Chapter 36: Deadlock
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“I hope he is the latter.”
Zhou Zhen turned around to look at Zhang Lizheng. A trace of radiance flashed through his calm set eyes.
“Do you mean Mo Wen may not lose?”
Zhang Lizheng’s eyes had a tinge of surprise as it was the first time Battalion Leader, Zhou Zhen, commended a young man in such way. Battalion Leader Zhou was not a normal Battalion Leader, he was one of the three Battalion Leaders of the Nineteenth Army Corp. Special Force Battalion.
“The result is not out, so who can be sure? If he really wins, I will definitely give him the highest score in this military training,” Chief Instructor Zhou Zhen said briefly.
In the shooting range, Shao Jianyang raised his gun and aimed. The next second, a gunshot resonated.
In the distance, the referee’s voice sounded.
“Bullseye.”
“Yes, he really hit the bullseye. Brother Shao’s marksmanship IS simply superb.”
“He is worthy enough to be called Brother Shao. With him in the competition, the winner will never be the 4th Battalion.”
“A moving target will be able to exemplify the real capability of the marksman. I bet Mo Wen is dumbfounded.”
When Shao Jianyang’s first shot hit the bullseye, a standing ovation broke out in the 3rd Battalion’s region.
“It’s your turn. Hope you will not be eliminated too quickly, or it will very boring,” Shao Jianyang sneered as he glanced at Mo Wen.
In the shooting range, he was confident that he would be able to trample on Mo Wen. Compete against him for shooting? Mo Wen was too far off from his standards in his opinion.
Mo Wen smiled indifferently and touched the rifle in his hand before walking to the shooting range in no obvious hurry.
Although a pistol had an advantage in the shooting range as the recoil of a rifle was so strong that the bullet would misalign, Mo Wen simply preferred a rifle.
A semi-automatic rifle was able to shoot more than ten bullets in a second, which none of the pistols were able to do.
After walking to the shooting range, Mo Wen raised the gun and shot without much hesitation; the motion was natural and coherent.
Bang!
After the shot, he walked away without looking.
In the distance, the referee reported the result.
“Bullseye!”
“Yes! Mo Wen hit the bullseye too. Haha!”
“Awesome! So awesome! That’s what we call the 4th Battalion; let the 3rd Battalion just be arrogant.”
In the 1st Battalion region, Qin Xiaoyou fixed her eyes on Mo Wen as she held her hands tightly. Her eyes were full of excitement.
“Xiaoyou, why are you so excited? Don’t tell me you really like that Mo Wen,” a short haired girl teased while walking to the side of Qin Xiaoyou.
Qin Xiaoyu glared fiercely at the short haired girl.
“Pfft. What nonsense are you talking about? Be careful of my scratch.”
“That Mo Wen is really capable. Since you don’t like him, I can ask him to consider me?”
The short hair girl looked at Qin Xiaoyou mischievously, giving an expression that she had developed affection towards Mo Wen.
Qin Xiaoyu snorted lightly, making shooing motions with her hands.
“Go ahead. Look at your dire desire for love. You have so much initiative — I wonder what they will think of you.”
In the second round, the youngster with a squarish face and calm behavior from the 3rd Battalion went in for the competition. He managed to remain in the competition until now, mainly due to his calm attitude.
He raised the gun and aimed. After waiting two to three minutes, the gunshot reverberated.
“Eighth ring.”
Unfortunately, the referee at a distance announced his elimination. After all, it was not an easy task to hit the bullseye on a moving target.
Another person from the 3rd Battalion was eliminated. It was followed by Wang Yuan’s turn to shoot.
Wang Yuan took a deep breath, did the warm-up movement and walked up to the shooting range.
Bang!
“Ninth ring.”
After the gunshot, it was confirmed to be the ninth ring; just one more ring to qualify. Unfortunately, Wang Yuan was out of luck.
“Mo Wen, hang in there!” Wang Yuan smiled wryly and walked out of the shooting range helplessly.
After that, it was the 3rd Battalion’s turn again.
Unsurprisingly, the participant from the 3rd Battalion shot the seventh ring and was eliminated.
At this moment, the 3rd Battalion was left with two people, while Mo Wen was the only one left in the 4th Battalion.
One against two; the situation didn’t seem favorable.
After the 3rd Battalion, it was Mo Wen’s turn.
