Chapter 1281: My Request
"Major General Lan." Lan Luofeng saw her grandma calling her, and a look of sorrow and excitement flashed in her eyes. However, she still managed to hold it back and pretend she didn't hear her grandma calling her by her name. She only respectfully called her grandma 'Major General Lan'.
As the wife of the top ranking officer in the military, they would often be given pseudo military ranks because it would be more convenient for them to move around. For example, the wife of a general was always the rank of senior colonel. The wives of the three marshals would have the pseudo rank of major general or below.
After hearing herself be called 'Major General Lan', the mistress had a sad look on her face. It seemed that this granddaughter of hers was still hating on her husband.
"Luofeng, don't be angry. We can talk about it. Your grandmother is here. I will definitely make sure you're not wronged." The mistress bit her lip and said these words without hesitation. This time, she definitely wasn't going to let her granddaughter, who had gone through countless difficulties, to be wronged again. She had enough of that.
She had endured time and time again for the sake of her husband's ambition. However, a person still had their own temperaments and limits. Out of her five sons, four of them had similar temperaments with the First Marshal. To be honest, she had already prepared herself for when they would die on the battlefield. Thus, when reality hit, despite her being pained and sad, she would still be able to endure it. That was because she knew those were the paths her sons had chosen. They didn't regret it. Even if she was very sad, she would still not be able to change their choices.
However, her fourth son wasn't like them. Her fourth son was like her. He didn't have the ambition to rise up to the top nor did he have any dream of becoming a hero of the Federation. He only wanted to be an average person who took care of his family wholeheartedly. That was why he fell in love with an average girl and lived a calm and peaceful life. However, her husband continued to force his ideals on him. He forced her fourth son to marry some other woman because of political reasons.
She didn't expect that her fourth son, who was always mild-mannered, to have some fire in him. He wouldn't marry that other woman no matter how much his father had beaten him. It was until she and her younger sister couldn't continue and watch him get beaten anymore before they silently helped him escape him out of the Lan family.
Back then, she would rather not see her son than to see him get beaten to death by his father everyday.
She didn't know that in order to continue on with the marriage, the two families meddled with the marriage database. They registered the other woman as the official wife of her fourth son and allowed her to marry into the Lan family. Her fourth son's actual wife had only been actually registered as his wife after her fourth son begged the help of an imperial hacker.
There were even more disgusting events that happened later. She didn't even want to talk about it. However, in the end, they cleaned it all up. The Lan family's reputation wasn't something such a commoner woman could trample on.
She originally thought her fourth son's family could peacefully live their life after the whole debacle ended. Although she didn't see them often, she still would go see them from time to time. The First Marshal knew about this, but he only turned a blind eye. This was why she could continue to endure him. However, she didn't think that when war had begun, the First Marshal actually enlisted her fourth son into the war.
She was vehemently against it, but she didn't know what the First Marshal said to her fourth son because he had actually agreed to the enlistment. Before leaving for war, he requested her to take care of his wife and daughter… He said he will definitely return and take in his wife and daughter into the Lan family officially.
When he said that, she actually looked forward to that future. However, in the end, she received the news of her son's death. She was in great sorrow, her heart ached so much that she fell unconscious for a few days.
After she woke up, she tasked her youngest daughter to go find her fourth son's wife and daughter. However, she received news that was even more agonizing. After receiving news of her fourth son's death, his wife committed suicide on the same day. A crying Lan Luofeng, who still required weaning, was the only one left in the large house. On that day, she really wanted to rush out and bring Luofeng back home. However, that b*tch who held the official position of the wife of her fourth son wasn't willing to accept Luofeng into the family. She even used her family's influence to attempt to kill Luofeng.
Her youngest daughter desperately tried to keep Luofeng alive. From then on, she was no longer in good terms with that woman. She vowed to never marry and only planned on using her influence in the Lan family to protect the bloodline of the brother she loved the most.
The grandma was immensely distraught over her fourth son and her youngest daughter. All of her regret made her focus greatly on Lan Luofeng. It could be said that Lan Luofeng was definitely a person that no one could lay a hand on. This was why the First Marshal's wife had erupted in anger and was determined to stand on Lan Luofeng's side.
After Lan Luofeng heard her grandma's words, her eyes shined brightly. However, she quickly calmed down.
"Major General Lan. I do indeed have a request," Lan Luofeng went straight to the point. She came here hollering insults and making a scene not to let out her rage but because she had a goal in mind.
"Alright, you can say it." The mistress gave an encouraging look to Lan Luofeng, signalling her to speak her mind freely. She was already prepared for it. She would agree to anything even if Lan Luofeng wanted a planet for herself.
"The position of the 23rd Division's general must be appointed to my son, Ling Lan," Lan Luofeng said calmly.
After hearing those words, the First Marshal, who had been silent the entire time, couldn't hold it in anymore. He instantly screamed out angrily, "That's absurd!"
"What do you mean absurd?" Lan Luofeng asked without backing down.
"That division is a part of the Federation, not something you own. You really think your son can take on his father's mantle? That's acting without sound reason," snorted the First Marshal coldly.
"Heh, indeed, the 23rd Division doesn't belong to Ling Xiao. However, I have a question that I would like the First Marshal to explain for me. What part of military regulations dicates that the first, second and third divisions should be under the control of the three marshals? The commander of the fourth and those after had also always been members from their families. So, why can't the hero of the Federation receive the same treatment?" Lan Luofeng asked sharply.
"That had been the convention since the creation of the Federation," said the First Marshal with a pale expression on his face.
"If that's the case, then why can't the 23rd Division have that same convention?" Lan Luofeng's expression had a hint of mockery, coldness and charisma. There definitely wasn't a single bit of weakness. Was this woman in front of him still that delicate little flower he remembered? The First Marshal was shocked.
"Luofeng!" The mistress suddenly covered her mouth with tears trickling down her face.
She actually saw a shadow of her fourth son's stubbornness in Lan Luofeng. It was no different than the time when he went against his father in the past. As expected, Lan Luofeng was from the Lan family. The stubbornness in her blood was not any less than others in the family.
"It's impossible. No one will agree to it." The First Marshal felt that Lan Luofeng had gone insane. Did the death of Ling Xiao traumatize her that much to the point where she wasn't able to think straight?
"How can you know without trying first?" asked Lan Luofeng.
"I won't agree to it,' replied the First Marshal.
"I don't need you to agree. I just want you to not involve yourself in this." Lan Luofeng smiled coldly. She originally didn't plan on the First Marshal agreeing to her suggestion. If he were to accept it, then he wouldn't be the First Marshal. She only hoped that the First Marshal would just not interfere with her suggestion.
"That will definitely not happen…" The First Marshal didn't even think and instinctively refused the idea.
Chapter 1282: Acting General.
"Why? Is my son Ling Lan unqualified for the position?" asked Lan Luofeng.
"If he didn't disappear, then I wouldn't have anything against it. Ling Lan is Lingtian Independent Army's commander and his rank is lieutenant general. He is somewhat qualified to take the position," said the First Marshal. "However, right now, there's a huge problem and that is Ling Lan has disappeared. Disappeared. No one knows whether he's dead or alive. Lan Luofeng, think about it clearly. Even if I don't say anything, the other two marshals won't agree to let the position of general be given to a person who cannot be determined as alive. They can't let the 23rd Division just rot like that."
"My son is fine. He will definitely come back," shouted Lan Luofeng angrily.
"Alright, even if Ling Lan can come back, when will he come back?" asked the First Marshal. "The entire military headquarters cannot let an official general's position be empty for too long. It can at most drag on for one month. If Ling Lan can come back within a month, I won't meddle with this issue. However, if he doesn't appear within a month, I can't let the 23rd Division wait for Ling Lan forever. As the Federation's First Marshal, I must take responsibility for the 23rd Division."
"One month… You clearly know that is impossible." Lan Luofeng laughed coldly. Ling Xiao's death had definitely caused Ling Lan to be cautious and careful of the Federation. She would definitely not return to the Federation and fall into the hands of those people who plotted against them. She didn't forget the words Ling Xiao had told her before heading off into war. Now, she could only try her best to hold onto the power and influence Ling Xiao had left behind. She must wait until Ling Lan matured into a super strong individual. Only then would Ling Lan come back in full force and take revenge for all of them.
"If you know that's impossible, then why are you even having such crazy thoughts?" The First Marshal was almost angered to the point of unconsciousness.
"Ling Lan isn't here, but I can be his acting general." Lan Luofeng suddenly tossed out a suggestion which made the First Marshal shudder.
He unconsciously took out a metallic box with cigarettes in them from his pocket. He took out one cigarette and lit it up. Then, he lowered his head and began to think deeply about it.
Lan Luofeng becoming the acting general wasn't something that couldn't be done. As the family member of General Ling Xiao and the wife of the Federation's hero and idol, once this suggestion was tossed up for discussion, the citizens and most lower ranking soldiers would all support it. Although the final decision was made by the three marshals and the military headquarters, if the citizens were to all agree to it, the three of them and the military headquarters must consider the thoughts of the public.
The most important part was the fact that Lan Luofeng was from the Lan family. The First Marshal could then send an assistant from the Lan family to aid her. That way, the 23rd Division would still fall under his faction and wouldn't be given out to the second and third marshals.
