History develops in a spiral, and what has been eliminated can also become popular again. Just like the city walls of the East and the castles of the West, things that have been eliminated by history have once again become indispensable after two major disasters.

Wherever there is a city, there is a wall.

This is humanity's redefined conception of cities after the cataclysm. Without towering walls for protection, even with a large population, it could only be called a settlement, not a city.

The benefits of living in a city first and foremost is safety, followed by an abundance but not overwhelming supply of food, and ample access to clean drinking water. There are many perks to being a city dweller, but the most important are definitely these three.

Gao Qi was lucky to be born in the city, grew up in the city, and lives in the city.

But unfortunately, Gao Qi is about to be forced to leave the city. The reason is simple: he cannot become the kind of person a city needs. In today's society of social Darwinism, survival of the fittest is indeed a very normal thing.

Social Darwinism, also known as the law of the jungle, uses "survival of the fittest" to describe a world where the strong prey on the weak. There's no need to sugarcoat it. With four out of five tests failing miserably, Gao Qi even believed he didn't deserve to be considered a city dweller.

Therefore, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Gao Qi will leave the city no later than tomorrow. The reason he can still spend one last night in the city is because he needs to complete the final test out of five.

The last test is shooting.

Range.

A city defense army lieutenant barked orders beside them, his face grim. "The shooting test begins now. Remember the marksmanship drills I taught you—three points in a line, shoulder firmly against your body. Alright, first squad, take your positions and start shooting."

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There's no need for a long introduction because the same thing happens twice a year. Besides, in today's world where more and more people possess superpowers, firearms are indeed becoming an outdated weapon.

>

But mutants are ultimately only a small minority, and no one knows what the next major disaster will be like. Therefore, in most battles right now, firearms still remain decisive weapons. Considering this, the shooting portion of the college graduation exam has never been removed.

Since the Great Calamity is no longer in its initial stages, these students are highly unlikely to become soldiers forced to defend the city with weapons. Therefore, live-fire shooting courses are no longer offered at universities. It's rather strange then that while there are no live-fire shooting classes, there is still a live-fire shooting exam required for graduation.

The shooting test began, with ten people in a group, each firing ten bullets. Once finished, the test ended. It was a careless and perfunctory affair, proceeding quickly until it was Gao Qi's turn.

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Gao Qi took a deep breath, he walked forward and went down on his belly at the shooting position.

The shooting instructors were all going through the motions, but most of the students didn't want to. Most of the boys liked guns, Gaoqi included.

Students who were in the front ranks of the high-ranking list scored forty-four rings with ten bullets, which is considered acceptable for someone firing a gun for the first time at fifty meters. It's not great, but it's not bad either.

Gao Qi really wanted to see how many rings he could hit.

The gun was a 56 semi-automatic rifle, an antique firearm. Though it was Gao Qi's first time holding a real gun, he became excited. It's understandable why Gao Qi was so excited; it was like meeting his dream lover for the first time and rushing straight to the altar.

A gun has a soul, and though it's an old one, this 56 semi-automatic, while aged, is far from broken. It's like a mature woman with enduring charm. For a rookie like Gao Qi, the temptation is off the charts.

The real gun feels heavy and solid in your hand, it's not quite what you imagined, but it feels like exactly what you imagined.

Gao Qi couldn't help but follow the gun barrel, moving closer with longing. The barrel was warm, but not hot enough to burn his hand. Gao Qi pressed his face against the stock and could still smell the scent of gunpowder and oil.

The smell of gunpowder excited Gaoqi, and the scent of gun oil gave him a feeling of intoxication.

>

But Gao Qi didn't have time to get closer to the rifle in his hands. His shooting instructor nearby shouted, "What's the hurry? Let go, stand up, I haven't told you to lie down yet."

In his drunken stupor, Gaoqi was startled awake and looked at the shooting instructor. He released his hands, and then he saw several bullets revealed in the shooting instructor's hand.

The yellow bullets are so pretty.

The shooting instructor took the rifle and pulled back the charging handle, revealing a row of bullets in the magazine. There were ten bullets in the magazine, a full load.

