Chapter 57

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Chapter 57: Ten Ring vs. Ten Ring

Around the airport, there was a vast military reclamation farm as cover. A tunnel stretching fifteen kilometers directly connected the base to the valley. Perhaps this runway had other purposes or was a temporary air traffic node during wartime, but now it served as the takeoff and landing area for Lin Mo’s fighter jet.

Although Lin Mo had access to only a small portion of the ‘Night’ base’s information, it left him feeling anxious. It resembled an entire kingdom—planning for fighter jets had seemingly begun long before, with facilities designed on the blueprints, allowing for decades of use without significant modifications. What a forward-thinking design! Was this the result of the construction mindset of digging deep, hoarding supplies, and preparing for war? It was utterly insane.

The information on the tactical tablet fascinated Lin Mo, surprising him time and again. The military had invested almost everything to build this special operations military force for peacetime—spending without restraint and recruiting only the elite. No wonder such a small number of personnel could support multiple styles of combat and tools.

Beep beep… beep beep… beep beep…

Lin Mo awoke on the soft bed to an unfamiliar electronic alarm ringing. He opened his eyes and realized the beeping came from the tactical board computer still in his arms.

This thing even has an alarm feature? Lin Mo rubbed his eyes and sat up.

In fact, each tactical board computer was not just a simple personal computer; it was a personal terminal wirelessly connected to a powerful mainframe computer, somewhat like a diskless workstation.

Apart from basic computer equipment, many complex calculations were processed by massive server units before being transmitted to display directly on the screen. It also had cloud service capabilities—so long as it was powered on, the tablet maintained a secure wireless link to the server and was ready to receive the latest commands at any time.

The beeping sound suddenly changed as the tactical board computer produced a simulated human voice: “New directive. Would you like to read it?”

Lin Mo tapped the screen, and it shifted to a directive display window, announcing, “Captain Lin Mo, please report to the fitness center by 9 AM. Breakfast is ready in the cafeteria. Would you like it delivered?”

“No need, I’ll go eat!” Lin Mo quickly replied without making any further adjustments.

“Directive confirmed, end of message!” The voice control system of the tablet responded automatically.

Lin Mo smiled; the hidden aspects of this world were truly unimaginable.

It wasn’t just the military that possessed such technology—American Apple Inc.’s Siri system in the iPhone 4 and IBM’s ViaVoice system had similar features. Compared to civilian devices, the systems used by the Chinese military, supported by high-performance all-directional Mike hardware, seemed exceptionally robust, nearing an intelligent system.

“Wow! It has this function too?! This isn’t a computer; it’s a smart brain!” Gold Coin, which had somehow morphed into a metallic snake, emerged from somewhere with a sour tone and slid onto the bed, wrapping around Lin Mo’s left wrist. After twisting a few times, it transformed into a watch, but then inexplicably started playing music—the last part of “BMashina.”

The energetic heavy industrial metal music seemed to declare Gold Coin’s presence, as if this creature were a child competing for attention with the tactical board computer. Lin Mo shook his head; it was simply absurd and laughable.

Had the Giant Dragon gone nuts after arriving in another world?! In one night, it had swallowed Lin Mo’s perfectly intact laptop. Although it hadn’t fully incorporated the laptop into its body, Gold Coin had gained significantly—not only a new speaker function but also a radio, storage device, and calculator. It had ingested who knows which crystal oscillator—it could even tell the time accurately now and could serve well as an alarm clock. The few unwillingly discarded non-metal parts were hidden inside Gold Coin, preventing it from shrinking too small.

While Lin Mo was furious about Gold Coin’s presumptuousness in ruining his laptop, he mainly used the device to look up information. The hard drive contained many documents, and at least Gold Coin had preserved those—nothing had been messed up, so it could still serve as a USB drive.

After freshening up, Lin Mo enjoyed a sumptuous buffet breakfast in the cafeteria before heading to the fitness center training grounds. Looking at the watch that Gold Coin had transformed into, he realized this creature wasn’t entirely unreliable; it was only 8:30, slightly earlier than planned.

The training ground was lively, with constant gunfire from the shooting range on one side and many people working out in the equipment area, building muscle. In the sparring area, individuals wore protective gear, engaged in back-and-forth practice. Not just combat personnel, even non-combatants were here sweating profusely, fully caught up in their training.

Here, even the cooks in the cafeteria were skilled in grappling and marksmanship—proving that one’s environment had a substantial influence.

