Chapter 480 - The Mighty and the Overbearing!
Seeing that the Wuji faction had changed their tone and supported Ling Lan, Han Yu knew that his own disapproval had no effect. He could only angrily say, "We from the Wuji faction also support Captain Ling!"
As Han Yu finished, Ling Lan quickly sat up. She glanced sharply towards all the team members and said, "I want this commander role, not for the authority and power, but because I want to lead everyone to become the battle royale's big winners!" She turned her head towards Li Lanfeng and said, "Lanfeng, take out the plans that you guys discussed and hand them out to each team leader!"
Li Lanfeng nodded and looked towards Han Jijyun, who took out a backpack from behind him and from it, a stack of files. Luo Lang, Xie Yi, and Lin Zhong-qing walked up to help Han Jijyun distribute these files to each team leader.
Before the team leaders could start reading, Ling Lan warned them, "Don't take photos of these files, don't input them into your communicators. You can only remember it in your mind! After reading, destroy it immediately. It's entirely possible that this place is already under the surveillance of hackers. We can't let our guard down."
Ling Lan sent out her aura with her guard up, following which there was a chain of booming noises of something exploding in the meeting room—black smoke suddenly rose from the different corners of the meeting room. The expressions of all those present quickly changed. Who would have thought that there were so many wiretaps in this meeting room? It seemed that as Ling Lan had predicted, the other military academies had made their move on them.
Those members who had still been unwilling to accept Ling Lan as commander all looked at Ling Lan again, their eyes teeming with a hint of respect. Being able to figure out the movements of the enemy, perhaps this was the kind of commander capable of leading them to victory.
During all the explosions, Li Lanfeng's ears had moved slightly and he had glanced towards Han Jijyun with a look of surprise only to see that the latter was equally surprised. Luo Lang and the others stood calmly, their eyes filled with respect for Ling Lan. It was only Chang Xinyuan who had his head down, very focused on playing with his fingers.
As someone who was bad at acting, in the end, he had listened to Li Lanfeng's orders and put his head down until the meeting ended, the only reason being that he was the one who made these things that Boss Lan destroyed…
Because of what just happened, everyone present didn't dare to take things lightly. After they opened the files and memorized the content, they immediately destroyed them. As those who had managed to become a team leader, they would definitely have a few tricks up their sleeves.
Qiao Ting opened the files. The contents of the documents make his eyes flicker. He hadn't expected for Ling Lan's appetite to be so huge… He looked at Ling Lan with confusion before closing his hands and instantly, the files in his hands were reduced to dust, slowly seeping out from between his fingers and finally falling to the ground.
It was always when he wasn't paying attention to her that Ling Lan would show off yet another inhuman ability for him to admire. It reignited something that he had originally decided to no longer care about.
"As for the other 50 million credits, I thought it would be best to do it this way." After Ling Lan said this, everyone's focus shifted. This concerned just how much weapons and supplies their little teams would be distributed.
"First, Captain Qiao Ting's 24 man battalion, 8 million credits!" Ling Lan shot a cold stare at Qiao Ting. Qiao Ting nodded as he was very pleased with this number, pretty much taking one-sixth of the entire pool. It also met the need for the number of people in his team. Ling Lan's distribution was very fair.
Since the strongest team, Qiao Ting's battalion didn't have issues, then the rest definitely wouldn't have any either. Wuji and Tianji were similar to Qiao Ting's battalion. 4 million credits were given to the 12 man battalions. Zhang Jing-an's team was composed of 11 people. Without Zhang Jing-an as the main powerhouse, giving them 3.5 million was being nice to them. All the other mecha teams combined into a composite team of 24 people and got 6.5 million, making them very happy.
Although they had 24 people as well, they could not compare with Qiao Ting's 24 man battalion in strength nor level. They believed it was fair that they got 1.5 million less.
And this difference in 1.5 million made members of Qiao Ting's battalion feel very satisfied. When they looked at Ling Lan, their eyes showed their respect towards her. Overall, this distribution made everyone happy. Qiao Ting saw that everyone's expressions were lighting up and becoming happy, and he suddenly felt shocked. With no one the wiser, Ling Lan had already managed to draw all the members of the battalion to her side. He looked at Ling Lan again, still doubting his own judgment. Was Ling Lan really not his equal?
"Lingtian Battle Clan's distributed credits is 4 million. All the distributed credits are to be used for the battalion's weapons and equipment. The rest will be given to Lin Zhong-qing and the other logistics personnel to trade for other supplies, including the food and energy storage units that we will need during the battle royale."
"We don't need to exchange for a large land-based weapon?" Han Yu asked with a frown after hearing Ling Lan give the details.
"For mobility reasons, I disapprove exchanging for these types of weapons," Ling Lan answered plainly.
"Why?" Han Yu asked, suddenly standing up with discontent. If they wanted to defend the base camp, these weapons were a must. In past years, every military academy would choose a few area-of-effect heavy defensive cannons and set them in the base; otherwise, with just 120 people, some having to split up and try to take over other bases, there would no way for them to go against invaders from other military academies.
It should be known that taking over another base camp would yield a lot of points, but this was assuming that their own base camp was safe and sound. If their own base camp was taken by others, even if they had taken over many other teams' bases, it would all be for naught. The rules of the battle royale were brutal—if their base camp was taken, they would immediately be eliminated. Many military academies were even afraid of sending out a battalion to attack other base camps, instead choosing to defend until the very end. If your camp was safely defended, you would receive points. Although the points would be much lower than that of taking over a base camp, at the least they wouldn't be eliminated and still get points, right?
In reality, many of the academies had this kind of thought process. Managing to stay in the battle royale at the end and acquiring the bare minimum score would raise their ranking. In contrast, for the academies who wanted to pick a fight, they were more likely to be kicked out of the competition and without the minimum score, they would rank close to last place.
That was why, out of the members who were present, Han Yu wasn't the only one showing disagreement—the other battalions' team leaders all showed a hint of hesitation.
Faced with Han Yu's questioning, Ling Lan only threw a cold glare towards him in response, making Han Yu's heart skip a beat. Han Yu understood that the current Ling Lan was not the same Ling Lan who just went with the flow during the team battle. The Ling Lan right now, whether it was his stare or aura, was now accompanied with a strong and shapeless force. This gave him a misconception of how he felt. He was openly questioning the commander's orders in front of the commander. If this was in the army, it would definitely not be allowed to happen.
Han Yu's angry facial expression began to slowly disappear as Ling Lan glared at him. He forcefully calmed himself down and thought about the next time he would ask a question. On the side, one of the team leaders from the team that was combined opened his mouth and said, "Captain Ling, is it because there's some difficulty with the credits? If that's the case then my battalion can take a bit less. The base camp should be prioritized over other things."
After that statement, many of them looked towards Ling Lan, including Qiao Ting. Ling Lan's answer could affect the number of credits they get in the end. Qiao Ting's group weren't that naive. If the distributed credits were taken from one team, there was no way the others would be able to keep all that they were distributed.
Ling Lan began slamming the table as everyone looked at her, her face coldly glaring at Han Yu. It looked as though she was thinking of whether to accept this suggestion from this team leader…
Slowly, everyone understood what Ling Lan's expression meant. Ling Lan wasn't even thinking about this issue—she was thinking of whether she should punish Han Yu.
At this moment, Han Yu had also realized why Ling Lan had been silent. His face instantly turned green and he felt a sense of humiliation. This Ling Lan, who was only a second-year junior, dared to have this kind of thought? He wanted to flip the table and shout angrily, but Ling Lan's cold expression was secretly telling him that she was waiting for him to flip out. Having just acquired the authority of a commander, she really needed a scapegoat to reinforce her iron will—to show the other sheep in the herd.
Han Yu's chest heaved up and down numerous times. He gritted his teeth as hard as he could and didn't shout out angrily. He knew what would happen if he really did flip out—Ling Lan would definitely cancel his chance to participate in the battle royale, make him stay in the dormitory district all by himself and wait for the final result.
If that happened, then he would definitely become the laughing stock of all the students of the academy. He couldn't give Ling Lan the chance to do this. No way! Finally, Han Yu calmed down, his eye filled with a deep, dark hatred. If they lost the battle royale because of this, then he would make sure Ling Lan gets payback, to wash away the humiliation he experienced today.
Seeing that Han Yu finally understood her role, Ling Lan then coldly said, "Han Yu. This time, because it was the first, I can tolerate the fact that you went against the rules! But remember, this is the last time!"
Han Yu chewed on his gums so hard that they were even making sounds. Everyone realized that from the moment they accepted Ling Lan as the commander, Ling Lan was the commander. If one questioned the commander, even in the military academy, it was considered to be a huge issue. Ling Lan had the power to punish Han Yu's disrespect. It wouldn't have been overboard if she had kicked him out of the battle royale.
Qiao Ting's gaze narrowed. He hadn't thought that after taking the role of commander, Ling Lan would become so forceful, completely different from the easy discussion they had previously. She also did not hesitate to lose Han Yu, a valuable asset, in order to force them to submit. This kind of lighting fast means made those who initially didn't really think much of Ling Lan to become fearful of her.
Normally, this manner of doing things was undoubtedly too forceful and could make people unhappy; however, at this moment, it was surprisingly suitable for the situation. A battle royale was a merciless battlefield—if one couldn't have full control, there would be no way to achieve a good result, and this was also the reason why the First Men's Military Academy had never tried to change the fact that even though they knew the mecha teams that they sent to apply for the major tournaments had flaws, this was never changed. They were afraid that in the final battle royale, there would be too many mecha teams and thus wouldn't be able to be commanded all together. And this would be worse than missing out on all the major tournaments.
"I didn't really want to discuss it because those of you who have a brain only need to think to know why," Ling Lan said and then looked around at the others, the ones who had initially shown feelings of discontent. Under Ling Lan's gaze, these people felt a sense of embarrassment which made them involuntarily lower their heads.