Not far away, Shao Jianyang looked at Mo Wen scornfully, with folded arms.
“Mo Wen, hold your gun firmly. It would be embarrassing to be eliminated before having me as your opponent.”
He liked the thrill of trampling on Mo Wen little by little under the watchful eyes of the audience. He would find no fun in it if Mo Wen were to be eliminated too quickly.
Mo Wen walked to the shooting range emotionlessly, absolutely disregarding all the cheers that were constantly resonating from the 4th Battalion situated at a distance.
His arms produced an easy, continuous motion of raising the gun, then shot without a lag. After the resonance of the gunshot, he returned with indifferent expression on his face.
Seemingly knowing of the result, he had no intention of waiting for the referee’s announcement.
“Bullseye.”
The referee’s voice sounded as he walked out of the shooting range.
“Bullseye again! He hit it again!”
“Terrific! Two shots of bullseyes. Not sure if Shao Jianyang is able to continue… perhaps it is possible for the 4th Battalion to win the 3rd Battalion.”
“What a great guy with good standards.”
Instructor Zhang Lizheng held his fist tightly, finally putting down the heavy stone that was weighing down his heart. Originally, he didn’t have much hope for this shooting competition, but Mo Wen’s performance had once again given him hope.
Shao Jianyang squinted his eyes slightly. Mo Wen’s last shot was done so casually, yet it hit the bullseye. The previous shot might have just been luck, but now it was definitely not.
“Interesting!”
Shao Jianyang curled his lips scornfully, and started to reassess Mo Wen. He found that the stronger Mo Wen got, the stronger his desire to fight; the more satisfying it was to trample him.
In Shao Jianyang’s heart, he really detested Mo Wen due to Mo Wen’s relationship with Qin Xiaoyou. It was like a thorn in his flesh. How could a girl as perfect as her like someone else? Even a simple concern shouldn’t be allowed to be given.
After Mo Wen, it was the 3rd Battalion’s turn again, but it was not Shao Jianyang. It was the other student from the 3rd Battalion. According to the sequencing, Shao Jianyang’s turn would be after him.
It was a situation of one against two for Mo Wen.
Bang!
“Bullseye.”
The referee announced loudly. It was a hit that made this student the third person in this competition who hit the bullseye on the moving target.
He glimpsed at Mo Wen curiously and walked out of the shooting range.
The hit on the bullseye by the student from the 3rd Battalion had once again caused another commotion in the parade ground. Those who thought Mo Wen was promising, had started to change their mind.
The present situation continued to be Mo Wen competing again two; the two who were the best marksman.
It was Mo Wen’s turn again. This was his third shot on the moving target, but those from the 3rd Battalion had only one shot; it was definitely a great advantage to have more people.
However, it didn’t bother Mo Wen. In his opinion, the moving target was only a hundred feet away. He was able to hit the bullseye by throwing a flying dagger, not to speak of a gun with precision.
The moving target moved at a uniform speed. So as long as one was able to determine its moving speed and distance, one would shoot it similarly to a stationary target.
For the third shot, Mo Wen shot the bullseye again.
Followed by Shao Jianyang’s turn; likewise, he shot the bullseye with ease.
Mo Wen hit the bullseye for the fourth shot, seemingly without second thought.
However, when it was the turn for the second student of the 3rd Battalion, he failed. A moving target had a greater chance of failure, so to fail was normal.
Mo Wen and Shao Jianyang’s standard of marksmanship was definitely beyond the normal category, being able to hit the bullseye for every shot.
For the fifth shot, Mo Wen continued to shoot the bullseye.
Shao Jianyang shot the bullseye too.
The sixth shot.
The seventh shot.
The eighth shot.
The ninth shot.
After a few exchanges, all the way until the tenth shot, there was still no winner.
Silence filled the air, the students watching the competition were numbed to their senses; some even started to wonder if both of them were going to continue endlessly.
The two persons’ outstanding performance had given the students an illusion that they would never ever miss a bullseye. The moving target, which was an unusually difficult shooting challenge, had seemingly become a super easy shooting task.
Eventually, Shao Jianyang was somewhat unable to bear it any further.
“Sir, I request to increase the difficulty level of the competition.”
He never thought that Mo Wen was so strong; he even got a little worried that he might miss a shot accidentally.
Therefore, he thought of requesting for an increased difficulty in the shooting competition so that it would only take one shot to decide the winner.