After parting ways with Fang Tianhe, Lin Xinghai sent Gao Mountain a ssage, asking to et at a bar.
Soon after, the Mountain and Sea rcenary Corps’s recruitnt station also closed for the day.
Five minutes later, Lin Xinghai was in a small booth at the bar when he saw Gao Mountain and the others walk in.
"How many people did we recruit today?" Lin Xinghai asked.
"The morning was fine, but your rcenary Corps started recruiting in the afternoon. With the benefits you’re offering, you’re barely leaving any room for First Level rcenary Corps like us to survive! Fortunately, our standards aren’t as high, so we managed to snag a few people. We recruited 20 in total today." Though Gao Mountain was complaining, he couldn’t hide the smile on his face.
After all, including their original mbers, their rcenary Corps now had 30 people. They weren’t far from their recruitnt goal of 50.
"Excellent! Tell them to assemble at 8 AM sharp tomorrow. We’ll head out early," Lin Xinghai said with a nod.
"Yes, yes, of course!" Gao Mountain agreed readily, his excitent palpable.
Of course, he knew his social graces. Once his excitent subsided, he quickly extended an invitation. "Brother Lin, you haven’t eaten yet, have you? Why don’t we grab a bite together? I can book a restaurant."
"No need, I already have plans for dinner. However, to build so hype for you all for tomorrow, I’m planning to challenge the shooting leaderboard right now. You can co and watch if you’re interested." As he spoke, Lin Xinghai stood up.
’With my current Gun Technique, taking first place will be a breeze. I didn’t do it before because I was worried about standing out too much and drawing unwanted attention.’
’But now that I’ve t the Great Elder, I don’t have to worry about that anymore. I can take first place on the shooting leaderboard and add another layer of prestige to my na.’
’After all, not every rcenary has seen in action. In that case, they’ll naturally trust the official rankings more.’
Hearing Lin Xinghai’s words, the eyes of Gao Mountain, Ling Xiu, and the others imdiately lit up.
Gao Mountain was especially thrilled. He had missed Lin Xinghai’s last attempt on the shooting leaderboard, so he was delighted to have the chance to witness him take first place this ti.
The group imdiately got up and went to the third floor of the rcenary Guild.
As it happened, the attendant they t this ti was Zhuang Qiao, the sa one who had helped them before.
"Ah! You’re the Divine Sharpshooter, Lin Xinghai." Only a few days had passed, so of course, Zhuang Qiao hadn’t forgotten this newcor who had risen like a cot.
"That’s ," Lin Xinghai said, nodding with a smile. "I’m here to challenge the shooting leaderboard again."
He took out his Identity Card, ready for her to deduct the Points.
"Divine Sharpshooters don’t have to pay any Points. I’ll take you to the special-grade training ground right now," Zhuang Qiao said, leading the way.
The group followed closely behind, knowing the way. Soon, the training ground was activated. Lin Xinghai picked up two Tearing Rifles, gave them a quick inspection, and once he confird everything was in order, he started imdiately.
Lin Xinghai breezed through the first four stages of the challenge without any difficulty. It wasn’t until the fifth stage that his expression grew a little more serious.
The others, however, were much more nervous. They all knew that last ti, Lin Xinghai had made it 67% of the way through the fifth stage.
The current number one, Tang Zhuofei, had reached 76%. Whether Lin Xinghai could surpass him would all co down to this.
As the fifth stage was about to begin, Lin Xinghai finally released his Perception Power.
During his last challenge, he hadn’t understood any techniques for applying his Perception Power. He could only use it as an aid to get a rough sense of the iron balls’ positions.
But now, the entire shooting range was rendered in perfect detail under the blanket of his Perception Power. It was so powerful it could even penetrate the layers of chanisms to lock onto the tal balls before they were even launched.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Lin Xinghai fired both guns with a casual air, his shots carrying a sense of rhythm and cadence.
Now that he had broken his second Genetic Lock, his reaction speed could perfectly keep pace with his thoughts, even with a tal ball flying out every 0.3 seconds.
The stage progress advanced rapidly: 10%... 30%... 70%.
By this point, the spectators were involuntarily holding their breath, not daring to blink for fear of missing the crucial mont.
When the progress bar surpassed 76%, Ling Xiu and the others couldn’t help but cheer for Lin Xinghai.
Even though they all felt that Lin Xinghai must have been confident of taking first place to even attempt the challenge, speculation was one thing, but witnessing it with their own eyes was sothing else entirely.
Just as their cheers died down, they saw that Lin Xinghai had already cleared the fifth stage.
"No need for a break. Start the sixth stage," Lin Xinghai said after reloading.
"O-Okay," Zhuang Qiao stamred.
Soon, the countdown for the sixth stage began. The spectators, like Gao Mountain and Ling Xiu, seed even more nervous than Lin Xinghai himself.
After all, with every passing second, they felt like they were witnessing history in the making.
As the countdown ended, an iron ball shot out from an opening. Compared to the ping-pong-ball-sized targets of the fifth stage, the balls in the sixth stage were a size smaller—only about as big as a thumb. Their launch speed was also faster, with a new ball appearing every 0.2 seconds.
Furthermore, the magnetic fields on the walls were also shifting more rapidly, causing the balls to move more erratically before they hit the ground.
Yet none of this seed to affect Lin Xinghai in the slightest. Every bullet he fired seed to have eyes of its own, unerringly striking a tal ball.
The continuous sound of gunfire filled the air. The spectators felt like they were watching a masterclass in gunmanship.
By the ti they snapped out of their daze, Lin Xinghai had already cleared the sixth stage.
When they heard Lin Xinghai ask to start the seventh stage, everyone felt breathless.
It was one thing for Lin Xinghai to take first place on the shooting leaderboard, but it was another thing entirely to do so by surpassing the previous record by a whole stage.
This would be an absolutely demoralizing record; it was unlikely anyone would ever be able to beat it.
The seventh stage began. The fired tal balls were now only the size of a green bean, and their speed had doubled again. There was only a 0.1-second window to react between when a ball was launched and when it landed, and the interval between launches was just as short.
Under these conditions, while Lin Xinghai’s Perception Power could lock onto the tal balls, he faced the sa problem as his last challenge: the speed at which he could pull the trigger simply couldn’t keep up with the speed at which the balls were being launched.
This wasn’t just a matter of Lin Xinghai’s muscle reaction ti; it also involved the chanical limits of the firearms. After all, they weren’t designed to be fired at such a high frequency.
If he wanted a faster rate of fire, he could just switch to automatic mode.
However, in automatic mode, with his current Gun Technique, he wouldn’t be able to control each individual bullet.
Therefore, to clear the seventh stage, he would likely have to wait until he advanced to the Blood Qi Realm. At that point, his Perception Power would undergo a qualitative transformation, allowing him to use Interdiate Shooting Skill to control the trajectory of his bullets.
Ultimately, when the stage progress reached 13%, Lin Xinghai had used up his three chances for error, and the challenge ended.
After Lin Xinghai left the special-grade training ground, news of his score began to spread quietly. The effect was like dropping a depth charge into a placid lake.
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