Night's Nomenclature
Chapter 316: Tunnel and Sniper

Return Countdown 120:00:00.

12 o'clock at night.

Several cars slowly parked on the roadside outside the ‘Microcosm World’ residential area.

One person got out of one of the cars. He casually observed the surroundings, then raised his hand and threw out a black button.

The black button tumbled and rotated in the air, firmly attaching itself to a surveillance camera.

In the car, a young man in combat uniform, with a metallic sheen on the outside of his brain, pulled out a data cable from his Cybernetic Limbs at his temple and connected it to a laptop in front of him.

The young man closed his eyes. Data streams rapidly flickered on the computer screen, far faster than any hand could type on a keyboard.

Once, Nangeng Chen wanted to be a hacker, but he later gave up...

Because he discovered a very serious matter: nowadays, Inner World hackers use their own brains as processors.

To keep up with others, one must connect Nanobots to Neurons and create data ports on the outside of the brain.

The human brain has always been underestimated. Many years after technological advancements, humanity realized that the brain possesses computational capabilities that ordinary processors cannot match.

The next moment, the young man removed the data port connected to the computer: “Solved. The surveillance is maintaining a still image, and the infrared alarm has also been deactivated.”

As soon as the words fell, twelve people jumped down from four new energy vehicles. They moved swiftly, grabbing onto the community wall and scaling into the Microcosm World residential area.

The leader was a burly man. He quickly confirmed the surrounding environment, then went directly to Building 2, Room 101.

This time, the assassins were clearly more professional.

When they arrived at the door with a password lock, one of them simply took out a small black box, about the size of a cell phone, scanned it over the door, and with a click, the door opened.

One person entered the house first to investigate, one guarded the entrance to the corridor, and another placed their ear against the door of Room 102, carefully listening to the sounds inside.

In Room 102, Jiang Yichen’s eyes were glued to the peephole, not daring to even breathe.

He stared wide-eyed at the scene outside the door, thinking to himself, what kind of people are his neighbors? A group came two days ago and didn’t leave, and now even more have arrived.

At first, he thought that the four people who had entered last time knew his neighbor, and the house opposite could very well be the secret location of some force.

But now he felt something was wrong.

Jiang Yichen watched the whole process of them sneaking in and unlocking the door—they were clearly here to kill!

Two minutes later, the assassin in Room 101 confirmed that it was safe. Then all the assassins filed in and closed the door tightly.

Only then did Jiang Yichen slightly relax.

He was full of doubts and uncertainty, not even understanding what was happening.

…

…

Qing Chen hadn’t left Autumn Leaf Manor since returning from Dragon Lake today.

Walking on the road, he always felt that the eyes of those hidden guards looking at him were a little strange.

At first, he thought he was being suspicious, until he saw two young Li Clan women who, upon seeing him, giggled and ran away…

As the two young women ran away, words like ‘huanxi sect’ and ‘immoral’ still drifted in the evening breeze.

Good news doesn't travel, but bad news spreads far and wide.

Qing Chen suspected that after a while, the Li Clan Intelligence Agency might send him a banner inscribed with “Person of Merit in Promoting the Li Clan’s Birth Rate”.

Back at Autumn Leaf Manor, Qing Chen selected several people every four hours to bestow his Knight True Qi on, using up all of his Knight True Qi at once.

During this time, he specifically checked the Bright Points on Nangeng Chen and Li Yino, and he found that the boy had inexplicably lit up two more.

This progress is too fast!

Before the return, Nangeng Chen might be the first to achieve the Greater Heavenly Cycle; now, even Li Tongyun, a cultivation genius, isn’t as fast as Nangeng Chen!

Fortunately, except for his Knight True Qi, no one else could detect how many Bright Points Li Tongyun and Nangeng Chen had lit up in their bodies. Even if they pretended to have just begun Cultivation, it didn’t matter.

Qing Chen muttered to himself, it seems that these two haven’t been idle during the day…

He just couldn’t understand why, although it wasn’t him but the students who were immoral, the reputation of the huanxi sect was ultimately borne by him.

After all, he hasn’t even been in a relationship!

The progress of Li Yino and Nangeng Chen's cultivation made Li Shu and others envious.

But envy is useless. They can’t find wives for the time being, so they can’t cultivate...

