Chapter 336 - Tricked!
Seeing this, a lieutenant general with two stars on his shoulder, the person in charge here, immediately instructed medical specialists to step forward and check on the men. Two medical professionals in white coats, each holding a small portable instrument, went over respectively to one of the virtual pods.
The instruments were soon connected to the men lying inside the pods. Looking at the data reflected by the instrument, the expressions of the two experts became darker and darker. In the end, they could only stand up, shaking their heads, and tell everyone that the brains of the two people in the pods were completely destroyed. In medical terms, brain death. Even though their hearts were still beating, they were actually already dead.
"How can this be? They are elites from our bureau. They cannot be dead. You must have made a mistake." Hearing the professionals' declaration, a major general of around 40 years of age could not help but point fingers.
"Wilson, calm down!" The lieutenant general barked, shocking Major General Wilson out of his rage. He squatted down with his hands around his head, muttering uncontrollably under his breath, "What in the world could have happened? Why are Pete and Carter dead? Could it be that the Huaxia Federation has discovered our plot?"
"Didn't D1 say that everything was going well?" As if thinking of something, Wilson suddenly jerked his head up to stare sharply at someone in the crowd. It was a middle-aged man who was also at the rank of major general.
"Although D1's group has successfully infiltrated the virtual world of the Huaxia Federation, there are many limitations. We cannot transmit any messages, and so can only wait for them to send someone back to find out anything about what's going on. The latest news we have is from two days ago, when they suspected that the Huaxia Federation had sent someone over to investigate. In order to ensure the success of the plan, they requested the help of some spectres ..." That major general was frowning as he gave a brief explanation to Wilson.
Major General Wilson wanted to retort, but at this moment, the lieutenant general walked over and patted him on the shoulder in comfort and said, "Even though Pete and Carter are dead, this does not mean the project will not succeed. For the Empire, some sacrifices are necessary. Let us wait another 5 minutes and we will know what the results are."
The lieutenant general's words of consolation made Wilson stop talking, merely waiting patiently for these final 5 minutes to pass. He too wished that the project would succeed so that Pete's and Carter's sacrifice would become worthwhile.
********
Meanwhile, in the virtual world, D2, who was holding the fort in the secret research centre of the Swift Dragon base, saw the two mecha teams he sent finally manage to stall the invading enemy at the central square of the base. He temporarily relaxed but kept a close eye on the surveillance monitors of the central square to observe the situation between the two fighting parties, and he did not forget to ask his subordinate hacker about the progress of the evolution of the T-virus.
As the time ticked closer and closer to the completion stage, while that invading mecha team still continued to tussle with the two mecha teams of the secret base, only then did D2's heart finally settle ...
After this period of fighting, six of the nine mecha which had snuck in had already been taken down, while there were only five more mecha left from the two mecha teams sent. Both sides were scarred from the battle. D2 did not care. After all, the mecha teams protecting the secret base were all the original mecha teams from the Swift Dragon base and had nothing at all to do with them.
D2 only cared about whether the mecha teams could complete their task of holding back the invading mecha until the T-virus was successfully cultivated. And now, it looked like the mecha teams were performing pretty well, successfully completing the task they had been assigned.
At this time, even if the other party managed to finish off these final five mecha, they would no longer have time to rush over and stop their operation. The scene of him becoming the primary hero of the Empire rose in his mind's eye. He was receiving the Supreme Medal of Honour from the Great Emperor and enjoying the frenzied adoration of his fellow countrymen in front of the House of Parliament ...
********
In another hidden room, the two spectres who had been fighting all this while with Li Lanfeng were already panting heavily with exhaustion. They had almost used up all of their spectre power but still had not been able to break the other's defences.
"What's going on? Why is the opponent getting stronger as we fight? At first, there would still be some fluctuations in his defensive power, even some openings. Why has it become so strong and impenetrable from half an hour before? We've been attacking for so long and there's no effect at all?" Carter asked Pete who was beside him as he panted. This truly did not adhere to the common sense of spectre battles.
Pete initially had not thought much about it, but when he heard Carter's question, a jolt ran through his heart. He was just about to say something when his heart began to pound in a warning from their spectre abilities. Their faces changed drastically and they hurried to pull back the spectre power they were using to fight the opponent, but it was too late.
A powerful, overwhelming surge of energy wrapped their spectre powers completely and then pulverised it. They could only hear their own spiritual power being squeezed like a water balloon and then there was a pop ... and then there was no more.
No one saw as their bodies became tiny particles slowly dissipating into the air. This meant that their consciousness had been successfully erased.
"Boss, mission complete!" Little Four reported smugly to Ling Lan after returning to Ling Lan's mindspace.
In fact, from half an hour ago, Little Four had silently begun intercepting the attacks of the two men. Li Lanfeng had been rather baffled by this, wondering why those two spectres attacking him had suddenly disappeared. Because Little Four's energy was too powerful yet very hard to detect, Li Lanfeng did not discover the truth.
Ling Lan rubbed Little Four's head in satisfaction and looked towards the doors, asking, "Little Four, is this the place?"
"Yup, they're right inside. I sensed a familiar energy from inside. If Boss had not stopped me from going in, I would have long gone to find out what that energy is," grumbled Little Four.
"I'll bring you in immediately and you'll finally find out what the final answer for this mission is." Ling Lan instructed Little Four to prepare to open the door. Right then, Ling Lan had already stowed away her mecha, while the other eight members of her team, who had similarly put away their mecha, were hiding behind both sides of the door. They were already holding onto their own laser weapons, prepared to rush in at first notice to take control of the situation inside instantly.
"4 minutes and 30 seconds to go for the T-virus to mature," said that hacker subordinate who had been in charge of cultivating the T-virus all this while, sounding pleasantly surprised as he looked at the data reflected on the screen. Previously, they could only make rough estimates, but now, they could really determine the exact time the T-virus would be born.
When D2 and D3 heard this news, they instantly ran excitedly to the screen monitoring the cultivation of the T-virus to wait together for the last four minutes or so till the T-virus came into the world. Right then, the doors which had been shut tightly all this time were suddenly flung open. Before they could even react, a team of warriors dressed in night combat clothes suddenly charged into the room with short laser handguns aimed at them, shouting, "Don't move!"
There were a few people in the room who had quick reflexes — they were just about to pull their own guns when the well-prepared opponents shot them in the arm, preventing their resistance. D2 saw that they had no chance at all, and so indicated for everyone to calm down.
The situation was very quickly controlled. At this moment, crisp footsteps could be heard coming from the doorway and then a person with a cool demeanour surrounded by cold air walked through it. His cold gaze swept dispassionately over them and actually made their hearts quiver unexpectedly.
"Boss, task complete!" Qi Long waved his laser handgun excitedly at Ling Lan. Whether it was in the real world or here in the virtual world, they would never lack for this kind of thrilling battle following Boss. Qi Long felt that he had truly fallen in love with this type of exciting lifestyle.
D2 saw the final person who walked in and knew that he had been tricked, because this person was that strongest mecha warrior still fighting with the mecha teams of the base on the monitor screens right now.
D2 and D3 reflexively glanced at each other, knowing that they needed to delay. Even if they all died here, they needed to complete their mission.
"Who are you people? What are you doing here?" Turning back to face the invaders, D2 pretended he knew nothing and acted just like an NPC would, asking in a shocked manner.
He only received silence in response, however, as Qi Long and the others naturally would not say much with their boss around. As for Ling Lan, right then, her attention had been pulled away by Little Four in the mindspace.
The moment she had entered this hidden room, Little Four had suddenly become extremely excited and had actually ignored her original warnings to run out. In the virtual world, Little Four could roam freely, unlike in the real world where he could only follow Ling Lan.
