Chapter 614: Catching Bullets Barehanded
After killing the Rebel Army ninja, Feng Luo, Jing Kong, and the others quickly returned to the spot where they could see the sixth research base.
As they did so, the team in front had already reached the sixth base that was situated at the edge of the valley.
Green Arrow and another Scout player zoomed in on the image on their recon meter screen, displaying the situation at the base which was brightened up by the light of a flare.
At the same time, the Rebel Army's clean-up operation of the sixth base was already nearing its end.
At the center of the valley, a group of scorpion-like creatures emanating a metallic glow under the moonlight, each with three tails that were over 1.5 meters long, was being grouped together by a group of NPC pirates wielding AK rifles.
Not far away from the scorpion creatures were around a dozen or so creatures that looked like large versions of the Hypertoxic Chameleon. They were large, each over ten meters in size, and they had fiery red scales and a sharp horn in front of their heads.
[Giant One-Horned Flame Lizard] Basic Level: 60 HP: 60,000. There were 17 monsters and each was a Commander Grade monster.
[Three Tail Split Shell Scorpion] Basic Level: 55 HP: 8,000. There were 432 monsters and 210 of them were Elite Grade monsters and above.
An NPC wearing technology spectacles, who was protected by several Pirate Heavy Armor Warriors holding raised shields, was controlling a device that caused each of the monsters to let out a loud roar.
Looking at the image on the recon meter screen, Phoenix and Big Pineapple looked very curious while the players from Nine Star Guild frowned.
"The Rebel Army has manipulated so many monsters. Under the command of someone, the monsters' combat strength is probably not any less than 300 elite players."
"What should we do? Should we just go ahead to kill that researcher NPC first? In that case, all the monsters might just lose control." Suggested a Nine Star Guild player.
Disagreeing with that suggestion, Jing Kong shook his head and said, "No, the defense is too tight. Moreover, it's impossible for them to only have one researcher NPC, they probably have others. Killing just one is meaningless."
"Compared to this researcher NPC, I think it might be better if we directly target this pirate captain. If we kill him, we could also earn some extra bonuses as well." The screen of Green Arrow's recon meter shifted and stopped to focus on a middle-aged NPC's face belonging to the pirate captain.
"Hawkeye Hawkes (Level 65 Commander). HP: 25,000. Federation A Grade Wanted Criminal. Bounty Amount: 10 million credits."
"10 million credits!" After reading that message, Big Pineapple's eyes widened as dollar signs filled his eyes. "I agree. As the leader, if we kill him, his subordinates will try to avenge him and chase us to their death. This is because avenging the death of the past captain is a shortcut to becoming the new leader."
"Where did you learn this? A movie?" Phoenix turned around and rolled her eyes at Big Pineapple.
However, even though Big Pineapple's suggestion was motivated by his greed for money, which was triggered after he saw the high bounty for taking the pirate captain's head, his reasoning was not completely illogical.
If they killed the pirate captain, it was highly likely that they would anger the rest of the NPC pirates.
"So, our first target will be the pirate captain then. Alright then, I'm going to activate the device. Everyone, please accept." Frontline Command said. At the same time, he had grabbed and used a Force Potion on himself. Then, he quickly clicked and brought out the device interface.
"Do you accept Frontline Command's command request?" Immediately after that, a popup appeared in front of everyone.
"Yes!"
After confirming their selection, the initially jammed comms device everyone had recovered in an instant. As long as they were not too far away, they could communicate through audio again.
The first message that was issued through the comms was... "Frontline Command marked Hawkeye Hawkes and listed him as the primary target to kill."
After that, as they shifted their sight toward the sixth base. The pirate captain, even among a crowd of over a hundred people, emanated an eye-catching red glow from his body. As such, it became incredibly easy for the players to pinpoint his location.
Target Mark. A skill for battlefield commanders.
Naturally, Feng Luo was one who felt the effects of the skill greatly. Whether it was the previous Quasi-Boss monsters or the Rebel Army ninja just now, their positions were quickly discovered by him after they were marked, and in a battle, it was incredibly useful.
Compared to using his sniping scope where only he could see the mark, the mark that could be projected into the vision of every player was a lot more useful.
In addition to that, the battlefield commander's device also had the function of obtaining all kinds of real-time statistics on the battlefield.
The enemy team's player with the highest damage output, heal or kills, as long as they were identified and then marked, it was safe to say they wouldn't be able to live more than a few seconds more after being marked.
"The commander, Frontline Command, used team support skill - Tactical Deceit." Another popup message came from their comms.
In the next moment, a guild badge appeared in front of every player's chest. It was a golden-winged badge with the characters "SK" carved on it.
To outsiders, the players on the battlefield would be considered as the core players of North City's SK Guild.
"This skill is just as useful in a group battle." Feng Luo and the others had disguised themselves as players from the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group before when they were in Silvermoon City. It was natural for him to know just how good a deceiving skill like this was on a chaotic battlefield.
"The profession - Battlefield Commander is quite interesting. It is no wonder it is a rare hidden profession."
There was no wonder why the people from the Nine Star Guild were so confident. If they did not encounter the Quasi-Boss monsters at sea and suffer considerable damages at the fourth base, the Battlefield Commander's presence in a group battle was definitely enough to increase their overall battle strength substantially in a true large-scale group battle.
...
After Frontline Command activated his custom device, the next battle stage belonged to the Snipers.
All seven of the Snipers in the team loaded their rifle chambers. Quietly, they aimed their guns at the enemy NPC pirate captain beneath them.
While Big Pineapple wanted the 10 million credits bounty a lot, since he couldn't take out his machine gun, he could only stay there and stare.
"Fire!"
"Puff, puff, puff..."
Frontline Command's voice was heard through the comms device.
Consecutive gunshots could be heard. Multiple sniper rifle bullets flew straight at the pirate captain who was standing right outside the entrance of the base.
However, the moment the sounds of the shots rang, the pirate captain who was standing in place suddenly raised his head. A hawk-like glare shot straight towards them as if piercing through the night sky itself.
Following that, he instantly shifted his foot sideways and then back. At the same time, a formless power seemed to surround his body.
"Discovered Force energy fluctuation." Jing Kong's Legendary Grade recon meter immediately sounded a Force fluctuation warning.
After this message was conveyed to Frontline Command's device, it was quickly sent as a notification that appeared in front of every player's eyes.
Among the seven sniper rifle bullets, six of them missed after the pirate captain moved one step away.
As for the last remaining 14.5mm caliber Armor-piercing Round that traveled substantially faster than the rest, just as it was about to hit, it was caught by a hand covered by a black hawk-shaped glove that was emanating a layer of Force fluctuations.