Originally, the First Marshal was already thinking about how to take the 23rd Division under his faction���s control. However, he knew the Second and Third Marshals also didn't want to give away such a juicy piece of meat like the 23rd Division to him. On the battlefield of the Twilight Empire, the 23rd Division fended off Zaoyi Army and Hejia Army while not losing and they even had moments when they suppressed their opponents. Although these two armies were wiped out only after Qi Yaoyang's reinforcements had arrived, the 23rd Division still performed incredibly. They definitely weren't any worse than those veteran divisions that had been established for thousands of years. The 23rd Division might even be stronger than those divisions. The three marshals definitely had to think about how to take the 23rd Division for themselves.
"Will the higher-ups of the 23rd Division approve of you becoming the acting general?" asked the First Marshal as he raised his head.
There was still one more problem with Lan Luofeng becoming the acting general. That problem was whether she could be accepted by all the officers within the 23rd Division. If they were to refuse, no matter how strong the support of the public was, they still had to consider the officers and their thoughts on the issue. Otherwise, without them obeying her, Lan Luofeng would just be an empty shell of a general. She wouldn't then be of any use to him. The lack of an effective leader might even cause the originally overpowered 23rd Division to be in a state of disunity. In the end, it would be overrun by others. That was not something he wanted to see happen.
"This suggestion was given by the 23rd Division's command center. I'm only reporting it," Lan Luofeng said calmly.
"They brought it up?" The First Marshal frowned slightly. He began to think about why the 23rd Division would do that. Were they planning on using Lan Luofeng to achieve the goal of taking the 23rd Division for themselves? The First Marshal was a sly and meticulous individual. He would always think about underlying intentions and think more deeply about them.
Lan Luofeng didn't make a sound. She was only standing there silently, waiting for the First Marshal's final answer.
The First Marshal finally stood up and stared at Lan Luofeng, "If you become the 23rd Division's acting general, then you must prepare yourself. The position of the 23rd Division's vice general will also be reinstated. As for this position, there will be two people. In order to let the Second and Third Marshals agree to this suggestion, we must take a step back. There is no doubt that they will be putting their eyes on the position of the 23rd Division's vice general if we take the position of general."
"It'll depend on you how you control the 23rd Division before Ling Lan returns as the official general. Don't waste all your efforts and then in the end have the 23rd Division be handed to others on a silver platter," warned the First Marshal.
"Don't worry. The 23rd Division can only be Ling Lan's possession. I won't let others get a hold of it," said Lan Luofeng without hesitation. Her original weak personality now became strong and determined. She never showed this side before because back then, she had Ling Xiao. She decided to not care about anything and just willingly became the woman Ling Xiao cared for. Then when he had 'died', she wanted to become strong for her daughter. Instead, she got a responsible and reliable daughter who wanted to protect her, so she had no choice but to be the person being protected once again to make her daughter feel that she needed her. This pressure and responsibility made Ling Lan become stronger and moved forward without fear.
Sometimes, she would think to herself whether this was the right thing to do. She shouldn't let her daughter live such a harsh life. She had once tried being more hardheaded, but her daughter was becoming more and more pushy as she grew older. Her pushiness might even have surpassed Ling Xiao… Well, in the end, she couldn't do anything about her stubborn daughter and could only relent to the fact that she had to be protected by her daughter.
It had to be said that Lan Luofeng was someone who knew how to change her lifestyle well. She was just like water. She would naturally become an existence that the other party needed and perfectly cooperate with the other party. It was like this with Ling Xiao and the same with Ling Lan.
However, when the two people who let her enjoy their protection suddenly left her side, she knew clearly what was her best course of action. She then naturally turned into a strong and decisive woman.
At the same time, Qi Yaoyang and Qi Long met up. He told him his request. Of course, he couldn't get away without being beaten by his father and was bruised up by Qi Yaoyang.
After that itch out of his body, Qi Yaoyang went straight to the Third Marshal's manor. He and the Third Marshal had a long secretive meeting on the matter of the position of Lingtian Independent Army's commander.
"Report!" shouted a senior colonel officer who stood in front of the door outside the office of the highest ranking officer on the Flying Dragon Special Forces base.
"Come in." A cold voice echoed from the room.
"Yes, chief." The senior colonel pushed the button on the side to open the door. The door opened by itself and he quickly walked into the room.
Chapter 1283: Mission!
Ling Xiao was reading through the detailed list of information of the members of the Flying Dragon Special Forces. Although he had acquired a portion of Ren Feiyu's memories after devouring Ren Feiyu's mind, there were still some more important memories missing. The memories he lost were mostly about the Flying Dragon Special Forces, such as, how many members were in the Flying Dragon Special Forces, who were they, what were they responsible for, etc. He had no recollection of any of them so in the past few days, he had been reading up on the insider details of the Flying Dragon Special Forces.
However, Ling Xiao's weird behaviour made everyone in the Flying Dragon Special Forces anxious. They didn't know what this superior of theirs, who frequently appears out of nowhere, wanted to do.
"Chief, Team Leader Cang sent this to you." The senior colonel handed a thick folder of documents to Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao took it and then waved his hand as a gesture to tell the senior colonel to leave.
The senior colonel carefully left the room. He was afraid to even slightly disturb his chief's immense study session. As the door closed behind him, he breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. He didn't know whether it was just him, or whether the aura on his chief had gotten much stronger after he went to join the war. It was heavy enough to suffocate him just by being in his vicinity.
Ling Xiao raised his head and looked towards the door. He leaned on the back of the chair with his right hand behind his head. A devilish smile slowly formed on his face. "This is bad. Without Duplication, I can't tone down my aura. Fooling these people is still easy, but it would be as easy if I face those sly old foxes."
"I have to think of something…" Ling Xiao frowned. He couldn't hole himself in the Flying Dragon Special Forces forever, especially when a war was about to start. He was now the Federation's highest ranked officer tasked with roles of looking over the entire military. He must appear personally in the meetings of the higher ups in the military headquarters. That was the only way he could way over those other high ranking officers.
Ling Xiao couldn't think of a way to resolve this issue at that moment, so he pushed the issue back to his mind and flipped through the documents in front of him. The problem he was facing was not only on his aura, but he was also trying to make sense of the Flying Dragon Special Forces. He discovered that in the 20 years Ren Feiyu had taken control, the Flying Dragon Special Forces split into many separate factions. It was also quite messy in the recruits aspect. Originally, there should be two kings, one from the light and one from the shadow. They would usually both stay out of each other's way and be responsible for their own missions. They would watch over each other and compete against each other. However, the new king of the shadow faction was actually sent to the light faction to be the new light king's deputy. This act instantly broke the barrier between the two teams. Ling Xiao didn't know what Ren Feiyu was thinking…
"It seems the seemingly glamorous Flying Dragon Special Forces actually has many internal problems. There also seems to be some corruption…" Ling Xiao smiled coldly. "There's also this…" Ling Xiao picked up a special communicator. This wasn't the communicator Ren Feiyu used publicly. However, what was strange was that the DNA linked to the communicator was indeed Ren Feiyu's DNA.
Ling Xiao pushed down on it and a virtual screen appeared in front of him. The screen was filled with bits and pieces of details about some seemingly random people.
"Ren Feiyu, you have quite a lot of identities huh… interesting." Ling Xiao smiled. If someone else were to grab a hold of this communicator, they would not find anything suspicious with the details of the communicator, but with a bit of Ren Feiyu's memories, along with the information he acquired beforehand, combining the two gave him an idea of what it was for.
"However, these two punks seem to have a connection with my daughter…" Ling Xiao flipped to the page with details about the new recruits. He looked at the two pictures as he smirked, "I can use them."
Soon, a summon was sent out of the chief's office. Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran, who had been training in the Flying Dragon Special Forces' base while waiting for their new mission, were stunned when they received the summon.
Tang Ningyu wiped away his stunned expression and looked at Mu Chaoran with a joyful look. "Chaoran, this is your chance." If he could be acknowledged by their chief, the misdemeanours Mu Chaoran had done in the past would be erased. Tang Ningyu was worried that Mu Chaoran might be completely abandoned by their leader in the future. If that were to happen, Mu Chaoran's future wouldn't be very good. If he was unlucky, he would be given a mission that could mean his death. He didn't even know if he could come back alive from such a mission.
Tang Ningyu truly acknowledged Mu Chaoran. He didn't want the person he acknowledged to go against their team leader and cause problems for himself because they were on different sides.
"The chief… how does he know the two of us?" Mu Chaoran held back his excitement and asked in disbelief.
As new recruits, although they were considered the kings of the new recruits, they were still not considered official members of the Flying Dragon Special Forces. The chief would only meet up with the leaders of brigades and teams. It was highly likely that the chief didn't even know of their existence.
"Don't worry about that. Let's just go there immediately. We can't be late if we want to leave a good impression with the chief." Tang Ningyu quickly grabbed Mu Chaoran and rushed back to their dorms. After changing their uniforms, they sat on the hover car and went towards the Flying Dragon Special Forces command center.
