Top Warzone Analyst Chapter 13

Although the general direction has been set, the situation is still not very optimistic.

At present, there are three challenges standing in Cheng Feng’s way.

First, there is a shortage of personnel. Second, the combat capability of the few members available is essentially negligible. Third, among these negligible members, some lack a sense of direction.

Cheng Feng never really expected these people to familiarize themselves with or remember the map; he only hoped they could understand the most basic commands and respond promptly.

However, after a test, it turned out that some of them couldn’t even distinguish between east, west, north, and south. They would first look up at the sun’s position before making a judgment.

But in the abandoned urban area, the tall buildings might block the view of the sky, and the deserted streets lack clear landmarks for differentiation. By the time they finished a series of movements, they still wouldn’t know where they were – and they would already be gone.

Twelve people were running in a daze through the intersecting streets on the edge of the urban area. In the end, only a mere three met Cheng Feng’s test requirements.

These three ran fast enough, with agile limbs and quick reflexes. Importantly, they completely trusted Cheng Feng’s commands, going wherever she directed without overthinking.

But this wasn’t enough.

They needed external support; otherwise, it would be difficult to execute any strategy.

Cheng Feng organized on the public channel. “Teams of three or more, please report your numbers now. After confirming safety, switch to our channel. We need to cooperate to ensure minimal casualties.”

The public channel had been quiet for a long time, feeling quite oppressive. It only started to liven up after her voice rang out.

“What’s with this voice? Is it an examiner?”

“There are four of us here. Our ID comm number is XXX…”

“We have a ten-person team channel here. How about you merge into ours?”

“What’s the use of joining a channel? We can’t even rendezvous.”

Cheng Feng was about to pull the suitable candidates into the channel when Jiang Linxia’s unmistakably annoying voice rang through her earpiece.

“Cheng Feng? What are you up to? Afraid we’ll eavesdrop? No need for that. How could your big brother ever do something like that?”

The buzz-cut guy interjected, “…Saying that in our public channel – doesn’t your conscience bother you?”

Jiang Linxia drawled with exaggerated sarcasm. “I’m just concerned about my juniors.”

Cheng Feng ignored him and said to her new teammates, “I’m coming to get you.”

The person on the other end asked, “Where are you? How will you get here? If you come with a lot of people, you’ll easily attract the seniors’ attention. Better not come.”

Cheng Feng said, “It’ll just be me.”

The buzz-cut guy anxiously chimed in, “Boss, then what about us?”

Cheng Feng, in the midst of mentally reconstructing the map, casually replied, “I’ll find you all a pit first.”

The buzz-cut guy shivered.

Surely he didn’t think they were so useless he was just going to find a pit and bury them, right?

…

Jiang Linxia glanced at the time, felt bored, and yawned. “Three hours. Let’s fool around a bit more and then head for dinner.”

Xiang Yunjian, with his eyes half-lidded, nodded in agreement.

From half an hour ago, upon realizing they couldn’t snag any kills, these examinees had started slacking off. Either they were hiding in the shadows or scurrying around the map. There were hardly any active players left in the testing ground.

The trio had no time to play cat and mouse with them here; it was uninteresting and meaningless.

Jiang Linxia’s gaze swept across the distance when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a dark figure darting past the intersection, dashing towards a collapsed, abandoned building diagonally opposite them.

He immediately lowered his center of gravity, concealed himself, and chuckled softly, “Isn’t that Cheng Feng? Those little short legs sure can run fast.”

Xiang Yunjian and Xin Kuang also took notice and moved to the window, observing Cheng Feng’s movements through the narrow field of view.

“It’s just him alone.” Jiang Linxia indicated the direction Cheng Feng was in with the muzzle of his gun, grinning. “Then I won’t stand on ceremony. Consider this payback for my bro.”

Jiang Linxia set up his rifle, coordinating with his two teammates to secure the front and back intersections. They were just guessing which direction Cheng Feng would launch an assault from when this rule-breaking guy directly flipped out through a gap in the middle of the wall.

Jiang Linxia hastily adjusted his aim, but Cheng Feng was faster.

While vaulting over the wall with one hand, her other hand was already prepared.

Staring at that dark gun muzzle, driven by an instinctive sense of danger, Jiang Linxia subconsciously abandoned his attack and ducked down to take cover.

The next moment, a bullet slammed straight into the wall just outside the window. If it had been an inch higher, it would have hit him right in the head.

