With a whoosh, a figure sprang up from below and landed before Changye.
It was Hidden Dragon No. 88.
No. 88's face was full of excitement. "That seedling you brought back actually triggered the Gunslinger Line?"
"Not only did he trigger the Gunslinger Line, but... but the next four hundred shots were all 10.9!"
No. 88's whole body trembled. He slowly exhaled. "His path may have to change. Perhaps he should take the special operations route!"
At first, everyone had designated Lin Xiaosu for the path of espionage and strategy. But his trial results had shown No. 88 another possibility: special operations!
"There's a problem with special operations," Changye said. "Although he has extraordinary talent with guns, his physical constitution is a weakness. If he truly enters a dangerous battlefield, he'll be in grave danger."
"His physical constitution can be modified," No. 88 said. "How about I talk to him now?"
"Genetic Modification is a matter of great importance. Modern genetic technology still has major flaws. Unless there is no other choice, it's better to let nature take its course." Changye said, "Why don't we see how far a true gunmanship prodigy can go in a complex environment with nothing but the gun in his hand?"
She lightly flicked a finger and pressed a button on the coffee table.
At that touch, the surroundings around Lin Xiaosu suddenly changed.
The previous scene was gone. He was now completely immersed in a jungle, dark and gloomy.
Four words flashed through the air: "Jungle Nightmare."
The wind swept past, cold enough to pierce the bone. Sounds came from all around, making his scalp prickle. In an instant, Lin Xiaosu seemed to be standing in a real jungle.
Enemies were everywhere.
His hand shot up, and he fired. A figure in camouflage that had just stepped out from behind a tree was struck in the head. Blood sprayed everywhere. Though he knew this was a holographic projection, his stomach still clenched violently at that moment...
There was movement behind him. Lin Xiaosu spun around, ducked behind the tree he had just passed, and fired again, taking down another enemy.
The jungle ahead suddenly stirred. His third shot killed the enemy before he could even show his head.
Ssst, ssst, ssst...
Three shots in quick succession, aimed at three different directions. Three sprays of blood burst forth...
Gunfire erupted. Branches and leaves flew through the jungle. It all felt incomparably real.
Every shot Lin Xiaosu fired took away an enemy. The jungle's incomparably complex terrain and all its cover seemed not to exist in his eyes.
And the instant an enemy raised a gun, he could always accurately determine where the enemy was. There was not the slightest mistake in his evasive maneuvers. Every time, he chose the most reasonable option. Even if time were stopped and a meeting held to analyze it all, his choice would still have been the optimal solution.
No. 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 die for their country. Instead, it would have been an epic annihilation of the enemy invaders!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Jungle Nightmare ended!
This Jungle Nightmare had been implanted based on a real event, perfectly recreating that day's scene. Enemy special forces had invaded, and Hidden Dragon No. 1362 had died for the country.
Qianlong had incorporated the scene into the system to train special operations personnel.
No tester outside the official members had ever successfully cleared it.
Yet he had not merely cleared it. By himself, he had counterkilled every invading soldier, seventy-seven in total.
No. 88 said, "I understand what you mean. He doesn't need Genetic Modification. Even with his current physical constitution, combined with his unfathomable gunmanship and reaction speed, he is already a qualified special operations operative. He could directly pass the assessment and would even qualify for a formal Gold Badge."
No. 1362 had been a formal Hidden Dragon Gold Medal.
He had died in this invasion.
Yet if Lin Xiaosu had traded places with No. 1362, he would have successfully wiped out the invading army.
That meant his actual combat ability had already reached the standard of a formal Hidden Dragon Gold Medal. How utterly inconceivable was that?
Xin Yue looked from one to the other and finally could not hold it in any longer. "Hey, hey, is becoming a formal Gold Badge that easy? You two assessors seem to have reached a consensus. Have you considered how I feel after failing to become official for eight months?"
"Get lost! Who cares how you feel?" 88 shot her a sidelong glance.
"Fuck..." Xin Yue nearly jumped eight feet into the air.
No. 88 looked at her quietly. "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 points!"
"I... I meant that... I work hard day and night, and at every moment I think about how to share Qianlong's burdens. I wasn't insulting anyone, really, I wasn't... Save me, Sister Changye..." Xin Yue dropped beside Changye, her face full of ingratiating smiles.
Changye gently shook her head. "Given the context just now, No. 88's punishment does have rules to support it. There's no way to change it. Be more careful in the future."
"I..." Xin Yue's expression changed on the spot. But after one word left her mouth, No. 88 stared at her. Her chest rose and fell several times before she swallowed the explosive words that followed. "That brat isn't my superior, right? If I fight him, I won't be offending anyone, right? Let me offer my opinion. Blowing apart an ordinary invading force in a jungle is nothing! If he has the guts, let him come fight me!"
She flicked a finger and tapped the watch on her wrist, entering the system!
No. 88 and Changye exchanged a glance and smiled at the same time.
This was indeed quite a good plan.
Wasn't Lin Xiaosu skilled at gunfights?
Hadn't he just wiped out an entire invading force?
But the force he had eliminated was, in the end, only an ordinary army.
Now, they would change the opponent!
Change to whom?
Xin Yue!
