Justin Alexander sat in the church, folded his fists, bowed his head and prayed to God.
He is a devout believer. As long as there is no game weekend, he would rather give up training and come to this church to worship.
The sound of footsteps approached from far away. Alexander opened his eyes and saw that the priest he was familiar with had already approached.
Alexander had known the priest since he was a child. At that time, the priest was still a middle-aged man, but now, the priest has become a gray-haired old man.
"My child, you look confused. Have you encountered any difficulties?" the priest asked.
"I have done some wrong things before, and I want to ask God for forgiveness." Alexander said.
"As long as you sincerely repent, God will forgive you." The priest's deep voice sounded.
Alexander raised his head: "Father, my suspension period will end soon, and I plan to return to the game."
"That's good, kid. You are still young. You have a lot to do when you return to the game. I just hope you won't make the same mistake as last time this time." The priest said as he sat next to Alexander.
"But I couldn't find a suitable coach." Alexander sighed, and then said: "I contacted several famous coaches, but they all rejected me. As you know, I was arrested for doping. During the suspension, I once touched a taboo that athletes should not touch."
"My child, the matter is over. I don't think you will use stimulants again in the future, right?" the priest asked.
"Of course, I will never touch that kind of thing again in my life." Alexander said decisively.
"My child, it seems that you have found the path to salvation. Believe in yourself. God will not abandon you, so don't give up. Keep moving forward. God will give you guidance. Maybe a miracle will happen in the next moment. Show up." The priest said, crossing himself on his chest, and then patted Alexander on the shoulder: "Son, I will give you a personal suggestion. If you feel a lot of pressure, you can find a place to release it. Maybe You’ll feel better.”
…
In front of the gate of a building, Dai Li carefully looked at a promotional sticker. The sticker showed the floor plan of the building. At the top of the sticker were the letters "Holly Shooting Club" and a photo of the Holly couple.
This is the Hawleys' shooting gallery.
Next to him, Holly pointed to the floor plan and introduced: "The shooting gallery is divided into three parts. The one on the right is the indoor shooting range, the one in the back is the outdoor shooting range, and the one on the left is the shooting sports training hall."
"Both the indoor and outdoor shooting ranges shoot live ammunition, and the shooting sports training hall uses competition sports firearms. There are some shooting halls in the United States where you must have a firearms license before you can shoot live ammunition, and my shooting hall , as long as you are over 21 years old, you can practice live ammunition shooting; if you are over 18 years old but under 21 years old, you can only use pistols; if you are under 18 years old, you can only go to the shooting sports training center to shoot sports rifles. Come on, let’s go in.”
Holly led Dai Li into the shooting gallery. There were introductions to various firearms posted on the wall. Each gun was a one-to-one life-size display picture, including the name, caliber and manufacturer of the gun, as well as relevant information. Some knowledge of firearms.
There is a price list prominently displayed on the front, which shows the price of each type of gun rental.
Next to him, Holly continued to introduce: "In my shooting gallery, customers can bring their own guns, but most people still choose to rent guns. I have many classic guns here that cannot be bought in Wal-Mart and ordinary gun stores. Arrived."
It is very easy to buy a gun in the United States. There are more than 50,000 legal gun stores in the United States, which is about the same number as Shaxian snacks in China. In addition to gun stores, there are also areas dedicated to selling guns in Wal-Mart supermarkets. In addition, the United States holds more than 5,000 gun shows a year, where you can find some rare or classic guns.
For ordinary people, most people hold pistols and shotguns, and few people hold long guns such as submachine guns, automatic rifles, or machine guns. In fact, from the perspective of self-defense, a pistol is enough, and the price of the pistol is also cheap, you can buy it for three to four hundred dollars.
If these ordinary people want to get addicted to guns, it is obviously very cost-effective to rent a long gun from a shooting gallery. Firearms are not something that is commonly used, so it is cost-effective to rent them once in a while. This is like going to a ski resort. Although ski equipment is not expensive, few people bring their own ski equipment. They all rent ski equipment.