"In the file, regarding members banding together. The seventh part discusses this point." Ling Lan called to their attention.
Chapter 481 - Forming an Alliance with a High-Five
At that moment, the team leaders who had gone through the file suddenly remembered the seventh part that they had read suddenly reached a revelation. This time, whether it was those team leaders who questioned Ling Lan's abilities or those who had trusted Ling Lan along with the other team members, all of them now had nothing to say.
Zhang Jing-an's vice captain saw the situation and promptly said, "Captain Ling, our battalion will wholly obey your commands." That statement made the two other team leaders from the other mecha clan to each declare that they were also willing to obey all of Ling Lan's orders.
Li Lanfeng and Han Jijyun looked at each other right then. All of the remarks made by Zhang Jing-an's vice captain were always in favor of Boss Lan. If they still didn't know that Zhang Jing-an had already formed a partnership with their boss, then they wouldn't be fit to become the Lingtian Battle Clan's strategists.
Seeing the situation, Qiao Ting felt uneasy. He knew that his chance at the role of commander was completely shattered. The silence and the giving in from before were caused by Ling Lan and Li Lanfeng's double-teaming in the conversation, causing him to temporarily give in. Another reason was that he had wanted to see whether Ling Lan would be able to control this group. Qiao Ting had intended on showing his hand once he found out that Ling Lan could not control these unruly individuals from the different teams, at which moment he would have become a prime candidate for commander.
Unfortunately, the final result made him truly helpless. The means which Ling Lan used were more forceful and decisive than he thought. Faced with Han Yu's questioning, she didn't choose to just let it go but instead chose to toss him away and make him obey. With that, not only did she hold down Han Yu's fury, but at the same time, she also frightened the rest of the team leaders and members. No one dared to make any more comments about Ling Lan's choices, making it so her orders would be obeyed without question. It really was killing two birds with one stone!
Seeing that everyone was finally seeing her as the commander, Ling Lan closed the discussion. She let all the team leaders go to the weapons warehouse to choose the weapons needed for their own respective teams. She handed her nameplate to Lin Zhong-qing. After the other team leaders finished picking out their weapons, she would then tell Lin Zhong-qing to use her own nameplate to confirm. Ling Lan was the First Men's Military Academy's real team leader. When they registered, they used her nameplate to acquire the proof and the 50 million credits.
Just when Qiao Ting stood up and was about leave, Ling Lan suddenly turned around and said to him, "Captain Qiao, please stay."
Qiao Ting slowed down and then blankly seated himself again, waiting for what Ling Lan was going to say.
Ling Lan didn't say anything, but instead, she asked Han Jijyun to take out a piece of paper and a pen and began to draw on the paper. After around three minutes, Ling Lan then raised her head and said to Qiao Ting, "Captain Qiao, can you come over and check this for me?"
Qiao Ting was confused. He walked forward and found out that Ling Lan had drawn the data which had been displayed on the large screen for only one minute at the drawing ceremony. Ling Lan had drawn about 70% of the map. Some of the parts, he hadn't even noticed. He hadn't thought that Ling Lan remembered it all.
"Help me add on to it!" Ling Lan said, passing him the pen in her hand.
Qiao Ting raised his head and asked in confusion, "Why would you want me to add to it?"
Ling Lan's gaze met Qiao Ting's and she replied with a question, "Then Captain Qiao, you didn't memorize the map?"
Qiao Ting became silent once again. He hadn't thought that his actions had been transparent to Ling Lan, which gave him the feeling that he was restrained by Ling Lan. Qiao Ting took a deep breath and let out the small hint of defeat in his heart. He took the pen and wrote down the places that he remembered that didn't overlap that in which Ling Lan had memorized. Just like that, the entire map was around 80% complete.
Seeing Qiao Ting put down the pen, Ling Lan nodded, saying, "Although the map isn't finished, it is still enough for us to use."
Qiao Ting almost spat out blood. This was considered to be unfinished? If Ling Lan didn't remember 70% by herself and with the 10% that didn't overlap with Ling Lan's memory from the 30% that he remembered, they wouldn't have been able to finish almost up to 80% of the map. He believed other than their First Men's Military Academy, the other academies most definitely did not have a map that was almost complete.
Ling didn't pay attention to Qiao Ting's depressed look. She turned her head towards Li Lanfeng and Han Jijyun and instructed, "Make 10 copies of this map on the double. I have uses for them."
"Yes, Captain!" Han Jijyun and Li Lanfeng immediately nodded in response. Because of Ling Lan's change in role, the two of them set aside the casual way they addressed other normally and switched to the battalion's standard form of address.
Ling Lan's eyes showed a tint of happiness. Han Jijyun and Leopard really had situational awareness—they knew what was the best thing to do was. After taking up the role of commander for the First Men's Military Academy, the old bandit-esque title of "Boss" was no longer suitable.
On the side, Li Lanfeng and Han Jijyun were busy making maps, while on the other hand, Qiao Ting left with his team members. He needed to make sure to choose a good 8 million worth of weapons. This was going to affect their battalion's battle strength, thus Qiao Ting couldn't be careless about it.
Very quickly, those in the meeting room had all left, leaving only those from Ling Lan's battalion. Seeing that there were no outsiders left, Chang Xinyuan immediately loosened the tension in his body, letting out the air he had been holding inside and flopping onto the chair. Man, he had been suffocating to death.
Li Lanfeng was still drawing the maps when sensed Chang Xinyuan begin to move, which made him think of something. He stopped drawing, turned his head and asked, "Chang Xinyuan, about those things, how many did you make?"
"10. What? Is there a problem?" Chang Xinyuan asked in confusion. Weren't they just destroyed? Why was Li Lanfeng making a big deal out of it?
"That's not right. I heard twelve exploding sounds." Li Lanfeng said, his expression frozen in place. He turned towards Han Jijyun who was beside him and smiled coldly, saying, "Looks like there really were other academies making a move on us. If I find out who they are, I will use them to warm up in the battle royale," he said with killing intent.
"If my guess is correct, one of them should be the Co-ed Military Academy," responded Ling Lan who was sitting on the chairmen seat, lazily holding up her cheek.
Li Lanfeng said with surprise, "Rabbit? How do you know?"
Ling Lan shot a cold glance towards Li Lanfeng. Didn't this guy know that she didn't really like the nickname Rabbit?
When she saw Li Lanfeng's eyes show a hint of happiness and joyfulness, she was surprised and suddenly thought it was pretty funny. She didn't think that wise and composed Leopard would have such a childish side to him. Calling her "Rabbit" just to prove their relationship was different from others?
"Yeah, no matter what, she was still someone who cared deeply for her friends. If her friends liked it, then she will just let it slide. She won't lose anything just from someone calling her 'Rabbit'!" thought Ling Lan.
Han Jijyun, however, seemed to have thought of something. He frowned, his gaze stiff. "Perhaps Luo Chao's lot couldn't keep their mouths shut?"
Han Jijyun still remembered that during the celebration for winning the team battle, Boss Lan had reminded them of the time and place of today's meeting. At that time, Luo Chao and Han Xuya were both present and they had also heard that information.
"Yes! Han Xuya has too careless a personality and might not have cared about this. However, that intelligent Luo Chao would definitely have done her best to fulfill her duty and bring that information back with her." Ling Lan was not surprised. She gave an ambiguous smile and said, "If the Co-ed Military Academy didn't make any moves, then I would have been disappointed."
Ling Lan's words put Han Jijyun at a loss. What did Boss Lan mean? Did Luo Chao betray them? But there was no hint of anger in Boss Lan's words. What was going on?
When it came to his friends, Han Jijyun's brain always seemed to become as if clogged and slower to react.
On the other hand, Li Lanfeng's eyes lit up and he said, "Rabbit, you're saying Luo Chao understood what you meant and you deliberately handed them the information of the meeting for them to hear?"
Ling Lan nodded and said, "Yeah. Although little Luo Chao is very shy, in terms of brains, she is not worse than Jijyun." There was a hint of pride in the way Ling Lan spoke—who said we girls aren't as good as guys?
Little Luo Chao? Such an intimate way of calling her! And there was also that a prideful tone. No matter which angled one viewed it from, it seemed like he was showing off… Li Lanfeng remembered that Ling Lan had voluntarily gone clothes shopping with Luo Chao before… (Ling Lan, are you really just going to avoid Han Xuya?) He had even chosen clothes for her. A boy that was willing to do this for a girl… Other than boyfriend and girlfriend, what other kinds of relationship could it be?
After thinking about this, Li Lanfeng thought to himself, "Rabbit is this young and already has a girlfriend. Then how does he expect us 20-year-olds to live?" Okay, Li Lanfeng was a bit envious. He thought, "Does Rabbit not know that he needs to be respectful to his elders? Seniors should have girlfriends before the juniors! That's the right way!"
Han Jijyun didn't know of Li Lanfeng's thoughts, but because of Li Lanfeng's reminder, he quickly understood—eyes lighting up, he smiled with a hint of happiness and said, "Boss, were you planning on striking a partnership with the First Co-ed Military Academy?"
"I'm not the one who wanted to, but them instead!" Ling Lan replied plainly. Regardless of whether they formed a partnership, the final result for the First Men's Military Academy wouldn't change. The only reason why she was willing to give the First Co-ed Military Academy this chance was because it was Luo Chao and Han Xuya's academy. Ling Lan didn't mind giving them a hand.
Of course, they needed to be honestly willing to form a partnership. If the other side wanted to use them, Ling Lan wouldn't be so nice even if Luo Chao and Han Xuya were with them.
Han Jijyun wanted to keep asking questions, but Ling Lan suddenly raised her head towards the door of the meeting room. She gestured "do not enter" with her hands and softly said, "Speak of the devil."
