Test Firing, Terrifying Power

The next morning.

Qin Tian's door was knocked on.

"Hello, are you Qin Tian?"

A young soldier in uniform stood at Qin Tian's door holding a rectangular box, his manner polite.

"I am."

Qin Tian nodded, his gaze falling on the box, a flicker of anticipation flashing through his eyes.

"Please show me your identification."

The young soldier took out a black device, scanned Qin Tian's ID card, and after confirming the match, handed the box to Qin Tian.

"Thanks," Qin Tian said.

The young soldier smiled, saluted Qin Tian, and then left.

Creak~~

The door to the next room opened, and Xiao Yunlong rushed out with a messy bedhead, standing excitedly in front of Qin Tian.

"Hurry, hurry, let me see what a Rune Gun really looks like."

"Come inside and look."

Qin Tian placed the box flat on the table and triggered the switch with facial recognition.

Click~~

The latch popped up, and the top cover flipped to the side.

A pitch-black, elongated sniper rifle appeared before the two of them.

The gun body was nearly two meters long, with a smooth, streamlined shape like a coiled black python ready to strike. The lines were clean and powerful, every curve perfectly placed, showcasing the pinnacle of craftsmanship and design aesthetics. The surface was coated with a fine matte black paint, reflecting not a single glimmer of light.

On the gun body, faint textures could be seen, like ancient runes winding and coiling around it.

This was the Rune Sniper Rifle Qin Tian had exchanged for 2600 Military Merit Points—Hidden Kill.

Awesome~

Qin Tian's eyes lit up. The real thing was even more captivating than the online images and videos.

He reached out with both hands and slowly lifted Hidden Kill.

This Rune Gun weighed at least five times more than the Dragon Falcon Rifle. An ordinary soldier couldn't even lift it, and one could imagine how terrifying the recoil would be when a bullet was fired.

"Wow, that's so cool."

Xiao Yunlong rubbed his hands together. "Qin Tian, can I touch it?"

"Of course, and later I'll let you fire a couple of shots to try it out," Qin Tian nodded.

"Haha, you're really my best bro."

Xiao Yunlong's mouth split into a wide grin. He was a Psionic User and a military enthusiast, well-versed in all kinds of weapons and equipment like guns, Mecha, and Flying Vehicles, but this was his first time encountering rune weaponry.

Xiao Yunlong gently stroked the gun body, his eyes full of admiration and curiosity. This was a Rune Sniper Rifle—he couldn't imagine how terrifying the power would be once a bullet was fired.

"Qin Tian, let's find a shooting range to test it out?" Xiao Yunlong was getting impatient.

"Don't rush. Wait until the other two wake up."

Qin Tian placed Hidden Kill on the table, then pulled out another iron box from inside the original box.

Opening the iron box, 125 special bullets were neatly arranged in rows. Each bullet was longer than an adult's palm, also pitch-black like ink.

Qin Tian loaded the bullets into the magazine. One magazine could hold five bullets.

"I'll go get them."

Xiao Yunlong dashed to the next room and knocked on Qin Dadi's door. He also sent a message to Liu Zhaozhao, telling her to wash up quickly and come to the shooting range together to test the gun.

Soon, Qin Dadi walked into Qin Tian's room. The moment he saw Hidden Kill, his eyes lit up too.

"Qin Tian, how about switching to a closer target first?"

At the shooting range, Xiao Yunlong, Qin Dadi, and Liu Zhaozhao stood behind Qin Tian, staring at the nearly invisible target three kilometers away. A single thought crossed their minds.

So far—can he really hit it?

"Let me try first and get a feel for it."

Qin Tian lay prone on the ground in a standard prone shooting posture, his legs slightly apart, providing stable support for his entire body.

His arms, like steel-forged brackets, firmly propped up the Rune Sniper Rifle. His cheek pressed tightly against the stock, and through the super-range scope, he saw the target several kilometers away.