At the command center, the senior colonel, who was the chief's deputy, saw them coming in. He motioned towards them and directed them to the chief's office.
"Chief, Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran have arrived," the senior colonel reported from outside the door.
"Come in." The chief's voice was sharp and dignified. The voice made Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran raise their heads, straighten their backs and tighten their entire body in unplanned unison.
The door slowly opened and the senior colonel gestured to them to go in.
Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran turned to look at each other. Then, they took a deep breath and walked into the room.
After walking into the chief's office, they saw a large living room with a circle of sofas inside it. Further in, there was a large study that had a very large rectangular table. A sharp looking man wearing a general's uniform was inside the room, flipping through documents.
The man in the general's uniform seemed to have realized the two of them had walked in. He stood up from his desk and walked out of his study.
Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran finally saw the real face of their chief. It was more or less the same as the one they saw through the virtual video calls. However, he was more sharp and more dignified in person. The pressure he put upon them was much heavier. The closer they got near him, the heavier the pressure. The pressure was forcing them to bend their backs and kneel in front of him.
"Sit." Ling Xiao gestured at the two of them to sit. He himself chose a random sofa and sat down. He then leaned on the sofa's armrest.
Seeing their chief sitting down so languidly, Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran sat down prudently on the sofa facing their chief.
"I looked at the mission you have completed. All well done. Keep up the good work," Ling Xiao said indifferently. Although it were words of praise, he still had a cold expression on his face. Seeing the cold expression, Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran wondered if their chief was being sarcastic. However, after thinking about it, they threw that thought out of their mind because if their chief was dissatisfied with them, he wouldn't be so indirect about it.
"I summoned you here because I have a mission for you. This mission isn't quite suitable for official members of the Flying Dragon Special Forces to do, but you two on the other hand are still in the probation stage. If it's two of you, your actions will not draw too much attention." Ling Xiao saw them being prudent so he just went straight to the point.
Chapter 1284: I'm Willing!
"Yes, chief." The two of them immediately stood up to accept their mission.
"Don't be so uptight. Sit down and hear me out more." Ling Xiao waved his hand to gesture to them to sit down and listen to him speak about the details.
Ling Xiao quickly told them the details of the mission. As he continued revealing more and more details about the mission, Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran's expression gradually got more excited. They were looking at Ling Xiao with looks that were basically screaming the fact that they were looking forward to the mission and wishing for it to begin as soon as possible.
"This is something that only the two of you can know. Once you walk out of that door, I will not acknowledge that I have given you this mission. Whether you die or live during this mission will have nothing to do with the Flying Dragon Special Forces. You think it over and see whether you want to take up this mission." Ling Xiao's eyes were sharp as he shot a chilling glare towards them. The chill in his eyes showed them the inferior position they were in and his attitude towards them.
"Chief, we are willing to accept the mission," said Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran simultaneously as they stood up.
"Very good. General Ling Xiao's death involves too many factions. Your trip will definitely be fraught with danger. Once you find Lieutenant General Ling Lan, protect him until I contact you. Don't let him return to the Federation. Lieutenant General Ling Lan is General Ling Xiao's only remaining bloodline. It may be a difficult mission, but I still have to say that even if the two of you were to die, you must not let him die. Otherwise, don't come back," said Ling Xiao coldly.
"Yes, chief," said Mu Chaoran and Tang Ningyu without hesitation. Even if it wasn't for General Ling Xiao, they still wouldn't let Ling Lan die because of their complicated feelings towards him.
"If you understand, then sign this document and set off at once." Ling Xiao couldn't wait any longer. His daughter was still in a state of crisis. In order to take over the 23rd Division he had left, along with the Lingtian Independent Army that Ling Lan had established, those greedy people wouldn't allow Ling Lan to live.
When he told Ling Lan to leave the Federation, he was afraid that without his protection, Ling Lan wouldn't be able to avoid all of the layers of plots and traps. He would rather have Ling Lan reach a level of strength where she won't be able to plot against before returning to the Federation to deal with those people.
After saying all that, Ling Xiao took out the two vacation applications he had previously prepared and handed them to Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran.
The two of them saw the space where they should sign on the application. In order to separate their mission from the Flying Dragon Special Forces, they must sign the vacation application themselves. That way, if they were to be discovered, their actions wouldn't be traced back to the Flying Dragon Special Forces. It would be considered their own personal act.
The two of them knew that if they were to sign it, they would become abandoned once they were caught.
Tang Ningyu looked towards Mu Chaoran. Mu Chaoran reached out his hand and took the application. He resolutely signed his name on the application.
He was already considered half abandoned in the Flying Dragon Special Forces. If he was about to be given up on, then he would rather use all of his efforts on protecting that person. Even if he died, it would be worth it.
However, it burdened Tang Ningyu… Mu Chaoran looked at Tang Ningyu apologetically. Tang Ningyu originally had a prosperous future ahead of him. However, because of him, he was also dragged into this mess. Despite Mu Chaoran feeling sorry, he still… gestured for Tang Ningyu to sign it.
Mu Chaoran's desperate plea towards Tang Ningyu was clear as day. Tang Ningyu instantly woke up from his daze and immediately took the application and signed his name on it.
That's right. When their chief divulged the details of the mission to them, they already had no chance to refuse, right? Once they refused, they would be surreptitiously cleaned out in the next second. Their chief was definitely not going to allow anyone who didn't participate in this mission to know about it. Tang Ningyu was daydreaming too much if he thought he had an option to refuse.
Mu Chaoran saw Tang Ningyu sign his name, so he breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Chief, where could Lieutenant General Ling go?"
Just then, he was really scared for Tang Ningyu if he couldn't get his head around it and hesitated to sign. Their chief had asked them to think about it, but in reality, if they were to actually refuse… what awaited them was definitely not something good. But, everything was alright now since Tang Ningyu realized it.
"No matter if it's allied nations or enemy nations, he wouldn't be there. Thus, he can only go to a neutral nation. Just follow this clue and go search," said Ling Xiao.
No matter if it was allied or enemy nations, no matter if it was with good or bad intentions, they would search for her everywhere. After finding her whereabouts, they would definitely quickly react to it. Only the neutral nation wouldn't give out Ling Lan's whereabouts because they wouldn't want to involve their own nation's interests or try to benefit themselves even if they knew Ling Lan's whereabouts. As long as Ling Lan was given enough time, a neutral nation wouldn't be able to take advantage of Ling Lan that easily. After taking everything into account, the level of danger of being in a neutral nation was definitely lower than being in an allied or enemy nation.
Thus, as long as Ling Lan didn't go dumb, she could only go to a neutral nation.
In reality, this guess, whether it was the Federation or Caesar, or the other nations involved, could be easily deduced by them. Thus, those people who wanted to take out Ling Lan would definitely send people to ambush her. They wished to kill Ling Lan before she could grow into someone they couldn't control. The reason Ling Xiao sent Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran was because he was afraid that Ling Lan didn't have enough manpower to win the battle of attrition.
It should be known that after entering a planet, unless the planet was on martial law, mechas were prohibited from being used on the planet surface. A mecha appearing would definitely alarm the citizens of the nation. On planets, war was fought through physical skills. As domain realm masters, Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran were definitely good helpers in that aspect.
It was just as Ling Xiao had predicted. Countless factions had deduced the path Ling Lan escaped towards, to a neutral nation. They all sent people towards them. Some went with the intention to ambush and kill, while some went to aid and rescue.
At that moment, the Destruction Devil had already arrived at a space station constructed in the public planetary sector of a neutral nation.
Under the command of the space station, the Destruction Devil slowly docked on the spaceport.
They had to really thank Little Seven for reducing the unneeded weight off the Destruction Devil to increase the speed. He shedded off the outer shell of the Destruction Devil, turning it into a naked starship, just one accurate hit from a beam would instantly blow it up. It was considered the most battered spaceship in the entire space station. Despite it being large and still somewhat magnificent looking, the staff members of the space station just turned a blind eye towards it. They were only surprised by its size. What they didn't know was that that battered up starship was actually the Federation's newest starship model, the Destruction Devil.
In reality, they really weren't surprised at the staff members on the space station for ignoring them. It should be known that as a neutral nation, they wouldn't refuse any ships from entering their spaceport which included intergalactic space pirates and intergalactic mercenaries. These spaceships that explore, fight and plunder in intergalactic space would usually have starships battered up like this. Even the strongest intergalactic space pirates or mercenaries would still have such battered starships. Repairing such starships was how their space station made their money.
The space station was actually a large intergalactic spaceship repair factory. It was just that calling it a space station sounded better.
"How do we fix this?" The most skilled technician of the space station, the station commander, arrived at the spaceport. He raised his head and asked himself the major question.
Chapter 1285: Ten Billion Credits?
Tian Fang raised his head and said, "In order to get out alive, we shedded the outer shell so we would like you to apply an outer shell on the ship as we need to soon continue our adventure through the stars. Of course, the stronger the better. You're an expert in this field. I'll leave it to you."
"If you didn't have that token from the Rainbow Raiders, I would've shooed you away," said the station commander in an annoyed tone. "If you want to repair a garbage ship like this, anything less than 10 billion credits won't be enough."
