Yan Bingru lay prone on the ground, her body completely motionless as she remained hidden in the tall grass that swayed lightly with the cool breeze.
Even her breathing was kept to a minimum so as to avoid causing any unnecessary vibrations.
Unless a person was in the know and focused hard on her location, almost nobody would be able discover her presence there even they took a second glance.
Yan Bingru was currently positioned at the edge of a short cliff, facing the forest below that comprised of sparsely grown vegetation.
Her concentration was now completely on the narrow view within the rifle scope, her finger ready to pull the trigger at any moment.
Thankfully, the trees on this planet were all short and had little leaves on them; otherwise she might have to find another location where her view was not blocked by the canopy.
It already took Yan Bingru quite a while in order to secure her current position, so just the thought of having to find a better spot filled her up with dread!
"We are in position, fire at will."
The voice came through the wireless communicator placed in her left ear.
This was the cue that she had been waiting for!
Hearing that, Yan Bingru completely stopped her breathing, and patiently started counting in her head.
She was giving her other teammates some time to raise their objections if things were not faring well on their end.
From her past experiences, there had been times when the Controller had misjudged the readiness of the other team members, resulting in an unnecessarily messy situation when she took the opening shot.
As if that was not enough, she even ended up having to bear responsibility for the mistake at times!
After a few of such lessons, she had learnt the hard way to always give some buffer time in such situations.
1…
2…
3…!
At the count of three, she decisively pulled the trigger!
The rifle was silent even when it was fired, specially made in such a way that it would not alert everyone to the location of the sniper with a loud bang.
The bullet instantly fired out from the rifle barrel and tore through the air, blowing past the unnaturally short trees as it continued charging towards its target without the slightest deviation in its path.
Blood spurt out immediately as the bullet found the exact spot where Yan Bingru was aiming for – the neck of her target.
Her target was a beast that appeared similar to the carnivorous lizards that were said to have roamed free during the prehistoric era back on Earth.
Yan Bingru was not the best at history, but she vaguely remembered it being mentioned during the meeting before the Hunt Operation.
Were they called dinosaurs…?
She did not pay much attention because it did not matter to her anyway, that was all in the past.
What mattered were the present and the future after all!
Supported solely by its two hind legs, her target stood at a height of 6 metres, or at least it was standing at such a height just a second ago.
Upon being hit, the target yelped weakly and staggered for a moment before collapsing to the ground, apparently having lost the strength to remain standing.
While the target was not dead, it was definitely incapacitated by Yan Bingru's shot, and that was all that mattered.
Phase One of the Hunt Operation: Success!
When the main target fell to the ground, the dozens of slightly smaller lizards within the area immediately went on alert mode.
After a mere moment of hesitation, all of them started rushing out of the nest.
The huge nest was carefully constructed, with thick vines and leaves blocking off the wind from the sides, and a layer of grass cushioning the ground within.
The workmanship was crude, but it was definitely something that only an intelligent lifeform would have been capable of.
Yet despite the warmth and comfort, it was almost as though there was a ticking time bomb in the nest as the lizards started rushing out of the only exit, even to the point of mercilessly trampling over each other as they fought to be the first to escape.
Who cared about the alpha lizard that was shot earlier?
Their lives were more important!
"Go!"
That same voice came through the communicator.
At that signal, two men rushed up to the exit of the nest, each holding a sword identical to each other's.
As if the swords were not sharp enough, with a click of a button, the swords started vibrating at an ultra-high speed that was not noticeable to the untrained eye!
This seemingly harmless vibration had actually tremendously increased the ease at which the swords could cut through their targets.
With each swing, the sword would slice straight through a lizard, bringing it to its premature end.
Sometimes when the lizards were trying to squeeze out together, a big swing even took down two of the lizards at once.
It was far easier than expected!
The lizards at the back seemed to not have noticed the duo even though the two men were standing right by the exit, and instead were only focusing on escaping from the nest.
The lizards in front were killed instantly, not giving them any chances to warn the ones at the back.
The two men did not stop until the final lizard fell to the ground.
Of course, they did not forget to move in and finish off the incapacitated alpha lizard either.
Phase Two of the Hunt Operation: Success!
Yan Bingru let out a sigh of relief as she watched everything finally come to an end through the scope of her rifle.
This Hunt Operation had been slightly rushed, resulting in a very short frame of time for the collection of information.
Thus, there had been a lingering worry within the team that they might be missing some vital data on their targets that could possibly jeopardise the entire Hunt Operation.
Now, it seemed like they were just being paranoid about it.
Well, better to be safe than sorry.
Their lives were on the line after all!
"Operation Success! Clean Up Team get ready to move in! Hunting Team gather at the rendezvous point for pickup!"
The Controller was concise with his instructions, but Yan Bingru could not help but smile as she noticed the hint of excitement in his voice.
She could definitely relate to his feelings.
If only every single one of her Hunt Operations would play out so smoothly, having everything go just as planned!
No matter how scary they looked, they were just overgrown lizards after all.
Other than their slightly stronger physiques, they were pretty harmless, aren't they?
If only she could just keep hunting such overgrown lizards all the time, how easy life would be!
Yan Bingru casually picked herself up, lightly stretching her body that was aching from staying in the same position for more than an hour.
How nice it would be if she could enjoy a comfortable massage right now.
Her position was the one nearest to the rendezvous point, so Yan Bingru could take her time while moving over.
But just as she turned around to leave after packing up her rifle, a thunderous roar echoed through the air, causing Yan Bingru to freeze up in shock.
What was that?!
She was just thinking that it was nice having everything go according to plan!
Did she just jinx it?!
"Did you guys hear that?" Yan Bingru hurriedly asked through her wireless communicator.
"zz…us….zz…point…zz.."
"The message was not clear. Can you repeat?"
"zzz…zz…"
Yan Bingru could not help but frown when she heard the distorted reply.
The wireless communicator was extremely reliable, made to be resistant to shock and harsh weathers.
The only reasons for it not to work would be if the communicator itself was destroyed, or if there was something jamming the communication frequencies.
In any case, it did not seem like Yan Bingru could communicate with her team mates anymore, so she could only head to the rendezvous point.
At this moment, Yan Bingru noticed a dark shadow on the ground zoom right past her and towards the nest of lizards that she had been watching.
A sense of impending doom rose up within her as she hurriedly turned around to once again face the direction of the nest.
Yan Bingru was no longer looking through her rifle scope, but she was still able to make out the figures of her team mates with her keen eyesight.
Seeing the scene unfold before her eyes, Yan Bingru almost dropped the rifle in her hands while her mouth gaped apart in horror.
A wyvern descended from the skies, slicing through the air above as it brought with it an indomitable aura that was not to be challenged!
Showing off its ridiculous wingspan that measured almost 50 metres from end to end, the beast roared once again as it dove straight towards the nest.
Yan Bingru was speechless!
Heavens! I know I have just insulted overgrown lizards as being harmless…
But you don't have to teach me a lesson immediately by sending the big boss of all overgrown lizards my way!