Fatal Shot - Chapter 56

Chapter 55: High-Stakes Combat (Part 3)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Big Pineapple couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Killing two Sea Vultures with one bullet? Is that even possible?”
This was totally possible in reality, sniper rifle bullets had such strong abilities that they could pierce through not just two Sea Vultures but even ten, and it wouldn’t have been anything strange. However, in a game, this seemed completely impossible because in War, if bullets didn’t kill the target when it was hit, the damage will be “absorbed” by the target completely. In this situation, even if a bullet pierced through a target’s body and kept moving forward, the living object that was hit would only take mandatory minimal damage.
Unless this bullet’s damage was so high that it was enough to have more than half of the residual power after killing the target, then the bullet would continue to cause damage after it pierced through the target. But this kind of damage would be deducted forcibly. Even if it was initially over 1,000 points of damage, the second target would only receive damage of less than 100 points.
Therefore, with these few points of secondary damage, it was impossible to take down a Sea Vulture—in theory. So how could Feng Luo kill two Sea Vultures with his tenth shot?
Actually, at first, Feng Luo’s bullet pierced through the first Sea Vulture’s neck, creating 1,500 points of fatal damage—an instant kill. Then, with some leftover power after the bullet, it hit the other Sea Vulture’s wings, causing 60 points of white damage. What Big Pineapple and the others could not have guessed was that the second Sea Vulture hit by the stray bullet was also the wounded Sea Vulture that had been hit in the tail by Feng Luo’s sixth shot and had dropped to around 1,400 HP.
In the end, even though only 50 points of damage had been done, its HP was reduced to less than 5 percent and took on a “Heavily Injured” status. Therefore, two Sea Vultures had been taken down in one shot!
Moreover, while falling to the sea from 100 meters in the sky, the second Sea Vulture’s leftover HP was cleared due to the impact against the water, resulting in XP for Feng Luo.
“Two Vultures with one bullet!” A Light Armor Warrior with the ID “Neutron Star” smacked his lips and looked at Feng Luo admirably.
“What a pro!” said a female healer player named “White Crescent,” also looking at Feng Luo in awe.
Feng Luo lowered the M110 and looked at Big Pineapple with a big smile. “Well, how should this be calculated?”
“Huh? Damn! What is this?” Big Pineapple rubbed his head.
How could this happen? According to the game, it would normally be impossible to hit two birds. Moreover, it wasn’t just one hit. He’d killed two of them at the same time.
However, Feng Luo had not killed the second Sea Vulture directly. He’d only hit it, and it had died while falling to the sea. So, how many points should be given? Two? This was not suitable. Three points? Four points?
While Big Pineapple was still in a dilemma, Black Panther took the initiative and admitted his defeat. “I lost!”
The way he looked at Feng Luo was a complicated mix of frustration and shock. However, due to his pride as a Sniper, he took the initiative to admit his defeat. After all, following the rules of two hits with one shot, even if the latter Sea Vulture hadn’t been killed by being hit, Feng Luo should get at least three points.
“Pure luck!” Feng Luo said.
Black Panther’s look became serious suddenly. “This isn’t luck! Your first few shots didn’t miss because you couldn’t hit the target. They missed because you were experimenting. When you were shooting, you paid most of your attention on the boat, so the first few shots had weak results. On the sixth shot, you found what you wanted, so all four shots after that hit the target. The tenth shot even killed two targets. To be honest, I had already lost this contest when you started the sixth shot!”
Black Panther’s words caused surprise in the others’ faces. By most people’s calculations, it was impossible to shoot with high precision on a rocking boat like this. Did Black Panther mean that Feng Luo had managed to shoot precisely just now?
“How is this possible?” said Big Pineapple.
Big Pineapple stopped fussing about matters of points. After listening to Black Panther’s words, he immediately looked at Feng Luo’s face.
Feng Luo smiled faintly, not admitting anything, but also not denying it.