"Money won't be a problem…" After hearing Tian Fang say those words, the station commander's eyes lit up.
"But it will be impossible for us to get that money now. Although I really want to say that we could." Tian Fang's words afterwards made the station commander's teeth hurt.
"Don't worry. I have my reputation in the underworld. I will definitely give you the money." Before entering the 23rd Division, Tian Fang was actually in the black ops corps of the Federation. There, he had disguised as a mercenary corp and cleaned some of the Federation's dirty laundry. Thus, his group of soldiers still had some reputation in the underworld. Truth be told, although his account didn't have 10 billion credits, he still had a few billion. However, Tian Fang didn't dare to use it. He was afraid that someone was monitoring his account, and once he used it, they would know his whereabouts.
If he was by himself, it wouldn't matter if they knew his whereabouts. But, his apprehension was mostly due to the recovering Lieutenant General Ling. Tian Fang and Luo Yang had already predicted that there was a strong organization hidden behind the higher ranks of the Federation's military headquarters. These people wanted to plot against Lieutenant General Ling, especially after General Ling Xiao's death, Lieutenant General Ling would definitely be in a bad situation if he were to return to the Federation.
As the loyal followers of General Ling Xiao, they, of course, wouldn't let anything happen to his remaining bloodline, so they also had the same idea as Little Seven, they decided to bring Ling Lan away from the Federation to a neutral nation. There he would be able to accumulate strength and wait for an opportunity to return to the Federation.
"With a garbage spaceship like yours, you won't be able to pay 10 billion credits even if you were given decades." After hearing the words of Tian Fang, the station commander had a look of disdain on his face. Such a high cost repair would usually be done to top tier mercenary teams. Although the 7th Bugle mercenary team had some reputation, they were still considered a mid to low tier mercenary team. Their team wasn't considered to be anything special in the entire underworld. In reality, if Tian Fang didn't show them the token from a top tier mercenary team, the Rainbow Raiders, the station commander wouldn't have even come out to personally check the battered starship.
Well actually, other than the external parts of the spaceship, the rest of the starship had their share of problems, especially the most important part of a starship, the engines. Due to the constant overclocking of the engine, it had caused many problems in the starship engines. If they wanted to repair it, they would have to put in a lot of work. Just repairing the engines would cost more than 5 billion credits.The station commander's forehead twitched just looking at the state of the starship. Even ten billion credits might not be enough.
"Can't I write you an IOU? Don't I also have the Rainbow Raiders' token to use as collateral?" Seeing the station commander's expression turning more annoyed, Tian Fang was also becoming unhappy. This leader tier token of the Rainbow Raiders represented that the leader of the Rainbow Raiders was a guarantor. In the underworld, Rainbow Raiders were considered one of the three strongest mercenary teams. Their regiment commanders were publicly known as kings in the underworld. No one dared to look down on them.
After hearing Tian Fang's words, the station commander looked at the token in his hands with a firm expression. With this thing, even if Tian Fang didn't pay the money he owed, he could take the token and ask the Rainbow Raiders for it. The Rainbow Raiders would definitely pay it without a fuss. Of course, if that day were to come, he still wouldn't use the token to trade for money. Although it could be used for payment, it would still be a poor way of using it if he actually exchanged it for money. The real value of this token was actually the regiment commander of the Rainbow Raiders owing a favour to the owner of the token.
The station commander knew very well what it meant to ask a favor from one of the kings of the underworld. He definitely wouldn't use it unless he was about to die.
Of course, all this would only happen if Tian Fang couldn't pay the 10 billion credits in the future.
The station commander glanced at Tian Fang and asked plainly, "When are you planning on giving that money?" Although the token was a guarantee, he couldn't just keep dragging out paying the money for decades or centuries.
"Uh, ten years?" Of course, Tian Fang knew the real value of the token from the Rainbow Raiders. When Ling Lan handed it to him, he was shocked. He didn't know why Ling Lan had the token of a king of the underworld… Unfortunately, Ling Lan didn't explain to him. He could only predict that General Ling Xiao had some sort of relationship with the regiment commander of the Rainbow Raiders… After all, the general was a legendary individual, so it was logical he would have come into contact with legends of the underworld.
"Ten years? You really are shameless."
"Eight years?" Tian Fang gritted his teeth as he forced out a compromise. It should be known that they couldn't use the Federation's money to pay because they were in a neutral nation. They must start everything from the beginning. No, it was actually even more brutal than starting from zero since they started with a debt of 10 billion credits. Even he wasn't sure whether he could gather 10 billion credits in eight years and feed his thousands of crew members at the same time.
"The most I can give is five years. After five years, I will take this token and ask the Rainbow Raiders for it," said the station commander.
Seeing the firmness in the eyes of the station commander, Tian Fang knew he didn't have any way of getting more time. He could only grit his teeth and relented, "Alright, five years."
He wouldn't have agreed if Lieutenant General Ling didn't say that holding onto that token was meaningless and that was better to use it to exchange for stuff they needed now.
"However, I have a request. Other than the 10 billion repair costs, can you loan us 5 billion credits as well?" Tian Fang stared at the station commander as he spoke with a determined look in his eyes.
"No way…" The station commander didn't even think and refused him.
"Don't say that," Tian Fang cut him off immediately. "You and I both know what the token from the Rainbow Raiders means and how much it's worth. Asking to borrow 5 billion more isn't considered going over the top."
"I can only give you 3 billion," said the station commander after he thought for a moment.
"That's fine. Great doing business with you." Tian Fang nodded happily.
The station commander instantly realized that Tian Fang had played him. If he didn't want to give the money, Tian Fang couldn't do anything to him anyway. The station commander suddenly felt blood rushing up his chest. He wanted the token so badly that he lowered his guard against this scheming individual in front of him.
However, what was said was said. As the commander of the space station, he definitely couldn't go back on his word. They were business people so they must uphold their reputation. Otherwise, if their reputation disappeared, no one would dare come to his space station to repair their spaceships.
The station commander left with a frustrated expression on his face. He ordered his repair crew to repair the 7th Bugle Call. Tian Fang then returned inside the 7th Bugle Call with a smile on his face.
After reaching the commander's room, he saw Luo Yang with a terrible expression on his face, while Ling Lan, who was originally resting in the room, was now actually sitting on the sofa waiting for him.
"What happened?" asked Tian Fang.
It was odd. Why did the atmosphere in the starship commander room be so bad?
Luo Yang's face was somewhat reddened and his breathing was hurried. It seemed he had gotten angry.
Tian Fang looked towards Ling Lan who was sitting on the sofa nonchalantly. He then looked at Li Lanfeng, who was indifferent to all of this and was only carefully brewing and pouring tea for Ling Lan. In the end, he rested his questioning gaze towards Luo Yang.
Chapter 1286: Promise!
Luo Yang saw the look Tian Fang had given him. He angrily said, "Go ask the lieutenant general yourself."
It seemed Luo Yang was angered by something.
Although Tian Fang was suspecting something was up, he still sat down in front of Ling Lan with a smile on his face and asked, "Lieutenant general, can you tell me what actually happened here?"
Ling Lan's current condition was actually not any better compared to her condition after the battle on Planet Haijiao. Her collar and sleeve area revealed the bandages over her body clearly. However, Ling Lan's nonchalant behavior gave Tian Fang the impression that the injuries didn't seem that severe.
After hearing Tian Fang's question, Ling Lan calmly replied, "It's nothing. I just told Senior Colonel Luo that I'm going back to the Federation."
These words made the smile on Tian Fang's face freeze up.
"Um, Lieutenant general, can you say that again? I think my ears have heard something crazy." Tian Fang picked his ears with his fingers and asked again in disbelief.
"I'm going back to the Federation for a while." Ling Lan raised her eyebrows and spoke out her decision once again.
"Lieutenant general, are you joking?" Tian Fang driedly laughed.
"I never joke when it comes to important matters," Ling Lan said indifferently.
Tian Fang forcefully pulled his hair and swore under his breath. He actually didn't think that under such dangerous circumstances, Ling Lan was actually crazy enough to return to the Federation.
Even the strongest general died in the hands of those people. If Ling Lan were to return, he would definitely be like entering a tiger's den.
"Don't think too much. I'm only going back for a while. After I have done what I need to do, I'll return immediately." Ling Lan knew Tian Fang didn't have any ill thoughts against her, and was just worried about her. Thus, she patiently explained what she planned to do.
Tian Fang turned around and looked towards Li Lanfeng, who was still preparing tea, and asked in a serious tone, "You agreed with him?" He had heard that Li Lanfeng was someone with many plans and strategies in mind. Why didn't he try to stop the lieutenant general's dumb decision?
"I will listen to the lieutenant general," Li Lanfeng replied very calmly, but Tian Fang saw the helplessness in Li Lanfeng's eyes. It seemed Li Lanfeng also disagreed with the lieutenant general on this decision, but in the end, Li Lanfeng didn't succeed in stopping him.
"Although we belong to different clans, according to the war time regulations, if a clan was to lose communications with the Federation, the person with the highest rank shall be supreme commander. Thus, you are our commander. In that respect, we don't have the right to go against the decisions you make," said Tian Fang with a cold look on his face. "However, the decision you are making is too dangerous. It's even an illogical one. I have to ask the reason why you want to go back. If you can't convince me, then I won't agree to you returning to the Federation."
