A brief adjustment. Qin Fen suddenly raised the Barrett in his hand towards the sky. This heavy anti-sniper weapon roared once more. An eagle in the sky was instantly reduced to a pulp of flesh and blood. Countless feathers drifted down from above.

Almost all the new recruits stared blankly at Qin Fen. None of them understood what had gotten into him. Had he suddenly taken up bird hunting?

On the other side of the island, in the monitoring room filled with hundreds of screens, Chi Xie frowned deeply. His fists clenched tightly as he braced himself on the operation platform.

The eagle he had deployed for surveillance had been shot down the very moment it reached the enemy's airspace. This recruit's vigilance was truly extraordinary.

The frown on Chi Xie’s brow slowly smoothed out. A slight smile touched the corner of his mouth. At least the falcon had managed to transmit a sliver of video before it was killed. That intelligence was more than enough.

He bent over and called out to Mike at the operation platform, "Are you all set? The little friends are about to arrive. We should give them a grand welcome."

A cacophony of chaotic yet incredibly fierce voices echoed through the loudspeaker.

"Very good," Chi Xie grabbed the AK47 resting beside him. "Leave ten men to guard that scientist. The other two hundred and twenty of you, follow me to the second ambush point. Let's give these fewer than one hundred federal recruits a proper reception."

"Blast their nuts off!"

"Capture a few alive! These past few days have been..."

The loudspeaker erupted with even more chaotic noise this time, the intense frenzy bleeding through even more strongly.

The new recruits, after a brief rest, split their formation into two groups again.

Du Zhanpeng watched as Qin Fen used the military-provided projection map to quickly sketch out the layout of the second sniper point in the muddy ground.

It was a structure made of stone. Against an enemy lacking heavy weaponry, it would transform into the most formidable stronghold.

Du Zhanpeng took a deep breath. "Fortunately, based on the intelligence provided by the military, the enemy only numbers around fifty right now. We still have nearly a hundred men. We hold a significant advantage in firepower. I believe one more clean annihilation battle should complete the mission."

Qin Fen nodded lightly. Fifty enemies, one of whom should be a leader-level target. Likely someone on the bounty list? He would gladly pass on the hostage rescue opportunity, but he absolutely could not let the bounty slip away.

"What are you thinking about?" Du Zhanpeng asked Qin Fen with a tone completely friendly. "How about we race? See who can rescue the hostage first? Based on my personal analysis, this rescue might involve a major figure, which would benefit future promotions."

The muscles in Du Zhanpeng's face twitched rapidly a few times. Future promotions?

"Promotions?" Qin Fen showed a flicker of interest. Anything that could benefit him after discharge was something he wouldn't pass up. "Alright, we'll take our leave first." Du Zhanpeng stood up and walked to the very front of his squad. He made a decisive hand signal to advance. The fifty recruits momentarily under his command silently followed suit.

The brief, fierce skirmish had allowed the new recruits to experience real crossfire. A hint of the hardened aura of veterans subtly enveloped them.

Qin Fen watched the departing recruits and sighed softly. True life-and-death combat was indeed the fastest medicine for cultivating a man's iron will.

Qin Fen’s faction of recruits followed him swiftly into the mountain tunnel on the right side.

Like Du Zhanpeng, Qin Fen also took the lead of his own group.

This mountain tunnel was significantly wider than the military schematics suggested. Twenty men could march abreast without issue, while still maintaining a comfortable margin.

The tunnel ascended at a slope of about twenty degrees, stretching forward for nearly two kilometers.

In the dim visibility of the tunnel, Qin Fen couldn't guarantee he could precisely control every situation around them. The entire squad advanced slowly.

They had only traveled a little over a kilometer when the sound of three-round bursts from an AK ripped through the air. Following that burst, the distance fell silent once more.

Qin Fen’s squad was puzzled. Why did the fighting stop after just one burst of three shots from an AK? Du Zhanpeng and his fifty men were ahead. They should have encountered resistance by now.

The Du Zhanpeng squad, advancing from the left, leaned their backs against the rock walls. Du Zhanpeng, as the leader, spat out heavily, his face grim.

The usual composure had completely vanished from Du Zhanpeng. A chilling murderous intent flickered across his handsome face. "Damn it! Are the military brass all primary school dropouts? One hundred enemies total? Only one hundred enemies?"

Just moments ago, Du Zhanpeng had led his squad here. He tied a small mirror he carried to a stick and extended it beyond the edge of the rock formation. He could feel the palpable killing intent radiating from the stone house on the other side. He wanted to get a clear look at the enemy's deployment.

