Chapter 680 - The Legendary 250 Mecha Clan!
"Advanced mecha operators? I don't need them. Just split a part of them to be logistics personnel. Even new recruits can join the logistics group." Ling Lan looked down on those mecha operators. After all, she was about to reform the mecha clan. Advanced mecha operators required a lot of time to develop and did not correspond with her plans.
Split? He Xuyang almost laughed after hearing Ling Lan's request. Only Young Master Lan has the audacity to haggle with him. Wuwuwu, it was as though Young Master Lan was never afraid of him and instead teased him. As expected, Ling Xiao and his son are both villainous people! He Xuyang's resentment was quite strong.
"300 logistics personnel, no more than that," He Xuyang replied helplessly.
"400 people, not one less." Ling Lan looked towards the sofa beside her and said to herself, "I'm not busy today, so I have all day to talk to Mr. Staff Officer." Ling Lan sat there with an expression saying that if He Xuyang didn't agree, she would sit here forever.
He Xuyang looked at the countless piles of documents on his desk and cried on the inside. If Young Master Lan actually stayed here, he wouldn't be able to work today.
As expected, the father and son, Ling Xiao and Ling Lan are both evil. They are both here to bully him.
He Xuyang said with resentment, "Alright, if it's 400 you want then 400 it is! Regiment Commander Ling please be careful on your way out!" He wanted to quickly send away Young Master Lan, otherwise, not only would it hurt him mentally, it might hurt him physically. He would have to do overtime if that were to happen.
"Thank you Mr. Staff Officer." Ling Lan satisfyingly saluted He Xuyang and then left his office.
As He Xuyang was watching Ling Lan disappearing from his sight, he suddenly remembered that he could have actually refused Ling Lan's request. Why did he have to accept meeting with him in the first place? He Xuyang just discovered that he made it troublesome for himself!
The three month training period for new recruits had finally ended. After the training officer told everyone to scatter, all of the new recruits grouped around in the field.
Chen Yi'an excitedly went to look for his older brother, Chen Yifan. They were quite lucky as they were sent to the same recruit training camp. Although their training officers were different, they were still together. This made Chen Yi'an feel very at ease.
Chen Yi'an only walked for a short while before managing to find his own Elder Brother Chen Yifan leaning on a lamp post in the field, waving at him.
"Elder brother!" Chen Yi'an ran towards his brother like a dog seeing its owner. The only thing missing was a wagging tail.
Chen Yifan saw Chen Yi'an's bright smile. The expressionless face finally grinned. He patted Chen Yi'an's head and asked, "Did you pack your bags yet?"
"I packed them long ago," replied Chen Yi'an. Knowing that today was the last day of the training, he had woken up bright and early. He was too excited to sleep, so he packed his belongings throughout the night.
"Elder Brother, which clan do you think we'll be put into?" Chen Yi'an suddenly remembered something. His originally excited mood instantly dropped. He lowered his head and unconsciously kicked the lamp post.
"What's wrong?" Chen Yifan thought it was odd that Chen Yi'an's mood changed so quickly.
"This time, elder brother probably won't be in the same clan as me." After all, they had only just left the care of their parents. Chen Yifan had been taking care of him this entire time. Chen Yi'an, who was not independent, suddenly discovered that he was going to be apart from his elder brother. He instantly felt uneasy in his heart.
Chen Yifan rubbed Chen Yi'an's head, comforting him, "Yi'an, no matter which clan we are sent into, being apart still means we're together. You have to remember that you have grown up already and must be able to face the world yourself. Also, you chose to join the army, so since this was your choice, you must walk this path bravely."
Chen Yi'an nodded. Chen Yi'an's depressed mood instantly disappeared. He once again had his symbolic sh*t eating grin on his face.
Chen Yifan smiled and said, "Even if we aren't together in the beginning, I will try to find a way for us to be together."
"Then I'll be waiting for that!" Chen Yi'an laughed. Although that was what Chen Yifan said, Chen Yi'an still thought his brother was just comforting him. After all, they had already learned that the clan where the new recruits like them would end up, would depend on the grades during their training and be distributed by the mainframe. Those who with good grades, would be placed in good clans and those with poor grades would of course be placed in weaker clans.
Chen Yi'an knew that his own grades were among the lowest. In the many assessments he had, he only passed by a few points after the cut-off point. His elder brother Chen Yifan on the other hand, would definitely have good grades… After all his elder brother was a cadet from the Third Men's Military Academy!
Chen Yifan saw that Chen Yi'an didn't believe him. He shook his head and smiled, but didn't give any explanation. In actuality, during the new recruit training period, he had meddled with some things. However, it was just as Chen Yi'an had thought. Because of the mainframe's placement, Chen Yifan couldn't confirm that what he had done was actually going to make the two of them be placed in the same clan in the end.
If that didn't work, then he would have no choice but to go with his last plan. Chen Yifan's eyes showed a hint of determination.
The Chen brothers, who had already registered, were sitting in the waiting room. An anxious-looking new recruit that had just registered, walked into the waiting room and looked around. Suddenly he saw that Chen Yi'an was sitting amongst the crowd. The new recruit's was overjoyed. He sprinted towards him and smacked Chen Yi'an's shoulder.
Chen Yifan lifted his head. The expression on his face would make any other man's heart skip a beat. His hand, that he smacked Chen Yifan's shoulder with instantly froze in place.
Chen Yi'an didn't see his elder brother glaring at his friend. He looked at the person who ran towards them and instantly stood up excitedly, "Zhou Yu, I didn't think we would be able to meet you here."
Zhou Yu was in the same training group as Chen Yi'an in the new recruit camp. The two of them were both underperforming and their grades in the lower rankings. Since the two of them were in the same boat, Zhou Yu and Chen Yi'an had formed a strong bond with each other in the past three months. They were both waiting to see each other during their placement. Chen Yi'an was also very happy to see him.
"Chen Yi'an, have you finished registering?" Zhou Yu sent careful glanced at Chen Yifan. He didn't forget the glare he was given just now. It was too terrifying.
Seeing Zhou Yu's eyes move, Chen Yi'an immediately introduced him to his elder brother, "This is my elder brother, Chen Yifan, who is also a new recruit. However, he wasn't in our training group. My brother and I have finished registering already."
"Elder Brother Yifan, hello!" Zhou Yu shouted respectfully. Chen Yifan made him feel pressured. Someone like him was actually just a common new recruit? Zhou Yu didn't think so.
Chen Yifan nodded in reply, but didn't speak a word.
Chen Yi'an seemed to have felt Zhou Yu's fear, so he immediately pulled him aside and asked in a whisper, "Have you finished registering?"
"Yeah," Zhou Yu nodded.
"I'm not sure which clan we'll be placed in." Chen Yi'an who was filled with anticipation had a little bit of sadness inside of him. He didn't know who his future comrades would be and hoped that they would be easy to get along with.
"Actually, all the clans in the 23rd Division aren't bad. As long as you don't go to 250 Mecha Clan," replied Zhou Yu.
Chen Yifan's eyes locked into Zhou Yu. He saw the frustration on Zhou Yu's face and knew that Zhou Yu had said something he shouldn't have said. Chen Yifan knew it right away that Zhou Yu wasn't as simple as he thought.
Chen Yi'an didn't discover Zhou Yu's frustration. He heard Zhou Yu's words and instantly became curious. Thus he asked, "Zhou Yu, why can't we go to the 250 Mecha Clan?"
Zhou Yu saw that although Chen Yi'an was curious, he was still indifferent. It didn't seem like Chen Yi'an was trying to pry the information out of him. Zhou Yu instantly felt relieved. During their time together in the past three months, Zhou Yu knew that Chen Yi'an was a simple individual who would definitely not change his attitude towards him because of Zhou Yu's identity. Zhou Yu also wouldn't get looks of pity from Chen Yi'an's eyes.
After being relieved of worry, Zhou Yu didn't try to hide anything and whispered back, "According to some legend, although this 250 Mecha Clan had all ace mecha operators, they were also useless people who couldn't fight in the battlefield. If we're not careful and get placed as the logistics personnel in that clan, it's possible that we would be rotting in there for 10 years. Soldiers who enter that clan at private rank, would probably still be a private after they leave the military.
Hearing this Chen Yi'an quickly shook his head and said, "I definitely don't want to go to this 250 Mecha Clan. I am going to be on the battlefield."
Zhou Yu continued, "I don't want to go there either. I didn't join the military to waste 10 years of my life in that kind of place." He clenched his fist with great force. Zhou Yu joined the military this time in order to prove to people that he wasn't a useless descendant from the Zhou family! He definitely couldn't waste away 10 years.
Chen Yifan heard their conversation and couldn't help but have a thought in his mind. If what Zhou Yu said was true, this 250 Mecha Clan was quite suitable for the two brothers. Chen Yifan didn't want to achieve anything. He only thought about how he and his little brother would be able to peaceful live through the 10 years of military service.