Han Jijyun's expression changed upright and returned to his serious expression. Li Lanfeng quickly put away the maps that he and Han Jijyun were drawing. After cleaning up, they saw at the entrance that a small head had peeped in. Seeing how Ling Lan and the others were all there, she immediately showed signs of joy on her face, a timid smile quietly forming on it—she was none other than Luo Chao.
"If there the guests are here, why don't they just come in?" Ling Lan said indifferently.
"Haha, congratulations Captain Ling on defeating the rest to become the First Men's Military Academy's commander!" Immediately, a candid laugh erupted outside the door. Luo Chao then made way and a tall figure appeared at the entrance which slowly walked into the meeting room. It was none other than the First Co-ed Military Academy's team leader, Lin Xiao. If there were no issues, Lin Xiao would be the commander of this year's battle royal for their military academy.
"You're satisfied with what you heard and saw right?" Ling Lan raised her brow indifferently, instantly exposing what they had done.
Lin Xiao's laughter was suddenly brought to a halt, and he was now feeling slightly awkward. He hadn't expected that this second-year student, a junior called Boss Lan by Luo Chao's lot, wouldn't leave him with any dignity. He thought about the scene he saw earlier. Seeing as how even Qiao Ting, who was the First Military Academy's top student, was treated in such a harsh manner, then it wasn't a surprise that he would treat him the same. He laughed weakly in his mind. It looked like the negotiations with the other party wasn't going to be that easy.
Lin Xiao was, of course, a remarkable person, being able to become the commander of the First Co-ed Military Academy—he kept a straight face and replied, "Well that was because Captain Ling wanted us to listen."
Ling Lan didn't say anything, but merely glanced coldly towards Lin Xiao, and the two of them silently looked at each other for two to three minutes… In the end, it was Lin Xiao who gave in, the reason being that Ling Lan's calm and collected expression showed that she didn't care what they came to do. In other words, it meant that in terms of needing a partnership, the First Co-ed Military Academy was more urgent. Since their side needed something from the other party, Lin Xiao could only give in.
"He really is a difficult person to deal with. No wonder he managed to hold down the academy's top student Qiao Ting and become the commander of the First Men's Military Academy…" Lin Xiao thought to himself with admiration. He had lost this round. He had fallen straight into the other side's hands from the moment he walked in here.
No, perhaps he had already fallen into this trap after Luo Chao gave him that information last night. Unfortunately, even if he knew he was walking into a trap, he would still come by on his own accord in order to beat the Second and Third Men's Military Academy.
"This time I came here to talk to Captain Ling about forming a collaboration." Lin Xiao went straight to the point. He turned around towards Luo Chao who had followed him inside, smiled and said gratefully, "Of course, I have to thank my junior Luo Chao for creating this connection between us."
Lin Xiao's words instantly made Luo Chao blush. She shook her hands and said, "Senior Lin, don't thank me. I was just following my boss's orders." After saying that, Luo Chao looked at Ling Lan, her eyes filled with a hint of affection. This look of hers made Ling Lan feel very helpless. Who said Luo Chao was a scaredy cat? Ling Lan was already behaving very coldly, but Luo Chao still managed to like her and not be scared off.
Luo Chao's glance caused Lin Xiao's smile to dull somewhat. When he looked at Ling Lan again, the sincerity in his eyes had lessened and had a faint hostility to it.
Ling Lan frowned upon seeing this situation. It seemed that Lin Xiao had some feelings for Luo Chao… The way Ling Lan looked at Lin Xiao suddenly became more serious, almost as though she were scrutinizing him.
Upon founding out that there was some other guy coveting her little sister, Ling Lan instantly turned into a beast protecting her young. She really did think that Luo Chao was too young. She shouldn't just be deceived by men like that… This Lin Xiao actually used his status as senior to get close to Luo Chao—how shameless! Ling Lan was inclined to start a fight and teach Lin Xiao a lesson, letting him know that Ling Lan's little sisters were not so easily coveted.
Ling Lan's expression was growing increasingly vicious and her aura was also seeping out. Being at the center of the pressure, Lin Xiao instantly felt a strong, shapeless force striking at him without any remorse… In order to protect himself, Lin Xiao's aura also erupted and fought against the force as if his life depended on it. The more he fought, the more he felt that his opponent had unfathomable power, causing countless droplets of cold sweat to form on his forehead. He realized at that moment why Qiao Ting had chosen to give in—this Ling Lan, his physical abilities were too strong.
Seeing how Lin Xiao could no longer hold on, Ling Lan withdrew her aura. Right then, Lin Xiao had a face full of sweat. Luo Chao saw this and quickly gave him a tissue, her eyes filled with a hint of pity. Senior Lin was too stubborn—he was just looking for trouble when he decided to clash with Boss Lan's aura.
Lin Xiao suddenly blushed after seeing Luo Chao's eyes show a hint of pity. It was no wonder that no matter how well he behaved and performed, Luo Chao would not bat an eye. If she had someone beside her that was this talented, she probably wouldn't even give others a second look. He felt somewhat at a loss. To him, Luo Chao was really cute. He was infatuated with her, whether it was her timid smile or her warm voice. It was unfortunate that someone like her wouldn't be his.
He looked again towards the cold expressionless face of Ling Lan. Lin Xiao sighed internally. With someone this strong, Lin Xiao didn't believe that he had hopes of winning her over. Although it was a bit of a waste, Lin Xiao was someone who could move on. If there was no chance, then he would just put his feelings down and never think of them again.
He changed his stance and spoke to Ling Lan again, "I came here this time to talk with Captain Ling about a partnership." The war on love could wait, as right now he had come here to talk about their military academy's future for this year—he couldn't make any mistakes here.
Seeing his expression become clear, Ling Lan felt some admiration towards Lin Xiao at that moment. Her impression of him improved as well, so she decided to no longer make it hard for Lin Xiao and said, "Partnership. Sure. However, whether we can or cannot collaborate is based on how sincere you guys are."
It was with apparent confidence that Lin Xiao took out a paper-like object from his pocket and handed it to Ling Lan. Ling Lan opened it, her lip raised, and then she shook her head at Lin Xiao, indicating that this was not enough.
"This is only part of it. If you agree to the partnership, we will give you the other ones as well," said Lin Xiao.
At that, Ling Lan turned towards Li Lanfeng and signaled him to come over. Li Lanfeng joyfully hopped beside Ling Lan, who then asked Li Lanfeng to bring his ear down. She then softly instructed Li Lanfeng with a few words, at which Li Lanfeng nodded to show that he understood.
Upon receiving Ling Lan's orders, Li Lanfeng quickly took out a piece of paper and sat on the side of the table in the meeting room. He drew up a part of the map that they had drawn earlier.
After Lin Xiao saw this, his expression changed slightly, the reason being that the map Li Lanfeng had drawn was the same as the one that he had shown Ling Lan. Moreover, Li Lanfeng had drawn five or six more districts than they had. This meant that this portion of the map that he had brought, Ling Lan's group had as well—that was why Ling Lan had shaken her head, indicating that it wasn't enough. Indeed, the things that other people have could originally be worth a lot, but now it was worth nothing at all.
Lin Xiao bit his lip and took out three pieces of paper and passed them to Ling Lan. This was already 70% of the amount that they had been able to memorize and jot down, while their entire map was only around 45%. If his deputy wasn't a genius at memorization, there would have been no way for them to memorize this much. He hoped that these three pieces of paper would satisfy Ling Lan, or else they would be in a rough spot.
Ling Lan opened it and took a look. The first two pieces made her frown, making Lin Xiao heart drop to the ground. When she looked at the third piece, however, Ling Lan became silent, making Lin Xiao jolt up. Just when he thought that something was going to happen, Ling Lan shook her head to indicate that it was still not enough.
Lin Xiao's expression shifted and anger reared inside him for a second. Ling Lan was too insatiable—he did not believe that all three maps had no use to him.
Ling Lan saw the dissatisfied look on Lin Xiao's face. She didn't say any more, turning her head and ordering Li Lanfeng, "Lanfeng, draw the C-area and D-area maps for Captain Lin!"
Li Lanfeng quickly drew out both the C-area and D-area maps. The two maps Lin Xiao had given them were lacking and the markings they had made were unclear. However, the one Li Lanfeng had drawn was complete, which meant that Ling Lan could confirm that they already had these two maps and they were more complete than Lin Xiao's. Now that Ling Lan asked him to draw it out, it was instead favorable for Lin Xiao's side.
"Inside here, there is only this T-area map which we are missing 50% of." Ling Lan moved the three pieces of paper in her hands and acknowledged the fact that there was information that was useful to them. "However, this map only counts as half of a kind gesture. If you want to form a partnership with us, just half is not enough."
Lin Xiao's eyes lit up. He looked at Ling Lan, wanting to determine whether what she said was true or not, while Ling Lan looked at him earnestly. In reality, if she really wanted a fully completed map, she didn't even really need to bargain with them—she would only need to ask Little Four for it.
Even for that T-area map, Lin Xiao's group had only drawn a portion of it and some parts were missing, but it was just that she and Qiao Ting remembered the least about the map of the T-area, which was why she accepted their kind gesture.
"We shouldn't be bargaining and haggling now. I know you have some maps in your possession. You can't possibly take them all out. Is it one, two or three?" Ling Lan paid attention to Lin Xiao expression as she was speaking. When she said two, Lin Xiao's eyebrows twitched a bit. She then knew that the maps that their rival had were around 60%. Although this amount of information could not compare to theirs, it was still very surprising. It was likely that the Co-ed Military Academy had an individual who was proficient at memorization, or else there would have been no way for them to memorize this much.
"If I take all of it out, will Captain Ling agree to the alliance?" Lin Xiao was not tempted by Ling Lan's words. He didn't want to show all of his cards and receive nothing in return in the end.
