CH 18

Chapter 18: Life and Death Sniper

“It truly lives up to the name ‘Angel’s Tears’…” Dr. Daniel sighed helplessly.

“Ah?” Li Qian didn’t understand Dr. Daniel’s sigh.

“If even the angels are crying, then how are we supposed to cross it?” Han Li answered him.

The river was very, very long and its end wasn’t visible. It was impossible to go around.

“Are we going to take a ferry across the river? There are no boats here!” Han Li looked at Wu Yun with doubt.

Since Wu Yun had decided to go through Angel’s Tears, then he must have a way to cross it.

“Do you see that there? That’s the narrowest part of Angel’s Horns,” Wu Yun pointed out.

Everyone looked over in that direction. There was a rock jutting out over one side of the waterfall, while the opposite side had a corresponding rock that reached towards it. They looked like two hands that were struggling to reach out to, but never touching each other.

“So what? Are we going to jump across? It looks like it’s at least a dozen meters!” said Li Qian.

“Of course we’ll use ropes,” Wu Yun pointed towards his backpack with a thumb. There were more than just bullets in there for equipment.

“Wu Yun and I will launch the rope across the cliff and fix the other end on this side. Then we’ll glide across using the cable,” Zhou Yu replied.

“Why are you making it sound as easy as saying ‘hey, add some milk to my coffee’?” Li Qian’s eyes widened.

“There’s isn’t any milk or coffee here. I don’t understand the meaning of your comparison. To me, it’s just that simple.”

At this time, several strange, featherless, and three-eyed birds were circling the skies.

They flew quite low, then suddenly dove over the water’s surface. A white fish as large as an adult person was caught by a beak and thrown into the air.

At the same time, several of the strange, three-eyed birds tore apart the fish in mid-air until there was practically nothing left. The visceral sight it left behind was shocking.

They stood watching everything from the shore, dumbfounded.

“Did you say… that it was easy to cross from here?” Li Qian turned to ask Zhou Yu.

Wu Yun sighed, “Don’t worry. They’re full and they can’t sense our fear. They won’t attack us so easily.”

“God! Are you sure? As long as those strange birds are here, I absolutely won’t go! And across such a distance, how can we be strong enough to support our weight over the rope?! My arms will fall off halfway across! And what if the rope snaps?! What if one end isn’t properly secured?” Li Qian drew back.

“That’s right, there are too many unknowns here and it’s extremely dangerous. None of us has been specially trained. A distance of more than ten meters is… too much.”

Even Dr. Daniel shook his head.

Zhou Qing and Han Li were silent, clearly showing their disapproval at the plan.

Wu Yun smiled helplessly and looked at Zhou Yu, “It looks like I’ll have to properly explain to you all about an invention Juli Corp takes great pride in.”

“This is climbing rope our field personnel frequently use called ‘Apollo’s Arrow’. It has a range of 50 meters, and its front claw can penetrate the hardest of the rock that produces diamonds, kimberlite. Also, this rope can bear a weight of one ton. I don’t think all of us added together will measure up to a ton. You don’t need to worry about that either, Li Qian, you’re the one with the smallest mass among us.”

“Really?” Li Qian looked at Wu Yun with suspicion.

“But a smaller mass also means less acceleration. Since you’re so light, if you stop in the middle, then I really don’t do what we’ll do?”

Li Qian really wanted to beat up Wu Yun.

The others simply looked to Zhou Yu. To them, Zhou Yu was more trustworthy than Wu Yun.

Zhou Yu crossed his arms and said with an icy expression, “Wu Yun said the truth, except for one point.”

“Which point?” Li Qian asked.

“I don’t know why this climbing rope is named ‘Apollo’s Arrow’.”

“Fine, the name was something I came up with temporarily, to make sure the biggest scaredy-cat among us, Li Qian, can go through with it with peace of mind.”

“What does it have to do with me?” Li Qian eyes rounded.

“One look at you and I can tell that you’re naive and you like to fantasize. Greek mythology suits you! You’ve definitely daydreamed about sitting in a golden chariot and shooting the sun as a child!” Wu Yun ridiculed.

“Huh? Isn’t Hou Yi [1] the one who shot the sun?” Han Li asked.

“Also… This is Nibelungen.” Li Qian wearily looked at Wu Yun. He wasn’t grateful for his sense of humor at all.

“What’s wrong with Nibelungen?” Wu Yun retorted.

“Nibelungen comes from Norse mythology, which is completely different from Greek mythology. The name you gave the rope was really too inadequate.”

Finally, Li Qian felt like he could show off his IQ in front of Wu Yun.

