Gao Yang was observing Phoenix, and he noticed that Phoenix smiled while shooting, a heartfelt smile.

There weren’t any other soldiers here except for Salim and his entourage, so both Phoenix and Eileen had removed their facemasks.

So as Phoenix was shooting, the slightly upturned corners of her mouth, the joy and satisfaction on her face, were clearly visible to Gao Yang, who was observing her.

This woman is truly... extraordinary.

Gao Yang could only conclude this about Phoenix, but if he knew that Phoenix had always imagined him as an adversary to be mutually destroyed, over and over again, he might stop holding back and say what he truly wanted, replacing "extraordinary" with "perverted."

This woman is truly a pervert, but that’s something Gao Yang was too embarrassed to say out loud, mainly because Phoenix was his comrade and subordinate.

Fortunately, Gao Yang had encountered many perverts before, so adding Phoenix to the list wasn’t much.

Phoenix fired seven shots and killed three people, which was quite impressive considering the One thousand five hundred Mi distance. Cui Bo fired two shots and missed them both, which was normal.

Within a short period, eight people were killed — four dead, four remaining hiding behind rocks, not daring to emerge; Gao Yang had no intention of firing as his gun’s effective range wasn’t long enough; bullets fired from here could easily miss their target. Instead, he chose to observe the results.

He gestured for Salim to make room at the spotting scope. After a few glances, Gao Yang found that of the three people Phoenix had hit, two were still alive, moving around despite their injuries — one shot in the torso, the other in the thigh.

As per custom, whoever hits someone has to finish them off. Cui Bo hadn’t fired to kill the two wounded, and Phoenix had no intention of shooting them either.

Gao Yang thought it over, feeling there was no need to let the injured endure their pain; this wasn’t the time to use wounded enemies to inflict more damage, and killing one more or less had no impact on the overall situation, so why bother?

"Crow, you..."

Before Gao Yang could finish speaking, Phoenix fired another shot.

At a One thousand five hundred Mi distance, bullet flight time was about a bit over two seconds. Given such long flight time, hitting a moving target was impossible unless you accounted for lead time.

However, when Phoenix fired this shot, there was no visible target. But after she fired, two seconds later, someone suddenly ran out from behind the rock, coincidentally into the trajectory of Phoenix’s bullet, and fell forward.

Simply put, Phoenix fired two seconds early, and when the bullet traveled One thousand five hundred Mi, someone emerged from behind the rock, directly into its path.

Gao Yang gasped in amazement, exclaiming, "Amazing!"

Cui Bo, equally stunned, turned toward Phoenix, who was right beside him, unable to make a sound.

If Phoenix’s shot was luck, then she was incredibly lucky; if not, then Phoenix was terrifyingly skilled.

After the miraculous shot eliminated an enemy, Phoenix silently fired two more shots, finishing off the two wounded enemies.

Anyone who knew a bit about shooting was shocked by Phoenix. After swallowing, Gao Yang cautiously asked, "Crow, how did you take that shot? Was it luck or... was it intentional?"

While replacing her magazine, Phoenix replied coolly, "I anticipated it."

That woman is impressive; if the shot was Phoenix’s design, Gao Yang had to concede.

"How did you anticipate it?"

"The enemy’s hiding position, if they wanted to rescue the injured, that rock location was closest to them; the timing, the enemy likely regained composure, knowing maintaining movement had low probability of being hit. Someone must have come out to rescue the injured. Observe the movements—the injured were waving, then suddenly stopped. His companion must have told him they’re coming to help, so he stopped waving and looked my direction, indicating the rescuer was coming out, so place the impact point on the nearest line where the rescuer would emerge; when they come out, they’re bound to get hit."

Phoenix, usually concise in speech, spoke more this time because the explanation needed a bit more detail.

Gao Yang understood Phoenix’s reasoning, but knew he couldn’t reach Phoenix’s level; he’s not the predictive shooting type.

Besides admiration, Gao Yang could say nothing; he gave a thumbs up, but Phoenix didn’t even glance his way.

"Retreat!"

Avoiding enemy retaliation was necessary, and if the enemy called for artillery support that would be problematic. Enough time had been wasted; they had to relocate.

Gao Yang picked up the spotting scope with a tripod and hurried downward as mortar fire quickly ensued, only to hit inaccurately with a few shots, and then the retaliatory fire ceased.

Houthis Armed Forces had quite a few sentinels watching over the hill; Satan didn’t need to be at the very front, just acting as sentinels, inspecting the terrain and frontline status; skirmishing with the Shah People was merely incidental, and with that done, retreating was prudent.

Leaving frontline actions to later, Gao Yang had other matters to attend to; he couldn’t be distracted by insignificant battles.

Upon returning to the temporary camp after descending the hill, Liang Dong had already prepared the meal, perfect timing for dinner.

Having arrived at the battle zone, Liang Dong carried a gun even while cooking, never parting from it; whether necessary or not, Gao Yang felt Liang Dong’s habit was admirable.

Liang Dong also had a night vision device, and a bulletproof vest, though cooking with a gun was fine, wearing the vest you might be cooked in the heat.

Gao Yang served himself food and grabbed a flatbread, and while eating, said to Liang Dong, "Can you handle cooking for so many people alone, or do you need help? Also, when not cooking, wear a helmet and a bulletproof vest; don’t find it troublesome; better safe than sorry, what if a shell lands nearby?"

Liang Dong replied calmly, "I can manage alone, but having help would be nice. As for the helmet and vest, I’ll wear them."

Gao Yang nodded and said no more; he was too hungry, wolfing down his food.

Liang Dong hesitated for a moment, then approached Gao Yang quietly, "Boss, can you let me check out the frontline? I’ve been a soldier for years yet never really been on the battlefield; I just want to take a look, is that okay?"

Gao Yang hesitated and ultimately didn’t immediately agree, simply saying, "I’ll think about it."