Ling Qingyu entered a completely new room under Tang Ziyi's lead, unseen before when she visited the underground area under the eight-stories villa, more than a week ago.
This had to be a new room built for a special purpose because Tang Ziyi mentioned advanced training. The room was in circular shape, with walls made with protective layers of materials, capable of resisting bullet impact.
Walking to the center where Tang Ziyi stood, Ling Qingyu nodded up, asking what was going on. Tang Ziyi smiled and patted her shoulder. "You're curious, what's with this room, right? Let me introduce the facility."
"This is the circular area to test your ability to react to the situation around 270 degrees. Actually what we want is 360-degree awareness training but for safety reasons, we only focus on the former for now." Tang Ziyi explained. "Once you can train alone without requiring another's supervision, the latter becomes possible."
Ling Qingyu scratched her hair and rubbed the headset. "So, this isn't marksmanship training?"
"You can't say that. This one tests your marksmanship under a high-stress environment." Tang Ziyi shook her finger. "Look around you, see those targets tilted away from you?"
Ling Qingyu nodded. She saw numerous, estimated to be more than 2 dozen, slanted away from her sight. Puzzled, she asked. "What's wrong with the targets?"
"Well, since we've got the advantage of an autonomous system. The AI will train and record you. The targets that you must shoot and neutralize quickly will pop up from underneath or slant toward you so that you see the paper target."
Ling Qingyu understood what her tasks were. According to Tang Ziyi, these targets were adjusted spontaneously based on the algorithm. The white ones were no-shoot targets while the black ones were what she must aim for.
Receiving a strange glance from Ling Qingyu, Tang Ziyi cleared her throat. "Ahem…Don't worry, I only let you do what you're really capable of."
"I'm very much in doubt whether you're abusing me." Ling Qingyu narrowed her eyes. "These trainings are never supposed to be set for a novice like me."
Tang Ziyi choked and waved her hand. "You're just too suspicious. And stop calling yourself a novice. The results you've shown not long ago already prove your skill. We're here to find out your limits and I'll allocate a proper training routine, solely applicable to you."
"Besides, if you call yourself a novice, you're not giving others a way to survive from shame." She chided, embarrassing Ling Qingyu and making her proud at the same time.
Fortunately, no other guards heard the conversations; otherwise, they might not even care about their employer and beat the shit out of Ling Qingyu in annoyance.
"I hope I'm not thinking too much." Ling Qingyu muttered.
Tang Ziyi's face darkened upon hearing Ling Qingyu's words. "You see the red button in the center behind you. It meant you could start the exercise. As always, I'll be the first example to let you get used to the drill."
She added. "Before we start, I know you already know but as a reminder—rifle ready posture. High ready and low ready." Tang Ziyi showed different styles while Ling Qingyu copied the movement, trying to drill the memory into her muscles.
Postures preparing to shoot but didn't want the shooter to aim at unnecessary target—High port, high ready, low port, low ready, and compressed low ready which were aiming the muzzle at the sky, slanting muzzle upward, pointing it to the ground, angling it downward and shortening the length of the rifle. Tang Ziyi displayed everything without any secrets.
Ling Qingyu familiarized herself with different movements till she felt comfortable. Several minutes later, Tang Ziyi said. "Alright, you can drill them later till they become your second nature. For now, let's show you what we'll train in this room first."
With that, Tang Ziyi pressed the red button and quickly checked her weapon, spreading her legs and bending her knees a little, muzzle pointed downward.
A beep exclaimed from behind, targets spew out from random positions. Within a split second, Tang Ziyi instantly pointed the muzzle at the appearing targets and double-tapped.
Not waiting to see the results carefully, her aim moved toward another target popping up. Several targets from various angles were quickly shot and Tang Ziyi held her fire whenever she saw a white target, simulating unarmed civilians.
Like a humanoid turret, Tang Ziyi snapped her waist toward the targets' directions, exhibiting her sharp and fast reaction. Ling Qingyu gulped watching Tang Ziyi perform at extreme speed.
In her eyes, Tang Ziyi's complete shot hadn't echoed into her ears yet but she had already moved on to the next target. Of course, despite the initial shock, Ling Qingyu carefully studied Tang Ziyi's movement.
She was the importance of footwork. The secret was in the back foot. Mysteriously, it always tilted slightly to a specific degree based on the direction, Tang Ziyi turned her waist.
After Tang Ziyi ended the drill, she gestured her head toward Ling Qingyu.
Slowly breathing in and out, Ling Qingyu pressed the button, indicating the session had begun. In contrast to rigorous Tang Ziyi, Ling Qingyu was slow and methodical.
Naturally, Tang Ziyi also changed the mode to suit Ling Qingyu's ability. The targets' popping up were more sluggish.
After emptying all the bullets, Ling Qingyu checked her rifle and looked at Tang Ziyi, then asked nervously. "How did I do, Sister Tang?
Frankly, Ling Qingyu even felt unbearable herself. Watching Tang Ziyi perform flawlessly, created an illusion, the drill wasn't hard but when she took a step herself—what a nightmare!
To coordinate both her lower and upper body together, while she must look out for new targets was harder than it appeared. Sure, Tang Ziyi's action looked cool but Ling Qingyu even suffered in a slow mode.
"Pretty well. I have nothing to say." Tang Ziyi said with a relief. At least, this girl was still a human. The exercise required the shooter to possess instinctive footwork and aiming ability. None, Ling Qingyu had at the moment.
"I know myself." Ling Qingyu swatted her hand and sighed.
Seeing Ling Qingyu depressed, Tang Ziyi was gleeful inside but hid her mood and comforted. "When I look at you, I even want you to stop working as CEO and come to my world." Tang Ziyi patted Ling Qingyu's back.
"Your world? No way in hell?!" Ling Qingyu refused without thinking twice. "Why would I work as a mercenary when I can be the boss myself?"
Tang Ziyi was speechless. Indeed, who didn't want to be the boss. "What I meant is lamenting your talent. Looking at your results, given time, you can become soldier king easily." She said with a shrug.
"Oh. Thanks for the compliment then," Ling Qingyu was embarrassed. "But I don't think the possibility is high with my busy schedule and work to cope with my future plans. Not to mention, don't praise me too much, I understand my willpower and mindset is simply a moth against fire, compared to special force member."
"Not bad to know your limits." Tang Ziyi nodded. The more she stared at Ling Qingyu, the more she was satisfied. A good seed, she thought. "Don't worry about those, I can hone your straits into invincible steel."
What was wrong with Tang Ziyi? Ling Qingyu was confused. "I'm really busy."
"Then, take those schedules aside. Until I'm satisfied with your level, don't even think about avoiding the shooting drills every day." Tang Ziyi folded her arms. The rifle was slung on the back, hitting her body every time Tang Ziyi moved.
"Wait, what?! You mean I must train every morning before I go to work." Ling Qingyu exclaimed.
"What are you quibbling? You have Sister Zhao to manage your company. Athena is also there. These details don't require you. What your role is for strategic vision." Tang Ziyi poked Ling Qingyu's shoulder.