Jungle Nightmare, Xin Yue's Defeat

With a whoosh, a figure sprang up from below and landed before Changye.

It was Qianlong Number 88.

Number 88's face was full of excitement. "That seedling you brought back actually triggered the Gunslinger Line?"

"It didn't just trigger the Gunslinger Line. The following four hundred shots were all 10.9!"

Number 88 shuddered from head to toe and softly exhaled. "His path may need to change. Perhaps he should take the special operations route!"

At first, everyone had envisioned Lin Xiaosu taking the espionage route. But his trial results now showed Number 88 another possibility: special operations!

"There's a problem with special operations," Changye said. "Although his talent with firearms surpasses ordinary people, his physical fitness is his weak point. If he truly entered a dangerous battlefield, he'd be in grave danger."

"Physical fitness can be modified," Number 88 said. "How about I go talk to him now?"

"Genetic modification is a matter of great importance. Modern genetic technology still has major flaws. Unless there's absolutely no alternative, it's better to let nature take its course." Changye said, "Why don't we see how far a true firearms prodigy can go in a complex environment with nothing but the gun in his hand?"

Her finger lightly flicked out and tapped a button on the coffee table.

At that tap, the surroundings around Lin Xiaosu suddenly changed.

He was no longer in the previous setting. He was now completely immersed in a jungle, dark and gloomy.

Four words flashed through the air: "Jungle Nightmare."

The wind blew past, icy to the bone. Sounds drifted over, making his hair stand on end. In an instant, Lin Xiaosu seemed to have been thrown into a real jungle.

Enemies were everywhere around him.

His hand suddenly rose, and he fired. A camouflaged figure who had just stepped out from behind a tree took a bullet to the head, blood spraying everywhere. Though he knew it was a holographic projection, his stomach still clenched violently in that moment...

There was movement behind him. Lin Xiaosu spun around and slipped behind the tree he had just passed, firing another shot and taking down another enemy.

The jungle ahead stirred sharply. With his third shot, the enemy was killed before even showing his head.

Hiss, hiss, hiss...

Three shots rang out in succession, each aimed in a different direction. Three sprays of blood blossomed...

Gunfire erupted, branches and leaves flying through the jungle. It all felt incomparably real.

Every shot Lin Xiaosu fired took away an enemy. The jungle's immensely complex terrain and every kind of cover seemed not to exist in his eyes.

As for himself, the instant an enemy raised a gun, he could always accurately judge where that enemy was. His evasive maneuvers contained not the slightest mistake; every time, he chose the most rational option. Even if time were frozen and a meeting convened to analyze it all, his choice would still be the optimal solution.

Number 88's eyes lit up completely.

Changye softly exhaled. "This Jungle Nightmare perfectly recreated the real 4.12 invasion. If the person at the heart of the encirclement back then hadn't been No. 1362, but him, our comrades would not have had to lay down their lives for the nation. It would have been an epic annihilation of the invaders!"

The moment her voice fell, Jungle Nightmare ended!

This Jungle Nightmare had been implanted based on a real incident, perfectly recreating the scene from that day. Enemy special forces had invaded, and Qianlong No. 1362 had sacrificed herself for the nation.

Qianlong had integrated this scene into the system to train special operations personnel.

No tester outside the official members had ever made it through successfully.

Yet he had not merely made it through. On his own, he had counter-killed every invading soldier, seventy-seven in total.

Number 88 said, "I understand what you mean. He doesn't need genetic modification. Even with his current physical fitness, combined with his godlike marksmanship and reflexes, he's already a qualified special operations operative. He could pass the assessment directly and would even be qualified to receive an official Hidden Dragon Gold Medal."

No. 1362 had been an official Hidden Dragon Gold Medal holder.

She had died in that invasion.

Yet when he took No. 1362's place, he successfully wiped out the invading force.

This meant that his real combat ability had already reached the level of an official Hidden Dragon Gold Medal holder. How inconceivable was that?

Xin Yue looked from one to the other and finally could not hold herself back. "Hey, hey, is becoming an official gold medal holder really that easy? You two evaluators seem to have reached a consensus. Have you considered how I feel, after failing to become official for eight whole months?"

"Get lost! Who cares how you feel?" Number 88 shot her a glance.

"Fuck..." Xin Yue leaped three feet into the air.

Number 88 looked at her calmly. "Article 172, Clause 3 of the Qianlong Regulations: anyone who dares insult a superior loses ten points! Xin Yue, your assessment score is currently only 852!"

"I... I meant... I work day and night, I think every moment about sharing Qianlong's burdens. I didn't insult anyone, I really didn't... Save me, Sister Changye..." Xin Yue landed beside Changye with a fawning expression.

Changye gently shook her head. "Given the context, Number 88's punishment is ultimately supported by the rules. There's no way to change it. Be more careful in the future."

"I..." Xin Yue's face changed on the spot, but before another word could leave her mouth, Number 88 stared at her. Her chest rose and fell several times before she swallowed the explosive words that followed. "That kid isn't my superior, right? If I fight him, I won't offend anyone, right? Let me offer my opinion: what the hell does it count for, blowing up an ordinary invading force in the jungle? If he has the guts, let him come take me on!"

Her finger flicked out and tapped the watch on her wrist, entering the system!

Number 88 and Changye exchanged a glance and smiled at the same time.

That really was quite a good plan.

Wasn't Lin Xiaosu skilled at gunfights?

