Volume 4 Chapter 6: Gentlemen Alliance

Leo was already forced into a corner. This sewer branch was less than two meters high and under one meter wide. The huge giant, surrounded by three powerful fighters, was like an elephant being stuffed into a refrigerator—it had to stoop and bend over, with only its head and half of its limbs still visible.

Skorzeny and the others had learned from their earlier mistakes. Whenever Leo showed signs of preparing to emit infrasound, they immediately attacked his throat, forcing him to stop the infrasound assault. The giant struggled angrily but could not free itself for the moment.

“Hmph, there’s at least two meters of concrete above this sewer. Not even a tank could break through that!” Wurdenbeller had transformed back into human form, leaning on his cane with one hand and stroking his small mustache. The path ahead was too narrow, so he could no longer join the fight.

“Crack!” Before the vampire baron finished speaking, a section of the sewer wall cracked. The giant endured the attacks from Skorzeny and Grant and actually managed to turn its body sideways, freeing both hands to brace against the walls on either side.

“Incredible brute strength!” Wurdenbeller’s face stiffened, and he frowned slightly. His canine teeth slowly elongated. “Lieutenant Colonel, if we keep this up, he’s going to break free. You don’t mind if I bite him, do you?”

Skorzeny looked somewhat helpless. Actually, a mindless giant wasn’t that hard to deal with, but capturing this immensely powerful monster alive was rather difficult.

Wurdenbeller’s suggestion was to make the giant lose a lot of blood, weakening it so they could capture it. But the Heracles Plan had less than ten days left. In such a short time, it would likely be hard to restore the giant’s combat effectiveness.

“Wait, don’t hurt him. I have a powerful sedative here.” Dr. Keller, supported by Qin Lun, appeared behind the group. He raised his hand and tossed a syringe into the air.

“Sedative?” Wurdenbeller reached out and caught the syringe. His right hand transformed with a “poof” into a large bat. Its small claws grabbed the syringe and swiftly approached the giant, inserting the needle into a wound on Leo’s chest.

The giant’s skin was as tough as cowhide. Only by injecting into an existing wound could they ensure the thin needle wouldn’t break. After the enhanced sedative was administered, the giant’s struggles quickly weakened, and it collapsed powerlessly to the ground. At the same time, its body underwent an unbelievable change: its muscles and bones gradually shrank, returning to a normal human size.

Looking at the slender, scholarly man in tattered clothes on the ground, everyone except Skorzeny was astonished. In their minds, they had assumed that since the giant was so burly, Leo Robert’s true form would also be a brawny man. They never expected him to be so “delicate.”

“Dr. Leo was just a scientist who never did physical labor. Did you think he was like you bunch of brutes?” Skorzeny shot them an annoyed look, bent down, and hoisted the doctor over his shoulder. “Let’s go. We’ve already wasted too much time!”

Skorzeny wasn’t wrong in calling the commando members brutes. Except for Madame Monica, everyone in the commando was a burly German. Even the gentlemanly-looking Wurdenbeller was over six feet tall.

They climbed back to the surface and found Captain Bock and Madame Monica chatting and laughing in a jeep.

“Captain, you’re really taking it easy!” Wurdenbeller winked and joked.

“When it rains, I’m just an ordinary soldier. I’m not much help to you all!” Captain Bock spread his hands and said self-deprecatingly.

“Gerthard, you and the two doctors get in the jeep. The rest of you find other transportation. We’ll meet at the villa!” Skorzeny commanded efficiently.

…

Skorzeny dried his hair with a towel and took a hot coffee from an MP.

“How is Dr. Leo?”

“The drug hasn’t worn off yet. But after this outburst, his condition should be stable for the next ten days or so.” Dr. Keller adjusted his glasses and sighed. “Lieutenant Colonel, are you really taking him with us?”

“The giant’s ability is essential for the plan. Whether he loses control or not by then, we need his help!” Skorzeny frowned. “By the way, were the special weapons from the Aryan Armaments Research Institute brought?”

“Yes, they were!” Dr. Keller stood up, opened a hidden door in the study, and had the duty MP carry out several large cases from the secret room.

“These are specially prepared weapons and ammunition for you. Some are the Empire’s latest inventions!” Skorzeny’s eyes gleamed as he patted two of the cases. “Gerthard, Bock, these are for you. Check them immediately before we board the ship to see if they suit you.”

Qin Lun stepped forward and opened the case prepared for him by the Lieutenant Colonel.

“A Kar98k Mauser rifle? No, that’s not right. It’s even shorter than the Kar98k short carbine! And the magazine is external?” Qin Lun skillfully assembled the rifle parts from the case.

Qin Lun had intermediate mastery in firearms. At this level, the integration between person and weapon was quite high. Combined with Gerthard’s memory of familiarity with Mauser sniper rifles, as soon as he assembled the gun, it felt like an extension of his own arm. He needed no additional practice.