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The loading bridge was aligned with the ammo chamber, ten rounds were pressed in, the bridge was withdrawn, the ammunition was pushed up into the chamber, and after reloading was completed, the shooting instructor first placed the gun on the sandbag of the stable rifle, then held the rifle with his right hand and said: “Come, grip the rifle tightly, hold onto this spot, don’t move your fingers! Press your shoulder against it firmly, that's right. The notch aligns with the front sight, the front sight aligns with the target, three points in line, aim.”

Although excited, his hands were steady. But after he raised the gun and aimed at the target, he quickly realized that it was blurry. And by the time he adjusted his vision to see the target clearly, the crosshairs became blurry again.

A red flag began to wave, and the shooting preparations were complete. The targets in the fully automatic target system slid along the track and stopped at a distance of fifty meters. The shooting instructor immediately said: "Start shooting."

The gun is fixed to sandbags. As long as the raised shoulders don't move and the hand holding the gun doesn't shake too violently, aiming isn't difficult.

Under the instructor's urging, he immediately fired the first shot. With the gunshot, his shoulder jolted violently, and his ears began to ring, but besides that, Gao Qi seemed to have no other feelings.

That completed the first shot of my life, but the process was too short and didn't give Gaoqi a strong feeling.

You can't see if you hit the target at all, and the scoring is only done after everyone has finished shooting, so Gao Qi's only option is to keep firing the second shot.

Feeling the thrill of the recent shooting experience, Gao Qi wanted to savor every one of these precious ten bullets. But just as he was about to pull the trigger, a scream pierced the air.

The shooting test, or examination, was just a formality, at least for the past five years. But this time, something unexpected seems to have happened during the shooting test.

A petite girl seemed to recoil from the rifle in her hands, perhaps out of fear or because the recoil had bruised her shoulder. After reluctantly firing a shot, she stood up, screamed, and threw the rifle away.

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Throwing the gun out should have just been an accident, but this time was different because the smaller girl accidentally threw the gun onto the earthen wall meant to stop bullets from flying out of the shooting range.

A girl threw a rifle weighing almost four kilograms over 400 meters. It was obvious that if it wasn't for the earthen wall, the rifle could have flown even farther.

As the girl threw the gun away, she let out a sharp, short scream that startled Gao Qi. His hand trembled, but luckily he stopped his finger from pulling the trigger in time. After calming himself down slightly, he gently pulled the trigger, firing the second bullet.

Amidst a cacophony of astonished gasps, the shooting instructor beside Gao couldn't help but shout loudly, "What's going on? Did you awaken? Someone's ability awakened!"

Gao Qi fired the third shot, and at that moment, he heard his teacher roar.

“Liu Han, don't move! Stand still. What is two plus seven? What's your name? How old are you? Do you have a boyfriend?”

Someone was awakening their abilities, which is indeed dangerous, so the scene being chaotic is understandable. However, no one stopped Gao Qi from shooting, so he just kept firing shot after shot.

The fourth shot, the fifth shot, the sixth shot.

"Get out of the way!"

The lieutenant of the city defense force aimed his pistol at the female student's head and roared, "State your name, age, and class! Call for emergency control immediately and answer my questions, quickly!"

After awakening, if one retains their rationality, they become a Awakened. However, if one loses their rationality during the awakening process, they transform into Mutants who act solely on instinct. Mutants are generally dangerous because they are essentially humanoid monsters, and in some cases, extremely dangerous ones.

“I... My name is Liu Han, I am twenty-one years old. I am a psychology major in the philosophy department. I'm not crazy, what are you doing...”

The female student's answer was already choked with sobs. She was flustered, but amidst the confusion, she finally realized what had happened to her.

Here is the translation:

"Am I awakened? Have I become a superpower user? I'm a superpower user! This is amazing!"

Everything was clear, chaotic, noisy. And in the girl student's voice, first terror then quickly shifting to an ecstatic self-talk as she spoke, Gao Qi finished off the remaining four shots.

After the tenth shot, Gao Qi let out a soft sigh. He couldn't see the target, but he still couldn't help but raise his head and try to glance at it. Only then did he turn his head to look at the female classmate who was only four or five meters away from him.

Liu Han, she actually awakened her abilities during the shooting test. This is truly... enviable.

Just then, someone finally shouted: "Cease fire! Why are you still shooting? Get up and leave this place, everyone fall back!"

