The city under the veil of night was a spectacle of neon and splendor, young people weaving through towering skyscrapers, every corner echoing its prosperity. Qin Fen walked alone on the nocturnal streets of Seoul, oblivious to the scenery around him.

After the flight, Butcher had not only provided the arrival time but also a set of ordinary civilian clothes, replacing his uniform. Without a compass, a map, or any assistive device, before Qin Fen could even orient himself, Butcher and Phoenix had vanished from his sight.

Qin Fen was keenly aware that the time allotted by Butcher was not generous. He moved swiftly, traversing the paths between the high-rises.

The rendezvous point was not hard to locate, merely quite far away. Arriving at the designated building, Qin Fen stepped into the lobby and casually surveyed the opulent surroundings while waiting for the elevator.

Luxurious! Placing the meeting point in such a location was truly unexpected.

The elevator doors closed. He picked up the phone installed inside and punched a rapid sequence of keys—which were, in fact, a code.

One side of the elevator panel slid open, revealing a hidden, different elevator. Entering it, Qin Fen closed the initial elevator, selected the descent to the negative tenth floor, and secretly admired the ingenious design.

“Ouch! Another raw recruit.

Looks like today we have another task besides our primary one…” “Iron Hand, what task is that?” “Babysitting, obviously.” The elevator doors opened. Qin Fen stepped out calmly, hearing the sarcastic voices of the five veterans inside the room.

He walked directly to the veteran named Tie Shou (Iron Hand). Snap!

A standard military salute! Qin Fen stood straight, his chest out, and spoke rapidly: “Recruit Qin Fen reporting as ordered!

Requesting mission briefing from my superior!” “Go to that location. If we haven't arrived yet, inquire with one of them named Tie Shou about the combat mission,” Qin Fen firmly recalled Butcher’s parting words.

“Mission?” Tie Shou, who possessed long, almost feminine hands, gestured towards a table nearby without even lifting his eyelids: “First, pick a weapon from over there to use for tonight’s operation.” Qin Fen did not move. He remained rigidly positioned before Tie Shou: “I require the mission details first, so I can select the appropriate firearm based on the operational environment, Sir!” As the words fell, the eyes of the five veterans, who had been wearing mocking smiles, simultaneously flashed a flicker of approval.

This recruit had excellent psychological fortitude. After being ridiculed upon entry as a child needing a nanny, he hadn't impulsively grabbed the easiest weapon to prove he wasn't that child, but instead waited for the mission parameters.

In the room, besides the five veterans, there was another recruit, roughly Qin Fen’s age. He had fashionably spiky, upward-pointing hair and large eyes under thick eyebrows, wearing a smile of schadenfreude, as if mocking the failure of the veterans’ planned hazing.

“This is the mission.” Tie Shou tossed a file folder from his side to Qin Fen. In this era of advanced electronic information, the only thing that could truly guarantee secrecy was print media; at least it completely prevented intrusion by high-level hackers.

Apprehending terrorists in Seoul? Qin Fen frowned slightly.

According to the mission summary, if things went poorly, there was a high risk of urban street fighting and other undesirable scenarios. “Finished reading?” Tie Shou asked.

“Yes,” Qin Fen replied, even more succinctly than Tie Shou had asked. This composed reply could easily be misinterpreted—that Qin Fen was deliberately posturing to counter Tie Shou.

“Go choose a gun.” Tie Shou pointed decisively at the table. Just keep showing off, kid!

We'll see how you fare later! Qin Fen responded this time with silence and practical action.

He believed this was the most efficient approach, wasting neither his time nor theirs, noting the look of challenge in the eyes of the veterans. New recruits always carried a certain self-assured arrogance, especially those joining a special forces mission as fresh faces; they were prone to overconfidence, potentially leading to insubordination or solo actions during operations.

The army had a tradition of veterans putting new recruits in their place, a ritual Squad Leader Hao had enacted on Qin Fen and the others previously. Qin Fen approached the table.

None of the items here were complete firearms; they were merely piles of components. Since the mission might spill into busy areas, the kinetic energy of projectiles from primary assault rifles needed to be controlled to prevent collateral damage to civilians.

The weapon power needed regulation. Drawing the HK45C from his waist, Qin Fen flicked his wrist.

What had been a complete pistol moments ago was now a pile of parts on the table. The eyes of the veterans, who had been waiting to mock him while he assembled a weapon to humble him, lit up again simultaneously.

The nearby recruit, who had been enjoying the show, opened and closed his mouth slightly. In a way, Qin Fen’s disassembly of the weapon was an art form.

Even the veterans couldn't claim they dismantled their guns with Qin Fen’s speed and grace every time. Could this guy only be good at taking guns apart?

