Chapter 37: Precision Bombardment

Chapter 37: Precision Bombardment

Xu Lie finally had nothing left to say.

He realized that his own ideas, as well as those of the administrators of Han Shui City, had been fundamentally flawed.

As everyone knows, to eradicate these blood skulls that cling to human settlements like bone‑eating maggots, the best approach is not to charge at them, but to lure them into attacking us.

Yet, from beginning to end, no one had suggested a way to kill the blood skulls’ leader, enrage the remaining ones, and drive them into a mindless assault.

Why was that? Had nobody thought of it?

No, that wasn’t it.

Such an obvious truth was within everyone’s grasp.

But for them, the matter was far from simple.

In most cases, the blood skulls’ leader does not charge with the horde; to kill him you must first breach layers of obstacles and clear out the ordinary terror‑warriors.

Such a course carries too great a cost; neither the Machine God Cult nor the Holy Blooded would waste their strength on a venture with no payoff.

And what if, like the Chosen Ones, we tried to bypass the terror‑warriors and strike the leader directly?

We lack the capability.

The Machine God Cult does possess some extravagantly powerful weapons, but their precision is nowhere near sufficient to support such a decapitation strike.

Wait a moment.

They don’t have it; do the Chosen Ones?

Xu Lie glanced at Chen Jian, who had already begun deploying the combat mission.

"We only have two extended‑range shells; ammunition is extremely limited, so we must use them where they count."

"These two shells, under ideal conditions, must achieve two objectives."

"First, without triggering an internal ammunition explosion, we must collapse the central tin‑roofed structure of the camp, cutting off the route for other terror‑warriors to reach the armory and preventing them from stealing our gear."

"Second, we must kill that… Blood‑Day General, letting him die in the most gruesome fashion before the eyes of the other terror‑warriors."

"To achieve these objectives, we must first gain control of the Blood‑Day General—or, as he’s also called, the Blood Lord."

"We must first constrain the Blood Lord’s movement, confining him to a limited area of operation."

"Therefore, Shen Yue and Lei Jie, you two must advance, close within effective firing range, and establish a suppressive fire position."

"There are two viable fire positions; I’ve marked them on the map—move out immediately."

"Understood!"

Without a hint of hesitation, Lei Jie and Shen Yue turned and departed, while Chen Jian continued speaking to He Shuo:

"Likewise, you must also provide fire suppression."

"But do not advance further; stay here, secure the best line of sight, and fire your 10‑mm sniper rifle at the Blood Lord."

"Your task is to deliver follow‑up shots if the bombardment fails or inflicts insufficient damage, using 12.7 mm rounds to shatter him—understand?"

"It’s only two kilometres; hitting a target the size of a tank should be no problem, right?"

"No problem!"

He Shuo nodded and continued asking:

"If the first shell aimed at the armory proves ineffective, does that mean I alone bear the responsibility for the lethal kill?"

"Exactly; if the first shell doesn’t collapse the structure, I’ll fire the second, and the task of killing the Blood Lord will then pass to you in sequence."

"Understood."

With no further doubt, He Shuo flung himself to the ground and, together with Chen Jian, launched the drone.

At a distance of two kilometres, the two drones hovered respectively at straight‑line ranges of 600 m and 1 400 m, at altitudes of 2 000 m and 1 000 m.

This configuration gathers, to the greatest extent possible, wind direction, temperature, humidity and other atmospheric data along the trajectory, maximizing the precision of both bombardment and shooting.

Moments later, the data streamed to the smart eyepiece; within half a second the PDA automatically computed the corresponding firing and bombardment parameters.

Chen Jian unfolded the brought‑along PBP201 on the ground, set it up, adjusted the bombardment parameters according to the armory’s location, then raised his binoculars and waited in silence.

In theory, emplacing two guns simultaneously would yield a higher rate of fire.

But the problem is that cold‑gun accuracy is hard to guarantee; rather than chase that limited improvement, it’s better to honestly pursue precise killing.

At that moment, Shen Yue and Lei Jie were rushing toward the target point, while Chen Jian’s gaze locked onto the Blood Lord at the camp’s centre, just in time to witness the “ritual” Xu Lie had mentioned.