After all the students had left, a copper bell hanging on the southwest corner of Autumn Leaf Manor suddenly rang.

Qing Chen was stunned. He hadn’t expected that the true selfless bell would actually be hanging right next to him.

The old man said that he should rely on himself, but he actually left a backup plan for him.

Qing Chen knew very well that only two selfless bells in the entire Ban Shan Mountain Estate were real; one hung here, and the other was in Baopu Building.

Even the Secretariat didn’t have this kind of treatment.

Thinking that the old man even used such precious things to protect him, Qing Chen’s remaining resentment disappeared.

The old man said that the perception range of the selfless bell is three kilometers in radius; therefore, the assassins should have arrived.

…

…

Inside the house.

The burly leader looked around: “It’s very clean, indicating that someone has been here recently. The four people we sent earlier may have encountered a ‘ghost’.”

By ‘ghost,’ he meant that they encountered an ‘accident.’

This B-Class expert carefully inspected: “There’s no smell of blood, not a bit, it’s strange.”

Logically speaking, if someone had killed someone here and bled, then no matter how they cleaned up within two days, unless they used disinfectant to thoroughly clean the entire house, there would definitely be a smell of blood.

However, there was no smell of disinfectant, nor a smell of blood in this house.

“Could it be that our people didn’t die here?” an assassin frowned and analyzed. “Or, were they afraid of continuing the mission with us and being found and killed by the Li Clan, so they fled collectively?”

“It can’t be determined yet,” the B-Class expert said calmly. “First, let's find the tunnel entrance; then we'll know the answer.”

This group of people used very professional search methods. They didn’t even knock on the floor before directly finding the mechanism.

An assassin gently turned the vase on the coffee table, and a deep tunnel leading underground appeared before everyone.

“001, go in?” an assassin asked.

001 is the code name of that B-Class expert.

A total of twelve people were in this combat team, numbered from 001 to 012. The assassins were spies hidden in City 18. Even when acting together, the principle of confidentiality did not allow them to reveal their real names to their companions.

Only when the organization summoned them would they leave their ordinary identities and gather together, forming tactical infiltration teams.

“The tunnel has been found. Should we act, or should we report the missing personnel to the organization first and find the four of them?” 009 asked.

001, the burly man, pondered for a moment: “The organization has issued me a final ultimatum. The 081 Garrison’s mobilization was too sudden, and the organization urgently needs to know what is happening in the Ban Shan Mountain Estate.”

The remaining eleven assassins looked at each other.

The meaning of the final ultimatum was that they must complete the mission at all costs. If not, the life of each of them would be the price of not completing it.

And their families.

001 said in a deep voice: “There is no way out, enter the tunnel! I will escort you into the tunnel and then wait for you in the tunnel to support you. Remember, no matter how serious the pursuit is, you must escape back to the tunnel to pass on the information to me.”

The remaining eleven assassins replied in succession: “Understood.”

Having said that, the twelve people successively entered the tunnel, while 001, the B-Class expert, walked at the rear, cautious like a wolf.

The tunnel leads directly to the Ban Shan Mountain Estate. According to the map calculations, they need to travel 2.7 kilometers to reach the target area, and they don’t know what lies at the end of the tunnel.

What does 2.7 kilometers mean?

Even during the day, one would need binoculars to see a target 2.7 kilometers away.

001 looked at the tunnel walls. The reinforced concrete structure is sufficient to support the entire tunnel seven meters underground without collapsing.

Many of the tritium lamps on the walls were damaged, but strangely, 001 clearly identified that these tritium lamps were not naturally damaged, but rather broken from the outside.

Strange, who is deliberately damaging the tritium lamps?

But at this moment, a rumbling sound suddenly burst from the end of the tunnel.

The sound could not penetrate the surface, but in this narrow tunnel, it roared and howled like the tide on the Qiantang River.

A tungsten-core armor-piercing projectile streaked across the darkness in the straight tunnel. In an instant, four of the twelve-person tactical infiltration team were instantly pierced!

Blood mist exploded in the one-meter-wide tunnel. The assassins in the rear only felt a rain of blood showering down, staining their entire bodies red.

The assassins were startled!

Sniper!

There’s actually a sniper hidden in this tunnel!

