Chapter 144: The Ultimate Sniper

The battle had reached a fever pitch, and time was growing increasingly critical. The Tang Gang and the Grimaldi family forces launched relentless waves of attacks against the large abandoned factory near the suburbs.

This was a sprawling deserted factory, and its various dilapidated buildings served as contested strongholds. The sounds of explosions echoed continuously, accompanied by a heavy volume of both light and heavy weaponry.

After watching the battle below for two minutes, the Chief Steward observed, "No wonder it's so difficult to assault. The Sakura Group has actually constructed several temporary miniature pillboxes here, and those heavy firepower nests are formidable. Unless we bring in artillery support, making a final breakthrough will be extremely difficult."

Xiao Tianci nodded. It was truly exaggerated—this was practically a small-scale war, far beyond a typical turf conflict between underworld syndicates. In the past, watching dozens of gangsters hack at each other on the street seemed intense enough, but now? They were just a hair's breadth away from deploying artillery, tanks, and bombers. Damn it, what kind of era was this?

The Fat Man chimed in with evident relish, "Good grief, it's been ages since I last got to do something like this. My blood is boiling just watching."

Without even turning his head from the screen, Xiao Tianci remarked, "Just you stay out of it."

Unconvinced, the Fat Man protested, "What's wrong with me? If I went down there, it would definitely be a different story. You haven't seen—back in my heyday, when I ruled the underworld, single-handedly..."

"Alright, alright, spare me the boasting," Xiao Tianci waved a hand. "That's not what I meant. You're too big of a target right now; you'd practically invite bullets to chase you. Just stay put and behave."

Speechless…………

The enemy's anti-air defenses were also extremely tight, leaving their chopper unable to maneuver freely overhead. The elite fighters and experts who had accompanied Xiao Tianci touched down in a safe zone further out and immediately plunged into the fray.

The personnel brought along possessed formidable combat abilities, with many being specialists in various fields. Their entry immediately shifted the tide in their favor, pressing the Sakura Group back into a continuous retreat.

The enemy's heavy weapons were no pushover either, and they had clearly anticipated even the possibility of a breach upon their perimeter, demonstrating thorough preparation. Had it not been for their sudden maneuver using the Grimaldi family members as cannon fodder, pushing this far would have been exceedingly difficult. Judging by the situation, the enemy undoubtedly had contingency plans; dragging this out too long would result in unacceptable losses, rendering a retreat with nothing to show for it the worst-case scenario.

The newcomers accelerated the pace of the advance, though casualties mounted with every foot gained. Yet time waited for no one. Xiao Tianci checked his watch. According to the Fat Man's estimate, if they couldn't wrap this up within another half hour, a full retreat would be their only option.

Sending Jingang and Chenggong in to force a victory was an option Xiao Tianci hadn't fully weighed, but if Jingang triggered his third transformation, he could definitely punch through the defenses—though that was strictly out of the bounds.

Growing anxious as well, the Fat Man watched Xiao Tianci remain as detached as if he were watching a war movie. "How about I lead a charge? Given the time..."

Xiao Tianci carefully analyzed the enemy positions. Four primary hidden firepower nests were anchoring their defense; until those were neutralized, eliminating the rest was pointless, as the enemy could constantly reinforce them. They had to take out those hidden nests—yes, but how?

Abruptly, Xiao Tianci turned his head toward Tang Bing, pointing at the firepower nests on the screen. "Is there any way to take those out?"

Tang Bing looked, then replied with utmost confidence, "Boss, don't you worry. This kind of firepower is child's play. I thought it looked too simple earlier, so I didn't look closely. If you had told me sooner instead of just wanting to watch the show, I would have gone down there and wiped them out long ago."

Regardless of whether he was exaggerating, Xiao Tianci sensed he was the ideal candidate. Even Jingang had noted that Tang Bing was a master infiltration expert; sneaking in was his specialty!

Xiao Tianci commanded, "Good. Get down there right now and take out those firepower nests for me."

With that, he instructed the pilot to lower the helicopter's altitude slightly—while remaining safely outside the enemy's effective firing range. When they were still over twenty meters off the ground, Tang Bing leaped out. The large cloak he wore made him look like a giant bat swooping through the dawn-lit sky.

