Chapter 434: Non-Human and Target Shooting

After instructing Li Ang to be extremely careful about the "loving cuddles" from male colleagues, Heishanyang continued:

"If he's just trying to stick physical objects—like a railway track with a missing section, or a stream dried up and broken—his strength could let him stick together several kilometers' worth."

"But if it's conceptual sticking, he might exhaust his willpower after only fifty or sixty attempts, and the stronger the willpower of the object being stuck, the more terrifying his consumption."

"Like last year, he tried to stick his trust in that red-haired woman to secure a suitable mission—and ended up suffering a complete mental breakdown, losing control of his body, lying in bed for over three months before he could get up."

After explaining the tape's ability, Heishanyang summed up:

"In short, an anomaly's power has limits, but they're not entirely fixed—the higher your body and spirit can endure the cost, the stronger the anomaly's effect becomes."

"Take us, for example. Sure, we look weak now, but if you can bear the cost and nurture us back up, we can still ignite the fighting urges of thousands at once and spark a small-scale war! Got it?"

"I kinda get it…"

After nodding thoughtfully, Li Ang frowned and pressed further:

"But you still haven't answered my question. I didn't ask about the anomaly's ability—I asked how I can gain physical fitness like everyone else?"

"Didn't I say from the start? You can't rush this~"

After taking a deep drag on his cigarette, Heishanyang squinted comfortably:

"Take more missions, collect more anomalies, and use them often—you'll naturally be influenced, slowly transforming from a human into a 'non-human' being. And the more insane and extreme the anomaly, the faster your 'transformation' accelerates."

"Take us as an example: previously, our transformation speed was on par with that crappy apartment. Even if you used us for years, you'd only end up slightly healthier than an average person."

"But after you gave us so many good things, our transformation speed has skyrocketed—now it's roughly three or four times that of that crappy apartment."

"And if you're willing to kill a few bastards and offer up their evil souls to us, this speed can keep rising!"

"You'll probably reach Harry's physical fitness in under a year! Interested in giving it a shot?"

"…"

This guy really… never stops trying to lure me into the water…

Hearing Heishanyang's relentless persuasion, Li Ang couldn't help but frown in disbelief—but then his eyes suddenly widened!

Wait! Didn't it just say its past transformation speed matched Happy Apartment's, and now it's three or four times higher?

That's exactly 0. and 0. ! So this "influence" and "transformation"… is actually the anomaly's "infection value"?!"

Having realized the true meaning of infection value, Li Ang hadn't even time to rejoice before he suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Heishanyang, who was still smoking heavily.

If I remember right, the Red-Haired Chief's 【Forgetful Love】 has an infection value of 7! And your original infection value was only 0. —just one-seventieth of hers?

Holy shit, you've been bragging all day about being some great demon, and I actually thought you were badass! Turns out you're this weak?

…

This kid… why's he looking at us like that?

After receiving Li Ang's look—two parts disbelief, three parts shock, five parts deep disdain—Heishanyang jolted sharply, feeling a sudden hollow unease inside.

Could he have figured out that we're dragging him down?

Hmm… probably not.

Only those who've used an anomaly know its exact transformation speed. That red-haired woman used us too, but she's absurdly strong—she likely couldn't even sense whether our speed was fast or slow, and wouldn't tell him anyway.

Yeah! He won't know! He definitely won't know!

"Cough! Cough!"

Though Heishanyang believed Li Ang couldn't possibly have figured it out, the gaze made him uneasy, so he cleared his throat and hastily changed the subject:

"Uh… while collecting more anomalies helps you grow stronger faster, don't go too wild, okay?"

"Not all anomalies are as reasonable as us—willing to protect you just because you get along. Many demand shocking costs!"

"For example, Emma! Her immortality is powerful, right? But do you know what she paid for it?"

Senior Emma…

Hearing Heishanyang's question, Li Ang's expression subtly shifted.

He'd long been curious about Senior Emma's immortality, but she'd clearly seen the Chief's files and knew his ability came from touch—so she always avoided physical contact with him.