"Of course, our common enemy is the Second Men's Military Academy. Yes, the Third Men's Military Academy, too." Ling Lan pointedly looked at Luo Chao who was standing on the side.
Lin Xiao laughed weakly. Even if he knew he didn't have a chance with Luo Chao, being her senior, he had to help her get rid of the foul taste in her mouth and let Jiang Shaoyu know that the First Co-ed Military Academy was not to be messed with.
"I hope Captain Ling will not go back on your word. Also, the Second Men's Military Academy is our opponent!" Lin Xiao said without hesitation, shooting a glance at Luo Chao. This was the last thing that he could do for Luo Chao, so he had to finish it in order to hold a memorial for the feelings he was going to lose.
"Done!" Ling Lan sprang to her feet suddenly, her face completely serious and her hand raised.
"May our partnership prosper!" Lin Xiao also raised his hand, gave Ling Lan a high-five, and thus a promised partnership that would go down in history books was formed.
Chapter 482 - A True Battle Royale
In the outer space of planet Qiming, a fleet of large starships was slowly moving. The fleet was mainly composed of cargo ships. Of course, there were also escort ships and destroyers on the surrounding them. The cargo ships were not holding army personnel or army supplies, but all the military academy participants of the mecha battle royale instead. Ling Lan and the others from the First Men's Military Academy were amongst those people.
Of course, a single cargo ship didn't house only one military academy; there were at least 20 military academy teams within one. In the cargo ship that Ling Lan and were in, there were four military academies squeezed together.
This also made the atmosphere in the cargo hold very tense. Four academies, each holding a corner, all taking precautions against each other.
All the members of the First Men's Military Academy were in a sharp battle formation. Taking point was Qiao Ting's 24 man battle team with mecha that all had the same color, looking at the other three military academies menacingly. This was also the biggest reason why the atmosphere in the cargo hold was so tense.
Behind Qiao Ting's battle team, there were special-class mechas which protected both flanks that had Han Yu leading the Wuji battle team and Mu Shaoyu leading the Tianji battle team with one on either side.
In the middle of this protective zone between these three teams were ten cargo mecha holding all the different types of supplies that belonged to them, as they didn't have any large weapons. Additionally, they had already distributed a large portion of the supplies and weapons before boarding the ship. Using ten of the cargo mecha for the rest of the supplies was more than enough.
Even more so, after Chang Xinyuan and the other genius mecha engineers had altered the transport mechas, the weight they could hold was increased to more than twice the original amount; thus, these 10 transport mechas were not only just transports used for logistics, but also weaponized mechas that had firepower. This made it so that the participants of the First Men's Military Academy did not waste a single mecha operator in terms of logistics—they really managed to make it so the whole clan could all fight together.
Furthermore, Ling Lan had taken the rest of the clan members to the backline. At a glance, it could be seen that other than a few advanced mechas mixed in, the rest were all special-class mechas. Having this much power, the other three military academies that only had advanced mechas become fearful of them.
And it was in this tense atmosphere that Ling Lan's little team was video chatting in a relaxed manner.
"Actually, I still haven't figured it out. Aren't they just taking us to where the large map was? Why would they need such a large fleet?" asked Chang Xinyuan. He was finally able to ask the question that he was puzzled by. Obviously, transportation within the planet surface would be faster than travelling through space. The cost was also lower. Why would the host choose such a difficult way over an easy one?
"Who knows, maybe they want us to know what it's like to be in a real cargo starship," Luo Lang guessed without a care in the world.
"It can't be that simple!" Han Jijyun didn't think that was the case. "When we knew that we were to board a starship, I was already thinking about why the host party had done this…"
"Then did you find out anything?" Qi Long asked curiously. He had always trusted Han Jijyun regarding these kinds of matters that tested one's intelligence.
Han Jijyun shook his head regrettably. "I don't know… or rather, I can't make out a reliable answer." Han Jijyun still thought there was something to this arrangement, but it was as if there was a haze covering the answer, making him unable to see it clearly. He didn't want to give up and so asked Li Lanfeng, "Senior Feng, what are your thoughts about it?"
Li Lanfeng frowned. He sighed and said, "Actually, I've also been thinking about this issue."
"What issue?" asked Han Jijyun, unusually anxious as his eyes lit up.
Strategists were all like this. Once they realized a problem was not as simple as it looked, the feeling of being unable to figure it out would make them feel terrible, leading to poor appetite and sleep. They had to fully figure out the problem in order for this to stop, which was why Han Jijyun instantly became excited upon hearing that Li Lanfeng had possibly made a breakthrough.
Li Lanfeng's gaze turned towards Ling Lan who had been silent this whole time and said softly, "The order that Boss Lan gave earlier when we were boarding the starship, you guys haven't forgotten it yet, right?"
At Li Lanfeng's words, everyone recalled the scene of the time when they were boarding the ship…
At the dock, when the First Men's Military Academy came to board the ship, they saw a massively large cargo ship. Everyone could not control themselves and scream, "Wow! This is our Federation's large cargo starship, huh? It really is magnificent. Just think how many people can live in there."
"According to the data, just the number of reserve army personnel in a large cargo ship reaches ten thousand. Adding the other types of soldiers, the total wouldn't be less than one hundred thousand people," explained someone who was familiar with starship data to the others.
Just when everyone was shocked by the size of the starship, they heard Ling Lan's cold voice from the team communication channel. "New orders: All teams, immediately acquire your weapons and supplies from the logistics personnel. Location: XX.XX. Do not be late!"
After this order was issued, those who were still in conversation instantly began to get busy. All of them ran towards the location Ling Lan had given them and found the logistics team, led by Lin Zhong-qing, to get their supplies.
They had originally decided to distribute the supplies when they arrived at their destination, but now it was suddenly decided to do so early. Although many of them didn't understand why, getting their share of the supplies (energy storage units, food, weapons, etc.) early still made them happy.
Of course, the reason why they had to wait for them to distribute the weapons and supplies was that the 50 million credits worth of weapons and supplies would be sent to them in the docking area when they boarded the ship, given to all the academies at that time; thus, early distribution would be impossible.
Ling Lan's sudden order made the members of First Men's Military Academy who were at the dock turn upside and busier like ever before, and this made passersby look down on them. Who knew that the students of the First Men's Military Academy would not care about their dignity just to grab weapons and supplies, loudly going about distributing supplies at the boarding dock—this kind of behavior was indeed a shameful display.
Right then, Qiu Yue, who was the commander-in-chief responsible for the transportation this time, was sitting beside the window sipping a cup of tea while looking down at all that was happening on the boarding docks. In front of him, on the commander's seat that was supposed to be his, was a man of incomparable handsomeness, sitting there casually.
"Eh? Why is the seventh boarding dock so busy? Did something happen?" As the commander-in-chief responsible for the transport fleet, he would be wholly responsible if any mishaps occurred during the transport mission.
The handsome man in front of him heard this and lifted his brows, pointed directly at the starship's A.I, and in response the A.I. said, "Commander-in-Chief Qiu Yue, please state your command."
The handsome man looked at Qiu Yue silently while holding in a smile. Qiu Yue walked up to the A.I. and said, "I want an image on the number seven boarding dock. I want to know what happened there."
"Yes!" Following that, a large screen quickly appeared on the virtual screen of the A.I.. The image of the seventh boarding area appeared clearly before the two of them.
Qiu Yue saw a mecha clan that appeared as though they were in a messy fight, but in reality they were systematically distributing weapons and supplies. Randomly tapping on one of the mecha, enhancing and zooming in, he could see the emblem of the military academy on its chest. He said in surprise, "It's the First Men's Military Academy?"
He turned around to the handsome man, his face showing a faint smile. "Ling Xiao, these are our juniors. Who knew that they would distribute the supplies and weapons right at the start. Do you think they've figured something out?"
Ling Xiao picked up the teacup beside him. After taking a sip, he then said ambiguously, "Maybe they have, or maybe they haven't."
"You're saying this is luck? Then their luck is pretty good. If they had waited until arriving at their destination to distribute supplies then, heh heh…" Qiu Yue's smile was clearly filled with schadenfreude. He suddenly thought about the reason Ling Xiao mentioned just now as to why he had come to the tournament. Now understanding, he asked, "Isn't your son only 17 years old? How did he get a chance to participate in the grand mecha tournament?" Even Ling Xiao could only participate when he was in his third year.
Ling Xiao held his own forehead gently with his right hand. A smile showing on his face, he said without reservation, "Yeah, a second year and already advanced to a special-class operator. Not only that, but he is also this year's commander for the battle royale!" Regarding Ling Lan's advancement to an ace operator, Ling Xiao still didn't really want to have too many people know.
"Holy sh*t, a second year can become a commander. I remember that the First Men's Military Academy sent an ace operator right? Your son was able to pressure someone like that and get the role of commander. He's even more overpowering than you. Ling Xiao, you've got someone that can take over for you!" Qiu Yue's eyes were green with envy. He continued in a depressed tone, "I didn't think that out of all of us, the first to have a son would be you. I always thought that you would be the last one to get married and have a family. At that time, pretty much all the girls liked you. We all thought you had trouble choosing one."
That was part of Ling Xiao's era. In that year's mecha tournament, Ling Xiao led the First Men's Military Academy like they were invincible and pretty much got all of the first place rankings in the tournament. In the end, their score was so high it was terrifying, making a record that pretty much no one could beat.
Too bad that was the last of the First Men's Military Academy's glory days. After Ling Xiao left the academy, they were pressured by the Second Men's Military Academy for three consecutive years, becoming the perpetual second place. This made those who came out from the First Men's Military Academy to reminisce even more of the glory during Ling Xiao's time…
"What do you mean trouble choosing? I was innocent, alright!" Ling Xiao glanced at his good friend, warning him not to speak so carelessly. His wife had come onto the starship with him—he would be troubled if she had a misunderstanding.
