As spiritual energy revived, I, having acquired certain attributes, gradually ascended to immortalit

"Getting on the bus again?"

The trainees grumbled as they climbed onto the military-green transport vehicle. Without their leader, they immediately relaxed and began to chatter amongst themselves.

"It's 150 kilometers on foot, and even by car it would take one or two hours."

They muttered amongst themselves as they inspected their backpacks. The so-called escort was just a locked metal box, seemingly just a way to increase the weight.

Someone tried lifting the backpack and their face turned green.

"That's not all. The weight and the bulletproof vest together weigh about 40 kilograms."

He subconsciously glanced at a man in the carriage who was holding a machine gun—Shen Qing was still wrapped in two 150-round ammunition belts, which would add at least ten kilograms, but he was acting as if nothing had happened.

No sooner had he finished speaking than someone suddenly shouted.

"Are you kidding me? Two days and one night, and this is all the food we get?"

This instantly drew the attention of all the trainees on the bus, including Shen Qing—his backpack contained only a single soldier's ration, at most three thousand calories, and less than a liter of water.

But they had to trek 150 kilometers carrying heavy loads, in the desolate Gobi Desert.

"Just one compass?"

Someone checked the mezzanine again, but there was nothing else there.

The straight-line distance is 150 kilometers, but the actual distance will only be longer, especially since they don't have a map, only a vague direction and signs.

They all realized that this assessment was indeed quite difficult.

"Should we team up?"

The carriage fell silent instantly upon hearing this.

The members of the Hummingbird and Owl teams on the bus are completely random. Normally, it would be good if they didn't sabotage each other, let alone team up.

After fighting side by side yesterday, they subconsciously looked at Shen Qing, who was holding a machine gun.

……

"Captain Chen, how many do you think will be able to clear the level this time?"

Dozens of miles away, in a convertible SUV, a lieutenant colonel known as Captain Chen looked down at an electronic map in his hand, on which hundreds of dots were slowly moving.

"Who knows? Maybe there won't be a single one."

He shook his head. This time, the trainees looked no different from usual, and one of them even had a machine gun.

I don't know if he's just a hothead or if he's really capable.

"Oh, that wouldn't be fun."

The soldier driving the car patted the steering wheel, somewhat eager to try, "Captain Chen, when will we get a chance to play?"

"How can we advance the establishment of the new team if we don't demonstrate our strength?"

"Alright, what's the rush?"

Team Leader Chen leaned back and glanced at the back seat. "You guys are a mobile budget black hole, ridiculously expensive. You can't just make any changes. We'll wait until the costs come down."

Or wait until we win a few more games before the funding comes in again; we don't want to suffer an unexpected setback.

……

Meanwhile, on the Gobi Desert, an troop carrier drove into a small grove of trees, its body bumping as it began to slow down.

All the trainees were tossed around and turned, completely lacking energy.

Shen Qing's brows remained slightly furrowed.

As soon as he entered the woods, besides the roar of cars, he could vaguely hear other breathing sounds and the clanging of metal parts around him.

But since the car was constantly moving and couldn't stay close to the ground, he couldn't easily determine its location or number.

"Be careful, everyone."

He could only advise, "Didn't that lieutenant colonel say that entering the war zone marks the start of the assessment? Be careful of ambushes."

Everyone nodded and gripped their weapons tightly.

A few minutes later, the car finally stopped, the tailgate opened, and the trainees quickly jumped off, expecting to gather as usual.

But before all the students had gotten off the bus...

"Da da da!"

A burst of gunfire rang out, and white smoke immediately rose from the bodies of the trainees. They stared blankly at their surroundings, completely unaware of what was happening.

"Holy crap, that's a machine gun!"

Shen Qing and his group stared wide-eyed and almost instinctively plunged into the ditch beside them, using the small earthen slope in front of them as cover.

I expected there to be a trap, but what's with the machine gun right off the bat?

Right from the start, at least one-sixth, about thirty trainees, were eliminated.

"Holy crap, why does it feel like there are people all around?"

No one dared to look up. In the grove of trees directly in front of them, bullets flew out like they were free, sending dust billowing up from the small hill in front of them.

"Captain, what do we do?"

Li Yangzhao was still a little unaccustomed to this form of address and looked at Shen Qing.

Shen Qing was temporarily serving as the captain of this makeshift squad. At this moment, he had his ear pressed against the ground, and he could hear the gunshots and footsteps all around him clearly.

"No, we're surrounded by heavy firepower. We have to retreat now!"

There were at least twenty men around them, meaning there were twenty rifles pointed at them, and three light machine guns, surrounding them in a triangular formation.

Even Shen Qing didn't think he could dodge machine gun bullets or tough it out to deal with those soldiers.

If you waste any more time, you'll be eliminated; this assessment is ridiculous.

"boom!"

Shen Qing slammed his fist into the small mound, instantly collapsing a section of the soft earth and raising a cloud of dust.

"run!"

While the machine gunner's view was temporarily obscured, they crouched low and desperately crawled into the nearby grove of trees.

The other trainees also began to retreat, and dozens of people instantly erupted into chaos, forced to scatter in all directions.

"Platoon leader, they've all escaped."

On a high point in the woods, a soldier lying under a camouflage net put down his binoculars and tapped his headset.

"receive."

The platoon leader's unhurried voice came from the other end: "Have someone send these eliminated trainees out; we'll go after the rest."

No sooner had he finished speaking than two convertible SUVs drove out of the woods.

With a light machine gun mounted on top, the soldier looked relaxed, as if he were going for a drive. The platoon leader in the co-pilot waved and went to chase after the remaining trainees.

How could a person possibly outrun a car, especially in the Gobi Desert where cover is scarce and bullets would sweep past your heels?

White smoke rose one after another.

Although some trainees tried to fight back, it was a losing proposition to trade one for one, as the military side had two battalions of soldiers.

Soon, another group of trainees were eliminated.

In just over an hour, whether it was the hummingbirds or the owls, everyone was almost constantly in a state of defeat.

This was the first time they realized the insignificance of individual strength in the face of an organized army; at least in the early stages, it was difficult for supernatural beings to contend with an army.

Meanwhile, Shen Qing and his group, who were hiding in a ravine, were also in a bad situation.

They all scattered. Originally there were about ten people, but now there are only five. Besides Shen Qing, the Li siblings, and one other tall guy, who is at least 1.9 meters tall.

And there was a bespectacled man, clutching a rifle like a stick, exhausted and panting heavily.

"Damn, with just this one mouthful of food, we can't even last two days, let alone a single noon."

Leaning against the mound of earth, the tall man kept shaking his food sack, trying to empty the last bits of food.

I haven't eaten a single meal since morning, and now I'm back to my escape with heavy loads.

In addition, those with supernatural powers expend a lot of energy and simply cannot withstand it. In just two hours, many people had already finished their rations.

If this continues, they won't even need to be eliminated; they'll starve to death on their own.