Tian Fang's words made Luo Yang more determined. Their expression showed that if they couldn't be convinced and Ling Lan still wanted to leave, then there will be bloodshed thereafter.
Seeing Tian Fang and Luo Yang being worried for her, it reminded her of the time when she was young and arrogant. Back then, she led a ship full of students and took control of the 7th Bugle Call. It should be said that her actions offended them greatly. Even if she had asked her father to clean it up for her by taking in the 7th Bugle Call into the 23rd Division to erase their punishments, all of this was still her fault. If these people were narrow minded, they might have hated her for their entire lives. However, she didn't think that in the end, the people who came to rescue her were actually them. In the end, they even chose to betray the Federation and took her into the territory of a neutral nation.
Of course, Ling Lan knew that his father was the reason the two of them saved her with all of their efforts. The longer she was in the military, the more she understood what kind of position her father held in the hearts of the soldiers. It wasn't the usual respect they had for a high-ranking officer. Instead, it was an idolization from the heart. Such a terrifying effect was closely related to the 16 years of time when her father had 'died'. In that time, the military headquarters worked their hardest to create geniuses and monstrous individuals to perfect them into another Ling Xiao through magnifying the accomplishment he had done and picturing him as the perfect soldier. Just like that, after years of hard work, it affected that generation of soldiers. As time passed, those soldiers grew up and became higher-ranking officers in the military. These officers then affected the soldiers they were leading and carved this idolization into the hearts of all levels of the military. The seeds were sown, and buds had bloomed.
After Ling Xiao had returned and became a general, the military headquarters then discovered that their decision back in the day was extremely dumb. They made an idol powerful enough to sway the minds of the common soldiers. Perhaps this was the reason some people always plotted against Ling Xiao and some people chose to just watch from a distance. Ling Xiao's existence had indeed bred a lot of negative feelings.
Ling Lan didn't want these two people, who cared about her, to become sad because of her. She thought for a moment and then said, "My mother has already taken a big hit with the fact that my father is no longer around. If I don't report back to her, I'm afraid she might not be able to hold on."
After saying all that, Ling Lan's eyes turned dim. "Something already happened to my father. I don't want anything to happen to my mother. Otherwise, what's the point of me getting out alive?"
Tian Fang wanted to say something against that line of thought, but words couldn't come out of his mouth.
"The general's wife is well-guarded. It will be hard to get close to her. Plus, I am sure that there are countless people watching her every move because they are sure you will go back to her once you return," said Luo Yang. No matter where they escape to, after how many years, they still have to return to the Federation in the end. After all, that's where their roots were at and the fact that the death of General Ling Xiao still had to be avenged.
"I know, but I am confident I won't alert them of my presence." In terms of mecha piloting, there were many people stronger than her. She could guarantee that. However, in terms of physical skills, other than her master Mu Shui-qing, it wouldn't be that easy to detect her even if it was against an imperial realm formidable warrior. The only troublesome matter was that without Little Four, it will be difficult to enter Planet General.
As long as there was a will, there was a way.
"Who are you taking with you? Don't tell me it's just you. I will definitely not agree to that." Tian Fang knew he couldn't stop Ling Lan anymore. He could only try to think of ways to increase the chances of Ling Lan surviving, so that he could return safely.
"Quality over quantity. I will take Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang. Just the three of us is enough," replied Ling Lan.
"No way. The three of you won't be enough. It's too dangerous," Tian Fang didn't even think and refused Ling Lan's proposal.
"Making fake identities is troublesome. I, Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang have fake identities from during a previous mission," explained Ling Lan.
"You don't have to worry about that. Our identity before was a mercenary team. We can disguise ourselves as a mercenary team and enter the Federation," rebutted Tian Fang.
"Mercenary teams can only enter the Federation. Only soldiers and citizens with good backgrounds can enter Planet General," replied Ling Lan. "Plus, without enough strength, you going there will be a burden. Major General Tian Fang, don't forget, back then, your people all lost to me."
Tian Fang turned speechless. In the end, he could only say helplessly, "In that case, please be careful."
"Okay." Ling Lan nodded gratefully. As she was standing up to leave, Li Lanfeng quickly drap her cloak over her.
Tian Fang also stood up and led Ling Lan out of the room. After reaching the door, he suddenly spoke up, "Lieutenant general, the 7th Bugle Call needs around 45 days to get repaired. If you don't return in 45 days, we will take the 7th Bugle Call back to the Federation, and if that happens, we won't be able to keep in contact with you anymore."
This was Tian Fang's decision and was also a reminder for Ling Lan. Although his words seemed heartless, his tone still carried a hint of care and hope. All in all, Tian Fang hoped Ling Lan could return safely, take the 7th Bugle Call to the place Ling Lan needed to go and achieve greatness.
"I understand." Ling Lan put out her hand.
Tian Fang put out his hand and the two of them shook each other's hands firmly. This was the promise made between the two of them.
Chapter 1287: Three Youngsters
A starship coming from a neutral nation slowly moved towards a third-level planet that belonged to the Federation, Planet Xiagang.
The security on the port on Planet Xiagang was normally quite lax, but for some reason, the port today was swarmed with guards and patrols. Normally, travellers could go in and out of the port without much of a hassle. Now, they had to line up and go through complicated customs procedures to even leave the port.
However, those tourists had to endure all those complicated procedures no matter how troublesome the procedures were.
A lot of tourists had annoyed looks on their faces. However, there were three youngsters who stood out with gleeful expressions. They totally looked like inexperienced travelers . Even though they were waiting in line for a few hours, they didn't seem to be annoyed by the fact. The three of them were sometimes huddling and laughing together. They would occasionally look at their surroundings with faces full of curiosity.
Despite being young, the three of them had completely distinctive auras to them. One of them, despite his features being well put together, didn't have anything special to him. He could be easily forgotten after meeting him once. This average-looking youngster looked like the oldest of the three. But, there was a sense of steadiness to him even though he was young. He was probably their elder brother.
The second youngster had features which would leave an unforgettable impression once one laid their eyes on him. There was a hint of arrogance between his eyes, yet he was quite handsome. Everyone who saw him couldn't help but marvel at how handsome he was. Even though he seemed somewhat arrogant, his face didn't instil the feeling of annoyance in the onlookers. This youngster's age was probably in the middle of the three. That was because the last youngster could be identified as the youngest from just one look. He had a tender and cute face with a sweet smile plastered over it. As long as one was a woman, no matter their age, they would suddenly have the instinct of a mother, holding him in their arms to pinch that cute smiling face.
It was finally their turn. The oldest was the first to go up and scanned his communicator on the scanner.
Qiu Fengyu, 18-years old
Birthplace: Chaotic Lands
Xi Qingxiao, 17 years old
Birthplace: Chaotic Lands
Mu Aibao, 16 years old
Birthplace: Chaotic Lands
They originated from the same place. However, it was odd that the Chaotic Lands could produce such naive youngsters with their barbaric ruling. The inspector standing beside the optical supercomputer glanced at the three of them with a curious look. However, his jaw dropped wide open when he saw the frost emblem on their chests. If his memory was correct, that emblem was the mark for the faction of one of the kings in the Chaotic Lands, the Frost Monarch. As a border customs inspector, he had to be knowledgeable of the emblems and totems of different nations and factions in the galaxy.
'They are members of the Frost Monarch's faction while being so young?' It seemed these three youngsters required special attention. The inspector concluded and sent a message to the inspection office on Planet Xiagang. After the three of them enter into the borders, the inspection office would be monitoring them 24/7 until they leave the planet.
Despite the relationship between Chaotic Lands and the Federation being relatively on good terms, they still needed to monitor them for the safety of the Federation.
The three youngsters were quickly allowed into the borders. They went on the shuttle and entered into the planet's atmosphere. Right as they left the airport, a few undercover inspectors followed them. The three youngsters didn't seem to have noticed. Perhaps their strength had not reached the point where they could detect them. They were still talking and laughing with each other while being oblivious to the prying eyes behind them. They walked to the hover car station and rode in a hover car until they arrived at the closest city to the airport, Sand City.
In Sand City, two distinct attractive women entered into a department store, one being marvelous and the other soft and beautiful. They instantly drew the attention of everyone in the store.
Especially those young boys who were brought in by their mothers and grandmothers. No matter if it was males or females, they were all looking intensely at one of the girl's bosoms.
These little boys were still too young to understand the beauty of a woman. The reason they were staring so intently was because something was on top of that woman's bosom. It was a white round object that was sitting between the breasts of that woman. Its big bright eyes made these children want to hug it and kiss it.
Han Xuya pulled Little White away from her chest with an annoyed look on her face and tossed it to Luo Chao. That little pervert actually kept rubbing against her chest. Did it think that she didn't know?
Luo Chao caught Little White in mid-air and asked in shock, "Xuya, what's wrong?"
The reason they came to Sand City was because of Little White. Little White missed Boss too much, causing it to be in a sick state everyday. It would just lazily flop down somewhere, not moving or eating. Everyone was afraid something might happen to it, so they sent the two of them to Sand City to find things Little White might like to eat. They had to make it eat something.
