Mercenary's War-Chapter 2021 - 1998: Not a Psychological Shadow

Gao Yang pondered seriously for a moment, then said to Jack, "If you can’t do anything now, take a look at this gun for me."

Gao Yang took the gun case he had brought, opened it, took out a rifle, and placed it in front of Jack, whispering, "Take a look for me, see if you can find anything."

Jack took the gun, gave Gao Yang a dubious look, then pulled the bolt, looked, and shouted loudly, "An M24SWS, very common. What’s there to see?"

Gao Yang exhaled and whispered, "This gun belongs to a very skilled sniper, a woman. She said she was an Israeli Jew. I want to see if I can get some insight from this gun; of course, it’s normal to see nothing."

Jack stopped talking and began to study the gun in his hand. After a moment, he whispered, "Made in America, military spec M24 from Remington Factory, produced in 2009, but judging by the serial number, it’s a civilian rifle. Everything seems normal, nothing special, but... no, this gun has a problem!"

Jack opened the bolt and looked into the chamber for a while, then suddenly shouted and pointed at the chamber, saying loudly, "This was originally produced by Remington Company, but it belongs to a customized edition, a high-end custom version. Look at the chamber, same five grooves but different from the regular production version, quite distinct differences!"

Gao Yang exhaled, nodded, and said, "Good, since there are differences, what’s different between it and a standard M24?"

"More accurate. As far as I know, Remington produced a small batch of special M24s, which the U.S. Army didn’t end up purchasing, but Israel did procure this batch of higher precision M24s."

Gao Yang said in surprise, "Really Israel?"

Jack said confidently, "Yes, it’s no secret, you can find it on Remington’s news. The reason I remember this gun so well is that while it didn’t get military approval, it was very popular in the civilian weapons market. At the time, we sold about ten rifles of the same batch and model from our studio, expensive but indistinguishable from the outside, only high-end users or collectors of the M700 series would buy it."

After saying this, Jack flipped the gun over and said loudly, "The stock of this gun isn’t the original, it’s shortened, more suitable for a female. The handguard is original, and the anti-slip texture here at the back is a bit worn, so the owner of this gun has shorter arms, which matches female characteristics. Judging by the wear and tear on the bolt handle, with intense use, around three to four years."

Gao Yang asked suspiciously, "Could she really be Israeli? No way, she couldn’t possibly have told me the truth."

Jack shouted loudly, "What about that sniper?"

"Dead, I killed her."

After saying this casually, Gao Yang, full of confusion, said, "It’s unlikely, if she really were Israeli and a woman, how could she have followed Iron Madonna for training in Saudi Arabia for so long?"

Li Jinfang shouted loudly, "She’s become a mercenary; who cares about those things anymore. People are dead, why bother about her."

Gao Yang pointed at Li Jinfang and said, "You’ve also become a mercenary. Would you go to Japan for training and then work for Japan?"

Li Jinfang immediately shook his head and said, "No way, impossible."

Gao Yang sighed and said, "That’s the problem. Specter couldn’t be just any ordinary sniper. Her performance proves she’s absolutely trained in elite forces, maybe even special forces. We’ve been to Israel, do you really think Specter is someone who came out of the Israeli special forces? How is it possible for her to work under the Iron Madonna for Saudi Arabia?"

Li Jinfang shook his head and said, "Can’t figure it out, and figuring it out is useless. She’s dead, what more can you do? Are you scared she’ll turn into a ghost and come after you?"

Gao Yang scratched his head and said, "I just feel something’s off, uneasy, always feel threatened. But how can a dead person pose any threat? Ah, I just can’t feel at ease without figuring it out."

Number Thirteen pointed at Gao Yang and said concisely, "Psychological shadow."

Gao Yang pondered carefully for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, it’s definitely not a psychological shadow. Specter is formidable, but she’s excellent at controlling the overall situation, but for me personally, she’s not much of a threat, certainly not enough to leave a psychological shadow."

Number Thirteen whispered, "But she did hit you once. Isn’t that a threat?"

Gao Yang smiled wryly and said, "What to say, she hit me once, but I didn’t feel afraid at all. Ah, can’t explain it to you. Only the best shooters can understand my feeling."

Jack whispered, "I don’t know how you guys think, but I think the woman you’re talking about is Israeli."

Gao Yang turned his head and asked, "Why?"

Jack raised the gun and shouted loudly, "Look at the gun strap. The civilian version of this gun has a calfskin strap, but this gun has a civilian serial number, yet it has a more breathable canvas strap. Who would use a canvas strap? The Israeli military in a hot climate. Since this gun is a civilian version but does not use the higher value original calfskin strap but replaced it with a canvas strap, there’s no other reason aside from a strong habit."

Gao Yang snapped his fingers and said with a face of regret, "Why didn’t I think of this! Yes, habit. I’m accustomed to using leather straps, so all my guns are replaced with comfortable leather straps, no matter what gun!"

Li Jinfang smiled wryly and said, "Brother Yang, now you know Specter is Israeli and probably can confirm she’s from the Israeli army. But, does this have any use?"

Gao Yang thought for a long time, then said dejectedly, "Still no damn use."

Jack shook his head and said, "No, actually it’s useful. This gun was bought in America and officially sold by Remington, with strict identity verification. If you can verify the buyer through the police or FBI using the serial number, and if by chance the buyer is a woman, then you’ll have her information, even if the user isn’t the buyer herself, you can trace something by following the clues." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

After saying this, Jack smiled and said, "Of course, I still don’t know what good it will do, but at least you have a direction for further exploration."

Gao Yang took a deep breath and nodded, "I’ll still check it out. Always feel uncomfortable inside."

Number Thirteen suddenly said, "Then trust your instinct. As far as I know, your instinct has saved you many times, so you should pursue it earnestly, even if it seems now that your effort is completely meaningless."