American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 337 Patterns of Modern Warfare

The felt cloth was opened to reveal a half-opened stone with a grayish-white surface and clear pine flower patterns and python veins. It was a jadeite rough stone with excellent appearance!

So that's how it is! Lin Yu'an and Xiao Li, who were on high ground, instantly understood the whole story of the transaction.

This seemingly old farmer, Uncle Gui, is actually an underground banker and middleman who operates between the legal and illegal worlds and has connections everywhere!
They then bought the wild animals from poachers with cash and immediately resold them, using the goods as a medium to exchange for more valuable jadeite rough stones from the buyers.

He profited from both sides, reaping astonishing profits in this barter trade.

Uncle Gui pulled out an old, powerful flashlight from his pocket, put on a pair of reading glasses, and instantly transformed into the most professional jade merchant.

Holding a flashlight in one hand, the beam of light was held close to the stone at a tricky angle, while the other hand gently tapped a key part of the stone, and the ear was pressed against it, carefully listening to the echo.

His gaze was focused and sharp, as if he could see through the thick layer of stone and see everything inside.

Mr. Wang stood there, holding his breath, not daring to even breathe loudly. Every word Uncle Gui uttered next would determine the final value of this stone.

Five minutes passed before Uncle Gui turned off his flashlight, took off his glasses, and said calmly, "The material from the Moxi Sha mine was cleverly placed to avoid several large cracks."

"However, the material itself is clean, the texture is old, and the translucency is good."

He paused for a moment, then gave his final assessment: "This stone can yield two decent high-ice floating flower bracelets, and the remaining scraps are more than enough to make pendants. I'd value this stone at three million."

"Three million!" Mr. Wang's face instantly lit up with ecstatic joy.

This price was two or three hundred thousand yuan higher than the estimates he had obtained from other channels! He immediately bowed and scraped, saying, "Uncle Gui, you have an eye for talent! This price is absolutely fair!"

Uncle Gui remained noncommittal, but turned to Sun Changji and his group, raised his chin, and said to Boss Wang, "This batch of goods is now yours."

Then, he turned back to look at Boss Wang and continued, "Your stone is worth three million, my goods are worth two million two hundred and thirty thousand, and I still need to give you a difference of seventy-seven thousand."

"I didn't bring that much cash with me in the mountains. Come to my Qishixuan teahouse in town at the usual time tomorrow to get it."

"No problem! No problem! I'll follow your instructions, Uncle Gui!" Boss Wang quickly agreed.

At this point, the three-way transaction involving the poaching gang, the underground bank, and the mysterious buyer has been completed. The evidence is irrefutable, and the perpetrators have been caught red-handed!

"Captain Yang, the main culprit has been found, all transaction procedures have been completed, and the chain of evidence is complete! We can close the net now!" From the high vantage point, Xiao Li relayed the latest information.

"You can make your move!" Yang Zhen finally gave the long-awaited order, his voice filled with suppressed anger and overwhelming force.

"At the same time, Eagle Eye immediately contacted the command center and notified the comrades deployed on the perimeter to close the net, seal off all exits from the mountains, and ensure that no one escapes!"

"Hawkeye received!"

The moment the order was given, the squad lurking in the mine revealed its deadly fangs.

"Don't move! Police!"

Yang Zhen and his five soldiers appeared out of their hiding places as if by divine intervention!

The dark gun barrels, coming from different angles, formed a net of fire that left no blind spots, instantly locking onto everyone in the arena.

This sudden turn of events completely stunned the criminals who had been engrossed in their monetary transactions.

Time seemed to freeze for a second, with only the soft rustling of banknotes falling from the young man's hand to the ground filling the air.

"Damn it! Cops! Grab your weapons!" The burly, dark-skinned man was the first to react. He roared and reached for the replica Type 54 pistol at his waist.

"boom!"

A crisp yet muffled gunshot shattered the tranquility of the mining area.

The burly, dark-skinned man's pistol, which he had only half-drawn, fell to the ground with a thud. A bullet pierced his palm with pinpoint accuracy, sending a spray of blood through him. He let out a scream, clutching his hand and collapsing to his knees.

