Please pull the trigger for this world one more time.

noon.

Mo Zian sat cross-legged under a large tree, with the equipment he had temporarily abandoned placed beside him—this equipment had been picked up by the highlanders and was now being returned to its rightful owner.

Moreover, they didn't even confiscate his weapons, seemingly not worried at all about Mo Zian putting on his gear and escaping.

Mo Zian wasn't sure whether the other side was simply honest and kind, or if they just didn't take the "prisoners" in the exercise seriously at all.

At this moment, a man dressed as a cook walked over, carrying a tray in his hand.

"Hello, soldier, your lunch is ready." (Highland language)

Although Mo Zian couldn't understand what he was saying, it didn't prevent him from understanding his meaning.

"Ah, thank you, I'm so grateful for your help."

Mo Zian patted his bottom, stood up, took the tray with both hands, nodded slightly to the soldier, who nodded back, and then turned and left.

Looking at the food on the tray, Mo Zian couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity—after all, he had just grabbed a meal in the morning, only this time it was lunch, and the portion was much larger, with an extra piece of fried pork chop with an egg on it.

Mo Zian looked at the food in front of him, and his impression of these highlanders improved even more.

He first took a sip of the oily soup, then tore the flatbread into small pieces and soaked them in the soup before starting to eat the pork chop seriously and carefully.

As Mo Zian ate, he was mentally calculating things—

It is obvious that the thing inside or in one's consciousness has a clear opposing relationship with the ether. When the ether is exhausted, the other party will break through some kind of "shackles" and emerge.

But what puzzled Mo Zian was that the other party actually went back on their own.

Moreover, even though the other party was in control of his body, Mo Zian had a feeling that he could take back control of his body at any time.

Why?

Mo Zian currently has no answer.

Furthermore, my "bullet time" ability must be related to the other party.

Before this, he needed to be highly focused and calm to enter this state, so generally he could only do it when shooting.

But as soon as the opponent appeared today, he entered a state of "bullet time," and it was much more effective than usual, almost to the point of stopping time.

Why am I also able to use this power? Is this ability to accelerate neural responses a product of my consciousness or my body itself?

Mo Zian also had no answer.

But Mo Zian is now certain of one thing: whenever the other party appears, his self-healing ability will become unbelievable—

He had suffered internal injuries during his duel with Captain Murphy, but he had almost fully recovered, and the bruises on his body had faded to almost nothing.

This gave Mo Zian some initial guesses about what exactly the thing inside his body was...

Mo Zian ate slowly, and when he was halfway through his meal, he sensed a powerful aura approaching him.

As the scent drew near, Mo Zian reflexively put down his lunch, stood at attention, and saluted.

"stand at attention!"

Earl Cui Ma smiled and walked up to Mo Zi'an: "You don't even forget organization and discipline when eating... Don't be shy, young man. Are you enjoying the food?"

Count Cui Ma spoke the first half of his sentence in Highland language, but the second half, spoken to Mo Zi'an, was in Guanghan dialect.

Moreover, you can hardly detect any foreign accent.

Mo Zian was surprised that the other person spoke such fluent Wuhan dialect, but upon further reflection, it made perfect sense.

"Sir, the food here is impeccable. Thank you for providing me with such a sumptuous lunch."

"Just eat whatever you like. The ghee flavor in our highland region is actually quite strong... I told you, don't be shy. It's lunchtime now, a time to rest."

Count Cui Ma chuckled and patted Mo Zi'an's arm. He then took a plate from the guard behind him, which contained the same food as Mo Zi'an's. "Young man, would you mind having lunch with me? I'd like to chat with you, just casual conversation, of course."

"Sir, of course I don't mind. It's an honor to have lunch with a lieutenant colonel."

"Okay, then don't stand, sit down."

"yes!"

After Count Cuima invited Mo Zian to sit down, he himself took his plate and sat down on the floor opposite Mo Zian.

Count Cui Ma took a bite of the ghee-filled flatbread and looked at Mo Zi'an, saying, "I haven't been officially in the Guangwu Empire for very long, only about two years. Does your Guangwu Empire have this tradition of having military academy cadets participate in exercises for training?"

Mo Zian thought for a moment and replied, "Sir, I haven't been in the army for very long, so I can't give you a definite answer, but as far as I know, it doesn't seem to be very common."

"Oh? Then why did you travel all the way from central Guangwu to this southwestern border to participate in the military exercise?" Earl Ma asked, frowning.

