The next morning
Qin Tian's door was knocked on.
"Hello, are you Qin Tian?"
A young soldier in uniform stood at Qin Tian's door, holding a rectangular box, polite in demeanor.
"I am."
Qin Tian nodded, his gaze landing on the box, a hint of anticipation flashing in his eyes.
"Could you please show me your identification?"
The young soldier took out a black device, scanned Qin Tian's ID card, and after a successful match, handed the box to Qin Tian.
"Thank you," Qin Tian said.
The young soldier smiled, saluted Qin Tian, and then left.
Creak~~
The door next door opened, and Xiao Yunlong, with his hair looking like a bird's nest, ran out, standing excitedly in front of Qin Tian.
"Quick, quick, let me see what the Rune Spear looks like."
"Come in and see."
Qin Tian placed the box flat on the table, activating the switch through facial recognition.
Click~~
The latch popped open, and the lid flipped to the side.
A jet-black, slender sniper rifle appeared in front of the two of them.
The rifle body was nearly two meters, with a smooth, streamlined shape, resembling a black python ready to strike, the lines simple and powerful, each bend perfectly executed, showcasing the pinnacle of craftsmanship and design beauty, the surface covered with a fine matte black coating that reflected not a single glimmer of light.
On the rifle body, one could vaguely see some subtle patterns, like ancient runes winding around.
This was the Rune Sniper Rifle — Shadowstrike, which Qin Tian had exchanged for 2600 military points.
Awesome~
Qin Tian's eyes lit up, the real object was even more appealing than the online pictures and videos.
He reached out both hands and slowly lifted Shadowstrike.
This rune gun weighed at least five times more than the Xiaolong Rifle, an average soldier wouldn't be able to lift it, one could imagine how exaggerated the recoil would be when the bullet was fired.
"Wow, that's so cool."
Xiao Yunlong rubbed his hands, "Qin Tian, can I touch it?"
"Of course, you can even fire a couple of shots later to try it out," Qin Tian nodded.
"Haha, that's what makes you my good brother."
Xiao Yunlong grinned widely, he was a Spiritualist and a military enthusiast, with a significant interest in firearms, mechs, flying devices among various weaponry, but this was his first encounter with a rune weapon.
Xiao Yunlong gently caressed the gun body, his eyes full of admiration and curiosity, this was a Rune Sniper Rifle, truly unimaginable how terrifying the power would be once the bullet was fired.
"Qin Tian, why don't we find a shooting range to try it out?" Xiao Yunlong couldn't wait any longer.
"No rush, let's wait for the others to wake up first."
Qin Tian placed Shadowstrike back on the table, then pulled out another metal box from inside the main box.
Upon opening the metal box, 125 special bullets were neatly arranged, each bullet longer than an adult's palm, also jet-black like ink.
Qin Tian loaded the bullets into the magazine, each magazine could hold five rounds.
"I'll go call them."
Xiao Yunlong dashed next door, knocking on Qin Dadi's door, he also sent a message to Liu Zhaozhao, telling her to hurry up with washing up to go to the shooting range later.
Soon, Qin Dadi walked into Qin Tian's room, and his eyes lit up the moment he saw Shadowstrike.
...
"Qin Tian, why don't we switch to a closer target first?"
At the shooting range, Xiao Yunlong, Qin Dadi, and Liu Zhaozhao stood behind Qin Tian, looking at the nearly disappearing target three kilometers away, the thought crossed their minds.
Can one really hit that far?
"I'll try first, get a feel for it."
Qin Tian lay prone on the ground, assuming a standard prone shooting position, legs slightly apart, providing stable support for his entire body.
His arms were like steel brackets, steadily supporting the Rune Sniper Rifle, cheek pressed firmly against the stock, peering through the Over the Horizon Scope, he saw the target several kilometers away.
This was his first challenge at a range over 3000 meters.
But in fact, 3000 meters wasn't even half of Shadowstrike's maximum range.
"One bullet costs one military point, use them sparingly," Xiao Yunlong reminded.
"Mm."
Qin Tian focused his mind, his view reduced to just the target seen through the scope, strands of Spiritual Energy flowed along his palm into Shadowstrike, the patterns along the gun's body emitted a deeper black glow.
His finger pulled the trigger,
The bullet shot out from the muzzle, with the immense recoil jarring Qin Tian's shoulder.
The next instant, the distant target exploded, fragments scattered everywhere, most astonishingly, the entire process was devoid of any gunshot sound.
This was the effect of the stealth rune.
The bullet was fired without a trace.
"Wow, the power is terrifying."
The three from Earth Dragon Team gasped, on the range, the targets were specially made, a regular sniper rifle would at most leave a black mark.
Who would have thought, Shadowstrike's shot completely shattered the target.
If it were a Spiritualist instead, anyone below Tier Four would certainly perish, even a Tier Four Spiritualist wouldn't be safe.
Qin Tian wasn't satisfied with that shot, as he saw clearly that the bullet only hit the 5-ring area, and just because of the immense kinetic energy, it exploded the target.
Qin Tian summarized the lack of accuracy, one was due to his initial unfamiliarity with Shadowstrike's overall performance, the unexpected recoil causing slight deviation upon firing.
Additionally, the imprecise input of Spiritual Energy caused the three runes to fail in synchronizing activation, which also affected the accuracy to a certain degree.
After identifying the issues, Qin Tian made immediate adjustments, with the second shot, third shot…
By the fifth shot, he achieved a relatively high level of control over Shadowstrike, needing only further practice in live combat for refinement.
"You all give it a try as well."
Qin Tian handed Shadowstrike to the eagerly awaiting Xiao Yunlong.
"Come, let me, the sharpshooter, showcase my skills."
Xiao Yunlong took the gun, barely concealing his excitement, but the smile vanished the instant he fired his first shot.
"Sharpshooter, you missed the target."
Liu Zhaozhao's lips curled up, her light, airy remark making Xiao Yunlong exceedingly embarrassed.
To be honest, his shooting skills were quite decent, especially after some special training with Huang Xun, his marksmanship had advanced by leaps and bounds, though not a sharpshooter, he was at least at an elite level.
Without some foundation, he wouldn't dare attempt operating the most challenging Rune Sniper Rifle.
Before pulling the trigger, he had anticipated that the bullet might go off course, not expecting it to completely miss the target.
This was too humiliating.
"Try again, concentrate on maintaining stability when firing,"
Qin Tian advised.
"Alright."
This time, Xiao Yunlong was intensely focused, adjusting his breathing, Spiritual Energy slowly infused into the firearm, activating the three main runes, then he pulled the trigger.
A second later, the target ahead remained unchanged, soundless.
"Missed again."
Qin Dadi smiled, shaking his head, indeed, the rune gun wasn't for just anyone, even Xiao Yunlong, with decent shooting skills, couldn't hit the target, so he wouldn't embarrass himself trying.
"Damn, missed it again."
Xiao Yunlong's eyes widened, believing he had controlled it well this time, not expecting the outcome to remain unchanged.
"Forget it, let's just leave it at that."
Xiao Yunlong finally faced reality, the Rune Sniper Rifle wasn't something anyone could wield, lacking in both marksmanship and Spiritual Energy control, he decided not to waste Qin Tian's bullets anymore.
Qin Tian turned to Qin Dadi and Liu Zhaozhao, seeing that neither had the urge to try firing, he retrieved Shadowstrike.