The one who fired the shot was Yang Zhen, whose Type 92 pistol was still emitting a wisp of smoke, and whose eyes were as cold as ice.

"I'll say it again, everyone, get down on the ground, hands behind your head! Anyone who dares to move again will be shot in the hand next!"

Faced with heavily armed special forces soldiers exuding an aura of steel, these normally ruthless and vicious criminals completely lost the courage to resist.

Their homemade guns and hunting rifles, which they used to hunt wild animals, were simply laughable toys compared to these standard military weapons.

Boss Wang and his men, dressed as mountain tourists, were the most pragmatic. They were the first to raise their hands and tremble as they lay prostrate on the ground.

The remaining poachers, as if waking from a dream, dropped their weapons and lay down.

Only the old farmer known as Uncle Ghost remained standing in place, his cloudy eyes showing no sign of panic. He simply watched Yang Zhen quietly, his face even bearing a strange calm.

Two soldiers immediately stepped forward and used a military-grade high-strength plastic cable tie to bind the hands and feet of all the suspects lying on the ground behind their backs.

Once these cable ties are locked, they cannot be broken without a special tool.

"Reporting, Captain! All nine suspects inside the area have been apprehended!" a soldier reported loudly.

Yang Zhen nodded, his gaze shifting to the still-standing Uncle Gui, his gun still pointed at him, and coldly said, "You, get down!"

Uncle Gui glanced at Yang Zhen, then at his groaning subordinates and scattered banknotes on the ground, and grinned, revealing a sinister smile: "You...can't catch me."

As he spoke, he rubbed his nose with his index finger, as if wiping snot.

As soon as he finished speaking, an extremely strong sense of crisis suddenly gripped every nerve of Lin Yu'an, who was on the high ground where he and Xiao Li were!
This isn't something you can rely on your eyes or your ears; it's a sixth sense honed through countless brushes with death!

"Xiao Li! Something's wrong!" Lin Yu'an practically shouted. "Quick! Turn on the thermal imaging and scan the ridges around us from all angles! Hurry!"

Xiao Li was startled by Lin Yu'an's sudden reaction, but without hesitation, he immediately raised the drone to its highest point and switched it to thermal imaging scanning mode.

The images on the tablet screen changed rapidly, transforming the originally colorful mountains and forests into a thermal world composed of blue, green, yellow, and red.

“Scanning… Left ridge normal… Rear ridge normal… Right side…” Xiao Li’s voice suddenly stopped, and his pupils instantly contracted to the extreme.

"Found it! To Captain Yang's right rear, at the seven o'clock position, at another high vantage point! There's a separate humanoid heat source!"

He quickly switched back to optical imaging and zoomed in to the maximum.

In the image, a figure dressed in a ghillie suit, almost blending into the mountainside, is lying behind a rock.

What's most terrifying is the weapon in his hand: with its sleek lines, long barrel, and optical sight, it's clearly a Dragunov SVD sniper rifle!

"Sniper!" Xiao Li's voice boomed through the throat microphone like thunder in everyone's earpieces. "Captain Yang! There's an enemy sniper at the 7 o'clock position, on the ridge top! Everyone take cover!"

"The old farmer's strange words, coupled with Xiao Li's desperate warning, made Yang Zhen understand everything in an instant!"
The old farmer must have had his trump card for going to the meeting alone, and the sniper hidden in the shadows was his last resort!

"Take cover!" Yang Zhen roared, his body reacting instantly as he lunged toward a nearby abandoned concrete block.

But, it's too late.

The sniper was clearly not waiting for orders, but rather looking for the perfect opportunity to eliminate the witnesses. Uncle Gui made a gesture, which was the signal for his operation!

"puff!"

A dull sound, like tearing thick cloth, rang out.

The young poacher, who had been counting his money with his head down, suddenly jolted.

A vibrant bloom of blood erupted from his chest, near his heart. The greed and excitement on his face froze forever as he looked down at his chest in disbelief.

Then, like a piece of chopped wood, he fell straight backward, the banknotes beneath him quickly stained red with blood.

One shot to kill!
This bloody scene instantly ignited chaos within the venue.

All members of the Sharp Blade Squad immediately used the cover around them to dodge.