“I originally thought the three continuous shots were luck,” Black Panther said in a disappointed tone. “But when I finished shooting and watched your tenth shot carefully, I realized that when you were aiming, your body was swaying in a rhythmic pattern. Although the boat was affected by the wind and waves, the travel direction and speed did not change, and the wind’s strength and direction were stable, so this kind of rocking has a pattern. However, precise mental calculation and an astounding shooting instinct are needed to adjust the deviation caused by the pattern when firing, plus hitting the sea birds flying in the sky.”
“Are you two bullsh*tting?” Big Pineapple’s head swiveled back and forth between Feng Luo and Black Panther, looking left and right.
“I have to admit, I’m not as good as you are at this,” said Black Panther. “I never even considered overcoming the deviation caused by the wind and waves by adjusting using my body. Actually, I always thought that high-tech equipment like the solo combat assistive system could do calculations for large data in this kind of circumstance to correct shooting deviations.”
While saying this, Black Panther kept looking at Feng Luo’s eyes.
Listening to him, Big Pineapple looked at Feng Luo like he was looking at a monster. His facial expression at that time, if translated, would have been: I didn’t study much, but don’t you guys lied to me!
“I will compete with you again next time!” Finishing his sentence, Black Panther held his sniper rifle, turned, and walked toward the cabin.
After Black Panther left, Big Pineapple stared and Feng Luo and asked, “Do you have anything to say?” His face was full of curiosity, just like the people around them.
“Like what?” Feng Luo said with a smile.
The truth was roughly as Black Panther had described it—just not as incredible as the precise mental calculation he had described. Feng Luo did it mainly depending on one thing. Instinct!
Instinct was difficult to clearly describe. For example, in a baseball game, the right moment to swing at a pitch arose instinctually, but it was impossible to describe the feeling. Shooting was similar. For some excellent Snipers, the moment the bullet was fired, some already knew they could put away their gun.
This was because characters in games had much higher sensitivity with fully open perception, which was at a level several times that of reality. It wasn’t hard to grasp the concept of the rocking pattern and the degree of variation on the ship; the tough part was to overcome the shooting deviation from the swaying.
Feng Luo couldn’t have done it at first either, but half a day of training of shooting on a boat had helped him develop this skill. After his first shot when combat began, he had a faint feeling. After a few experimental shots after that, that “feeling” became clearer. On the sixth shot, his body absorbed the feeling completely. Then he’d had the latter four continuous hits!
Feng Luo believed that if Black Panther had continued trying, he also could have deduced this feeling.
It wasn’t easy to describe, so Feng Luo did not bother trying to explain. Instead, he said to Big Pineapple, “Hey, banker, time to settle the bill!”
“Settle? Oh… Settle…” Big Pineapple was shaken from his daze, then laughed. “Sh*t. I’m distributing now, huh?”
As everyone had placed their bets on Black Panther, even if he lost his silver crystal to Feng Luo, he could still have earned at least 10,000 Credits. He was the biggest winner of this high-stakes combat!
“Haha…! Sorry, excuse me. I’ll treat everyone a meal next time I’m back in Storm City.” While laughing, Big Pineapple speedily swept the money and the crystals on the table into his backpack with one slick movement. “Oh yes, this is yours!”
Big Pineapple was still rather trustworthy as a banker. Aside from returning the silver crystal placed as a bet by Feng Luo, he also gave him a Federation note of 1,000 credits.
Just as the two of them were distributing the money, the female Doctor known as White Crescent suddenly pointed towards the sea and shouted, “Hey! Look, there’s something behind us!”
“Hmm? Let me see!”
The telescope used by Big Pineapple was still on the table. Hearing White Crescent’s words, he raised it to his eyes and gazed behind the boat. A few seconds later, Big Pineapple let out a bewildered shout.
“F*ck! We’re in big trouble!”
Comments
darkoneko
darkoneko
The telescope ? Wasn’t it a pair of binoculars ?