"Nothing. I just don't like holding it." Han Xuya pouted. She couldn't outwardly say she got taken advantage of by a pet. In reality, she believed Qi Long and the others were worrying about it too much. They didn't need to worry about this little blop at all. Even if it didn't eat for years, it would still be fine. This blob might still be lively jumping around when they all die of old age.
"Oh." Luo Chao didn't think much of it and accepted Han Xuya's explanation. She put Little White in her arms and softly asked, "Little White, do you like these? If you like them, I'll buy them for you."
Little White rubbed against Luo Chao, but it felt sad because it wasn't as comfortable as Han Xuya. But, he still looked at the snacks with little excitement. Then, it dug itself back into Luo Chao's arms, not looking around anymore.
"Little White doesn't seem to like any of them," said Luo Chao with concern.
Han Xuya said helplessly, "You actually don't have to worry about that little guy. Its life force is very strong. It'll be fine."
"But it should at least eat something. It is the only thing Boss left for us. We can't let anything happen to it." Luo Chao gently rubbed Little White's head with a thought in mind.
"Alright. Let's go find another place that sells food. We have all the time in the world." Han Xuya could only give in to the worried Luo Chao.
Luo Chao and Han Xuya took Little White and left the store. The store was left with countless saddened and reluctant looks.
The commercial street Luo Chao and Han Xuya went to next was the most lively street. There were many people moving about. The first stop of the three youngsters from the Chaotic Lands was also this street. These two groups of people passed by each other.
Little White slowly raised his head and his eyes brightened. Then he dug himself back into Luo Chao's arms and once again didn't care about the stuff around them.
The three from the Chaotic Lands shopped on the street for the entire day and bought many things. Then they found the closest five-star hotel and stayed there for the night.
At that moment, the staff members from the inspection office, who were monitoring them, were hard at work.
Chapter 1288: One Man Operation!
"The origination of their funds have been successfully found. They are indeed from the Chaotic Lands." Nowadays, other than small shops and stands on the streets, larger stores all scan communicators for payment. The job of these inspectors were to ensure that these funds were real in nature and came from unsuspicious origins.
"There are no issues with their identities. They are just wealthy people under the Frost Monarch's faction and coming here as tourists," said the chief of the inspection office after seeing there wasn't anything wrong with the data they had gathered.
"Should we recall the people monitoring them?" The inspection office didn't have that many manpower available to follow people around. There were too many people they needed to monitor. As long as people were deemed as not a problem, they would recall their men and transfer them to monitor more suspicious individuals.
"Let's not recall all of them. Keep two and monitor them tomorrow." The chief was still guarded against the Chaotic Lands, so he made the decision to monitor them for one more day just in case.
"Understood." The staff member immediately gave out the orders to the inspectors in disguise and told them of the changes for tomorrow's work.
After entering into their room, the oldest of the three youngsters began to inspect the room. It was as though he was trying to familiarize himself with the items in the room. The arrogant yet handsome youngest walked to the window and opened the curtains, looking at the scenery outside. The youngest slowly walked to the living room sofa and sat down.
The oldest seemed to have finished scanning and came beside the youngest as he shook his head slightly.
The one at the window returned almost at the same time and said softly, "There's still two. The rest all left."
The youngest, who originally had a sweet smile on his face, now had a chilling facial expression.
The outer appearances of the three of them suddenly changed. One became extremely beautiful, one became handsome and the last one became cold as ice.
The three of them were Li Lanfeng, Luo Lang and Ling Lan respectively.
Through reaching the realm of domain one would have slight control over the muscles and skin of their face. They could change their features temporarily, achieving a different look. However, the amount they could change was still limited. They couldn't really change too much of their features.
Of course, there were special cases like Li Lanfeng. Even Ling Lan didn't know how Li Lanfeng had changed his beautiful face into the face of an average Joe. This made Luo Lang, who couldn't change his looks that much, become jealous of him.
Luo Lang had asked Li Lanfeng about his secret. However, Li Lanfeng only told him that he also didn't know. It didn't really take much on his part to turn himself into an average Joe.
Ling Lan carefully studied it and then came up with an explanation that Luo Lang understood.
It was because Li Lanfeng's face was already perfect. All the parts, muscles and skin of the face were in perfect harmony. It could be said that it had already reached its limit. Thus, when that limit was changed slightly, it lost its harmony, completely destroying the balance of his face. That was why he suddenly had such average looks.
In reality, Ling Lan was also like this. When she restrained her aura, her looks would become incomparably beautiful. It was just that her type of beauty wasn't the same as Li Lanfeng's. In addition to her immature look and lack of stunning features, there was an added adorableness to her. It was also similarly at a limit of sorts. After changing it slightly, she also lost her beautiful colors, leaving her with only cuteness.
Perhaps Ling Lan's cold and dominant side left too much of an impression on Luo Lang and Li Lanfeng. The two of them were actually oblivious of Ling Lan's cute side. A chance to discover the truth was missed by them just like that.
"I already know where they are," Ling Lan said calmly.
"Ah? When did you know Boss?" Luo Lang had a face of shock. Weren't they just buying things in the store? Even when his sister went by him, he didn't dare to have any change in expressions because of the inspectors behind them.
"It was Little White," replied Li Lanfeng.
Li Lanfeng, who could also communicate with Little White using spiritual power, knew how Ling Lan was able to acquire that information.
"We can't get into Planet General with our current identities. If we want to go there, we have to hide within Lingtian and let Qi Long and the others take us there," replied Ling Lan.
Although Ling Lan couldn't contact Little Four, she was still certain that the learning space was still in her mindspace. As long as the learning space was in her mind, she trusted that Little Four was fine.
One of the possible reasons she couldn't contact Little Four could be that Little Four was injured and needed to recover in the learning space. It could also be because Little Four was evolving again so he temporarily separated himself off from her. Ling Lan thought of many reasons just to give herself confidence that Little Four would return to her.
Although Little Four was gone, there was still Little Seven. Ling Lan spoke with Little Seven on the 7th Bugle Call. Little Seven was clearly much more warm and talkative to Ling Lan than Tian Fang. It was also Little Seven who decrypted the mainframe and found the information that the Lingtian Independent Army was staying on Planet Xiagang.
If it wasn't for the fact that Little Seven couldn't be too far from its main body, Ling Lan really wanted to take Little Seven with her.
Now that they didn't have Little Seven, they can only depend on themselves in the virtual world. Luckily, Li Lanfeng could be considered half of a hacker even though he wasn't as invincible as Little Four or be able to be like Little Seven and easily decrypt a mainframe. He was still more than enough when it came to those hard-to-detect surveillance equipment.
They were originally planning to get close to the base of the Lingtian Independent Army and use their spiritual power to call out to Little White. They didn't think that they'd be so lucky to actually pass by Luo Chao and Han Xuya on the same commercial street they were on right after they arrived in Sand City. What was even better was that they had brought Little White. This allowed Ling Lan to easily contact Little White and receive the information she needed.
"However, the base Qi Long and the others are resting at is heavily guarded. Boss, your spiritual power was severely affected and you temporarily lost your hacking abilities. Using just brother Lanfeng's power to silently infiltrate is pretty much impossible." The base wasn't a hotel that could let Li Lanfeng easily cut off all surveillance. As long as Li Lanfeng missed one surveillance equipment, they would be completely exposed.
"I will go by myself tomorrow night. You guys wait for me here," Ling Lan said coldly.
"That…" Luo Lang was just about to say it was too dangerous, but Ling Lan shot a chilling glare towards him, forcing his words to be stuck in his throat.
Boss in the past few weeks revealed some of his weak side because of General Ling Xiao. His originally heavy and dominant pressure also weakened by quite a lot. In addition, in order to respect Tian Fang and the other crew members (after all, they worked under Ling Xiao and wasn't part of Ling Lan's crew), Boss's tone was more peaceful than normal and he would calmly discuss everything to them. It almost made him forget that Boss was a dominant, invincible and unreasonable person.
However, as time went by after they left the 7th Bugle Call, in addition to Tian Fang and the others not being present, Ling Lan's dominant presence slowly returned. Just from that look, he saw Boss from the past who would give out orders without the need for any explanations.
Chapter 1289 I Hate It So Much!
A team of patrol units had just passed by the main door of the base.
"Little Zhao, is there anything suspicious?" The team leader walked to the guard station and asked the guard with a pleasant expression on his face.
"Second Lieutenant Lin, nothing at all. The regular citizens who live close to this area all know what kind of place this is. They won't go past the restrictive line." Little Zhao smiled.
Although the guards needed to be on guard throughout the night, there was hardly even any action because the citizens around knew what they should do and what they shouldn't do. Additionally, Planet Xiagang was in the inner parts of the Federation and was considered as an unimportant third-rate planet. It had been peaceful here for decades. It was so safe that sometimes these guards would be able to take a nap without anyone finding out.
"However, we still need to be careful. After all, it's different from before," said Second Lieutenant Lin.
Little Zhao immediately replied, "Second Lieutenant Lin, don't worry. We will definitely take caution during these times."
While the two of them spoke, a thin fog began appearing in the air around them.
