Chapter 356
2-in-1-chapter
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It was then that the heavy crack of a rifle finally rolled in from the distance, echoing against the hills.
The realization struck them all at once. "Sniper! Get down!"
The arms dealer had already thrown himself flat to the ground the instant he saw his man's shoulder explode.
Nobody dared expose themselves near the shattered windows.
Even the wounded guard, teeth gritted in pain, dragged himself across the floor to press against the wall beneath the frame.
On the comm channel, the group spoke in anxious voices.
"Where's the sniper? Has anyone spotted him?"
"I haven't seen him."
"Think of a way to lure him into exposing his position."
One of the bodyguards took off his helmet, balanced it on the stock of his rifle, and slowly raised it above the window.
Bang!
The helmet was blasted off the rifle stock, and when it hit the ground there was a clear, fresh bullet hole right in the middle of the visor.
"Shit!"
"Don't move! Everyone get down and stay on the floor," the arms dealer shouted. "Wait until nightfall—when it gets dark the sniper won't be able to see, and then we make our move."
"Boss, what if the sniper has night vision?"
The arms dealer froze, his scalp prickling. If the sniper had night vision, then night would be no different from day.
What made it worse was that the vehicle they had parked outside the church was only a regular off-road truck. If they left the church, that damned sniper could leisurely pick them off one by one inside the car.
The arms dealer slammed a fist into the floor in frustration.
At that moment, a familiar voice broke into the channel.
"We're close. I heard the gunfire. Are you holding up?"
The arms dealer recognized the voice instantly. Grasping at it like a lifeline, he hurried to respond.
"The rebels just hit us, but we pushed them back. Now we're pinned inside the church by a sniper. Don't come in yet—we have no idea where he's set up."
The arms dealer had no idea how many people Leo had brought, or if there was a sniper among them. But it didn't matter—reinforcements had arrived.
A sniper could only lock down one direction. If he kept his sights on them, Leo's people could move in and deal with him. If he turned his sights on Leo's team, then they could rush out of the church and eliminate him.
Running while Leo's group drew the sniper's attention never even crossed the arms dealer's mind. Only fools sold out allies when they could cooperate for mutual benefit.
"Sniper? Got it," Leo replied. "Stay inside and keep your heads down. Leave the sniper to us."
The arms dealer readied his men. If the sniper turned on Leo's group, they would storm out of the church immediately to take advantage of the opening.
They all knew that stepping outside under the sniper's gaze could mean instant death, but it was still better than waiting inside to be picked off like dogs.
Minutes crawled by, with nothing happening outside. It felt as though the world itself had abandoned them.
Then a single gunshot echoed, followed by Leo's voice on the comms.
"It's done. You can come out now. The sniper's down."
The arms dealer and his three bodyguards were stunned. That was it? So fast?
Normally, to take out a sniper you first had to locate him—by spotting a glint from his scope, or by forcing him to fire and reveal himself. Yet they had hidden inside the church all this time and had only heard one shot.
They found it hard to believe until Leo appeared outside with V and Lucy, calling impatiently for them to come out. When they saw the three standing openly in the clearing without being fired upon, they finally accepted that the sniper was gone.
The arms dealer led his men out of the church.
"You… how did you do it?" he asked, incredulous.
Leo smiled faintly. "That's a secret."
In truth, it was simple. The arms dealer's group had been suppressed, unable to locate the sniper's position. But Leo wasn't the same. A sweep with his tactical goggles was enough to reveal the sniper's nest. Then V put a single charged shot from her Nekomata through him.
That was all there was to it.
Leo glanced past the arms dealer at the riddled off-road truck parked outside. It could seat five at most. There was no way it could carry an entire VR training setup. That meant the equipment was either hidden inside the church or not in the arms dealer's possession at all.
He didn't bother circling around the point. "Where's the cargo?"
The arms dealer scratched at his cheek awkwardly. "Before you get angry, hear me out."