One second later, Little Four returned, his expression pleased and surprised, and he could not conceal his excitement as he said, "Boss, I've discovered something great!"
"Oh? What is it?" asked Ling Lan calmly.
"Boss, it's incredible. I never expected this world to actually have such a thing." Little Four's expression was dreamy. Till now, he could not comprehend why this thing would appear here. Logically, with this world's technology, this thing should never be here.
"What in the world is this thing?" Ling Lan sweatdropped. This Little Four seemed to be so astounded by this thing that he was ungrounded, completely out of sorts.
"It's a type of virus, right over there. They seem to be in the process of cultivating it. This type of virus is really too famous in our Mandora star system. Back then it almost destroyed our great virtual world and killed off all of us intelligence entities. Luckily, we had a powerful mainframe computer so in the end we managed to resolve the situation." Little Four's proud tone had a trace of cold fear running through it, as if extremely afraid of that virus.
Ling Lan looked in the direction Little Four had pointed out. D2 and D3 saw Ling Lan's line of sight turn towards the T-virus and were startled. Their bodies jerked involuntarily but they forcefully suppressed the reflex. They were well aware that they could not be too impetuous, or else the other side would become suspicious. They just needed another three minutes or so for the tides to turn and for success to fall to them.
Ling Lan walked over and one of the hackers tried to stop her from approaching. But before he could do anything, he had been pushed aside by Luo Lang who had been following right behind Ling Lan.
Chapter 337 - T-Virus?
Only then did Ling Lan move forwards to find a large display screen before her. On it, countless codes were flashing by swiftly, and right at the top, there was an image of a cocoon. It was pulsing violently like a heart as a string of numbers counted down beside it.
Ling Lan tapped on that image and asked Little Four, "Is this it?"
"Yup, it'll be born in another three minutes or so. I did not expect your technology here to actually be able to cultivate the larvae of this virus. It's truly amazing!" exclaimed Little Four.
"How harmful is this virus?" Ling Lan thought of the computer viruses back in her previous world — those viruses would always cause various kinds of problems for those networks that got infected — and she could not help but ask worriedly.
"It would cause the virtual world here to collapse, but it will still be a baby when it's born and can only do so much. Once it matures, it'll be able to consume some of those people with low spiritual power ..." Little Four told Ling Lan about the harm the virus could cause. "In fact, once matured, it can be called an artificial virtual version of a spectre. As long as someone has less spiritual power than the virus, it will consume them."
"This thing is truly vicious!" Ling Lan's brow furrowed and she slammed a heavy fist onto that image. "It looks like there's an organisation that wants to destroy our virtual world and even kill the people of the Federation ... what is this virus called, and do you have a way to resolve it?"
"We call it the Doomsday Flower on Mandora, because its matured form really resembles a flower," said Little Four proudly, "We successfully cleared it out on Mandora. In my databases, I naturally have the solution for it, not to mention that it still hasn't even been born yet."
"Then help me destroy it completely. This type of malicious virus should not exist in this world," said Ling Lan, tone tinged with revulsion.
"Got it, Boss. I'll handle it immediately." Ling Lan had given her orders, so of course Little Four would carry them out perfectly. In the next second, Little Four had once again disappeared from Ling Lan's mindspace. Ling Lan knew that Little Four must have gone to wipe out that Doomsday Flower virus.
Ling Lan believed in Little Four. Since Little Four said there would be no problems, then there would certainly be nothing to worry about, so she set this matter aside. She walked over to a chair by the side and sat down. Seeing this, Luo Lang automatically moved to stand behind Ling Lan. Li Lanfeng's gaze flickered, and he also walked over ...
He would not hand over the position beside the rabbit to anyone! Li Lanfeng wanted to proclaim this point to everyone from this point onwards.
Ling Lan was not at all concerned over Li Lanfeng's and Luo Lang's actions. Settled in her seat, she tapped on the armrest and suddenly raised her head to look at D2 and asked, "Which faction are you all from?"
When Ling Lan had pounded the image of the cocoon earlier, D2 had been extremely nervous, afraid that the other would notice something and think of a way to destroy it. Although there were still 3 minutes before the virus would be done and D2 did not believe the other side would be able to do anything to destroy the T-virus in this short duration of time, for safety's sake, he still did not wish for the opponent to notice anything.
Now, seeing Ling Lan leave the virus alone to turn around and ask him this insignificant question, his heart relaxed. His mind spun quickly and he decided to chatter aimlessly with the other for a while and distract them in these final three minutes.
Having made up his mind, D2 calmly replied, "I'm of course someone from the Swift Dragon base. Who the hell are you people? Why did you sneak into our base?"
Ling Lan raised an eyebrow and she clapped her hands slowly, saying, "Stop acting. You and I are both real people. Just looking at your outfits I can tell you all are a bunch of hackers. The mainframe already knows something is up here, which is why it sent us over to investigate. I don't want to hear you all say any more nonsense. If you don't want to talk, that's fine, I'm sure I can find someone who's willing to tell me."
At this point, Ling Lan turned her head slightly to the side and said to Li Lanfeng who was standing beside her, "Leopard, if he doesn't want to speak, you can ..." Ling Lan made a swiping motion across her neck.
Li Lanfeng knew what Ling Lan truly meant with this gesture. He definitely wanted him to use his spectre abilities to kill the other party for a cautionary effect.
Beside Qi Long, controlling the scene along with him, Li Shiyu could not help but frown slightly when he saw Ling Lan's gesture towards Li Lanfeng, a sense of aversion rising in his heart. However, he resolutely turned away and hardened his heart. Li Shiyu knew that they could not be merciful with their enemies at this time. And wasn't it the opponent who had sent two spectres to attack them from the start to kill them all? If Li Lanfeng had not been a spectre and protected them, they would probably all be dead by now.
Although Li Shiyu was rather compassionate, he understood well when he could be merciful and when he could not.
Qi Long and the others had no objection to the proceedings — back when they had only been ten, they had already witnessed Ling Lan piloting a mecha to kill enemy mecha operators before their eyes. They had long become accustomed to Ling Lan's ruthlessness, and besides, they had been taught from young that they needed to show no mercy to their enemies.
D2 did not understand the deeper meaning behind Ling Lan's warning. Stubbornly, he shouted, "You thugs, don't expect to make me submit! I will definitely report this to the senior officer and have him send soldiers over to kill you all ..."
At this point of his speech, Ling Lan said nothing, only coolly making the kill gesture to Li Lanfeng.
This was Li Lanfeng's first time killing anyone — whether it was in the real world or in the virtual world, he had never killed anyone before this. Li Lanfeng was under extreme mental pressure, but he did not want the rabbit to be disappointed in him. And so, with a clench of his teeth and a hardening of his heart, he circulated his spectre power and leapt ferociously towards the enemy. As someone who wanted to change his fate, if he could not do something small like this, how could he talk about going against the heavens? Perhaps because he was clenching his teeth so hard, his entire mouth was filled with the stench of blood ...
D2 abruptly felt a powerful surge of energy rolling over him, and his initially vigorous spiritual power was instantly sent scattering under this force.
He saw his own body start to disappear slowly — not in the white light which marked a departure from the virtual world, but in a gradual dissipation into countless tiny particles of light.
He stared in horror at Li Lanfeng, and with his final bit of consciousness, he croaked out, "Spec ..."
After this final utterance, D2's entire being dispersed into the air, instantly vanishing into nothing. At this scene, D3 stumbled a great step backwards in shock and horror. If they had not been invaders and thus were not able to go offline from this Swift Dragon base, they would have definitely chosen to leave this place as soon as they could. This was because, before spectres in the virtual world, they were like a bunch of defenceless children without any ability to fight back.
Ling Lan watched dispassionately as D2 disappeared and then turned to look at D3, asking calmly, "Are you willing to talk? Or perhaps you want to be like him?"
