booktalesy Chapter 16 Li Wei's Duel
Chapter 16 Li Wei's Duel
Although half of his face was covered by sunglasses, that familiar yet unfamiliar smile was undoubtedly Claude's.
It's familiar because, for a whole year out of Li Wei's twenty-five years of life, he saw it every single day.
The stranger, however… this time, the smiling master wasn't there to pull him out of a life-or-death crisis, but to kill him.
After Levi saw the figure on the computer screen, he immediately located Claude and, without hesitation, picked up "Linda" and ran downstairs.
Not the Marriott Spring Hotel! But... right beneath his feet!
Claude actually gave up his greatest advantage and did not use the "sniper tactic"!
Confidence? Or a trap?
Li Wei didn't have time to think things through, because Claude, who had "lost his principles," might suddenly pull out a gun and start shooting in the street in order to attract his attention.
Just like... he once taught him to use a sniper rifle to shoot bottles to attract the enemy's attention.
Li Wei quickly arrived at the place where he first saw Claude, armed with a gun. His fully armed appearance terrified passersby, many of whom immediately crawled on the ground and covered their heads.
Li Wei neither explained nor paid attention, but stared intently at the medal of honor on the wall.
It was still nailed to the wall, but this time it was a bald eagle that flew through it.
The second one... is a "road sign"!
Li Wei immediately followed the fork in the road.
He hadn't run far when he reached the second fork in the road and saw a Distinguished Service Cross pinned to the wall.
Keep chasing!
Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Legion of Merit, Outstanding Service in National Defense, Global War on Terror Expedition.
Claude has received almost every medal in the United States, and many of them have more than one.
In addition, there is the Frankish Cross of Valor, the Norwegian Order of St. Olaf, and some foreign medals that Levi was not familiar with.
These things seemed to constitute the entirety of Claude's life, but now they are all nailed to the wall, one by one.
[Mission: Retreat!]
[Reward: Gene-modified injection (exclusively for treating brain tumors).]
The system popped up again, but Li Wei completely ignored it and continued his search.
Finally, guided by a Marine Corps Medal of Merit, Li Wei chased after the abandoned textile factory.
"Bang!"
The moment I stepped through the gate, a gunshot rang out.
Li Wei, however, seemed to have foreseen the shot. Before the gunshot rang out, he leaped forward and threw himself behind a concrete pillar as cover.
"Bang!"
After the second gunshot, fine stone fragments covered Li Wei's head.
"Bang!"
With the third gunshot, Li Wei was pinned behind a concrete pillar and unable to move.
"Bang!"
With the fourth shot, the concrete pillar, unable to withstand the sniper bullet's devastation, partially collapsed, revealing Li Wei's neck.
Li Wei quickly seized the opportunity after less than a second of pause, rolled over, and went behind an abandoned textile machine.
"Bang!"
As he rolled, the fifth shot rang out. Li Wei, who had already reached the cover, looked down at the wound on his waist, pulled out a medical kit, and roughly stuffed it with gauze.
Damn it! I knew playing "ranged" with Claude would turn into this "fishing duck" situation!
Li Wei cursed inwardly, but the bullet he took wasn't entirely in vain.
The M40A3, Claude's "old buddy," is a single-shot bolt-action machine gun with an internal magazine, a 5-round capacity, and manual loading.
The interval between the fourth and fifth shots was noticeably longer, indicating that Claude still maintains his old habit of keeping one bullet in reserve in the magazine and reloading after four shots.
In other words, if Claude fires four more shots, he will still choose to reload unless he is absolutely certain of success.
If you can use the "window of opportunity" of about 3 seconds to suppress him with "Linda's" automatic firepower, you can get close to him and close the distance between you.
At worst, it could force Cloud to relocate, preventing him from becoming a "duck" that can only be shot at.
The plan is complete, but the challenge lies in surviving Claude's "four shots" to achieve the tactical objective.
And, to prevent Claude from having the chance to fire a "fifth shot".
The latter is no easier than the former.
On the brink of life and death, Li Wei stretched his neck.
This time, he truly felt like he was racing against "Death".
Therefore, he chose to travel light.
Simply pull open the quick-release buckle on the side of the bulletproof vest and take it off.
They also removed all tactical grenades and other equipment.
In the end, apart from two rifle magazines and one pistol magazine, only the Ka-Bar 1218 combat knife was left behind.
"Claude, let's have some fun... The winner leaves alive, the loser goes to hell."
Li Wei spoke softly, licking his lips.
Taking a deep breath and smelling the scent of his own blood, Li Wei suddenly and without warning slipped away from his cover and fired two short shots at the second-floor beam.
He then immediately slipped back behind cover.
"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out almost simultaneously, severing several strands of Li Wei's hair.
Claude has indeed moved; his new sniping position is... at six o'clock, on the second-floor repair platform!
Li Wei sprinted towards the stairs, while simultaneously firing his gun to suppress the machine repair platform on the second floor.
But after running only four steps, Li Wei hid behind another concrete pillar.
"Bang!"
The second shot rang out, grazing Li Wei's cheek amidst his relentless suppressive fire. The blast from the bullet blew off half of the bandage on his face.
Li Wei withdrew his arms, ripped off the band-aid and threw it away, and replaced it with a second rifle magazine.
"They did indeed build cover."
Levi's prediction of Claude's plan was correct, but the reality added another layer of difficulty to the execution of the tactics.
But Li Wei did not hesitate, because hesitation would not change the disadvantage; on the contrary, it would create room for Claude to think and exacerbate the disadvantage.
Li Wei took a step forward, leaving the concrete pillar, and fired two more short shots at the machine repair platform on the second floor.
But then, instead of continuing to approach the stairwell, he slipped back behind the concrete pillar.
"Bang!"
The third shot rang out, hitting a distance of about four steps from Li Wei.
The shot went way off target, but Li Wei couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat... If he hadn't retreated to cover and had continued running towards the stairwell, that shot would probably have hit him.
However, this also illustrates a problem: Claude was acting alone without an observer to assist him, so his field of vision was limited, and he could only anticipate Claude's movements to shoot.
This is his biggest, and his only, chance!
Li Wei once again leaped out of the cover, suppressing the second-floor repair platform with fire as he ran.
However, after running a couple of steps, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Bang!"
The fourth shot finally rang out, and the bullet struck right at the top of the stairs.
Li Wei started running wildly towards the stairwell like a madman.
Forget about suppressive fire and serpentine movement!
These were three seconds he risked his life to win! Li Wei chose to squander them!
However, the moment Li Wei ran to the stairwell...
"Bang!"
The fifth shot rang out.