21: Chapter 21 The King of Snipers—Su Han!

Night shrouded Purgatory Base, and searchlights cut pale bands of light across the sniper training ground.

The War Eagle Squad walked toward the shooting range, their boots making crisp sounds on the gravel road.

"Su Han, how is your sniping level?" Zhou Mo finally couldn't help but ask, eyes constantly glancing at the Type 88 sniper rifle on Su Han's back.

Monkey chimed in, "It's definitely not bad! He broke three records today!"

"That's not necessarily true." Big Bear shook his head, "Sniping and physical fitness are two different things; they require patience and talent."

Su Han gently stroked the gun barrel, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted: "Just average, I can hit the target."

"Here we go again!" Monkey wailed, "You said 'average' this morning, and then you took down Iron Hand in one move! You said 'do my best' in the afternoon, and you broke the cross-country record!"

Zhou Mo looked at Su Han thoughtfully: "I guess your 'average' is probably equivalent to our 'top level'?"

Su Han smiled without answering, his gaze turning to the brightly lit shooting range in the distance.

Many people had already gathered there, nearly twice as many as for other subjects during the day.

"Why are there so many people?" Monkey stood on tiptoe to look.

"They're all here to watch the show."

Big Bear snorted, "I heard Long Bao also signed up for the sniping subject, and everyone is waiting to see his rematch with Su Han."

Zhou Mo lowered his voice: "Long Bao took second place in sniping last year, second only to Snow Leopard's 'Ghost'."

Approaching the shooting range, Su Han noticed the crowd automatically clearing a path, countless gazes focused on him.

Whispers surged like a tide.

"That's him! The one who defeated Long Bao in one move!"

"I heard he broke three records today..."

"I wonder how his sniping level is..."

"Hard to say, sniping and combat are completely different things..."

In the center of the field, the referee team was debugging the equipment.

The target area 1000 meters away was hidden in the darkness, with only weak reflective markers faintly visible.

"Su Han."

A low voice came from behind.

Su Han turned around and saw Long Bao standing in the shadows, his face still bearing the bruises from the afternoon's combat.

"Squad Leader Long." Su Han nodded in greeting.

Long Bao took a few steps closer, his eyes complex: "I accept the outcome of this afternoon."

He paused, "But sniping is my specialty, and I won't lose this time."

There was less arrogance in his tone, and a bit more respect.

Su Han smiled slightly: "Looking forward to your performance."

Long Bao seemed to want to say something else, but was interrupted by the referee's whistle.

"Night sniping subjects, assemble!"

Twelve contestants quickly lined up. Su Han noticed that besides Long Bao, there were several familiar faces—Snow Leopard's 'Ghost', Wild Wolf's 'One-Eye', and several sharpshooters from the Marine Corps.

The referee cleared his throat: "1000-meter night sniping, conducted in two rounds. The first round is static targets, the second round is moving targets. 10 bullets per round, scored by ring count."

He pointed to the distant shooting range: "Visibility is less than 50 meters, wind speed is level 3, with intermittent crosswinds. Night vision equipment is allowed, but no additional lighting is provided."

The rules announced, the contestants began to check their equipment. Su Han adjusted his scope unhurriedly, his movements as skilled as if he were stroking a lover's hand.

In the observation room, the Captains of the various Special Forces were already seated. The big screen showed real-time thermal imaging of the shooting range.

"Old Wang, are you still confident this time?" the Captain of Wild Wolf teased, "Night sniping is much harder than the daytime subjects."

Wang Yuanchao stared at Su Han's figure on the screen: "Just wait and see."

"I bet on Long Bao to win." Divine Sword Captain Liu Bo suddenly spoke, "He was only 2 rings behind Ghost last year."

The Captain of Snow Leopard stroked his beard triumphantly: "Ghost is in better shape this year."

"I'm betting on Su Han." Long Zhan interjected unexpectedly, "Betting a month's worth of food allowance."

Everyone looked at each other.

During the morning combat competition, Long Zhan had won against the Divine Sword Captain with this same bet.

"Old Long, you think that highly of the kid?" Chen Shuai frowned, "Night sniping is a completely different field."

Long Zhan smiled without saying anything, just pointing to the screen: "It's starting."

The referee said loudly: "Now I will explain the requirements for the first round: 1000-meter static chest ring targets, 10 bullets, must be fired within 1 minute. Shout 'Report' after finishing, set the gun down, stand up yourself, and wait for the target bunker to report the scores!"

"Are you all ready?"

"Ready!" twelve ace snipers from various Special Forces responded loudly.

Referee: "Now I announce, the 1000-meter static chest ring target shooting competition, begins!"

At the referee's order.

The contestants lay on the shooting positions, their guns pointed at the pitch-black distance.

"Bang!"

A few seconds later, Long Bao fired first, the bullet piercing the night sky.

On the big screen, the center of the target 1000 meters away vibrated slightly.

