He pressed the gun firmly against his shoulder, and through the scope, the ghostly blue crosshairs locked onto a Cyclops Giant Thief charging at the front.
The giant stood at least fifteen meters tall, swinging an uprooted tree as a weapon in its hand, exuding an overwhelming sense of oppression.
But like the other thieves, it also had a black sack strapped to its back, which created a rather comical contrast.
To other survivors, such a terrifying enemy might signify the beginning of despair.
But for Lin Ran, this big guy was nothing more than a damage test dummy.
“Can you one-shot it?”
Lin Ran asked An Mengyue beside him.
When it came to her products, she had absolute confidence.
“As long as you pay enough crystal cores, forget giants— even if a big boss shows up, you could one-shot it too!”
She hesitated while trying to think of a comparison, then shouted it out with full momentum.
The awkward analogy made it even more amusing.
Lin Ran nodded, his finger resting lightly on the trigger.
When the Cyclops Giant Thief stepped into range, he pulled the trigger without hesitation.
“Bang!”
A deep gunshot echoed.
In the next second, the Cyclops Giant’s massive head exploded entirely, turning into a mist of blood and chunks.
This time, Lin Ran didn’t even see the trajectory— the bullet was simply too fast.
The enormous headless body lurched forward two more steps from inertia before collapsing with a thunderous crash, sending dust flying.
A clean, decisive instant kill!
Just as Lin Ran was about to look for his next target, an announcement rang out in the sky above him.
[Congratulations to Lin Ran for achieving the first Large-scale Enemy kill of this Wave!]
[To encourage team battle collaboration, this offensive will now feature large-scale real-time battle record announcements!]
[#18029# Team Battle battlefield, Bai Xue Academy war zone, Lin Ran killed a Cyclops Giant Thief and earned 100 points! Current ranking: First!]
[Special Note: The points reward for this round is extremely special. Please strive for a high ranking!]
The sudden broadcast made Lin Ran freeze for a moment.
“Damn! Big Bro, you’re awesome!”
Even though he was far from Fatty Wang, the loud voice still reached him.
But…
Battle record announcements? Point rankings?
Are they afraid the rest of the school won’t know he’s got hacks?
Lin Ran curled his lips.
Since it’s come to this, there’s no need to hide!
He worked the bolt, letting magic flow in once more and loading a new energy round.
The scope moved, locking onto an Ogre Thief preparing to hurl a massive rock.
“Bang!”
Another shot.
The Ogre Thief’s lower body was still in a throwing stance, but its upper body exploded right down the middle, splitting into two pieces.
[Lin Ran killed an Ogre Thief and earned 80 points! Current total points: 180! Ranking: First!]
The announcement refreshed again.
“Bang!”
A Rock Golem Thief had just emerged from underground, its body not yet fully formed, when a single shot pierced its core, shattering it into rubble on the spot.
[Lin Ran killed a Rock Golem Thief and earned 120 points! Current total points: 300! Ranking: First!]
“Bang!”
[Lin Ran killed a Giant Insect Thief (Large), earning 50 points! Current total points: 350! Ranking: First!]
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
After that, the battlefield on his side became Lin Ran’s solo performance.
“Brother Lin Ran! Here, take a freshly brewed Senior Slowing Potion! Splash it to slow the enemy’s advance!”
Qi Xiaoyu, reliable as ever in logistics, tossed a slowing potion toward Lin Ran’s distant doorway, creating a purple swamp.
Any thieves who stepped on it got stuck, unable to move.
Especially mindless golems— stepping on it could cause them to topple and shatter outright.
[Qi Xiaoyu killed a Rock Golem Thief and earned 120 points! Current total points: 120! Ranking: Seventy-ninth!]
There were also Senior Slowing Potions in front of other people’s houses, and when facing such cumbersome foes, Qi Xiaoyu was a real MVP.
Lin Ran nodded and continued the slaughter.
Every gunshot was accompanied by the fall of a giant creature.
Under the muzzle of his gun, even the most intimidating beast army was as fragile as paper.
And Lin Ran— he was already on a high.
He was immersed in the thrill of shooting.
So satisfying!
With absolute caliber, range, and power, what man wouldn’t get fired up?
A divine gun that only cost seventy thousand crystal cores in debt— what a deal!
An Mengyue, in Lin Ran’s eyes right now, was practically a living Bodhisattva.
In less than ten minutes, he had single-handedly cleared away the once dark horde of giant thieves.
Almost no big enemies remained, only a few treasure chest monsters waiting to be cleaned up.
Lin Ran set down the scorching sniper rifle and let out a long breath.
That felt amazing!
An Mengyue is incredible!
He was considering whether to credit some more good stuff from her, maybe some energy armor.
But for now, checking on his teammates was more important.
After all, this was a Team Battle— if a teammate got taken out, who knew how it would affect him?
Fatty Wang was still guarding his three zones solo as agreed.
Qi Xiaoyu and Lin Ran supported each other, then went to help Fatty Wang after finishing their areas.
Now that his side was done early, it wouldn’t hurt to go check things out.
However, just as that thought formed, the announcement sounded again.
But this time, it was a warning.
[Notice: Survivor ‘Shen Qing’ has been Erased.]
[Reason for Erasure: Wooden House Disappeared]
Erasure?
Lin Ran’s heart skipped a beat, and he immediately looked through the window toward Shen Qing’s wooden house.
There wasn’t a single monster in front of Shen Qing’s house.
Fatty Wang stood there, baffled, not knowing what had happened.
Though Fatty Wang had a hard time handling such strong enemies, he hadn’t let any monster get near her.
But her wooden house had indeed vanished.
“The house was stolen?”
Lin Ran instantly guessed.
[Failure Condition: Any wooden house is Stolen]
That was the failure condition for the first wave.
In other words, the thieves could really steal an entire wooden house.
The second wave had higher difficulty— even if the house was stolen, it didn’t mean instant failure.
But it’s highly likely that when a house was stolen, the person would be directly Erased.
But… how was her house stolen?
He remembered the warning before the offensive began.
[In this Wave, there will also be enemies you can’t anticipate. Please analyze the situation and respond accordingly.]
Not those fearsome-looking giants or ogres.
Unexpected enemies…? What are they?
Why are they invisible?
Stealth? Rule kill? Mechanism monsters?
Lin Ran didn’t know.
A thousand possibilities flashed through his mind, but without seeing the real enemy, he couldn’t be sure.
He only knew…
A plank of wood on his own roof had vanished.
…