Chapter 46

Chapter 46

The shooting range at this training base was clearly specially designed, offering top-tier recoil feedback and shooting responsiveness that was even more engaging than those holographic simulation shooting games on the StarNet.

Jiang Se found herself almost uncontrollably immersed in it. If not for Lin Xu calling out to her, she might have spent the entire afternoon caught up in shooting.

Lin Xu was currently with a slight frown as he watched the group of Mech Pilots approaching. Their mechs were standard-issue models from the military base, likely this year's new recruits.

They clearly recognized Lin Xu. The one who appeared to be the squad leader greeted him warmly, "Good afternoon, Commander Lin!"

"Hello."

After the greeting, the man turned his attention to Jiang Se, who was still completely absorbed in the shooting game. He glanced at her and then asked Lin Xu, "Is this a new student from your Alliance University's Individual Combat Department? So skilled at such a young age—the new generation truly shows promise!"

Lin Xu paused for a moment, then decided not to reveal the truth that Jiang Se was actually a Mecha Department student. After all, a Mech Pilot with such shooting talent and skill would sound like a fantasy if spoken aloud.

If he really said it, the other party might burst into laughter and say, "Commander Lin, you sure know how to joke."

The young soldiers following the squad leader also chimed in enthusiastically:

"Yeah, she's incredibly skilled! No one has broken the shooting record at this training base for a long time!"

"A perfect score—that's a perfect score!"

"And she's just a freshman? Wow, the Alliance University team might have a new Mech Pilot today!"

...

The squad leader took in everyone's reactions and smiled at Lin Xu. "Commander Lin, as you can see, my men are eager. Would it be possible for them to compete with this student from Alliance University?"

Since it came to this, it was hard to refuse.

Lin Xu turned to Jiang Se. "...Jiang Se?"

Jiang Se, still immersed in shooting, finally looked up belatedly. "What is it?"

Only then did she notice the crowd surrounding her and was startled. She thought to herself, *Whoa, so many people—are we about to have a group fight?*

The thought flashed through her mind, and then she heard Lin Xu say, "They want to spar with you. Is that okay?"

"Spar? Spar in what?" Jiang Se asked instinctively. "Assembling mechs?"

"No, mech shooting," Lin Xu replied calmly.

"Sure, but I’ve just started learning shooting, so I might be pretty new to this. I hope they don’t mind," Jiang Se said lazily.

Little did she know, her casual remark was like a stone thrown into water, instantly causing ripples.

*Just started shooting?*

These five words echoed in the minds of the young soldiers.

How could someone so skilled be a beginner? What did that say about their own daily, grueling training?

For a moment, the squad leader couldn’t tell if Jiang Se was joking or being serious. He laughed and said, "Haha, kids these days are hilarious!"

Jiang Se glanced at the crowd. "How do you want to compete?"

The squad leader smiled. "Simple—a target shooting contest. Whoever hits the most bullseyes within the time limit wins."

As he spoke, multiple targets appeared on the range. The young soldiers piloted their mechs to the shooting positions, ready to begin.

The range provided pulse guns. Jiang Se picked one up, fired a couple of test shots to get a feel for it, and said, "I’m ready. Let’s start!"

Her tone was still lazy, as if nothing in the world could faze her.

By now, a crowd of onlookers had gathered around the range. Nearly everyone training in the area had come over—after all, curiosity and spectating were inherent human traits.

"Hey, isn’t that the 1st Shooting Squad? Are they having a shooting competition?"

"Who knows the person on the far left? That mech looks familiar—might be the captain of the Alliance University team."

"The team captain? Isn’t he a Commander? Why is he competing in shooting with a bunch of Mech Pilots? Do Commanders have to be this versatile nowadays?"

"Lin Xu? I saw him standing with the 1st Squad captain earlier. He probably lent his mech to someone else—must be a freshman from the Individual Combat Department this year."

...

Amid the chatter, Jiang Se kept her eyes fixed ahead, focused solely on the targets.

In a way, shooting was similar to assembling mechs—both required extreme concentration and no distractions.

Distraction during shooting could lead to missed shots, while distraction during mech assembly could ruin precious materials.

As a cold mechanical voice announced, "The competition begins," Jiang Se tightened her grip on the pulse gun and fired her first shot.

The targets moved much faster than before, switching directions more frequently—up, down, left, right. Some even bounced back up after being hit, disrupting the shooter’s aim.

In the latter half of the competition, eerie sounds occasionally echoed from the sidelines, adding outside distractions.

Complaints erupted intermittently from the young soldiers:

"Ugh, why did that target suddenly bounce? I wasn’t ready for a follow-up shot!"

"Seriously, who designed this level? Where did they dig up these creepy horror movie sound effects? Scared me to death!"

"The targets are switching so fast—how is anyone supposed to keep up?"

...

Amid the noise, Jiang Se remained focused, firing shot after shot calmly.

She seemed to have entered a state of flow, where only her gun and the targets existed.

When the last bullet was fired, the competition came to an end.

Jiang Se took a deep breath and set down her pulse gun.

Since all machines were networked, the scores were quickly displayed on a screen on the other side. Given the number of participants, a ranking was directly published.

"95 points"

"91 points"

"92 points"

...

As the mechanical voice read out each score, discussions gradually arose in the crowd. Yet, everything fell silent when the final score was announced.

"A perfect score."

For a moment, the crowd fell into complete silence.

Even the Shooting Squad Leader wore an expression of sheer disbelief, as the difficulty of this particular target system was well-known.

A skilled mech pilot with a talent for shooting could consistently score above 95, but to achieve a perfect score on the first attempt—

The Shooting Squad Leader’s breathing quickened almost imperceptibly.

They usually called people like this *freaks of nature when it comes to shooting*.

There was a new recruit in another military district with similar shooting talent. He had been identified immediately upon entering the camp and was now active on the front lines against the alien beasts. Word was, he'd already made captain.

Almost instantly, the attention of everyone present converged on Jiang Se.

Jiang Se, though, acted like it was no big deal. Her tone was just as laid-back as always as she turned to Lin Xu and asked, “Senior, is it over? I’m a bit hungry—mind if I head to chow first?”