Super Zoo-Chapter 818 - 794: The Confrontation between Cold Weapons and High Technology

Based on Suming's experience, there's a very simple method to differentiate the identity of an armed group, whether it's government-affiliated or a private military.

If it's a legitimate government force, they usually announce themselves and shout orders, even when apprehending criminals, having the absolute advantage, and implementing an encirclement. This is because any government force acts on the 'righteous path', backed by the law, at least ostensibly.

Unless the other party has hostages or is the type of ruthless terrorist who can be shot on sight.

On the contrary, illegal private militias tend not to reveal their identities, simply put, they dare not escalate the situation.

The group descending from the helicopter hovering above, aside from an initial shout to drop weapons, didn't utter another word, silently descending, and was soon to approach the stone bridge below.

If the others were actual government forces, even the Romanian military, Suming could simply surrender, as governing bodies everywhere generally follow the rules, and not to mention, Suming is now not an unknown person worldwide and has the strong backing of his homeland, so as long as he cooperates with the investigation, there should be no major problem.

But the current situation is clearly not right! Once surrounded and detained by a group of armed individuals, he would be completely passive, his life entirely in their hands.

His eyes sharp, he spotted a very familiar symbol on the armor vests of several militants. Similar to the one from The Garden of God, but simplified.

In that urgent moment, without time for more thoughts, Suming, through an animalistic instinct for danger, made a decisive 'beheading' gesture to Su Meng without hesitation.

Regardless of who you are, the saying 'a dead Taoist friend will not die a poor Taoist' applies and relative to risking one's own safety, it's better to strike first. If they waited for the group to land safely, even with Su Meng's help, they wouldn't possibly stand a chance in a direct confrontation with the militants.

Buzz!

An air-tearing sound, as if to split the sky, sent a resonating quake that was audible even over the helicopter's propeller noise.

From a nearby tower, a Crossbow Arrow flew out, hitting the helicopter's cockpit with precision.

There was a thud, but not the explosion of a crash.

The helicopter's glass was special, capable of withstanding close-range pistol bullets, at most cracking without being penetrated. To break through the glass of an armed helicopter, one would need a rifle like the AK.

The Crossbow Arrow shot by Su Meng, though powerful, was still far from the striking strength of a rifle bullet.

It must be said, bullets and arrows are of entirely different hardnesses; bullets are entirely metallic, while arrows have only a metal tip, with the shaft made of wood.

Had there been a slow-motion camera on-site, one would clearly see that, upon hitting the helicopter's glass, the triangular iron tip became flat on impact, and due to the massive kinetic energy, the shaft of the arrow splintered.

The Crossbow Arrow was completely 'exploded' on impact, yet the helicopter remained unscathed.

However, the incident gave the helicopter pilot a fright. A sudden small black dot appearing and 'exploding' on the windshield momentarily created a white spot on the glass, showing signs of cracking.

Instinctively, the pilot pulled the control stick, causing the helicopter to veer aside midair and spiral away from the tower.

The militants hanging from the ropes, mere meters away from the ground, found themselves suddenly above a canyon instead of a terrace, with sheer cliffs below and nowhere to land.

"Ah!"

A scream echoed through the valley; one of the fastest descending men, less than two meters from the terrace, released the rope to jump, unaware of the helicopter's sudden change of direction. Like a bungee jumper without a safety cord, he plummeted headfirst into the valley outside the castle, clearly doomed.

His eagerness to perform led to his demise.

This arrow startled both parties; Suming realized this helicopter was nothing like his own Hummingbird. If it had been the Hummingbird, Su Meng's Crossbow Arrow would have pierced the glass and killed the pilot. It seemed in this situation, cold weapons had no significance.

The helicopter pilot and his armed companions sweated cold sweat; although they lacked firearms, they clearly had a formidable archer. Even if temporarily unable to damage the helicopter, the people hanging outside it were sitting ducks.

Then, an even more astonishing scene unfolded.

After all, Eibek Castle, at its core, is a military stronghold from the age of cold weapons, with its greatest purpose being to defend against enemy attacks. This place, easy to defend and hard to attack, was, in the age of cold weapons, impregnable as long as the stone bridge was held. With its high vantage point, any number of attackers would be doomed.

In castle siege warfare, ranged weapons were of utmost importance. Besides bows and arrows, atop the two towers of Eibek Castle were two ancient crossbows with hundreds of years of history!

These devices, designed to counter siege weapons, had Crossbow Arrows over a meter and a half long, thicker than an adult's arm, made of oak mixed with metal. They required two people to load onto the crossbow and several strong men to pull the crossbow's spring mechanism. Aimed from high above, with a range of six to seven hundred meters, they were essentially non-exploding cannonballs, powerful enough to destroy large siege machines like battering rams and catapults.