"You’re Lin Xinghai, number one on the Points leaderboard. You’re supposed to be some famous powerhouse, so you should at least respect the fact that we were here first," a member immediately said.

"Exactly! We’ve been working our asses off killing Zombies for so long, and we were just about to get the Energy Ball. For you to come and try to snatch it now... have you no shame?" another person chimed in.

Hearing this, Lin Xinghai couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation.

"Use your heads! The Energy Balls are meant to be fought over. What’s this nonsense about ’first come, first served’? If that were the case, what would be the point of competing? We might as well just line up and wait to collect the Energy Balls one by one."

"Forget the fact that you haven’t even gotten the Energy Ball. Even if you had it in your hands, I’d still take it," Lin Xinghai sneered.

Seeing Lin Xinghai rise to the bait, the members of the Celestial Eagle Brigade grew even more energized. Someone immediately scoffed, "Hah! You only got that Energy Ball because you’re fast and got lucky. If we had gotten our hands on it, what makes you think you could take it from us? There are enough of us here to drown you in spit."

Lin Xinghai gave them a cool glance without saying another word and turned to leave. He still needed to secure a full 45 more Energy Balls; he didn’t have time to waste on these people.

However, when they saw Lin Xinghai start to walk away, the members of the Celestial Eagle Brigade grew anxious. The main trash-talkers of the group exchanged a look and immediately ramped up their verbal assault.

"Heh, what a spineless coward."

"Seriously. Most people would at least say something tough before leaving. He just scampers off without so much as a squeak."

"In a word: wimp! I have no idea how he even got to be number one on the Points leaderboard."

"How else? He must’ve cheated!"

"Does he really think he can just walk away and be done with it? He can run, but he can’t hide. Doesn’t he have teammates? Let’s find them and teach them a lesson."

"Yeah! We won’t just teach them a lesson; we’ll make an example out of them for all the other teams to see."

"I remember there’s a pretty girl on his team. Liu Miaomiao, I think? We should give her some ’special attention’ when we teach them their lesson."

"Oh really? What kind of ’special attention’? Hehehe..."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xinghai stopped in his tracks and turned around.

Seeing this, a jolt of excitement went through the members of the Celestial Eagle Brigade. They knew the fish had taken the bait.

The members of the squad with Control Abilities all exchanged a knowing glance, secretly beginning to channel the Energy in their bodies.

They were just waiting for Lin Xinghai to step into their range to spring an inescapable trap, one he could enter but never leave.

After turning, Lin Xinghai’s expression was placid as his gaze swept over the Celestial Eagle Brigade. However, every member his calm eyes landed on felt an inexplicable chill and a faint sense of foreboding.

Lin Xinghai had kept his Perception Power active the entire time, so he knew with perfect clarity who had said what.

His gaze finally settled on a tall, thin young man.

Lin Xinghai vaguely remembered the tall, thin young man. Before they had boarded the transport, he had approached them on behalf of the Celestial Eagle Brigade with an invitation.

After they refused, the man had even made a pass at Liu Miaomiao, and in the end, it was Little Fatty who stepped in and sent him packing.

And just now, he had dared to bring up Liu Miaomiao again.

’If they had only insulted me, I might not have cared,’ Lin Xinghai thought. ’I’d have just written it off as them lashing out from shame and anger. But to have designs on my woman...’

"Very good. You’ve managed to anger me," Lin Xinghai said, his face perfectly calm. Yet, the calmer he appeared, the more vigilant the members of the Celestial Eagle Brigade became.

The tall, thin young man, in particular, felt a chill creep up from the depths of his soul as Lin Xinghai’s gaze locked onto him, making him shiver involuntarily.

Without the slightest hesitation, he ducked behind a teammate who possessed a Defensive Superpower.

But at that exact moment, Lin Xinghai finally moved.

He didn’t charge forward and unleash his Superpower in a rampage, as they all expected.

He simply raised his hand. It was a simple motion, but when that hand was holding a Tearing Rifle, it was anything but.

RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!

The dense crackle of gunfire erupted like a rainstorm. No one had expected Lin Xinghai to just open fire, much less on full-auto.

There was an unspoken rule among all the contestants: in fights between participants, you were supposed to stick to melee weapons if possible.

They were easier to control; you could pull back at the last moment. Your opponent might be seriously injured, but they wouldn’t be killed.

But Firearms were different. A slight deviation in aim could be fatal. Not only would that mean immediate disqualification from the exam, but it would also lead to forced military conscription.

Yet, no one had imagined that Lin Xinghai would completely disregard the unwritten rules.

"He’s a fucking lunatic," Qiu Liang couldn’t help but curse. He felt a pang of regret. ’Why did we have to go and provoke a lunatic?’

But regret was useless now. The moment they saw Lin Xinghai raise his rifle, everyone instinctively dove for cover.

But Lin Xinghai was just too fast. He didn’t even seem to aim; he just raised the weapon and pulled the trigger. It all happened much faster than they could dive for cover.

THWACK-THWACK-THWACK-THWACK-THWACK!

In an instant, of the dozen or so people who had just been insulting Lin Xinghai, all but one were hit. The sole exception was a man with a Defensive Superpower, which he had instinctively activated to shield himself.

All the others were shot, and without exception, every single one of them was hit in the hand holding their weapon.

Although all the candidates were wearing Carbon Nanomaterial Combat Suits, which were supposed to be able to stop ordinary bullets, the suits were more like bodysuits. They protected most of the body but left the head, hands, and feet exposed.

Therefore, their hands had no protection when the bullets hit. Blood and flesh instantly flew everywhere as the bones in their palms were pierced through.

The pain was excruciating—as they say, the fingers are connected to the heart. And in this case, half their palms had been blown apart. A chorus of agonizing screams erupted instantly.

The situation had developed in a way no one could have possibly predicted.

Hiding behind a wrecked car, Qiu Liang immediately shouted, "Return fire!"

At this point, the members of the Celestial Eagle Brigade were no longer concerned about accidentally killing someone by shooting. If they didn’t fight back, they feared Lin Xinghai would kill them first.

However, as they pulled out their Tearing Rifles and tried to aim at Lin Xinghai, they were horrified to find he had already vanished from his original position.

Lin Xinghai was well aware that the geniuses participating in this assessment wouldn’t be slouches with their Gun Technique. Under the circumstances, why would he be foolish enough to stand in the open and trade fire with them?

So, after that initial volley, he had immediately activated his Speed Superpower and vanished into the buildings lining the street.

This was partly to evade any potential counterattack, but also to find a better angle to shoot at the enemies hiding behind cover.