As Chen Yi'an and Zhou Yu were whispering, both of them suddenly felt the communicators on their wrists vibrate. The two of them looked at each other and knew that the results of their placements had came. The two of them took a breath, lifted their arms and looked at their communicators…
Then in an instant, they were petrified!
Chen Yifan looked at the notification sent to his communicator and couldn't help but raise a brow. He was just thinking that 250 Mecha Clan was the perfect clan for him and his little brother. He didn't think that he would actually be placed in there. But Chen Yifan wasn't sure if Chen Yi'an was placed there.
"Yi'an, where did you get placed?" Chen Yifan softly asked Chen Yi'an, who was now standing there like a statue.
Chen Yi'an turned his head stiffly, "Elder Brother!" In the next second, he hugged Chen Yifan and began to cry loudly, "Elder Brother, it's 250 Mecha Clan. I don't want to be a useless nobody."
Zhou Yu slumped into his chair. He began speaking to himself, "250, it's actually 250? Why is it 250?" Was this fate? Was this why he had to go to the 250 Mecha Clan where all the useless individuals gathered? Will he never be able to get rid of the nickname "useless" in his entire life?
Zhou Yu's family wasn't just any normal family. This was also the reason why he knew some of the secrets of the 23rd Division. It was just that he didn't think that his desire to have a start fresh was in the end played around by his terrible fate. It turns out, all of his hard work was all for naught.
"Come to the 250 Mecha Clan with your elder brother alright?" Chen Yifan's voice echoed beside Chen Yi'an wailings. Chen Yi'an raised his head in surprise, "Ah, elder brother, you're going to the 250 Mecha Clan as well?"
"Yes!" Chen Yifan replied with a half-smile.
"That's great! It's the same anywhere if my elder brother's there." Chen Yi'an rubbed his face with his sleeve and smiled stupidly once again.
Chen Yi'an was a simple man. His sadness after knowing he was sent to 250 Mecha Clan was quelled by the excitement he felt knowing he was going to be together with his elder brother.
Zhou Yu wanted to cry but couldn't. He clearly knew why the 250 Mecha Clan was formed. It was to give useless and glorified seniors a place to stay. And logistics personnel in the clan were there to care for these washed-up mecha operators… Unless an individual had a strong background, they wouldn't be able to get out of 250 Mecha Clan. Zhou Yu knew that the Zhou family had given up on him and would definitely not use their military connections for him.
Zhou Yu foresaw that the three of them would waste 10 years of their lives in the mecha clan and would not see the light of day.
Disregarding Zhou Yu's deepened sorrow, Chen Yi'an's excitement and Chen Yifan's calmness, 400 people who had the lowest scores above the passing grade were all placed into 250 Mecha Clan by the mainframe.
Chen Yifan on the other hand, hid his real potential in order for him to be placed in the same clan as his younger brother by manipulating his grades to be similar to those of Chen Yi'an. It should be said that although the placements of the mainframe were fair, as it would still use the training grades as the reference. This would make those who deliberately hid their potential to get past the system like Chen Yifan. Just by looking at Chen Yifan's data would make it clear that his training grades were altered.
It was not He Xuyang's idea to make the mainframe place 400 of the worst logistics personnel into the 250 Mecha Clan. It was just that 250 Mecha Clan had such a bad reputation. Although He Xuyang had told the lower ranks to care for 250 Mecha Clan, those in the lower ranks didn't want to waste such good soldiers. Instead, they made their own decision and put down 250 Mecha Clan as the lowest level, level F.
The placements done by the mainframe was in accordance with the level of the clan. A triple S level clan such as the special forces, would of course be given the strongest of the new recruits. While the lowest level, level F, would of course receive the weakest new recruits.
When Ling Lan received the list of 400 names of the logistics personnel after the placements, she figured it out after the fact after seeing the piss poor training grades. Unfortunately, the ship had already sailed and she could only take what she was given.
Of course, Ling Lan didn't care too much about the terrible grades of these new recruits. In her eyes, there were only lazy people and no useless people. As long as she ruthlessly train them to force out their potential, some of these trash-like logistics personnel would definitely not be too far off from those outstanding logistics personnel.
Since there were so many people, Chen Yifan and the others followed a group of new recruits and sat on a hover bus. The bus flew quickly and after a few hours, they arrived at the entrance to the base of 250.
The infrastructure of the base was very modern. Chen Yifan only glanced at it for one second and knew that the walls were laced with magnetic storm nets. If any idiot wanted to fly past the wall, they would definitely be electrocuted by the magnetic storm nets. The entrance seemed ordinary, but the circular object that looked like a decoration was actually a gatling laser cannon. If anyone wanted to get pass the entrance, it would only be possible if there were thousands of people attacking it.
Chen Yifan's frowned. Was all this firepower and defensive equipment actually going to be used to protect a bunch of useless mecha operators?
Chapter 681 - Arrangement!
"Wow, this base looks sick!" A few new recruits looked outside from their windows. They looked at the large and seemingly endless base of operation. Their eyes instantly had red hearts pop out from them. After only just coming out from the training camp, they had never seen a real clan's base of operations before. These new recruits were instantly in shock and awe by the vastness and modernness of their future mecha clan.
The driver of the hover bus received a signal from the base and slowly landed near the entrance. The soldiers on guard at the entrance were fully geared. They walked into the bus with a serious expression on their faces and began to examine the new recruits.
This was a necessary procedure before entering a base. The guards in 250 Mecha Clan were no longer slacking and relaxing like they were before Ling Lan had taken over. If anyone dared to cause any trouble, those people would definitely not have a good time.
A malevolent aura expanded into the bus as these soldiers walked into it. The aura made the rowdy new recruits instantly sit up straight on their seats and not dare to make any noise or even move.
Chen Yifan clearly sensed the malevolent aura the soldiers had on them. He had once felt this type of aura around a few instructors with battlefield experience and around the mercenaries on their mission. How can these soldiers be considered useless?
Chen Yifan had a lot of questions in his mind. Was this 250 Mecha Clan actually the same as what Zhou Yu had said?
After the checks, these soldiers asked the driver of the bus to get off. Then, they took control of the bus. Not long after, the hover bus flew up once again and went into the entrance that had already been opened.
The hover bus flew for another few minutes, then stopped at large square. There weren't any buildings around them but only grassland and forests. The soldiers told the new recruits to get off. When all of the new recruits got off the bus, the door closed and flew away once again without a trace.
The 400 new recruits who were suddenly put in an unknown location had all became restless and uneasy.
Right at that moment, a simple sketch of a map suddenly appeared on a screen in front of them. Then a voice echoed within the square, "Hey newbies. In order to welcome you newbies in joining 250 Mecha Clan, we prepared a welcoming ceremony specially for you guys. Are you guys ready?"
Chen Yifan bit his lip. What welcome ceremony? Wasn't it just a game where the veterans prank the new recruits? It was as he had expected. Entering the clan wasn't that easy.
The expression of the 400 new recruits were all different. Some were afraid, some confused, some nervous and also some who were excited.
"Do you see the map on the screen? Remember it carefully. If you make a wrong turn and activate our base's defense system, then you'll die for nothing."
After hearing these words, everyone's face turned pale. Were people actually going to die?
"In the division, there are many new recruits who perish for different reasons every year. Hope you lot won't become one of them." The warning was heard by every single new recruit. Everyone began to memorize the map on the screen. Many people were afraid of memorizing it wrongly and immediately used their communicators to record the map.
"You have two hours. If you don't get to the destination within two hours… Heh, good luck!" The announcer's voice was filled with schadenfreude. This voice made Chen Yifan's heart drop to his stomach. A punishment that hasn't been told to them yet indeed was something to be worried about. It seemed, in order to make sure there weren't any casualties, they must complete the task.
"The countdown starts now!" As the announcer finished speaking, the map on the large screen disappeared. Immediately a countdown timer appeared counting down from ten seconds.
"…4, 3, 2, 1, go!" After this voice finished, a few new recruits, who were anxious to get going, took their bags and went to the direction on the map by themselves. There were also many new recruits who began to form groups and teams.
Chen Yifan's group of three joined a small team after Chen Yifan signaled the other two to do so. No one knew what would happen on the way to their destination. With more people moving together, they would be able to solve issues that one single person would not be able to.
Inside a monitoring room, Ling Lan, Li Shiyu, Lin Zhong-qing and the others weren't busy, were secretly watching the performance of these new recruits.
"These new recruits aren't very capable. Their performances are all worse than the stronger ones." Lin Zhong-qing felt a little bit of regret. There wasn't anyone who created a group that had more than 30 people in it. Most people just moved out by themselves. In the wilderness, this type of decision was without a doubt a death wish.