The moment he hit the ground, he pressed flat against the earth to assess the situation, refraining from advancing recklessly. He knew the enemy ranks undoubtedly included skilled operatives constantly monitoring the perimeter. Despite his nonchalant words, once fully immersed in the battlefield, Tang Bing's battle instincts took complete control. Xiao Tianci never quite understood what went through that old freak's mind when training Tang Bing—transforming him into a combat prodigy while leaving him an absolute idiot in every other respect.

Calling him an idiot was putting it mildly; by Tang Bing's own account, aside from combat, he had never learned or considered anything else, leaving him entirely ignorant of even the most basic daily life skills.

Could the King of Soldiers have intended to forge a pure war machine designed solely for slaughter? That seemed entirely possible. Yet if that were true, the King of Soldiers himself couldn't possibly be a good person—or if he was, it was merely a facade. Still, Qinglong held a very favorable impression of him; otherwise, Xiao Tianci would have already written him off as that kind of monster.

As Tang Bing surveyed his surroundings, an explosion suddenly erupted ahead of him. Though the blast didn't affect him directly, in a split second, Tang Bing snatched up the body of a fallen combatant. Like a giant toad, he plastered himself against the corpse's back and shoved off hard with his legs. The body rocketed forward through the air, carried by the shockwave of a subsequent explosion that propelled them even further ahead.

*Thud.* The corpse crashed to the ground and lay still. The commotion suddenly drew the attention of nearby snipers and enemy operatives; realizing someone had breached their inner defense perimeter, they immediately looked over. Seeing only a corpse—presumably flung there by the recent blast, albeit with astonishing speed and distance—they paused.

Naturally, being thorough and meticulous professionals, the Japanese operatives put another round into the body to confirm it was dead before redirecting their vigilance toward the frontline defenses.

Hiding beneath the corpse, Tang Bing waited a long time, circulating his internal energy to dissolve the searing pain radiating across his back. Damn it, he hadn't expected the blast wave to pack such immense power. Feeling the corpse take another bullet overhead, Tang Bing thought to himself: *Talk about thorough.* But no matter how hard you scan, you'd never guess Grandpa is right underneath you!

After waiting roughly another minute—assuming anyone had been staring unblinkingly through binoculars with exceptionally sharp vision—they might have noticed the corpse twitch slightly.

Tang Bing curled his hands into the dirt and channeled his inner qi, launching himself out from beneath the corpse in a flash, hugging the ground like a strip of black cloth. Having slipped straight into the inner zone this way, he drew zero attention.

Once here, he hesitated no longer. Hugging the terrain, he darted toward the nearest firepower nest. Assaulting it from the front would have been arduous, but having reached its flank, he slipped directly in through the rear door.

Inside each nest were three heavy gunners and two ammunition handlers, totaling five men. Three shouted orders while firing relentlessly, while the other two frantically hauled ammunition boxes forward.

The five men died without ever knowing what hit them. Tang Bing simply flicked his fingers against their spinal cords, swiftly completing the task. Knowing that any interruption in the nest's firing would instantly alert the enemy above, he immediately dashed toward the remaining nests after neutralizing the first group.

The assaulting forces below were puzzled when the enemy firepower suddenly ceased from those angles. Up above, Xiao Tianci broke into a broad grin and roared, "What are you dopes standing around for? Charge, you bastards!"

Only then did the frontline fighters snap to attention and surge forward. By the time the enemy commanders realized what happened and dispatched their elite reserves down, Tang Bing had already cleared three of the nests, rendering the final one irrelevant.

Seeing the enemy elites pouring down, Tang Bing surged forward with mounting excitement to begin a wholesale slaughter. After cutting down two lesser opponents, he finally crossed paths with a formidable adversary. Just as he seemed on the verge of overwhelming his foe, two more enemies reinforced the first, turning the tables and forcing him onto the defensive.

The battlefield had devolved into total chaos, characterized by close-quarters combat. Tang Bing felt a surge of frustration; he had finally hoped for a hearty brawl unhindered by Jingang or Chenggong, only to be swarmed by three powerhouses at once.

Even though two opponents together could surpass his skill, Tang Bing felt no fear. Combat math didn't simply equal one plus one.

*Bang...* A brilliant bloom of blood erupted from the head of one of Tang Bing's opponents as a bullet pierced his skull. The remaining two enemies froze in shock, and Tang Bing paused as well. Their combat velocity was so rapid that ordinary snipers typically couldn't track them. He quickly steadied himself, pulling his heavy black coat up to shield his head—damn it, this wasn't a joke; he hadn't trained his skull to deflect bullets yet.

