The Undying Transmigrator

Chapter 10: Sniper Duel

The gap between military-grade augmentations and civilian-grade augmentations far surpassed that between a fully armed mercenary and a club-wielding primitive.

Military augmented individuals must be new humans at their core, with reaction speeds and augmentation adaptability far exceeding old humans. When paired with cutting-edge technology only new humans can handle, the results are downright terrifying.

Legends claim military augmented can catch bullets bare-handed, spit acid that melts heads from hundreds of meters away, toss hundred-ton vehicles like toys, run at supersonic speeds, and that the strongest among them can single-handedly dismantle war machines.

Even if the legends exaggerate, and flesh wrapped in metal can't surpass pure metal, the capabilities of military augmentations shouldn't exceed military robots by much. But the hostile mercenary believed such monsters could easily screw him over single-handedly.

He considered abandoning the mission outright, swallowing the losses to avoid wasting resources only to die here—especially with another ambush waiting ahead.

But his quick thinking soon realized the sniper opposite wasn't that powerful. No additional drones had opened fire, and not every shot hit the most critical nodes in the beast horde.

Oh, and the landmines weren't detonated prematurely—only when his armored vehicle approached them did they explode.

"Seems only attacks directly aimed at him trigger pinpoint counterattacks?"

Accepting this conclusion meant his earlier plan to kill the sniper first was classic idiocy. But if it meant completing the mission and securing the cargo, looking stupid beat total failure. Besides, military-grade counterattack plugins were preferable to an actual military augmented standing there.

Based on the sniper's reaction time between counter-sniping and detonating mines, the hostile mercenary estimated he could respond to threats within 0.8-1.2 seconds, with a sensory radius exceeding 300 meters.If the kill radius exceeded the distance the sniper could evade within his reaction time, even without real-time target adjustment, one blast could finish him. His movement speed wouldn't exceed 25 meters per second.

Useless intel for now, but he relayed it to the gang leader anyway—the next ambush might exploit this.

For now, his only option was containment.

The hostile mercenary hidden in yellow sand hugged his beloved anti-material rifle tighter, diverting more attention to controlling monsters and drones. But watching his targets move further away, knowing loot he could've claimed alone would now be shared, frustration gnawed at him.

Mo Wen knelt on the vehicle roof, reloading.

The Dreamweaver Mk.I fed scout drone visuals directly into his eyes.

His many brushes with death made him exceptional at counterattacks, but didn't mean he'd neglected other skills.

Keen observation revealed numerous sniper drones still hiding among monsters in the sand, their subtle differences detectable. To avoid alerting their controller into hiding them better, he didn't rush to destroy them all—just eliminated some.

To control so many monsters and drones at close range, at least one skilled remote operator had to be nearby.

Mo Wen had confirmed online that civilian mercenaries required proximity for drone control—otherwise signals grew unstable and prone to interference, especially when handling multiple drones.

Meaning, killing this operator would cause severe lag and errors even if authority transferred, neutralizing the bioweapon monsters.

But catching someone deliberately hiding required patience.

Soon they'd break through this zone, and the hidden mercenary might make one last desperate move.

"FUCK!" a gang member roared over comms. "My wheels can't take it—took multiple sniper hits. Slowing down."

They'd recently purchased a corporate armored vehicle for convoy security. Two gang members manned the rear armor and cargo truck respectively, while Mo Wen and the gang leader rode the lead vehicle.

The cursing member was in the rear armor.

Mo Wen saw his vehicle slowing despite the gang leader's drones clearing monsters around it. Gradually, it became surrounded.

Finally, a monster latched onto the armor's side.

Even after being gunned down, more followed, mutant limbs grasping the vehicle. Some reached bulletproof windows, pounding cracks into them.

"Shit shit SHIT! Goddammit, they're getting in!"

The gang leader remained calm. This member was clearly done for—no time for tire changes, and he wasn't that important anyway.

Death was nothing new; he'd grown accustomed.

But that didn't mean reversal was impossible.

Above, a scout drone exploded, briefly depriving Mo Wen of aerial vision. Its replacement soon rose, but thermal signatures now appeared completely different.

The mercenary crawling from deeper sand toward the surface finally chose exposure, watching through drone cameras as the convoy nearly escaped cleanly.

Mo Wen's sharp eyes instantly locked onto the only human-like heat signature beneath sand. He switched to his 40mm grenade rifle and fired.

The exceptional recoil staggered even him. The grenade's devastating blast obliterated the target instantly.

Except it wasn't the mercenary—not humanoid at all.

Six spider-like legs burst from sand as the hostile mercenary leapt skyward, his head mounted beneath his torso-like base. He took aim at the lead vehicle, ensuring collateral wouldn't harm Mo Wen.

His beloved weapon's power could halt that vehicle instantly, blocking the cargo truck behind it. Then numbers would overwhelm them—mission accomplished, cargo secured.

This payout would cure his augmentation sickness... make him a "real human" again...

Then a rocket struck, flames engulfing him before he could fire.

He died.

The gang leader's rocket drone had attacked.

With their controller gone, monsters besieging the rear armor self-destructed en masse via internal mechanisms. The slowed armored vehicle crushed through corpse piles, finally safe.

Mo Wen destroyed the last enemy drones before returning inside, praising the gang leader: "Nice work. How'd you spot him? I thought he'd be humanoid—just hit a decoy."

The gang leader sighed. "An acquaintance."

Ah. Familiar. Well, extra familiar now. Mo Wen figured further questions might be inappropriate.

But while Mo Wen held back, the gang leader had one: "You noticed more sniper drones earlier, didn't you? Let them be to hunt the mercenary?"