"Weird weather. It's foggy again," said Second Lieutenant Lin as he put out his hand to feel the humidity of the air.
Planet Xiagang was a planet with an abundance of water. Out of the 200 or so days among the five seasons, there were at least 180 days with foggy weather. It should be known that a planet with an abundance of water would never become a third-rate planet even if all the other resources were lacking. Planet Xiagang becoming a third-rate planet was mostly due to the constant foggy weather.
Second Lieutenant Lin took out the walkie-talkie and said, "Team R19, Lin Yunbin has a situation that I would like to report to the command center."
"Please speak, Second Lieutenant Lin." A soft and beautiful voice rang from the other side of the walkie-talkie. It was a JMC from their base.
��Level 1 fog has appeared at Area R1." Lin Yunbin then felt the humidity on his hand increasing. "It has now increased to level 2 fog."
"Command center has received this information. Now I will officially send Second Lieutenant Lin's report. Can you confirm?" asked the JMC.
Second Lieutenant Lin closed his eyes and felt the fog once again. He confirmed that the level 2 fog didn't increase and then replied, "Confirmed."
"Documentation successful. If there are any new developments, please report to the command center as soon as possible. Thank you." The JMC ended the call.
After Second Lieutenant Lin made his report, he said goodbye to Little Zhao and continued to patrol the next area.
When the patrol team left, Little Zhao felt the thick fog behind him actually dissipate a bit. After a short while, the fog gradually disappeared, returning to the clear skies.
"The fog went away pretty quick." Little Zhao was surprised. The fog would usually turn thicker as they went through the night. They used to have to wait until the sun raised the next day for the fog to slowly dissipate and disappear.
"It's probably because it's thin." His collegue beside him made a guess.
"Yeah, that's possible." If the fog was thin, it would dissipate quicker.
The two of them didn't pay too much attention to the odd situation and continued to stand on guard. Although there were high-tech surveillance equipment, the existence of hackers still required actual people to stand on guard.
This was a medium sized base. Normally, as a military base, there wouldn't be any tall buildings. Normally, three stories was considered the limit for buildings.
However, there were instead 5 to 6-story towers all around the base.
On the towers, there were also soldiers standing on guard, watching their surroundings with focused eyes.
"This fog is getting thicker. It's getting harder and harder to see." A soldier on a tower, who was using a high-powered telescope to look around, saw areas of the base turning more and more blurred because of the fog. He couldn't help but frown at his observation.
His colleague behind him said, "Activate the infrared and thermal rader. It'll guarantee not a mouse can escape."
"I know, but I like looking at things in their natural state, not with red and purple colored lines. It hurts my eyes." The soldier with the telescope pouted.
"Then, just leave it to the mainframe. Technology these days has decreased the mainframe's margin of error to one in one billion," his colleague said nonchalantly.
"Yeah, I know, but what if by chance we're unlucky today." The soldier on guard remembered the disciplinary hearing from some time ago. It was because a guard believed in the mainframe too much and didn't perform his duties. The mainframe then had an error, causing it to mistaken a rabid wild dog as an enemy attack, causing the entire base to be on full alert, causing a huge commotion. In the end, they discovered it was just a false alarm… In the end, not only did that soldier get a life ban from being able to involve in politics, he was also sentenced by the military court to military prison for 30 years.
After this event happened, all of the soldiers on guard didn't dare to slack on their duty.
"Take that back. Something like that only happens once in a few hundred years. How could it happen to us? Don't jinx it," his colleague instantly shouted.
"Alright, alright, I'll stop talking. I will set the mainframe and then keep watch as well." The soldier on guard felt that he was too paranoid. Thus, he set the mainframe to be the primary judge of the situation and left himself as the secondary judge.
While they weren't paying attention and speaking to each other, the originally thick fog slowly dissipated.
At that moment, on the roof of a random barrack, there were two people, one standing and one laying down.
The one laying down was chugging down a beer bottle. There were many such empty bottles beside him. It seemed he had been drinking quite a lot.
"Qi Long, do you plan on drinking yourself to death?" Han Jijyun frowned. He had a hint of anger on his face.
After hearing that question, Qi Long finally took his lips off the bottle and turned towards Han Jijyun. "If I don't drink, I will go insane."
Qi Long looked at the pitch-dark sky with only a few shining stars. His originally honest face actually became somewhat twisted.
"Do you know what kind of promise I made in the past?" The veins on Qi Long's clenched fisted popped out. "I promised that if someone wanted to hurt Boss, they would have to kill me first."
"But where was I when Boss needed me the most? I was in the safest starship fleet that our Boss had arranged, drinking and eating…" Qi Long angrily tossed his bottle on the ground.
Bang! The bottle was instantly shattered into dust and the beer splashed everywhere.
Some people suddenly appeared from the darkness. After seeing Qi Long and Han Jijyun on the roof, they all understood what was happening. Then, they silently retreated back into the darkness as if they never existed.
"I hate it so much… From the very beginning, I shouldn't have agreed to Boss's arrangements. I should be beside our Boss. Just like Luo Lang, Xie Yi and Li Lanfeng." Qi Long's expression was filled with regret.
Bang! A loud and sharp slap ruthlessly went across Qi Long's face.
Qi Long looked at Han Jijyun in shock. He didn't think that Han Jijyun, who always supported him, would actually hit him.
Han Jijyun said coldly, "Han Jijyun, you acting like this is f*cking disgusting."
1290 Too Pampered By the Boss..
"That slap was for Boss. If Boss was here, it wouldn't be just a slap. He would instead beat you until you wake up from your current pitiful self." The right hand Han Jijyun used to slap Qi Long was placed behind his back, hidden from Qi Long's view. It was trembling uncontrollably. His originally white and elegant hand, quickly began to throb, turning his hand blood red.
Qi Long had instinctively used his domain concept to protect his body so when Han Jijyun, who had just reached pseudo domain stage, slapped him, his hand got injured from the slap.
"Boss is so strong. How could anything happen to him? He will definitely come back. We have to believe in him," said Han Jijyun. "Rather than wasting time regretting your past decisions, you should be standing firm and be thinking of ways to help Boss protect the Lingtian Independent Army. Despite Uncle Qi agreeing to ask the Third Marshal for help, it doesn't mean it will work. Don't forget there's still the First Marshal and Second Marshal."
After hearing all that, Qi Long instantly laughed in a pained tone and said, "What can I do? Tell me, what else can I do?"
Han Jijyun's mouth opened, but he didn't know what else to say.
"See, even you don't know what to do…" Qi Long's eyes suddenly reddened. "We're all useless trash. Without Boss, we can't do anything right."
Qi Long's right arm laid on top of his eyes. His voice was hoarse with a hint of sniffling. "When Boss was here, I didn't realize how helpless we are without him . Now I understand, we-we-we are too pampered by Boss…"
"Boss has always been protecting us from traps and plots against us. He gave us a peaceful space to grow. What bloodshed have we gone through for us to grow into such young and promising general and major rank officers? Boss is the only person who actually went through bloodshed, while we just hide behind him and reap the benefits." Even though Qi Long used his arm to cover his face, he still couldn't hide the tears trickling down his face. "Jijyun, I'm sad not only because Boss isn't here with us. What's more saddening is that I realize and understand everything Boss has done for us in the past. In the end, the strict rules and terrifying training were only for us to stay alive longer."
"The most depressing fact is that him leaving us here wasn't because we are a so-called trump card. Instead, it was because he believed that our wings had fully grown and that it was our time to fly on our own." Qi Long was actually quite smart. It was just there was Ling Lan and Han Jijyun beside him, so he hid the intelligent part of him behind his honest looking face. He wanted to be an honest person that everyone trusted.
Each one of them were trying to find the place they belonged to. They all molded their strength for the team and more or less hid the similar talents they shared and only improved their most unique talent. It was because of this that each one of them were all unique in their own ways, becoming one of a kind members within the team.
"Boss knew from the very beginning that he was facing an impossible situation, but I was so blind to see it." What Qi Long regretted the most was at the fact that he had ignored the warning his intuition had given him. He ignored it time and time again. If he had placed more importance on it and if he didn't leave Boss's side, he might have been able to help Boss.
Everyone believed that if they were alongside Ling Lan, the result would be different. However, in reality, when faced against a god-class operator, no matter how many people were there, they would still become cannon fodder, and ultimately useless in the end.
Of course, Qi Long and the others didn't know these details, that was why they were thinking that way. However, even if they knew, they would still make the same decision as Li Lanfeng, Luo Lang and Xie Yi. Even if they were to die, they would want to die together with Boss.
Sometimes, death wasn't a painful thing. Usually, it was the people who were alive who felt more pain than those who died.
"Even if that's the case, do you think you're honoring Boss by acting like a slob?" Han Jijyun's eyes also reddened as he asked Qi Long.
"I know. I also want to regain my composure, but I can't do that right now. I think I can only sober up from this mess if Boss ruthlessly beats me up." Qi Long laughed with tears in his eyes. He was a masochist to Boss. Getting beaten up by Boss would give his life some meaning.
At that moment, fog began appearing in the air. The fog slowly became thicker. Han Jijyun felt Qi Long's silhouette was becoming more and more difficult to see. In the end, the two of them were split apart by the fog.