But the scores hadn't been reported yet; everyone had to wait for all shots to be fired and for the target bunker referee to report them.

Other contestants also began to shoot.

But on Su Han's side, he was motionless.

He lay perfectly still, as if even his breathing had stopped.

Ten seconds... fifteen seconds... a minute passed, and he still hadn't pulled the trigger.

"What's wrong? Scared stiff?" someone muttered quietly.

"Probably can't see the target..."

"What's wrong with that kid? Scared stiff?" Wild Wolf's One-Eye muttered, but his eyes never left the scope.

"Probably can't see the target; 1000-meter night shooting is no joke." A Marine Corps member nearby responded in a low voice.

On the War Eagle Squad side, Zhou Mo was nervously rubbing his hands: "Why isn't Su Han shooting yet?"

"Don't worry," Monkey stood on tiptoe to look, "He definitely has his own rhythm."

Big Bear frowned: "But this is too slow, others have already fired three shots..."

Before he finished, Su Han suddenly moved.

His movements were incredibly fast—aiming and pulling the trigger in one go, the whole process taking less than a second.

"Bang!"

The first bullet whistled out.

With almost no interval, Su Han had already adjusted his posture and pulled the trigger again.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The gunshots connected, with less than half a second between each shot, as fast as fully automatic fire.

Ten bullets were fired within ten seconds. Su Han gently put down his gun and shouted "Report".

The whole place was in an uproar.

"Holy crap! What is he doing? Just shooting randomly?" a Divine Sword team member exclaimed.

"This speed... how is it possible to aim?" Snow Leopard's Ghost raised his head from the scope for the first time, his face full of disbelief.

Long Bao's hand trembled slightly, almost missing the fifth bullet.

He forced himself to concentrate, but his mind was filled with Su Han's unbelievable shooting speed.

In the observation room, the Captains of the various Special Forces stood up in unison.

"This... what kind of shooting method is this?" the Captain of Wild Wolf widened his eyes.

Wang Yuanchao stared dead at the big screen: "Half a second per shot? 1000-meter night shooting?"

"Nonsense!" Divine Sword Captain Liu Bo slammed the table and stood up, "At such a speed, there's no time to aim, he must be shooting randomly!"

Long Zhan stroked his chin and smiled: "Don't forget, how many 'impossibilities' he has already created today."

On the shooting range, the referee was also stunned, taking a long time to react: "Falcon Su Han, shooting completed."

At this time, the fastest of the other contestants had only fired five bullets.

Long Bao forced himself to calm down and finish the remaining shots, but his rhythm was clearly disrupted.

A minute later, all contestants finished shooting. The referee signaled for the target reporters to start reporting the scores.

"Divine Sword Long Bao, 10 rounds, 100 rings!"

Applause erupted on the scene. Long Bao breathed a sigh of relief, but his eyes remained fixed on Su Han's direction.

"Snow Leopard Ghost, 10 rounds, 100 rings!"

"Wild Wolf One-Eye, 10 rounds, 98 rings!"

"Dragon Shark Sea Eagle, 10 rounds, 96 rings!"

As the scores were announced one by one, the atmosphere at the scene became increasingly tense.

When the target reporter read Su Han's name, everyone held their breath.

"Falcon Su Han, 10 rounds, 100 rings!"

"Boom—"

The scene exploded instantly.

"Impossible!" a contestant jumped up directly, "How is it possible to hit 10 rings every time at such a speed?"

"There must be something wrong with the target!" another echoed.

The referee's face sank: "Anyone who questions the results can go check the target paper in person!"

Several skeptical contestants actually ran to the target bunker. When they returned with Su Han's target paper, their faces changed—the ten bullet holes were almost overlapping at the bullseye, forming a perfect circle.

"This..."

"This precision... too terrifying..."

On the War Eagle Squad side, Zhou Mo and the other two were too shocked to speak.

Monkey pinched himself hard: "Am I dreaming?"

Big Bear stared blankly at the target paper: "Ten shots in five seconds, all 10 rings... is this even human?"

In the observation room, Wang Yuanchao was flushed with excitement: "Did you see that? This is our Falcon soldier... er... at least for now!"

The other Captains looked at each other, and even the most critical Divine Sword Captain Liu Bo had nothing to say.

Long Zhan laughed: "What did I say? This kid can always create miracles!"

On the shooting range, Long Bao walked to Su Han's side, his eyes complex: "How did you do it?"

Su Han gently wiped the gun barrel: "Intuition."

"Intuition?" Long Bao frowned, "What does that mean?"

"After simple aiming, rely on the long-term accumulated sniping experience and intuition," Su Han pointed to his own eyes, "The moment the target appears in the field of vision, it has already been hit."

Long Bao gasped—this was clearly the legendary 'Intuitive Shooting', a super high-level sniping technique that only existed in theory.

He had thought it was just a legend, but he didn't expect to witness it with his own eyes today.

