Neither Penetration Bullet nor High Explosive Bomb, nor the kinetic impact bullet could inflict serious damage on the Shadow—they only slightly slowed its speed and altered its course a little.

But this was merely treating the symptoms, not the disease. In just 0.5 seconds, the Shadow had already closed in completely on Ding Canghai's location.

At this moment, he finally activated the special ability of a Level Eight Gunsmith.

This ability was unrelated to the amount of energy controlled or the power of the firearms. It is a skill that allows one to perform a storm-like rapid intuitive calculation in the brain, comprehensively analyzing the battlefield environment in an extremely short time, and then devising a set of chain reaction tactics composed of multiple coincidences, referred to as Chain Thinking.

Under the control of Chain Thinking, Ding Canghai finally raised the main battle sniper that had detached from the left arm of his Sniper Armor.

The slender Sniper Armor bounced to the right, body flying diagonally, while firing a shot to the left.

His shot was off target, way off, in fact.

But this was not a miss; it was intentional.

He was originally aiming for the crevice in the rock ahead.

For this shot, he chose an Air Burst Bomb, rarely used in space battles.

The heavy sniper bullet stabbed fiercely into the rock crevice, and exploded violently 0.005 seconds later.

The rapidly expanding air caused the shattered rocks to shoot out like shotgun bullets in a radial pattern, covering this vast area, enveloping both the Shadow and Ding Canghai.

Among the pieces of rocks of varying sizes, there was a palm-sized metal construct.

In the next moment, the metal construct caught up with the Shadow from the flank and exploded spectacularly.

The Energy Shield on the outer layer of Ding Canghai's armor was fully deployed in advance.

Rubble and the energy shockwave slammed intensely against Ding Canghai's armor, causing his Energy Shield's index to plummet, with some fragments even breaking through the shield, clinking as they hit his body.

Fortunately, the medium-sized base station shielded directly behind him was almost completely unharmed.

The Shadow intended to bypass him and head straight for the base station but was caught squarely by the close-range explosion. Whether it was injured was unclear, but its direction had significantly shifted, changing from heading directly toward the base station to slightly askew.

In the next instant, before Ding Canghai could turn around, sparks suddenly burst from the bottom of the medium-sized base station.

Old Ding's eyes turned red the next moment.

The Shadow still managed to hit the medium radio station. Although it didn't completely destroy the base station, it severed the powering battery that was undergoing pre-heating and energy buildup, as well as cutting off the power supply line. The pre-heating operation of the high-power wireless transmitter has ceased, with only the low-power receivers still struggling to decipher the data packets from the ground base station.

The situation entered the most dangerous state.

Within the next 0.5 seconds, several things happened.

First, the automatic repair modular device and backup energy source on Ding Canghai's Sniper Armor quietly detached and burrowed into the ground.

Second, seeing that the main power supply to the radio station was cut off and that information on this end could no longer be leaked out, the Shadow slightly backed off instead of launching a continuous assault, proving that Ding Canghai's previous dense rounds and consecutive Tracking Bomb hits still impacted it. It felt the matter was settled, and prioritizing its own survival was crucial.

Third, Ding Canghai's specially designed Sniper Armor's main power system, entire weapons system, full monitoring system, and movement system were all fully activated, operating at maximum power. A newly developed drug from Sun Miao Institute named Xingtian Potion, which can momentarily elevate human capabilities to the Nine Level Gunsmith standard, was simultaneously injected into Ding's back neck, heart, spine, thighs, and other areas.

Fourth, intense artillery fire roared out like a tide from countless launch ports on the Sniper Armor, pursuing the Shadow's direction, locking its escape path from all angles.

...

At that moment, Ren Zhong, wearing the improved Red Blade Armor, sat inside a Water Drop spaceship disguised as a rock, rotating around a spatial meteor.

Ren Zhong refused Zheng Tian's request.

Zheng Tian wanted him to stay aboard the Tracer Ship because it was safer there.

Having the spiritual leader like him perish would severely topple morale.

But Ren Zhong presented his full parameter data clearly to Zheng Tian, "Although up till now, we have had thirty thousand and eight hundred super-level Professionals, without any doubt, I am still the strongest. The strongest warrior should naturally be at the forefront, doing the most dangerous things. Now, Zheng Tian, you are the army's Commander, you shouldn't treat me as the so-called leader, you should regard me as the sharpest blade."

Ren Zhong had been lurking here for several days.

The meticulously arranged defense formation was pin-drop silent, and the universe was utterly silent.

The High Explosive Missile and the tri-phase missiles equipped with the extender developed by Qian Wangshen had embarked on a journey to the distant deep space five days ago.

However, none of these missiles have exploded so far, the target acquisition hasn't succeeded, still advancing through space at a quarter-speed of light, not knowing where the enemy is.

Ren Zhong found it somewhat too dull and subconsciously started reasoning endlessly in his mind, his thoughts still abundant.