Hadn't he just wiped out an entire invading force?

But those he had annihilated were, after all, only ordinary soldiers.

Now they would switch opponents!

Switch to whom?

Xin Yue!

Xin Yue was a Gene Human, and her genes were exceptionally special. Her practical combat ability was astonishing as well, especially over complex terrain.

This little girl was filled to the brim with defiance. Letting her step forward to fight this newly risen firearms prodigy on a complex simulated battlefield would reveal whether he could face the hunt of a true genetic expert with nothing but the gun in his hand.

Xin Yue had already passed the trial.

The reason she had not yet become an official Hidden Dragon Gold Medal holder was not her combat ability. In fact, purely in terms of fighting skill, she was no different from an official Hidden Dragon Gold Medal holder.

The system recorded all her skills and her peak condition. As long as she linked herself to the system, she could summon herself within it and use her own abilities to launch an offensive exchange with Lin Xiaosu.

Within the system, the jungle remained.

But the enemies were gone.

Suddenly, Lin Xiaosu was slightly startled. There was an enemy ahead!

His gun jerked up, and he fired!

When the shot left the barrel, the enemy had clearly been in front of him. But at the instant the bullet fired, the enemy suddenly appeared behind him.

A faint, almost nonexistent phantom streaked through the air.

This was no ordinary enemy. It was an invisible person!

And that speed was absolutely inhuman!

Lin Xiaosu's gun suddenly shot out from beneath his ribs, and he fired!

The person behind him suddenly skimmed across the ground, swift as lightning and startling as a soaring swan. Lin Xiaosu sharply twisted at the waist and fired again. This shot was not aimed directly at the invisible person's head, but at the path ahead of him. If he did not change course, then upon reaching that area, he would inevitably have an intimate encounter with the bullet.

That shot!

Even Number 88's heart jumped.

No Qianlong member lacked mastery of firearms, but most people judged the use of a gun by accuracy alone. Who could leap beyond the concept of "accurate," foresee the enemy's movements, and lay an ambush with a gun? Probably only a handful of Gunslingers could do it.

Lin Xiaosu had actually anticipated the enemy's movements and set a gun ambush, and against an invisible person at that. That was just too damn incredible. Number 88 imagined himself in that situation. With only the gun in my hand, could I have done better than him?

Most likely, I couldn't!

Fuck, this was heaven-defying...

Xin Yue was also shocked.

Although she was currently a system avatar rather than a True Person, her entire mind was linked to the version of herself within the system. The person in the system shared all her feelings.

Facing that shot that had anticipated her every move, Xin Yue brought out her real skills. Her toes struck the ground, and she shot skyward.

This was a midair change of direction.

That turn itself was inconceivable, because changing direction before a bullet essentially meant being able to dodge bullets.

Yet even that turn remained within Lin Xiaosu's anticipation. He raised his hand and fired three shots, the three bullets forming a triangular pattern that sealed off all the space Xin Yue could rise through.

What a move, Xin Yue! Her body suddenly twisted like a pretzel.

All three bullets were dodged at once.

The bullets had been successfully evaded, but the upward momentum of her body vanished as well.

Her body stalled for an instant. In that fleeting point of stagnation, Lin Xiaosu's gun spat out its final bullet. Pfft!

Xin Yue's left chest in the holographic projection was blown apart!

"Ah!" Xin Yue let out a strange cry in the small courtyard. Her hand clutched her left chest, and she tore off the sensor connected to her body, exiting the system.

Before exiting the system, she had to experience real pain. The sensor also sent electrical stimulation through her actual body, producing pain identical to the injury in the system. Once she exited, the pain naturally disappeared.

The pain was gone, and her left chest was intact, but Xin Yue was thoroughly enraged. "You bastard! I'm going to kill him in real life!"

"Do you have any ambition at all?" Number 88's face darkened. "As a Gene Human, wearing the title of 'Number One Reservist' that you named yourself, you fought an ordinary person to this state in a field you specialize in, and you still have the nerve to go kill him in real life?"

Xin Yue's face was covered in dark clouds, her chest heaving sharply, but she stopped herself from charging down the mountain.

Number 88 shifted his gaze to Changye. "This new member has already cleared the firearms route. Should we give him a reservist slot now?"

"No hurry! His path has only just begun. Don't define his road for him from the very start." Changye said leisurely, "I'll keep watching and see which track he chooses next."

"Fine, I'll be leaving first!" Number 88 moved his feet and left the small courtyard.

Changye turned her gaze toward Xin Yue.

Xin Yue was still puffed up with anger.

Changye smiled. "Every profession has its specialty. Which Qianlong member hasn't lost before? Is this how you react after one loss?"

Xin Yue groaned. "Sister Changye, if you want to comfort me, at least choose different words. Every profession has its specialty... His specialty is criminal investigation, while mine is special operations. I lost to him precisely in my specialty, not his."

"I already said it: don't define his path too early. Perhaps special operations is his path to begin with?" Changye said leisurely.

Xin Yue's eyes brightened slightly. "You mean that someday, I might carry out a special operations mission with him?"

Changye smiled softly. "Are you looking forward to it?"

"Looking forward to my ass! That bastard dared blow up my boobs. What are my boobs for? They're my future son's rice bowl. Smashing my boobs means smashing my son's rice bowl. How could I spare him? I have to hang him up and beat him senseless first. Until I vent this anger, he can forget about teaming up with me!"

Her body rose, and her figure vanished.