Mercenary’s War
Chapter 1216: One Thousand One Hundred Ninety-Nine: Mole Killer

Chapter 1216: Chapter One Thousand One Hundred Ninety-Nine: Mole Killer

Gao Yang plans to visit Colorado, or more precisely, to apprentice and learn the arts there.

Nowadays, not many people are dedicated to using iron sights for long-distance shooting. Some do enjoy the challenge of using iron sights instead of scopes to hit targets at distances of four to five hundred meters, but such individuals are rare to begin with, and those who can actually do it are even scarcer, truly a rarity.

Fortunately, Jack knows someone who shoots exclusively with iron sights and is extraordinary accurate. Gao Yang wants to try and find such a person to learn how to shoot long-range targets using iron sights.

Morgan didn’t go to Colorado with him; he had his own matters to attend to. However, he left his private plane for Gao Yang to use during this time. No matter where Gao Yang wanted to travel, he could fly using Morgan’s private jet, and Morgan even covered all the expenses.

“The person we’re looking for is called Kevin S. Pearson. He’s an eccentric who rejects all modern technologies—cars, airplanes, telephones, televisions, computers, even electric lights; he doesn’t like any of these. Also, he firmly believes in the existence of an apocalypse. Initially living in Denver, he couldn’t bear city life and thought that cities would be the worst places to be if an apocalypse ever occurred, so he moved into the wilderness alone,”

On the plane, Jack, holding a bottle of chilled beer, explained about the person they were going to meet. After describing what kind of eccentric they were looking for, Jack shrugged helplessly: “That’s why we can’t call to arrange a meeting. We need to drive to his cabin in the wilderness after getting to Denver. Luckily, I know where his cabin is since I’ve been there, but I don’t know if we will find him there, or if he’s even still alive.”

Gao Yang chuckled: “This sounds like a survivalist, I like it, as I am one myself, and I really appreciate his perspective. Living hidden away alone is something I couldn’t do, right, my dear?”

Gao Yang laughed and kissed Yelena, who then smiled and said, “If you want to hide away and live quietly, I can join you wherever it may be.”

Cui Bo looked annoyed: “Showing off your affection…”

“Rabbit, if you dare keep talking, I’ll kill you!”

Cui Bo stuck out his tongue and slapped his own mouth under Gao Yang’s glare, ultimately not daring to finish the sentence about showing off affection.

Li Jinfang pushed Cui Bo’s head forcefully and said loudly, “Itching for a fight? Brother Yang, pay no mind to him. But tell me, would this weird person be willing to teach you?”

Gao Yang sighed: “How would I know? That’s a question for Jack. Jack, if this guy named Kevin is eccentric, will he communicate with us?”

Gao Yang and the others were speaking in Chinese, but when talking to Jack, they immediately switched to English.

Jack took a swig of beer and said loudly, “Absolutely no problem, you just need to bring him some gifts, like some bullets, a gun, or some durable goods. Actually, the simplest way is to pay money. What do you think Kevin lives on? He earns money by teaching those who want to learn how to shoot long distances with iron sights. He charges tuition fees and then uses that money to stock up on essentials.”

Gao Yang nodded and smiled: “Then I’m reassured. Also Jack, how did you get to know him?”

Jack, with a helpless look, said, “As a shooting master, it’s hard not to know Kevin S. Pearson, he’s too famous. He was no different from ordinary people, attending shooting competitions and having a family, until he completely lost his mind, claiming that he had seen aliens who are evil and want to annihilate humankind. Then he stopped participating in any shooting events, and later, his wife couldn’t stand him and divorced him. Two years after that, Kevin moved alone into the wilderness. Let me see, it’s been about six or seven years now.”

Taylor helplessly shook his head and sighed, “Aliens! Ha, well, it seems our man has a unique way of thinking.”

Jack pointed at Taylor and chuckled: “You’re being nice not calling him a lunatic. Just don’t say ‘lunatic’ in front of him; he really would get mad.”

Gao Yang also shook his head: “Don’t say that, the universe is so vast, why should Earth be the only place with life and development? I believe there must be aliens.”

Taylor spread his hands and said, “Where are they? I don’t oppose the idea of extraterrestrial life, with the universe being so vast, anything could happen. But to say that aliens are on Earth, I can’t believe that. To be more specific, I don’t believe that aliens plan to exterminate humanity. The reason is simple!”

