In the thin mist, on the balcony of a hotel, a man stood quietly, his gaze seemingly piercing through the fog, fixed on the luxuriously decorated, bustling doorway directly opposite.

Without sufficiently sharp "eyes," one simply cannot see that far in such an environment. This is a man's advantage; he can see the surroundings, while the prey may not be able to react in time.

The man took the parts of the sniper rifle out of his backpack and began to assemble it. The Dragon Hunter rifle, when fully assembled, was nearly two meters long, exceeding the length of most rifles on the market, not to mention that in Ash City, the rifles that people here knew were still antiques from the Ruins War.

Ferocious, terrifying, and brimming with modernity, this was the assembled Dragon Hunter Rifle. The man looked at it with satisfaction; it had never been created to carry out the slaughter of humans. Its effective range was close to 1500 meters, and its power was enough to penetrate a wall and sever a person's arm. If it hit a victim directly, even a glancing blow to the arm or thigh would cause an absolutely fatal wound.

The man placed the assembled dragon-hunting rifle on the balcony. Even though he could no longer be considered a "human," he could not use the dragon-hunting rifle with his own hands; he had to place it in a fixed position on the ground.

The assembly process slowed down by a few seconds. The man thought, "Normally this wouldn't happen; it must be the fog here." How could he possibly be nervous about such a common and simple task?

"This is Hunter 1, in position." The man turned on the walkie-talkie and said to the other side. The fog here was really annoying. Even though he and the other members were already very close, the sound of the fog interference was still rustling, like rain falling in an empty ruin.

"This is Black Flag, received." The man struggled to discern the other person's voice through the walkie-talkie amidst the static.

The man waited quietly, offering no reply or requesting the other party to move closer to ensure communication quality. The position of the black flag was already the best vantage point for assessing communication quality and observing and commanding various elements. He hung the walkie-talkie on his waist, connected the wired earpiece to his right ear, and maintained a sniper's stance.

There is a plaza-like building in the middle of the place. The reason why it is uncertain whether it is a plaza is because the man does not know whether Ash City also has a plaza: if it does, what do they have to remember it for?

In the center of the square was a newly completed architectural sculpture. The man didn't recognize it, but he could roughly guess who it was—probably some heroic god. However, the man didn't care which god it was, not because he didn't understand religion, but because he didn't need to study it.

Why waste time remembering a god who is already dead? A man's time is precious.

However, the statue caused him some trouble. It happened to be standing not far from the gate of "Phoenix Seeking Phoenix," a large brothel and the place the target was about to go, according to the intelligence.

If his first shot missed, the statue might serve as cover for the target. The man thought the statue was thick enough to withstand the damage from the Dragon Slayer rifle.

But won't his first shot hit? That's a low-probability event. He's in the shadows, while the prey is in the open. Besides, a man can certainly afford the consequences of failure. It just means things aren't done as cleanly and efficiently as they should, but it won't affect the overall situation.

"The target is coming from the right street. He's in a carriage, a red carriage," Black Flag's voice rang in the man's ear.

The man slightly shifted his gaze, looking past the newly erected statue in the square, and saw three carriages approaching amidst the crowd; all three were mottled red.

"I saw three red carriages, which one is it?" the man asked.

Black Flag paused for a moment before replying, "The observer only saw one."

The man thought, "This is really a cunning prey. They even prepared an identical car after leaving home. I didn't expect people from such a small place to have this kind of awareness."

He observed the three carriages, preparing to look for his next opportunity to kill.

The next moment, he cursed inwardly. The middle car of the three cars stopped behind the statue, and the two cars on the left and right stood on either side of the statue in a symmetrical style. People got out of the cars at the same time.

They were all wearing the same black trench coats and did not turn their heads toward the man. Their height and features were also similar. Even the man was not sure which one was the target. Moreover, the man's intuition told him that the target was most likely behind the statue.

But it doesn't matter. The men aren't upset about missing two opportunities; patience is a very important quality for them in this line of work.

"This is Hunter 1. The target has entered the Phoenix Seeking Phoenix Brothel," the man said. "The newly built statue in the square is blocking my way."

"The newly built statue in the square?" Black Flag's voice came through the patter of rain; it wasn't raining outside, so the sound must have come from the fog. The man sensed the surprise in Black Flag's tone.

Amidst the rustling sound, there were some knocking noises, but the man paid no attention. The fog here was quite eerie; due to its interference, any sound could appear.

The man wondered whether he should shoot when she left the brothel, or at some other time. Given her wary demeanor, she probably wouldn't be lounging on the balcony or near a window.

Why didn't Hunters 2 and 3 fire? The man frowned. He remembered that although their shooting positions weren't as good as his, Hunter 2's position should have been able to ignore the statues in the square and launch an attack.

Black Flag was in charge of command, and everyone only had one-way communication with Black Flag. The man could not ask his two colleagues for advice and could only do what he could.

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