287-293

Chapter 287: Missing His Son?

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

It was worth mentioning that those excellent youths had still been frightened badly by that major general of the 23rd Division. The moment the other had appeared, they had sensed the horrifying force of presence emanating from that major general's body. It was almost enough to crumble their composure instantly. If the other had not stopped to speak with Ling Lan, thus dissipating this pressure, they might not have been able to hold up for long.

This also made them secretly admire the 23rd Division even more ... as expected of General Ling Xiao's man — compared to the other divisions, the 23rd Division's representative was clearly much more impressive. This caused these youths to revere the 23rd Division greatly — 4 years later 1 , quite a number of students would choose the 23rd Division as their enlistment goal.

This was certainly a beautiful misunderstanding. Just think — if the full force of Ling Lan's presence at optimal peak of Qi-Jin was unleashed, it would naturally exceed the pressure exerted by a regular officer. Besides that, the visiting officers were afraid to put too much pressure on the students, so they had all tamped down on their force of presence. Thus, these students had the false impression that the 23rd Division was much stronger compared to the other teams.

Furthermore, Ling Xiao was a god-class operator. Even if he was fully suppressing his presence, when the gap between the realms of two parties was too wide, mere proximity would be enough for the weaker party to feel a tremendous pressure. This was also why those students had felt the pressure so keenly. However, when Ling Xiao had spoken with his daughter, his mood had become joyful, which had subconsciously relaxed his defensive aura, thus reducing that pressure by a significant amount. In fact, it was precisely this kind of moment that would be a prime opportunity to assassinate Ling Xiao. It had to be said that Ling Xiao's only two weaknesses were Lan Luofeng and Ling Lan.

Thus, it wasn't that those other representatives were not strong — the father-daughter duo of Ling Xiao and Ling Lan were just too strong, which was why such a wondrous misunderstanding was created.

After bidding farewell to the other team members, Ling Lan led Luo Lang back to their villa. Before Ling Lan could tell Luo Lang the truth, however, Ling Lan received a notification from the school administrators. The message said that there were representatives from the 23rd Division on their way to her villa for a tour.

At the end of the message, the administrators did not forget to remind Ling Lan to try and find chances to extol the virtues of the school. If the academy did well, then everyone would be even better off.

Ling Lan hung up the call with a frigid expression on her face, while the news made Han Jijyun and the others exchange looks. The assessment teams had nothing to do with them freshmen ... so why did this person from the 23rd Division want to come find them? Right then, they were a little blind, having forgotten for the moment that the commander of the 23rd Division was Ling Lan's dad, Ling Xiao.

Alright, since Ling Lan had never spoken much about Ling Xiao in front of them, as time went by, they had almost completely neglected the fact that Ling Xiao was Ling Lan's father. This was a classic example of missing something in plain sight. It could only be said that, in their minds, Ling Lan was formidable enough in her own right to make them forget about Ling Xiao's existence.

"Hells, what other tricks is that idiot father planning?" A grumpy Ling Lan could only wait in the living room for her dad to arrive, her expression frosty.

Seeing Boss Lan shrouded in cold air, everyone knew that Ling Lan was in a bad mood. By now, Luo Lang could already confirm that his boss most definitely knew that major general back there.

Among those coming to the villa, other than the representative from the school administration, there were only 3 people from the 23rd Division. The leader was Ling Xiao, while the other two trailed behind him silently. When Ling Xiao stepped into the hall of the villa, the other two men automatically chose two strategic positions and planted themselves there.

Seeing this, Ling Lan knew that these two must be her dad's personal bodyguards because of the positions they had chosen. One was at the window — the range of sight at the window was vast, allowing him to have a firm grasp of the situation outside. Meanwhile, the other was standing at a position that would be almost overlooked by all the people in the hall, but where all the people would be clearly captured by his gaze. In other words, any strange movements by the people within the hall would be seen by him. One obvious, one unassuming; one outward-facing, one internal — their cooperation was impeccable.

Ling Xiao nodded at Ling Lan's group of six with a smile. Under the administrator's arrangement, he sat on a sofa in the hall and began chatting amicably with Ling Lan's group, getting a rough idea of their situation. Then, he conversed for a bit with the administrator, and finally, by his request, the representative from the administration had no choice but to leave reluctantly. Of course, when he left, the administrator did not forget to throw a pointed glance in Ling Lan's direction.

Once the administrator was gone, there was only Ling Lan's team left in the villa and Ling Xiao's group of three. Only then did Ling Xiao drop his scholarly gentleman demeanour, shaking out his arms as he leaned back into the sofa and grumbled, "Speaking with them, is really so tiring!"

The way he was behaving, loose and relaxed like he was in his own home, made the corners of the eyes of his two bodyguards twitch subtly. In their minds, they were probably howling: Sir, please maintain some bit of the decorum and dignity a general should have!

Of course, this behaviour also made Qi Long and the others stare at one another, uncertain what they should do. If this were a proper conversation, they might still know what they could say, but this type of situation was beyond their expectations, so they really had no clue how to react anymore.

