My hotel is full of emperors throughout history.

In the early morning, thick fog, like gray cotton wool, hung low over the bare birch forests and fields covered with weeds in the suburbs of Dongshi.

It was Sergei's Volga sedan again.

The atmosphere inside the car was somewhat somber.

Zhu Yuanzhang closed his eyes to rest, but his fingers, resting on his knees, would occasionally tap unconsciously, revealing a hint of barely perceptible anticipation.

Liu Che stared intently at the frost-covered weeds rushing past the window, his gaze deep and lost in thought.

The others remained silent, but their eyes clearly held anticipation.

Only Chen Mo, sitting in the passenger seat, was far from calm on the surface.

After driving for about an hour, the fog thinned out a little.

Ahead appeared a rusty, crooked barbed wire fence and a simple guard post with a faded Russian wooden sign.

An old soldier, wearing a bulky old military overcoat with his hat pulled low, leaned against the guard post, a self-rolled cigarette between his fingers, the smoke rising in the cool air.

He raised his eyelids, his cloudy gaze sweeping over the car, and when he saw Sergei in the driver's seat, he nodded almost imperceptibly.

Sergei honked the horn twice short and once long.

The veteran came over and opened the door without checking anything, clearly knowing Sergei.

Sergei handed over a small bottle of vodka and a few crumpled rubles.

The veteran took it, put it in his pocket, and waved it away.

Another young man emerged from the guard post and laboriously pulled open a crack in the barbed wire gate, allowing the car to squeeze through.

The world inside the gate was not much different from the outside; it was still barren fields and sparse woods, but the ground was marked with many deep ruts and tracks.

In the distance, several large vehicles covered with canvas and some low-rise buildings that looked like semi-underground bunkers could be vaguely seen.

After driving for a few more minutes, a relatively open paved area appeared ahead, with several military trucks and jeeps that looked weathered by time parked along the edge.

"Is this what you call a military experience center?"

Old Zhu came down and rubbed his hands together.

Although Sergei couldn't understand what he was saying, he could roughly understand what he meant from his expression.

He asked the group to wait a moment, then went over and shook hands with a man in camouflage, said something to him, and then dragged several heavy green wooden crates out of the trunk of a beat-up jeep.

Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to it.

Sergei pried it open, revealing the gleaming barrel inside, which shone coldly in the thin morning light.

Old Zhu's fingers suddenly paused, and his gaze became fiery.

"This is... a gun?"

"Of course!"

The man in camouflage walked over with a smile on his face.

"Dear friend, welcome to Winter City. My name is Vasily."

As he spoke, he picked up an AK and demonstrated the loading, chambering, and firing postures in a simple manner before handing the AK to Zhu Yuanzhang.

He pointed to several dilapidated wooden human-shaped targets standing on a barren slope in the distance.

"Try it, but be careful of the recoil."

Looking at the AK47 in his hand, recalling the man's demonstration earlier, Old Zhu rested the butt against his shoulder, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

"Da da da da—!!!"

A series of loud, popping sounds suddenly erupted!

The gun muzzle spewed out intense flames, and the enormous recoil made Zhu Yuanzhang's shoulder slump, but he stood firm. Only a hint of surprise flashed across his face, which was then replaced by an even stronger excitement!

In the distance, a large piece of the wooden target was instantly torn to shreds, sending wood chips flying everywhere!

"Great! That felt good!"

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily.

"Let me try it too!"

After Zhu Yuanzhang finished testing, Liu Che couldn't resist and immediately stepped forward to take it.

The moment you hold it, you feel a sensation completely different from when you control a bow, crossbow, or sword.

Liu Che had never touched this thing before, but for some reason, he liked it very much as soon as he got his hands on it.

This mechanical feel...

Not bad!

That's great!

Liu Che loaded the magazine, and imitating Zhu Yuanzhang, he rested the hard butt against his shoulder, pressed his cheek against the cold receiver, and aimed at another still intact wooden target in the distance through the simple post-shaped front sight and U-shaped rear sight.

In his eyes, the target seemed to transform into the outline of Hun cavalry or the flag of the southern rebels.

He took a deep breath, held it—and pulled the trigger.

"Da da da da—!!!"

The same series of loud, explosive sounds once again ripped through the silence of the early morning wilderness!

The muzzle flash was still blinding in the morning light, and the recoil came one after another.