“Shit!” Hearing the violent sound of gunfire in his earpiece, even Jiang Linxia felt a lingering fear. “His shots are too fast!”

He steadied himself with one hand on the window sill, preparing to lift his head. Xiang Yunjian didn’t have time to warn him properly and just shouted, “Wait!”

Jiang Linxia’s rising motion was delayed by a beat. In that brief pause, the sound of a bullet tearing through the air exploded next to his ear again.

Although the exercise used no live ammunition, relying solely on simulation and data feedback, he could almost vividly imagine the tracer grazing past his scalp. The thought sent all the blood rushing to his head, making his scalp tingle.

Jiang Linxia: “!!”

Jiang Linxia was convinced that no one could outgun Cheng Feng in a direct confrontation.

It wasn’t an issue of accuracy; it was that you simply didn’t dare to poke your head out.

“He’s too reckless!”

Now scared, Jiang Linxia cursed, grabbed his rifle, moved to the doorway, and crouched down beside Xiang Yunjian.

Soon, Cheng Feng appeared in their line of sight again.

Xiang Yunjian was also highly wary of her firing speed. Almost the moment he spotted her figure, he fired a shot ahead to try and disrupt her movements.

Jiang Linxia followed closely behind.

However, Cheng Feng’s figure was merely a feint. She grabbed a steel pipe hanging from above, leaped over their heads, and both shots missed.

Jiang Linxia’s eyes widened. “Whoa, is this guy a monkey?”

He wanted to rush out the door but was pulled back by Xiang Yunjian. The two pressed themselves against the wall, listening for sounds outside.

Dozens of meters away, a gunshot inexplicably rang out. A few seconds later, another echoed from further off.

Seems like she’s gone.

Jiang Linxia said, bewildered, “What is he doing?”

“How should I know?” Xiang Yunjian raised a hand. “Forget it, don’t chase. Let’s see how they plan to organize.”

The examinees didn’t have much time left to score points. Might as well give them another chance to perform.

Besides, Xiang Yunjian also wanted to know exactly how Yan Shen had “died.”

Jiang Linxia lowered his voice. “Didn’t expect that. This kid’s pretty impressive. His combat awareness is sharp, way better than those others.”

Xiang Yunjian found the topic amusing every time it came up. “Well, he is a robot, after all?”

Xin Kuang approached with his gun. “We should move too. The gunfire has attracted attention from nearby.”

…

Cheng Feng jogged all the way, searching for her scattered teammates on the map.

In less than ten minutes, she smoothly arrived at the rendezvous point of the team she had contacted earlier. A group of young men, looking disheveled, were huddled in a corner, cautiously peeking outside.

She pressed her earpiece and said, “I’m here. Come out and line up.”

Her slim, petite figure completely clashed with the image the boys had imagined, yet that mechanical voice was so uniquely distinctive.

The young man at the front cautiously stepped out, stunned. “You… just came over like this?”

Cheng Feng countered, “How else?”

“…By charging right past those three seniors?”

Cheng Feng said, “That route was the fastest. I’m in a hurry.”

“That’s not what I meant.” The young man glanced into the distance, slightly doubting his life.

“Follow me.” Not wanting to say more, Cheng Feng assigned them six numbers and stated flatly, “Remember your own number. In that order, wherever my gun points, that’s where you squat.”

The young man wanted to ask, ‘Says who?’, but when the words reached his lips, they turned into a meek, “And then what?”

“Squat. If an enemy comes, shoot.” Cheng Feng led the way with her back to them. “Do I need to teach you how to fire, too?”

The buzz-cut guy shouted in the channel, “Just listen to the boss! I’ll explain once we’re in position!”

“The boss doesn’t like to talk much, so don’t make him angry.”

“Brothers, there are over a dozen comrades waiting to join us. It’s a race against time now. If you have opinions, bring them up later. We all share the same goal, no infighting!”

So there was even a lackey.

The few young men instantly felt reassured.

…

The three-man team roamed through the city on a guerrilla patrol.

Strangely enough, there were fewer and fewer examinees around them.

Under normal circumstances, examinees would actively come to attack them to prove themselves. But now, half an hour had passed, and they hadn’t seen a single living soul – except for Cheng Feng.

The first time they encountered Cheng Feng, it wasn’t really a confrontation, just a exchanged shot, and she took the chance to escape.

The second time they encountered Cheng Feng, considering her urgent need to gather her team, Xiang Yunjian took the initiative to let her pass, allowing her to leave peacefully.

