Long Zhan activated the laser pointer mounted on his rifle and stood up, reappearing on the railing.
The laser beam, visible only through night vision goggles, stretched like a thin, long antenna from the rooftop straight to Clay's chest, some seventy or eighty meters away.
Clay was crouched by a window in a house, pondering how to seize the armed pickup truck.
When Long Zhan's bright laser shot over, it was impossible for him to miss it. He immediately switched on his own laser, aiming it back at Long Zhan to signal that he received it.
"Okay, quick reaction. That's good news."
Long Zhan muttered to himself, keeping the rifle steady with his left hand while his right hand reached for the switch on the IR laser pointer, beginning a rhythmic on-and-off sequence.
"Morse code?"
Clay loved the spotlight and had a strong competitive streak, which was a flaw, but it couldn't overshadow the fact that he was indeed an excellent trainee. He instantly understood Long Zhan's intent.
That split-second reaction alone proved his potential.
Proficiency in Morse code, an intelligence specialty, wasn't a requirement for the SEALs.
Long Zhan had learned it purely because his brain was just that sharp now. Plus, serving in the U.S. military meant having weekends off every week, along with various other holidays.
In this world, he had no family or friends, leaving him with too much free time.
Boredom led to idle pursuits. Aside from the occasional outings to hook up and satisfy his physical needs, he spent most of his time learning miscellaneous skills and major global languages.
Clay, on the other hand, majored in intelligence communications, so mastering various codes was fundamental for him.
As Long Zhan's laser flickered in long and short bursts, Clay gradually deciphered what Long Zhan was trying to convey.
"You provide fire support, I'll handle seizing the armed pickup truck, rendezvous at the alley’s exit for withdrawal?"
Clay's heart leaped with joy at this plan.
The reason Clay had become a lone wolf again was that during the sudden heavy machine gun barrage earlier, he'd taken a glancing hit from a stray bullet.
The round grazed the right side of his chest, nearly killing him on the spot.
Fortunately, buffered by his communication device, blocked by his heavy bulletproof vest, and deflected by the bulletproof plate, three layers of protection, the bullet was ultimately bounced off the plate and flew away under his armpit.
That was why Clay couldn't respond when Jason and Long Zhan called him one after the other.
Though he'd survived, even if it was just a ricochet off the wall, it was still a heavy machine gun round. It carried immense kinetic energy.
The stray bullet struck the inserted plate and bounced away, but the impact force still penetrated through, slamming into the right side of Clay's chest. It felt like a car had hit him. He gasped, unable to catch his breath, and collapsed to the ground.
It took a full four to five seconds for him to recover and stand back up again.
By then, the rest of Bravo Team had already run far ahead. In the darkness, with the armed pickup truck's poor visibility, no one noticed Clay on the ground.
Eager to prove himself, Clay watched the armed truck drive past him and couldn't help but have a bold idea.
What if he sneaked up and stole the truck?
From this alone, it had to be said that Clay, in his current hot-headed, competitive phase, was strikingly similar to the unconventional Long Zhan in certain ways.
Both their minds conjured up dangerous ideas that ordinary people wouldn't even consider.
Clay not only thought of it, he also acted on it.
Leveraging the advantage of his night vision goggles and years of grueling training, Clay smoothly made his way to the back of the truck.
The reason he was hiding here now, hesitating to move, was that there were too many people around the truck. He couldn't do this alone.
Long Zhan contacting him now, expressing the same desire to seize the armed pickup truck, struck a chord with Clay.
Without any hesitation, Clay immediately activated the laser pointer on his rifle and responded to Long Zhan with the same Morse code.
"I'm ready, I can act anytime."
That was Clay's reply to Long Zhan.
"Sonny, Clay's agreed to the plan and he's ready. We can start. Same as before, that heavy machine gunner's yours, the nearby infantry are mine."
Long Zhan added, "Oh, right, if possible, I'd like you to aim a bit more precisely. I want to play with that old antique from last century afterward. It’ll be fun."
"You won't get the chance, I like that old beauty as well, haha."
With a way to break the deadlock, Long Zhan's mood lightened, and Sonny's spirits clearly lifted as well, a familiar smile curling his lips.
As he spoke, he stood up and rested his gun on the railing.
Through the 3x magnifier of the Eotech G33, peering past the holographic sight's red dot reticle, he locked onto the machine gunner's chest.
Beside him, Long Zhan was equally prepared, propping his gun on the railing.
Two muscular, burly men, holding nearly identical light machine guns, each locked onto their designated targets.
"Counting down, three, two, one!"
Sonny held his aim and counted down, pulling the trigger as soon as he reached one.
Long Zhan fired at the same instant.
Tat-tat-tat!
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
With both of their muzzle flashes erupting at the same time, a 3-round short burst followed by a 5-round long burst, 8 venomous snake-like bullets in total flew out to their targets.
Sonny lived up to his role as Bravo Team's veteran machine gunner. Even at long range, two of his three rounds hit the target.
The first struck dead center on the chest, the next, due to the rifle's natural recoil jump, landed on the target's mouth.
The mouth being a vulnerable spot, meant that the target’s entire lower jaw was blown off, turning into a gruesome bloody crater in his face.
For long-range short bursts with a machine gun, aiming low on the target first ensures higher hit rates for follow-up shots, a basic technique.
Sonny's first-shot accuracy demonstrated his mastery in this regard.
On the other hand, Long Zhan performed outstandingly as well.
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