Chapter 83

The few guests immediately noticed the very obvious wear marks on the parts and instantly lost interest, looking at Qian Ye with a somewhat disdainful gaze.

A young mercenary glanced at the force gun inside the counter and said directly, "Damn, what kind of lousy store is this? Can't even find a decent second-grade gun."

Old Man Yi's face darkened instantly, pointing at the worn-out canvas bag in front of Qian Ye, he said, "I have something even more powerful than second-grade stuff here!"

The mercenaries looked at the worn-out canvas bag and then at the severely worn old parts in Qian Ye's hands, and burst into laughter, thinking this old man had gone crazy from poverty.

After this group left, a hint of a cold smile appeared at the corner of Qian Ye's mouth.

The parts were actually almost brand new, just treated to look old on the surface. The Eagle Strike was roughly seventy percent new overall, but a few key components were eighty percent new. Just these few components could increase the Eagle Strike's accuracy by about ten percent.

These mercenaries might never see an Eagle Strike in their entire lives, let alone recognize its unique components. Qian Ye, however, had learned the use, maintenance, and internal structure of all the empire's standard firearms, and almost all firearms below grade five from the Eternal Night faction were also part of his studies. So for a Red Scorpion warrior, even if the Scorpion Stinger in his hand was destroyed, he could immediately use any dark race gun he picked up.

Qian Ye inspected each part of the Eagle Strike, and Old Man Yi's gaze became increasingly strange.

When Qian Ye put the last part back into the bag and fastened the buckle, Old Man Yi finally couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you going to assemble it and try it out?"

"All the parts are here, no need to assemble it." Qian Ye slung the canvas bag over his back.

A sharp light flashed in Old Man Yi's eyes, and he said with ulterior motives, "There are already very few people who have seen the Eagle Strike. Even fewer can understand its internal structure."

"Isn't it also rare to be able to get an Eagle Strike?"

The old and the young stared at each other for a while, then Qian Ye left with a swagger.

Back at the small inn, Qian Ye ordered some food, ate it, and then changed his appearance again before starting to assemble the Eagle Strike.

A moment later, a nearly two-meter-long sniper rifle appeared in Qian Ye's hands.

Qian Ye slightly channeled force energy, and the dark gun body didn't even reflect light, but he could feel the force arrays in the energy compression chamber lighting up one by one. Only by looking directly at the muzzle could one see a ball of blue light inside the barrel, with no light leaking out at all. This was a true weapon of terror! Qian Ye was very satisfied with the condition of the gun.

It was already deep into the night, but Dark Blood City was bustling. In this city, there were always plenty of people seeking pleasure at any time. Mercenaries, hunters, and adventurers were all professions that walked the line of death at all times. They didn't know if they would have a tomorrow after today. So these people indulged their desires even more recklessly.

In this city, the status of the expeditionary army was not much higher than that of hunters. The expeditionary army's combat strength was fierce, but military discipline was lax, and the various legions operated independently, forming factions, akin to a large gang. From officers to soldiers, the meager allowance was not enough to support their lives. So from top to bottom, everyone in the garrison was showing off their skills, making extra money, which was already an open secret. If not for this, the Eagle Strike would not have ended up in Qian Ye's hands.

Qian Ye wrapped the Eagle Strike in cloth, slung it over his back, and left the inn under the cover of night. He quickly blended into the night of Dark Blood City, becoming one of the thousands of pedestrians.

A moment later, Qian Ye appeared near the courtyard of the Sky Snake Gang. He silently circled the courtyard and climbed onto a nearby building. This building had twenty floors, was dirty and black, and clearly had not been maintained for years. Inside, countless families were crammed in, with a small room possibly housing seven or eight people.

The hallway was filled with garbage, dirty water, and miscellaneous items. Qian Ye climbed the stairs, kicked aside a corpse that had already started to stink, and knocked out two drunkards who were looking for trouble before reaching the top floor. Qian Ye looked out from a window without glass in the hallway, found a suitable position, and broke the door open.

This was a cramped small room, with two military cots almost filling all the space. Four people lived inside, two men and two women. When Qian Ye burst in, two were sleeping, and the other man and woman were embracing, in the throes of passion. The man, startled by Qian Ye, trembled and ejaculated immediately.

Under the threat of the dark gun barrel, the four people obediently let Qian Ye tie them up and squat in the corner. The two almost naked women kept wriggling their bodies, rubbing against Qian Ye's thighs.

However, Qian Ye was not interested in these two women, who looked terrifying and might not have bathed for months. He pushed them away with the Eagle Strike, which he pressed against their white but clearly sagging chests. The women seemed to realize that the long metal tube was not a flexible rod, trembled, and obediently shrank to the side.

The room was filled with the strong smell of post-passion, the musty odor of a place that never saw sunlight, and various other strange smells that could not be identified.