"Alright, alright, I know you're afraid of your wife. I won't say it then!" Qiu Yue put his hands up in surrender, showing that he understood. See, this was what it meant by heroes having short tempers and always thinking about relationships. So what if Ling Xiao was well known? He still had to hide his tail and listen when went home. Truth be told, Ling Xiao's tragedy was also why these old friends of his were afraid of taking someone as their wife. They were afraid of becoming the next Ling Xiao.
"This is called sentiments, understand? You bunch of single people definitely won't be able to understand the joy from within," Ling Xiao said, his tone disdainful. Those who didn't walk the same path couldn't share in the experience. The feelings between him and Lan Luofeng could not be understood by these players who had never experienced true love.
"Okay Little Moon Moon, I have to go back and see my wife." Ling Xiao stood up and put on the military cap beside him.
"F***er, don't call me Little Moon Moon!" Qiu Yue yelled furiously. It had been so many years, since Ling Xiao's 'death', that he had heard that name he hated to the bone. Hearing it again now made him feel the anger he felt from before, making him lose the demeanor of a commander, instantly losing control of himself.
In the adviser room beside them, He Xuyang and the starship adviser were drinking tea and conversing. Suddenly, he raised his head like a fox and asked, "Hmm, did you hear anything just now?"
"… No!" That was definitely not their commander's voice! The adviser denied it without hesitation.
"Oh, I guess I heard wrong then." He Xuyang laughed. Little Moon Moon? Starship Commander Qiu Yue? His face held a trace of a smile. He didn't expect that Major General Qiu Yue to have this kind of nickname. Hehehe, their general was really too evil!
"Haha, just like before, you explode when called by that name." Ling Xiao laughed with nostalgia.
"If you say it again, you're no longer my friend!" Qiu Yue yelled angrily.
"Alright, since you've already said so much, I'm not going to say it anymore," Ling Xiao shrugged indifferently and said. He fixed his military cap and got ready to leave.
"What the f***, you're leaving already? Then why did I ask you to come here?" Qiu Yue's face was full of irritation. After finding him, he had only talked to him for a few seconds and yet he was getting ready to back to his wife? Really? Hoes before bros.
Ling Xiao's footsteps suddenly stopped. He hesitated before saying, "I know you're responsible for the transport. That's why I came to see you. I also wanted to ask whether you'd like to come to the 23rd Division."
Upon hearing this, Qiu Yue was so excited he almost spilled the tea in his hand. He suddenly walked up to Ling Xiao in one stride and punched his shoulder with great force. His eyes filled with tears, he said, "Man, I was already waiting for your invitation when you established the 23rd Division. I waited one year without anything happening. I thought you had already forgotten old friends like me."
"How could that be? It's only been 17 years and people change. Many of my friends were all holding high positions of authority, which made me cautious. They would not have wanted to start from scratch with me again." Ling Xiao couldn't not care about this. This was also why he had thought over this matter for over a year before making the decision to look for them again.
Ling Xiao's words made Qiu Yue's smile disappear. Like the former, he felt that between the two of them, many people had changed. He could only sigh internally. Seventeen years, enough to change some people and some things. How many people still remembered the promises they once made in their youth?
"Stop sighing. I was already satisfied when you were willing to come. Wait for my orders for the transfer." Ling Xiao couldn't sense Qiu Yue's feelings of loss, smiling as he walked out of the control room. He suddenly thought of something, turned his head to Qiu Yue and said, "Oh yeah, about my son. Please take care of him during all this!"
"Don't worry!" Qiu Yue waved his hand at Ling Xiao to let him not worry. After Ling Xiao left, he smiled devilishly, "Oh I will take very good care of him. Yes, find a difficult spot to throw them off…"
"Distributing the weapons and supplies to each member ahead of time. I believe Boss Lan figured out something," Li Lanfeng said without hesitation.
Everyone looked at Ling Lan, waiting for her response.
Ling Lan didn't answer but instead turned to Li Lanfeng and said, "You should explain why I distributed the supplies and weapons right at the beginning. I think you should have an answer already."
"I can only think of one possibility, which is that this trip isn't as simple as it looks. Maybe there will be sudden changes in the middle of things," Li Lanfeng said what he had thought.
"Then when we boarded the ship, the test of the battle royale had already begun?" Having experienced the military academy's assessment, Han Jijyun's eyes lit up as he thought of this possibility.
Ling Lan nodded and said, "Jijyun is right. I speculate that the battle royale had already begun when we were drawing for base locations. I can't think of any reason why the host would let them get their location safely. If the battle royale was only about defending and attacking base camps, then it wouldn't be a super battle that takes up half of the points of the mecha tournament.
Ling Lan's words caused a thought to flash across the minds of Li Lanfeng and Han Jijyun. They exclaimed at the same time, "It's a strategy!"
With a face full of excitement, Han Jijyun said, "Right now, what's being tested is our level of strategy, to see if we are able to see what they have planned. The 50 million credits at the beginning were also testing your overall amount, planning, and strength of the logistics and even mechanics were calculated into it. No wonder it's a battle royale. It practically includes the aspects of all the military academy's majors."
"This also tests Starship Navigation. Is this fleet really going to fly along Planet Qiming? I don't think that's the case." Ling Lan spoke out the result that she and Little Four had speculated. This made the team's members eyes all light up brightly.
"Jijyun, because your talents do not lie in being a navigator. When you enter the transport hold and your line of sight is obstructed while not having radars to help you, there will be no way for you to know the direction in which the fleet is flying. But I'm sure that Luo Chao definitely discovered this issue. I just hope that she can let Lin Xiao know in a timely manner so they won't suffer any losses due to being unprepared." Ling Lan naturally hoped that the First Co-ed Military Academy would be as strong as they could be since they were allies.
While Ling Lan was making guesses, on the First Co-ed Military Academy's side, Luo Chao felt that there was a problem with the trajectory the starship was flying towards. They seemed to have left Planet Qiming and arrived at an unknown location. In the books that she had studied, this unknown location didn't even exist.
Luo Chao quickly reported this issue to Lin Xiao. Lin Xiao was very trusting of Luo Chao. He made everyone line up and began to distribute weapons and supplies within the cargo hold. Seeing this, the other three academies cleverly began to distribute weapons and supplies just like the First Co-ed Military Academy. However, some of the special weapons they put together and didn't distribute…
Just like that, they flew for a bit more than an hour. While all the cadets were still unaware, the starship fleet originally flying together had split up and flew towards different parts of the mysterious planet.
"Beep, beep, beep!" After another 20 minutes passed, the alarm in Ling Lan's supply cargo bay blared suddenly. They heard the person in charge of this supply cargo bay, the JMC, suddenly scream out, "Third cargo bay, please be advised. Third cargo bay, please be advised. We are under attack! We are under attack! Please make an emergency drop in 3 minutes! Please make an emergency drop in 3 minutes!"
This announcement shocked everybody, and even Qiao Ting felt cold sweat for a moment. After JMC's announcement, the cargo bay door that was sealed shut suddenly opened. Due to the sudden opening of the cargo bay door, those who were close to it were sucked out and began to quickly drop downwards toward the ground…
"Little Four, give me sitrep!" Ling Lan ordered Little Four without panicking.
"We've arrived at an unknown planet!" Following Little Four's voice, a pitch-black planet appeared inside Ling Lan's mindscape. As the image drew nearer and she dove into the atmosphere, Ling Lan discovered that the planet was fully enveloped in darkness—she couldn't see anything even with her aberrant vision.
"How could this have happened?" The expression of Ling Lan, who had been so calm, shifted at this moment.
"The planet below has no sources of light, or rather, its atmosphere has blocked off any light from entering, which is the cause of this planet's complete pitch-black state," Little Four added.
"I'm not sure if our lighting equipment will be enough," Ling said to Lin Zhong-qing as she looked at this dark and lightless planet.
"Every mecha operator can equip two, leaving 80 left," Lin Zhong-qing answered instantly like a human calculator.
"Two each is a bit too few." Ling Lan frowned. She hadn't expected that the lighting equipment she had prepared for two nights would not be enough as they had arrived on a planet that was totally enveloped in darkness.
"Boss, don't worry, there's still daytime on this planet," said Little Four after feeling Ling Lan's worry. "But it's just that daytime is shorter than night time."
"Specifically?" Ling Lan asked sharply.
"Daytime lasts only for 8 hours, while nighttime continues for 16 hours."
"The night's too f***ing long. The lack of light is still quite significant." Ling Lan frowned. She had miscalculated on this part.
Right then, the starship's JMC began to countdown the last three minutes. When he counted to zero and they still hadn't left the cargo bay, the door would close and those who didn't go down would instantly lose their chance to participate. "180, 179, 178…"
Faced with pitch darkness, the cadets who couldn't make heads or tails of the situation at the bottom began to hesitate as to whether they should listen to the JMC's orders. There were even many people yelling that they needed to work together and not jump in head first. If there was danger at the bottom and they couldn't see it, then wouldn't they be as good as dead? These words made many people waver. Just when no one could decide on what to do, Ling Lan opened the communication channel for all teams and gave her second order, "All units move out!"
She knew that all humans felt fear and thus she controlled her mecha to walk up to the cargo door first. She looked down at the rich darkness that was like a terrifying beast that could swallow everything up. Ling Lan encouraged herself a bit before quickly catapulting her mecha out and rapidly descending upon the planet's surface.
"Little Four, analyze all of this planet's data!" In this situation where everything was unknown, Ling Lan decisively chose Little Four to analyze it instead of the mecha's A.I.. Unlike the latter, she trusted Little Four more.
"Light Source: 0; Air Composition: 67% Carbon Dioxide, 30% Oxygen, 3% Other; Wind speed: Level 7; Gravitational pull…" A string of data quickly flashed onto the mecha's data screen. Ling Lan sent this data directly to all the team members of the First Men's Military Academy. She hoped that this way, those who jumped with her wouldn't have problems because they got the wrong data and operated incorrectly.