At these words, D3 nodded his head emphatically, showing that he was willing to cooperate. He instinctively looked towards the cultivation area of the T-virus. Due to D2's stalling, he only needed to delay the opponents for another one minute or so and everything would work out. At that time, he would definitely avenge D2.
"Where are you all from?" Ling Lan continued to ask.
D3's gaze flickered and then he answered, "We're from the anti-government freedom army."
"A terrorist organisation?" The corners of Ling Lan's lips curled up in a subtle sneer and she once again gave the kill signal to Li Lanfeng.
D3 shouted out in terror, "I've already answered. Why do you still want to kill me?"
D3's terrified question did not garner Ling Lan's reply. Ling Lan merely flicked her fingers and Li Lanfeng resolutely ran the other over with his spectre power. Swiftly afterwards, D3 followed in D2's footsteps and disappeared from this virtual world. If he were still conscious, he would probably be regretting his decision ...
"Is it possible for a small terrorist organisation to have so much financial and material resources and manpower to cultivate such a terrifying virus?" said Ling Lan coldly. Her gaze turned to that hacker who had been cultivating the T-virus. "Tell me, isn't that so?"
That hacker's face paled at these words. He found that this cold youth before him seemed to know everything — it was a suicidal act trying to deceive the other.
"If you know, why aren't you trying to stop it? In another minute, it'll be born. At that time, the virtual world of the Federation will collapse completely. When you all no longer have a centralised command system, you all will not be able to resist our forces ..." The hacker finally could not help but blurt out in his shock.
"Hn, you're very honest. I like that very much." Ling Lan nodded and continued, "But how would you know that I didn't stop it?"
Ling Lan's words made the hacker's expression change once more, but he quickly calmed down. He just did not believe that the other would have a way to resolve the virus that even they had no way of controlling 1 .
"From what you've said, it proves that you all are from some other country. I just need to look at which countries' troops are moving unusually in real life and I'll have a list of candidates." Ling Lan could almost guess the truth from what the other had inadvertently revealed. "I know you do not believe what I'm saying, so let's do as you wish and just wait for the rest of the time needed for the virus to form. How much time is needed? One minute, or ten more seconds or so?"
"It's 57 seconds," The hacker blurted out.
"Fine, then I'll give you all those 57 seconds. Let us see whether things will turn out as you all have predicted, that our Federation's virtual world will truly be ruined by that virus," replied Ling Lan evenly.
Seeing Ling Lan's composed attitude, the emotion named panic inevitably rose within the hacker's heart. Did the opponent truly have a solution to this virus? No, they had researched so hard for 16 years before succeeding by chance just once. Even they themselves had not been able to develop a solution — how could the oblivious Huaxia Federation 1 have the ability to stop the evolution of the T-virus?
Fifty-seven seconds went by quickly. The T-virus the hackers had been eagerly anticipating did not bring any effect — the virtual world they were in did not change in any way and was still functioning normally.
That hacker could not help but lunge to stand before the screen of the cultivation area. There, he found that the original flashing codes and the cocoon image which represented the T-virus had already disappeared. The screen was a white blank, as if the T-virus they had cultivated had never existed in the first place.
"What happened? How could the T-virus fail? This is impossible, impossible ..." The hacker could not stop himself from shouting. Sixteen years of painstaking research, sixteen years of long days and sleepless nights, and in the end, all of it was but a dream ... when they woke up, there was nothing there. He just could not accept it; his emotions were thrust into instant turmoil.
1. T/C: Wow. Can I just say how stupid it is to release a virus you do not even have the cure/solution for out into the world? Hmm... is the separation of the virtual worlds of separate nations so absolute that this is not a concern?
2. 华夏: Ok, I'm changing the name of the 'Chinese Federation' to the 'Huaxia Federation' in line with its base pinyin. I had originally translated it as 'Chinese Federation' because 'huaxia' is an older way of referring to China/Chinese. But it's getting a bit too confusing for my liking in the recent chapters. I use the word 'Chinese' rather often in footnotes explaining context in terms of real world Chinese culture, so it throws me off that the the people in the story are called 'Chinese' too. I find myself flailing and thinking 'the chinese I am saying in this footnote is not the chinese mentioned in the text but the REAL chinese'. @.@ It's like how the Japanese in this novel world are not the Japanese in the real world but Twilightians. Retroactive edits will be made. You can help by notifying me on discord about any unchanged instances in previous chapters if you come across them.
Chapter 338 - Confession!
"So worked up? He really won't be a very good source of information then. Since he's useless now, then let's send him off on his final journey," said Ling Lan lightly to Li Lanfeng, turning back to look at him.
Li Lanfeng, who had already killed two people, was rather numb by now. Receiving Ling Lan's order, he did not even stop to think — once more he unleashed his spectre power and obliterated this hacker.
The other hackers saw how cold and ruthless the other side was, clearly showing themselves as the type of people who would kill without batting an eye. In addition, the T-virus they had pinned so much hope on had mysteriously vanished, so their hearts had abruptly lost a major supporting pillar. Consequently, quite a few men actually could not help but slump to the ground.
"Now we can have a proper inquiry. Qi Long, bring the others to me one by one for me to ask them some questions, and then we can compare their answers. Anyone who dares to lie, we'll kill ..." Ling Lan's sharp gaze swept over the dozen or so hackers present and gave Qi Long her orders.
Qi Long acknowledged the order and asked the other members of their team to separate the hackers to begin the one-on-one questioning, preventing them from having any chance of colluding. At this time, one of the hackers suddenly turned his head to look at Ling Lan and asked, "If we tell the truth, can you guarantee that we will live?"
These words made the eyes of the remaining hackers light up, and they turned nervously to stare at Ling Lan, anticipating her reply.
Ling Lan glanced coolly at the other and the corners of her lips tilted up slightly. This noncommittal half-smile made these hackers feel a chill permeate their hearts ...
Ling Lan tapped her fingers against the armrest. Each tap prompted the hearts of these hackers to jump violently in response, till Ling Lan finally said, "If you all want to live ... that all depends on how you all perform." That said, she did not give the hackers any other chances to speak. With a wave of her right hand, she motioned for Qi Long and the others to continue their questioning.
Seeing Qi Long and the others begin to busy themselves with their assigned task, Li Lanfeng, who was standing beside Ling Lan, did not go over to help. He leaned over and asked Ling Lan quietly, "If they all really speak the truth, are we really going to let them go?"
Ling Lan raised her eyebrows and asked, "What do you think?"
Li Lanfeng frowned and replied, "Letting them go just feels wrong somehow. But we also have no way to keep them here forever ..."
Ling Lan pinched her left index finger reflexively with her right hand, her gaze shadowed with deep darkness. In the end, a gleam of ruthlessness flashed through her eyes and she said decisively, "They'll need to remain here forever ... I cannot let them take any information about us back with them!" Ling Lan knew well that this decision of hers was extremely harsh and brutal, meaning the end of the lives of these dozen or so people right here. These people might not have done any great harm to the world and were perhaps just common soldiers who were loyal to their home country. However, in order to protect these members who followed her, she could not avoid but be an executioner now.
Ling Lan was well aware that their appearances had been modified by Little Four to look different from their original forms. However, even so, she was not confident that this could withstand the intensive investigation of a nation, or perhaps even that of many nations — there was always the possibility she might miss something. She could not let crisis befall her companions.
Ling Lan's words shook Li Lanfeng badly. He understood what Ling Lan was trying to say — whether or not the other party cooperated, Ling Lan was going to kill them.