And she'd been so kind to him: saved his sister, even gifted him a sidearm. Even if he was curious, he had to show some restraint—he couldn't just pry into her privacy… but he still really wanted to know a little…

Heh, easy-to-persuade virgin! When we met in the hallway before, your eyes were glued to her! I knew you were interested!

Watching Li Ang's unmistakable curiosity, Heishanyang chuckled, swallowed the last seven or eight cigarette butts still smoldering in his mouth, then chewed the still-smoking ends with a grin:

"Here's the deal: go kill a truly evil bastard, vent your rage, and offer up his evil soul to us—and I'll tell you what Emma paid. How about it?"

"…"

(╬￣ Min ￣)

"Hey? If you don't agree, fine—but why'd you snatch my cigarette?"

"What? You're actually gonna hit me? Damn it! You think I've got no temper? Fine! If you've got guts, don't kick! Let's settle this fair: both of us bite, okay? Fuck!"

…

"Bang!"

Watching the target five hundred meters away pierced clean through, Li Ang's face showed no triumph—only grim seriousness.

After giving Heishanyang a good beating for his mouthy insolence and tossing him back into the Clearance Bureau's office, Li Ang didn't head home. Instead, he took his heavy sniper rifle to the neighboring Police Department, used his Clearance Bureau credentials to borrow a quiet range, and began grinding for his shooting badge.

But to improve his hit rate in future missions, he didn't just mindlessly fire rounds—he chose targets at maximum effective range, methodically training his shooting feel with one shot after another… except…

His hit rate was heartbreaking.

Facing a stationary target five hundred meters away, even with the accumulated hit bonus from 【Materialist Soul】, Li Ang needed an average of four to five shots to land one hit—out of ten rounds, seven or eight typically missed.

Clearly, hitting that target in the hospital was mostly luck—and with Senior Emma helping adjust the rifle's sights. His real shooting skill was still that of a complete beginner.

Looking through the scope at the bullet holes on the human-shaped target—mostly hitting unimportant spots—he shook his head, then blew hard on his whistle and picked up the small red flag beside him, waving it toward the range officer. Five-hundred-meter shooting had exceeded his current limits; such a hit rate was useless in real missions. Better to close the distance to around three hundred meters and train for practical combat accuracy.

Heh, he definitely switched the target.

The range officer, hearing the whistle, glanced over and saw Li Ang holding the small red flag for three hundred meters. His eyebrows rose, then he turned to his colleague; both simultaneously smirked, exchanging knowing glances.

When this kid first walked in with his rifle, demanding five-hundred-meter targets, they'd advised him to start at half the max range.

Because nail drop arcs get harder to control the farther out, and near maximum kill range, rounds sometimes roll sideways mid-air—predicting impact points is no joke.

So five-hundred-meter full-range targets are vastly harder than two- or three-hundred-meter half-range ones. For a kid who barely touched a gun, half-range was more than enough.

But this kid was young, already at the top of assistant-level civil service, nearly brushing against document-level rank—his pride was sky-high. He wouldn't listen to two range officers' advice.

Despite their good advice, he insisted on trying how far he could shoot, stubbornly demanding five-hundred-meter targets… and now? Found he couldn't hit anything, so he finally switched targets? Guns are fair—they don't care if you've got a rich dad!

The officer in charge of changing targets grinned, pulled the control lever, and with a series of gear clicks, slowly raised the three-hundred-meter half-target while lowering and retracting the five-hundred-meter full-target.

The other officer was about to leave his seat to swap the target paper when his arm was grabbed.

"Where are you going?"

"Huh? What? Hey, let go! I need to change the target!"

"Change what target?"

The officer operating the lever chuckled, lifted his colleague's ear muffs slightly, and shouted over the dense gunfire:

"Sit down and rest! I recognize that rifle—heavy-duty range is only 470 meters. Shooting five hundred is over-range. Hitting it would be a miracle!"