Even Liu Che's arm was almost too weak to support himself. He tried his best to control the gun barrel as it rose, spraying the string of scorching bullets as much as possible at the target.

The wooden target in the distance trembled violently, and wood chips and fragments exploded in a radial pattern, instantly riddled with holes, with the upper part almost completely shattered!

The gunfire ceased, the gun was left idle, and a wisp of smoke rose from the muzzle.

Liu Che slowly lowered his gun and chuckled.

"Awesome! It really feels great!!!"

With this thing, why would he need to fear the Xiongnu?

When the Xiongnu see this thing, they'll be beaten to a pulp. If Liu Che doesn't have the same surname as Yizhixie, then he's good!

"Let me try it too!"

Seeing that Liu Che had finished fighting, Zhu Di eagerly took the gun from his hand.

"Rat-a-tat-tat!"

Another sputtering sound rang out.

Zhu Di handed the gun to Ying Zheng, who was already impatient, still somewhat unsatisfied.

"That's awesome! That's fucking awesome! This thing is a million times better than a musket!"

Ying Zheng fired a burst of bullets, then, feeling it wasn't enough, fired another burst.

"Come here!"

"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat~!"

After a few bursts of fire, the human-shaped target in the distance was no longer recognizable as a person.

Vasily then had new ones put on.

Ying Zheng handed the AK to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin loaded the magazine, looked at the AK47 in his hand, and pondered for a moment.

"sudden!"

When the first shot rang out, the bullet grazed the edge of the wooden target, splashing a small amount of mud on the frozen ground.

Instead of firing the entire magazine like the others, he used the auxiliary tool on it to aim.

Li Shimin frowned almost imperceptibly. Instead of rushing to fire a follow-up shot, he adjusted his breathing, pressed his cheek against the cold receiver, and locked his gaze on the bullseye through the sights.

The rough wood grain, faintly visible in the morning mist, gradually overlapped with a person in his memory in front of Xuanwu Gate.

"sudden!"

The second shot followed immediately, and the wooden target trembled, leaving a dark bullet hole. Although it did not hit the bullseye, it was only an inch away from the core.

Sergei and the man in camouflage exchanged a glance, a hint of surprise flashing in their eyes.

Before the two could think further, the third and fourth shots rang out in quick succession!

"Rat-a-tat-tat!"

Each sound precisely tears through the air.

The wooden targets in the distance seemed to be gripped by an invisible hand, trembling violently with each shot.

With each shot, a human-shaped wooden target was blown in the head.

Finally, after several shots were fired, almost none of the wooden human-shaped targets had their heads intact.

Li Shimin slowly released the trigger, blew away the remaining smoke from the muzzle, and his eyes gleamed with a sharp light.

He weighed the AK47 in his hand.

"The value of such a weapon lies in its accuracy. Randomly firing is useless; the best strategy is to subdue the enemy with a single shot."

Sergei's Adam's apple bobbed, and he quietly stubbed out his cigarette.

He initially thought these Asians were just rich and interested in something new.

But these people in front of me—especially the one who fired the shot—had a murderous aura in their eyes that was not something that ordinary wealthy people could possess; it was a composure that had been forged in mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Vasily's smile vanished completely. He walked over to Sergei and whispered in Russian.

"These people are not simple; they're probably not ordinary buyers. Have you figured out their background?"

Sergei shook his head, his voice extremely low.

"All I knew was that they came from the East, were generous, and specifically requested the most powerful guy. I never expected..."

He glanced at Li Shimin, then at the others, his eyes filled with even greater apprehension.

"Gentlemen, you are indeed very skilled!"

Vasily quickly composed himself and put on a warm smile again.

"It seems that ordinary guys are no longer of interest to you all."

He clapped his hands, and two of his men immediately dragged out a larger black wooden crate from behind cover.

"Since you're such a distinguished guest, I won't hold back anymore. How about this?"

The wooden crate was pried open, revealing a PKM general-purpose machine gun with a cold, gleaming finish. Several heavy boxes of ammunition belts were piled up next to it. The metallic sheen of the gun made it look even more imposing than the AK47.

Zhu Gaoxu's eyes lit up instantly; he had never fired a shot before!

Just as he was about to step forward, Old Zhu raised his hand to stop him.

Old Zhu walked slowly to the wooden crate, his gaze falling on the machine gun, his fingertips lightly tracing the cold barrel.

"This thing is even more powerful than the last one?"