The veterans had to harbor suspicion. It was hard to place high expectations on a young man who had recently enlisted and still carried the scent of a recruit.

With the planned configuration of the weapon in mind, Qin Fen began the assembly. Without hesitation or confusion, every part he picked up was used immediately in the build; his resolute attitude surprised the veterans somewhat.

What? Is this kid browsing the armory?

Does he assemble guns in his spare time? Otherwise, how could he be this fast?

With a measure of disbelief, Tie Shou slowly rose and moved to Qin Fen’s side. The parts on the table were ones they had prepared beforehand; a mere glance confirmed which components had been used.

A modified HK45C pistol sat quietly beside Qin Fen, but his hands didn't stop after finishing it; he rapidly started assembling a second weapon. Tie Shou could hardly believe it.

The style in which Qin Fen assembled the second gun was completely different from the HK45C. Could this newly built weapon actually be functional?

It featured a custom 300mm barrel, a 0.60-inch caliber, specially modified armor-piercing rounds, and the recoil spring was even housed directly within the barrel shroud. It was a weapon designed solely for destructive lethality, completely disregarding the monstrous recoil and balance issues.

This kind of modification, prioritizing sheer killing power without regard for the weapon’s structural integrity, would likely cause it to break down completely after just two or three shots. After a quick inspection, Qin Fen placed this weapon, meant as a last resort for insurmountable situations, on the table with satisfaction.

“You’re certain?” Tie Shou looked somewhat bewildered. What kind of madman trained this apprentice?

The recruit who came in earlier, Xue Tian, was already perverse enough, but this Qin Fen seemed even more so. Being able to utilize the available parts on the table to construct, in such a short time, a pistol with an extremely high rate of fire but whose power was limited to penetrating just one person, alongside another pistol built for maximum, violent rate of fire—even Tie Shou himself wouldn't confidently claim superiority over Qin Fen’s skill in the field.

Having served ten years in special forces, to potentially be outmatched in gun assembly by a recruit made Tie Shou feel somewhat embarrassed. “Kid, the guns are well-built.

Let's see how you handle them in actual use?” A veteran sitting at another table nearby pointed with his finger towards a wall target 50 meters away, his eyes silently challenging Qin Fen: Shoot it. Qin Fen reached for a gun.

A veteran leaning against the wall also placed his hand beneath the table, where the control for the moving target was located—a device specifically used to train sudden reactions in shooting, and also one of their methods for teasing new recruits. Grab gun, raise, pull trigger!

The wall target began moving to the right simultaneously… Click-clack… The sound of the firing pin striking the primer echoed, but there was no report of a bullet firing. The veteran controlling the target displayed a flicker of shock.

Qin Fen’s lips curved into a knowing smile. He had fully internalized Squad Leader Hao’s lessons on psychology.

From the moment he entered the room, he sensed everyone intended to put him in his place. Who knew if they’d tamper with the shooting target?

It was better to feign firing first and observe the reaction. While the veteran was stunned, the recruit Xue Tian also looked surprised.

He had suffered a setback here just moments ago when his first shot was thrown off target. Did Qin Fen just get lucky that the gun misfired, or had he suspected a trick all along?

While everyone was still amazed, the gun in Qin Fen’s hand finally roared! Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang… A rapid sequence of six shots, pushing the customized pistol’s rate of fire to its limit—six bullets striking the target in three distinct holes.

Qin Fen was slightly dissatisfied with his score. The performance of the newly modified gun combined with the bullets, perhaps due to the rapid fire, didn't allow him time to feel the synergy between the weapon and the ammunition.

If a Gun King were present, he’d likely demand Qin Fen waste another box of bullets practicing the rhythm. The same result elicited a different reaction from the veterans.

Although the six-shot burst involved a calculated trick—turning a moving target into a static one—this score was still far beyond what a recruit should achieve. Especially since this weapon had just been assembled; there should be a period required to build proficiency, yet he had managed this level of performance?

Clap, clap, clap… In the quiet hall, Xue Tian’s slow, deliberate applause sounded exceptionally crisp. “I say, seniors,” Xue Tian drawled slowly, jumping down from a stack of ammunition boxes, “hurry up and get to the final stage of the firearm hazing.

If you can’t even manage that, you'll truly lose face.” The final stage? The veterans’ eyes brightened again: curved trajectory shooting!

Hitting a moving target or a static target only demonstrated the standard of an ordinary soldier. To a true master of firearms, achieving a curved shot trajectory was the true entry point into the hallowed halls of shooting expertise.

“Kid, see the apple behind me?” Tie Shou pointed to an apple fifteen meters behind him, obscured by his head: “Stand right there, don’t move. Fire!

If you shatter the apple that my head is blocking your sightline to, you pass the first test. If you’re afraid of hitting me, you can abstain…”

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