This was his first time challenging a range of 3000 meters and beyond.

But in truth, 3000 meters wasn't even half of Hidden Kill's maximum range.

"One bullet costs one Military Merit Point, so use them sparingly," Xiao Yunlong reminded him.

"Mm."

Qin Tian focused his mind, his vision narrowing to nothing but the gun target in his scope. Strands of psionic energy flowed along his palm into Hidden Kill, and the patterns on either side of the barrel gleamed with a deeper black light.

His finger squeezed the trigger.

The bullet shot from the muzzle, and the immense recoil jolted Qin Tian's shoulder.

The next instant, the distant gun target exploded with a bang, fragments scattering across the ground. What was even more astonishing was that the entire process produced not a single sound of gunfire.

That was the effect of the Concealment Rune.

The bullet fired without a whisper.

"Whoa, that power is terrifying."

The three members of Earth Dragon Squad sucked in a sharp breath. The targets in the shooting range were specially made; an ordinary sniper rifle would at most leave a black dot on them.

Who would have thought that Hidden Kill, with a single shot, would shatter the target outright?

If that had been a psionic user, anyone below the Fourth Order would die on the spot, and even a Fourth-Order Psionic User wouldn't necessarily be safe.

Qin Tian wasn't satisfied with that shot. He had clearly seen that the bullet only struck the five-ring zone; it was sheer kinetic energy that blew the whole target apart.

He summed it up: the accuracy was lacking. First, because it was his initial time handling Hidden Kill, and he didn't fully understand its overall performance—the unexpected recoil caused a slight deviation as the bullet left the barrel. Second, his psionic input wasn't refined enough, so the Three Great Runes hadn't activated in sync, which also affected precision to some degree.

Having identified the issues, Qin Tian immediately made adjustments. The second shot, the third shot...

By the fifth shot, his control over Hidden Kill had reached a fairly high level. From here, he only needed gradual refinement through actual combat.

"You all give it a try."

Qin Tian handed Hidden Kill to Xiao Yunlong, who had been staring at it eagerly.

"Come on, come on, let this Sharpshooter show off some marksmanship."

Xiao Yunlong took the gun, grinning so wide he couldn't close his mouth. But when he fired his first shot, the smile vanished from his face instantly.

"Sharpshooter, you missed the target."

Liu Zhaozhao's lips curled upward, her light, airy voice making Xiao Yunlong intensely embarrassed.

To be honest, his marksmanship was genuinely good. He had especially trained with Huang Xun for a while, and his shooting had improved by leaps and bounds. Though he couldn't claim to be a Sharpshooter, he could at least reach elite-level standards.

If he didn't have some foundation, he wouldn't have dared to try operating the most difficult Rune Sniper Rifle.

Before pulling the trigger, he had already anticipated the bullet would be off, but he never expected it to miss the target entirely.

That was too humiliating.

"Try another shot. Focus on controlling stability when you fire."

Qin Tian spoke up.

"Alright."

This time, Xiao Yunlong was utterly focused. He adjusted his breathing, slowly channeled psionic energy into the gun, activated the Three Great Runes, and then pulled the trigger.

A second later, the gun target ahead didn't budge, and no sound rang out.

"Missed again."

Qin Dadi shook his head with a smile. Sure enough, a Rune Gun wasn't something just anyone could use. Even Xiao Yunlong, with his decent marksmanship, couldn't hit the target. He himself wouldn't bother making a fool of himself.

"Damn, how did I miss again?"

Xiao Yunlong's eyes went wide. He thought he had controlled it well this time, but the result still hadn't changed.

"Forget it, let's leave it at that."

Xiao Yunlong fully accepted reality. A Rune Sniper Rifle wasn't for everyone; both marksmanship and psionic control were indispensable. He wouldn't waste Qin Tian's bullets anymore.

Qin Tian glanced at Qin Dadi and Liu Zhaozhao. Seeing that neither of them intended to try the gun, he put Hidden Kill away.