If I made you a special forces soldier, would you become a terrestrial god?

Quiet.

A deathly silence.

He Chenguang could clearly hear his heart pounding in his chest, each beat heavy and powerful. He could even distinguish the breathing of Li Erniu behind him, which was deliberately suppressed due to extreme tension, yet still as heavy as a broken bellows.

Wang Yanbing's jaw clenched so tightly it was grinding, not from the excruciating pain in his ankle, but from a humiliated rage.

It's locked.

Not by wild beasts, but by something far more terrifying.

The feeling was intangible and intangible, yet colder than any tangible threat. Three gazes, like three steel needles, pierced through the jungle's cover from different directions, pinning them firmly to the three of them.

We can't fight!

This thought wasn't conceived, but rather the body's instinct issuing its strongest warning.

The other side was from Kunlun, even if it was just a garrison company that sounded like a second-line unit. Gao Dazhuang's words on the radio, "It's so unfair to you," echoed in He Chenguang's mind at this moment, every word carrying a bloody sarcasm.

Equipment, information, familiarity with the terrain... they were stripped naked and thrown into a meticulously planned slaughterhouse.

A head-on fight means three still-warm corpses, numbers ticking on someone else's scoreboard.

Eliminated in less than half an hour? He Chenguang can't afford to lose face like that!

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Wang Yanbing's pale face. The boy was in so much pain that his forehead was covered in cold sweat, yet he still held his neck straight, ready to pounce and fight to the death at any moment. He then looked in front of him. Li Erniu's massive body was like a wall. Although he was trembling with fear, he still stood firmly in front of him, protecting him.

In an instant, He Chenguang made a decision.

He silently reached out and tapped Wang Yanbing and Li Erniu's backs a few times with his fingers.

This is muscle memory that their sharpshooter fourth company developed through countless drills, an extremely covert tactical command.

—Feint to the east, strike to the west, and retreat in different directions!

Wang Yanbing's eyes burned with barely perceptible resentment, yet he still nodded heavily. Li Erniu, without hesitation, placed his large, fan-like hand on Wang Yanbing's belt, his arm muscles bulging, ready to unleash a powerful sprint at any moment.

He Chenguang took a deep breath, picked up a fist-sized rock from the ground, his arm muscles tensed up suddenly, and his wrist flicked!

"Whoosh—snap!"

The stone, with a sharp whistling sound, traced a precise arc and slammed into a dense thicket thirty meters to the left. The crisp sound of breaking branches and leaves was particularly jarring in the deathly silent forest.

It's now!

Almost the instant the sound rang out, two of the three killing intents locked onto them showed a very brief moment of deviation and hesitation.

"Walk!"

With a low roar, He Chenguang sprang out from behind the ancient tree like a cheetah, running frantically in the exact opposite direction of the sound without looking back!

Li Erniu's explosive power was on full display at this moment. He swung Wang Yanbing, who weighed over 100 kilograms, onto his shoulder as if he were carrying a sack of potatoes. With a roar, he took a big stride, the dirt flying under his feet, and the ground shook as he ran. He was like a rampaging humanoid beast.

"Trying to run away?"

In the bushes, Zheng Sanpao sneered. He had just turned his gun around, preparing to give the big guy a burst of fire, when a hand pressed down hard on his shoulder.

It's Zhuang Yan.

"Don't chase them." Zhuang Yan shook his head gently as he watched the three figures disappear into the forest in the blink of an eye.

"Damn it, why? A free opening for business!" Zheng Sanpao roared, his voice low and strained. "That cripple, that big oaf, they're perfect for a sacrificial offering!"

"One of them is lame, and the other is carrying someone, yet they can still run at this speed. The leader's reaction is faster than a rabbit's; he calculated the timing and location of throwing the stones perfectly." Zhuang Yan's gaze fell on the direction where He Chenguang disappeared, his eyes showing no trace of annoyance, but rather a hint of amusement.

"They're all tough opponents; it's not worth playing hide-and-seek with them."

He patted Zheng Sanpao on the shoulder and then gestured with his chin to the map displayed on the tactical terminal on his wrist. The map was covered with densely packed green dots, like a tempting field of chives.

"Our mission is to clear the field and score points, not to run a cross-country race with others. The forest is so vast, there are plenty of scared sheep out of their wits, why waste time with a few prickly hedgehogs?"