Leo stayed calm. "Explain."
The arms dealer wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Like I said on the call, the rebels hit the town where we were supposed to meet last night. When we pulled out in a hurry, there was no time to bring the truck with the cargo. So…"
Leo raised an eyebrow. "So you called me over just to pull you out, and never mentioned that the cargo was lost, because you thought if I knew the truth, I'd leave you to die?"
The arms dealer's tone was apologetic. "Please understand, I had no choice. I never meant to deceive you."
"I can understand that," Leo replied evenly. "But put yourself in my place for a moment. How do you think I feel right now?"
"I know, I know. But don't worry. I left a tracker on the cargo truck. We can follow the signal and recover it."
He produced a chip and handed it over, gesturing for Leo to slot it.
Leo weighed the risk. The arms dealer had no real reason to harm him. And unlike others who slotted chips straight into their neural ports, Leo only needed to feed this one into his tactical goggles. Worst case, he'd lose a pair of optics.
He accepted the chip and slid it into his goggles.
Then, in his field of vision, a new yellow icon appeared. It came from the tracker mounted on the truck that carried the cargo, and above the icon was displayed the exact distance between Leo and the vehicle.
The data was simple, uncluttered, and easy to read at a glance.
The arms dealer waited half a minute before speaking. "Well? You see it now?"
Leo gave a slight nod. "I see it."
"Good. Then please pay the deposit."
Because the arms dealer did not trust electronic bank transfers, he only accepted physical cash or credit chips. Their agreement beforehand had been that Leo would first pay a deposit, then, after receiving the goods and confirming them, he would pay the balance.
That was why the dealer now asked for the deposit.
But Leo had a different idea.
"I brought the deposit," Leo said evenly, "but the deposit should be paid in a proper transaction, in a town, with no corpses and no deaths lying around."
He took a step closer, his voice calm but firm. "Now, I not only saved your life from a sniper's sights, I also recovered your shipment from anti-government forces. So tell me—why would I pay for something that no longer belongs to you?"
The arms dealer's eyes widened.
"You mean to rip me off?"
"No. I'm explaining the situation."
"Explaining?" the dealer spat, his chest rising and falling with anger. "You think you can explain your way out of this? The merchandise you want is something I stole from Tsunami Defense Systems. Without me, you couldn't buy it at all, no matter how much money you have."
Leo smiled faintly.
"You're right about that. But the problem is this: I am no longer buying from you. The goods are no longer in your possession. They were taken by the rebels. If you want to proceed with a legitimate transaction, then…"
He held up a hand, ticking off the options one by one. "You can go recover the shipment yourself, in which case it remains yours, and I'll pay what we agreed. Or I can take it back, and in that case, it's not something you sold me—it's something I captured from the anti-government forces."
Leo had no concern about offending him. The man was a profiteer through and through. With people like this, favors and goodwill meant nothing. Only profit had weight.
Besides, Leo had just saved his life. Anyone else would have offered him a discount without needing to be asked. Even if it meant earning less, or nothing at all, that was the cost of failing to keep control of his own shipment.
As it stood, Leo would still have to retrieve the goods himself. Why would he then hand over payment for someone else's mistake?
If the dealer had taken the initiative to offer a discount, Leo might have been willing to hand over some money. But to demand full payment—after losing the shipment and after having his life spared—that was unacceptable.
The arms dealer fell silent, unable to respond.
For a brief moment, he considered simply pulling a gun and forcing Leo to return the credit chips. But the thought lasted no more than a few seconds before he pushed it away.
Because if Leo refused to pay, then all the dealer lost was a large sum of money—a loss he could someday recover through other trades.
But if he tried to take the chips by force, then Leo would never let him live long enough to spend them.
The dealer had trafficked weapons and death for years. He had seen at least eight hundred corpses with his own eyes—if not more. He knew exactly what kind of man stood in front of him now.
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