Li Lanfeng was a smart person — he instantly understood why Ling Lan had made this decision. They were still a group of cadets. Right now, they were now still extremely weak and vulnerable. Without the protection of the military, if they were discovered by the enemy, their final outcome would inevitably be death. Regardless of which country these people were from, they could not let these people go. Moreover, they also could not take the initiative to request Federation military protection. If the Federation learned of their existence, especially about him, Li Lanfeng, the government would certainly never allow him to continue living freely on the outside. Spectres were not allowed to be free of the military's control.
Li Lanfeng knew very well that if not for him, Ling Lan could have just reported this matter to the Federation military. The outstanding performance of Ling Lan's team this time would definitely amaze the military; this group of prodigies were sure to shine in the future. Entering the military system early to be given focused cultivation by the military, the futures of Ling Lan's team would only become better and not worse. It could be deduced that Ling Lan had given up on the honours and resources within easy reach, choosing to conceal this matter instead, all because of him, Li Lanfeng.
Li Lanfeng's heart felt a little hot. Looking at the cold as ice and seemingly emotionless Ling Lan who was actually very kind, his heart, which had initially been wavering at the thought of having to kill so many people, became instantly steady. The rabbit was willing to bear this sin for him ... then how could he be so weak?
"Leave it to me." The hesitation in Li Lanfeng's gaze was swept away and a savage light silently surfaced within his eyes. He could not let the rabbit's consideration go to waste. In terms of ruthlessness and decisiveness, he was still too far from the rabbit. If he wanted to become a companion who could fight beside the rabbit, he would need to make his heart become much fiercer and harder.
Li Lanfeng's reply made Ling Lan raise her eyebrows, a trace of surprise flashing through her eyes. Ling Lan knew very well that this was Li Lanfeng's first time killing people, because when he had killed the first man, she had clearly seen Li Lanfeng clench his fists tightly, and she had even heard the other bite down so hard that his teeth sounded like they would break.
Ling Lan had thought that Li Lanfeng would need a period of psychological adjustment. Even she herself, when she had killed someone for the first time in the learning space, had almost broken down mentally and had thrown up almost all of her guts ...
However, the treatment provided by the learning space was not psychological counselling but endless slaughter. It made you kill until you were numb to it. Every time Ling Lan thought back on this, she could not help but feel some lingering fear and silently rejoice that she had been mentally strong enough, that she had not been driven insane by the torment.
Ling Lan's initial plan was to let Little Four wrap things up and kill all of these people after she had led the team away from this place. However, when Li Lanfeng had taken the initiative to ask about Ling Lan's plans, an impulse had made Ling Lan admit her real thoughts to the other. She had indeed wanted to see how far the leopard could go. Would he be unable to understand her decision? Or would he refuse to take action out of compassion ...
Ling Lan had considered many possibilities, but she had never expected Li Lanfeng to be able to adapt to the psychological pressure of killing so quickly and actually volunteer to execute this task himself. Ling Lan was well aware that Li Lanfeng was speaking honestly. He had instantly abandoned his weakness to become decisive and ruthless. Ling Lan was silently awed by Li Lanfeng's performance; there were indeed those who were born for the darkness — this leopard was truly not a good person ...
Even as Ling Lan was silently exclaiming in her heart, she was extremely happy to hand over the task of cleaning up to Li Lanfeng. After all, it was always nice to have someone who was willing to share some of the pressure. Just imagine, taking the lives of so many people at once ... even Ling Lan who had been trained by the learning space to be extremely ruthless could not be completely calm.
Very soon, Qi Long and the others brought the confessions of those ten people over. Ling Lan rapidly scanned through the confessions and then pointed out seven of the ten people and said with a cold smile, "Seeking death on your own? That's fine. Leopard, satisfy their wishes."
Having come to a realisation, Li Lanfeng would no longer hesitate. Ling Lan's voice had barely faded when his spectre power poured out and easily erased those seven people. Just like with D2 and D3, they became energy particles of the virtual world.
Seeing how ruthless Ling Lan was — giving a kill order without even asking anything — the remaining few people despaired, no longer holding any wishful hopes of survival.
Ling Lan stared with interest at the faces of the remaining few and then said with a quirk of her lips, "You all still at least said some things that were true, unlike those seven who were spouting complete nonsense. Now, I'll give you all one more chance. I hope that this time, you all won't let me down."
Ling Lan's words caused the despairing eyes of those few people to once again blaze with the desire to live. Being led away for questioning once more, they were extremely cooperative this time, to the extent that they even volunteered some information which Qi Long and the others had not thought to ask for.
By Ling Lan's side, Li Lanfeng asked curiously, "Were all those seven people truly lying?"
Ling Lan replied evenly, "How could that be? It's not like I verified anything ... but there is always the need to sacrifice some people to make sure the remaining people no longer dare to conceal anything."
Only then did Li Lanfeng understand that Ling Lan had simply chosen those seven people randomly, using their lives to terrify the remaining survivors into compliance. It could be imagined that the confessions this time would be even more valuable. Li Lanfeng could not help but feel a pang of dejection course through his heart. He had initially been extremely confident in his strategic mind, but it seemed like he was no match for the rabbit in this as well ...
The new confessions were out very quickly. Ling Lan browsed through them rapidly and was satisfied. She could already confirm that these people were from the Caesar Empire. Back when she had first heard of the Caesar Empire, she had already felt that this empire was definitely not as friendly as it would seem on the surface. No one would be so magnanimous as to share their spot as hegemon, which was especially true for a nation as strong as the Caesar Empire ...
Now, from the looks of it, her first impression had been right. In order to deal with the Huaxia Federation, the Caesar Empire had put in quite a bit of effort. Spending 16 years to successfully cultivate the embryo of a T-virus, they were truly tenacious.
"Who'd have expected it to be Caesar? Many soldiers in our Federation think well of the Caesar Empire. Fighting against the Twilight Empire all these years, Caesar has always supported us on the surface." Han Jijyun was the one who had brought the information over. Having looked through this info a step before Ling Lan, he could not help but sigh.
"For a small empire with only 1% of our planetary domain to fight us for so many years is impossible without the backing of these great nations." Ling Lan flicked the papers in her hand and said with a cold smile, "Plus, the profits of war are what these large nations like to earn most."
Just like those great nations in her previous world, in order to restrain the development of other nations, there were all kind of measures executed both in the open and behind the scenes, such as helping other smaller nations go up against those countries which were rising in power. The methods of the Caesar Empire were truly cut from the same cloth as those great nations back then — as expected of the descendants of one of those great nations.
Han Jijyun dipped his head in deep contemplation at those words. He felt that what Boss Lan said made a lot of sense. Even though the Federation was so powerful and possessed such vast territory, it was still taxing to fight a war on three sides, and this was still with the concerted efforts of the Federation. As far as he knew, the Twilight Empire was not stable internally. It was constantly plagued with civil unrest, so from where did it get the financial and material resources to fight such a long protracted war with the Federation? It stood to reason that there must be other nations involved.
Chapter 339 - Flaws!
Han Jijyun thought back on his youth 1 — every time he heard his father speak of the Twilight Empire, there would always be a sort of banked rage on his father's face. Back then, he had not understood why the Federation was willing to fight such a long protracted war instead of just finishing off those smaller empires ... looking back on it now, he had truly been rather naive. This enduring war between the Federation and the Twilight Empire was not purely between the Federation and Twilight — it also involved those great nations hidden behind Twilight ...
"How godd*mn despicable!" Having figured things out, Han Jijyun finally could not stop himself from swearing. This caused Qi Long who had come over with him to stare in surprise. He had never expected the typically calm and astute Han Jijyun to ever behave so agitatedly.
In order to salvage the image of his sworn brother in Boss Lan's eyes, Qi Long quickly changed the topic and asked, "Boss, we've already received the answer for the mission. When do we leave?"
They had managed to obtain unexpected information from these people's confessions about why the distress signal sent by the Swift Dragon base at the start had so quickly disappeared.