But when Cheng Feng jogged past them for the third time, Jiang Linxia couldn’t take it anymore.

He gritted his itching teeth and sneered, “Don’t you think we’re being too merciful? Letting the enemy waltz in and out of our territory. This is a huge humiliation, isn’t it?”

Xiang Yunjian mocked, “Being merciful by bashing our heads against his bullets?”

Jiang Linxia stood up indignantly. “The examinees are this proactive, how can we just waste time here? I’m going after him. You guys provide cover. We can’t let him continue running rampant!”

Xin Kuang gave a thumbs up, urging him to get going.

Rifle in hand, Jiang Linxia took the lead, following the direction Cheng Feng had run for a short distance.

The area around him was quiet.

Although it hadn’t been bustling before either, the silence now carried a different quality, giving one the illusion that danger was lurking.

Jiang Linxia slowed his pace, crouched by a wall, and turned back to signal his comrades.

In the distance, Xin Kuang shook his head, indicating that from his position, he didn’t see any sign of an ambush for now.

Jiang Linxia continued forward, a hint of unease gnawing at him.

As he was still probing, Cheng Feng appeared ahead of him again like a phantom. And, of course, she wasn’t using a normal path, but abruptly poked her head out from behind a wall.

Jiang Linxia fired a shot at her, not even checking if it hit, and quickly moved to cover behind a wall on his side.

He looked up, wary of someone possibly popping out from above him. In the brief moment it took to reload, the sound of a bullet piercing the air exploded next to his ear again, sending a chill down his spine.

Fortunately, his position was quite cautious; her angle for the shot was limited, so the ambush failed.

Completely unaware of another ambush waiting diagonally across from him, Jiang Linxia, shocked, swiftly ran deeper into the area.

Before he could evade the pursuit from behind, half of a sinister gun barrel emerged from behind a telephone pole ahead.

Jiang Linxia’s final shout was, “They really have organized!”

He didn’t forget to add a curse. “Cheng Feng is a maniac!”

Xiang Yunjian asked, “What organization? You ran too fast, we couldn’t keep up!”

Lost contact.

Xiang Yunjian called out, “Jiang Linxia?”

Another teammate was out of the game.

Xiang Yunjian said calmly, “Retreat.”

…

Jiang Linxia walked forward, looking back every few steps. By the time he reached the edge of the map, his steps were so heavy he could barely lift his feet.

Yan Shen was sitting on a rock, playing on his phone. He looked up, saw him, and smiled with relief. “You’re here too.”

“Mm.” Jiang Linxia nodded and sat down to his left.

The two sat side-by-side, gazing at the faintly reddening skyline in the distance, their eyes unfocused. After a long while, they both sighed in unison.

Jiang Linxia asked, “How did you die?”

Yan Shen said, “Cheng Feng killed me.”

Jiang Linxia immediately burst into unrestrained laughter. “Haha! That marksmanship of Cheng Feng’s could kill you? And you call yourself a sniper?”

Yan Shen asked back, “What about you?”

The smile on Jiang Linxia’s face froze, melting into a look of deep bitterness.

“I don’t know.”

He replayed it in his mind, but still couldn’t figure out exactly how he had died.

He knew he’d been ambushed, but not how the ambush was set up, and not even who had fired the shot.

From the moment he’d turned into that street, everything felt off.

On his way back after being eliminated, walking along that very street, he’d seen several examinees hiding in the shadows, waving at him.

It eerily reminded him of a rather twisted summary phrase:

He fled, I pursued, I couldn’t escape even if I grew wings.

That terrifying image was enough to become the shadow of his life.

“It doesn’t make sense. How were there so many people in that area?” Jiang Linxia gestured with his chin. “Do you think we should find a temple to worship when we get back? How is this so freaking bizarre?”

Immediately after, the two heard the instructor’s voice in their earpieces, cursing, “Two idiots.”

Jiang Linxia: “…” Isn’t that going too far?

Yan Shen: What did it have to do with him? He’d held back and hadn’t said anything.

Yan Shen changed the subject. “Guess when those two will be out.”

Jiang Linxia was just about to say Cheng Feng would definitely be out first when the instructor interjected again, “Within half an hour.”

“Impossible!” Jiang Linxia said. “Are you kidding me, Instructor? With the hard-earned lesson paid for with two lives, Xiang Yunjian will definitely avenge me.”

The instructor, disappointed in their lack of potential, snapped, “You haven’t even noticed that your home base was surrounded long ago. Turn on your optical computer, get the comms!”