Unanimously, they all turned to look at their boss Ling Lan. Ling Lan had his arms folded across his chest as he stared coldly at the other ... alright, Boss was definitely in a bad mood. They had better keep their distance.

Surreptitiously, Han Jijyun, Xie Yi, and Lin Zhong-qing retreated several steps back in unison. Han Jijyun was a staunch brother, not forgetting to tug on Qi Long's arm to alert this rather insensitive fellow.

Qi Long stared in confusion as the three put some distance between themselves and Boss Lan, but then he checked his boss's aura ... fine, he may be a bit insensitive, but his animal instinct let him understand that Han Jijyun and the others were acting appropriately. And so, he followed suit instantly to retreat, and holding true to the ideology of helping a comrade who had suffered with him before, he did not forget to alert Luo Lang while he was at it.

Just like this, Luo Lang also realised the danger and retreated silently. These actions only took several seconds to complete — if one was not paying attention, the five of them would seem to have dashed back at about the same time.

Perhaps the cold air around Ling Lan was rather aggressive — it took a while, but Ling Xiao finally discovered that his daughter did not seem to welcome his arrival. He quickly stood up and said with an awkward smile, "Cadet, has our visit troubled you?"

"What do you think? Sir Major General?" responded Ling Lan coolly. She could already predict that her initially peaceful and tranquil cadet life, would definitely be destroyed by her old man ... (Truth be told, Ling Lan's cadet life had never been tranquil from the start ... could this be considered Ling Lan wilfully trumping up a charge to condemn Ling Xiao?) 2

Ling Lan's retort caused Lin Zhong-qing and Xie Yi to suck in a cold breath. Was it really okay to use this kind of hostile attitude when interacting with a major general from the 23rd Division?

Only Han Jijyun seemed to have an inkling spark through his mind, but it went by so quickly that he could not grab hold of it. This made him crinkle his brow and descend into thought.

Those two bodyguards of Ling Xiao also frowned at the same time — Ling Lan's manner made them extremely angry. As Ling Xiao's personal bodyguards, they would not permit anyone to show any disrespect to their senior officer, especially since this senior officer was also the one they revered the most.

The only one who was still as cheerful as ever was Ling Xiao; he did not mind Ling Lan's attitude in the least. In short, no matter what expression or motions his daughter did, in this father's eyes, they were all perfect and wonderful ... See, this is my daughter! Her proud bones would absolutely never break just from a show of greater power! As expected of a progeny of mine, Ling Xiao's! In the eyes of this twenty-four filial exemplars dad, his own child was absolutely faultless. If by any chance there was any fault, then it still must be the fault of other people.

Thus, an internally gleeful Ling Xiao walked towards Ling Lan, all smiles as he opened his arms wide and said, "In short, for this duration of time at the academy, I'll be troubling you." Ling Xiao moved forwards, planning to use a passionate hug to convey how proud he was right now, as well as give an outlet for his full berth of fatherly love.

This passionate action of Ling Xiao's made the complexions of Ling Lan's team of five pale. Having already retreated a distance away previously, they once again took several steps back right now in unison, putting even more distance between them and Ling Lan.

They knew very well that their boss really hated any physical contact with strangers. Even with them, unless absolutely necessary, he would not come close and touch them, much less this type of passionate embrace.

Han Jijyun could not help but peek at Boss Lan who was emitting a steady flow of cold air, standing stiffly right ahead of them. He hoped his boss would be able to just tolerate this hug this time — after all, the other was a major general of the 23rd Division. If they offended the other ...

Wait, something was not right. Wasn't the 23rd Division Ling Lan's father's division? Han Jijyun's brain finally seemed to figure something out. He turned his head to stare gobsmacked at that obviously affectionate major general, and a notion sparked through his mind ...

Reality proved that Ling Lan would not resign herself to things she disliked. She abruptly raised a fist and ploughed it straight into the offending person's abdomen.

A 'bam' and Ling Lan sent her dad reeling back into the sofa with one punch. This extremely blatant attack made the two men by Ling Xiao's side blanch dramatically — they had planned to intercept the attack, but they had been frozen in place by a tremendous force of presence at that instant.

Bewildered, they stared at their senior officer, not even daring to struggle. This was because they were well aware who was the source of this force of presence — it was precisely their leader General Ling Xiao.

Looking at Ling Xiao playing up how pitiful he was by laying on the sofa cradling his stomach with a pained expression, Ling Lan blew on her own fists lightly and then asked coldly, "What are you doing here?"

"I missed you," said Ling Xiao, his gaze sad and pleading. Despite appearances, he was actually extremely glad in his heart, because this behaviour of Ling Lan's proved that his daughter had already recognised him even with his disguise. As expected of his daughter — what keen and discerning eyes 3 , able to see the truth with just one glance.

"You actually abandoned the 23rd Division so irresponsibly to come here? Is that how a commander should act?" Ling Lan's ice-block face finally cracked as she bellowed in a deep voice.