Dai Li looked at the price list. Firearms are divided into three types according to type. The first type is pistols, which rent for 25 US dollars each; the second type is semi-automatic rifles, which also rent for 25 US dollars each; and the third type is machine guns. Class, the rent is $50 a piece.
This price includes a certain number of bullets. For example, if you rent an SKS semi-automatic rifle for $25, you will get 10 rounds of ammunition as a gift. If you rent a UZI submachine gun for $50, you will get 50 rounds of ammunition as a gift. Of course, the 9 mm caliber bullets used in UZI submachine guns are much cheaper than the 7.62 bullets used in SKS semi-automatic rifles.
When the free bullets are finished, you have to spend money to buy bullets yourself. Bullets of different calibers have different prices, but what is certain is that the price of bullets in the shooting gallery is definitely more expensive than those sold in Wal-Mart supermarkets.
In addition, the price list also includes advertisements for VIP discounts. For example, the cheapest one is a VIP worth 499 US dollars, which can rent guns 11 times, and also gives away an M249 machine gun or Deggarev machine gun, an MP5 submachine gun, an M4 or AK47 rifle, two pistols and a semi-automatic rifle . In total, it costs $499 to rent the gun 17 times. The relatively high-priced VIP discount of 799 US dollars can rent a gun 42 times in total. The average price of renting a gun is less than 20 US dollars, which is much more cost-effective than renting a gun alone.
In addition to VIP discounts, there are also some gun rental packages. Some packages are relatively useless. For example, the discount price for renting two pistols is 40 US dollars. In Li Dai's opinion, it is not worth the money to come to a professional shooting range to experience shooting with two pistols. Perhaps only young people who are over 18 but under 21 will choose this package.
Of course, there are also some popular gun combinations, such as a package called "We Win World War II", which is a combination of a Thompson submachine gun and an MP40 submachine gun. The original price costs $50 to rent, but the package only costs $44.9. Although these two guns are very old, they are both classic submachine guns during World War II and are very popular among shooting enthusiasts. There is also a "U.S. military package", which includes an M9 pistol, an M4 rifle and an M249 machine gun, a full set of U.S. military standard equipment, which is also a very popular package.
In addition to the price of renting a gun and buying bullets, it also costs money to rent a shooting range. The shooting range at the indoor shooting range costs 30 US dollars per hour, while the shooting range at the outdoor shooting range is more expensive, at 50 US dollars per hour. There is also a charge for the target paper of the gun target. This charge is mainly the labor price of replacing the target paper. After all, this is the United States, and as long as the work is done by humans, there is an extra charge.
If you are at an outdoor shooting range, you will also have to pay for the target equipment. For example, setting up a row of wine bottles, or getting a few human-shaped gun targets, or placing a watermelon and an apple hanging from the target, all of these have clearly marked prices.
Dai Li looked at the price list and began to make an estimate in his mind.
"Normally, when you buy a gun in a gun store, a pistol costs about 300 to 500 US dollars, and a long gun costs more than 1,000 US dollars. If you buy it directly from the manufacturer at a gun show, the price may be cheaper. Some. Based on the rental price of 25 US dollars, excluding the cost of free bullets, a long gun only needs to be rented out more than 60 times to repay the money. People who come here to play will not just rent a gun, otherwise it will not be enough. Under normal circumstances, it is normal for one person to rent two guns for the price of the range, so the usage rate of the guns is still very high."
"The fees for this shooting range are also huge. It just provides a venue, and the maintenance fee is minimal, but it charges dozens of dollars an hour. It's like opening an Internet cafe. Not only does it charge for using a computer to access the Internet, it also takes up a computer desk. There are also charges for the area. This 'two-way charge' is really fun. After all, it costs at least 200 US dollars to play here for two hours. Lakers game tickets only cost 200 US dollars for a front row seat. How many dollars, right? No wonder Blake told me before that the shooting gallery in Holly can make millions a year. How can it not make money with such a charging method? .”