Zheng Sanpao was still somewhat unwilling.

Zhuang Yan leaned closer to him, lowering his voice even further, a wicked smile playing on his lips: "Besides, isn't it more interesting to let them run away?"

"Interesting?" Zheng Sanpao and Chen Xiwa, who was standing next to him, were both stunned.

"Let them run, let them spread our existence, this crushing fear and despair, like a plague to their other 'prey'." Zhuang Yan grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth.

"Think about it, is it more fun for us to painstakingly search for them one by one, scaring them into chaos, or for us to let them panic, distrust each other, and resort to any means to survive, ultimately crying and begging us for a quick death?"

"Killing is the most basic form of manipulation. Destroying the spirit is the true art."

Zheng Sanpao and Chen Xiwa exchanged a glance, both seeing a chill in each other's eyes.

What kind of nonsense is going on in this kid's head? He's not here to take the test at all; he's just here to enjoy the hunt!

This guy was born a hunter.

……

Meanwhile, at another high point on the island.

Company Commander Chen Guotao is calmly observing everything through the real-time footage shared by the "Eagle Eye" drone.

When he saw Zhuang Yan hold down Zheng Sanpao's shoulder and give up the pursuit, a hint of approval appeared on his usually tense face.

"Attention all hunting squads!" He pressed the all-person communication channel.

"The toughest opponents in the first tier have emerged. The A-3 target group just now possessed extremely strong counter-reconnaissance awareness and textbook-level tactical deception capabilities. I repeat, your opponents are not raw recruits who have just joined the company!"

His voice was cold and clear, echoing in the headphones of more than a hundred hunters.

"I order everyone to strictly execute Plan B! Operate in small teams, fight guerrilla warfare, and snipe! Use your equipment and information advantage to take out those isolated groups, and those panicked two- or three-person squads!"

"Don't get carried away! Don't linger in the fight! Our opponents have seven thousand men, and we outnumber them by one-seventieth! Any foolish impulse could send you, and your entire squad, flying out of this crucial final exam!"

"You are wolves, not mad dogs that fight with wild dogs for food! Achieve the greatest results with the least cost!"

"Remember your goals! Remember your glory!"

"For Kunlun!"

"For Kunlun!"

More than a hundred suppressed, beast-like growls came from the channel.

Chen Guotao turned off the communication and turned his gaze back to the vast and boundless forest.

On his tactical screen, the red arrow representing Zhuang Yan's team had decisively changed direction, like a venomous snake, silently moving towards another area of ​​dense green dots representing "prey".

On the other side...

He Chenguang and the other two ran two or three kilometers in one go until their lungs were burning with pain, then they plunged into a secluded mountain hollow, collapsed on the ground, and gasped for breath.

Li Erniu put Wang Yanbing down and then sat down heavily himself, his chest heaving violently and sweat streaming down his face.

"Damn it...cough cough...what the hell were those...what the hell were those guys?" Wang Yanbing coughed and cursed, clutching his throbbing ankle. "They didn't even fire a shot, just their eyes scared people to death!"

"Drones." He Chenguang leaned against a rock, his voice a little hoarse. "They have man-portable reconnaissance drones. In their eyes, we're like we're naked."

"Then what's the point of fighting!" Wang Yanbing slammed his fist on the ground.

Before they could catch their breath, bursts of sharp, clear gunshots and piercing screams came intermittently from all directions of the forest.

"Bang! Bang bang!"

"Da da da da..."

"ah--!"

Gunshots rang out, some near, some far, some single shots, some bursts, and some short bursts. Screams rose and fell, some sharp and piercing, others abruptly ceasing.

The sound was like a series of small hammers, striking the hearts of the three people hard.

Their faces turned deathly pale.

They escaped death, but for the other seven thousand people on the island, the real hell was just beginning, its bloody curtain drawn.

He Chenguang suddenly raised his head and listened intently.

He suddenly noticed a detail that sent chills down his spine.

All the gunshots were from the same model of rifle.

The screams, however, came from hundreds or thousands of different people.

What does this mean?

This means that since the start of the assessment, the hunters have fired countless shots across the vast island.

As the prey, none of them had the opportunity or the ability to launch an effective counterattack!

This is not a fight at all.

This was a one-sided... massacre!