In that brief, chaotic moment when everyone was searching for cover, Uncle Ghost made his move!

That seemingly old body burst forth with astonishing strength and speed. In one stride, he rushed to his tricycle, nimbly climbed on, turned the key, and gave the throttle a sharp twist!
"Put-put-put..." The dilapidated tricycle roared and turned around, trying to escape onto the dirt road.

"Don't let him get away!" a soldier with lightning-fast reflexes roared, about to slip out from behind cover to give chase.

"boom!"

Another shot rang out! A 7.62mm sniper bullet, with a deadly whistle, flew past his helmet almost completely!

Finally, it slammed into the concrete wall beside him, sending a spray of concrete debris flying! The chilling killing intent made him break out in a cold sweat, forcing him to retreat hastily behind cover.

"Don't chase! Everyone find solid cover! Protect yourselves!" Yang Zhen immediately shouted the order, his voice frighteningly calm.

He knew perfectly well that any rash pursuit of an excellent sniper whose location was unknown was tantamount to suicide! The criminals, bound hand and foot, writhed like frightened maggots, desperately trying to find any place to hide, letting out screams of terror.

Mr. Wang scrambled to the back of an all-terrain vehicle in a panic.

The sniper's objective was clear: to create chaos, suppress the armed police, and cover Uncle Gui's escape!

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

The Sharp Blade Squad members were no pushovers either. Under Yang Zhen's orders, they ceased their pursuit and quickly repositioned themselves, taking cover behind sturdy bunkers.

Then, based on the direction of the gunfire, they carried out rough fire suppression towards the ridge where the sniper was located.

The situation on the battlefield instantly shifted from a capture to a passive standoff.

Yang Zhen hid behind a cement block, his eyes bloodshot with anger.

A suspect was shot dead right under his nose, the ringleader was on the run, and his own team members were being held down—it was a tremendous humiliation for him!

He yelled into the throat microphone, "Hawkeye! Why didn't you spot this sniper earlier! Answer me!"

"Report to the captain! It's my fault!" Xiao Li's voice was filled with anxiety and deep self-reproach.

“When we arrived, I conducted thermal imaging scans of all the high points, and we didn’t spot him! He… he must have just arrived!”

"It's very likely that the three-wheeled vehicles entered the mountain one after the other, and he quietly entered the sniping position while we were focused on the trading!"

"This time lag... I overlooked the importance of continuous vigilance! I request disciplinary action! I will definitely reflect deeply on this!"

Hearing Xiao Li's explanation, Yang Zhen's anger subsided considerably, replaced by a chilling sense of awareness.

He knew he couldn't blame Xiao Li; it was just a costly accident.

"Now is not the time to talk about this!" Yang Zhen's voice was calm and unwavering.

"You're not wrong, we all underestimated them! Who would have thought that arresting a group of poachers in China would lead to encountering a professional sniper of this caliber!"

"This incident has taught us all a lesson—we must never let our guard down when dealing with any criminal!"

He abruptly changed the subject, his tone becoming sharp: "Now, tell me, can you pinpoint his exact location?"

"Report, Captain! He's using the rocks for cover; we can only see the general area!"

“That’s enough!” A resolute glint flashed in Yang Zhen’s eyes.

He glanced at the tricycle that was almost disappearing at the end of the dirt road, then looked at the team members who were completely suppressed by sniper fire, and quickly made a decision.

The main culprit escaped, but a well-trained outlaw armed with a sniper rifle posed a far greater potential threat to society! This most deadly threat must be eliminated as a priority!
“I authorize you to use the bee stinger!” Yang Zhen’s voice was squeezed out through clenched teeth.

"Hawkeye, your mission is to use every means possible to keep that sniper on this mountain! Don't let him escape! Immediately! Execute!"

"Hawkeye received!"

Upon receiving authorization, Xiao Li's eyes instantly became focused and sharp. All his self-blame and regret transformed into precise and flawless execution at that moment.

He quickly took a long, rectangular drone from the equipment box beside him, skillfully mounted it on a portable launcher, and connected the data cable to his tactical tablet.

The screen instantly switched to an attack interface filled with a crosshair and various flight parameters.