Holly brought Dai Li to the counter. There were various firearms on the shelves behind the counter. Inside the counter were three staff members, one man and two women. All three of them also had pistols on their waists.
"Coach Li, just pick whatever gun you want to play with." Holly pointed to the guns on the shelf.
Dai Li looked at the gun rack with a confused expression. He probably only recognized half of these guns, and they had played with them in the game. He had never touched even the classic rifles in the game such as AK47 and M4. real thing.
"Well, to be honest, I don't have a gun certificate, so I haven't used a real gun." Dai Li had no choice but to answer honestly.
"I almost forgot, you are not an American!" Holly then realized.
For adult Americans, those who have never touched a gun are alien. There are more than 300 million people in the United States, but there are 270 million guns. If you exclude minors under the age of 21, there is an average of one gun per person, so there is still a surplus. Nearly everyone among adults knows how to use a gun.
"In that case, let me help you choose." Holly picked up the pen and gun selection list, then pointed at a silver pistol on the gun rack and said, "This M500 revolver is the most powerful in the world. The largest pistol, the kinetic energy of the bullet fired is twice that of the famous Desert Eagle, which can almost reach the kinetic energy of a high-power rifle. The weight of the entire gun without bullets is 2.32 kilograms, which is close to a light submachine gun."
"That is a Thompson submachine gun. You must have heard of this gun. It was the favorite weapon of the Chicago gangsters in the 1920s. The bursts of this gun are very exciting. The 'click-click' rhythm made him win Nicknamed 'Chicago Typewriter'."
"The M4 rifle, the main battle rifle of the US military, is also the most stable rifle of the US military. It uses .223 Remington bullets, which is also the most common rifle bullet in the United States..."
"Wait a minute, I remember that the M4 rifle should use 5.56 mm bullets." Dai Li interrupted Holly's introduction.
"The 5.56 mm bullet is NATO's standard bullet. It is mainly used in the military. The military only uses that type. The civilian .223 bullet is used in the shooting range. For ordinary people, the difference between the two is not very big." Huo Huo Lee pointed to the AK47 next to him and continued: "AK47, the king of spears, you must not miss this gun."
"You must experience the SPAS-12 multi-function shotgun. This is the most common shotgun in Hollywood movies, such as "Terminator" and "Jurassic Park"... "
"M249 machine gun... Well, let's forget about the machine gun for now. I'll go to the outdoor shooting range later and show you my big baby. It's definitely much better than the M249."
…
Regular live-fire target shooting is completely different from playing shooting games. When playing games, you can click the mouse and fire thirty rounds of bullets in a few seconds. When shooting with live ammunition, you will definitely not play like that. You will aim at the target honestly and fire in bursts. If you aim carefully with each shot, thirty rounds of bullets will be enough for a long time. What's more, Dai Li is still a beginner, and his shooting speed is even slower.
After playing at the indoor shooting range for more than an hour, Holly took Dai Li to the outdoor shooting range, and Dai Li also saw the "big baby" that Holly called.
This gun was placed on a shelf, with six shiny black steel pipes, which made people feel chilling. Although Dai Li's understanding of guns was limited to games, he still recognized this gun at a glance.
"Gatling gun!" Dai Li couldn't help but say.
As the world's first practical machine gun, the Gatling gun is indeed famous enough. More importantly, this gun is easy to identify. The barrels tied together are the biggest feature of the Gatling gun. Just one look and it's hard to forget.
"I've never seen this thing in advertisements outside." Dai Li said as he couldn't help but step forward and touch the Gatling gun.
"This is a good thing that you can only enjoy after purchasing VIP." Holly took out a hard-covered manual from somewhere and continued: "The contents in this manual are exclusive to VIPs here. They are all rare goods. I They were not listed in the price list.”
"In other words, what is inside is the essence of your place?" Li Dai asked.