"These are all new recruits, whether they become a snake or dragon in the future is all dependent on how you nurture them," Ling Lan said calmly. Lin Zhong-qing raised his head as if dumbstruck and looked towards his Boss with a look of disbelief. Did his Boss mean that these people will be working under him from now on?
"Each person in the logistics department of 250 Mecha Clan currently has their own position. Before these people make any mistakes, I won't be able to do anything to them. Also, the current logistics personnel are already used to their commanding officer. If you were to take the place of their commanding officer, you would probably need to do a lot in order to have them submit to you. Spending time and effort on something like this is a waste and yields no benefits. This is also the reason why I haven't done anything to those in the logistics department," explained Ling Lan. "However, I won't be able to rest if the mecha logistics department is under someone else's command. For these 400 new logistics personnel, I don't want anyone else to meddle with them. They'll be given to you. I hope you will be able to nurture an exceptional group of mecha logistics soldiers.
"Yes regiment commander!" Lin Zhong-qing excited saluted.
In all this time, Lin Zhong-qing saw everyone else in their battle team getting their own job positions and assignments. Only he, Luo Shaoyun's group of four didn't get assigned to any missions. They would go to places where they were needed. Luo Shaoyun's group of four were alright with this because they didn't think too much of it. Lin Zhong-qing on the other hand was different. After all, Luo Shaoyun's group of four had only joined the battle team after entering the 23rd division. Lin Zhong-qing however, had followed the Boss from back when they were in the Scout Academy. Other veteran members were assigned important work while he had free time on his hands. This made Lin Zhong-qing suspect whether or not he was too weak, thus the Boss was afraid to assign him an important task.
Now that he heard what the Boss had planned for him, Lin Zhong-qing understood that he was thinking too much. The Boss had already considered him, it was just that there wasn't any chances before, so he didn't tell him about the arrangements. This was his Boss. When he didn't have 100% certainty in doing something, he wouldn't simply promise anything.
After being excited for a short while, Lin Zhong-qing slowly calmed down. He discovered that Luo Shaoyun, Yuan Youyun, Li Jinghong and He Chaoyang looked at him with envious looks. Lin Zhong-qing suddenly thought of something. He remembered that during this period, the Boss had made him take Luo Shaoyun's group of four on missions. After spending some time getting to know one another, he and Luo Shaoyun's group of four were more familiar with each other. He instantly had an idea.
"Boss, just having myself to take on 400 people is definitely impossible. You have to give me some helpers," Lin Zhong-qing requested.
Ling Lan half-smiled and glanced at him while smirking, "Oh? What kind of helpers do you need?"
Seeing the satisfaction showing in Ling Lan's eyes, Lin Zhong-qing knew he had guessed Ling Lan's thoughts correctly. He instantly smiled and said, "Boss, don't blame me for stealing people away but I would like Shaoyun, Youyun, Jinghong and Chaoyang to come with me. The five of us will make the mecha logistics department better together."
Ling Lan glanced towards the four, who had expressions of joy on their faces, and said indifferently, "I'm not against it, but whether they are willing to help you or not, you are going to have to invite them yourself. If they aren't willing to go with you, don't come running to me."
Before Lin Zhong-qing could answer Ling Lan, He Chaoyang already shouted, "Boss, we are willing to join the mecha logistics department to help Zhong-qing." The four of them were bored from not having anything to do. Now that they suddenly had something to do, they of course were willing to do it.
Ling Lan glanced over coldly. The sharpness in her eyes instantly frightened He Chaoyang. He put down his head and didn't dare to look at his Boss.
"If you're joining the mecha logistics department to help, then you guys can join." Ling Lan said calmly. "If you guys do, then take up the responsibility. No matter who makes a mistake, I will punish them no matter what and won't play favorites. You understand?"
"Understood!" The four of them shouted simultaneously.
The four of them were intelligent people. They were certain from their Boss's words that their Boss had arranged them to the position of being Lin Zhong-qing's deputy officers.
The four of them didn't feel wronged by this. In the time, they went on missions with Lin Zhong-qing and witnessed his capabilities. They were already thoroughly convinced that in terms of strength, they could only become Lin Zhong-qing's deputy. Ling Lan's arrangement was completely fair. Also, Lin Zhong-qing's temperament was great, always willing to talk and come to an agreement. The time they all worked together was very enjoyable. The four of them were also very willing to continue to work with Lin Zhong-qing.
Seeing that the four of them didn't complain about anything and excitedly accepted the arrangement, Ling Lan instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
It should be known that during wartime, the most important factor was logistics. If there was an issue with logistics even if the strength of their mecha operators were strong and ruthless, they still wouldn't be able to stay in battle for too long. Only when the logistics was made sure to be strong and sturdy, capable of sending in reinforcements to the front-line continuously, then the military corps would be able to bring out its full potential.
Now the most important part, Ling Lan of course would hand over positions of power to people she trusted. However, Lin Zhong-qing by himself wasn't enough to develop an outstanding logistics team. Thus, Ling Lan arranged four deputies for Lin Zhong-qing.
However, most soldiers with some capabilities nowadays wouldn't want to go to the logistics team because logistics was a department where people begged to not make any mistakes instead of acquiring merits. If an individual wanted to rise up in the ranks in logistics, there was almost no hope. Looking at the entire Federation, there were actually no officials that came out from logistics. Even if there were, those people would at the very most be a Senior Colonel.
This was also why Ling Lan was worried the four of them weren't willing to go. However, now it seemed Ling Lan had worried too much. Luo Shaoyun's group of four didn't feel that it a bad thing for them to go into logistics. For them, ranking up from their Second Lieutenant rank to Senior Captain was already reaching the top (vice-captains of mecha logistics had a rank of Senior Captain). Also, the rank of Senior Captain was a rank that holds military power. It was much better than a rank based on reputation.
In reality, ever since Ling Lan took over as the Regiment Commander of 250 Mecha Clan, no matter if it was her or her team members, they were all getting used to their new positions. Luckily, all of the members in Ling Lan's battle team were all capable individuals who were also stable and steady. Many of them were set in important positions in the mecha clan and were all easily adapting to it.
For example, Qi Long, Luo Lang, Xie Yi, Li, Zhao Jun, Han Jijyun and Li Yingjie became mecha battle team captains. They each led 25 ace mecha operators and created strong mecha battle teams. The members under them were returning to their past glory due to their hard work.
Li Shiyu on the other hand had already been appointed as the clan's head physician. Luo Chao and Han Xuya became his aides. Through their hard work and effort, 250 Mecha Clan's treatment facilities were temporarily opened. Of course, the clan's hospital was still lacking in skilled labourers. A portion of these new recruits would be selected to fill in those positions.
A hospital was similarly a facility that was necessary during wartime. It needed the maximum amount of people working in it order for it to run smoothly and could not have any positions unfilled.
Chang Xinyuan was responsible for the research center of the clan. However, this was only just an idea Ling Lan had and was currently not set in stone. Currently, only Chang Xinyuan was building the modification factory by himself. Once it becomes built, this department would be the most undermanned. Not only did they lack enough logistics personnel, they also lacked technical personnel. Ling Lan couldn't help but put this plan aside for now.
The mecha logistics department that Ling Lan had been worried about, now had 400 logistics personnel. With Lin Zhong-qing taking up the lead and Luo Shaoyun, Yuan Youyun, Li Jinghong, and He Chaoyang aiding him. It helped resolve a big worry Ling Lan had and made her feel much more relaxed.
However, if she were to allocate two logisticians for each mecha operator, 400 was still not enough. Additionally, these 400 new recruits weren't all going to be allocated to mecha operators. Li Shiyu also needed a lot of people… And she still needed to allocate a few to Chang Xinyuan to help him. It seemed that the 400 people she acquired from asking Staff Officer He Xuyang was still not enough. Ling Lan regretted her decision.
The only reason Ling Lan didn't consider the original 100 or so members in the logistics department was because, as the number of mecha operators increased, this 100 or so logisticians were already going to have a difficult time dealing with the entire mecha clan's normal day-to-day living and would not be able to spare anyone to do anything else.
Ling Lan was worried but knew that she couldn't be hasty about all this and needed to walk the path step by step. There will be a day when 250 Mecha Clan becomes a fully equipped, well allocated and mature ace mecha clan.
Ling Lan and the others watched for a bit longer. Ling Lan then suddenly asked, "Are Qi Long and the others ready?"
Lin Zhong-qing softly replied, "Preparations were done long ago, just waiting for your command Boss."
"Let them begin their mission," replied Ling Lan.
"Yes, regiment commander!" Lin Zhong-qing immediately gave orders to the ten team leaders.
The ten teams who were waiting at their positions began to move out after receiving the orders.
Chen Yifan led Chen Yi'an and Zhou Yu and followed behin
d a fast moving group. The leader of this group was called Guo Rongqi. He was a detailed individual. After studying the entire map, he gave clear instructions to everyone in the team. If they wanted to reach the destination by the allotted time, it would be impossible to reach it with normal walking speeds. They must jog and move faster.