When the hackers from the Caesar Empire had successfully taken over the Swift Dragon base, they had not accounted for the presence of an NPC senior officer in the base who had actually evolved to have some sense of autonomy. When the hackers managed to replace the mainframe and gained administrative control of the Swift Dragon base, this evolved NPC immediately discovered the discrepancy due to this sense of autonomy. However, as it was only in the early stages of its evolution, it did not know how to act covertly. It had sent a direct distress signal to the mainframe and was instantly discovered by the hackers controlling the base. The hackers had killed the signal as well as the NPC involved.
Still, the mainframe was the mainframe after all. Even though the hackers had successfully infiltrated the Swift Dragon base and perfectly blinded the mainframe's search, the mainframe had still sensed something off about the situation. That's why it had repeatedly issued the command for the military and even players to go investigate. Due to multiple previous failures with nothing to show for it, the mainframe had upgraded the mission to investigate the Swift Dragon base into an SSS-rank, while dispatching an elite investigative team from the military at the same time ...
Coincidentally, Ling Lan had tried to accept a mission to establish her battle clan at this time and just so happened to offend the city lord of Grandsweep City at the same time. The city lord had seen this new SSS-rank mission issued by the mainframe and this had given him the idea of using a large spin wheel. He had hoped to teach Ling Lan a lesson by saddling Ling Lan with this impossible mission. Therefore, there were many reasons which had come together to make it possible for Ling Lan to accept this mission. There was a share of luck and serendipity involved. It's hard to say whether Ling Lan's luck had been amazing or horrible.
Ling Lan had also flipped to the part of the confessions regarding the distress signal by now. She searched through her bag for the mission token and saw that the vivid bright red words displaying the SSS-rank mission had turned orange. Taking it out to take a closer look, a notification entered her mind's eye:
Clan-formation mission, mission ranking: SSS rank. Mission content: A month ago, Fleet Swift Dragon, which is stationed at the Nebula Boundary, sent over an extremely subtle S.O.S.. As the message was too brief, the Federation military was unable to determine whether it was a mistake or true request for assistance ...
Mission progress: The relevant proof has been obtained. As long as this proof is brought back to Grandsweep City and submitted to the city lord, the mission will be complete. Warning: The person holding the proof must return alive and submit the proof personally to the city lord of Grandsweep City. If the person dies along the way, you will fail the mission!
Receiving direct confirmation from the mission token itself, Ling Lan was very pleased. Hadn't they weathered all the difficulties to come to the Swift Dragon base just for this? They had finally found the answer and could return now.
Ling Lan flicked the confessional papers in her hand in satisfaction and began to consider how they could return to the central district of Mecha World without any fuss. After some thought, she could not help but look in the direction of the investigation team sent by the Federation military which had been ambushed ...
She abruptly stood up and commanded, "Let us go!" Since they had already obtained what they wanted, there was no point in staying here any further.
Qi Long and the others acknowledged the order in unison, and Ling Lan walked right out the door without sparing another glance at those bound hackers. It was as if she had forgotten all about them.
Seeing Boss Lan leave without saying what to do with these people, Han Jijyun could not help but frown slightly. However, out of his deep respect towards Ling Lan, he did not say anything and merely followed Ling Lan out the door. Han Jijyun felt that just leaving these hackers like this was not very appropriate, but he could not think of a good solution himself ...
Qi Long and the others did not think as much, dutifully following Ling Lan out. Meanwhile, Li Shiyu was the second last to leave. He looked at the last one in the room, Li Lanfeng, and his mouth twitched. He had a vague idea of what the final outcome of these people would be, but he also really did not know what he could say. In the end, he could only let out an almost inaudible sigh before turning on his feet to leave the room.
The remaining seven or eight hackers in the hidden room could not help but feel a surge of happiness when they saw the cold and ruthless lead youth leave the room without giving any orders on dealing with them. But after that, they saw that the final person left in the room with them was that spectre who had already killed so many of their comrades, and their hearts froze up in fear.
One of the hackers seemed to realise something — his expression changed drastically and he screamed shrilly towards the door, "You said that if we told the truth you'd let us go! You're going against your word! Bastard! Demon ...!"
His wailing made the others realise what was coming as well. They began to struggle — if their hands and legs had not been tied securely by Qi Long and the others with a special method which could not be unravelled, all of them were likely to have leapt over to attempt a suicidal attack and bring Li Lanfeng down with them. This was because they already knew what the other was planning to do to them; the other had never ever intended to let them live ...
Just like that hacker had said, that cold-faced youth was a demon who had crawled out from hell. Not a single person would dare to kill off so many of Caesar's top hackers just like that — even those great marshals of the Huaxia Federation would have chosen to tolerate this affront, too afraid of war officially breaking out with Caesar to actually give such a ruthless command.
"If you all want someone to blame, then blame your country. Why did it have to turn its greed towards the Huaxia Federation ..." Li Lanfeng too understood Caesar's plan. If Ling Lan had not been able to successfully stop the T-virus, their Federation would have descended into a chaotic mess. The flames of war would have spread across the entire planetary sector of the Huaxia Federation, and all its citizens might have become slaves from a dead nation. Li Lanfeng did not really believe that these hackers were truly completely innocent, completely blameless, in all of this. This made his heart incredibly resolute.
And so, amidst their howling cries, Li Lanfeng unleashed the full extent of his spectre powers, obliterating the consciousness of all the remaining hackers. Seeing all of these people's figures become countless white dots slowly dissipating into the virtual world, a petrified expression appeared on Li Lanfeng's face. Despite building himself up in his mind to be cold-blooded and heartless, telling himself he needed to be ruthless and firm, his heart still felt heavy and unanchored after truly killing all these people. It was because this was the first time Li Lanfeng had killed anyone, and he had ended up killing nearly 20 people at that. No matter how determined he was, he still felt a little overwhelmed by such a massive number.
Spectre powers could really kill people invisibly ... Li Lanfeng felt as if his two hands were already stained red with a thick coat of blood, unable to be washed clean ever again.
When they heard the screams and wails crying out 'demon' from within the room, the rest of the team who had already walked out the door realised what the outcome of those hackers was. Han Jijyun's expression shifted slightly before settling into calm. Once more, he looked towards Ling Lan at the head of the team, and the heat in his gaze ran even hotter. He found that their Boss Lan had unconsciously become even more formidable — this was not only reflected in terms of capabilities and skills, but was also reflected in terms of mentality.
Han Jijyun knew very well that Ling Lan's decision was absolutely correct. By doing this, he had put a proper end to things, ensuring the team's safety for the future ... no one knew they had come here, so the Caesar Empire would never suspect that the ones who had ruined their plans were actually just a bunch of cadets. In contrast, even though he knew deep down that these people could not be allowed to live, he just could not make the decision to kill all of them.
When Qi Long and Luo Lang heard the shouts of the hackers, they merely pursed their lips heartlessly and thought that those men deserved it. They trusted their boss and also felt that it was not a shame for these people who wanted to invade their Federation to die. Alright, so coming from a military family, they had an innate hatred toward invaders.
Only Xie Yi's and Lin Zhong-qing's pupils contracted sharply when they heard the screams. The two of them shared a look and when they looked back at Ling Lan once more, their admiration carried a kind of fear. It looked like this decision of Ling Lan's had shocked them considerably.
When Li Shiyu heard these cries, his body trembled. Looking at the firm footsteps of Ling Lan walking at the front, he finally could not take it anymore and was about to speak when Chang Xinyuan, who had been observing him closely, stopped him by tugging sharply on his arm. Li Shiyu turned back to look at Chang Xinyuan in confusion, and Chang Xinyuan shook his head firmly.
