Chapter 12 - King of Snipers
Chapter 12 - King of Snipers
TL Note(CPU): I counted wrongly.... It’s chapter 13 that’s either wait or sponsor ORL again, from here on out 3 chaps per week with 1 sponsored and 1 stock(in other words it won"t be released even if sponsored)
TL Note(Sean): Hey:P It’s our 5th release this week, and starting from next Monday, I’ll hopefully be able to keep up this pace and TRANSLATE 5-7 every week.
Oh yeah, just a question for the readers. Do you guys prefer having footnotes at the end of the paragraph, like in this chapter, or at the end of the chapter, like chapters 1-6. Please do leave answers in the comments section! Now, here’s your chapter.
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Upon reaching the composer’s studio in the heart of Lin Hai City, the tastes of an artist could be seen everywhere. As for the specific song that Dream Jade was going to sing, even Shen Ming and Xiao Yi weren’t allowed to know. Wu Neng made it seem like it was a national secret. Shen Ming sat in front of the huge gold sculpture in the center of the courtyard and waited.
Xiao Yi, who had returned after leaving for half an hour, sat right next to Shen Ming, “I’ve already contacted my ex-cla.s.smates in the traffic department. They’ve helped me check things out secretly. The licence number was incomplete, so there are altogether 5 suspicious cars, but they didn’t investigate deeply. After all, they’re not detectives and the other party didn’t commit a crime, so they can’t disclose the city resident’s information, that would be punishable by law. Unless of course if I personally pay a visit, “accidently” seeing it is no big deal.”
“Cla.s.smates should contact each other and reminisce. Go along now.” Shen Ming laughed.
“I’m kidding, if I go, who’s going to keep an eye on you? I’m telling you now, my most important mission is to follow you, and not to catch some fan with a twisted mind.” Xiao Yi said with contempt.
“Give me your phone.” While Shen Ming was saying that, he had already grabbed Xiao Yi’s phone and skillfully entered an encrypted URL and directly downloaded an app called ‘Soul Chaser’.
“What are you doing? To begin with, I don’t have enough data!”
“This is the Nirvana Project’s dedicated tracking app, actually, every single partic.i.p.ant of the Nirvana Project swallowed a “roundworm” electronic tracking device. Those things released hooks inside our stomachs and are hanging onto the walls. Even if we died, they wouldn’t fall off.”
“Its signal is extremely strong. Using GPS, you can get it to be as accurate as 1 meter. Only the Colonel and I know the tracking pa.s.sword. From a Nirvana Soldier’s point of view, this is more important than life.” Nevertheless, Shen Ming entered his own pa.s.sword into the app and gave the phone back to Xiao Yi.
An electronic 3D map appeared on the screen. The pulsating green dot represented Shen Ming. It also displayed many other parameters, including heart rate, adrenal stress index, even fitness.
“Why are you telling me such an important thing?” Xiao Yi was stunned. Even though she had never been on the battlefield, she still knew that this pa.s.sword was extremely important. Once this information was leaked to the enemies, it was practically a 100% chance of becoming a hunted animal.
“Because I trust you, right now, I need you to trust me too. I won’t run and I won’t hide. I long for an uneventful life in the city more than anyone else. Help me find that person’s info alright?” Shen Ming said with sincerity.
“Just this once… never again. I always feel like I’m falling into your traps.” Xiao Yi stood up with a sigh. She could only personally pay a visit.
Not long after Xiao Yi left, roughly just before 11am, Dream Jade exhaustedly walked out from the workroom and sat beside Shen Ming.
“Taking a halftime break? Do you need something to eat?” Shen Ming looked at Dream Jade’s sickly face.
“It’s not a halftime break, I’ve finished.”
“So fast?” Shen Ming was astonished, he wanted to know whether Wu Neng was planning on wasting a whole day.
“I want to sing a self-written song, but uncle won’t let me. In the end, the revolt failed. The song will be what he chooses, but a few melodies will be changed. After singing twice it’ll be over… I’m just a professional singer, it’s not difficult at all.” While Dream Jade was helplessly sighing, she suddenly smiled once more, “But luckily, it ended early. Wu Neng promised to repay the half day holiday that was taken away from me. I want to go out and play, come with me!