Seeing the gaze directed at him, Mo Zian also looked puzzled. "Sir, we only received the news at the last minute. We were suddenly ordered to go to the southwest to participate in an exercise. They said it was decided directly by the military."

We don't know anything more. We're just a group of warrant officers who haven't yet enlisted. A soldier's duty is to obey orders; if an order is given, we must carry it out. Our security clearance is even lower than yours.

Earl Cui Mo nodded thoughtfully, then turned to Mo Zi'an with a smile and asked, "I understand... Tell me about yourself. You're really quite good. With your abilities, where would you rank among your classmates?"

Mo Zian pondered for a moment, then carefully chose his words and said, "My classmates are all outstanding individuals. As for my own level, I really can't give you a good answer, because in some aspects I am indeed second to none, but there are also times when I am simply not among the best."

"Like your marksmanship? Or your martial arts skills?"

Mo Zian nodded. "My marksmanship is indeed second to none. As you can see, I am a sniper. As for martial arts, although I am very confident, many of my classmates are actually no less skilled than me."

After hearing this, Earl Cui Ma gasped almost imperceptibly and exclaimed, "As expected of the capital's military academy. Although I haven't been in Guangwu for long, I've heard of you. Seeing you today, I can confirm your reputation is well-deserved..."

I'd like to know how you train. You're only around 18 years old, and you're already so adaptable to real combat.

You know, in my hometown, you usually wouldn't be drafted into the army because someone your age is considered a child soldier.

Count Cui Ma glanced at Mo Zi'an: "I know about the confidentiality agreement. Only say what you can."

Mo Zian was actually prepared for Count Cui Ma's question, but he still pretended to be thinking and pondered for a long time before speaking.

"Well... how should I put it? Actually, our training is combat-oriented, but there is still a significant gap between training and actual combat, so we can only increase the intensity and scope."

Our instructors always told us: "Sweat more in peacetime, bleed less in wartime."

As you know, the training subjects for Imperial infantry are actually quite limited, and they're all written in the manual; it's just a matter of finding ways to make them more varied.

Watching the other person slowly nod while eating lunch, Mo Zian continued, "As for the age issue you mentioned, the enrollment age for our Guangwu Empire Military Academy is currently 18 years old, because we are different from soldiers."

As you know, the shortest military service here is only 2 years, but we military academy students have to wait at least 4 years to officially graduate.

"Starting from a young age, no wonder..."

Count Turquoise muttered something under his breath in Highland language, then looked at Mo Zian's gear and asked with a smile, "If I asked you what all this gear is, you certainly wouldn't tell me, would you?"

Earl Cui Ma thought this question would put the young man in a more difficult position, but to his surprise, Mo Zi'an directly asked him a question in return.

"Sir, are you referring to my weapon, or my clothing?"

"Oh? Is there a difference?" Count Trema raised an eyebrow.

"That's right, sir."

Mo Zian pointed to the Judge beside him and said, "This sniper rifle is actually my personal property, and it is equipped with an ether core."

Although the performance is quite good, it is actually a rather outdated design concept that does not conform to the current design trend of "de-etherite" and has a relatively high barrier to entry.

In comparison, the repeating guns your troops are equipped with are the most advanced and effective weapons.

"Hmm... those things that can keep 'shooting' are indeed quite to our liking, and they're not too delicate." Count Turquoise seemed to agree.

"As for what's wrong with me, to be honest, I know very little about it."

Mo Zian picked up his helmet, which he had placed aside, and said with a hint of resentment on his face, "We received the orders at the last minute, and this equipment was also issued to us at the last minute."

As Mo Zian spoke, he waved the helmet in his hand, "Look, like this helmet, we don't even know its name, we're just told to equip it, it's made of the latest material and has very good protective performance."

Mo Zian put down his helmet and pointed to the [Black Tortoise] armor next to him. "This thing is the same. They bragged about its protective capabilities, and during the exercise, the director did evaluate it based on the standard of being able to stop bullets. But who knows how it will perform on the real battlefield?"

However, to Mo Zian's surprise, Count Cui Ma seemed to recognize the armor he was wearing, and a mysterious and arrogant smile appeared on his face.

"Don't worry, young man, your armor is probably one of the most formidable individual soldier armors on the entire continent right now."

Mo Zian wanted to ask why, but Earl Cui Ma wagged his finger at Mo Zian: "Warrant Lieutenant Mo Zian, your security clearance level is not high enough."