Pei Yan was unaware of the complexities between the bureau and the military. Fully immersed in the experience of the new equipment, he was stopped by Hu Wenjun’s loud shout from outside the field, ending this test after an exhilarating ten minutes of sparring with Xia Yu.
"Thank you, I’ve learned a lot!" Pei Yan, stopping the fight, tapped his helmet to deactivate it and reached out to Xia Yu with gratitude.
Slightly out of breath, Xia Yu looked at Pei Yan’s extended hand, slapped it, and then made a fist to bump with him, which Pei Yan coordinated with.
"Your skills are indeed impressive. After putting on that device, your reaction speed improved significantly, but compared to that night, there’s still a gap. I think it’s because the external elements aren’t part of your inherent memory. As someone who loves fighting, I suggest you continue practicing your own combat skills privately. Combine that with your abilities, and your moves will be even more perfect!" Xia Yu bent down to pick up a towel, wiping her face while giving her advice.
"Yes, I’ve realized that too. Skills are only truly yours once mastered! I will focus more on training in the future."
"Great, next time let’s have an all-out fight!"
Watching Pei Yan being called over for a lecture by Hu Wenjun, Xia Yu let out a long breath and plopped down on the ground, bringing out her snacks again to play the role of a spectator, interested to see what kind of test he would undergo next. She was increasingly intrigued by the potential of the boy she had once interrogated, with his slick tongue and hidden talents.
"Next, we’re going to conduct a firearms test on you. I want to see the helmet’s data response in this aspect," said Engineer Li as he opened two large boxes, taking out one large and one small electromagnetic gun.
Pei Yan glanced down; these guns looked much like the ones he handed to Engineer Li a few days ago, but with subtle changes. He couldn’t help but ask, "Engineer Li, are these the weapons you took from me? Can they still be used without me?"
Engineer Li shook his head regretfully. "Unfortunately, after we took your converted items back to the research institute, a revolver slightly self-destructed during disassembly. The remaining items disassembled themselves into worthless scrap iron within less than 14 hours, defeating our reverse-engineering ambitions."
"Self-destructed? Did anyone get hurt?" Pei Yan was startled and quickly inquired.
"No casualties; the explosion was minor, causing a puff of smoke before dismantling automatically. These two weapons are 3D models redesigned to meet the precision shooting standards based on the weapons you provided. You should absorb them into your system and merge the data to enhance their accuracy."
Saying this, Engineer Li took out two small boxes from the bottom of the case: "These are special bullets made overnight by the munitions factory based on these two weapons. Absorb them and convert them to see the effect."
Pei Yan took the items from Engineer Li, unable to suppress his admiration for the high efficiency of the national institutions. In just two days, these items were manufactured and delivered to him.
Despite his musings, Pei Yan’s hands moved quickly, absorbing the items and handing the converted electromagnetic rifle and bullets back to Engineer Li.
After Engineer Li and his colleagues conducted some measurements, they nodded in satisfaction and handed the weapon back to Pei Yan, saying, "Go, shoot some targets to test the effect!"
With these words, Pei Yan followed Hu Wenjun, lifted the gun, and arrived outside the newly set up shooting range. He aimed briefly, then put the gun down in thought, absorbing it back into his body.
"What’s wrong?" Engineer Li asked, puzzled, coming over.
Pei Yan stayed silent, shaking both hands to manifest a brand new electromagnetic rifle, this time without the scope. He lifted the gun again, aimed at the targets, and pulled the trigger—bull’s eye!
One hundred meters—bull’s eye! Two hundred meters—bull’s eye! Three hundred meters—bull’s eye! Five hundred meters—bull’s eye!
