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Deep inside a pitch-black tunnel whose end was nowhere in sight.
A young man in a white double-breasted suit walked slowly, his neatly styled hair parted to one side.
The heels of his spotless white leather shoes tapped lightly against the ground, filling the tunnel with monotonous, jarring echoes.
His name was Jiu Zhengxuan.
A prodigy.
On his first login to the Metaverse Experimental Zone, his Fusion Rate had reached an unprecedented 68%.
He was also the son of the supreme commander of the B5 and B6 Sectors, someone everyone tried to curry favor with.
But those around him knew he was not the sort of official's son who threw his weight around.
He was upright and fair-minded, and he despised evil.
Just like his suit, always pure white, never stained by even a speck of dirt.
After class, he had entered the Experimental Zone straightaway.
He, too, seemed to be going through something secret and strange.
Though endless darkness lay ahead in the tunnel.
Jiu Zhengxuan held his chest out and his head high, looking straight ahead.
His profound loathing for that darkness was plain to see, but he did not choose to evade it. Instead, he walked steadily forward.
At the same time, the white-clad young man's eyes were full of caution and vigilance.
Not the slightest detail in the tunnel escaped his eyes. He was only eighteen, but his demeanor was that of a battle-hardened warrior.
Click.
An extremely faint sound rang out.
Far down the tunnel, a sniper dressed in black clung to the ceiling with some kind of magnetic device.
The sniper gently worked his rifle's bolt.
In his right eye was a device resembling a contact lens, linked wirelessly to his sniper rifle.
His view was a red night-vision image. A crosshair marked with precise graduations drifted through the air before finally locking onto the slowly walking Jiu Zhengxuan.
The sniper steadied his breathing slightly and rested his finger on the trigger.
But at that very instant.
Jiu Zhengxuan suddenly sprang up ahead of him, disappearing from the crosshairs.
The sniper hurriedly searched for him.
Jiu Zhengxuan moved like a darting hare. Sprinting forward, he planted one foot hard against the tunnel wall and rebounded into the air, then stepped onto the opposite wall, twisting through the air with nimble precision.
In the sniper's view, the electronic crosshair's smart tracking moved rapidly, yet it was always a few tenths of a second too slow. Jiu Zhengxuan moved in a near-blur, repeatedly slipping free of its tracking.
Whoosh.
As though teleporting, Jiu Zhengxuan rushed right up to the sniper, kicked the rifle away in midair, then drove an elbow into the sniper's neck!
Thud.
The sniper fell from the tunnel ceiling, unconscious!
Despite his own intensive training, the sniper had been a beat too slow throughout!
Jiu Zhengxuan's expression did not change, and he did not stop.
His eyes narrowed, and he leaped high into the air.
Five meters ahead, someone was pushing up a drainage shaft's cover from inside. Another gunman armed with a laser weapon was about to poke his head out and take a sneaky shot.
Bang!
Even in that darkness, Jiu Zhengxuan's feet landed squarely on the cover with crushing force.
Before the gunman could react, the cover slammed onto his head, knocking him unconscious and sending him tumbling down the shaft.
Whirr...
Hiss...
A figure suddenly slid sideways into view at the far end of the tunnel, some kind of propulsion device fitted to his feet allowing him to move as nimbly as if he were on a skateboard.
Mechanical noises sounded behind the figure, and two heavy machine guns swung out from his back.
Bang, bang, bang!
Bang, bang, bang!
The man opened fire, spraying wildly. Gunfire lit up the entire tunnel as countless laser rounds resembling yellow insect eggs poured out!
Jiu Zhengxuan sprang up again. Like an agile swift, he repeatedly rebounded off the walls, charging through the storm of bullets!
His movements were terrifyingly precise.
His brain reacted as fast as a computer, instantly predicting trajectories and finding gaps between the bullets.
In no more than an instant.
Jiu Zhengxuan reached the machine gunner, clenched one hand into a fist, and drove it toward his head.
But Jiu Zhengxuan did not knock the gunner unconscious. Instead, his fist passed the gunner's head and struck toward the gunner's back.
Crack!
The sound of a mechanical frame shattering rang out.
Countless fragments of components sprayed from the machine gunner's back. The two machine guns in the gunner's hands fell silent, and the gunner swayed before collapsing to one side.
Jiu Zhengxuan reached out and caught the collapsing machine gunner!
Whoosh.
The entire passage lit up.
The dark tunnel flickered slightly, then vanished into thin air, revealing an exceptionally spacious, brightly lit hall.
Behind Jiu Zhengxuan, the two gunmen he had just knocked unconscious were now clutching their foreheads and staggering to their feet.
Clap, clap, clap!
Applause rose from all around.
Around the hall stood more than a dozen people, some in expensive suits, others in military uniforms.
"Zheng Xuan, my boy, you really are outstanding!"
"One minute and three seconds to take down two of my elite soldiers!"
"A Fusion Rate of 68% really is astonishing. It's hard to imagine you achieved a result like that on your very first login to the Experimental Zone. You're still only a high school student!"
Just then.
A middle-aged man in a general's uniform stepped forward, smiling. "Zheng Xuan, my boy, how did you realize that the third gunner was actually a hostage in disguise?"
Jiu Zhengxuan helped the "machine gunner" in his arms stand up.
The third gunner was actually a girl no older than twenty. Her expression was frightened, and her body trembled slightly.
Jiu Zhengxuan straightened. "The scenario for this simulated battle was a hostage rescue. The criminals were a gang of desperate outlaws carrying high-tech equipment."
"But..."
Jiu Zhengxuan glanced at the girl. "The instant the third gunner appeared, I could tell she was using an exoskeleton-a knockoff of the military's 031 Portable Machine-Gun Turret. But as far as I know, this kind of exoskeleton must fit the user's build perfectly, or its operation will be inaccurate."
"Though it was dark, the gunfire let me see clearly that the operator's build was considerably smaller than the exoskeleton."
"Also, while firing, the user's movements showed obvious resistance, as though she was afraid of actually hitting me."
"So."
"I concluded that she wasn't the owner of this exoskeleton. Instead, the exoskeleton had been programmed beforehand and was forcing her to carry out the actions needed to kill me."
"Even the moment she slid out of the darkness, those movements were clearly forced."
As he spoke, Jiu Zhengxuan glanced at the trembling girl. "Uncles, if I may offer a suggestion, in the future... we should avoid asking people outside the combat units to participate in drills. She looks like she's only a student. This sort of experience isn't good for her."
The moment Jiu Zhengxuan finished speaking.
Voices of approval filled the hall.
"What an upright, kindhearted, exceptionally capable young man!"
Then.
The distinguished spectators all turned to look at the imposing man in a Zhongshan suit standing on the steps in the hall.
"Congratulations, Commander Lu Zun."
"Having a son like him is truly a blessing for your family, and for our China!"
"Zheng Xuan will surely accomplish great things in the Experimental Zone!"
"His future is limitless!"
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