Luke tried it out and preferred the feel of the 8-round magazine, and it also had more bullets.
After choosing the gun, the validity of one Pistol Card had expired, so Luke used the second Pistol Card.
It pained him somewhat, but it was worth it, as what came next was real combat training.
In the ensuing live-fire exercise, Luke equipped two guns: the Glock was holstered on the right side of his waist, ready to be drawn and fired at the first sign of danger.
The Beretta NANO was smaller in size, and Luke equipped it to the rear right side as his lifeline gun.
Then came the anticipated real combat training.
The two arrived in front of a constructed real combat field.
Luke asked, "Are there any specific requirements?"
"Just hit all the targets as quickly as possible."
"You follow me, and I'll demonstrate once."
After that, Raymond entered the combat field, which was still outdoors but segmented, resembling a maze. Each turn led to a different area with various targets.
There were also pop-up targets, which indeed added to the difficulty.
However, this did not significantly affect Raymond; he smoothly completed the training, hitting every target.
Next, it was Luke's turn for live-fire training.
Watching Raymond shoot had seemed simple, but actually doing it himself, he realized it was much more difficult.
Previously, when shooting at moving targets, one's stance was fixed and stationary, but now it was different. On the move constantly, one had to keep assuming the firing stance and aiming, which could introduce errors.
Luke did the best he could and finished the shooting training.
There were a total of fifteen targets in the live-fire training, and he hit only 10. The complexity of the course and the awkward positions of some of the targets meant he was somewhat unaccustomed.
Raymond glanced at his watch, slightly dissatisfied, "Out of 15 targets, you hit 10; the first try is still acceptable.
But you actually took three minutes, which is too slow.
Perpetrators are not targets; they will fight back. It's likely that by the time you encounter the first perpetrator, you would have already been taken down.
Why was your shooting so slow?"
Luke holstered his guns and replied, "Draw, aim, control breathing, pull the trigger—that's always how I've done it."
"Hmm, the standard Weaver stance. It's also commonly used by many shooters, but there's a problem with that. You're not facing targets; you're facing felons.
Felons don't follow the order of drawing, aiming, controlling breath, and pulling the trigger when confronting police.
Omitting two steps makes them faster than you.
Don't talk to me about precision.
The felon facing you could be only ten meters, five meters, or even three meters away. At that distance, whoever shoots first will be the one left standing. Do you understand what I'm saying?
That's the real standard for survival.
Accuracy is built on being fast.
In close-quarter battles, when you're at close range with your opponent, if you don't shoot, you're likely not going to get a chance to shoot at all. Therefore, there's no point in talking about accuracy."
"I understand," Luke took a deep breath, acknowledging that it was easy to say but changing shooting habits wouldn't be easy.
"Good, let's go again."
Luke checked his magazines and re-entered the combat field; jumping out at a target, he drew his gun without a moment's hesitation.
This time, Luke's speed through the combat course improved by 40 seconds. He hit 7 out of the 15 targets, less than half.
While his speed increased, his accuracy declined.
Raymond said, "Good, keep practicing like that, improving accuracy on the basis of speed."
"Understood." Luke made a slight adjustment before entering the combat field again.
The two stayed at the training grounds for the entire day, only concluding today's training when the second Pistol Card expired.
Luke nearly exhausted himself to collapse; his arms were numb and his body reeked of gunpowder.
The good news was that he improved his training considerably; he reduced the last live-fire training time to 1 minute and 50 seconds, which was an improvement of 1 minute and 10 seconds compared to his first try.
Of the 15 targets, he hit 13, which was a significant increase from the first time he hit 10 out of 15, and this improvement in accuracy was achieved despite the clear increase in shooting speed.
In Raymond's words, this was not easy to achieve; he was simply a genius.
Right next to the club firearm club was a pistol shop, and Luke went straight to the store to buy a black Beretta NANO pistol.
From now on, he would carry two guns with him.
Today's training was great; the only thing that Luke felt was a slight regret was that he did not get to practice with rifles.
As Raymond said, take one step at a time; biting off more than one can chew gets nowhere.
Luke took three days off.
On the third day, he didn't go anywhere and just stayed at home.
After getting up, he strolled over to the community square for breakfast and then went to the supermarket.
This supermarket was also run by Huaguo people; almost everything available back home could be bought here.
Luke even found genuine lamb kidneys, which are a real delicacy and authentic.
After a big shopping trip home, Luke's home projector also arrived, ordered at the same time as the fat boy's mountain bike.
He installed the projector in the secondary bedroom, transforming it into a small home cinema.
At noon, Luke skipped lunch.
He watched a movie while eating popcorn, drinking cola, and enjoying Häagen-Dazs.
Having his very own cinema was an amazing feeling.
Around four in the afternoon, Daisy arrived.
Luke showed her his home cinema but did not invite her to watch a movie, as there was something even more important to do today.