Gao Qi put down his rifle, stood up, and then looked at Liu Han with envy.

“Great! You’re not crazy. It’s a normal awakening of your abilities, Liu Han classmate, congratulations to you.”

The city guard lieutenant holstered his pistol, offering a courteous congratulations to Liu Han. After confirming that an Awakened individual was capable and stable, their status surpassed that of a mere City Defense Lieutenant like himself. He immediately became much more polite.

Liu Han was overcome with joy and tears welled up in her eyes. She looked around, then she threw her arms open wide and ran towards her teacher.

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"Teacher Wang, I'm a metahuman, I'm a metahuman..."

Everything was progressing in a normal and harmonious way, but at that moment, Gao Qi, who was feeling rather good about himself, felt his head spin.

Accompanied by a not intense dizziness, an odd sense of familiarity immediately arose, as if something happening now had been experienced before.

Many people have had this feeling, of course, before going high. They've also had this strange sense of familiarity, but never as intense as today. It's a truly accurate repetition of a scene that has happened before, even knowing what will happen next. But when you really think about what will happen next, you can't figure out anything at all.

At that moment, an alarm in the corner of the shooting range suddenly started going off frantically.

When a piercing and rhythmic wail of alarms started, everyone froze. Then, the lieutenant who had just holstered his pistol stared in stunned silence towards the alarm panel.

>

The siren at the shooting range sounded first, and soon sirens from other nearby locations began to wail. The mournful alarm sounds rose and fell, gradually fading away. It wasn't just one siren sounding now, but the entire city's alarms were joining in.

Extreme shock, bordering on terror, left everyone frozen in place, unable to move or even utter a sound.

The alarm began to sound for only one reason: maximum alert. And the only reason for maximum alert was the arrival of the third Great Cataclysm.

After a tense silence lasting several seconds, the lieutenant finally came to his senses. He drew his pistol again, trembling and shouting, "Take cover! Find cover near... we..."

With a swallow, the lieutenant raised his pistol and stared blankly ahead. "Prepare for battle," he said.

"Captain, where are the enemies..."

The lieutenant, looking at his equally despondent subordinates, roared, "Anywhere could be! First, escort the students back to their dormitories!"

The students were a little agitated, but Gao Qi couldn't move at all. He wasn't just dizzy, he felt terrible, very strange. Nothing had happened, yet he felt a sudden and inexplicable sadness and longing, so intense that he could barely hold back tears.

Gao Qi reached out and wiped his eyes. He found that the corners of his eyes were indeed wet, but at this time the strange sense of familiarity had ended, and his head was only slightly dizzy.

The alarm abruptly stopped, and the entire world instantly returned to silence.

The chilling alarm had just stopped, but for a moment it felt like we'd been given a second chance at life. The alarm shouldn't have stopped, especially not after such a short time.

"It must be a false alarm, right?"

"It must be a false alarm!"

After the alarm subsided, someone finally came to their senses and said something. Amidst the commotion, it wasn't long before everyone truly believed it was just a false alarm.

Just then, a fleet of black electric vehicles sped silently toward them, disgorging heavily armed members of the Crisis Control Department's special operations team in full-body black combat armor. They quickly surrounded everyone present.

A tram ran into Liu Han's front and stopped, a middle-aged man in a black trench coat got out of the car and shouted in an exasperated voice: "What happened here! What happened here!"

The City Guard lieutenant saluted, then stammered, “Reporting, sir. A student has awakened their ability here. I’ve contacted the Crisis Control Department via radio, but…” he trailed off, "...nothing else has happened.”

“Nonsense! The energy wave intensity is off the charts. How could a mere awakening of abilities cause such a huge energy fluctuation!”

The big shot from the Crisis Control Department hadn't finished speaking before he quickly realized he had said too much. He immediately pointed at the lieutenant and roared, "Tell me what happened here, every detail, don't leave anything out!"

The lieutenant looked around helplessly, then at his men. He stammered, “Sir, everything is normal. Except that she suddenly awakened her abilities during the shooting...and other than that...oh, he hit a hundred out of one hundred!”

The lieutenant pointed at Gao Qi, who was astonished. He then pointed at his own nose and exclaimed in disbelief, "I hit a hundred rings?"

(Editor in charge：precious based on the novel)