Da-da-da!!
The Mini-Mi machine gun was spitting fire, the powerful recoil slamming into Lu Hao's arm. Thankfully, he was strong and sturdy, able to keep the machine gun aimed steadily.
An ordinary person's gun barrel would have flown up to the sky and started shooting randomly.
Within the blink of an eye, several of the sand bandits across from him had been turned into beehives.
The surrounding sand bandits, upon spotting the machine gun, immediately panicked and scattered to avoid being swept away by Lu Hao in a single round.
Bang! Bang!
The sand bandits, fleeing for their lives, sporadically fired back. However, in the face of the machine gun's overwhelming firepower, they were like mere child's play.
Lu Hao, almost single-handedly, was suppressing the firepower of these sand bandits with just a machine gun.
In less than half a minute, he had emptied his 100 rounds.
With his precise marksmanship, he had directly reaped a swathe of sand bandits.
"Spread out! Spread out!!"
Seeing that the camp was actually guarded by a machine gun, the leader of the sand bandits immediately brandished his whip and shouted, ordering his men, "They only have one machine gun! We'll surround them from all sides, rush in and kill him!"
His usual authority and impromptu command calmed the other sand bandits, who dispersed according to plan, rushing towards the camp from other directions, preparing to avenge the machine gun's earlier onslaught.
Lu Hao calmly replaced the spent magazine with another 100-round chain. Now that he had ample ammunition, he could afford to be generous.
"He's out of bullets! Let's charge and take him down!!"
Seeing the machine gun suddenly fall silent, the leader of the sand bandits realized that Lu Hao had run out of bullets and was reloading. He immediately shouted excitedly.
The rest of the sand bandits also noticed, energized like they had been injected with adrenaline. They roared and charged, ready to kill Lu Hao, the culprit who had inflicted such heavy casualties on them.
It's common knowledge that reloading a machine gun, from finishing a magazine to replacing it with a new chain and then pulling the trigger, generally takes about 15 seconds.
And in those 15 seconds, a lot can happen.
The sand bandits, hardened by years of living on the edge, naturally knew that time was of the essence.
So, the moment the machine gun fell silent, they charged towards Lu Hao like a single, frantic wave, hoping to be the first to eliminate the most threatening machine gunner.
"Lu Hao, be careful, they're coming."
Jack was the first to notice the sand bandits' intentions, immediately swiveling his gun to cover Lu Hao.
Colonel Bird and Colonel Banner, both seasoned soldiers, understood the need to protect Lu Hao.
So the three of them immediately opened fire, harassing the charging sand bandits, delaying their advance.
However, the sand bandits knew that this brief reloading window was their only chance to storm the camp. Their bloodlust ignited, they charged ferociously towards the bullets.
They swore to kill Lu Hao, the machine gunner, and to cleanse the entire camp with blood.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
That was their savage nature.
As the sand bandits drew closer, Lu Hao remained calm as ever. His hands moved with expert agility, ejecting the empty magazine and reloading. Others took over ten seconds for this process, but he completed it in a mere seven or eight seconds thanks to his practiced skill.
Having successfully reloaded, he grabbed the machine gun and aimed it at the charging sand bandits, firing bursts.
Unlike a pistol that fires one bullet at a time, his Mini-Mi light machine gun fired three bullets per trigger pull.
In other words, each time he pulled the trigger, the gun would fire three bullets.
Therefore, with his superior marksmanship, he took down one after another with each shot.
Da-da-da! Da-da-da! Da-da-da!!
A series of short, sharp bursts echoed across the desert. Lu Hao, like a desert reaper, stood with his machine gun and fired in bursts, reaping life after life.
He was single-handedly chasing down the sand bandits and slaughtering them.
This spectacle left Jack and the others speechless. The first blood? Urban King of War?
It was too much.
"Run for your lives!!!"
Seeing Lu Hao's ferocity, the leader of the sand bandits realized that his men were being routed. He knew this was bad news, for if this continued, he'd be left with no men at all.
In fact, he was already pretty close to being a lone commander. The sand bandits were never numerous to begin with, and after the initial machine gun sweep, Lu Hao had been picking them off one by one.
Only the leader and a few others remained. Recognizing that the situation was hopeless, they immediately fled.
"Trying to escape? Hmph!!"
Did they think this was a public toilet? They could just come and go as they pleased!
Lu Hao was not about to let them go. He casually pulled out a grenade and looked at the leader, who was turning to run, barely 20 or 30 meters away.
He pulled the pin, then swung his arm in a circle and threw it.
Boom!!
A loud explosion rang out, followed by the screams of the remaining sand bandits.
One grenade, and the leader and his camel mount were blown sky-high. Their bodies were riddled with shrapnel like they had been machine-gunned. They were beyond dead.
Thus, this small band of sand bandits was completely wiped out by Lu Hao alone.
"So cool! He's just like Rambo walking out of a movie."
"If Lu Hao put on sunglasses and a leather jacket, who could tell the difference between him and the Terminator?!"
Ilse and the others, hiding in the camp, were filled with excitement as they watched Lu Hao chasing the sand bandits. It meant they were safe.
Jack and the others were equally astonished at Lu Hao's prowess. This guy was too tough. He wielded a machine gun as if it were an assault rifle, mowing down the sand bandits with ease, wiping them out completely.
He was too strong.
They exchanged glances, realizing that they might be out of a job tonight. Lu Hao had taken care of all the sand bandits by himself. They had just been extras, playing the role of the background.
"Lu Hao, you actually have grenades hidden up your sleeve."
"The boss threw them in as a bonus. They seem pretty powerful. Next time, if I get the chance, I'll get a couple more."
"...You're all about killing and violence. Are you a bounty hunter or a mercenary?!"
Jack couldn't help but tease.
"What's the difference?!"
Lu Hao was genuinely puzzled. Didn't they both make a living doing illegal things for money?
"..."
Jack was speechless. He too occasionally took on jobs under the guise of a mercenary.
Under the starry sky, the camp was surrounded by a trail of corpses, blood staining the sand, leaving a pungent odor.
Lu Hao and the others called over the four locals to help them drag the sand bandits' bodies away for burial.
When everything was done, everyone sat around and chatted for a while, calming their nerves before going back to their tents to sleep.
They would continue to have people on watch duty as planned.
This time, however, it wasn't to guard against sand bandits, but to prevent wild animals from being drawn by the scent of blood and disturbing their sleep.