“You want to go to the women’s shopping district again? If I remember correctly, your acting skills were really bad. If we get seen by the public, it’ll definitely turn into another ‘Great Escape’.” Shen Ming was worriedly pulling his hair.
“Don’t worry, do you think that this young lady is so stupid? How can I fall down at the same place twice, I have already thought of a place to go!” Dream Jade had a mysterious grin, and she grabbed Shen Ming and ran out.
And all of this, was seen by Wu Neng who was currently accompanying the composer.
“To be honest, her singing is really nice, but solely based on the revised song, there’s no way she’ll beat Green Tea. You should have her sing a new song.” The composer frankly said.
“I know, but to a celebrity, winning or losing has never been important. The important part is how to get the biggest benefit.” Wu Neng had already planned this all out.
Half an hour later, Shen Ming accompanying Dream Jade, arrived at the place where she said her ident.i.ty would easily remain hidden.That place was actually “Adorable Happy Valley” which was located by the seaside.
This was Lin Hai city’s only, and also its biggest, theme park. Although today was not a holiday, there were still many visitors here. Before getting off the car, Dream Jade wore a Venetian mask with so many bright crystals stuck to it that there was no s.p.a.ce left for anything else. In this theme park, wearing a mask would not attract any attention.
Today, Dream Jade was wearing a sky-blue, one-piece dress, her pleated skirt covering only a third of her thigh. She wore zebra-striped tights on the lower half of her body and round-toed leather boots. Her long shoulder-length hair was tied into pigtails and was exactly like a black-haired version of Hatsune Miku.
“I say, you’re already a grown up[1], do you really have to play with these kind of things?” Shen Ming knitted his eyebrows.
“You’re the old one[1]! I am a young lady! Young lady!” Dream Jade brandished her inflated iron hammer and struck the back of Shen Ming’s head. “So what if I want to play with this? If you don’t like it then bite me!”
“First, let me say something. There are quite a few people here, so you are not allowed to be more than 5 meters away from me.” After what happened in the morning, Shen Ming had already increased the level of security that he gave to Dream Jade.
“Sure, I’ll also bring you into the ladies’ bathroom, you long-winded bodyguard.” Dream Jade laughed and held Shen Ming’s wrist then dragged him into the theme park like they were a couple.
Dream Jade had never been to such a big theme park. She had avoided these types of places even more after she had become famous, . Only with Shen Ming around her could she feel relieved and enjoy herself. This was because no matter what happened, Dream Jade knew that Shen Ming would protect her and let her leave safely.
For Dream Jade, today was a holiday. For Shen Ming, work continued as usual. A theme park was the best place for ambushing a target. There were many people, the roads branched out in all directions, and one could even disguise himself without looking out of place. Shen Ming himself had a.s.sa.s.sinated a target in this kind of place.
But now, he could only give his all and pay careful attention to every person that pa.s.sed by him. However, Dream Jade did not cooperate at all, if she saw anything, she would excitedly charge at it. Be it a roller coaster, a topple tower[2], a drop zone[3]. If there were many people, she would run straight and cram herself in.
[2]: was hard to imagine that this girl whose courage surpa.s.sed her height, could actually sit through the 4 Great Earthquake Valley roller coasters, without even taking a single break in between.
“Ah!!!” During the vertical drop of the roller coaster, Dream Jade was screaming,with her eyes shut behind the mask. Whereas Shen Ming, who was sitting beside her, didn’t even bat an eyelid.
“Hey, are you a dead person? This was so exciting, yet you didn’t even shout. This is too much of a disservice to the staff!” Dream Jade said after the ride as she hit Shen Ming’s arm.
“If you tried being dropped from 50 meters in the air into the sea without a parachute, trust me, you won’t ever get any adrenaline from such things for a lifetime.” Shen Ming helplessly said.
“Strange bodyguard….Ah! There’s a doll!” Dream Jade once again found another new ‘battlefield’.
In front of a game stall named ‘Hunting wild ducks’, the stall owner who was dressed like a ‘Bald Strongman[4]’ was busy trying to market his rigged shooting game. During the game, you would have to use a BB gun to try and shoot the moving 16 wild ducks on the platform 5 meters away. As long as you were able to shoot half of the ducks, you would be able to get a doll.