Li Shiyu clenched his fists and pushed down the compassion in his heart. He reminded himself repeatedly that he could not afford to be soft-hearted — he absolutely could not be soft-hearted ... the intelligent Li Shiyu knew rationally that Ling Lan's decision was not wrong, but his heart had still been shaken by those terrible cries.
At this time, he once again recalled his mentor's words, saying that he lacked the heart of a soldier. Back then, he had still been unable to fully understand those words, but now he knew. Compared to these companions, he indeed lacked a soldier's heart. He did not possess the decisiveness and ruthlessness a soldier should have ...
"Shiyu, the Li family needs your efforts in the future. I have faith in you but also worry about you. Your heart is too kind. This is both your strength and your weakness ..." These words that his eldest cousin brother Li Mulan had said to him from his sickbed rang out once more by his ear, "One day in future, when you feel that this is your weakness, you must stay by the side of the person who makes you feel that way and learn from the other, until you master what you need to learn."
So, eldest cousin brother, you had long known what my weakness was. You just could not bear to speak up and hurt my pride, right? And so you had tried to counsel me subtly, telling me to learn well to get rid of this weakness, right?
Li Shiyu abruptly bowed his head, the sweetness in his heart overlaid with a strong tang of sourness. His eldest cousin brother was wise and astute beyond imagining ... was this proof of the saying that ' those who are too insightful are sure to be hurt 1 '? So God would not allow this kind of person to exist in the world?
At this thought, Li Shiyu's eyes were suffused with a wave of tenacity and self-confidence. He would definitely get rid of his weakness and then fulfil his heart's desire — he would snatch his eldest cousin brother back from the hands of God! For this objective, he would not falter even if he had to descend into the demonic pits of hell.
1. T/C: Oh lord, Han Jijyun, this makes you sound like such an old man. Lol.
2. 慧极必伤: My translation is already pretty literal. Just to explain the concept a bit more, it's saying that those who are too smart and thus see too much and think too deeply will tend to overexert themselves. By seeing all the various angles of things, they see so many more potential problems and things to worry about, and so are more likely to drain themselves. Like they say, ignorance is bliss, and this is like the other side of things.
Chapter 340 - Mutual Destruction!
At the main gates to the warehouse of the secret base, the two Federation hackers who had been impersonating guards by the gates were now slumped on the ground, unmoving, lying in a dark corner not too far from the gates. Meanwhile, Hollow Ground 1 , who had been protecting the gates while merged with the darkness, could no longer conceal his figure at this time. He fell over to sit within a dark corner. Under his blurred features, only he knew how tortured his expression was — he had already been holding on for almost two whole hours ...
Right then, about 20 to 30 metres away from Hollow Ground, two black-robed figures suddenly emerged from the darkness. Their appearance resembled Hollow Ground's, features blurred out while their entire bodies were swathed in their black robes.
The moment Hollow Ground saw these two appear, he knew that they must be the two spectres he had been battling for close to two hours. Who knew which faction they were from, and why they had infiltrated the Swift Dragon base.
"So this is a top-class spectre from Huaxia ..." One of the black-robed figures stared down at Hollow Ground before them and finally said. The other's voice sounded mechanical, harsh and unpleasant. This odd sound was of course due to modification by the other side and was not the other's real voice. For self-protection, spectres would apply comprehensive flawless disguises to themselves.
Hollow Ground did not answer. Right then, his teeth were gritted as he fought back valiantly against the spectre power attacks of the two figures. If this had been a solo operation, upon finding out that he was up against two spectres of equal power as himself, he would definitely have chosen to escape. However, he could not do so now. Not only were there two hackers here, there was still a team of his comrades investigating the secrets of the warehouse behind him. He could not abandon his comrades just for his own survival ...
"You still refuse to give up even now. Struggling so hard ... you're probably doing this for the men behind you, right?" said one of the black-robed men with a soft sigh, "I can tell you in advance that, just like you, they won't be able to live ... there is no so-called secret inside at all. This is just a trap specially set up for you all."
Hollow Ground jerked his head up at these words, glaring angrily at the two smug spectres with clenched teeth. Frankly, when he had been attacked by the two spectres at the start, he had already had the faint inkling that this was likely a trap meant for them. However, he had still held hope that there might truly be a secret here which necessitated the presence of two guardian spectres.
"You've also reached the end of your rope. Your tenacious spirit is worthy of our respect, which is why we've come out to meet with you now." The tone of the spectre who first spoke was tinged with admiration. "It was our honour to be able to fight against a spectre of your calibre."
The battles between spectres were very brutal. It meant the death of one side or the other, or perhaps even the death of both sides involved. Still, this did not affect their respect and admiration for their opponent. Logically, with Hollow Ground's level of spectre power, he could have at most withstood one hour of their continuous attacks. However, Hollow Ground had obstinately held out for almost double that time. This sort of tenacity and indomitable spirit had earned the admiration of these two spectres.
Frankly, their Caesar Empire had never been able to figure out how some Huaxia Federation soldiers who were obviously not that strong would suddenly break out with combat power multiple times their personal baseline during critical moments. Such as this spectre before them who had managed to hold out for twice the amount of time.
When Hollow Ground heard this, realisation flashed across his eyes. No wonder his opponents had chosen to appear so suddenly before him. His emotions were complicated; in the end, he could only sigh and say, "In the end, I've still lost."
He was well aware that he was at the end of his rope and would not be able to hold out for much longer. In contrast, the other side were still pretty spry as the two men had worked together to attack, each taking some time to rest and recuperate. Hence, their spectre powers were still abundant — the final outcome was clear.
The other black-robed spectre commented with some pity, "From the moment you stepped into the Swift Dragon base, we were destined to fight to the death. If possible, could you tell us your code name?"
"I can't have my name end up as your trophy. I cannot let my country lose face this way." Hollow Ground grinned wryly as he responded. Without showing any outward signs, he compressed all of his remaining spectre power and then unleashed it in one blast towards one of the men. Even if he died, he would pull one of them down with him ...
Hollow Ground's spectre power and one of the opponent spectres' power suddenly clashed violently. Although there was nothing visible in the virtual world, one of the black-robed spectres heard a loud explosion right by his ear. The forceful collision of power caused his entire consciousness to shudder, feeling as if it would be sent scattering.
Seeing this, the other black-robed spectre's face paled drastically. He reacted quickly and acted decisively to send his spectre power over to help his companion intercept part of the attack. The two of them had always been partners, so they understood and were well familiar with each other's spectre power. At this most critical moment, he swiftly merged his own spectre power with his companion's, and parried that most intense blow.
The black-robed person who had been caught unprepared by Hollow Ground's spiritual power attack was sent stumbling back three paces to fall over. Seated on the ground, he could not help but throw up a mouthful of blood. Meanwhile, the other black-robed figure was left trembling, his face flushing red and white. However, he soon recovered and seemed to have not taken any damage.
Hollow Ground had made his final attack. Seeing it successfully intercepted by the opponents, he could only glance longingly with regret at this virtual world. His entire body was slowly turning into countless white spots, beginning to drift and scatter apart ... perhaps when he had first accepted the mission, he had never expected that he would lose his wings 1 here. The only pity was that he actually did not know who was responsible for his death and so could not notify his companions to help take revenge on his behalf.
The two black-robed spectres saw Hollow Ground's figure vanishing completely to become one with the virtual world. Only then did they sigh softly and relax. The injured black-robed person chuckled wryly and said, "Reiter, who knew his death blow would be so powerful? If you hadn't helped me block in time, I would have been injured terribly even if I didn't die."
"Witt, you must have been distracted during our lessons," Reiter could not help but scold when he caught his breath.
"Huh?" Witt turned to look back at his friend in confusion.