Taylor, getting into his stride, sat upright and said loudly, “If aliens could come to Earth, that means their technology is far more advanced than ours. If they wanted to hide and study us, like how we study animals, that’s easy to understand. But to say that they came here with the intention of wiping us out, why would they bother? With their capability for interstellar travel and technology beyond our imagination, why would such aliens need to study how to exterminate us? Clearly, I think that Kevin is a paranoid.”

Cui Bo also said with interest: “That’s not necessarily true. What if those aliens are just being a pain? They might want to study us first, then kill us, and then study some more. It’s pretty normal, I guess. We’ve never seen extraterrestrials, so who knows what they’re thinking.”

Gao Yang nodded continuously: “Exactly, who knows what extraterrestrials are thinking. Plus, doesn’t America have Area 51? Maybe some people have already made contact with aliens, and the information is just concealed. We would never know.”

Jack, with a resigned expression, raised his beer bottle and shouted, “Stop! Stop! Guys, shouldn’t we be discussing something else? Let’s leave the alien talk to the scientists, and focus on the sharpshooter Kevin instead of these damned aliens.”

Jack stood up, put down the empty bottle, and after grabbing another beer, he said sentimentally, “Private jets are so comfy. We can drink, carry guns, and no one bothers us. It’s great to have money!”

Gao Yang said with annoyance, “Hey, you’re the one going off topic now. Come on, tell us what’s so special about this Kevin.”

Jack said leisurely, “His nickname is the Prairie Dog Killer!”

Cui Bo frowned and said, “Prairie dogs? Just prairie dogs? Anything else remarkable? I can shoot prairie dogs too, one shot each, never miss.”

Jack grinned and said, “Without a scope, hitting prairie dogs at a distance of two hundred meters, can you do that?”

Cui Bo paused, pondered for a moment, and still nodded, “I might just manage, although prairie dogs are small, I think it wouldn’t be a problem.”

Jack continued grinning, “Two hundred meters away, hitting fast-moving Black-tailed Prairie Dogs, never missing. And of course, definitely a bullseye.”

Cui Bo grimaced and said, “That’s hard, um, fast-moving? That’s quite difficult.”

After Jack nodded, he smiled and said, “Exactly, fast-moving ones. And, using a .22 caliber pistol to shoot them.”

With a tone of disbelief Gao Yang exclaimed, “Are you joking? .22 bullets move so slow, hitting prairie dogs two hundred meters away? And they are moving? You must be bluffing?”

Jack laughed loudly at Gao Yang, “Haha, too rare, finally there’s a shot that even you can’t believe, buddy! Just like others can’t believe what you can achieve, there are always some amazing folks out there. I’ve personally seen this guy using a Ruger 10/22, shooting Black-tailed Prairie Dogs two hundred meters away, one shot each.”

Jack’s claim was something Gao Yang thought himself absolutely incapable of doing, not because of his gunmanship, but because that gun and bullet just seemed unlikely.

First, the gun, the Ruger 10/22 is a small rifle, firing .22R bullets. This gun has a small caliber and a short barrel, coupled with .22R bullets, the recoil is so minimal it is almost negligible. Hence, this gun is perfectly suitable for children and women.

The Ruger 10/22 is known as the national rifle of America because it’s so common, and for many people, it’s their first gun. For children who like shooting, there’s no better choice than this gun.

Now, about the .22R bullets. Although the caliber is nearly the same as NATO’s standard .223, which is 5.56mm bullets, the difference in power is huge. Two hundred meters is about the maximum effective range for .22R bullets.

Seeing the shocked looks on Gao Yang and the others, Jack spread his hands and said, “Don’t look so stunned. In fact, Kevin often does this. He hunts prairie dogs to eat, and using other guns, the prairie dog is left with nothing but a skin, completely shattered, what would he eat then? So Kevin can only use .22R bullets to hunt prairie dogs.”

After that, Jack straightened up and laughed, “Also, this is the range at which he uses the .22 rifle to shoot prairie dogs. If he uses a regular rifle, I mean the kind with enough power, he can shoot Black-tailed Prairie Dogs at over three hundred meters.”

How big are Black-tailed Prairie Dogs? Overall, they are a bit bigger than wild rabbits but only by a little, just plumper. For such a small target, Gao Yang could take them down with a scope from four or five hundred meters, one shot each for sure. But without a scope, it’s a different story. He hasn’t tried it and doesn’t know if it would be easy, but he is certain that he couldn’t hit them at over three hundred meters.

Gao Yang became even more eager to meet this oddball Kevin. He was very curious to see just how skilled the Prairie Dog Killer really was. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on qidian.com, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)