NOVEL NEXT Chapter 268: The Sharpshooter
It was rare to come across something that the old man was interested in, and it happened to be something Joe Ga was good at as well, so he was very enthusiastic.
Lunch was served buffet style, with several chefs on standby by the stove ready to fry steaks for guests, along with an abundance of fruit salads and other foods laid out on a large table for people to help themselves.
The overall atmosphere was very relaxed, and you could casually grab a bite and then freely move around the front and back yards.
The women and children were all at the front, stirring up chaos among the smaller animals.
The men were mainly in the back, all familiar with handling guns for a living. Eric and Chris were also shooting enthusiasts, so naturally, they were playing with guns.
Seeing the old man was impatient, Joe Ga had Nis take good care of Qiao Liang and the others, ate a bowl of noodles quickly with the old man, and then took him to the backyard.
The backyard of the estate was huge, with a circular pond of about twenty acres in the center, and farther away was a dense eucalyptus forest that acted as a fence.
Karman wasn't good at socializing so he didn't come to Addis Ababa this time, leaving Dorian to hang out with two gun-loving buddies here.
When Joe Ga led old Tong over, Dorian had just accepted 'tokens' from two players and, after collecting a $20 tip, deftly controlled a small remote boat, dragging two colored balloons to the far end of the pond.
Eric and Chris seemed to have made a bet. They greeted Joe Ga and then entered their shooting stations as if they were competing in a match.
Watching the two rookies using their custom 'P·B shotguns' to hit a target at 200 meters, requiring an adjustable 8x scope and a stand, Joe Ga shook his head and said, "How can you losers dare to call yourselves marksmanship experts?"
Eric fiddled carefully with an anemometer and a laser rangefinder before calculating the trajectory with a computer, and then fired a confident shot that successfully burst one balloon.
Then the fat man triumphantly raised his hands as if he had won a championship and shouted at Chris, "Five thousand bucks, Mr. Kopke has won five thousand bucks, and with five more shots, he'll win ten thousand. Tell me, who is Sweden's best gunman?"
As he spoke, Eric, the fatso, stuck out his butt and farted at Chris, then laughed and interfered with Chris's shooting. When Chris missed the target, the fat man triumphantly ran to high-five Dorian in celebration, shouting, "Buddy, you're my lucky star, tonight I'll treat you to blow all the winnings."
Seeing Chris with a face like he'd eaten shit, Joe Ga had no interest in dealing with the grudge between this brother-in-law and his uncle-in-law.
Joe Ga picked up a P·B shotgun from beside Dorian and handed it to old Tong, saying with a smile, "The sight is adjusted, zero at 100 meters."
The P·B shotgun was an improvement on the Seville sniper rifle M07, with an overall design that was very close to the AWM, but was several sizes smaller, about the size of an ordinary carbine, using 7.62 mm bullets and weighing only 3.6 kg.
Old Tong took the shotgun and tried it, praising, "I haven't seen this gun before, but it feels really nice, the weight distribution between the front and back is very comfortable."
OId Tong fiddled with it, removed the magazine, pulled back the bolt to check the chamber, confirmed there were no bullets, placed the magazine aside, then took aim with the shotgun.
The elder felt it for a while and seemed a bit uncomfortable with the scope. Seeing that there were iron sights on the gun, he said to Joe Ga, "Can this scope be removed? I'm not used to it."
What's not to allow?
Joe Ga took out a tool and quickly removed the scope, then said with a smile, "Give it a try, this gun comes with a recoil suppressor, the recoil is very well managed."
Old Tong raised the gun again to check, looked through the iron sights, then walked to the side of the shooting position, pushed the magazine in, cycled the bolt, and swiftly aimed and pulled the trigger. Discover more content at empire
"Bang"—a balloon floating 200 meters away on the water burst instantly.
Seeing this, Dorian whistled, raised his thumb, and shouted "Good shooting!" He then controlled the remote boat to return, this time dragging five balloons into the water.
The P·B shotgun's magazine held six rounds, leaving exactly five bullets left.
When the targets were in place, old Tong turned back to Joe Ga and gave a thumbs up, saying, "This gun is great!"
Joe Ga couldn't brag about his role in this gun, but he proudly said to a somewhat shocked Eric, "You guys are too lousy, look at how the old man shoots."
Hitting a balloon at 200 meters with iron sights was an absurd notion for someone accustomed to high-tech like Eric.
Finding a target through the small aperture wasn't hard, but once it extended past 100 meters, the whole feeling changed, a slight tremor could mean missing the mark.
Now suddenly an old man appeared, casually hitting targets at 200 meters, which seemed incredibly unbelievable to Eric, the finicky guy.
The fat man sidled up next to the elder and raised his phone, filming his movements while muttering, "Luck, pure luck, it's got to be luck."
As Eric grumbled, the remote boat controlled by Dorian reached the far end of the pond. Then they saw old Tong quickly aim and pull the trigger, then rapidly cycle the bolt and aim and fire again...
The same motion was repeated five times, and it was reminiscent of a scene from a Jiang Wen movie where he was shooting at a train.