Generally, snipers are located in the most open areas, possessing the most terrifying firepower suppression capability on the battlefield.

Who would have thought that a sniper would be hidden in this tunnel?

When the anti-materiel sniper rifle fired in this narrow and straight tunnel, the sniper didn’t even need to aim deliberately to achieve 100% effective lethality!

No matter how powerful you are, as long as you haven't reached A-Class, being hit by this shot is almost certain death.

The most crucial thing is that the armor-piercing projectile is too powerful; piercing through three or four people is like a game!

“Get down! The shooting point is about one kilometer away; it's difficult to hit a prone target!” someone roared in the tunnel. All the assassins lay prone on the ground and retreated towards the tunnel exit.

Getting down is wise because, when the range exceeds one kilometer, the prone assassins are blocked by the fallen corpses, and their movements are difficult to capture in the field of vision.

But the assassins looked back at the long tunnel behind them and immediately felt a wave of despair.

The assassins realized that this sniper was extremely vicious. The sniper had already discovered the tactical infiltration team entering but stubbornly waited until they had traveled nearly two kilometers before finally opening fire.

At this point, if they wanted to advance, they were still 1,000 meters away from the sniper.

If they wanted to retreat, they were 1,700 meters from the tunnel exit.

It seemed that there was only a dead end whether they advanced or retreated.

“Smoke grenades,” 001 said from the rear. “Throw smoke grenades to block the sniper’s vision, and we’ll crawl out quickly.”

Although smoke grenades weren't originally part of the plan for this infiltration, nor were they useful, how could these professionals not carry them with them?

Carrying extra weight is better than not having it when needed.

An assassin pulled the safety pin of a smoke grenade and forcefully threw it out; however, while it was still in the air, it was pierced by a sniper bullet.

The smoke agent that should have burned fully couldn't fully function after being pierced by this bullet, causing the smoke that should have filled the entire tunnel to become sparse.

“What kind of marksmanship is this? The opponent is at least 1,000 meters away, and at this distance, they hit a target the size of a smoke grenade? Moreover, it was forcefully thrown? Was it a coincidence?” an assassin asked.

“On the battlefield, don't expect coincidences,” 001 said calmly. “How many smoke grenades are left?”

“One.”

“Don’t throw it; just put it next to you.”

As soon as the words fell, an assassin immediately pulled the safety pin of the smoke grenade and placed it beside him.

However, the sniper bullet once again arrived as expected, forcefully piercing through a corpse and piercing the smoke grenade on the ground.

The assassins were startled; it wasn't a coincidence just now! The opponent actually judged the location of the smoke grenade from the location of the drifting smoke!

Fortunately, this time, the smoke agent of the smoke grenade wasn't completely dispersed, and the drifting smoke could at least obscure some vision.

“Crawl out, fast,” 001 roared. “This smoke grenade won’t last long. Crawl as far as you can.”

At this time, 001 had lost his previous confidence.

B-Class experts are indeed very powerful. In any organization, B-Class experts are among the highest-end combat power, belonging to the organization’s backbone.

However, this terrain is too bad; he couldn't even think of any way to successfully dodge the sniper bullets.

All of 001’s abilities were limited in this narrow tunnel, but the sniper wasn’t restricted at all.

The remaining eight people struggled to crawl outward, seeking a glimmer of hope.

They were all powerful Gene Soldiers, crawling on the ground as swiftly as snakes.

However, they had only crawled 700 meters when the smoke in the tunnel was blown away by the air ducts above.

“Shoot and break all the tritium lamps, so he'll lose his vision,” someone said. “Now we are at least 1,600 meters away from him. Few snipers can maintain accuracy at this distance. There’s only one way in this tunnel; we’ll crawl out in the dark, and it will definitely be fine.”

The only light source in this tunnel was the tritium lamps hanging on the walls.

The next moment, someone raised their hand and accurately shattered a tritium lamp.

But before he could turn his arm to aim at the next one, his hand holding the firearm was gone.

The sound of the anti-materiel sniper rifle was deafening in the tunnel, even at a distance of 1.7 kilometers.

The assassins were shocked. Not only was there a sniper hidden here, but this sniper could also accurately hit their hands at this distance!