Recovering from their shock, the two remaining foes resumed their assault on Tang Bing. The moment they moved—*Bang...* Another gunshot rang out, and a second enemy took a headshot. Even Tang Bing was dumbfounded. Amidst the swirling melee all around, where on earth was that sniper?

Terrified, the surviving combatant cast wild, panicked glances around, bellowing a curse word whose exact meaning was lost. Turning on his heel to flee, he barely moved before—*Bang.* Another flower of blood blossomed.

By now, Tang Bing had locked onto the source. He glanced up toward the sky, faintly discerning a tiny speck. *The Chief Steward! It has to be the Chief Steward.* He had heard the man was a master marksman, but this...

Grinding his teeth in exasperation, Tang Bing finally flipped his middle finger up toward the sky…………

Right in his earpiece came the Chief Steward's calm voice: "The Boss says you've done exceptionally well. Don't get bogged down in a protracted fight; let the others handle the rest..."

Watching the fierce, desperate struggle raging all around him, Tang Bing helplessly retreated from the engagement. Just then, an enemy operative suddenly lunged forward brandishing a Japanese katana, unleashing dozens of lightning-fast feints and real strikes before Tang Bing could react.

*Bang…………* That airborne expert's skull was pierced mid-leap, sending him hurtling backward.

A chill ran down Tang Bing's spine. *Damn it, this is no place to play games.* He lacked the confidence to evade that kind of strike; even with his thick coat, his head would likely have been blown wide open...

Experts of their caliber were hyper-sensitive to being targeted. Over a long distance, they had time to dodge; at close range, the window to react was razor-thin. But encountering a sniper of this caliber chilled Tang Bing to the bone.

Up in the helicopter, the Chief Steward stowed his rifle and handed it back to the Fat Man, offering a rare, faint smile: "Not bad."

The Fat Man stroked the weapon affectionately and said, "Of course. This is my collector's piece—a limited edition." Then, looking up, he added, "Though probably only you could unleash its true potential. Consider it yours."

Given the Xiao family's resources, the Chief Steward could have any firearm he desired, but recognizing this as a gesture of goodwill from the Boss's best friend, he didn't refuse, accepting the rifle once more.

Chenggong, unfamiliar with the Chief Steward, felt a creeping chill settle in his chest. At such a range, with such pinpoint precision, and above all, with such terrifying velocity—he wondered to himself whether he could have evaded that shot.

He would never have imagined that the Chief Steward, who looked so delicate like a decorative vase, possessed such terrifying prowess. Or rather, calling it terrifying was an understatement. Chenggong had witnessed numerous firearms experts within military ranks, but none who left him with this kind of unsettling impression. Most importantly, the Chief Steward had executed those shots with such casual ease, entirely devoid of bloodlust, as if he were simply practicing on a stationary shooting range.

*This person is dangerous.* That was Chenggong's newly formed assessment of the Chief Steward.

Jingang understood the Chief Steward thoroughly, knowing their respective strengths and weaknesses, while Huofeng watched in starry-eyed admiration. Thoroughly awed by the Chief Steward's miraculous marksmanship, she immediately began pestering him to teach her.

By now, the helicopter had touched down to pick up Tang Bing, and the battle below was drawing to a close. The cleanup phase had begun, with Tang Gang and the forces of Raigar systematically sweeping the remaining pockets of resistance, including...

Tang Bing clambered aboard without a word and gave the Chief Steward a thumbs-up. Smiling cheerfully from the side, Xiao Tianci remarked, "Now you know. Just imagine if the Chief Steward weren't one of us, but an enemy..."

A human was a human, not a machine; everyone had their vulnerable moments. On the battlefield, Tang Bing possessed the methods and confidence to fight any opponent superior to him, but over time, complacency remained a constant hazard.

Hearing Xiao Tianci's words, Tang Bing nodded solemnly. Meanwhile, the Chief Steward stood quietly to the side, continuing to turn the firearm over in his hands with appreciation. Xiao Tianci surveyed the situation below one last time—it was entirely concluded. He instructed the Fat Man to issue orders regarding the handover of the territory and the subsequent cleanup operations. The helicopter lifted off, heading back toward the Fat Man's villa, while also directing Raigar to reassemble there; Xiao Tianci truly had no desire to linger in that dreary Grimaldi stronghold.