Although many people were not so convinced, they still didn't mind running for a while. Also, saving time in the first half of the total distance would make the second half much easier. Thus, they jogged forward towards their destination.
Chapter 682 - It's Him!
The rest of the new recruits that saw them dashing right in front of them, raised their eyebrows in confusion. Some felt that they were wasting their energy while others got enlightened by their actions and started increasing their pace too. Some even started running alongside them. The 30 man group turned into a 50 man group after some time. Those people who were joined in were people who were originally running alone. They might as well join this group when they are all running.
Soon, the 400 people were split into three groups. The 50 man group was in the front. 200 men group were in the middle. This group didn't want to stand out or be at the bottom. Hence, they kept their pace and stayed in the middle. The remaining people were at the back. These people wanted the others in front of them to scout out the path for them.
"Do you think the first group wants to stand out or have they seen through our trap?" Lin Zhong-qing asked Luo Shaoyun softly.
"The person leading them was the one who gathered people to discuss just now. They should have seen through our trap," Luo Shaoyun replied with uncertainty.
"They probably saw through it. The map is simple but it consists of all the hints we gave. If they still couldn't see through the trap…" Ling Lan shook her head. If they couldn't see through it even with such obvious hints, she would have a hard time training them.
As she thought about this, Ling Lan got unhappy. She was hoping that more people would see through her scheme. Seemed like she was too optimistic.
"Actually, there are some good candidates. For instance, this person." Lin Zhong-qing saw a profile from the list of profiles of the 400 recruits in front of him. He clicked on the profile. The name 'Chen Yifan' appeared.
"This person looks familiar," Li Jinghong said.
"The All-Federation Military Academy Grand Mecha Tournament at the start of the year," Lin Zhong-qing reminded.
"Oh, it's him." Li Jinghong remembered this person. He was puzzled. "Chen Yifan was an ace operator from the Third Men's Military Academy. He could become a Senior Captain. Why did he participate in the normal soldier recruitment to become a logistician?"
"Yeah. He is just a private. His result during the recruit training is quite bad. He almost couldn't graduate from the recruit training camp." Lin Zhong-qing announced Chen Yifan's results to everyone. Even Luo Chao, who had the lowest stamina among them, could achieve a better result.
"It's hard to achieve a good result in the final test of the recruit training camp if you don't have the ability to. However, it is also easy for some powerful recruits to hide their true strength. Qi Long, Luo Lang, and the rest of them didn't give their 100% during the test so their results were not the best too," Ling Lan explained.
"It means that Chen Yifan is hiding his power. Why did he try so hard to enter our mecha clan?" He Chaoyang started to think about the worst possibility.
"I don't think that he aimed to enter the 250 Mecha Clan. Would you expect the worst 400 logisticians to enter the 250 Mecha Clan before the results were shown?" Ling Lan rejected He Chaoyang's guess. No one would be able to predict such results. Even the people in charge didn't know that someone will give the 250 Mecha Clan an F grade.
The 250 Mecha Clan got this batch of logistician based on pure luck. If someone was able to guess this outcome, he must be extremely smart. Such a clever person would not use someone as obvious as Chen Yifan as a spy.
Ling Lan's words enlightened everyone. Yuan Youyun smiled. "Seems like getting an F grade is not that bad. We manage to get an ace operator. No matter how bad these logisticians are, we got something good out of it."
"Yes. Getting an ace operator is a good thing for us." Ling Lan nodded. After entering the division, Ling Lan started to understand the importance of having ace operators in a team. No mecha clan would give up their ace operators unless someone with a higher authority asked them for it.
Ling Lan felt fortunate that 250 Mecha Clan was a special mecha clan. There were no battle teams below her which she could ask people from but there was no one above her who would ask her for some operators. The mecha operators of the 250 Mecha Clan all belonged to her. They would not be transferred to other mecha clans. Ling Lan could train her mecha operators without any worry. She hated it when other people took her fruits of labor.
It was good to have more ace operators. People like Chen Yifan had much potential in them so all the mecha clans wanted people liked him. This was why the battle teams would fight to get new ace operators into their teams.
The 250 Mecha Clan had no right to snatch ace operators from other big mecha clans. Hence, they never expected one to send himself to them. This good news lifted Ling Lan's mood. She felt much happier when she looked at the logisticians again.
Actually, Ling Lan was quite a poor thing too. The 250 Mecha Clan was said to have 250 ace operators but that was not the case.
Only a few of the once ace mecha masters still retained their abilities. Most of them only managed to reach the status of a special-class operator after months of tough training. A few of them only managed to reach the level of an advanced mecha warrior.
Without going on the battlefield, Ling Lan was not sure if these mecha operators could really fight. Would their potential be released after experiencing some life-or-death situations on the battlefield? Or would their mental state be destroyed once again?
Although there were many uncertainties in this bunch of mecha operators, Ling Lan still wanted to train them. She chose to train them and not take in new advanced mecha warriors because she didn't have enough time. It would be easier to let ace mecha masters regained their skills compared to training advanced mecha warrior to become ace mecha masters.
Ling Lan lacked time.
"Ah, they reached Xie Yi's trap." Yuan Youyun stared at the screen and shouted excitedly when he saw the first bunch of people entering the trap.
Everyone was focused on the screen. The first 50 man group were entering a dense forest.
Chapter 683 - Deceptive Deployment Of Troops?
Chen Yifan saw the forest and frowned. This kind of place was the most suitable place to lay out a trap. He wondered if the veterans in 250 Mecha Clan would do something here.
Guo Rongqi was a careful person. He immediately stopped everyone when he saw the forest.
"What happened?" Someone asked.
"This forest is dense. The lighting inside is not good. If the seniors want to test us, they might ambush us inside there." Guo Rongqi told everyone his opinion.
"We just reach one-eighth of the journey. Even if they want to test us, they will not lay out a trap so quickly." Someone gave a different opinion.
"Yeah. Wouldn't they wait until we are out of energy before testing us?" They were tired but they still had a lot of energy left in them. If their seniors wanted to test them, this was not a good time.
Most of the people didn't support Guo Rongqi's opinion. Guo Rongqi started to waver too. He wondered if he was being too cautious.
Chen Yifan stood at the back and didn't say anything. He felt that what these people said made sense but his instincts told him that the forest was dangerous. However, no one would believe him. Instinct was not a good reason to convince other people.
No one wanted to waste time in this forest. The time they spent to cover one-eight of the journey proved that what Guo Rongqi said was true. They needed to march rapidly in order to reach their destination within two hours. Hence, they treasured their time and were afraid that they would waste too much time contemplating over this.
Then, a recruit told everyone his opinion. Most people agreed with him. The recruit felt that this was an illusion created by their seniors. They wanted them to think that there was an ambush inside the forest to slow down their speed. That way, they might be unable to reach their destination due to the lack of time and all their efforts would be wasted.
Only Chen Yifan didn't agree with this idea. He trusted his own intuition. His intuition had allowed him to escape from several dangerous situations before. However, he didn't object to the general consensus. They were just his temporary teammates, he could just let them explore the path first. He believed that if there was really an ambush, he would be able to escape with his little brother safely with his abilities.
Thus, Chen Yifan and his brother, Chen Yi'an, followed behind the main group as they entered the forest.
The forest was quiet. Besides the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, they could only hear their own footsteps. Chen Yifan looked as though he was relaxed but he was on his guard. If anything happened around him, he would be able to react immediately.
Xie Yi stood among the leaves and swayed along. He seemed to have become one with the tree. His team members were hiding on the other trees. They were waiting for his command.
"!, 2, 3… 47, 48… huh?" Xie Yi saw Chen Yifan and was stunned.
"Wait, this person seems familiar. Let me think. Where have I seen him before…" Xie Yi tapped his forehead with his fingers as he tried to remember where he saw this person before.
"The Grand Mecha Tournament early this year. He was our opponent, the ace mecha master from the Third Men's Military Academy, Chen Yifan. Why the hell is this person here?" Xie Yi looked at Chen Yifan in surprise. He didn't understand why this person appeared as a logistician of the 250 Mecha Clan.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. He is a private now? That is interesting." Xie Yi gave an evil smile. However, he frowned quickly. "With him around, it would be hard for me to get rid of these people quietly. I might alarm those people behind them…"
Xie Yi thought for a while and decided to not act this time. He let the 50 people off. There were still other traps behind. His friends would be interested in Chen Yifan too.
Xie Yi didn't want to admit that he let Chen Yifan pass because he wanted his friends to experience the same shock he felt just now.
The 50 people walked through the forest safely. The soldier who suggested that everything was just an illusion felt proud of himself. The atmosphere in the team changed. Some people who used to respect Guo Rongqi started to question his ability. Some people felt that he was cautious but not decisive enough. He would not make a good leader. The group started to get divided.