samsta101
samsta101
Read the description of the novel please

Mere_Shadow
Mere_Shadow
True that I have a short memory despite me being 16

VIEW ALL COMMENTS
Rate this chapter

Vote with Power Stone
Chapter 56: Stingray
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Big trouble?”
Feng Luo repeated the words unsurely and lifted the M110. He then looked over the right side of the ship through the scope.
There was something in the water producing waves at a range of about 500 meters from the side of the cruise ship. A huge black shadow was swimming rapidly in the direction of the cruise ship.
The ocean in War was anything but a friendly place. If there were sea eagles in the sky, there were naturally even more monsters in the sea.
Strange creatures in the sea were naturally greater in size than animals on land. Plus, they were mysterious and threatening. Especially in the Gray Water territory, where there were many creatures that were contaminated and mutated. It wouldn’t be beyond expectations to see a mermaid with a human face.
However, the source of “big trouble” was obviously not a mermaid. It could be seen that its body was at least eight to nine meters in size. Such a giant creature chasing their cruise ship definitely was just not passing by.
“Warning! Warning!”
The crew in the observatory had noticed the situation and had triggered the alarm before the players even realized it. NPC crew members who could act as combatants during an emergency had already done their job. They then immediately drew weapons such as assault rifles from their respective places and prepared for the battle.
The six-barrelled electromagnetic machine gun placed on the rear deck of the ship was set up by one of the crew, but there was no shooting because the monster was too far away. With the degree of dispersion of the machine gun’s trajectory, it would take up to five or six shots to land a hit.
The monster in the sea was moving fast. Within 10 seconds, it had already reached a location that was three meters from the ship. They could see its true body through their telescopes and rifle scopes. 4
“What is this? A bat?” said Big Pineapple in a curious tone.
The appearance of the monster was indeed strange—completely different from a normal fish. Its body was not in vertical shape but was a giant, flat mass that looked like a great kite consisting of a triangle and a disc. The exposed part at the back was dark gray in color, scattered with white spots. Big Pineapple’s comparison was understandable. This creature did look like a bat, but it was a giant bat magnified 1,000 times.
Feng Luo and Big Pineapple were amazed by the strange fish at first due to their lack of marine knowledge. However, after some adjustments made by Feng Luo, his M110—loaded with the Eye of Thunder—allowed him to analyze the species of the monster.
Super Stingray (Level 55 Elite creature). A gentle creature, its weakness is the diamond-shaped area on its abdomen. Estimated 150,000 HP! 1
An Elite-grade creature over Level 50 was nothing to them, but 150,000 HP was certainly abnormal. Feng Luo rarely saw monsters with more than 100,000 HP unless they were Boss monsters. But looking at its body, which was nearly 10 meters wide, it made sense that such a giant volume of HP would be contained in his humongous girth.
Although the name “Super Stingray” sounded fearsome, the data tagged it as “gentle,” which indicated that it was not an actively aggressive monster; it would counterattack only in the event of being attacked. So how had they pissed off this monster?
“Wait, look at its direction. It seems to be moving from the direction where we made the bet with Black Panther. It can’t be… A bullet?”
After considering for a moment, Feng Luo did not discount this possibility. Back in another world, he had tried to fire at oblique upward angles of 45 degrees. The landing force of a bullet on a downward trajectory was not enough to kill a man, but it was enough to leave a deep mark. However, Feng Luo had also heard about incidences where shooting into the sky had resulted in accidental injury and even death.
“It couldn’t be… What are the chances?”
Feng Luo rushed to look at his system log and found out that within a few seconds of his fifth shot, the system had issued a prompt showing that he had dealt 23 damage to an unknown creature.
“Wow! What a coincidence,” said Feng Luo while laughing. However, he immediately decided to remain silent. He couldn’t risk admitting that this big guy had been attracted by his shot! 2
As the Super Stingray drew closer, an NPC crew member suddenly shouted in panic after getting a clearer view of it. “God, it’s a Stingray!”
“Why panic? It’s just a Level-55 Elite monster,” Big Pineapple said calmly. “Don’t be scared by its size. We have so many people here that even if it was a Level-50 Commander-grade monster, we could still manage to kill it!”
“That is a Stingray—the devil in the sea!” said the NPC. “Whenever a ship in the sea triggers one, it gets turned over and sinks into the sea. This is the wrath of the God of that Sea who punishes those who disrespect the sea by sending the Stingray!” 1
“Cut the nonsense!” Big Pineapple scoffed in disdain. “Don’t talk about God and the devil in this modern era. As an NPC in a high-tech game, such superstition is not necessary—” But he cut himself off, suddenly crying out, “Did you just say it will overturn the ship?”
“Yeah, it will!” said the NPC. “If the God of Sea is angered, the Stingray will sink our vessel!”
The NPC crew nodded.
The Big Pineapple began to freak out. “God! We must eliminate it as soon as possible!”
The sea currently stretched on with no end in sight, and players in War were not invulnerable to water. If the boat turned over, they would all lose one level’s worth of experience. He would be devastated if he lost the experience.
Boom!
A dull gunshot was released from Feng Luo’s M110 before Big Pineapple even finished his sentence.
−444
A low damage value flashed before their eyes. From the perspective of superstition, this number was unlucky! 1
The next moment, the Stingray revealed an ability which confirmed Feng Luo’s feeling of being unlucky after taking the shot. The wing-shaped fins on the sides of the Super Stingray began to flap intensely, accelerating its movement speed. After swimming for more than 10 meters, it jumped out of the water with a bang. 4
Seawater flowed like a waterfall from its body, but the Stingray had already burst into the sky as high as 20 meters. Who had ever seen a fish flying in the sky? Let alone a fish resembling a bat and weighing several dozen tons.
The Stingray’s skin was smooth, and as the sea water refracted the evening sunlight on the horizon, it produced a magnificent sight. After bursting into the air, its entire body stretched flat. The surface of the two wing-shaped fins was covered with a sheen of water energy. It was like a glider flying from the surface of the sea straight toward the cruise ship.
No—it didn’t look like a glider. It was more like a bomber!
Boom!
After the Stingray slid through the sky for more than 100 meters, it dropped again. The broad body slammed down with the force of a bomb blasting in the sea. A wave two to three meters high was sent outward from the location of its landing, accompanied by light blue water energy that spread out in rings. 2
The wave hit the tail of the cruise ship after a few seconds, and a sudden impact made the entire body of the ship shake heavily.
Obviously, this was a certain skill belonging to the Stingray! It was strong enough to use the waves with water energy to shake the hull even though it was far away. If it flew and struck the ship’s side, it was very likely to cause the cruise ship to overturn.
This “flying bombing skill” stunned the players. The Stingray’s location relative to the cruise ship was now closer, at a distance of 150 meters. 1
“Fire! Fire now, everyone!” Big Pineapple yelled loudly, ordering the NPC crew to attack with their weapons.
Sha…! Sha…!
The six-barreled electromagnetic machine gun at the stern began to rotate at high speed. At the same time, the crew who held other firearms also started firing. Hundreds of bullets were shot toward the Stingray. Icy Glaze and Feng Luo, as the players with remote attack abilities, also unleashed attacks, firing bullets and ice arrows at the Stingray.
However, their attacks were all wasted! The Stingray did not appear on the surface of the sea again after falling into the water but disappeared from the players’ vision before the bullets!