However, everyone got 10 rings, and there was still moving target shooting later.

They hadn't lost yet.

"Prepare for the second round!" The referee's voice interrupted the discussion.

"Moving target shooting, the rules are the same as the first round. The target will randomly appear at any position within a 20-meter range and move, and each appearance time will not exceed 3 seconds."

The difficulty of this subject was several times higher than that of the static target.

The position and time of the target's appearance were completely random.

Snipers must complete positioning, aiming, and shooting in a very short time.

The contestants lay back in the shooting positions, and the atmosphere was even more tense than the first round.

Because the moving range of the target was 20 meters, and the distance between each contestant's shooting position was also over 20 meters.

Moreover, to prevent contestants from looking at the wrong target, the target bunker used red flags to divide the range.

"Start!"

At the referee's order, weak lights lit up in the distant target area.

Moving target shooting began, and the entire shooting range fell into a tense silence.

A weak red light point would light up randomly in the distant target area every 5 seconds, indicating the position where the moving target appeared.

Each target only stayed for 3 seconds, and the contestant had to complete aiming and shooting in a very short time.

"Bang!"

Long Bao fired first, his scope shimmering in the darkness.

As last year's runner-up, his movements were clean and neat, taking about 2 seconds from spotting the target to pulling the trigger.

"Bang!" Another shot, from Snow Leopard's 'Ghost'.

This last year's champion was equally steady, with each shot interval stable at about 2 seconds.

Other contestants also fired one after another, but their speed and accuracy were clearly not as good as these two top snipers.

Some even missed the target due to nervousness and pounded the ground in frustration.

Just then, Su Han moved.

His movements were incredibly fast—almost at the instant the target appeared, the gunshot had already rung out.

"Bang!"

The first bullet whistled out, the whole process taking less than 1 second.

Before anyone could react, the second target lit up, and Su Han's gunshot appeared almost simultaneously with the light point.

"Bang!"

Then the third, the fourth...

"Hell! Did he fire before the target appeared?" Wild Wolf's One-Eye couldn't help but look up, his face full of disbelief.

"No, he just has amazing reaction speed." Long Bao answered through gritted teeth, cold sweat seeping from his forehead.

He forced himself to focus on his own shooting, but Su Han's unbelievable speed had already disrupted everyone's rhythm.

In the observation room, the Captains of the various Special Forces all stood up, staring closely at the real-time screen.

"This is impossible!" Divine Sword Captain Liu Bo slammed the table and stood up, "No one can complete precise aiming in such a short time!"

Wang Yuanchao's eyes lit up: "But he did it! Look at the target area feedback!"

On the big screen, the distant targets vibrated almost immediately after lighting up, showing that Su Han's bullets had indeed hit the targets.

"0.8 seconds..." the Captain of Snow Leopard stared at the timer, his voice trembling, "The average shooting interval is only 0.8 seconds, more than twice as fast as the others."

"And all hits!"

"This kid is simply born for sniping!"

On the shooting range, the members of the War Eagle Squad were stunned.

"He... does he not even need to aim?" Monkey asked stutteringly.

Zhou Mo stared fixedly at Su Han's movements: "It's not that he doesn't aim, it's that his aiming speed is so fast that we can't see it."

Big Bear rubbed his eyes: "I've been a soldier for ten years, I've never seen a sniper like this."

Ten bullets were quickly fired, Su Han gently put down his gun and shouted "Report".

His speed was more than twice as fast as other contestants. When others were still firing their sixth or seventh shots, he had already completed all his shooting.

The referee team looked at each other; this situation had never occurred in previous competitions.

"All contestants have completed shooting, now start reporting the scores!" the chief referee announced loudly.

The scene immediately quieted down, and everyone held their breath waiting for the results.

"Divine Sword Long Bao, 10 rounds, 97 rings!"

Applause rang out; this result was already quite excellent.

Long Bao, however, had no joy, his eyes always fixed on Su Han.

"Snow Leopard Ghost, 10 rounds, 95 rings!"

"Wild Wolf One-Eye, 10 rounds, 93 rings!"

"Dragon Shark Sea Eagle, 10 rounds, 92 rings!"

As the scores were announced one by one, the atmosphere at the scene became increasingly tense.

When the target reporter read Su Han's name, the air seemed to solidify.

"Falcon Su Han, 10 rounds, 100 rings!"

"Boom—"

The scene exploded instantly.

"This... this precision..." a Marine Corps member's voice trembled, "It's almost like a machine did it..."

Even more shocking was that after the referee team checked Su Han's shooting position, they confirmed that his weapon had no modifications, and the scope was also standard configuration.

Long Bao walked to Su Han, stood at attention, and saluted: "I lost, I accept the outcome."

On the shooting range, the referee announced loudly: "Final results of the night sniping competition: First place, Falcon Su Han; Second place, Divine Sword Long Bao; Third place, Snow Leopard Ghost!"