Chen Yifan looked back at the quiet forest. He was puzzled. He felt someone staring at him when he was walking through the forest just now. He thought that they would be ambushed but they came out of the forest unscathed. Why did their opponents let them off?
Was it because there were too few people? Were their opponents targeting the 200 people behind them? If that was the case, they made the right decision to walk faster. This was the only reason Chen Yifan could come up with.
Chen Yifan never expected that his old rivals, the people from the First Men's Military Academy, were in the 250 Mecha Clan. Hence, the moment he entered the mecha clan, his identity was exposed. The people hiding in the forest wanted to make the most out of their ambush so they let them off. The 50 people managed to leave safely all because of him.
Unfortunately, Chen Yifan didn't know this. He continued on his path.
Ten minutes after Chen Yifan and his group left the forest, the 200 people had arrived at the foot of the forest. These people saw the group in front of them leaving the forest safely so they entered without much thought.
By now, they understood that time was not on their side so they hastened their pace. Their slow speed at the start already wasted some of their time, so if they don't hurry up, they would definitely not reach their destination in time.
They looked down as they rushed forward. They didn't pay much attention to their surroundings. Xie Yi waited until they reached the place where his team members were hiding in and gave an order to attack. His team members were already a little impatient so they immediately jumped down and attacked the recruits.
The recruits were frightened by the sudden attack. They couldn't think properly. Even when they had the numbers advantage and there was only one opponent, they didn't think about combining forces. They panicked and screamed as they ran around. Hence, although the recruits outnumbered Xie Yi and his team, Xie Yi still managed to subdued close to 70 people. Each of his team members subdued three recruits on average.
There were some recruits that retaliated. A small group of people calmed down quickly after they were attacked and fought together to resist against the veterans for three minutes. After the veterans felt satisfied, they left after three minutes. The recruits were confused. They didn't know what the aim of this ambush was.
After a huge mess, most of the recruits managed to escape from Xie Yi's attack.
At that moment, the last batch of recruits reached the forest too. They heard the screams of fear coming from within the forest and knew that there was a trap inside.
The recruits thought for a while and decided to make a detour around the forest. Xie Yi felt that they were seeking death.
This batch of recruits was already much slower than their comrades. If they continued to make a detour, they would waste even more time. Unless they walked through the shortcut which was marked as a danger zone on the map, they would be unable to reach their destination in time.
Shortcut? Xie Yi felt his teeth hurting. That danger zone was the experiment testing area for Chang Xinyuan and Li Shiyu. No one knew when they would step on an experimental product if they walked through the place. The feeling of stepping on an experimental product was an unforgettable experience. Also, Luo Lang brought his team over there. He explained that he didn't like logisticians so he didn't want to waste time on them. He would rather bring his men to the danger zone and challenged the place again.
Now, there were two things that the mecha operators in 250 Mecha Clan were most afraid of. One was the hellish month training by their boss and the other was the danger zone which they had to challenge once every month.
In order to increase the difficulty of the challenge, Chang Xinyuan and Li Shiyu put in a lot of effort to invent frightening agents and mechanical weapons. Sometimes, they would cooperate with each other and come up with a frightening invention. This made the area a forbidden zone in the 250 Mecha Clan. No one would willingly go there and get tortured.
"Fine. Let's wish them good luck." Xie Yi looked that recruits who took the detour and prayed for them. Then, he left with his team.
At the same time, a river appeared in front of Chen Yifan's group. It was not a huge river. It was only 10 meters wide. For someone who reached refinement, this was an easy distance for them. They could jump over the river after a short run. People who reached Qi-Jin were able to bring someone across. Chen Yifan reached Qi-Jin so he was able to bring Chen Yi'an safely across the river if he wanted too.
However, to the normal logisticians who just achieved the foundation of manifestation, this distance was a challenge to them.
Of course, they could choose to swim their way across but no one dared to do it. They were uncertain about what was in the river.
Chapter 684 - Choice!
They couldn't see the end of the river and there was no bridge too. Besides crossing the river, there was no other way. No one knew what to do.
"Does anyone have a knife?" Someone asked.
The people around him stared at him with judgment in their eyes. It was forbidden to bring any sharp weapons such as a dagger or a knife into a mecha clan. Once they were caught, their weapons would be taken away. Some of them didn't know this rule and brought along their weapons. Everything was confiscated when they entered the 23rd division.
The person who asked the question realized he had asked a stupid question. He sighed as he looked at the tree around him. It seemed like he can't use the trees.
Everyone looked at the river in a daze. Besides swimming across, there was no other way. They hoped that their regiment commander didn't breed any water monsters.
Before stepping into the river, they threw a rock inside. Nothing appeared on the surface.
Guo Rongqi looked at everyone and asked, "Who wants to get down first?"
No one replied to him. Everyone knew that it was dangerous to be the first person to enter the river so they just looked at each other. No one wanted to volunteer themselves. Everyone just cared about their own wellbeing. Guo Rongqi was furious. However, he was only the temporary leader so he didn't have the right to force anyone. Seems like I have to do it myself.
Just as Guo Rongqi was about to volunteer himself, Chen Yifan said, "Let my brother and I go down first."
Everyone was elated to hear someone volunteering themselves. They quickly cleared the path for him.
Guo Rongqi was grateful to Chen Yifan. He asked, "Thank you. May I know what is your name?"
Chen Yifan smiled. "I'm Chen Yifan." He pointed at his younger brother, "Chen Yi'an."
"The Chen brothers. We will have to rely on you this time." Guo Rongqi wanted to pat Chen Yifan's shoulders but Chen Yifan had already pulled his younger brother to the river bed.
Zhou Yu watched the two brothers stepped into the river. He remembered the times when he trained with Chen Yi'an and gritted his teeth. "Brother Yifan, Yi'an, I will come with you two."
Chen Yifan looked back at Zhou Yu. He nodded his head in agreement. Chen Yi'an even smiled and waved at Zhou Yu.
Chen Yifan took out a few rubber bands from his backpack and asked Chen Yi'an and Zhou Yu to tie up the ends of their sleeves and trousers. Their military uniform looked normal but they were actually waterproof. As long as the water didn't enter their uniform, their uniforms would not get wet.
When all of them finished tying up their clothes, Chen Yifan asked Chen Yi'an and Zhou Yu to follow behind him as he entered the river.
He Chaoyang smiled as he looked at the image on the screen. "Since we are bored, let's play a game."
His words caught everyone's attention. Yuan Youyun asked curiously, "What game?"
"Let's guess if Li Yingjie's team will attack them." He Chaoyang remembered Li Yingjie's face when he picked the river as his position. He wanted to laugh. At the start, Li Yingjie was so confident that he would not pick the toughest location. Unfortunately, ever since he became the team leader of Team 10, he had been very unlucky.
"I don't think so," Li Shiyu was the first to answer.
"I don't think so too." Luo Shaoyun followed.
"No," Yuan Youyun said firmly.
"Three people is too little for him." Li Jinghong smiled. He was the third inheritor of the Li family. Yet, he was working harder than him. Li Jinghong knew that Li Yingjie would not be satisfied with just taking down three recruits.
"Li Yingjie would pretend that there is no ambush and let the three of them pass. As for the rest, I'm not sure whether he will attack them," Lin Zhong-qing replied. There was an even larger group of people behind this group so he wasn't sure who Li Yingjie wanted to ambush.
"You all think that he won't. That's not fun. Seems like this question is too easy." He Chaoyang was sad. He felt that Li Yingjie would not attack them too.
Ling Lan glanced at them and smiled. "You should instead ask them why they think that Chen Yifan wanted to enter the river first."
Lin Zhong-qing thought about it for a moment and replied instantly, "He knew that they would be fine."
"Be it a test or an ambush, the other party would definitely want to get the most out of their ambush. Hence, the first person to enter the river would be the safest." Ling Lan sat on her fancy chair and placed her hand on her chin. She looked at Chen Yifan with satisfaction. He was a smart and strong person. If his character was good, she would train him personally.
"Seems like he understands what we are thinking."Lin Zhong-qing was unhappy. He didn't like a contestant who knew what the examiner was thinking.
"It's fine. After most of the recruits get taken down, it will be their turn, Also…" Ling Lan smiled. "Qi Long only looks at how strong his opponent is. He doesn't care about the result."
Everyone smiled. After two more ambushes, they would reach the place where Qi Long was at. If Chen Yifan still had this mentality, he would be in danger.
Very soon, Chen Yifan and the other two reached the other side of the river safely. The other people felt relieved when they saw that nothing happened to them. They jumped into the river with a light heart. At the same time, the second group of people who managed to escape from Xie Yi arrived at the river too. They also saw Chen Yifan and the other two crossed the river safely and, they jumped in without any hesitation too.
