The gravel and rubble under the military boots emitted a piercing friction sound.
Song Heping darted through the burning ruins like a leopard, each pause expertly utilizing broken walls, overturned truck wrecks, or massive concrete blocks as cover.
The HK416 assault rifle in his hands kept spitting out short, lethal bursts, the 7.62mm NATO rounds howling towards any enemy daring to show their heads and obstruct him.
A GNA soldier who half-exposed himself from a burning window on the right, trying to fire, had his helmet and half of his head instantly blown off, his body collapsing limp on the windowsill.
"Two o'clock! Pickup! RPG!"
Disaster Star's roar exploded from the left-rear; the continuous tearing fabric-like sound of his PKM light machine gun pinned down an armed pickup truck trying to charge through the corner ahead.
A figure with an RPG on the back of the pickup truck had just poked his head up, only to be driven back by Disaster Star's precise long burst, the rocket veering off to explode harmlessly in the distant sky.
"Hunter! Take it out!"
Song Heping shouted without looking back, his body already diving behind a pile of twisted rebar skeletons.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a relatively intact three-story building's rooftop ahead, a machine gun position pouring fire and blocking the crossroads they had to pass.
"No problem!"
Bang—
Whizz!
Hunter's voice and the gun sound rang out almost simultaneously.
He half-knelt behind a low wall, the wound on his left arm bleeding profusely with intense movement, soaking the bandage of the makeshift pressure dressing.
But his right arm remained steady as a rock, the muzzle of the HK417 quivering slightly.
The PKM machine gun sweeping crazily from that rooftop suddenly went silent, the shooter jerking backward and disappearing behind the parapet.
"Clear!"
Hunter's voice remained cold, as if the gushing blood was irrelevant to him. He swiftly cycled the bolt, ejecting the hot shell casing, his eyes hawk-like scanning for the next potential threat.
Haftar followed closely behind Song Heping, occasionally firing blindly with his AKMSU short assault rifle, though his eyes remained somewhat vacant, his movements stiff, mechanically shadowing the silhouette ahead, sharp like a dagger.
The LNA officer, who earlier aimed his gun at Song Heping but was deterred by Disaster Star, now held his rifle too, his face pale, bringing up the rear and scanning around fearfully, randomly firing a few rounds into the darkness.
Bang!
A muffled and distinct gunshot, unlike any other, like a heavy hammer striking a broken drum, suddenly echoed from high in a half-collapsed four-story building on the left front!
Almost at the same time as the gunshot, Hunter's body jerked violently!
He was about to relocate, in a forward-leaning posture. At this instant, a high-speed rotating .338 Lapua Magnum sniper round precisely caught the slight exposed gap at the edge of his helmet!
Pfft!
The warhead struck the helmet with a dull thud.
Hunter's FAST tactical helmet was violently ripped off, spiraling away to crash into a pile of rubble nearby with a crisp clang.
Beneath the helmet's edge, a terrifying gash deep enough to reveal bone appeared above his right temple, blood gushing like a floodgate opened, instantly blurring the vision in his right eye, covering half his face and neck in red!
The immense impact caused Hunter to stagger half a step backward, his body crashing heavily into the broken wall behind him, barely keeping him from collapsing.
His vision was overwhelmed by a blood-red haze and gold stars, pain stabbing into his brain like steel needles, the world spinning wildly.
"Hunter!!!"
Disaster Star's roar was filled with tearing fear.
He turned the machine gun to fire towards the direction the bullet had come from.
"Don't move!"
Hunter rasped, forcing his body to stabilize. With his bloodstained right hand, he pressed the terrifying wound on his right temple hard, trying to slow down the bleeding and dizziness from the intense pain.
But his left hand still gripped the HK417's handguard tightly, his knuckles white with effort.
"SBS... Ace..." he gasped, his voice distorted by pain, "Water tower... northwest corner... height... at least... forty meters... with assistant..."
From the flash of a muzzle and the sound of the enormous gunshot at the moment he was hit, he instantly identified the opponent's identity and location—a top sniper from the British Royal Marine Corps Special Boat Service (SBS)!
Only they would use large-caliber .338 Lapua Magnum rounds in such an environment, pursuing absolute penetration and stopping power!
Moreover, the opponent was extremely cunning, choosing the perfect moment when they were on the move, and Hunter had just completed a shot, allowing a slight lapse in attention!
"Suppress him! Disaster Star! Suppress the water tower! Don't let him take a second shot!"
Song Heping's shout was like a thunderclap.
He had seen the horrid state of Hunter's helmet being blown off and blood spraying everywhere, his heart gripped by a cold hand.
But he knew, any panic at this moment would be fatal! The information Hunter obtained at the cost of his severe injury was crucial!
Disaster Star's eyes were red, a beast-like roar tearing from his throat, and the PKM light machine gun erupted into a more frenzied roar.
A long tongue of fire sprayed towards the northwest corner of the abandoned water tower, standing like a giant beast's skeleton in the distance.
An intense storm of bullets lashed the water tower's rusted steel and concrete structure, sparking and chipping constantly, ringing continuously, trying to pin that deadly sniper behind cover.
"Cover me!"
Hunter gritted his teeth, squeezing the words through clenched jaws.