Regarding the matter of awakening lightning abilities after transformation

“Perhaps it will suit you well.” She walked up to Gu Cheng and carefully helped her adjust her posture.

"Hold it like this." Her delicate hand lightly touched him, accompanied by the faint fragrance of the girl. Gu Cheng felt her whole body go limp, letting Su Wanxi do as she pleased with her hand.

"Don't move, aim at the bullseye." Su Wanxi released her hand, signaling her to fire.

"Bang!" The target didn't budge, but Gu Cheng's arm was lifted up by the recoil.

The first bullet missed the target.

"Remember the posture you just used, and try again." Su Wanxi didn't say much, but simply told her to continue shooting.

Shaking her arm, which was numb from the shock, Gu Cheng adjusted her posture and aimed carefully.

"Bang." Still, it missed the target.

After all six bullets from the revolver had been fired, only one bullet hole remained on the target.

One out of six shots hit the bullseye, but the one that did hit also missed the bullseye. Gu Cheng shook his head and reloaded, not particularly downcast.

"Put these on." Su Wanxi handed her two black rubber stoppers and went straight to the training table next door.

The empty training ground was now filled only with the occasional sound of gunfire.

After an unknown amount of time, Gu Cheng reached into the ammunition box again. There was nothing there; the bullets were gone.

Twelve shots, one of which hit the bullseye—that's her total score for the day.

Rubbing her aching wrists, Gu Cheng felt like every part of her body was groaning.

When it was time, she noticed that Su Wanxi only had two magazines left, and after thinking about it, she decided to wait for her to finish so they could leave together.

A moment later, Su Wanxi finally ran out of bullets. She took off her earplugs, and the subtle movement inadvertently brushed her long hair behind her ear.

Gu Cheng stood up from the platform and walked to her side. Neither of them spoke, and they went to the logistics department together and then took the elevator together.

After a long day of training, although she was exhausted, she had gained a lot. In the elevator, Gu Cheng thought to herself, a smile involuntarily creeping onto her lips.

She even got to handle a real gun, and the experience of using it herself was definitely different from watching others use it. The surging sense of power thrilled the 21-year-old girl.

The elevator doors opened, and Gu Cheng was about to leave when she felt a soft hand pull her back.

"It's actually here..." Su Wanxi subconsciously pulled Gu Cheng behind her, her tone tinged with surprise.

A streetlight not far from the gate became blurry and indistinct, like a moving mosaic.

A crack? The thought flashed through Gu Cheng's mind, and her vision was once again covered by the golden veil.

Through the thin veil, she saw a twisted slit.

Section 11, Chapter Eleven: Deep Within the Rift

"Go back to the logistics department to get your gun. I'm going to the underground parking lot. Don't go near the crevice until everyone is here." Su Wanxi released her hand, her expression serious.

Hermitage staff have blocked off the entire street with roadblocks and announced that construction is underway, asking all pedestrians to take a detour.

"I understand." Gu Cheng's phone also received a message from headquarters, which indicated the location of the crack and its potential strength.

Extremely weak or weak.

She had learned about this from Song Shiyan; the cracks on Huaixin Street were extremely weak cracks, the kind that were the easiest to deal with among all cracks.

"Weapon serial number D45, 5 boxes of Magnum ammunition." Back on the second basement level, Gu Cheng requested permission to use the gun from the staff.

"Oh right, and Captain Su's gun, I forgot to ask her for the serial number."

"Miss Su has her own sidearm." The staff member only handed her a revolver and some bullets.

Back at the office building entrance, Su Wanxi stood in the safe area with a backpack in her hand.

"Wait a bit." She checked the weapons in her bag while keeping a close eye on the cracks.

Strictly speaking, this was Gu Cheng's first mission. She took a deep breath, suppressing her nervousness and excitement.

"Captain Su." Zhou Li and Qin Kexin also arrived. The former was carrying a long, thin object wrapped in gauze, while the latter only carried a small weapon case.

Once everything was in place, Su Wanxi slowly approached the crevice, with the other team members following closely behind.

Upon contact, a sense of oppression, like falling into the deep sea, swept over my entire body, and something in the space instantly collapsed like a fragile bubble.

As she entered, the blur before her eyes gradually disappeared, and Gu Cheng finally saw the whole scene inside the crevice.

A dilapidated street, a pale moon, and heavy clouds. A rusty billboard lies collapsed on the ground, surrounded by withered flowers and plants.

It felt very familiar; Gu Cheng felt like she had seen it somewhere before. Just then, a gust of wind blew by, and the corners of the billboard that had been covered were completely revealed.

That pattern... Sure enough, Gu Cheng remembered; this was the place where she entered the crevice. The surrounding scenery basically matched the real streets, only the ones inside the crevice were more dilapidated and desolate, and even more unsettling.

"Is everyone in? Create a team channel." Su Wanxi's voice came from behind.

"Understood~" Qin Kexin took out a dagger and a pistol from the weapon case and activated her abilities at the same time.

"Activate Spirit Vision." Spirit Vision is a state that every awakened being naturally enters when using their abilities; in reality, it manifests as a golden veil appearing before their eyes.

Gu Cheng did as instructed but saw no golden gauze; instead, she was enveloped in a hazy black mist. She turned to look at the other team members, who were all radiating golden light to varying degrees, with Su Wanxi's glow being the most intense. Zhou Li untied the gauze wrapped around the long strip, revealing a sharp blade beneath.

Caught up in the atmosphere, Gu Cheng's hand holding the revolver also became a little sweaty.