They wanted to take advantage of this time and outrun the first group. The first group didn't want to lose out too so they started jumping into the river. In an instant, there were almost 100 people in the river.
Suddenly, an accident happened. One of the recruits who was swimming was knocked unconscious. He floated on the surface of the river. His military uniform prevented him from sinking into the river.
"There's someone!" Guo Rongqi didn't jump in like the others so he saw the black shadows under the surface of the water.
"It's a trap!" The people in the river turned desperate. Some swam forward furiously while others stopped in the middle of the river. Some even tried to climb out of the river.
Chen Yi'an and Zhou Yu saw the situation in the river and felt frightened. They didn't expect the river they just crossed to be filled with people. They felt fortunate.
"Brother Yifan, what do we do now?" Zhou Yu was didn't know what to do. They had only finished a quarter of the journey but there were only 3 of them left.
"Don't worry. Let's wait for them at the front." Chen Yifan saw the agile movements of their seniors in the river and knew that they were not normal soldiers. They must be experienced soldiers. With his current capabilities, he would be unable to resist against them if he was attacked by more than two veterans at the same time. He didn't know whether these people would climb up the river banks so it was dangerous to stay near the river.
Chen Yifan quickly brought the two people away from the river. After running for some distance, he panted and found a place to rest.
Chen Yifan would not let the three of them lead the way for the rest of the recruits. They already met two ambushes after one-quarter of the journey. There would most definitely be more ambushes later in their journey. If they led the way, they might enter the lion's den. Chen Yifan wanted to walk with the main crowd and find the chance to escape the traps along the way.
As Chen Yifan waited patiently for the people behind them to catch up with him, Guo Rongqi was in a difficult situation. The recruits were in a mess. No matter what he said, they wouldn't calm down. He knew that the situation was out of his control.
He calmly looked at the river surface and gauged the area and number of opponents there were. Then, he ran for a certain distance to gain some momentum. As the opponents were busy attacking the 100 recruits, he took the opportunity and swam across the river.
Some people followed behind Guo Rongqi and jumped in after running for some distance as well. They used all their energy and quickly swam to the other side of the river. Everyone knew that they only had a small opening for them to swim across the river. Once their opponents finished subduing the 100 recruits, they would have the time to come over and attack them. By then, they could forget about reaching the other side of the river.
No one thought about working together to fight off Li Yingjie's team. Everyone just wanted to reach the other side of the river before they were targeted. Only those who were already attacked fought with Li Yingjie and his team.
By the time Li Yingjie's team subduing the recruits, the other recruits had already crossed the river.
"Damn. I stayed in the river for half a day and only manage to catch this much?" One of the mecha operators complained unhappily.
Li Yingjie snorted. "What can we do? We are still not powerful enough. If the regiment commander was here, he could stop everyone with just his Ice Blockade."
Li Yingjie's team members were speechless. Leader, can you not compare us with a monster? Are you thinking too highly of us?
Li Yingjie's team was not satisfied with their results but their mission had already ended. Their boss told them that once the recruits passed the river, they couldn't chase them anymore. Hence, they could only watch the recruits leave.
"Lin Zhong-qing, go and check for the results of their mission." Ling Lan saw that the river mission was completed so she gave Lin Zhong-qing an order.
"Yes, regiment commander." Lin Zhong-qing quickly contacted Li Yingjie. "Regiment commander, they managed to take down 82 recruits."
"That means that almost 20 recruits escaped. The river hindered the recruits more than their team. This means that the combat ability of Li Yingjie's team underwater is not high." Ling Lan was in deep thought.
"The other teams have this problem too." Lin Zhong-qing didn't want to see Li Yingjie be scolded again so he spoke up for him.
"My men cannot have such an obvious weakness. From tomorrow onwards, the entire mecha clan will have two additional hours of underwater combat training." The people in the room all groaned. They looked at Lin Zhong-qing furiously. You spoke up for Li Yingjie but you implicated all of us.
Ling Lan had a heartless and vicious image but she was a fair person too. The mecha operators' training was scary but the members of Lingtian Battle Team would take part in even more training than them. Hence, if she gave an order to the entire mecha clan, it meant that the Lingtian Battle Team had to follow her order too. This was why the members of the Lingtian Battle Team groaned.
Lin Zhong-qing's face turned pale. He tried to control his emotions as he accepted Ling Lan's order. As expected, Li Yingjie only brings me bad luck. If I speak up for him again, I will change my surname to Li.
Guo Rongqi was the first person to reach the place where Chen Yifan was resting. When he saw Chen Yifan, Guo Rongqi finally felt at ease. He collapsed on the ground and couldn't get up for a while.
"What's the situation at the back?" Chen Yifan asked.
"Bad. Not many people managed to escape. Luckily, you three are fine." Guo Rongqi felt that the three of them were really lucky.
"Yes. I feel scared just thinking about it," Chen Yifan replied calmly to Guo Rongqi.
Chen Yi'an looked at his brother curiously. His forever calm and composed brother would feel scared too?
"However, the second group came and managed to take advantage of us." Guo Rongqi gritted his teeth angrily. Now, he knew why these people didn't join them at the start. They were waiting for them to open up the path.
"They didn't have an easy time too. Did you see how many people were left? Their expression seemed anxious too." Chen Yifan was an observant person so he noticed the differences in their expressions.
Guo Rongqi recalled what he saw and thought about something. "You mean…"
"There must have been a trap in the forest. However, the people there let us pass and only attacked the second group." Chen Yifan told him his conclusion.
"Hah. They deserved it." Guo Rongqi felt better.
His mood went down again. He took so much effort to form a team but most of them were already gone. He said tiredly, "What do we do now?"
Chapter 685 - The Real Motive!
"Wait." Chen Yifan said firmly.
"Wait?" Guo Rongqi was puzzled. Wouldn't they be wasting more time like this?
"There will be even more traps like that ahead of us. If the four of us lead the way, we would have no chance of winning against our opponents. We have to follow the main group and find a chance to escape the ambush." Chen Yifan stated his opinion.
Guo Rongqi calmed down after listening to his explanation. He pondered for a moment and realized that Chen Yifan was right. They didn't know what was ahead of them. Nothing good would happen if they just rushed forward without thinking.
"I'll listen to you." Guo Rongqi felt that Chen Yifan was a smart person so he decided to follow his lead.
Chen Yi'an looked at his brother with respect. This is my brother. He is someone who was capable of winning over a capable person like Guo Rongqi with just a few words. Sob. As expected of a genius from a military academy. At that moment, the thought that anyone who graduated from a military academy was a genius formed in Chen Yi'an's naive heart.
Chen Yifan waited patiently. Very soon, the people behind them caught up with them. Some of them chose to rest beside them while a few of them continued without resting.
When almost everyone had overtaken them, Chen Yifan and the other three people got up and started marching again. They blended in the main group.
Using this method, the four of them safely got past three ambushes and finally managed to finish 90% of the journey. There were 30 minutes left. Success seemed to be waving at them.
However, there were not many people remaining. Most of the recruits got stopped by the three ambushes.
"Chen Yifan, what do we do now?" Guo Rongqi looked at the people around them. It was impossible to hide anymore. Chen Yifan was the one who planned everything along the way so Guo Rongqi had already recognized him as the leader.
During this whole time, Chen Yifan was frowning. After he heard Guo Rongqi's question, he sighed. "I'm afraid that we have fallen into a trap."
"Why?" Guo Rongqi felt his heart dropped. He didn't know why Chen Yifan said this.
"This mission might not be what we thought it was. They might be testing our ability to react to sudden situations." Chen Yifan was confused. Such tests are normally done to pick out elite soldiers. Why did it happen in the 250 Mecha Clan? Even an ace mecha clan wouldn't have such a harsh test. In his memory, only the special forces had such high standards…
"Are you saying that getting to the destination in time is not the ultimate motive of the test? The main aim is to watch our performance as we get to the destination?" Guo Rongqi's physique was not as good as Chen Yifan but he was a smart person. He immediately understood what Chen Yifan was saying.
"Maybe we were wrong from the start." Chen Yifan came from the military academy so he understood what being a soldier meant. It was just that the things that happened in the military academy caused him to question the purpose of being a soldier.
"Why?" Guo Rongqi, Zhou Yu, and Chen Yi'an asked simultaneously. They didn't know why Chen Yifan said that. It should be known that they managed to escape from five ambushes unscathed. Were they not supposed to escape from the ambush? This didn't make any sense.
"Do you all still remember the oath that our instructor asked us to remember at the start of our recruit training?" Chen Yifan gave a forced smile.
"Of course." Chen Yi'an shouted, "Passion and loyalty in service of our beloved Chinese Federation, and to respect, trust, and care for our fellow warriors with a pure heart…"
Guo Rongqi and Zhou Yu knew what Chen Yifan was talking about after hearing the oath. They shouted in unison, "Respect, trust, and care for our fellow warriors with a pure heart!"