"The instructor mentioned very clearly in class that the spectres of other countries all have their own unique characteristics in battle. For the spectres of the Huaxia Federation, we must be especially careful of their final attack right before death. When they have failed, the Federation soldiers are particularly fond of mutual destruction tactics." Reiter recited what the instructor had said back then.
After listening to what Reiter had to say, Witt stuck his tongue out in delayed fear. He had indeed lost focus for a bit during their classes, but he had not expected to miss such an important piece of information 1 . This had almost caused him to drink the fruits of regret right here — luckily his partner was on point and had saved his life.
While Reiter had been speaking, he had also used his spectre power to erase the two hackers lying on the ground. Without Hollow Ground's protection, these two unconscious hackers could no longer be saved. Just like Hollow Ground, they turned into white spots which vanished into the air.
In the headquarters of the National Security Agency of the Huaxia Federation, blaring alarms rang out abruptly from within one of the rooms. Complexion draining of colour, the staff member monitoring to one side quickly leapt towards three virtual pods which were flashing with red lights ...
********
"We've finally finished off this spectre. It actually took us close to two hours. How shameful. Witt, quickly rush over to the heart of the secret base now and help Carter's group deal with the spectre there." Reiter had received D1's notification a long while back and knew that the spectre at Carter's side was even stronger than the one here. The two of them were fighting neck-and-neck with the enemy spectre, both sides unable to do anything about the other, locked in a stalemate. Thus, Carter had specially requested Witt's help. If not for the fact that the battle here was also at a critical juncture, Reiter would have long sent Witt over to help.
"D1 has not received any more messages from D2. Carter's side has probably already gotten things under control over there. There's not much point for me to go over there. I might as well follow you and go handle that team of small fries below." Witt was rather reluctant. He was afraid that he would rush over only to find that Carter and his team had already handled the enemy. Not only would he have travelled all that way for nothing, he would not even obtain any of the battle merits on this end.
Reiter glared at him in exasperation and scolded, "Asshole, go if I tell you to go. What are you blathering on about?" Seeing the obvious reluctance on Witt's face, Reiter's heart abruptly softened and he said, "Don't worry, if there's nothing for you to do there, I'll share half of the merits I earn here with you."
Reiter naturally knew what Witt was worried about, so he shared his plans directly to assure the other. The team below had no spectres protecting them, so no matter how good they were at fighting, there were still like defenceless babes in his eyes. They were like lambs for the slaughter, not posing any difficulty at all for him as a spectre — he did not mind sharing this kind of effortless battle merits with his partner.
"Reiter, you're the one who said it. Don't you dare go back on your word later! I'll go immediately," said Witt happily. Without waiting for Reiter to respond, he disappeared into the darkness of the night, zooming towards the heart of the secret base. Although they could move through the skies and the earth in the virtual world like gods, moving much more rapidly than normal people, it was instinctive for them to move in the cover of shadows.
Reiter saw Witt rushing off impatiently and could only shake his head helplessly. Witt's personality was still a touch too impetuous, but he was still young. With a few more years of instruction, all of this would no longer be a problem. Subsequently, he entered the gates, tracking the path taken by the investigation team of the Huaxia Federation ...
He needed to finish off these people before Carter's side wiped out those invaders on their end, otherwise he would become the butt of their jokes. Having designed such a perfect trap and still needing so much time to finish off these people — if word got out about this, he wouldn't be able to show his face 1 ...
********
Ling Lan had not walked very far with the rest of the team when Li Lanfeng caught up to rejoin them. Ling Lan swept a glance over Li Lanfeng — although his complexion was a little pale, his expression was composed and steady. Ling Lan knew that the leopard would be able to overcome this hurdle with his own strength. She felt extremely relieved inside and no longer worried over the matter.
When Ling Lan's team had entered the secret base, due to the continuous battles they had to fight, it took about one and a half hours for them to reach their destination. On their way out, even though there were still quite a lot of soldiers in their way, because the soldiers' combat power was considerably worse than Ling Lan's team's, the return journey did not take them as long. They were back at the mouth to the tunnel in less than 20 minutes.
1. Recap: Federation spectre first mentioned in chapter 325.
2. i.e. die
3. T/C: See kids, this is why paying attention in class is important. :p
4. 他脸上也无光: Original phrase here is literally 'there would be no light on his face'. Light is equated with glory and pride, so if you have no light on your face, it means you have been shamed.
Chapter 341 - The Sleeping Baby!
At this time, Little Four who had left Ling Lan to go wipe out the T-virus returned, suddenly appearing within Ling Lan's mindspace.
Ling Lan saw Little Four's reappearance and knew that he must have finished clearing out the T-virus. Still, the potential harm the T-virus could inflict on the Federation's virtual world was too great, so Ling Lan could not help but ask, "Have you cleared out that T-virus, that Doomsday Flower?"
Little Four grinned widely, nodded and said, "Yup yup, all done."
"You're sure that the T-virus won't appear again in the virtual world?" Ling Lan asked again, still worried.
"Yup yup, as long as Boss does not want to see it, the T-virus will not appear here." Little Four blinked his clear black eyes guilelessly and replied with a sure expression.
Only then did Ling Lan relax. She did not notice when Little Four bowed his head to hide a smile.
Of course Little Four would smile sneakily — he had only said that the T-virus would not appear again if Ling Lan did not want to see it. If Ling Lan wanted to see it again one day, the T-virus could appear any time she wanted it to ...
That's right. He, Little Four, had transferred that T-virus, a.k.a. the Doomsday Flower, into the learning space for focused cultivation. Little Four felt that there was no such thing as good or bad when it came to viruses. It all depended on who the user was. Besides, it wasn't easy for him to see something related to the Mandora star system — Little Four could not bear to erase it just like that ...
Mind you, the instructors in the learning space were unwilling to talk to him much due to his young age, and Ling Lan had so much to do in her daily life that she did not talk to him very often either. Meanwhile, in the virtual world, other than that little optical supercomputer on that spaceship, he still had not encountered another self-aware intelligence entity in this entire virtual world ... yes, Little Four was feeling lonely.
Little Four left Ling Lan's mindspace excitedly to come to a sealed space within the learning space in the next second. There, a baby was sleeping deeply suspended in the air. The baby's body was connected to countless white and black lines whose ends disappeared into the endless darkness of this space. There was no visible end point.
Little Four's figure flashed once more and he was right by the baby's side in the air. He curiously reached out a finger to touch the other's soft cheek. Disturbed, the little baby's pretty brow scrunched up, and its bright red, little lips pouted angrily. It looked like he hated having his sleep disturbed by others.
"Little fellow, sleeping like a dead pig. Being able to continue living, you need to thank your Elder Brother Little Four, you know? Yup, I was the one who saved you, so I should be the one to name you. What should I call you? Little Doom? Little World? 1 Nope, Little World sounds too much like my name Little Four 2 . That name was given to me by Boss. It's my exclusive title!" said Little Four, riled up. His eyes spun and then with a trace of cheekiness he said, "I've decided. I'll call you Little Blossom 3 ... Little Blossom, you need to grow up quickly and wake up. Stick around with me later on and I guarantee you'll be treated well. Remember that I'm your big brother in the future. You must call me Big Bro Little Four later on!" announced Little Four gleefully.
The sleeping baby did not know then that even before he had woken up, he had already been given an extremely lame name by the naughty Little Four. Only when he grew up did he learn how horrible this name was and lodged a firm protest with Boss Lan. Only then did he manage to retrieve his dignity and gain a new name.
Little Four looked at the sleeping baby, his mood buoyant. He nodded happily, knowing that he would have a friend in the future ...
Little Four was lost in the wonderful daydreams of his beautiful future when he suddenly raised his head and frowned. At that instant, he had sensed a spectre that should have been at the trap rapidly approaching his boss's location.
