Zhāng 71

The person who had just spoken was one of the new soldiers recently transferred in.

He had never seen how skilled Paige was, and he looked down on Paige's training methods.

So what if you're good at martial arts? So what if you're physically strong?

He thought it would be better to spend that time practicing shooting. As long as you don't let the enemy get close, you won't be in danger.

"Oh? Looks like we have another tough guy. Good. I like people like you.

Speak up, what's your new idea this time?" Paige instantly spotted the man who had just spoken, even though he had tried to hide behind others after talking.

Paige swept her gaze over, and the man couldn't hide anymore. He straightened his neck and said, "I think we should focus more on practicing shooting.

This is the era of firearms. Who has time to mess around with hand-to-hand combat?"

"So, you think your shooting is excellent?" Paige asked instead of answering.

"Of course. I never miss. Every shot hits," he said proudly.

"Alright then. Today we'll change the rules.

Anyone who agrees with him or thinks their shooting is great, step forward.

I'll give you a chance to fight me with a gun."

The whole place went into an uproar after Paige said that.

Normally, training was one thing, but using live weapons could lead to real injuries.

"What? No one dares to come forward? If that's the case, we'll stick to the original plan..."

Before Paige could finish speaking, several people began stepping out of the crowd.

Most of them were unfamiliar faces, clearly soldiers who had joined recently.

Soon, over a hundred people had stepped forward.

Paige whispered a few words to her assistant, the deputy chief instructor, who then went to make preparations.

"That's it? Anyone else? Come out now.

I've said it before—this is your one and only chance to challenge me. If you miss it and dare to complain later, I'll have you executed.

In my camp, you get one chance to reason with me. After that, I don't want to hear excuses.

If you're scared, leave the camp now. As long as you're here, you follow my rules."

More people slowly stepped forward from the crowd. After a while, Paige confirmed that no one else was coming out.

She then said, "As for the cowards who didn't dare step out today, I hope you stay soft forever. Don't come crying to me later."

Among the crowd, those who looked resentful but afraid all shrank back.

With the participants confirmed, Paige cleared out all unrelated personnel.

Bullets don't have eyes. It wouldn't be good if someone got accidentally hurt.

The large training ground was suddenly left with only those hundred or so people ready to take on the challenge.

"Let's set the rules first. Each of you gets twenty bullets. If you run out, you can pick up weapons and ammo from the 'bodies.'

Of course, protect your own weapons too. I only have twenty bullets myself.

If I run out, I'll be taking yours.

And the most important rule—if you fall down, you're a body. Bodies can't attack.

I won't attack 'bodies' either.

Got it?" Paige asked loudly.

"Got it!" the soldiers replied in unison.

"Report!" another soldier spoke up.

"Speak," Paige responded.

"Bullets don't have eyes. What if we hurt the instructor?" the soldier asked confidently.

"If you can hurt me, then I don't deserve to be chief instructor anymore.

And if you get hurt, that's your bad luck," Paige replied dismissively.

She had noticed that several people in the group had cloudy spiritual energy. She disliked people like that.

But this was the military camp, and since they hadn't broken any rules, Paige had no reason to punish them.

Besides, she couldn't clearly define what exactly constituted cloudy spiritual energy.

Soon, the deputy chief instructor had several boxes brought into the training ground.

Inside were the pistols and bullets to be used for this drill. They were all blanks, so even if someone got hit, there would be no risk to life.

As long as they didn't get unlucky and hurt a fragile part like the eyes, it would be fine.

Everyone stepped forward to receive their guns and bullets.

"Check your guns. If there's no problem, we'll begin." Paige casually put the bullets into her pants pocket.

This type of Mauser pistol could only hold eight bullets at a time. That meant even if she shot one person with each bullet, she'd need to reload after eight people.

This was very unfavorable for Paige.

Once everyone thought about this, they immediately got excited.

Even if they lost eight people, there were still so many left. If each person fired one bullet, they could leave the chief instructor with nowhere to hide.

Besides, the chief instructor only had twenty bullets. Once she ran out, that was it.

They all hid their bullets in their pant pockets. Even if someone wanted to search the bodies, it would take some time.

Thinking this way, everyone felt they would definitely win this fight.

"Are you ready?" Paige asked.

"Ready."

As soon as the words fell, everyone realized Paige was gone.

She had vanished right in front of their eyes.

The crowd inside and outside the field erupted.

Especially the observing soldiers, they could see everything clearly, but they truly didn't see the instructor's figure anywhere.

"Ah!" A soldier held his stomach and knelt halfway to the ground.

"What's wrong with you?" A few people nearby went over to help him up.

Before he could reply, more and more people got hurt and fell to the ground.

Now no one needed an answer. It was obvious the chief instructor had made her move.

But knowing that didn't help. They still couldn't see Paige anywhere.

In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen people were down.

"Everyone, gather together in a circle and shoot outward," someone shouted.

Everyone followed the command.

Those groaning on the ground also slowly got up.

They couldn't shoot, but they could take the central positions to prevent the instructor from slipping in through gaps.

So, everyone squeezed together. The people on the outer ring began randomly shooting at the open space.

A round of "bang, bang, bang..." followed.

People watching from outside were nervous for the instructor. The ones inside thought they had the upper hand.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

There was still no sign of Paige on the open ground.

"Ah!!!"

"Ah!!!"

"Ah!!!"

The people who had just fired all went flying.

Some got punched in the face, others kicked in the stomach, and some were booted in the butt, sending them flying forward.

The spectators outside sucked in a breath.

"Watching others get beaten is so satisfying. I hope there's always a troublemaker when the instructor comes, so we can keep watching," someone whispered from the sidelines.

Others quickly nodded in agreement.

"I'll remember you. I'll give you one-on-one training next time," Paige's voice suddenly sounded.

Everyone who had nodded froze in place from fear.

But no matter how much they looked around, they still couldn't see Paige.

Some even sneakily checked under their feet, still standing on solid ground.

"That was just my imagination, right?" the one who spoke earlier asked his buddy, face full of regret.

"Next time, I'll try not to laugh or make jokes," his companion patted him on the shoulder, trying to comfort him.