Chapter 483 - Signal Flare Gather Up
After Ling Lan ejected, Qi Long and Luo Lang followed suit and catapulted out of the cargo hold.
Three mechas plummeted rapidly and were instantly swallowed by the darkness from below. None of them had realized that the starship had already entered this planet's atmosphere.
"Holy sh*t, what is this gravity?" The speed of the drop was so much faster than what it would be in normal planets. Qi Long and Luo Lang became shocked upon seeing the increasing velocity of the drop the computer screen was displaying.
Right then, their mechas received a bunch of this planet's data from Ling Lan. They didn't even give it any thought and began moving their fingers and changing the mecha's data in order to adapt to this unknown planet.
Qiao Ting's expression changed instantly after seeing that Ling Lan was the first to leave the cargo hold. He hadn't been as decisive as Ling Lan at that moment—he had hesitated… This gave him the feeling that he had lost Ling Lan in some way.
"Let's go!" Qiao Ting clenched his fists and ordered his team members. He had lost to Ling Lan once, but he couldn't lose a second time, a third, or even more.
Qiao Ting quickly commandeered his 24-member battalion and catapulted out of the cargo hold in a matter of seconds. If Ling Lan's actions were surprising, then Qiao Ting's actions had shocked everyone.
Right then, the JMC announced again, "Those who do not jump within the three-minute limit will be eliminated from the battle royale. As a reminder, the cargo door will close in two minutes and 40 seconds."
The other three military academies heard this and became hurried, knowing that they didn't have any time to waste. Their commanders announced at that moment to make all the supplies up for grabs so that the team members could what they needed before jumping down. How much they would be able to take before the cargo door closed would depend on how fast they are.
Compared to the complete disarray of the other three military academies, because they had already taken the supplies they needed, the First Men's Military Academy began to jump down one by one systematically. In one minute, many had already jumped. Lin Zhong-qing, who was originally conversing with the clan, gave a sign to the other team members who hadn't jumped yet that only they understood. He then led the transport mecha logistics team and began their descent…
"Beep beep beep! Beginning countdown to closing the cargo door. 100, 99…" Right then, the JMC made another announcement and began to remind them that the cargo doors would be closing soon.
"Those members who have their supplies need to jump. Let the other team members in the back get their supplies…" The respective commanders began giving orders. Although they tried to do their job as well as they could, the whole situation was still in utter chaos.
Some people wanted to squeeze in to get their stuff, while others were trying to squeeze out. At that moment, they somehow managed to block each other's paths.
"73, 72, 71…" The countdown continued to decrease. The commanders were burning with anxiety, but didn't know how to resolve the issue.
"Captain, we can only let them eject out first. For the weapons and supplies, we can only let the transport mecha logistics team bring as much as they can," said the strategist hurriedly, after seeing how the situation was out of control.
Those who could become commanders were all outstanding individuals, and this captain saw it as well. It would have been a good thing if the members of the teams had enough time and could take supplies with them; however, completing the distribution process in a time crunch was definitely impossible. He thus decisively gave an order and said, "All members, stop getting supplies and eject now!"
This command instantly gave everyone a direction to follow. Those who were on the outside were no longer trying squeeze into the back. They turned around and ran towards the cargo door, quickly ejecting.
"17, 16, 15…" The countdown was getting closer and close to the end. At that moment, all of the military academies had ejected 70 to 80 percent of their forces, only leaving behind some logistics transport mechas. The transport mecha didn't even stop to think and randomly grabbed a few unopened large boxes and threw them onto their backs, quickly ejecting…
"7, 6, 5, 4…" When the last logistics transport mecha had ejected, the operator of the mecha thought he saw something on the corner of the screen in his mecha. It felt like something was moving… But in the next second, the downward acceleration made him toss that thought into the back of his head. He nervously began collecting data and adjusting the mecha's data to adapt to the planet's conditions.
"3, 2, 1…" When the countdown reached one, the arms of four mecha had grabbed on to the target they had already set their eyes on and successfully ejected it out of the cargo door.
"0!" The countdown ended, and the cargo door closed tightly with a loud bang. The now empty cargo hold was a mess with more than half the untaken supplies lying on the ground. This showed that these military academies would have a hard time in the next 78 hours (Battle Royale: 72 hours + Finding their headquarters: 6 hours).
Qiu Yue, who was paying close attention to the seventh ship's third cargo, saw the movements of the four mechas at the end. His eyes lit up as he ordered, "Rewind it 5 seconds!"
The A.I. rewound the scene and showed the video of what happened in the last 5 seconds of the countdown. When the last mecha had ejected, four mechas that were hiding the corner quickly sprung out and ran towards where the other the three military academies had put their supplies. Their purpose was very clear—the arms of their mecha moving forward, each of them grabbing 4 large boxes and then ejecting from the cargo door.
Qiu Yue paused the video right at where they were picking up the boxes, zoomed and enhanced the image. Although the image wasn't very clear at such fast speeds, the emblems on their chests were still somewhat visible. Having graduated from the First Men's Military Academy, Qiu Yue was very familiar with his school's emblem. At that moment, he determined that the mechas were from the First Men's Military Academy.
"Holy sh*t, a bunch of crazy people!" They had even waited until the end just for some supplies. He really didn't know whether to praise them or criticize them. If they were unlucky, they would have lost their chance to participate in the battle royale.
Although Qiu Yue was screamingly internally, he still smiled. He appeared very impressed with the courage of those four people.
"Since your commander is Ling Xiao's son, he could probably help you guys get over all difficult situations." Qiu Yue thought to himself. It was true—the location where he had arranged for the seventh starship's cadets to eject out was the most troublesome place on this planet. If they were unlucky, there would be no way to reach the required location in six hours…
"Don't let me down boys! Although it will be difficult, as long as you guys figure out the mysteries of the planet, then maybe you will be able to get there in one hour. Don't let your eyes deceive you." Qiu Yue thought, full of expectation. He sincerely wished Ling Xiao's son could inherit Ling Xiao's wisdom and resourcefulness—Ling Xiao wasn't only just a god-class operator.
"Wind Speed: level 12. With this level of wind, even if we controlled our mechas to the best that we could, we still wouldn't be able to guarantee where we would land." Ling Lan did not frown upon seeing the wind speed and level report from Little Four, but she was a bit worried. In a battle royale, the worst thing to happen was team members separating from each other. And along with the opponents who ejected at the same time, if a team member was alone and they encountered an opponent's main forces, they would have a big problem.
Right then, Little Four suddenly reported, "All the data is becoming stable. Wind speed has decreased and gravity is increasing… Boss, we are probably going to land on the planet's surface soon."
Ling Lan saw that it was still total darkness all around her, without a speck of visible light. This made her unable to speculate what the situation at the ground was like. She instantly made a decision, quickly ordering Little Four, "Shoot out hover flares!" At the same time, Ling Lan's fingers moved furiously. Using the different types of data that Little Four had analyzed, she adjusted the settings of the mecha once again, making the mecha's drop speed gradually slow. In the end, she successfully changed the situation from dropping down to hovering in mid-air.
"Boom, boom, boom" Following three exploding sounds, three purple colored flares shot up into the sky in an instant, hovering over Ling Lan's mecha. In this thick and rich darkness, these three flares seemed so bright and eye-catching, making them unable to be ignored.
Qi Long and Luo Lang had ejected from the ship just a second after Ling Lan. They suddenly saw what looked like three points of purple lights in mid-air, far from where they were. They instantly felt a bit of delight.
When they were dropping down, their mechas was within the strong winds. They had been worried about being blown away from the original location by the whirling winds and being unable to see the flares and find the base location if they got blown too far from their Boss. It turns out they were only blown a bit off-course, not too far from their boss's location. The two of them happily controlled their mechas and flew towards the light.
It should be said that it was Han Jijyun and Li Lanfeng, along with three other strategy high-ranking specialists, who arranged this idea. The final document had covered pretty much everything, listing every possible situation, including how the team would assemble in total darkness.
Thus, when Ling Lan shot out the three flares, the team members who saw the flares knew what it signified—bright purple color meant that they needed to immediately hover in the air because there could be danger on the planet's surface. Three flares meant the person who shot it was the highest ranking officer, the commander. At the same time, the three flares also told them Ling Lan's location which was in the middle of the three flares. And the most important meaning of these flares was to assemble!
Qiao Ting, who was a bit late compared to Qi Long and Luo Lang, also saw the three bright purple flares. He didn't hesitate and headed straight towards that direction and shot out a bright purple and a green flare. Similarly, what he did was to respond to Ling Lan's flares. Shooting up the similar purple color flare was to tell Ling Lan that he had received the message. The green flare was reserved for Qiao Ting. At the same time, he was also gathering his team members while notifying Ling Lan of his identity.
After the other captains saw these flares, they began to do the same. Instantly, a few more purple colored flares shot up into the sky once again. However, along with these purple colored flares, there were flares of other different colors. Instantly, the brightened black sky in the night became oddly beautiful.
The team members who were not blown too far away and could see the flares instantly became full of energy and operated their mechas towards the flares that belonged to their respective teams.
"Are those guys the First Men's Military Academy? How are they this prepared?" The members of the other academies, who were in between all this, saw the scene and began to turn green with envy. Compared to the First Men's Military Academy's systematic approach and readiness, they were chasing their own tails and did not know what they should be doing next.
However, mecha operators who had a brain would operate their mechas away from the areas illuminated by flares—they knew very well that once they entered those areas, they would be alone and become trophies for the other team. They would definitely not make such a newbie mistake.
Chapter 484 - The Yin and Yang Sea!
Ling Lan was waiting for her team members to gather up, not just blindly waiting. She took out a long-range beam rifle, aimed it at the ground below her and fired without a specific purpose.