“Even if the rope system is safe, specially trained people like you and Zhou Yu may be able to get across, but the rest of us really can’t hold on for such a long distance,” Zhou Qing reiterated the concern raised by Dr. Daniel.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make a T-shaped rope that’ll go through your thighs. You just need to grab onto the top of the rope and keep your balance, then I’ll push you through. And before you cross over, let Wu Yun go first. If he dies, it would prove that it’s impossible to glide across the Angel’s Horns.” Zhou Yu answered.

“Okay,” Zhou Qing nodded.

“Shoot all of them down,” Wu Yun glanced at Zhou Yu’s sniper rifle, which he had been carrying on his back.

“Shoot down? They’re flying so fast! And if they get angry, what if they flock together and attack us?” Li Qian looked stunned.

Wu Yun clapped his hands and said, “Oh, not bad. You grew a brain!”

“My IQ is certainly higher than yours!” Li Qian flung back.

“Fine, I’ll shoot them down. They’ve been hovering, which is indeed a risk factor for us. Since there is such a dangerous element in front of us, then we should resolve it.” Zhou Yu said as he lowered the rifle from his shoulder and assembled it neatly. After two sharp clicks, Zhou Yu held a complete rifle in his hands.

“Zhou Yu…” Zhou Qing hesitated.

“Don’t worry,” Zhou Yu glanced at Dr. Daniel, who pulled Zhou Qing back.

“Everyone, stay away from Zhou Yu. If he misses the target, then those strange birds will come over here to retaliate against Zhou Yu,” Wu Yun stretched out his arms to pull everyone back.

Although Li Qian wanted to say that Wu Yun had no sense of camaraderie, he spoke the truth.

“Um… Do you have a hold on the situation, Zhou Yu?” Han Li asked anxiously. She genuinely didn’t want anything to happen to Zhou Yu.

Their journey together had proven Zhou Yu’s decisiveness and his extraordinary reaction time. Everyone felt in their hearts that, compared to Wu Yun, Zhou Yu was more reliable.

“If the chamber doesn’t jam, then I’ll get rid of them all.” Zhou Yu lifted his gun and knelt on one knee. After adjusting his sight lenses, he slightly tilted his head sideways to aim at the skies above the waterfall.

“I don’t want your big mouth to jinx anything!”

The others nodded one by one, including Dr. Daniel.

At this time, Zhou Yu had started to steel himself, mentally. The hand he supported his gun with was steady and his shoulders did not tremble in the slightest.

His mind was so focused that he was able to feel the speed of the oncoming wind. Even the sound of his heart beating gradually faded away as everything became quiet.

The little thing at his waist pushed aside the scarf to make a gap and stuck its head out. It found Zhou Yu aiming his gun, so it raised its small shoulders, looking afraid and nervous.

Han Li covered her eyes and whispered, “We should bring it over here!”

What if it moved around while Zhou Yu fired?

But the little thing seemed to understand what Zhou Yu was going to do.

It only stuck out its head and stretched its neck, as if it was also a gun, staring at those strange birds with its big eyes. Zhou Yu’s finger was pressed on the trigger. Everything that followed only flashed by in the eyes of the bystanders, but for Zhou Yu, each frame happened in slow motion.

His first shot hit the nearest monster bird dead on and it fell into the river with a cry.

Just as it was only a dozen meters away from the river’s surface, some kind of creature in the water that looked like a crocodile, but was several times the size of a crocodile, surged up with a twist and clamped down on the bird. It swallowed it into its belly, then returned back under the water’s surface in only an instant.

Li Qian’s heart was about to jump out of his chest.

However, the scene did not shake Zhou Yu. When the other four birds found where Zhou Yu was, they shrieked and rushed toward Zhou Yu.

Their eyes were filled with wrath and the desire to tear him apart, but Zhou Yu remained unshaken. The second shot was aimed straight at the forehead of the giant bird leading out front.

It dropped from the sky and tumbled onto the ground, raising a cloud of dust and almost hitting Zhou Yu. It finally stopped less than a meter away from Zhou Yu.

Li Qian and the others subconsciously raised their hands to cover their eyes.

In Zhou Yu’s vision, the two other giant birds swooped down from the left and the right.

He remained calm and raised the gun.

The little thing at his waist also lifted its face upwards and opened its mouth slightly with an expression of ‘the new world will open up before me’.

Zhou Yu pulled the trigger twice as fast as before. Two shots were fired, one immediately after the other. Two giant birds fell to the ground together and tumbled down in opposite directions to Zhou Yu. The loud noise was like an airplane hitting the runway without lowering its landing gear.