"Domain active." The 'u0026' symbol appeared on Han Jijyun's forehead. The fog that surrounded him was suddenly dissipated, but Qi Long, who was just a hands reach to him, was nowhere to be seen.
Han Jijyun's expression changed instantly and shouted, "Enemy attack!"
However, their comrades, who were hidden in the shadows, weren't reacting to his shout. Han Jijyun's expression changed once again, but he quickly calmed down. He carefully looked around his surroundings.
There were two possibilities why his comrades didn't move. One possibility was that they were all knocked out. However, Han Jijyun didn't believe that. In the entire barrack, just their Lingtian Independent Army, there were already a number of domain realm masters and Qi Long. These domain realm masters couldn't have been silently taken out. Even Boss wouldn't have been able to do something like that.
Then it was the second possibility, which was that he had been taken into the opponent's domain. That was why his voice couldn't be heard by the people who were not in the domain. Perhaps all of his movements in this area were not real. Perhaps on the outside, he might be just standing there without making any noise.
"Who are you?" asked Han Jijyun.
It was silent all around him. Other than the thick fog, he couldn't see anything else.
Was it Boss? Han Jijyun remembered Ling Lan's domain concept. It could change between three different states of water. However, the humid feeling from the air was different from their Boss's ice cold domain. Even if their Boss changed into thick fog, it would still have an icy presence. The liquid state was also bone-chilling, not to mention the ice element. It was a real ice-age cold.
Right as Han Jijyun was still thinking about all that, he suddenly jumped upwards. The spot he was just standing on had a glowing chinese character shield appear.
A dark spear ruthlessly stabbed into the shield, cracking it into pieces. The shield then dissipated into countless characters and flew into Han Jijyun's forehead, while that dark spear also completely disintegrated before turning back to fog. It then quickly melded with the fog around them.
Han Jijyun cautiously looked at the fog around him. There was doubt that the enemy was hidden within the fog and could attack him at any time.
Whoosh! Whoosh Whoosh! Countless fog arrows suddenly shot out from the surrounding fog. They were coming at Han Jijyun from all directions.
Han Jijyun's expression changed instantly and shouted, "Jin!"
A large character 'Jin' began to expand from his body and covered his entire body within it.
The fog arrows all hit the 'Jin' character. The golden color of the 'Jin' character began to slowly turn dim as fog arrows hit it continuously. After blocking the last fog arrow, the 'Jin' character completely shattered.
Han Jijyun spat out a mouthful of blood. The extra damage dealt to the 'Jin' character was transferred to him. The shattered character instantly flew into Han Jijyun's forehead, healing Han Jijyun's spiritual power in the process.
Chapter 1291 Spatial
A silhouette of a human figure slowly entered his eyes. The figure was completely masked by the fog so Han Jijyun couldn't make out who the figure was.
"Who are you?" Han Jijyun frowned and asked softly.
"The dead don't need to know too much," a hoarse voice answered. The voice sounded like nails scratching on a chalkboard.
As Han Jijyun tried to see through the figure, his frown got even more pronounced. It was as though he was facing a shadow that didn't exist.
Luckily, Han Jijyun realized quick enough that it was just his mind playing tricks on him. If the figure in front of him didn't exist, it wouldn't have answered his question.
However, before Han Jijyun could think about his current predicament further, the figure charged forwards with a dark spear coming straight at him.
Han Jijyun's eyes stared intently at the incoming spear. He pointed at the spear with his forefinger and a line of characters flowed out of his fingers which then turned into a shield of light. Then it ruthlessly clashed with that large dark spear.
Bang!
The two domain concept clashed into one another which resulted in a deafening bang.
Han Jijyun was sent flying backwards. When he was about to smash onto the ground, he quickly balanced himself on one hand, somersaulted and stood up like nothing happened.
Han Jijyun focused on his ears to determine whether the commotion here had alerted the entire base.
However, he was disappointed. It was silent all around him. There wasn't any movement. It was as though he was the only person in this thick fog. Oh, wait, there was also a mysterious enemy, hiding in the shadows, watching his every move.
Han Jijyun chose to clash with his domain concept because he wanted to use it to make some noise to alert his comrades of the enemy. However, now it seemed his plan was seen through by the opponent as the noises and commotion in this area had already been muffled by the figure before they started clashing against one another, no one outside of the figure's domain would be able to hear the commotion.
Han Jijyun began to worry. He was afraid something might have happened to his comrades outside of the domain. However, he couldn't spare them too much of his attention as there were already a lot of worrying matters on his side, like the fact that the figure was much stronger than him.
Han Jijyun was in trouble. Qi Long on the other hand was also in a similar situation.
Similarly, he was also pulled into the domain world. It was just the domain world he was in, wasn't the same foggy domain that Han Jijyun was in. It was instead an open and vast space, so much so that one would never see the end of it.
The instant Qi Long was dragged into this domain, his eyes lit up with fervour. His decadent behavior seemingly vanished from his body. He jumped up from his relaxed posture, stood up and stared at the air in front of him.
"Come out," Qi Long said calmly.
After saying those words, a black cloaked individual slowly appeared from between the twisting and crackling air in front of him. In the end, the individual pierced through the twisting air and turned corporeal.
"What kind of domain concept is this? Air element? Spatial element?" Qi Long muttered under his breath. No matter if it was the black cloaked individual's way of appearing or the appearance of his domain, Qi Long wasn't familiar with either of them. With such little information, Qi Long was unable to make any judgment about the situation in such a short time.
He had to be cautious against any unfamiliar domain concepts.
Qi Long put out his hand towards the black cloaked individual and then clenched it firmly. The space around the black cloaked individual instantly began to shake. It seemed like it was going to shatter at any moment.
Right at that moment, the black cloaked individual suddenly disappeared and appeared behind Qi Long.
"Dimension element!" Qi Long was shocked. In the secret database of the Federation, there was a blimp in the history of the development of human physical skills, and that blimp was caused by the emergence of a terrifying domain realm master. That domain realm master could even kill those above his stage. After entering the domain stage, he turned into an invincible wargod. Moreover, his domain gave him basically superiority against any mechas under the god-class, and that his domain concept originated from the dimension element.
The dimension element was definitely a real life cheat code that existed. However, in the end, the individual with this heaven-defying power couldn't control himself and went on a rampage. He believed that he was the missionary of god and should be considered the only king in the universe.
That type of mindset was definitely not accepted by those in power. So, soon after he deemed himself as the king of the universe, he was chased down by the nation he resided in. That nation instantly sent out three god-class operators to kill him. In the end, he took a god-class operator down with him.
It should be known that he was still only a domain realm master, at most a titled domain realm formidable warrior at that time. He definitely hadn't reached the imperial stage yet. Yet, being in the domain stage, he was still not any weaker than a god-class mecha operator piloting a god-class mecha.
Of course, that was a special case. Normally, common domain realm masters were only qualified to go against ace operators. They definitely weren't on par against imperial operators, not to mention god-class operators. Only imperial stage domain realm masters could perhaps go against imperial operators, while only those who have entered the god-realm were qualified to exchange blows with god-class operators.
However, after centuries of research and careful observation, physical skills was clearly weaker than mecha operating on the same stage. If there was a fight between a physical skills user and mecha pilot of the same caliber, the loser of the fight would always be physical skills users. This was why mechas become the biggest trend in the universe. Unless a large group of these dimension domain realm masters appear, the statistics won't change too much.
However, reality proved that the chance of obtaining the dimension domain concept was extremely, extremely small. In the history of the development of physical skills, there was only this one special case. After that dimension domain realm master died, there hadn't been a second one.
Qi Long's first reaction was understandable as what the black cloaked individual had shown could only be explained by the dimension domain concept.
Right as Qi Long was still judging the opponent's domain, the black cloaked individual suddenly moved his cloak.
An intense chill went up from Qi Long's tail bone to his head. It was his instinct informing him that an unprecedented danger was approaching.
Qi Long didn't hesitate and used his hands to push the area around him forcefully.
The space around him suddenly cracked open. The cracks were expanding limitlessly. Once the dimension crack breaks through Qi Long's defenses, Qi Long's entire body would be cut in half by it.
When Qi Long's domain concept and this odd domain concept clashed against one another, Qi Long was instantly shaken by it. He could feel his blood rushing up to his mouth. In the end, he couldn��t control himself and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Although the crack was still expanding, the speed of it had decreased significantly. It seemed Qi Long's defensive force was effective.
However, if he couldn't completely stop it, the crack would still cut the space Qi Long resided in, in half. Qi Long would still die from it.
He hadn't found Boss yet. He hadn't helped Boss take the world yet. How could he just die with all those regrets? Qi Long's unwillingness to give up and his anger towards god instantly expanded outwards. He roared loudly, "Get out of here!"
Qi Long's entire aura began to expand greatly. The barrier that was limiting him from being a titled domain realm master was completely shattered by this force.
Qi Long's domain concept wildly expanded outwards. The crack that was originally slowly expanding instantly stopped. No, not only did it stop, but it slowly closed up. In the end, the crack in the air completely disappeared. It was as though the terrifying scene hadn't happened just now.