A beam of light flashed across the night sky, descending from the sky.
"Bang." A muffled sound followed. The beam that had hit the ground did not make a loud sound. That bright light of the beam had vanished instantly, without a trace, like it had been swallowed up by something.
"This feeling. There isn't any ground below us.." Ling Lan frowned. Her expression became grave and she asked Little Four, "Little Four, regarding that shot just now, did you find out anything from it?"
"The reaction of the beam seems to show that it is highly likely for there to be some sort of liquid down below." Since they were 200 to 300 meters above the ground, the pitch-black darkness was giving Little Four a lot of trouble in obtaining data using only the mecha's long-range video recording gear.
"Boss, there's a mecha approaching." Just when Ling Lan wanted to take a closer look, however, Little Four suddenly warned her of something happening.
"Boss!" After reaching the distance where the team's commlink started to work, Ling Lan heard a familiar rooster-like scream; only, that voice was colder than the usual right now.
"It's Luo Lang!" Ling Lan smirked. She didn't think that the first person to find her was going to be Luo Lang. However, when she thought about Luo Lang's voice just now, she knew that he had kick-started his extremely calm personality. When Luo Lang used this personality, his mecha operating abilities shot up exponentially, directly advancing to the special-class operator level. This made it understandable as to how he had been able to find this place so quickly.
"Boss, I'm coming." Although Luo Lang was operating an advanced mecha, his speed had reached the fastest level that advanced mecha could achieve—there wasn't much of a difference compared to special-class mecha.
"Luo Lang, I'm going to go down and take a look at the situation. I'm leaving this place to you." Ling Lan flung these words at Luo Lang and then controlled her mecha to rapidly descend.
Upon hearing this, Luo Lang quickly took out a beam saber and a short range beam gun from his back. In this darkness, the beam sabers which gave off light were more suitable than cold weapons. Of course, this meant they were effective in close range combat, but beam sabers were not suitable at this time; although beam sabers could light up a 40 to 50 meters area around the wielder, it would also make them a target for a sneak attack. Having activated his calm and collected personality, Luo Lang wouldn't make such a low-level mistake.
Luo Lang's expression became very calm, being carefully guarded in all directions. Boss Lan's simple orders, in reality, meant that he had put his life in Luo Lang's hands; thus, even the Luo Lang who had activated his calm and collected personality still felt immense pressure.
Even so, however, he would not allow himself to fail the trust Boss had in him! In the cockpit, Luo Lang clenched his fist tightly.
Suddenly, he felt movement from his right side coming from the thick darkness. He didn't even stop think and raised his beam gun and took a shot.
"Holy sh*t, murder!" Qi Long had just arrived, but before he could take a break, he felt a great catastrophe approaching. His finger speed definitely broke his own record at that moment, and it was because of this mystical reaction speed that he was able to dodge the shot that came out of nowhere.
It was only now that Qi Long discovered there had been mecha hidden in the darkness less than 100 meters from his location.
Hearing the loud voice that suddenly erupted in the team channel, Luo Lang knew he had made a huge mistake—he had shot at his teammate. He put away the gun and said coldly, "Oh, Qi Long, it's you."
"Luo Lang… ugh. Even if it's you, Luo Lang, why didn't you say something before shooting?" Qi Long also put away the weapon in his hand upon seeing a familiar face. He moved his mecha before where Luo Lang was hovering.
"Why didn't you say something when you were coming?" Luo Lang asked coldly. His words almost seemed to contain a trace of blame.
Qi Long rubbed his nose for a bit before saying embarrassedly, "I… I was in a hurry."
"You deserved it!" Luo Lang glanced at Qi Long with a disapproving look. Qi Long shouldn't think that he was the Luo Lang with the original personality, believing whatever he said.
Qi Long speechlessly rubbed his nose again, then changed the subject and said, "What's wrong? Is Boss not here?" He had actually wanted to give Boss a surprise, thinking he was the first to arrive. He didn't think that the first to arrive was Luo Lang, and it was even the Luo Lang who had activated his cold personality. This was a really hard personality to fool.
Luo Lang didn't answer but instead pointed below himself. Qi Long was no idiot; he thought about the order given through the bright purple flare that Boss had shot out. He knew that there was something wrong at the bottom and it was most likely dangerous.
Since Boss didn't tell them to go down, Qi Long wouldn't make a decision on his own. He waited with Luo Lang and was also alert towards his surroundings.
Ling Lan, who had flown her mecha straight down, took out the beam saber from her back and switched on its power. The beam saber instantly shined with a brilliant light and instantly illuminated the area in a 40 to 50 meter radius around her.
With this small amount of light, Ling Lan continued to descend and finally drew near to the "ground". The "ground" was flat and so clear that it began to reflect the light from the beam saber, and this white light blinded Ling Lan's eyes.
Without Ling Lan's orders, the mecha's screen instantly lowered its brightness; Little Four had put up a shield against the reflected light so that Ling Lan's eyes would no longer be affected.
Ling Lan flew above the "ground" towards one direction and found that the surroundings were all this kind of "ground". She couldn't tell the end of it.
Ling Lan stabbed hard at the "ground", but her beam saber met no resistance, going straight through the "ground" up to the sword hilt.
Ling Lan quickly brought it back up. The originally flat "ground" began to slightly stir, slowly shaking.
"One-sixth of the beam saber's energy was instantly depleted. This water is very odd," Ling Lan said to herself upon seeing the warning on the screen that had shown the beam saber's energy consumption.
"It is water and this water may have a corrosive effect, or the ability to drain energy." Ling Lan quickly put back the beam saber behind her and at the same time took out a cold weapon, a large sword.
Ling Lan gripped the large sword and used its tip to flick at the endless amounts of liquid below her. She then took out a light source and lit up the large sword's tip, and found drops of water falling from it one by one. However, the sword was still the same as before, without any damage.
"Maybe the corrosive nature of this water is ineffective against the material of the large sword. However, what's more likely is that perhaps this is some mysterious substance capable of draining energy." If it really had a corrosive nature, the host of the mecha tournament probably wouldn't have had the guts to throw it down at this location. With so many mecha dropping down, who knew what would happen.
Ling Lan fell into brief contemplation. Just when she wanted to return to the previous location where she had shot out the flares, however, the originally pitch-black darkness where she could not see even her own hands slowly became lit up.
"Little Four, why do I think the night is getting brighter?" Ling Lan asked.
"Really?" At Ling Lan's observation, Little Four remembered and began to search through the data he had collected. Indeed, visibility was improving. "It looks like daytime is approaching."
"Not sure how long it is until daytime. We probably only have less than six hours left until it reaches midnight at our origin point, planet Qiming."
"Yes, only 5 hours and 41 minutes left," Little Four responsibly reported the correct time.
"Then we need to find our landing location as soon as possible, or else we won't be able to decide which direction we should go." If this area wasn't a lake, then it was a sea. She picked out a mountain range, but this was the complete opposite of that. Unfortunately, although Ling Lan thought about it for a long time, she still couldn't manage to figure out which lake or sea she was at.
Following this small exchange of words, the night continued to fade until daytime quickly arrived.
This time, Ling Lan was able to see clearly. This area that they were dropped off at was indeed a vast sea of water and this sea was very odd. One side was full of fog and dark clouds, making it hard to see what was inside, while the other side was very clear in contrast. Ling Lan could even somewhat see that there were multiple mountain ranges close to each other at the end of the sea.
"Yin Yang Sea!" Ling Lan automatically remembered the name of this sea that was written on the map. Half of this sea was clear as far as the eye could see, and the other half always had dark and rainy weather without many days of sunlight. This was the reason why it was called the Yin Yang Sea.
"Looks like the foggy and cloudy side here is the Yin side of the sea and that other side should be the Yang side of the sea. Although the sun hasn't come out yet, if we want to get to our destination, we can just move along the Yang side of the sea and go around those mountains," Ling Lan thought to herself.
"Little Four, give me the map for the Yin Yang Sea," Ling Lan ordered.
Very soon, the detailed map of the Yin Yang Sea appeared in Ling Lan's mind space. It was very clear that their headquarters location was very close to the Yang side of the sea. Taking a look at the distance and measuring the time, it would take them around one and a half hours to get there. Ling Lan thought about this and felt relieved. She began to patiently wait for everyone to gather up.
With daytime approaching, those other academies that didn't have a direction or knew what they were doing began to actively gather up their respective team members. On Ling Lan's side, although most of her team members had gathered to their respective factions, there were still a few people who hadn't reported in. The other battle team's team leaders didn't sit around either and sent out their subordinates to form search teams.
The last few to arrive were Li Lanfeng and the others. They came towards Ling Lan's side with their faces full of smiles. They gestured "we won" with their hands at Lin Zhong-qing, who was currently reporting on the number of supplies used. Lin Zhong-qing saw this and became pumped up.
The reason why they had been so late in meeting up with the main force was that they had gone to find Lin Zhong-qing's logistics mecha team and give them the supplies they had snatched up at the very last second. The four who had waited until the end to snatch supplies was indeed none other than Li Lanfeng, Zhao Jun, Han Jijyun and Xie Yi.
This idea had been proposed by Li Lanfeng in the last three minutes before dropping off. Han Jijyun had agreed, and Zhao Jun and Xie Yi voluntarily joined in. In the end, they had perfectly executed and completed the undertaking of this creative idea, successfully snatched some supplies and ejected.
After going through the stolen goods, it became clear that everything these four had brought with them was very useful. Some were even stuff that they had not exchanged for, which benefited them greatly. This made them feel great about themselves.
Chapter 485 - Little Four's Origin?
The team leaders of the First Men's Military Academy all had the same paper map, a large map that reached 90% completion. Not only did Ling Lan find out where they were situated, but these team leaders had also figured it out. It should be said that the mecha operators from the First Men's Military Academy who were participating were each mecha clan's best batch of operators. Not long after, everyone had returned to their respective teams without leaving anyone behind.