"The stinger system has completed its self-check and is calculating its trajectory... Based on the enemy's last firing position and possible relocation path, the optimal attack route has been planned... The target area has been locked!"

Xiao Li took a deep breath and pressed his thumb heavily on a virtual red launch button on the screen.

"Bee Sting, attack!"

"call out--!"

A sharp whooshing sound rang out as the small attack drone left a barely visible trail behind it.

Like an enraged wasp, it leaped from the ridge with a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow, heading straight for the deathly land opposite.

Its speed was astonishing; it crossed the distance between the two mountain ridges almost instantly.

On the tablet screen, the image transmitted through the front-end camera of the Bee Sting was magnified rapidly, and the figure of the sniper lying behind the rock became clearer and clearer.

In his final moments, he seemed to sense something and suddenly raised his head.

Xiao Li stared intently at the screen and said in a low voice, "Old man, times have changed! In the past, snipers were ghosts on the battlefield."

"But now it's the age of drones. Any disguise or lurking in front of the data link is meaningless. Locking on means destruction."

The look of terror and disbelief on his face was frozen in the last frame. For this outlaw who lived by the law of the jungle, he had been defeated by an incomprehensible new era.

"Target confirmed, impact!"

The next second, on a distant mountain ridge, a ball of orange-red flame suddenly exploded!

"boom--!"

The deafening explosion echoed through the valley, even drowning out the earlier gunfire. Thick black smoke billowed into the sky, signaling the complete end of this deadly threat.

The entire mining area fell into a deathly silence in an instant.

"Threat eliminated!" Xiao Li's voice rang out in the communication channel, carrying a hint of relief after completing the mission.

Crisis resolved.

Yang Zhen immediately stood up from behind the cover, but his gaze did not fall on the bombed ridge. Instead, he looked at the end of the dirt road where Uncle Gui had long since disappeared, his face terribly gloomy.

He issued new orders: "Team One, proceed to the sniper position immediately, confirm the target's death, and conduct a site investigation! Hawkeye, maintain vigilance! The rest of you, check on the wounded!"

Two soldiers immediately set off, climbing towards the opposite ridge to check on the sniper. Meanwhile, two other soldiers quickly ran to the bound criminals to check on them.

The young man who was hit directly in a vital spot by the SVD had already lost all signs of life.

The blood soaked through the scattered banknotes beneath him, a stark and glaring sight.

Just then, a heart-wrenching cry echoed throughout the entire mining area.

The arrogant and domineering Sun Changji, who had just been so arrogant, was now like a mad beast, desperately twisting his bound body and struggling to crawl to the corpse.

Looking at that face that had lost all color but still retained a trace of youthful vigor, murky tears rolled down his fleshy face.

He burst into tears, his voice filled with sorrow and despair, but what he cried out stunned all the soldiers present.

"My daughter...my daughter!!"

The soldiers stared at him in astonishment. The young man with short hair and wearing camouflage who had been following him all along was actually a girl!

Sun Changji seemed to have completely collapsed, repeatedly banging his head against the ground, not caring at all as blood flowed down his forehead.

He kept repeating to himself, as if speaking to his daughter, but also as if speaking to himself: "Father was wrong... Father shouldn't have let you do this with me..."

"All I wanted was for you to be a son, to carry on our family line... Now everything is gone... everything is gone!"

He suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes filled with regret and madness, and let out a shrill roar at the sky.

"Heavens above! This is unfair! You're bringing our Sun family line to an end!"

The soldiers then realized that Sun Changji had raised his only daughter as a son for the sake of a vague and uncertain continuation of the family line, leading her down this path of no return.

Watching her die right before his eyes was more cruel and thorough than any punishment.

In another corner, Mr. Wang, who had survived, and one of his remaining accomplices simply watched this human tragedy with indifference.

The indifferent expression on his face contrasted sharply with Sun Changji's heart-wrenching grief, creating an incredibly ironic scene.

Yang Zhen's brows furrowed tightly. The tragedy before him made him feel physically uncomfortable, but he was even more aware of his responsibilities.

Although the sniper threat was eliminated, the perpetrator who caused this tragedy managed to escape during those precious few seconds of chaos.

This battle is not truly over yet.

(End of this chapter)