33: Chapter 33: The Vigilance of a Top-Tier Soldier

At the entrance of the valley, withered leaves trembled gently in the breeze.

Su Han's eye was pressed against the sniper scope, the crosshairs locked onto two moving figures five hundred meters away.

His index finger rested lightly on the trigger guard, his breathing as steady as a hibernating snake.

"From the Southern Marine Corps?" Su Han narrowed his eyes slightly, clearly seeing the emblem on the other's armband. "It's that kid, Lin Hu."

In the observation room, a technician suddenly shouted, "Lin Hu from the Southern Marine Corps and his teammate are approaching Su Han's trap zone!"

Long Zhan stood up abruptly, spilling coffee all over the table. "Damn it! Why is that kid Lin Hu walking right into the line of fire!"

Wang Yuanchao grinned. "Captain Long, it looks like your Navy boys are about to hand some points over to our Falcons."

Long Zhan stared intently at the large screen, fine beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead.

The other Captains also crowded around the screen. Someone whistled gleefully, "Now, this is going to be a good show!"

"Isn't Lin Hu usually quite sharp? Why is he being so reckless today?" the Captain of Snow Leopard said, stroking his chin.

The Captain of Wild Wolf chimed in sarcastically, "Probably thinks that since he's on good terms with Su Han, the guy will go easy on him."

...

In the dense forest, Lin Hu was advancing rapidly with his teammate.

"Captain, the terrain ahead is a bit treacherous. Should we take a detour?" the teammate, "Sea Snake," asked in a low voice.

Lin Hu glanced at his tactical watch. "Time is running out. We'll go straight through. The field of vision here is open; there shouldn't be an ambush."

Just as he finished speaking, a bullet suddenly struck half a meter in front of his feet, splashing mud against his combat boots.

"Sniper!" Lin Hu dodged behind a tree with a side roll, his heart pounding. "Eleven o'clock!"

His teammate quickly went prone, cold sweat instantly soaking his back. "Captain, we're locked on!"

Lin Hu held his breath and slowly raised his head to observe.

Judging by the trajectory, the opponent could have easily hit his upper body directly but had intentionally missed...

"It's a warning." Lin Hu suddenly understood something, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. "It's that kid, Su Han!"

In the observation room, everyone was stunned.

"Su Han missed?" Captain of Divine Sword Liu Bo had an incredulous look on his face. "This distance should be easy for him."

Wang Yuanchao also frowned. "What is that kid up to?"

Long Zhan suddenly burst into laughter. "Good lad! He's giving Lin Hu a warning!"

He turned and clapped Wang Yuanchao hard on the shoulder. "Thank your Falcon boy for me! He's a real brother!"

Wang Yuanchao finally realized what was happening and curled his lip. "You owe our Falcons a month's worth of food expenses."

...

In the valley, Lin Hu thumped his chest hard toward the direction the bullet had come from and then made a tactical gesture—a right fist with the thumb pointing up.

"Captain, you're..." The teammate looked confused.

"It's Su Han," Lin Hu whispered. "He's warning us that there are traps ahead. Let's go, take a detour!"

The two quickly changed their route, moving cautiously along the perimeter of the valley.

While passing through a patch of bushes, Lin Hu suddenly pulled Sea Snake back and pointed at several nearly invisible lines on the ground. "Look, tripwires! That kid Su Han set up a death trap waiting for us!"

Sea Snake sucked in a breath of cold air. "If we had stepped on that..."

"At least three bounding mines," Lin Hu judged after careful observation. "And behind those rocks over there, I bet there are directional mines hidden. This kid is really ruthless!"

The two carefully backed out of the danger zone. Before leaving, Lin Hu looked back once more toward where Su Han might be hiding and silently said, "Thanks."

...

As the sun set in the west, the light in the valley began to dim. Su Han was like a dormant spider, lying quietly among the branches of a red pine, the barrel of his Type 88 sniper rifle poking slightly out from the gaps in the leaves.

"Shasha..."

The faint sound of withered leaves being crushed came from the valley entrance.

Su Han's pupils contracted slightly—two figures wearing Desert Wolf camouflage were slowly advancing in a tactical formation.

The teammate walking in front was codenamed "Rattlesnake"; he had a lean build and eyes that scanned the ground like radar.

Following behind was "Sand Fox," holding a type 95 rifle, the muzzle swaying left and right with his gaze.

"Good alertness," Su Han sneered inwardly. "But unfortunately, not enough."

Rattlesnake's combat boot suddenly kicked a nearly transparent piano wire.

"Clack!"

The crisp sound of a metal spring snapping open was exceptionally jarring in the silent valley.

"Trip mine!" Rattlesnake's pupils constricted suddenly, but it was already too late—

"Bang!"

A Type 72 bounding mine shot up from the fallen leaves and exploded with a roar at a height of 1.5 meters!

Although it was only a training blank, the built-in laser sensor instantly determined the shrapnel coverage area.

The receiver on Rattlesnake's chest burst with a blinding red light, and his tactical vest hissed as it emitted thick white smoke.

[Desert Wolf · Rattlesnake: Eliminated]

Sand Fox's reaction was textbook—

At the moment of the explosion, he lunged to the side, rolling toward the rocks on the right, while his muzzle was already pointed toward the direction the bounding mine had popped up from.

But just as his back was about to lean against the rock, the corners of Su Han's mouth curled into a cold sneer.

"Click."

Sand Fox's shoulder blade crushed a pressure sensor hidden under the moss.

"Hiss—!"

Three smoke grenades erupted simultaneously from the crevices in the rocks, instantly enveloping Sand Fox in bright orange smoke.

Even more lethal was the fluorescent powder mixed into the smoke, which was exceptionally conspicuous in the setting sun, turning him into a living target.

"Fuck! A chain of traps!" Sand Fox cursed as he tried to rush out of the smoke, only to hear a "click" from the canopy above—the sound of a sniper rifle's safety being disengaged.

"Bang!"

The first bullet accurately hit Sand Fox's chest; the sensor lit up red but didn't smoke—according to the rules, two hits to the torso were required for elimination.

Sand Fox was indeed an elite of the Desert Wolf; he determined the sniper's position the moment he was hit.

He lunged to the left, raising his gun to spray the canopy with suppressive fire.

Bullets sent twigs and leaves flying, but Su Han had already changed positions.

"Click."

A second faint sound came from beneath Sand Fox's feet—he had snapped the last tripwire Su Han had set.

"Boom! Boom!"

Two Type 66 directional mines detonated simultaneously, with hundreds of steel balls simulating shrapnel covering the entire retreat route in a fan shape.

Sand Fox's tactical vest was instantly judged to have suffered a saturated strike, with both front and rear sensors emitting white smoke simultaneously.

[Desert Wolf · Sand Fox: Eliminated]

Sand Fox froze in place, looking at his smoking combat gear in disbelief.

A rustling sound of branches and leaves came from the canopy, and Su Han landed lightly like an ape, his Type 88 sniper rifle slung casually over his shoulder.

"Rocks, moss, fallen leaves." Su Han tapped a few trap trigger points with his toe. "In the wild, any unnatural detail could be a death warrant."

Rattlesnake slumped to the side and took off his helmet with a bitter smile. "Are you a fucking spider? These traps are set up like the Silk Web Cave."

Sand Fox suddenly noticed the five or six armbands from different units tucked into Su Han's waist, and his pupils shrank. "Those are..."

"Trophies." Su Han patted the armbands and turned to walk deeper into the valley.