Chen Yi'an was confused after the two people interrupted him. "Did I recite it wrongly?"
"No, you're right." Guo Rongqi smiled bitterly. If they guessed correctly, their performance at the first five ambushes must have been terrible. Chen Yifan was right. They were wrong from the start.
"This test is a test of our teamwork. However, look at us now. Let's not talk about teamwork. We didn't even cooperate with each other."
"It's not too late," Chen Yifan encouraged himself and said softly.
"Do we cooperate with the other recruits? I'm not sure if they are willing to work with us." They have been thinking for themselves all these while so the other recruits might be suspicious of them if they suddenly suggest working together.
"No matter what, we need to try. We will never be able to succeed the last mission with our own strength," Chen Yifan replied calmly.
They had been running for 25 minutes without meeting any ambushes. Before this, they would walk into an ambush every 10 to 15 minutes. The longer they remained safe, the greater his worry grew. Their journey was coming to an end soon. He suspected that the last ambush would be even harder than the first five. None of them would be able to escape if they didn't work together.
The four of them reached a consensus. Guo Rongqi, Zhou Yu, and Chen Yi'an went to look for the other recruits that were alone and communicated with them. Very soon, the recruits started gathering around Chen Yifan. A small team with around 10 people was formed.
Chen Yifan took out the photo of the map and zoomed in on it. He realized that if they didn't meet any obstacles, they would be able to reach their destination in 15 minutes. Chen Yifan decided to let everyone rest for 10 minutes so that he could explain the current situation to the newly joined members. They could also wait for the other recruits that were behind them.
The recruits that managed to reach this stage were smart and had some capabilities. They were already suspicious about how smooth the last part of the journey was, so everyone felt that the next ambush would be the toughest. Thus, when Guo Rongqi, Zhou Yu, or Chen Yi'an invited them to act together, they accepted the proposal calmly.
Chen Yifan told the recruits what he felt the motive of the test was. The recruits thought about it carefully and found that there was a high possibility that what he said was the truth. Then, Chen Yifan told everyone that the next ambush might be the hardest one and they could only pass it if they worked together. Everyone agreed. However, they were uncertain about the task ahead so they couldn't come up with a better plan.
After waiting for 10 minutes, more people joined them. There were around 80 people in the team. There were no other recruits behind them. Everyone knew that they were probably the only ones who managed to pass all the five ambush safely. With a depressed heart, they stepped on the last part of the journey together.
There was a small hill around a few hundred meters tall in front of them. On the hill, there was a simple thatched hut. Two people were sitting in the hut, playing Go. Beside them, two other people laid on a long and narrow stone bench with their eyes closed.
A young man with a bulky body and a humble smile on his face suddenly opened his eyes. A glimpse of light flashed past his eyes. He yawned and asked lazily, "How many people do you think will be left for us?" This person was Qi Long.
"There will definitely be some small fry left for you." The young man who was playing Go beside him replied indifferently. He placed a Go piece on the stone table without any hesitation. Ever since his boss invented this new Go game, he fell in love with it. Whenever he had the time, he would drag someone to play the game with him.
They do have their own version of Go but there were fewer rules compared to their boss's version. After their boss sent them the rules of her version to their communicators, Han Jijyun gave up on their version. What kind of Go was that? The Boss's humiliated their version of Go.
However, not everyone liked their boss's version of Go. Only Li Lanfeng and he were crazy about it. As for their boss… he was a god-tier master in Go.
He remembered what his boss said to him. "After you managed to learn the essence of the game, you can discuss Go with me," Ling Lan said with a mysterious and lonely expression.
They were still too weak! Han Jijyun sighed. He looked at Li Lanfeng. Li Lanfeng might have felt this way too so he kept studying Go. He wanted to become a god-tier master like their boss so that their boss would have a match with them. They understood what it felt like to be invincible.
Also, their boss wanted them to improve too. That was why he would hide his identity and play a game with them. However, they were unable to win against him yet.
As for why they thought that person was their boss… if it was not him, who else could it be? Who else could be so good at Go and have such a powerful hacking ability?
Without a doubt, Ling Lan was invincible in the eyes of Han Jijyun and Li Lanfeng. However, in actual fact… they thought too highly of their boss. If they observed their boss well enough, they would notice that she was in a daze when she played with them. They would be able to see her pupils being dilated the entire time.
Ling Lan was not a Go master. She was someone who didn't know anything about Go at all.
How was she able to play with Han Jijyun and Li Lanfeng then? Well, she had Little Four. In reality, Ling Lan brought over Go from her past life to cure Little Four's boredness. The person who was playing Go with Han Jijyun and Li Lanfeng was Little Four. Ling Lan only placed the Go pieces on the board for him.
It was tiring to sit for a few hours and move Go pieces. Hence, Ling Lan stopped doing such things.
Why did she say such a mysterious sentence then? Well, she was their boss. She needed to maintain her image as their boss. She couldn't let her members know that she was a novice at Go, right?
This was the simple truth.
As for the person who played with Li Lanfeng and Han Jiyun online, it was Little Four too. Hence, her legacy continued.
Li Lanfeng smiled when he heard what Han Jijyun had said. He replied, "There will be more than a few small fry. Those traps do not have the ability to completely annihilate the recruits."
"That will depend on whether they understood the aim of this test. If none of them understood, there will only be a few people left," Zhao Jun, who was lying beside Li Lanfeng, said.
"Yes. If they worked together from the beginning and got through the ambushes together, there might be many people left. If they didn't, there might be less than 100 people." Han Jijyun agreed.
"100 people? I think that you overestimated the recruits." Qi Long didn't think too highly of the recruits. Their boss said that this was the worst batch of recruits. He felt that if 50 people reached their checkpoint, it was already a miracle.
"Let's not talk about Xie Yi and Li Yingjie. Yang Mingzhi, Liu Furong, and Gu Dongyang are experienced people. Boss didn't tell them his intentions but they will definitely understand what he wants. Hence, they will not annihilate all the recruits," Han Jijyun explained to Qi Long.
"They'll give the recruits a chance. If the overall potential of the recruits is still alright, there will be more people reaching our checkpoint. If the potential was not as good, there will be fewer people. I agree with what Jijyun said. There should be around 80 to 100 people. If there are less than 80 recruits, it will almost be impossible to win against us. If there are more than 100 people… Impossible." Li Lanfeng continued, "However, the people that they let off are most likely those who they feel has potential. It means that the recruits that reach our checkpoint are recruits that had reached a certain standard. We cannot let our guard down."
"Great. I've been waiting for half a day." Qi Long looked at the time on his communicator and sat up immediately. He said excitedly, "The time is almost up. It's finally my turn."
Zhao Jun stood up and stretched himself. "Qi Long, shall we have a bet?"
"What?" Qi Long asked with interest.
"Let's see which team can capture the most recruits." Fighting spirit burned in his eyes. Ever since they become team leaders, they were competing with each other.
"Sure!" Qi Long and Zhao Jun hit their palms with each other.
Li Lanfeng and Han Jijyun shook their heads when they saw this scene. These two fighting maniacs wouldn't give up any chance to compare which team is stronger. Li Lanfeng and Han Jijyun were used to it. This was their unique characteristic. Their team members also followed their lead and were also fighters who had the strongest combat abilities. Their teams were among the strongest within the 10 teams. Even the three experienced veterans felt that they were not as driven as these two people.
Chapter 686 - Completely Annihilated!
Chen Yifan and everyone else had arrived near the bottom of the hill. The map showed them that their destination was on the top of the hill.
In these few minutes, everyone was in an anxious state. They were afraid that they would step on a trap the next second. It was the most mentally exhausting ten minutes in their entire journey. However, when they reached the bottom of the hill, Chen Yifan realized that he was fooled by the people from the 250 Mecha Clan.
In the first five ambushes, he didn't notice certain clues so he didn't choose the best way to handle the situation. However, since he was able to bring his younger brother safely passed those ambushes, he felt that he had completed his task. He didn't feel frustrated. Yet, now, he felt a sense of helplessness. It felt like all his thoughts had been predicted by his opponent.
"There must be some powerful individuals at the last checkpoint. I was fooled by them entirely," Chen Yifan muttered to himself.
"Brother, we are near our destination. Why did you stop?" Chen Yi'an saw Chen Yifan stopping in his tracks and felt puzzled.
Chen Yifan gathered his spirits when he heard his younger brother's voice and replied, "Be careful. The last ambush is probably here." This was the last place their opponent could conduct their ambush. Chen Yifan was certain that they would be attacked on the hill.
All the recruit agreed with what Chen Yifan said. After experiencing the first five ambushes, they didn't believe that their superiors would let them pass the test so easily.