The team leaders from each team gathered beside Ling Lan. During the search for members who had strayed off course, they had discussed what they should plan on doing next. They believed that they should go along the Yang side of the sea and find their headquarters location as soon as possible, so as to complete the mission that would decide whether they met the prerequisite conditions in order to participate in the battle royale.
Ling Lan didn't have any problems with this idea. When the last member had returned to their team, Ling Lan gave an order to fly towards the direction of Yang side of the sea.
The other military academies were silently watching the First Men's Military Academy's movements. When they saw that the First Men's Military Academy choice of direction was the same as theirs, they stopped hesitating and all flew towards the Yang side of the sea at top speed. This allowed them to quickly pass by and become one step ahead of the First Men's Military Academy, who were maintaining a slow flying speed.
This action of theirs, in the eyes of the First Men's Military Academy, made them feel that they were being taunted. The team members who were angered were about to accelerate and pass them. At that moment, however, Ling Lan, who had been looking forward this whole time, saw that this sea which gave off a warm and calm feeling had suddenly become oddly twisted.
Something was wrong! Ling Lan felt that something wasn't right and quickly ordered, "Stop flying!"
Ling Lan's command made everyone stop the engines of their mecha and hovered in the air. The other academies' mecha teams had completely disappeared from their sights due to them stopping.
"F*ck, how are those guys so fast?" Seeing the opponents from the other academies disappear, many of the team members who were ready fight became greatly irritated. They were dissatisfied with Ling Lan's spontaneous order.
Qiao Ting made his mecha hover in the sky and frowned at Ling Lan. He asked mockingly, "Captain Ling, is there a problem?"
"Yes, there definitely are some problems." Qiao Ting hadn't expected his question to be answered and confirmed, which surprised him. "What's the problem?"
"Wait a sec. Let me study it for a bit," Ling Lan answered.
Ling Lan opened her eyes as wide as possible and looked towards the calm sea that went for a thousand miles, trying to find the reason that had made her think that there was something wrong. After glancing for around one minute, the calm Yang side of the sea still didn't change. It was as though the twisted image Ling Lan saw from before was an illusion. But was it really an illusion?
Just when Ling Lan became frustrated, the image of the calm and mirror-like Yang side of the sea became twisted for a moment once again. This time, because Ling Lan was 100% focused, she saw it more clearly than the first time—something was definitely wrong!
But what kind of problem was it? While the gears in Ling Lan's head turned rapidly, she didn't forget that she had asked Little Four to analyze this matter with her. Little Four's calculation abilities were, of course, terrifying, stronger than hers by hundreds or even thousands of times. It would be a waste if she didn't use him for some hard labor.
"Boss, I just compared all the different data from this Yang side of the sea. I found that the air humidity is much higher than the part of the sea where we dropped down from." Little Four had compared the data of both parts and found an anomaly.
Humidity? Ling Lan stared blankly for a moment, but quickly reacted to this information. She happily held up Little Four's head in her mindspace, kissed him hard on the forehead and said, "Little Four, you really are my good Little Four. You found out what the problem was. I almost got tricked by this Yin Yang Sea."
Little Four became giddy from Ling Lan's sudden but warm kiss. His computer processing chip was burning up, with only one phrase repeating in its code: Boss kissed me! Boss kissed me! These three words were infinitely repeating, instantly taking up all of his processing space, and almost made him die on the spot.
In the learning space, Instructor Number One suddenly opened his eyes. His originally calm and unmoved expression changed for the first time. He held out a finger, pointed it at the air and drew. A black line appeared out of nowhere in the wake of his finger. Number One used both hands to pull at the black line and the image of Ling Lan mindspace appeared before him.
Number One put his hand through the image, grabbed Little Four and tugged hard—the Little Four in Ling Lan's mindspace vanished into thin air. Ling Lan, who was using all of her power to determine the situation, didn't really care that Little Four had disappeared, the reason being that when Ling Lan didn't need Little Four, he would come and go mysteriously. Perhaps this time he had gone off to play around somewhere.
Number One grabbed Little Four and in the next second, they came to a world full of ice and frost. Little Four's entire body emitted a copious amount of steam after being hit by the cold air, and his previously burning computer chip on the verge of dying finally had its temperature dropped down by a bit…
Right then, up above in the air of this world of frost, eight openings suddenly ruptured the sky, and in the next second, eight instructors had come to this world. Although Number Nine's expression was still as cold as always, her eyes could not hide the fact that she cared for Little Four, and she asked, "Are you okay, Your Majesty Number Four?"
"He's alright, but…" Number One frowned. "It might no longer be suitable for His Majesty Number Four to be with Ling Lan."
"Why?" Number Three asked, not understanding why.
"Of course a mecha man with a body full of muscles wouldn't understand this point," Number Five sneered.
Number Three didn't get angry. He smiled and asked in response, "Yeah, I don't understand. If you do, then why not explain it to me?"
Number Five instantly felt difficulty in explaining. Although he had a vague grasp as to what the reason was, it was still somewhat hard for him to explain clearly.
"This is a kind of influence. I'm not sure if it has any connection with spiritual power. I should study it further," Number Two quietly talked to himself on the side.
"It looks like my future student has great latent abilities. Despite not having the charm of a woman, she still made His Majesty Four lose his bearings and almost break down."
Number Nine stared at Number Four, glaring exasperatedly at her. "Number Four, what nonsense are you talking about? His Majesty Four has only reached adolescence. How can he understand these things?"
"Maybe our Majesty Four was born a pervert." Number Four covered her mouth and laughed.
The eyes of Number Six, Number Seven and Number Eight lit up at that moment. They looked at each other, then Number Six said, "If His Majesty Four is not suitable to be in contact with Ling Lan, then shouldn't the three of us go in His Majesty Four's place? It is just that we haven't met Ling Lan before."
Hearing this, Number Four became impatient, saying, "I haven't seen Ling Lan before. I can go in His Majesty Four's place."
Number Seven smiled and said, "The three of us are skilled in different fields of expertise, which satisfy Ling Lan's respective needs. The important point is that we three look exactly the same and can switch whenever we want without Ling Lan becoming suspicious. Number Four, you can't do something like this."
Number Four was dismayed. What Number Seven had said was the truth. If they replaced Little Four, they could only use the outer storage analysis system. Only His Majesty Four could use the core as they could not operate cross-level.
Little Four woke up and heard the instructors discuss the matter about taking his place. He instantly became worked up and yelled, "No, I want to be with Boss!"
"Your Majesty Four, you almost died just now," Instructor Number One said sternly. "If the computer chip's temperature rises too high, it will be destroyed. You know what that will result in even without my saying anything."
Little Four embarrassedly lowered his head before Number One's critical gaze. He said quietly, "I only got a bit excited."
Without waiting for Instructor Number One to continue reprimanding him, Little Four raised his head and said earnestly, "I will control myself in the future. I will not let myself be in danger again, so please just let me be with Boss."
Number One's expression was very grave. Little Four's expression had gone from anticipant to sobbing uncontrollably. The sad look on his face made Number Nine become soft-hearted. She looked towards Number One and said, "Little Four knows his limits now. You should just let His Majesty Four stay with Ling Lan." The close relationship that Little Four and Ling Lan had formed over so many years made her unable to bear separating them.
Number One instantly shot a cold glance at Number Nine, who became shocked and immediately lowered her head—the way she had addressed Little Four as 'Little Four' was out of line.
Number Five saw this and his heart ached suddenly. He quickly said, "Number One, what Number Nine said isn't wrong. His Majesty Four has followed Ling Lan for more than a decade and she evolved to a level that would have otherwise taken hundreds of years. As long as His Majesty Four knows how serious this is and controls himself, he would be getting more good than harm from following Ling Lan. If you look at this way, then it's worth it."
Little Four gave a powerful nod at Number Five instructor's words. That expression of longing on his face made Instructor Number One's mouth twitch. If he continued like this, would it really be good for their originally evolved, intelligent and brilliant Majesty Four?
"Alright, I'll give you one last chance!" Number One said helplessly, defeated by Little Four's cuteness. Since meeting Ling Lan, he felt that he was becoming more and more helpless…
"Thank you, Instructor Number One!" Little Four was so happy he jumped up. In the next second, now returned to normal, he went back into Ling Lan's mindspace.
"Ugh…" Number One looked at the empty spot in front of him and inwardly sighed helplessly. He hadn't told Little Four that the child in the little black room had woken up, and didn't have to ask whether they should go care for it a bit. "Yeah, no need to hurry. I'll do it next time."
A thought rose in Number One's mind and he flicked his finger, and Little Blossom who was in the little black room felt dizzy, falling back to a deep sleep. Before falling asleep, Little Blossom screamed internally, "F**k, I just woke up!"
Little Four immediately started sobbing after reaching Ling Lan's mindspace and seeing her still silently thinking about the results.
He had come close, so close, to being separated from his boss forever… Bah, no, it was more like the story of the cowherd and the weaving girl, looking and crying helplessly at each other from across the Milky Way… Ah, that wasn't right either. He and Boss weren't in that kind of relationship! Little Four suddenly pulled at his hair and discovered that his vocabulary was so limited. He was actually unable to find a suitable phrase to describe the feeling of despair he had experienced.
Who cares! Little Four quickly wiped away his tears. He leaped towards Ling Lan and held onto her thigh, crying, "Wah wah wah, Boss, I need to be protected."
Being jumped on by Little Four finally woke up Ling Lan who had still been in deep thought. Ling Lan's hairs immediately stood on end upon seeing the annoying Little Four holding onto her thigh. Without thinking, she flicked her finger at Little Four's forehead, saying, "Little Four, what the f**k are you doing?"