Xin Yue was a Gene Human, and her genes were exceptionally special. Her actual combat ability was astonishing as well, particularly in complex terrain.
This girl was full of defiance. Letting her step forward to fight this newly risen gunmanship prodigy in a complex simulated battlefield would show whether he could rely solely on the gun in his hand to face the hunt of a true genetic expert.
Xin Yue had already passed the trial.
The reason she had not yet become a formal Hidden Dragon Gold Medal was not her fighting skill. In fact, in terms of combat ability alone, she was no different from a formal Hidden Dragon Gold Medal.
The system recorded all her skills and her peak condition. As long as she linked herself to the system, she could call up herself within it and use her own abilities to launch an assault against Lin Xiaosu.
Inside the system, the jungle remained.
But the enemies were gone.
Suddenly, Lin Xiaosu was slightly startled. There was an enemy ahead!
His gun snapped up, and he fired!
When the shot left the barrel, the enemy had clearly been ahead of him. But the instant it fired, the enemy suddenly appeared behind him.
A faint, almost imperceptible phantom streaked through the air.
This was no ordinary enemy. It was an invisible person!
And the speed was absolutely inhuman!
Lin Xiaosu's gun suddenly thrust out from beneath his ribs, and he fired!
The person behind him suddenly skimmed close to the ground, swift as lightning and startling as a soaring swan. Lin Xiaosu sharply twisted his waist and fired. This shot was not aimed directly at the invisible person's head, but at his path of advance. If he did not change course, then upon reaching that area, he would definitely have intimate contact with the bullet.
That shot!
Even No. 88's heart skipped a beat.
Every Qianlong member was proficient with guns, but most judged gun use by whether one hit or missed. Who could leap beyond the concept of "accuracy," foresee an enemy's move, and set an ambush with a gun? Probably only a handful of Gun Gods.
Lin Xiaosu had foreseen the enemy's move and set a gun ambush, and he had done so against an invisible person. That was simply too badass. No. 88 put himself in Lin Xiaosu's place. Under those circumstances, could he have done better with nothing but the gun in his hand?
Most likely, he could not!
Fuck, this was defying the heavens...
Xin Yue was also greatly shocked.
Though she was currently a system projection rather than a True Person, her entire consciousness was linked to the version of herself in the system. The person in the system felt exactly what she felt.
Faced with that shot that had foreseen her move, Xin Yue brought out her true skill. Her toes slammed into the ground, and she shot into the sky.
This was a sudden change of direction.
The change itself was unbelievable, because changing direction before a bullet essentially meant she could dodge bullets.
Yet even with that turn, she remained within Lin Xiaosu's prediction. Lin Xiaosu raised his hand and fired three shots. The three bullets formed a triangular pattern, sealing off all of Xin Yue's rising space.
What a Xin Yue! Her body sharply twisted like a pretzel.
She dodged all three bullets at once.
She had successfully avoided the bullets, but the momentum carrying her body upward vanished as well.
Her body stalled for an instant. In that fleeting moment of stagnation, Lin Xiaosu's gun spat out its final bullet. Pfft!
Xin Yue's left breast exploded in the holographic projection!
"Ah!" Xin Yue let out a strange scream in the courtyard, grabbed her left breast, tore off the sensor connected to her body, and withdrew from the system.
Before withdrawing, she had to feel real pain. The sensor sent electrical stimulation through her body, creating the same pain as the injury in the system. Once she withdrew, the pain naturally vanished.
The pain was gone, and her left breast was intact, but Xin Yue was completely enraged. "You bastard, I'm going to kill him in the real world!"
"Have you got any backbone?" No. 88's face darkened. "As a Gene Human, wearing the title of 'Number One Reserve' that you named for yourself, you fought an ordinary person in the field you excel at and ended up like this. And you still have the nerve to go kill him in reality?"
Xin Yue's face was covered in storm clouds, her chest heaving violently, but she stopped her steps toward the mountain path.
No. 88 turned his gaze toward Changye. "This new member has already cleared the firearms path. Should we give him a reserve slot now?"
"No rush! His path has only just begun. Don't limit his path from the very start." Changye said leisurely, "I'll continue watching and see which track he chooses next."
"Fine, I'm leaving first!" No. 88 moved his feet and left the courtyard.
Changye turned her gaze toward Xin Yue.
Xin Yue was still fuming.
Changye smiled. "Every profession has its specialty. Which Qianlong member has never lost? You lose once, and this is how you act?"
Xin Yue groaned. "Sister Changye, if you want to comfort me, at least use different words. Every profession has its specialty... His specialty is criminal investigation, while mine is special operations. What I lost to him in was precisely my specialty, not his."
"I already said it. Don't define his path too early. Perhaps his path is special operations to begin with?" Changye said leisurely.
Xin Yue's eyes brightened slightly. "You mean that one day in the future, I might carry out special operations missions with him?"
Changye smiled softly. "Are you looking forward to it?"
"Looking forward to my ass! That bastard dared blow up my tits. What are my tits for? They're my future son's rice bowl! Smashing my tits means smashing my son's rice bowl. How could I let him off? I have to hang him up and beat him first. Until I vent this anger, he can forget about teaming up with me. Not a chance!"
Her figure rose, and she vanished.
Before you continue