This is a distance of 1,700 meters! What does 1,700 meters mean? Even in such a narrow tunnel, the sniper shouldn't be this powerful.

Such a sniper could easily win the shooting championship in any tri-service competition in the Federation’s army!

There are at least fifty tritium lamps at the other end of the tunnel; how many hands do they have to lose?

At the other end of the tunnel, Qing Chen had already opened the tripod at the front of the black sniper rifle and calmly lay prone on the ground.

The rumbling sound seemed to have no effect on him. His three auditory ossicles remained motionless, completely in a state of no vibration transmission.

The changes brought about by the nine Dragon Fish to Qing Chen were greater than he had imagined.

At this moment, Qing Chen suddenly stood up, held the black sniper rifle with both arms, and slowly walked forward.

He calmly pulled the trigger again and again, reaping these gifts that came to his door.

Qing Chen didn’t even care much about what level the opponent was. The old man’s words yesterday had made him think things through. True masters wouldn't use secret passages, nor would they dare to come to Ban Shan Mountain Estate to die.

Therefore, anyone who entered this secret passage could not withstand ‘Conquer with Virtue.’

Qing Chen moved forward quickly, step by step. It wasn’t that he was bold and liked to take risks, but if the opponent continued to crawl forward, when he wanted to shoot long-distance targets, the high-arcing trajectory of the parabolic projectile wouldn't be enough and would directly shoot the bullets into the ceiling.

The assassins heard the gunshots getting closer and closer. In their panic, two of the assassins simply stood up and tried to rush out of the tunnel as quickly as possible.

The two assassins stepped on the bodies of their crawling companions and ran forward. 001 muttered ‘stupid’ in his heart.

With a bang, the bullet pierced through both of them at the same time. It should be noted that these assassins were wearing light bulletproof vests, but the sniper could precisely hit the assassins’ necks.

The next moment, the two bodies fell exactly on the path where 001 and the others were crawling.

In other words, if they wanted to continue crawling out of the tunnel, they would first have to climb over the corpses and pass over the bodies.

In that case, they would all be exposed to the sniper’s vision.

001 said solemnly: “Don’t continue crawling; there’s only one way left—gamble! Charge toward him together and kill him! With my arm strength, even if you all die, I can lift two people as shields to charge forward. The bullet will pass through two people and at most only injure my muscles, so there’s a glimmer of hope.”

The assassins hesitated.

001 continued: “Think about your families. With this level of sniper in the tunnel, you are already doomed to die, but what about your families?”

The remaining five assassins gritted their teeth: “Kill him!”

001 said: “Okay, I’ll count down three times; we’ll all get up together and charge towards the sniper!”

“3.”

“2.”

“1.”

The five assassins stood up at the same time and charged towards Qing Chen.

However, 001 didn’t charge with them as agreed but stood up and rushed towards the tunnel exit like an arrow from a bow!

The sound of the sniper rifle rang out like thunder.

With the first shot, two of the suicide attackers fell, leaving three.

With the second shot, two more suicide attackers were shot through the neck and fell, leaving only one.

001 listened to the gunshots behind him and saw the almost close-at-hand exit; hope had already risen in his heart.

Third shot.

001 didn’t expect that Qing Chen didn’t bother to deal with the last attacker who was still charging but flew past the assassin’s neck, precisely hitting his neck.

The world went dark.

A rumbling sound faintly came from the tunnel.

001 understood that from the beginning, the sniper ambushing in this tunnel never intended to let any of them go.

No one knew that a crushing massacre was taking place seven meters underground in the upper three districts, and that the dead were B-Class Gene Soldiers, while the victor was a Cultivation practitioner who had recently been promoted to D-Class.

Qing Chen smelled the strong smell of blood in the tunnel and finally exhaled.

The B-Class expert’s mobility was too fast; he almost let him escape.

Moreover, he was lucky today. If the tunnel were slightly wider, with the opponent's mobility, it would be difficult for him to aim.

Even if his brain could keep up, his hands couldn’t.

Qing Chen felt relieved and vigilant. Before he reached C-Class, if he encountered a B-Class expert in the wild, even if he had a sniper rifle in hand, he had to be extra cautious.

At this moment, the Marionette on the boy’s wrist was eager to try; the transparent little snake raised its head, unusually excited.

…

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