Hence, all the recruits gathered their strengths and walked up the hill.
The road up the hill was quiet. It was so quiet, the recruits could hear their own heartbeats. They got nearer and nearer to their destination and no one attacked them yet.
All the recruits arrived on an empty field at the halfway point of the hill. A flag pole was embedded right in the middle of the empty field. The flag of the 250 Mecha Clan was attached to it.
The 250 Mecha Clan was not an official ace mecha clan so they didn't have their own personal flag. Their flag was the 23rd division flag but the number '250' was painted on the other side of the flag. The symbol that represented their mecha clan was painted next to the numbers.
Two soldiers stood below the flag. Once they saw the recruits, they looked at the time on their communicators and said something to each other with a smile. They seemed happy to see the recruits reached here on time.
The recruits realized that they had reached their final destination. They were elated. There were 10 more minutes before the appointed time. They had completed the recruit test.
Unexpectedly, there was no scary ambush on the last part of their journey. They managed to successfully pass the test easily.
All the recruits jumped around happily. Although this was just a temporary team, they went through the toughest journey together. Such an experience drew everyone together, many of them hi-fived each other. Some of them even hugged the person beside them.
Guo Rongqi felt relief too. He hugged Chen Yifan excitedly. "Chen Yifan, we pass. We pass. In the end, there is no ambush. We just scared ourselves."
On the other hand, Chen Yifan just stared at the two people standing at the field. He was in a daze. Did they really pass? Was the last ambush just an illusion that their opponents gave them?
Chen Yifan looked at the map on his communicator. The red flag which represented their destination was in their current spot. This meant that they had really passed the test.
"Recruits, why are you all shouting? Are you all not coming over here to end your test?" A stern voice came from the other side.
The recruits finally realized that they still had not registered and ended the mission officially. Everyone rushed towards the center of the field.
Just as Chen Yifan wanted to ask Chen Yi'an and the other two to follow the recruits, he coincidentally glanced at his communicator. The green dot which represented his position was moving further away from the red flag. Although it was near, the spot where the two soldiers were standing at was not where the red flag was.
Chen Yifan looked up immediately. He turned his head and saw a simple thatched hut on his right. The flag of the 250 Mecha Clan was placed on the roof of the hut. Something flashed passed his mind. He reached out and pulled Chen Yi'an with one hand. He didn't know who he grabbed with his other hand but he just pulled the person and rushed to the hut.
Chen Yifan wanted to remind everyone but he didn't have the time to. If he stayed for a moment longer, he would be attacked too.
Sure enough, the moment Chen Yifan moved, the recruits that rushed to the center of the empty field got attacked by the soldiers hiding around them. They had no chance of retaliating at all.
At that moment, all the recruits finally realized what was happening. This was not their final destination, this was an ambush! They were all caught off guard. It appeared when they felt the most relieved.
They were completely annihilated! They made so many plans before this but everything went to waste. They couldn't even initiate their plans when faced with the psychological tactic played by their opponents.
Chen Yifan dragged two people with him but his speed was still fast. If he was given another second, he would be able to enter the hut. No one would be able to catch them then.
Just as he was about to enter the hut, he felt a strong Qi-Jin energy coming behind him. His gaze turned sharp. He took a deep breath and directed all his Qi-Jin power to his arms. Two strong forces came out of his hands and push Chen Yi'an and Zhou Yu forward.
Chen Yi'an and Zhou Yu flew towards the entrance of the hut. Chen Yifan turned around and attacked with his palms again.
"Boom!" His palms collided with his opponent's fist and a loud explosion occurred. Chen Yifan felt a huge energy coming towards him. He stopped using his Qi-Jin. The energy from his opponent caused him to fly towards the hut.
"Huh?" Chen Yifan heard his opponent's puzzled voice.
At the same time, he saw two figures flying past him. They landed in front of him. He recognized one of them. It was his younger brother.
There is someone behind him! Chen Yifan immediately got a hold of the situation. Seems like their opponent made ample preparations and placed someone at the entrance of the hut too.
Should he give up on his brother and enter the hut himself? This thought flashed past his mind. The person who attacked them just now was as strong as him. He could feel it from the punch that he received from his opponent. If he didn't enter the hut now, he might not have another chance.
Even though he thought about entering the hut himself, he already controlled the power in his body and landed steadily on the ground. He was only three meters away from the hut.
Chen Yifan didn't regret his decision. His younger brother was the reason why he entered the military in the first place. If his younger brother couldn't pass the test, there was no point in him passing it. Additionally, he could feel the force of presence of the Qi-Jin master behind him. He might not even succeed if he tried to enter the hut just now. Once he failed to enter the hut, he would be surrounded by two Qi-Jin masters. He had no hope in completing the mission.
Chen Yifan looked at the Qi-Jin master who attacked him first. It was a bulky young man. For some reason, he felt that this person looked familiar. He tried to remember where he met this young man before.
"Not bad!" His opponent wanted to attack him again but the person behind him said, "Brother Jun, leave this person to me." Chen Yifan felt that this voice was familiar too. He suddenly wanted to laugh. He actually found a person who looked familiar and a person who sounded familiar in the 250 Mecha Clan. He must be too tired.
The muscular young man frowned. "This is my prey."
The person behind him continued. "The two people on the ground are yours. I know this person. There's something I want to ask him."
"You know him? Really?" The muscular young man looked suspicious. Seems like he had been fooled by the other person before.
"Of course. Chen Yifan, are you not going to greet your old opponent?" The person behind Chen Yifan suddenly called his name. Chen Yifan was shocked. He turned around immediately and saw a familiar humble-looking young man smiling at him.
"Qi Long!" Chen Yifan gritted his teeth. He knew who this young man was. This was the person he lost to during the Grand Mecha Tournament. He would never forget him, the leader of the First Men's Military Academy that year, Qi Long.
Qi Long ignored the anger in Chen Yifan's eyes. He leaned against the door of the hut and crossed his hands in front of his chest. He spoke as though he was talking to an old friend. "Chen Yifan, with your capabilities, you can be a senior captain in any division. Why are you here as a logistician? Why are you just a low-level private? Don't tell me that you offended someone and got implicated."
"That is none of your business," Chen Yifan replied furiously. He was fine with losing to the First Men's Military Academy but he couldn't accept the consequences he had to endure. Their team leader was the one who was incapable and caused them to walk into the trap, but because their leader had a powerful background and would most probably become a high-ranking officer in the military in the future, he couldn't have any shameful past records. Thus, the blame was pushed onto him, the so-called second-in-command. He was not given any power during the entire battle but he had to endure all the blame.
He wanted to retaliate and lodge a complaint but it was useless. This humiliation was written down in his records. He lost his confidence in the military academy after this episode. And in turn, caused him to lose his confidence in the military too. That was why he didn't want to enter the military. He became the only cadet that went back to his hometown after graduation.
Chen Yifan never expected that he would enter the military because of Chen Yi'an. The only difference was that he was a low-level logistician now and not an elite.
"Well, it is indeed none of my business but since you are part of the 250 Mecha Clan, it is my business now." Qi Long flicked his epaulette. He gave an evil smile, "Private Chen Yifan, I'm your superior, Senior Captain Qi Long."
Actually, the smile just seemed evil to Chen Yifan. To other people, Qi Long was giving a humble and sincere smile.
"Are you from the Third Men's Military Academy too? Are you my brother's senior?" Chen Yi'an asked curiously. He is a senior captain so he must have entered the military a long time ago. If he knows my brother, he could only be my brother's senior.
Chen Yifan's face turned red when he heard his younger brother's words. He knew that Qi Long was one year younger than him. Was his brother trying to imply that he was not as good as Qi Long? Chen Yifan understood what it's like to have a dull teammate. His younger brother is just slapping his face!
Qi Long smiled. "Of course not. I'm from the First Men's Military Academy. I should be one year younger than your older brother."
"How is that possible?" Chen Yi'an was shocked. "You are a senior captain!" To Chen Yi'an, a senior captain was already a high-ranking officer. He knew that he might be unable to even become a staff sergeant at the end of his military career. He heard that many people retired as a corporal… Chen Yi'an counted mentally. A senior captain was five ranks higher than a corporal. He looked at Qi Long again. He stared at Qi Long's epaulette intently.
Zhao Jun and Qi Long laughed at Chen Yi'an's expression. Qi Long smiled and pointed at Chen Yifan. "If your brother wants to, he can become a senior captain too. I don't understand why your brother chose to become a normal logistician."
Qi Long shook his head. Since Chen Yifan decided to join the military, why did he choose to become the lowest-ranked soldier? If his friends didn't carefully look through the profiles, they wouldn't know that one of their logisticians was actually an ace operator.
Chen Yi'an looked at his older brother in surprise. He thought about himself and felt touched. He cried, "Older brother, you chose to become a normal logistician because of me. I'm so sorry."