Lin Xinghai was a little embarrassed by his terrible Gun Technique, but Roger, standing beside him, was absolutely dumbfounded.
"You've really never handled a gun before?" Roger asked suspiciously.
After all, Lin Xinghai wasn't shooting at a stationary target. He wasn't even standing on solid ground—he was on a speeding vehicle.
A typical novice shooting at a target 50 meters away under these conditions would probably miss by a mile.
Lin Xinghai's first shot had been amazing, but Roger figured it could have been a fluke.
But the three shots he fired right after couldn't possibly all be flukes!
"Yeah, I haven't. Why?" Lin Xinghai asked, a little curious.
"It's nothing!" Roger swallowed the praise on the tip of his tongue. After thinking for a moment, he adopted a lecturing tone. "Zombies have a keen instinct for danger. The moment you fire, they'll subconsciously try to dodge. If you want to hit them, you have to lead your target."
A look of sudden realization dawned on Lin Xinghai's face. He then fired three more shots.
He was dismayed to find that, while that was true in theory, it was a completely different story in practice.
His own attempts at prediction would likely just make the bullets fly even wider of the mark.
'Sigh, this isn't working. I have to cheat,' Lin Xinghai thought with a tinge of gloom.
He opened his system panel and spent another point of Blood Qi Power to raise his Basic Level Shooting Skill proficiency to 20%.
In an instant, a wealth of understanding flooded his mind. He now had many more ideas and a much better feel for how to aim and shoot.
He raised his gun again, aimed, and fired.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!
This time, Lin Xinghai fired five shots in a row.
Each bullet landed no more than a meter away from the target Zombie, and one even hit the Zombie's shoulder.
It was a huge improvement, but there was still a considerable gap compared to the other Mercenaries.
Based on his observations, the Gun Technique of the worst Mercenaries was probably equivalent to his own at 40% proficiency.
As for the ones with good Gun Technique, they were probably at a level equivalent to his own at 60% proficiency.
While Lin Xinghai was comparing himself to the other members, Roger was already completely dumbfounded.
"How did you do that?" Roger could hardly believe what he was seeing.
How many shots had it even been?
An ordinary person practicing their Gun Technique probably couldn't reach this level even in a week.
"Uh… I just did what you said and led the target!" Lin Xinghai said.
Of course, he also understood that his explanation seemed a bit far-fetched, so he added, "Maybe it's just talent!"
Hearing this explanation, Roger was so annoyed he didn't want to talk anymore.
Lin Xinghai brought up the system panel again and clicked the "+" symbol next to his proficiency.
"DING! Spend 2 points of Blood Qi Power to upgrade?"
'Damn it! All these systems have the same shitty gimmick. The further you go, the more Blood Qi Power it costs,' Lin Xinghai grumbled, but he still clicked to confirm.
But what could he do? The improvement was just too good—a full 10% increase in proficiency at a time.
It could all be summed up in three words: So worth it!
Looking at his 30% Gun Technique proficiency, Lin Xinghai didn't hesitate to click the "+" symbol again.
Even if he couldn't perform too exceptionally, his Gun Technique couldn't be at the very bottom, right?
"DING! Spend 3 points of Blood Qi Power to upgrade?"
Mmm… Just as he'd guessed, the cost had increased again.
Without hesitation, he selected "Yes."
As 3 points of Blood Qi Power were deducted, his Basic Level Shooting Skill proficiency reached 40%.
Now, when he held the gun, he felt a sense of familiarity.
He felt that for any target within 10 meters, he wouldn't even need to aim; he could just raise the gun and hit it.
This was probably what Roger had meant earlier by having a "feel" for it.
He clicked the "+" symbol again, and just as he imagined, it now required 4 points of Blood Qi Power to upgrade.
If he wanted to, he could raise his Basic Level Shooting Skill proficiency to 100% in one go.
However, after some consideration, he resisted the temptation.
After all, the most important thing for him right now was to improve his own strength, become one of the Optimized as soon as possible, and awaken a Superpower.
Besides, while the Blood Qi Power cost to increase proficiency didn't seem like much, the impact on him was still significant.
Ahem! It was mainly because he had too little Blood Qi Power at the moment.
His Blood Qi Power had already dropped from 63 points to 56 points.
Going by the system's shitty gimmick, if every subsequent 10% increase cost one additional point of Blood Qi Power, then raising his Basic Level Shooting Skill proficiency to 100% would cost a total of 39 points of Blood Qi Power.
By then, he would only have 17 points of Blood Qi Power left, which was about what he had when they set out.
So, for now, he had to take it slow.
Besides, Roger's reaction proved that his performance was already too astonishing. He needed to lay low for a bit.
His current 40% Gun Technique proficiency was more than enough. He didn't even dare to reveal his full ability, and even had to miss on purpose when he shot.
Of course, he still needed to maintain the "genius" persona.
For now, he would slowly improve his accuracy. By the time they reached the city center, showing a 40% Gun Technique proficiency should be just about right.
Of course, Roger had no idea what was going on in Lin Xinghai's mind. All he knew was that, under his observation, Lin Xinghai's Gun Technique was improving noticeably every few moments.
That rate of improvement was enough to make him question reality.
'I'm so envious, jealous, and full of hate!' Roger could only vent all these feelings on the attacking Zombies.
Suddenly, an alarm blared!
After entering the city limits, the Zombie Detector's alarm threshold had been reconfigured.
It wouldn't sound an alarm for Ordinary Zombies, or even Intermediate Zombies; at most, they would just be displayed on the screen.
Lin Xinghai immediately turned to look and saw that the dot appearing on the screen wasn't red, but purple.
He followed the direction indicated on the display and immediately saw an exceptionally large and powerful-looking Zombie rapidly approaching the convoy from behind.
Lin Xinghai's pupils contracted. Its Speed had to be at least 60 points, far faster than an Ordinary Zombie.
'A High Level Zombie!' he immediately concluded.
"Xu Hao!" Roger, who was beside him, had of course seen it too, and he immediately bellowed the name.
"Coming!" Xu Hao, who had been shooting on the other side, immediately changed his position and came to Roger's side.
"Same as always. You aim for the body to slow it down, I'll take the finishing shot," Roger said, removing the magazine. He took out an all-black bullet and pressed it inside.
That was a Special Bullet!