As a new face appeared in the training ground, many eyes turned toward Lin Mo. Those who recognized him from yesterday immediately began introducing him to those nearby. The gazes surrounding Lin Mo shifted from curiosity to surprise, demonstrating that gossip was unavoidable.

“Captain Lin!” A tall, strong man tinkering with a machine gun at a nearby table waved at Lin Mo.

“Hey! Da Li! Good morning!” Lin Mo responded with a smile.

“Come play with us!” Da Li was direct and straightforward, showing no ill feelings about the prior incident when he had been taken down by Lin Mo.

Lin Mo noticed the pile of gun parts on Da Li’s table; it seemed Da Li was maintaining weapons.

Da Li’s hands moved swiftly, almost creating an afterimage, as he rapidly assembled an automatic rifle in mere breaths and held it out to Lin Mo. “This is a 9mm caliber rifle, a rare find! It’s definitely something special! Want to give it a try?”

Lin Mo took the hefty rifle and pulled the bolt back. The dark, thick muzzle of the weapon was not from the usual small caliber family deployed by various nations; it was a special custom version.

Although small-caliber rifles were lightweight, had reduced recoil, and were easy to control—with fast bullet speeds—they had an effective range of about 300 meters, which limited their lethality at greater distances.

On the other hand, large-caliber rifles could have impressive stopping power within a 500-meter effective range. The AK47 was a prime example, though its recoil was not something regular folk could easily manage. The large-caliber rifle in Lin Mo’s hands was clearly intended for specially trained individuals; a typical person would find its recoil capable of knocking them off their feet.

Da Li slid a box of bullets and two magazines from the ammo box, handing them to Lin Mo with a challenging glint in his eyes. “You’ve got the strength, so let’s see whose shooting is better!” Earlier, he had appeared open and generous, but it seemed he still harbored some competitive spirit and sought to regain face in other ways.

Back at the air force base, Lin Mo had played with guns often, even using grenade launchers. However, this large-caliber rifle, referred to as the “bottle opener” due to its devastating effectiveness, excited him. It had a cool design that made his blood boil. Feeling its cold, solid texture, he nodded, “Sure! Five hundred!”

He wouldn’t just bet casually; he smacked five hundred yuan onto the table, knowing Da Li would understand the stakes.

“Five hundred it is! Let’s make it three-round bursts!” Da Li was momentarily startled, but then he grinned widely, nodded vigorously, and quickly assembled another large-caliber squad machine gun. In a typical unit, Da Li made handling the heavy machine gun look as easy as picking up a sack of rice.

At the shooting range, it didn’t matter what kind of gun was used; what counted was stability, accuracy, and fierceness. Whoever trained well would win. Skillful marksmen could make deadly use of anything, regardless of differences between weapons—the slightest aim correction would come naturally through mastery.

Lin Mo found an empty target lane, and he and Da Li stepped into the shooting area together.

They exchanged glances but didn’t speak, almost simultaneously raising their rifles.

Bang bang bang! Bang bang bang! Bang bang bang!

The almost rhythmic sound of the rapid fire echoed, neither giving way to the other.

The duel between Lin Mo and Da Li immediately attracted numerous onlookers, keen to see whether the strong dragon would dominate or if the foreign monk could out chant.

The two aimed steadily, shooting without any conscious adjustments, relying solely on their shooting instincts. Each trio of shots automatically hit a different target paper.

After both had emptied thirty rounds, they simultaneously checked their counters.

The LED screens on their target lanes displayed both their shooting data: “10 ring, 10 ring, 10 ring, 10 ring!”

Da Li wore a proud expression; he felt he was in excellent form and had just achieved a rare personal record with all 10 hits, not a single bullet missed, completely tearing apart the target without touching any of the 9-ring lines.

However, when his gaze fell on Lin Mo’s target screen, it froze in shock, mirroring the reactions of those around him.

This guy had also struck all bullseyes, hitting 10 rings each like himself.

“Newcomer, well done!” the spectators began to cheer.

“Da Li’s not too shabby either, hitting targets like a pro!”

“It’s a tie, no clear winner!”

Hitting the target center with such rapid succession was no small feat.

Da Li’s expression soured slightly; despite both hitting 10 rings, he was more familiar with the weapon. Lin Mo was using this 9mm large-caliber rifle for the first time, nicknamed the “bottle opener” for its deadliness.

“Wait, that’s wrong! Da Li lost!” Just as everyone began to accept the tie, someone spoke up at the most inopportune moment.