([4]:Bald Strongman looks like this: “Boss, how much for one try?” Dream Jade was extremely eager to try this out.
Using 20￥ to fill up an entire cartridge of ammo, Dream Jade aimed the gun with a single hand. Who knew that the recoil would suddenly jolt her arm, causing it to bend. The sound of firing also scared Dream Jade until she closed her eyes. This toy gun clearly did not let anyone happily win the prize, it even added a recoil device!
“Your arm is too thin, don’t use a single hand to fire.” Shen Ming sighed while catching Dream Jade from the back, then making her grip the gun handle with both hands. His whispers made Dream Jade unable to help blushing, “ My mistress, when shooting, don’t close your eyes. Focus on the movement of the target through the sight. You can hold your breath at the moment of firing, and make sure your body is balanced before trying again.”
With the advice of an expert, after Shen Ming released her, Dream Jade pulled the trigger and naturally hit a duck.
“I hit it!” Dream Jade excitedly jumped up. But for the next 14 shots, she only hit two, and she got the consolation prize…...a bag of tissues.
“Shark! You are blatantly stealing my money!” Dream Jade was so angry that she threw the tissues onto the floor. Even her who did not understand guns felt scammed. The gun’s recoil was a man-made design, and there was not enough pressure applied to the bullets. So after flying two or three meters, the bullet would just fall. Under these circ.u.mstances, 99% of the time, 20¥ would only get you a bag of tissues.
“Don’t get so angry, it’s just a game. Are you going to cause another ‘Great Escape’ again?” Shen Ming patted Dream Jade’s shoulder and pulled her behind him. He faced the bald man and said, “Boss, one more time.”
Reloading the cartridge, Shen Ming held the gun with one hand, the smile on his face disappearing the moment he aimed. His sideways stance was as handsome as the actors in the movies. Pa! Pa! Pa! After many gunshots sounded out without pause, all 16 of the moving ducks fell down, and the whole process only took nine seconds.
“Are you kidding me?” The bald man almost peed in his pants. This store had been opened for more than three years, and he had never seen such a monster. Even a military soldier had only shot 12 targets and was already considered as having G.o.dly skill, and it was even said that that guy was an army sniper…..Then what was Shen Ming? The king of snipers?
“Hey hey, stop standing there like a fool! I want that biggest one!” Dream Jade walked up and kicked the baldy’s leg. And like this, a bunny that was even taller than Dream Jade was now carried on Shen Ming’s back.
They found a long chair that faced the ocean to sit on. A girl and a boy and a huge rabbit, it was such a happy trio.
“Your shooting skill was so good, how did you hit everything with that toy gun? Were you a soldier in the past? Special forces maybe?” Dream Jade held a cone of ice cream in her hand and pushed up her mask ever so slightly. She was so excited that she couldn’t stop moving her mouth.
“Not really a soldier, but I‘ve been tempered on the battlefield for 10 years and luckily managed to live long enough to come back.” Shen Ming held the ice cream cone and licked a mouthful.
“Have you killed before?” Dream Jade suddenly said solemnly.
“Yes, but according to what I know, they’re all bad people.” Shen Ming added a sentence which made Dream Jade smile.
“Then that’s fine, I know you’re a good person and that you wouldn’t do anything wrong.” Dream Jade once again talked about a worrying topic, “Are you and Xiao Yi a couple?”
“Nope, the amount of time we’ve known each other and the amount of time I’ve known you is only different by one day. She’s not bad, she’ll definitely be a good a.s.sistant. Right now, our relationship should be considered partners and friends.” Shen Ming didn’t hide anything.
“En en, that’s good” When Dream Jade was comforting herself, she saw a cone of black coloured ice cream in Shen Ming’s hand. “ What flavour is yours?”
“Maybe coffee? It’s a bit bitter.”
“Let me try.” Without waiting for Shen Ming to reply, Dream Jade went in front of him, bent down, stuck out her small tongue and licked the ice cream, causing Shen Ming’s face to turn red.
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[1] more puns cause f.u.c.k my life.... Word used is 老大不小 which could mean 1) already grown up or 2) above marriageable age. Basically Shen Ming is saying Dream Jade is a grown up and Dream Jade is using the other meaning and saying that Shen Ming is old.
TLed by: Sean, CPU
Edited by: Arch, SecondRate