"Yes, you can understand it that way. All the guns in this manual were bought by me at gun shows and can hardly be found in ordinary gun stores." Holly said, opening the first page of the manual and pointing. One of the very long sniper rifles, then said: "I strongly recommend this one to you, the Barrett 12.7mm sniper rifle. This gun can penetrate light armor, shoot down helicopters, and even destroy a Bomba." Dee light passenger plane. This gun is the most lethal weapon that the American people can obtain legally. Because it is so powerful, this gun is banned for sale in some areas. Many large gun stores will use this gun as a The treasure of the store.”
"Those legendary killers used this thing, right?" Dai Li asked.
"I don't know about that." Holly shook his head and continued: "Actually, buying this gun requires special registration. Every gun owner is registered, and the price of this gun is very high. High, it will cost more to add accessories, and 12.7mm bullets are also very expensive. Except for gun collectors, only shooting clubs will buy this kind of thing."
While Holly was talking, a tall staff member came over carrying a military green box.
"Boss, the bullets are here." The big man asked.
"Thank you, Jim, just put the bullets here." After finishing speaking, Holly turned his head and continued to say to Dai Li: "This is a whole box of bullets I prepared specially for you."
"So many, I'm a beginner, how long will it last?" Dai Li asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"These are Gatling bullets. Although a box looks like a lot, for a Gatling gun, it can be shot in a few minutes. Since you are playing with a Gatling gun, of course you need boxes of bullets. It’s so refreshing!”
…
The barrel of Gatling's gun has become hot, and the various targets in the distance have already become shattered.
It feels really good to use a Gatling gun to shoot an entire box of bullets in a few minutes.
Later, Dai Li fired the Barrett sniper rifle very slowly, aiming carefully with every shot. The cost of 12.7mm bullets is already very high. Pulling the trigger and firing a bullet costs forty or fifty dollars. It’s gone.
At this moment, the big man who had moved the bullet box hurried over and whispered something in Holly's ear.
"Is there such a thing? Okay, I'll be there right away." Holly said.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Li Dai put down the gun in his hand.
"We have a guest who seems to have some questions," Holly replied.
"Is there someone who doesn't want to pay? Could it be that someone is making trouble? You don't have anything else but a lot of guns, a whole arsenal. I estimate that the guns you have here are enough to form a company. I don't believe that anyone dares to attack you. There is trouble here." Li Dai said.
"There is a guy who seems to be on drugs, or someone I know. I have to go and have a look. According to the law, drug addicts, mentally ill people and wanted criminals are not allowed to shoot live ammunition at the shooting range. You first Play by yourself, I'll come as soon as I go." Holly said
"I won't fight either. Shooting for several hours in a row is quite tiring." Dai Li stood up and shook his shoulders. Even though it was placed on the ground, the recoil of Barrett's sniper rifle still made his arms numb.
"Well, you go to the lounge to have a cup of coffee first, and I'll come back after I deal with the customer." After finishing speaking, Holly turned and left.
…
"Dududududu..."
Alexander set up the M249 machine gun and fired at the target in the distance. The sixty bullets in the bullet box were quickly used by Alexander.
"It's not satisfying!" Alexander looked down at the plastic basket where the bullets were placed. All the bullets he bought had been used up.
After Justin Alexander left the church, he decided to follow the pastor's advice and find a place to relieve stress. He happened to drive by Holly's shooting gallery, so Alexander decided to go to the shooting gallery to shoot a few shots to relieve his emotions.
Alexander's behavior has long attracted the attention of the clerk at the shooting gallery. When others come to the shooting gallery to shoot, they all aim and shoot, but Alexander does not care about anything, presses the trigger and fires in a burst, and The expression looked ferocious and hysterical, which made the clerks involuntarily vigilant. They suspected that Alexander had taken drugs.