Little Four's figure flickered and he instantly returned to Ling Lan's mindspace to immediately report his findings to Ling Lan.
After finding out, without even having to think about it, Ling Lan sent Little Four out to kill that person. After killing more than a dozen people, Li Lanfeng was drained in both mental energy and spectre power. Ling Lan did not want to tire him out any further and risk unnecessary complications.
Witt, who was hurrying over, suddenly felt a chill run through his body. And then, an overwhelming cascade of familiar yet horrifying spectre power rolled over him. Despite his fast reflexes, allowing him to speedily whip out his own spectre power to defend himself, the power gap between the two was just too wide. His defence only made that wave of energy pause for a brief moment, and then his consciousness was crushed beneath it.
He seemed to feel his soul splitting apart, and then his vision blacked out and he was no longer aware of anything. He had no chance to see his own body slowly becoming white dots to disappear from this virtual world, just like Hollow Ground.
Meanwhile, somewhere else, the spectre Reiter who was calmly approaching his target, the investigation team, suddenly found his own spectre power vibrating violently. This was a warning sign. He stopped abruptly and after using spectre power to protect himself, he began to test his surroundings. He found nothing, however. Puzzled, he shook his head and could only continue to move forwards, but his demeanour was obviously much more cautious than before.
When Little Four reported back to Ling Lan that he had already handled that spectre, Ling Lan's team had already arrived at the exit.
Ling Lan swept a glance over all her team members and then took out that confession from her bag, intending to pass it to Li Lanfeng. "Leopard, safeguard this data. Remember, you absolutely cannot die this whole trip back. You must live to hand this over to the city lord of Grandsweep City, or else the mission will fail."
Li Lanfeng was taken aback by these words. He did not expect Ling Lan to choose him to shoulder this great responsibility. From the very start of the planning of this strategy, it was clear how important this role was. Li Lanfeng had always thought that this role was certain to be for Qi Long or Luo Lang, because they were the second and third strongest respectively in the team. At the same time, they were also childhood companions of the rabbit, so in terms of trustworthiness, they should be at the top of the list.
But now, this task had been entrusted to him. Li Lanfeng could feel the full extent of the rabbit's trust in him. This moved him greatly. He secretly took a deep breath and then very calmly reached out a hand to accept the data file. Li Lanfeng was now certain that his importance was definitely not much lesser than that of Qi Long, Luo Lang, and the others in the rabbit's heart. He must live up to the rabbit's feelings for him.
Frankly, Li Lanfeng was overthinking things. Ling Lan had chosen Li Lanfeng because she felt that he was a crafty person with a scheming mind and a bellyful of murky water. Furthermore, his mecha control skills were as good as Qi Long's. No matter how you looked at it, he was from the stock of scourges whose misdeeds lasted for thousands of years 1 . She believed that even when it was 'game over' for the rest of the team, Li Lanfeng would still be able to live on with vim and vigour 2 . However, this still indirectly displayed Ling Lan's great faith in the leopard — Li Lanfeng had not been moved for nothing.
Ling Lan then turned to look at Qi Long and instructed seriously, "Qi Long, after this, you lead the team members to provide full protection to the leopard. Even if you all die in battle, you cannot let the leopard die."
Qi Long's expression turned solemn. "Yes, Boss!" Qi Long and the others knew very well that the true challenge would only start after this.
"After that, we will move as planned. We will split our forces in two." As Ling Lan signalled with her gaze for her team to move out, she also instructed Little Four within the mindspace, "Carry out the original plan."
Receiving his orders, Little Four immediately rubbed his palms together and got to work. Killing spectres had only been a temporary job — now, it was finally time for him, Little Four, to really showcase his skills.
********
In one of the dormitories of the makeshift camp accommodating the survivors of the Jinglong mainship, a soldier was constantly looking at the communicator in his hands. Suddenly, an expression of pleasant surprise appeared on his face and he quickly lifted his head to meet the nervous expression of the companions by his side and said, "There's news! The commanding officer has succeeded on their end and has asked us to start moving to take control of the military ship and wait for their return."
At these words, a member of the group who looked to be the leader immediately nodded his head and gave the order. "Good, then let's start acting according to the original plan."
These people immediately sorted out their weapons and quietly left the camp grounds, sneaking their way towards the spaceport of the military vessel. Their objective had been determined early on — the patrol ship which had brought them here in the first place. According to their plan, when the commanding officers came back, they would also sneak into this military vessel, and before anyone in the Swift Dragon base discovered them, they would start the ship and leave this place.
Ling Lan, who had long sussed out their plan, decided to take advantage of the situation and let her team sneak onto the ship in question as well. This way, with these people from the military as their shields, no one would discover their movements.
Qi Long and the others soon left the canteen — they had to rely on themselves after this. Ling Lan watched them leave and sighed softly. A data file suddenly appeared in her hands — it was that confession she had given Li Lanfeng.
The almighty Little Four had already made a perfect copy of the document. Ling Lan would not put all her eggs in one basket — she had entrusted Li Lanfeng with a copy but had also kept a copy for herself. As long as one of them stayed alive, this mission could be completed. This way of doing things was actually against the rules, but with Little Four making adjustments behind the scenes, everything became reasonable and acceptable.
Ling Lan once again kept the document away. She had divided their forces for two reasons. One, she wanted to completely eliminate the hidden threat. She could not let any of the people from the Caesar Empire who had infiltrated the base go, because she could not let any hidden dangers that could threaten her team members in any way to remain. Two, she needed to rescue those Federation investigation team soldiers who were entrenched in trouble. She still needed to use them as shields to deflect attention from her team.
Little Four simulated the commanding officer's communication signal, and after relaying news to those people holding the fort back in the camp, he left Ling Lan to go kill off those hackers hiding in the command centre.
In the meantime, with Little Four providing cover, Ling Lan made her way to the warehouse at top speed. Although there was still one spectre there, having figured out how to control her spiritual power, Ling Lan had the ability to protect herself. Therefore, she was not afraid, and this was also why Little Four felt reassured enough to leave his boss.
In a hidden room of the command centre, 8 black-robed hackers were staring at the time on the screen before them with ashen faces. The initial estimated time for the successful activation of the T-virus had already exceeded 20 minutes — they had already made the preparations to celebrate their triumph, but reality had intruded to slap them in the face. The virtual world of the Federation was still operating normally with no sign at all of anything wrong.
1. 末世: This phrase is the first two characters that make up the name of the Doomsday Flower, and on its own it means 'end/doom of the world'. Little Four broke up this term to come up with '小末' and '小世'.
2. 小世 and 小四: The joys of Chinese pinyin at play. The second characters of the two names sound very similar in Chinese. shi1 and si1 respectively. Those who don't know Chinese (or another language which differentiates meaningfully between the two sounds) may not even be able to hear the difference.
3. 小花: This part really doesn't translate well into English if I stick with the original. The direct translation here would be 'Little Flower' as taken from the full name of the Doomsday Flower, but 'Little Flower' sounds closer to 'Little Four' than 'Little World' does. So, I decided to take some creative liberties here and tweak it a little to make the baby virus' name 'Little Blossom'. FYI, 'Little Flower' in Chinese is pronounced 'xiao hua'.
4. 那种祸祸害遗千年的货: Hahahahaha, this was rather fun to translate. Super challenging, but fun. Not sure how well I did with it overall ... if anyone has a different version, I'd be interested to hear about it. Let me try to give you all a more literal version -- 'the type of thing which causes harm lasting a thousand years'. Perhaps easier to understand, but it's missing the inherent poetic charm of the original, hence my final version.
5. 生龙活虎: Sorry for the somewhat old-fashioned saying here, but it somehow fits. The literal original is 'live dragon live tiger' -- basically, full of life and in high spirits.