Qian Ye was very satisfied with this environment; such a strong smell could completely mask his own scent. This way, even if the enemy searched here, they could not track Qian Ye by smell, effectively eliminating one clue.

Qian Ye pushed open a window that had no glass but was nailed shut with wooden planks, and looked out. His judgment was correct; from this angle, he could see the headquarters of the Sky Snake Gang, with the entire front within range. Qian Ye broke a few wooden planks to create a space for shooting and observation, then took out the Eagle Strike and placed the massive weapon on the windowsill.

Qian Ye moved a chair, sat by the window, and waited patiently.

The Sky Snake was still out enjoying himself; he would definitely return to the headquarters at night.

From where Qian Ye sat to the entrance of the Sky Snake headquarters, the straight-line distance was about a kilometer, exceeding the range of most force guns. Even the Eagle Strike, an excellent force sniper rifle, was approaching its maximum range. Perhaps weapons like the Dawn Pulse Cannon or the Force Crossbow could achieve long-range precision strikes, but such powerful single-soldier weapons were not standard equipment, even in the empire's main army. The entire Dark Blood City might not have one.

The Sky Snake never dreamed that he would be sniped at this distance.

Two hours later, Qian Ye finally saw a convoy of six cars return to the Sky Snake Gang. The Sky Snake got out of the middle car and stretched, looking very tired.

Qian Ye had already centered the reticle of the scope on the Sky Snake, and force energy instantly filled the entire force array. Qian Ye held his breath, remained calm, and slowly pressed the trigger.

The Eagle Strike suddenly jolted, pushing Qian Ye and the chair back a meter, and the deafening boom echoed throughout the building! A dark red force energy bullet drew a faint trail in the night sky, hurtling toward the Sky Snake.

The Sky Snake was instantly terrified and could only rely on years of combat instinct to curl up, with force energy wildly erupting around him, forming a pale blue shield.

With a bang, the energy bullet shattered the force shield and then blasted the Sky Snake's massive body away. The overflowing force energy burned fiercely, and red sparks burst and fluttered down like fireworks. The Sky Snake flew several meters, crashed into the wall, and then slid to the ground.

At the moment of life and death, the Sky Snake managed to move, rolling to the side and crawling into the headquarters, hiding in a blind spot. Once inside, the Sky Snake immediately knelt on the ground and spat out a large mouthful of blood, which shot out several meters!

The Sky Snake swayed, fell to the ground, and fainted.

The Eagle Strike indeed lived up to its name as the king of snipers. Even at the extreme range, with its power greatly reduced, it still severely injured the specialized grade five Sky Snake. Although it was a grade four sniper rifle, its single-shot power was much greater than that of other guns of the same grade. In the empire's firearm classification data, the Eagle Strike's power was twelve, while that of a regular grade four gun was only eight.

Qian Ye could barely drive the Eagle Strike, and one shot consumed more than half of his force energy. This was still because his force energy was much deeper than that of other practitioners of the same grade. A regular grade three soldier could not use the Eagle Strike at all. In fact, the Eagle Strike was not even for grade five soldiers; it was the gun of professional snipers with grade six strength.

Qian Ye knew from the start that this shot wouldn't kill the Sky Snake, so he didn't even look at the aftermath, immediately got up, and put away the gun. He disassembled the still-hot Eagle Strike into two parts and rewrapped it. Then Qian Ye took out a small tube of stimulant, drank it, and immediately felt more energetic. The emptiness and burning sensation caused by excessive force energy consumption were greatly relieved.

Qian Ye walked out, and before leaving, he suddenly glanced at the few people tied up in the corner of the room. His instinct was to eliminate them, thinking that setting a fire would completely erase all live witnesses and clues. Qian Ye frowned and hesitated.

In the end, Qian Ye shook his head and rejected this idea. These four were civilians and could not see through his disguise. Even if they lived, they wouldn't be able to reveal much information. The Sky Snake wouldn't be able to find him with such limited clues.

Qian Ye pulled out a short knife, cut the ropes binding the four, and said in a low voice, "The more you know, the faster you die. So it's best to forget everything you saw just now."

After saying that, Qian Ye left the room and closed the door for them. After leaving, Qian Ye secretly sighed in relief. He knew that if the assessment of the risk of exposure had been too high, he would have eliminated them. But in his mind, civilians and soldiers were ultimately different.

Qian Ye walked down the narrow, dark stairs without haste. There were no extra open doors on either side, and the huge noise that shook the entire building seemed to have caused no special reaction. It seemed that the people here had already understood a survival truth: as long as misfortune had not knocked on their door, it did not exist.

As he turned a corner, a young girl suddenly rushed up from below, almost colliding with him!

In an instant, Qian Ye and the girl both sidestepped, passing each other.

Both felt a huge threat from the other!

A fierce dark red light flashed in Qian Ye's eyes, and his dark vision activated. His hand already gripped the hilt of the short knife at his waist. The girl, on the other hand, crouched, her hands spreading out.