The Kar98k was Germany’s main service rifle. It had an internal five-round magazine, high accuracy, and long range. As a sniper rifle, it could also be equipped with 4x and 6x scopes. A skilled German sniper could hit any target within 800 meters.

Its only drawback was that after firing, the bolt had to be operated to eject the cartridge and load a new round. The “clack” sound of operating the bolt in the quiet of night was enough to reveal a sniper’s position. Many German snipers were killed by enemy fire after shooting because of this.

“This is called the Kar98k Modified Special Sniper Rifle. The magazine is changed to a ten-round external one. Standard range is 2000 meters; maximum lethal distance is 2600 meters. The external magazine automatically ejects and loads rounds. It comes with a 4-8.2x scope and two types of 7.22mm special bullets.”

Dr. Keller adjusted his glasses and said calmly, “You can choose the bullet type as needed. One is a hollow-point lead mercury dumdum bullet; the other is a tungsten alloy threaded armor-piercing bullet. I don’t need to explain the characteristics of these bullets to a professional sniper like you, do I?”

“No need!” Qin Lun took out both types of bullets and examined them carefully, a flicker of admiration in his eyes.

Both bullets were longer than ordinary 7.22mm rounds, seemingly with increased propellant to achieve higher muzzle velocity and kinetic energy. (Dumdum bullet and tungsten alloy technology were already mature in the early 20th century and had long been used in military applications.)

This Kar98k Modified Special Sniper Rifle, both in terms of ammunition and scope craftsmanship, was actually no worse than modern sniper rifles from the 21st century.

Modern sniper scopes generally range from 3x to 9x, adjusted according to shooting distance. The original Kar98k sniper rifle only had up to a 6x scope, but this rifle’s scope reached 8.2x. The mercury dumdum bullets enhanced damage but had slightly lower accuracy, suitable for medium range. The tungsten alloy armor-piercing bullets had high stability and were suitable for long range.

Ordinary snipers couldn’t use this rifle. Its standard range was 2000 meters, but the farther the distance, the more wind affected the bullet. Beyond 1000 meters, even the best sniper couldn’t guarantee accuracy. That was the main reason why, no matter how advanced modern sniper rifles or scope technology became, the effective sniping distance rarely exceeded 1000 meters.

But Qin Lun was different. The Moon Night Elf Bloodline greatly enhanced his sensitivity to the wind element. Essentially, however far his wind element sensing reached, that would be the effective range of his sniper rifle.

Qin Lun silently stroked the sniper rifle. He suddenly felt he hadn’t yet fully tapped the potential of his Moon Night Elf Bloodline. If he could turn this sniper rifle into Apostle equipment, even just as blue equipment, its combat power might surpass that of the dark gold equipment FN-500 in certain aspects.

“Ha, not bad!” Baron von Wurdenbeller took a cane sword from his case, swished it a couple of times, and looked pleased. He liked this sword.

Actually, aside from the cases prepared for Qin Lun and Bock, the others’ weapons weren’t that important. Captain Bock’s case contained glass tubes bundled together. These tubes were odd: the outer glass wall had two layers, with a pale yellow liquid inside and a middle layer of white crystalline solid.

“What is this? It looks like nitroglycerin?” Madame Monica glanced over and asked jokingly.

“No, this isn’t nitroglycerin. The inner layer is liquid mustard gas; the outer crystal wall is RDX!” Bock said seriously.

“That’s terrifying!” Hearing the captain’s words, the people nearby instinctively leaned back.

Mustard gas was a blister agent. RDX had 1.2 times the explosive power of TNT. It was the most powerful explosive—bar none. If this stuff exploded, hardly one or two people here would survive.

“Why doesn’t it have a detonator or timer?” Grant curiously moved closer.

“With Captain Bock here, we don’t need detonators or timers!” Skorzeny said with a smile. “Captain, show them your ability!”

“Heh, alright.” A slight smile appeared on Captain Bock’s normally stern face. He snapped his fingers with a “pop,” and a small flame instantly appeared on his thumb.

“When Bock was five, his body spontaneously combusted. After recovering from severe burns, he discovered he had the ability to control fire.” Skorzeny explained with a laugh.

“After joining the military, I became a demolition expert in the Air Force parachute troops. I can freely detonate any explosive within 200 meters!” Bock extinguished the flame on his thumb and said calmly, “I don’t need detonators or fuses. I am the human detonator!”

“It seems the commando’s strength is formidable!” Wurdenbeller stroked his small mustache and smiled. “Lieutenant Colonel, give this strong commando a code name. Maybe many years from now, our deeds will be made into a movie!”

“My, the Baron is truly a romantic gentleman!” Madame Monica covered her mouth and laughed. “The commando has doctors, officers, and a baron. You are all Germany’s noblest gentlemen. How about naming the commando ‘Gentlemen Alliance’?”