The instant the mirror poked out from behind the rock, AK47 burst rounds flew in, shattering the mirror into fragments.

In the fraction of a second before the mirror disintegrated, Du Zhanpeng saw a scene that bleached the color from his face.

The enemy! The roof of the stone house was swarming with enemies!

There were easily over a hundred hostiles! All of them clutching AKs, wearing identical uniforms and body armor, standing in perfect alignment on the rooftop!

They hadn't taken cover inside the stone house for a defensive fight; instead, they stood openly on the roof.

This seemingly foolish tactic struck Du Zhanpeng as incredibly astute.

The enemy's morale had reached its zenith. Such arrogant deployment, seen by their opponents, was easily capable of crushing their fighting spirit with sheer audacity.

This nearly suicidal posture afforded them a wider field of fire, and the chilling, desolate feeling intensified their ferocity.

The most shocking realization for Du Zhanpeng was the enemy leader. Although it was only for an instant before the mirror was shattered, he had clearly seen the man in charge: Chi Xie of the Divine Chosen Nation!

"Worthy of the notorious Crimson Scorpion."

Rat-tat-tat... Rat-tat-tat...

A rapid volley of gunfire suddenly erupted from the opposite side. However, the bullets did not land in front of the rocks where Du Zhanpeng and his men were concealed, nor did they strike their likely path forward.

Du Zhanpeng knew Qin Fen’s group had arrived and were receiving a welcome even warmer than the one he had anticipated.

Inside the tunnel, the new recruits had retreated about ten meters. Here, there was a steep incline, nearly thirty degrees, lasting only about ten meters.

All the recruits were taking cover at the bottom of this slope, resting. Qin Fen and a few others had just poked their heads up, and countless rounds immediately streamed toward them.

Hunkered down at the base of the slope, Qin Fen felt suffocated. The military map was a complete lie! It had failed to accurately mark that across the open area before the tunnel entrance, there was another tunnel built into the mountain, complete with two massive boulders serving as cover at its mouth.

The previous volley of fire had originated from that opposing tunnel.

That narrow tunnel, only wide enough for four men to crouch abreast, was guarded by a crossfire net from six AK47s. Anyone who exposed themselves was guaranteed a furious welcome of bullets.

In that brief moment of exposure, nearly every recruit who had looked up found their body armor marked by the enemy's rounds.

Without the armor, one quick look would have cost a dozen or twenty lives.

Click... clack...

Yaba finished checking his ammunition and engaged the safety. "One more push!"

Before anyone could react, Yaba charged toward the tunnel mouth first. Da Shitou and She Tou followed without hesitation, raising their P308s.

The other recruits began their charge as well. Qin Fen let out a sigh, not even bothering to raise his weapon, and stomped his foot hard on the ground, quickly catching up to the leading Yaba.

Rat-tat-tat... Rat-tat-tat...

The instant the new recruits exposed themselves, the firing started from the other side.

This time, the new recruits were psychologically prepared. As they retreated, their P308s did not remain idle; they sent back their own whistling rounds toward the enemy.

Almost all the new recruits were falling back, but Yaba kept charging forward. Qin Fen executed two rapid Cannon Fist stomps, using the recoil to surge past everyone. He lunged forward, grabbed the back of Yaba’s collar, and yanked him violently back toward the cluster of recruits.

Yaba hadn't anticipated Qin Fen's strength. He felt his feet lift off the ground, yanked back like a chick by a giant stone. He took several more hits to the chest from Da Shitou and She Tou before tumbling down the slope back into the group of recruits.

Qin Fen executed another Cannon Fist stomp with his right foot and returned to the fold.

Slap, slap, slap...

Three sharp slaps landed across Yaba’s face. Qin Fen showed no mercy. "If you want to die, no one is stopping you. But don't drag your friends down with you! They have families too!"

The new recruits looked at Qin Fen with admiration. Those three slaps were delivered perfectly! No one thought he was wrong to strike him. In fact, those slaps reversed the prior impression many had of Qin Fen—that of someone helpful but lacking true backbone.

A Qin Fen without toughness, even with god-like marksmanship and superior individual combat skills, would struggle to instill a sense of security in his followers during combat. In that instant, almost all the recruits realized that within this squad, they actually felt very secure.

Yaba stared blankly at Qin Fen. The three stinging slaps felt as if they hadn't landed on his own face.

After a long pause, Yaba finally whispered, "I... I just wanted to save that scientist..."

The scientist... Qin Fen's expression darkened, and he fell silent as well.

Yaba's father was a scientist. His entire family had been massacred in a terrorist attack.