"Sure, we've got guys here who can shoot over-range, but they've been handling guns for nearly twenty years. Look at this kid—he's maybe sixteen or seventeen. How's he supposed to hit over-range? Did he start practicing in the womb?"

"Hahaha, true. I'll just rest a bit longer~"

…

Unaware his low hit rate stemmed not from poor skill but from the rifle's range limit, Li Ang still lay on the ground, firing shot after shot to grind his shooting badge.

After adjusting the target to three hundred meters, his hit rate soared—he no longer missed a single shot, and nearly every round struck vital zones on the target. Only about once every twenty shots did he slightly deviate.

By the time the sun began to set, Li Ang, firing two rounds per minute on average, completed 200 live-fire shots, upgrading his badge from Iron to Bronze.

【Shooter: Though you've handled firearms for a short time, through exceptional talent and hard training, you've become a qualified shooter.】

【Worn Effect: Through extensive practice, you've learned the distribution pattern of nail impacts. When consciously adjusting your aim, your shooting accuracy increases significantly.】

【Advanced Path: Complete 5, 00 live-fire shots or 30, 00 simulated triggers to automatically upgrade this badge to Silver Badge "Shooting Expert." Current progress: 0/5000, 0/30000】

【Hidden Trait (No need to wear): As a firearms enthusiast, your shooting stability slightly increases when using your familiar firearm.】

To improve further, I need another five thousand shots?

After reading the badge system's prompt, Li Ang estimated his firing speed: if he trained seriously, completing five thousand rounds would take roughly forty hours.

If the progression from Bronze to Silver followed the same 200-to-5000 ratio, the time needed might reach over a thousand hours.

While serious, shot-by-shot practice would improve his fundamentals, it likely wouldn't match the boost from a high-tier badge—so… should he try to cheat a little?

Thought it, did it.

With the sole goal of grinding the badge, Li Ang this time didn't hold his breath and focus—he loaded the air tank, picked a rough spot, and fired blindly.

Switching from careful aim to wild shooting dramatically increased his speed: excluding reloading and air refills, he fired over ten rounds per minute. Thanks to 【Materialist Soul】, even these blind shots hit five or six times.

But when Li Ang stopped firing and checked the 【Shooter】 badge panel, he grimaced—the "proficiency" meter still read 0/5000, not a single point gained.

So… I really have to train properly after all…

Shaking his head, Li Ang abandoned his shortcut scheme, glanced at the sky, then disassembled his heavy sniper rifle into parts, bundled them into a large canvas bag, and struggled out of the range.

Shortly after he left, a female officer in black police uniform with wheat-colored skin strode in, glanced at the empty positions, and finally chose the recently vacated range in the corner.

She looked weary, as if burdened by something. After greeting the two officers in a hoarse voice, she took her chosen firearm to the firing position and raised a small yellow flag signaling five hundred meters.

As the distant target slowly rose, the female officer took a deep breath, bit her lip hard, pressed her eye to the scope's viewing position, and steadily placed her slender finger on the trigger…

Huh?

Seeing the target with five or six large holes, the female officer frowned, then waved a small black flag to summon the range officer.

"This target hasn't been changed."

Pointing at the distant wooden target, she said flatly:

"You can check—it still has the previous shooter's bullet holes."

"Oh? Sorry, sorry!"

Upon hearing the female police officer's words, the shooting range manager hurriedly apologized, then smiled and explained:

"A stranger just showed up—never seen him before. His prep movements looked clumsy, and after firing a few shots, he switched to the half-distance target. We assumed he couldn't hit the full-distance target, so we didn't rush to replace it. Sorry about that."

"It's fine."

With a wave of her hand indicating it didn't matter, the female police officer squinted at the target paper through her sight, then frowned and asked coldly:

"The holes on the target are all large—this looks like rounds fired beyond the firearm's maximum range by over thirty meters, with the nails losing control and rolling sideways.

Didn't the Bureau recently emphasize control and minimizing unnecessary casualties? Why is someone still practicing something that guarantees death on impact?"

(End of Chapter)