There are a lot of shootings in the United States, especially when some drug addicts have hallucinations in their minds and don’t know what they are doing. This kind of irrational drug addicts have guns in their hands and shoot at the crowd. It’s not like it didn’t happen. But Alexander was a well-known celebrity. Considering the impact, the clerk didn't feel comfortable going up for questioning directly, so he simply informed Holly.
At this time, Alexander did not know that his behavior of venting stress was regarded by the clerk as a dangerous person. He continued to look at the empty bullet belt and said to himself: "I have to buy more bullets."
At this moment, someone from a distance walked towards Alexander.
"It's Adam Hawley!" Alexander recognized Hawley at a glance.
Alexander and Holly are both well-known athletes in the United States, and they have also participated in the Olympic Games together as a competitor for the United States team. The two naturally know each other. It's just that the relationship between the two is limited to mutual acquaintance, and there is no deep communication.
After all, shooting and track and field are two completely unrelated sports. There is little chance for athletes to meet each other. Even in the Olympic Games, shooting is one of the first events to start competing, while track and field is one of the first sports to be competed in the Olympic Games. The race only started in the middle stage. When Holly finished the race and returned home, the sprint race on Alexander's side had not yet started. It was even less likely that the two of them had much interaction, so they could not be considered acquaintances.
"Hey, Justin, I didn't expect you to come to my place." Holly put on a smile, but was actually observing Alexander carefully, trying to tell whether Alexander had taken drugs.
As a shooter, Holly has very good eyesight and can clearly see Alexander's appearance from a long distance. Alexander's vision was clear and his mental state seemed normal, not like he was under the influence of drugs.
"Adam, long time no see. I heard that you won the World Championship again. Congratulations." Alexander said.
Holly walked up to Alexander. He was still smiling, but his eyes were always fixed on Alexander, trying to confirm Alexander's current mental state.
"It doesn't look like he's under the influence of drugs, but he can't be careless. If he really takes drugs and then shoots targets, my shooting gallery will also be punished by the government. It's better not to let him continue shooting." Holly Thinking of this, he said: "Justin, you seem to have run out of bullets. Why don't you take a break first and go to my lounge for a cup of coffee. I also bought a batch of fine Cuban cigars."
"Okay, then I'd rather be respectful than obey." Alexander nodded and agreed.
…
In the lounge, Dai Li stood by the window with a cup of hot coffee and looked out, only to see Holly and a black man appear in his sight.
"That person is the client that Holly mentioned before. He is a black man. He looks very strong, like an athlete. Well, he seems familiar. Have I seen him there?"
Dai Li thought for more than ten seconds and finally recognized Alexander.
"If I read it correctly, this black man should be the number one flyer in the United States that year, Justin Alexander!"
When he was in China, Dai Li also worked as a track and field coach, so he was familiar with internationally renowned track and field athletes. When Alexander became famous, Dai Li happened to be in the national track and field team, so Dai Li recognized him after careful identification. Alexander.
"I remember that a few years ago, when Gittel had not retired, Alexander was second only to Gittel among sprinters. His personal best was 9.78 seconds, which was the same as Gittel's world record. Of course there is a huge difference, but he is the only active athlete, other than Gittel, who can run under 9.80 seconds. This guy should also be an S-level athlete. But I haven’t seen him in the past few years. Show up on the field.”
Thinking of this, Dai Li took out his mobile phone and searched for information about Alexander on the search engine. He soon saw the news that Alexander had been suspended.
"It turned out to be because of doping. He was banned by the International Olympic Committee. No wonder I haven't heard from him for several years."
…
Alexander walked into the lounge and happened to see Dai Li.
"This man looks very familiar. I should have seen him before. By the way, this is the Chinese coach Li. I even went to see his training center's website."
"I remember that Coach Li also knew how to train track and field, and he also trained 'Blade Runner' Philip. It is incredible to make a disabled person who has lost his legs faster than a normal person."
"Wait a minute, the priest told me that God will give me guidance, and then I met this Coach Li. Is this God's guidance?"