But here there was no need for the bullets to fly for a while—almost as soon as the gunshot sounded, the distant balloon would burst.
Even Joe Ga, who considered himself good at shooting, couldn't help but clap loudly and shout, "Beautiful!"
This time, Eric was truly stunned. This level of marksmanship had a touch of mysticism in his eyes.
In terms of speed, distance, and accuracy, the old man's shooting couldn't compare to Joe Ga's.
But Eric could understand Joe Ga's marksmanship and knew the principles behind it. However, he couldn't comprehend the old man's shooting at all.
200 meters, a balloon, it's like a joke. Even someone with slight nearsightedness wouldn't be able to see the balloon at that distance.
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"Can I take a look at the gun?"
Facing Eric's request, the elder Tong, who had no issues with speaking or understanding English, worked the action to check the chamber. After confirming there were no bullets, he passed the shotgun to Eric.
Eric, unable to wait, found Dorian and again inserted $20, asking him to set up a few targets.
This time they didn't need 200 meters, starting at 100 meters was enough.
Joe Ga didn't need to look to know this guy wouldn't hit the mark.
His hands were not steady enough, and standing shooting was not viable for him. Without sights and a bipod, unless he was aiming at something as big as a water buffalo, he was likely to miss most of his shots.
Joe Ga, looking at the excited expression on Elder Tong, said with a smile, "Your shooting is pretty remarkable; marksmen are just about on par with that."
Elder Tong waved his hand and said, "It's mainly because it's a good gun. I'm old now; I've only fired a few shots and I'm already breaking a sweat on my forehead."
Joe Ga cast a dismissive glance at Eric, who had fired two magazines and hadn't hit a damn thing, until he paid a little extra for Dorian to drag the targets back to 60 meters before he finally hit something.
In response to the old man's humility, Joe Ga said with a smile, "Hitting a 200-meter target without sights is the mark of an excellent sniper anyhow."
Elder Tong, after hearing this, waved his hand and said, "Good shooting depends on the gun first, second the eyesight, third steadiness, and fourth experience.
Back in the day in our unit, I was the bottom of the pack, but my eyes worked well, so I wasn't left behind."
"However, with science being so advanced now, many of the 'gaps' from back then have been bridged."
Elder Tong, observing Joe Ga's curious expression, glanced at Joe Ga's hands and said with a laugh while gesturing, "When I got shot and got hurt in Vietnam, I was terrified out of my wits. I filed a report to desert so as not to bring shame on the old unit.
However, you're quite unusual. You don't look like someone who's been a soldier, yet I feel like you've been on the battlefield."
Joe Ga didn't know if his brother could eventually get together with Tong Tong, but facing Elder Tong's question at this moment, he couldn't lie.
The old man had come to Africa with the two youngsters, clearly with a bit of an investigative intention.
Elder Tong, being an ex-soldier who had seen combat, could tell some things just by the smell. Lying was not only annoying but also would make one look bad.
What Joe Ga was doing wasn't illegal; he could stand tall wherever he went.
Joe Ga, facing the old man's scrutinizing gaze, nodded and said, "I've scrapped and scuffled through Africa for many years, and recently, I've started a military contracting company, fighting cross-border drug traffickers for the Central African Congo, Uganda, and Kenya.
I never served, but I have indeed been in battles, many battles at that!"
Upon hearing this, Elder Tong frowned and asked, "Have you killed people?"
"I have!"
"How many?"
"I've lost count, dozens, perhaps."
"Are you planning to return to your home country in the future, or do you want Qiao Liang to come to Africa and join you?"
Faced with Elder Tong's question, Joe Ga decisively shook his head and said, "My company's business is legitimate, so I'm not worried about others finding out, but I have too much going on here, I certainly can't return.
I definitely won't have Qiao Liang help me with my work. It would be fine for him to visit Tong Tong with me once or twice a year, but following me into battle is out of the question."
As he spoke, Joe Ga saw Elder Tong fall into silence. He continued with a smile, "Don't make it difficult on yourself. I am me, and Qiao Liang is Qiao Liang.
When I came to Africa, I dumped our parents on Qiao Liang, making him suffer from a young age.
Now, I've barely managed to become successful, I ought to let him share in the good fortune.
But Qiao Liang is different from me; the path he should take will certainly be different as well."
Elder Tong looked at Joe Ga's clear eyes without a trace of murkiness and uttered a 'huh', saying, "To have killed so many yet your eyes are still clear, impressive...
I won't pry into other matters; the younger generation will solve its own problems.
My son only has one daughter, Tong Tong; she's the only granddaughter I have. We can't let her take risks.
We all like Qiao Liang. Tong Tong's mother is the chief physician of the hospital where your parents passed away. She watched Qiao Liang struggle through those years at the hospital, practically regarding him as her own son.
You can't let Qiao Liang enter this line of work. The boy has a resilient nature and a sense of loyalty; he could be successful in any field.
Some things can't be undone. Sometimes firing a single shot changes your life forever!"
Upon hearing this, Joe Ga was taken aback. He looked at Elder Tong and said, "The Dr. Yang who has been taking care of Qiao Liang, she's Tong Tong's mother?"
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