"At twelve o'clock, in the sky." Just as everyone was focusing their attention on their surroundings, Zhou Li's voice came to their minds.

Everyone looked up and saw a fast-moving dark cloud swooping down on them in the distance.

They were a flock of crows, their pupils an eerie blood red, appearing particularly ferocious in the moonlight. Their wings and backs were jet black, their feathers gleaming with a cold light, like blued steel.

Gu Cheng subconsciously raised his gun to aim, ready to pull the trigger at any moment.

She was getting closer; the flock of crows was about to enter the range of her pistol, and she could even feel the gust of wind coming towards her.

"Thump!" The lead crow suddenly stopped flying and plummeted straight down from the sky.

Someone fired a shot? Apart from the dull thud of a crow hitting the ground, Gu Cheng didn't hear any other sounds.

Just as she was puzzled, more crows fell from the sky like dumplings being dropped into a pot, and the ground was instantly stained red with blood.

Gu Cheng silently released the trigger; even if she was stupid, she could tell that someone in the team had activated their ability.

I just don't know what specific ability it is that could turn the concrete road in front of them into a graveyard for crows.

"Bang." A few stragglers arrived late, and Su Wanxi swiftly finished them off with two more shots.

"Keep going." Faced with the horrific scene ahead, she remained unmoved, calmly bypassing the carcasses of crows and leading her team deeper into the devastation.

Looking at the desolate scenery along the way, Gu Cheng couldn't help but feel sad. It was clearly a monster's lair, yet there were traces of human life everywhere, as if she were truly in the end times of human civilization.

After walking for a while, the black fog in the environment seemed to have become even thicker. It was just a faint fog a moment ago, but now it was beginning to obscure her vision. Gu Cheng roughly estimated that her current visibility was no more than twenty meters.

"Does the black fog get thicker the closer we get to our target?" Gu Cheng asked in her mind.

"Yes." "That's right, we're about to face the boss!" The voices came one after the other.

Su Wanxi was concise, while Qin Kexin was more mischievous.

Having received the answer, Gu Cheng was no longer as nervous as before. From the moment they entered the crevice until now, every monster, no matter what kind, would stop about five meters away from the team members, as if bound in place and unable to move. Occasionally, a few strong ones would struggle to crawl forward, only to be finished off by Zhou Li with a single strike.

Gu Cheng and Qin Kexin didn't fire a single shot the whole time; it felt like they were just there to go through the motions.

"Don't let your guard down," Zhou Li kindly reminded Qin Kexin as she strolled leisurely.

"I know you'll help me anyway~" The latter leaned closer to Zhou Li, her tone somewhat coquettish.

Well, listening to the conversation on the channel, Gu Cheng realized that she could also part-time as a dog food eater.

"We've arrived. Check everyone's condition." Su Wanxi stopped in front of an abandoned building.

A steady stream of black energy poured out from the cracks in the doors and windows, and one could feel the intense malice emanating from it even through the walls.

Su Wanxi changed to a new magazine, burst through the door, and warily surveyed her surroundings, gun in hand. The hall was covered in dust and cobwebs, yet the air was unusually humid and smelled of decay.

A strange sound, distinct from footsteps, echoed in the silent space.

There were sounds coming from all directions; was there more than one target? Gu Cheng took a flashlight and searched around for the direction of the sounds.

"It's right above us!" The moment Gu Cheng received the message from the team, she pointed her flashlight at the roof.

It was a giant spider, its entire body clinging to the ceiling. Its large abdomen was covered with strange patterns, and its six pairs of strong appendages were deeply embedded in the wall, with sharp claws covered with tufts of sticky hairs.

It had already awakened, but was observing its prey from the rooftop. Sensing the light, it revealed its face and let out a cackling laugh.

It was a human face, ashen-colored, with a completely cracked mouth, a sunken nose, and eyes filled with green liquid.

Gu Cheng suppressed his discomfort and raised the revolver in his hand.

She would rather see a monster on that spider's body than see such a realistic human face.

Section 12, Chapter Twelve: The Little Spider

Gu Cheng pulled the trigger, and the bullet sparked as it struck the giant spider's leg.

"Gah gah..." Unable to even break through the spider's defensive shell, the expression on the human face became even more distorted, while a hoarse laugh was emitted, as if mocking the prey's overestimation of its abilities.

"Attack its head or abdomen." Su Wanxi's clear voice echoed in his mind, and Gu Cheng raised his pistol again.

Her shot was aimed at the giant spider's head, but due to her limited shooting accuracy, she failed to hit a vital spot.

The giant spider seemed to know what they were thinking; it suddenly pulled its appendages out of the crack in the wall, its steel-like legs supporting its body as it moved. Despite its enormous size, its speed did not decrease.

The ceiling of the room had been in disrepair for many years and could not withstand such a strong movement, so a lot of dust fell off it.

Inside the space, black mist and dust intertwined, making it impossible to see only blurry spider shadows or aim at vital points.

All team members huddled together spontaneously, constantly on guard against attacks from the darkness.

Hmm? It's that strange feeling again, just like Qin Kexin did back then. Gu Cheng felt like something had entered her mind.

This time it wasn't as gentle as before; before she could even think, she was forcibly connected.

My body felt lighter, and all my movements became more agile.

They weren't enemies... Gu Cheng realized this, but she still didn't let her guard down.

"Bang." Su Wanxi fired her gun. Her target wasn't the giant spider, but the opaque window in the room.