Is it here?"
"Should be around here—can't say for sure."
Lian Sheng adjusted her aim carefully toward them, then signaled Zhao Zhuoluo to go.
Without another word, Zhao Zhuoluo tightened his grip on his weapon and burst forward.
His explosive power was formidable—he cleared over a meter in one leap. His feet landed on the ground, snapping dry branches underfoot.
One of the men behind the tree heard the noise and instinctively peeked out to look. Zhao Zhuoluo kept his upper body low as he moved, not blocking Lian Sheng's line of fire—the other's head was perfectly exposed to her gun.
Without hesitation, she fired.
The male student had only raised his hand halfway when he was hit. Not reacting immediately, he continued lifting his arm to shoot at Zhao Zhuoluo. Since his signal light had already gone out, the attack was invalid—it took him a beat to realize he'd been eliminated.
Stunned by their seamless coordination, he momentarily forgot to fall. Seeing Zhao Zhuoluo closing in, he fired another shot reflexively.
The one standing beside him, blocked by his teammate, hadn't seen what happened. Hearing two shots, he didn't realize his partner was already out. About to ask what was going on, he was promptly headshot by Zhao Zhuoluo.
Instant double kill.
The two "corpses" remained standing stiffly.
The walkie-talkie crackled: "Corpses, please cooperate. Three seconds of no response will result in point deduction."
The male student asked blankly, "What the hell?"
Walkie-talkie: "One point deducted."
The two sincerely clutched their chests and collapsed.
Zhao Zhuoluo looked back. He realized that in terms of cover, Lian Sheng might not be worse than Fang Jianchen.
The signal light's judgment wasn't triggered by just being hit—it only registered hits on vital areas. So not everyone could land a lethal shot in panic, and situations where someone was only wounded before being counter-killed weren't rare.
Given her firing speed and accuracy earlier, no wonder Fang Jianchen had been taken out by her.
She was more capable than he'd expected.
Zhao Zhuoluo said, "Good teamwork."
Lian Sheng was equally satisfied with his speed earlier: "Good teamwork."
In the monitoring room, Instructor Fu slammed the table: "That's my student! Yes! She's my student! Ah, there aren't many female soldiers—skilled female soldiers like this only come once every few years!"
Hehe awesome 👍👍
ReplyDelete