Pei Yan, whose shooting performance was previously terrible, finally experienced the feeling of being a "Divine Spear." Every time he raised the gun and focused on the target with both eyes, the screen on the goggles would automatically zoom in, extending his view and locking it onto an appropriate range. It would automatically mark the target’s center according to his gaze’s focal point and transmit the information to adjust the gun’s posture through mechanical arms. On the lens’s corner, a floating number informed Pei Yan of the likelihood of hitting the bullseye upon pulling the trigger. After several tests, as long as the probability exceeded ninety percent, he hit the targets every time.
After asking Pei Yan why he didn’t use the scope and getting this response, Engineer Li enthusiastically pulled Instructor Miao aside, shouting, "Did you see it? Did you see it? This path is viable! It’s viable! I’ve reviewed his records; his shooting performance wasn’t promising before, but now he’s become a ’Divine Spear’!"
"Old Li, I understand how you feel, but we need to be practical. Apart from Pei Yan’s ability, we won’t mention how much combat functionality this helmet genuinely possesses. Even if this helmet currently has such capabilities, you said a helmet’s cost is nearly three million—with that budget, we could train numerous excellent snipers, making it unworthy!" Once Engineer Li’s excitement subsided, Instructor Miao directly dashed his hopes with a cold truth.
After hearing these words, Engineer Li unwillingly lowered his head, knowing that Instructor Miao was right—it would be impractical to mass-produce such products. He shook his head, dismissing these troubles, and looked at Pei Yan, saying, "Let’s proceed with further distance sniping tests! However, this gun isn’t suitable as a sniper rifle yet; we’ll return to the institute to develop a specialized electromagnetic sniper rifle and matching bullets for you. For now, use the conventional rifle we brought to shoot."
Pei Yan took the sniper rifle from Engineer Li’s hand and went to the 800-meter mark from the target. At this point, Gu Shenghui gave a signal to a subordinate within the crowd, which led to a slightly chubby young man, wearing a wool sweater, pushing through the crowd to stand a short distance behind Pei Yan, waving both arms side to side, causing the previously calm shooting range to suddenly experience gusts of cold wind blowing from left to right for no apparent reason.
Camcorders were closely positioned on both sides of Pei Yan, capturing multiple close-ups of him lying on the ground from various angles.
Engineer Li, Instructor Miao, and other researchers suspended by the monitors were watching Pei Yan’s every move.
As usual, he removed the sights. Numbers on the screen didn’t differ much from before, except there was now a wind direction and speed measurement indicator on the left and the hit rate fluctuated more on the right than before.
The gunfire rang out, 800 meters, bull’s eye! 1,000 meters, bull’s eye! 1,200 meters! Nine-ring! 1,500 meters! Eight-ring!
Pei Yan observed that as the distance increased, the values on the screen fluctuated more wildly. The result of nearly 90 percent probability to hit the bullseye within 500 meters saw its target deviating at angles more significantly beyond 1,000 meters. In the end, he succeeded in achieving a perfect ten-ring shot by hesitating until the probability peaked at 100 percent before pulling the trigger.
What he didn’t know was that those in front of the monitors were more than satisfied with this result. The meticulous Engineer Li, pointing at Pei Yan’s arms, said, "Did you notice? When his mechanical arm lifts the gun preparing to shoot, several rows of small openings appear on both sides. Look here!" Replay pointed to the screen shot.
"Oh, really! Engineer Li, you have an eye for detail; we hadn’t noticed that yet," Hu Wenjun squinted to peer closely at the screen to discern the three dense rows of small holes.
"Based on my assessment, these holes are for measuring wind direction and speed! Our design could theorize shooting aspects but couldn’t replace firsthand assessments of wind at the shooting site, but Pei Yan’s ability has perfectly fused with our data, creating the shooter he is now!" Engineer Li, with crossed legs, patted his thigh in satisfaction.
"So, Engineer Li, what’s our next testing phase?"
"That’s all for today. Tomorrow, we’ll evaluate physical resilience, self-defense, and absorbable materials. Once these tests are complete, we’ll conclude the first phase of our work, leaving the rest for his first-step awakening," Engineer Li confidently pushed his glasses up.