A powerfully built terror‑warrior knelt half‑way before the Blood Lord, who brandished his iron spear and lightly tapped the warrior’s shoulder, as if bestowing a knighthood.

His movements were astonishingly swift yet remarkably gentle; from this alone one could gauge how exaggerated his strength and agility truly were.

He is truly not an easy foe to face.

Chen Jian thought silently, continuing to watch.

Moments later, a naked woman was lifted up and handed a blade forged from scrap iron.

He trembled as he stepped forward, using the small knife to slit the woman’s skin.

His actions were extremely restrained; the wound merely trickled a little blood.

Yet the woman was already in agony, writhing incessantly.

"I know what they’re doing now," Xu Lie said from beside him.

"You killed their squad leader; this is the appointment of a new chief."

"The chosen terror‑warrior must endure his bloodlust, continually tormenting the offering until she dies from blood loss."

"For a terror‑warrior this is a tremendous challenge; if he were not possessed of extraordinary will, after the first cut he would likely be unable to resist plunging his hand into the victim’s belly and devouring her entrails."

"A bizarre ritual."

Chen Jian nodded and then asked:

"So where do these offerings come from?"

"From nearby small settlements, careless lone merchants, or other varieties of blood skulls—many."

"Understood."

Chen Jian said no more; at that moment his earpiece crackled with the voices of Lei Jie and Shen Yue.

"Lei Jie has reached the designated firing position; conditions are good for opening fire."

"Shen Yue is in place; all set."

Chen Jian crouched to look at He Shuo, who replied softly:

"Parameters are good; we can fire."

"Fire!"

In an instant, Chen Jian pulled the trigger of the PBP201; the extended‑range shell screamed forth and plunged downward.

Almost simultaneously, gunfire erupted from the positions of Lei Jie and Shen Yue; through his scope Chen Jian clearly saw the Blood Lord’s body erupt in puffs of blood and sparks.

"Bang!"

He Shuo's 12.7mm rounds fired simultaneously; more than two seconds later, the bullets swept past countless buildings and trees, striking the Blood Lord squarely.

The armor on his left abdomen was instantly pierced, his muscles bursting open in a gash as wide as a washbasin.

Yellow fat surged out like liquid, followed quickly by the grayish intestines spilling into the open.

"Howl—"

The frenzied howl even drowned out the gunfire; the Blood Lord swung his iron spear, and several Terror Demons, still reacting, were flung aloft by the sheer force— the farthest one soaring more than ten meters!

Such terrifying power!

The Blood Lord charged recklessly, crushing the camp's structures underfoot, while at that very moment the landed mortar shells detonated.

"Boom!"

The armory at the camp's center collapsed instantly—no need for a second round!

Fortune had finally chosen to stand by my side!

Chen Jian immediately adjusted the parameters, and taking advantage of the Blood Lord being staggered by the blast, Shen Yue unleashed a precise barrage of long bursts, pinning the creature in place.

Perfect timing.

"Pfft!"

A soft sound, and the mortar shell arced skyward.

He Shuo continued firing at a steady rhythm, and after he emptied a magazine—

the mortar shell came down from the heavens.

It struck the staggering, fallen Blood Lord squarely in the belly.

Actually, Chen Jian hadn't aimed there, but hitting true was nothing compared to catching it true.

The next instant.

"Boom!"

The fragmentation grenade exploded, hundreds of shards like hundreds of knives, riding the immense overpressure, hurtling outward along the blast wave at astonishing speed, burrowing from inside out into the Blood Lord's muscles, then tearing through the skin to emerge.

The Blood Lord's body was as if sifted through a dense net; in an instant it lost all integrity, breaking into countless fragments.

Almost simultaneously, the overpressure blasted those fragments, along with blood and bone, into a fine spray that filled a hemisphere with a radius of over ten meters.

Blood rained down.

No corpse remained.

Only the blasted head rolled away.

Xu Lie stared, mouth agape.

If there truly were a blessing from the Blood God in this world,

then today he had witnessed it.

He turned to look at Chen Jian, only to discover, with horror, that the man's face bore a smile.

"Quite smooth!"

Chen Jian said satisfiedly:

"Shen Yue, Lei Jia, prepare to withdraw."

"When these Terror Demons fall into chaos, we'll move in to scavenge the leftovers!"

(End of chapter)