Killing a chem-pig with one armor-piercing bullet was luck, and Li Qinyu was pleased. The problem was different: he couldn't get close to the corpse to retrieve the Spinal Fury Module.
Chaos reigned around the carcass; fighters from both gangs were mixed up there, and venturing in for trophies would be suicide.
It was especially regrettable to lose the fury injectors – a valuable resource for crafting, and he needed to obtain more.
After thinking, Li Qinyu looked at Xiao Dao, who was sitting next to him.
The latter was already looking at Li Qinyu with undisguised adoration. The guy was keeping score: over sixty chemics killed, one brute taken down, and now a chem-pig with a single shot!
This man was simply a god of war! Was he not afraid?
Li Qinyu truly felt no fear. After all, he couldn't die for real – at most, he would lose his equipment and respawn. But he didn't want to lose loot, so he decided to change tactics.
"Do you run fast?" he asked Xiao Dao.
The guy was taken aback and mechanically replied, "Uh... well, normally."
"Normally is good."
Li Qinyu looked at him meaningfully and pointed to the churning battlefield: "From here to the melee is about two hundred and eighty meters. In front of us – about a hundred and fifty meters of open, unobstructed space."
Xiao Dao blinked confusedly, not understanding the point of these topography lectures.
Li Qinyu smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Go and lure a chem-pig here. And I'll finish it with an armor-piercing round."
Xiao Dao's face turned pale. He was a seasoned veteran of the Fertilizer gang – and to become seasoned, you had to know how to survive.
Xiao Dao had lived long precisely because he knew that dealing with Brutes and Chem-pigs was no joke.
These creatures loved to "eat noodles" – to knock a person to the ground, rip open their stomach, and eat their intestines while the victim was still alive and feeling everything. It was horror!
At the mere thought of being turned into noodles, Xiao Dao's knees trembled as if with a fever.
"Can't... can't we shoot them there?" he stammered. "Mr. Scavenger, didn't you just take one down with a single shot?"
"It was kneeling and eating, its head wasn't moving – that's why I one-shotted it," Li Qinyu explained. "And now look there. They're running around like mad dogs, how can I hit them?"
Xiao Dao glanced at the battlefield. Indeed, the pigs were running everywhere, chasing people.
The crowd could do nothing against the monsters; both sides were suffering losses.
The combat zone was expanding – soldiers were scattering in all directions. This was to Li Qinyu's advantage: less fire density, more chaos, easier to loot.
Seeing that the guy was frozen and not eager to act as bait, Li Qinyu decided the plan had failed.
"Alright, if you don't want to..."
"I'll go!"
Xiao Dao, after trembling, suddenly said this with an unexpected firmness in his gaze.
Li Qinyu was surprised. Just now, the guy had nearly soiled himself, and now he looks like a hero from a gangster movie.
He didn't bother to delve into the reasons.
"Listen carefully," he instructed. "Aggro only one pig at a time. Then run in a straight line through these one hundred and fifty meters of wasteland. Strictly in a straight line."
Xiao Dao, still nervous, asked through clenched teeth, "Why in a straight line?"
"The pig has armor and a thick layer of fat. My bullet will only kill it in the head," Li Qinyu explained. "This creature is stupid. If you run towards me in a straight line, it will also run after you in a straight line. I'm lying on the container, and its head will be a target in my sights, which will only grow larger but not shift sideways. This will make it easier for me to hit."
Now Xiao Dao understood. He decisively jumped off the container and began to make his way to the battlefield.
Li Qinyu detached the magazine, filled it to the brim with armor-piercing rounds, dragged the brute's corpse over, and used it as a rest for his rifle. The wait began.
Xiao Dao moved towards the edge of the battle cautiously, trying not to make noise.
Hiding behind a pile of ceramic and scrap metal, he peeked out.
Ahead, a dozen Chem fighters were hacking at a chem-pig with cleavers and pipes.
But the melee weapons couldn't penetrate its defense – the blows merely bounced off its armor with a clang, causing no harm to the monster.
One of the Fertilizer fighters, with a wild cry, plunged a knife into the joint of the creature's armor on its groin.
A normal person would have immediately passed out from the shock of pain, but the chem-pig only roared and slammed its fist down with all its might. The brave man's head was driven into his chest.
Then the monster swung, scattering people around. Those hit by the blow fell with broken bones, spitting blood.
A moment – and ten armed bandits turned into corpses. They could do nothing against the monster.
Having dealt with the interference, the chem-pig knelt down, grabbed someone's severed limb, and prepared to bite into it.
By this time, Xiao Dao had composed himself. Breathing heavily, he grabbed a piece of ceramic and hurled it at the monster with all his might.
Clang! The stone hit the iron helmet. The creature instantly raised its head, like a predator disturbed while eating.
Xiao Dao threw a second stone and yelled, "Bastard! Come here, to Daddy!"
"Rrrraaaah!"
The chem-pig roared, tore the limb in its hand in half, and threw the pieces at Xiao Dao.
The guy turned and ran. A piece of meat slapped down in front of him, rolled, unraveling intestines like a streamer.
"Emperor, save me!"
Screaming, Xiao Dao ran even faster.
"Rrrraaaah!"
The monster got up, and its carcass, like a mountain of meat, rushed in pursuit with frightening speed.
Xiao Dao heard the thudding behind him, like the blows of a blacksmith's hammer. Tears of horror blurred his eyes, his imagination painting pictures of what they would do to him if they caught him. His legs carried him on their own.
Fortunately, Li Qinyu's calculation proved correct. An ordinary person at the limit of their strength ran at roughly the same speed as a chem-pig. If one suppressed panic, one could run for several minutes.
Dodging and weaving, Xiao Dao burst into the open space. Spotting Li Qinyu on the container a hundred and fifty meters away, he gritted his teeth and ran as if he wanted to get on all fours for speed.
The chem-pig, smashing through empty crates, rushed after him, its paws outstretched and drooling.
Unlike the panicking Xiao Dao, Li Qinyu on the container was absolutely calm.
He breathed steadily, keeping the running monster in his sights.
As expected, the creature ran in a straight line. Its huge head only swayed slightly from side to side.
Finally, when the target approached within a hundred meters, Li Qinyu opened fire.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Four shots. The pig, with a shot-through head, crashed to the ground with a roar, twitched a couple of times, and fell silent.
Xiao Dao reached the container, began pounding on it with his fists, and screamed hysterically: "I almost shit myself, damn it, I almost died of fear, a-a-a-a-a!"
Li Qinyu changed the magazine, refilled it with armor-piercing rounds, and calmly said, "You are very brave."
Xiao Dao fell to his knees, greedily gulping air. He felt saved, but Li Qinyu continued: "Let's continue. Bring the second one."