Snipers on Both Sides

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That precise long-range shot opened the curtain on the night.

While Tatamu was still marveling, Corvin calmly reloaded.

Ten or so seconds of reload time was enough for the members of the Sharp-Horn Pirates to react. Each of them chose cover based on his own judgment.

That was a drawback Corvin could not avoid for now.

If he had a modern firearm, he was confident he could drop several more targets in those ten seconds before they reached cover.

"Watch the surroundings."

Corvin gave the reminder, then focused on aiming at his next prey.

One of the weaknesses of a flintlock was that the muzzle flash and smoke were obvious.

After the first shot, the gunshot not only startled the people nearby, but also exposed the general direction of his position.

Only the general direction.

Because of that, the cover the Sharp-Horn Pirates found in their rush was not perfect. Parts of their bodies were still exposed along the firing line.

With Tatamu and Wolf Rat nearby, Corvin did not need to worry about movement around him for the moment. He concentrated on finding his next target.

Soon, he locked onto a target whose upper body was half-exposed. After aiming, he did not rush to pull the trigger.

His mind sank into the shot. As he held his breath, that vague feeling gradually sharpened.

Only then did Corvin pull the trigger.

Another gunshot rang out.

On the distant deck, the pirate who had carelessly exposed half his body was knocked to the ground and immediately screamed.

The lead ball had struck his chest. It had not hit a vital point, but without treatment, he would still walk step by step toward death.

Under those conditions, the surrounding pirates did not dare lean out to help him.

Wells did not even look at the fallen crewman. His attention had been fixed on the direction the bullet had come from.

When he saw the distant muzzle flash, Wells quickly raised his rifled long gun and aimed at Corvin's position in one smooth motion.

The sea wind struck his face, and his aim wavered faintly.

"Damn it. Headwind..."

He did not hesitate. After pulling the trigger, he immediately ducked back behind cover.

On the warehouse roof.

Pff.

The lead ball fired from the docks struck the far edge of the warehouse roof, several meters away from Corvin.

Wolf Rat and Tatamu heard the impact and looked toward the point where it landed.

The other side had begun firing back.

To find Corvin's position that quickly, the shooter was clearly skilled. As expected, it should be Wells, one of the Sharp-Horn Pirates' cadres.

Unfortunately...

They looked back at Corvin and saw that he had nearly finished reloading.

They wanted to warn him, but they worried it would disrupt his state, so they stayed quiet.

Corvin loaded the third round and calmly set the muzzle again.

Aim. Fire.

Bang.

Another pirate fell on the deck of the Sharp-Horn ship. Again, it was not a vital hit, but it was enough to be fatal.

After three of their companions were hit in a row, the members of the Sharp-Horn Pirates were terrified. At the same time, they all instinctively looked toward Wells and the other gunmen.

In a duel between gunmen, close-combat fighters like them could not help at all. They could only hope their own sniper would deal with the enemy as soon as possible.

Otherwise, they were nothing but live targets.

Feeling the pressure in his companions' stares, Wells and the other gunmen clenched their teeth. Holding their rifled long guns, they fired several shots in succession toward Corvin's position.

But against the headwind, even rifled guns with better range and accuracy than Corvin's smoothbore struggled to pose an effective threat.

Over the next several exchanges, another four members of the Sharp-Horn Pirates fell.

Gradually, they realized that their own snipers were being suppressed. Based on the rhythm of the shots, they could tell the enemy had only one sniper.

They had numbers, yet they were losing.

The terror of the enemy sniper sank in, and disappointment in their own snipers rose with it.

Gabton, lean and wiry, crouched behind the mast with one hand resting on his sword hilt. He calmly looked toward Wells's position.

From where Gabton stood, he could even see the ugly look on Wells's face.

Gabton was the captain of the close-combat team. He did not want his men to become souls under the enemy's gun before doing anything. At this point, he no longer cared about Wells's pride.

"Wells, if you can't beat him, cover us while we move to safer positions."

"Fine."

Wells's face changed, and he forced the answer through clenched teeth.

He temporarily took command of the scene, ordering the other gunmen to expose themselves and suppress Corvin while directing the melee fighters into safer cover based on his experience.

The price of that command was one of the crew's gunmen taking a bullet to the head.

Ten shots in total. Two dead on their side, six seriously wounded.

An eighty-percent hit rate chilled Wells to the bone.

And that was with only one enemy sniper.

Even Wells, the crew's chief sniper, reacted this way. The others were even worse.

The contrast between their sniper and the enemy's could not have been clearer.

Gabton, however, remained calm. He looked toward the captain's cabin and shouted, "Captain, do we hold our ground, or should I take a few men and kill that sniper?"

After a moment, Kazt's voice came from behind the door.

"Go."

Only one word, but it carried fury on the edge of eruption.

Fortunately, Kazt did not know the enemy sniper's identity. Otherwise, he might have gotten so angry his wounds split open.

After receiving the captain's approval, Gabton selected several men with hand signals, then looked at Wells and said heavily, "Cover us."

"Fine."

Wells took a deep breath and forced down the humiliation.

Under the cover of Wells and the other gunmen, Gabton led five crewmen off the ship and quickly pressed toward Corvin's position.

On the warehouse roof.

Corvin reloaded while watching the figures leaving the Sharp-Horn ship.

One meter in front of him was a clear bullet hole.

That was the closest shot Wells had landed during the exchange.

"Wolf Rat, that's about enough."

Corvin gave the reminder.

Wolf Rat nodded.

"Stay safe."

After saying that, he and Tatamu jumped down from the warehouse and went to meet the squad led by Gabton.

Once Wolf Rat and Tatamu left, Corvin finished reloading.

He raised the gun again and aimed at the deck of the Sharp-Horn ship.

In his line of sight was the cover where Wells was hiding.

"Found you, my dear prey."

Corvin smiled faintly, as if he did not hear the bullets cutting through the air one after another.

The firing rate had clearly risen.

But Corvin knew Wells and the others were sacrificing accuracy to suppress him.

Their goal was obvious: create an opening for Gabton's squad.

With his gunfighting experience, Corvin reached the correct judgment easily.

"But I have a proper frontliner too."

Corvin murmured. If Tatamu counted, then he had two.

He fired casually toward the deck of the Sharp-Horn ship, then left the spot. While reloading, he moved toward the next sniping point.

From this moment on, his only sniping target was Wells.

At the same time, the gunfight drew many spectators.

In the shadows around the Sharp-Horn ship, hidden watchers from several pirate crews were observing the scene closely.

"Someone finally made a move. And..."

"Which crew does that sniper belong to? He's terrifyingly strong."

The hidden watchers smelled opportunity in the blood.

Once the opening became clear, the Sharp-Horn Pirates, who had been impossible to shake before, would turn into a fresh piece of meat.

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