Why had she thought that Ling Xiao was a responsible and good man worthy of trust? Sure enough, the idealised image in her heart was having a serious mismatch with reality. Ling Lan felt that she had been duped.

This bellow stupefied Qi Long and the others. They stared in shock at that major general sitting on the sofa cradling his stomach, his eyes the only thing exposed on his face. So he was the gentle-mannered and refreshing-like-a-spring-breeze national idol, General Ling Xiao?

Only Han Jijyun let out a soft sigh, thinking, 'So it is him!'

"I missed my son, so what's wrong with coming to visit him?" Since his charade had been exposed by his daughter, Ling Xiao no longer tried to pretend. He sat up properly on the sofa and tugged down that rather stifling mask, declaring why he had come with bold righteousness.

Chapter 288: Ling Xiao's Wish!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

Beneath the mask was, as expected, that handsome face which the entire Federation was crazy about. On it, was Ling Xiao's trademark smile, still as likeable and respectable as ever.

Ling Xiao's words made his two bodyguards stare in shock at Ling Lan. Although they had always known General Ling Xiao had a child, they had not known the particulars, much less that he was studying at the First Men's Military Academy. No wonder the general had randomly decided to come here this time — he was probably here to see his child.

Realisation flashed through the two bodyguards' eyes, and they turned unanimously to stare somewhere else, showing that they were unconcerned with their senior officer's private matters. But clearly, their ears were perked up high — deep inside, they were still very curious about how General Ling Xiao interacted with his son ...

These straightforward words of Ling Xiao, filled with fatherly love, left Ling Lan somewhat uncertain on how to react. Mind you, when they had first met, Ling Xiao's demeanour had been extremely reserved. It should be said that, having been absent for the 16 years of Ling Lan's life when she had been growing up, Ling Xiao was completely clueless about how he should express his fatherly love ... Equally flustered, both Ling Lan and Ling Xiao had been trying to adapt to their new roles, trying to accept each other's existence.

Unexpectedly, after this time apart, seeing Ling Xiao again, her father had actually changed his original warm but reserved manner completely, becoming extremely aggressive in his approach, all 'I am your father so you must accept me' ... but this type of Ling Xiao was something Ling Lan was not ready for, so she actually did not know what to do anymore.

She couldn't very well say coyly back that she did not need her dad to miss her ... right, this type of flirtatious conversation was really inappropriate between them. Therefore, Ling Lan could only react with silence!

"You've been gone for so long, we all miss you a lot. Also, your mum has been worried these days whether you're adapting well to life in the military academy, so when she found out about this opportunity, she asked me to come and see." Ling Xiao saw Ling Lan staying silent and felt that something was up, so after once more expressing how much he had missed his daughter, he decisively pushed the blame 1 onto his wife. Before outsiders, ahem ahem, he still had to maintain his dignity as a general somehow.

Ling Lan peered coldly at him, then replied evenly, "Tell mum that I'm fine on all fronts here. And also, if you are missing your son, I recommend, father, that you go back and discuss things over with mum. Based on the current situation, the both of you could just birth another one. At that time, you won't have the free time for your mind to stray anymore."

"Er ... that's a matter for later." Ling Xiao could only chuckle awkwardly at this reply of Ling Lan's which gave him no face, but he did not dare to say anything in return. Who asked him to owe his own daughter so much as a dad?

The fact remained that it was all his fault — putting aside his disappearance for 16 years, why did he have to make such a huge blunder right after he returned? Actually sending his own daughter right into the great wolves' den of the First Men's Military Academy ... every time he thought of this, Ling Xiao could not help but stamp his feet and pound his chest, unbelievably frustrated and annoyed.

Although Ling Xiao had received a blow from Ling Lan, his extraordinarily strong heart was completely fine. He continued to carry out his plan with determination. Yes, before he had to leave the military academy, he intended to capture the heart of his daughter and let her call him 'daddy' with full sincerity, not this cold and emotionless address she was using now. Just imagining his daughter coyly and adorably calling him 'daddy', he felt ardour and zeal coursing through his blood.

Right then, Ling Xiao had conveniently ignored reality — would Ling Lan, with her typically cold-domineering-unruly swag, really morph into a delicate and cute persona and address someone coyly? Clearly, Ling Xiao's imaginings would absolutely never become reality ...

Before Ling Lan, even Ling Xiao had to back off sometimes — his initially warm smile filled with boundless sunshine even seemed a little awkward now — but it was precisely this conciliatory and compromising display of fatherly love which caused a multitude of feelings to well up in the hearts of Qi Long and the others. Some of them were even looking at their boss with admiration and reverence — as expected of their Boss Lan, even in the face of General Ling Xiao, he could be so collected and domineering ...

Relating the relationship between Ling Xiao and Ling Lan to their relationships with their own fathers, all of them felt like crying. Why was Boss Lan's father, General Ling Xiao, so good-tempered, so warm and nice, and so tolerant? When they thought about their own dads back home with angry slanted brows and full of criticism, they began to wonder whether they had been wild children randomly picked up from somewhere ... 2

It had to be said that Ling Xiao's method of expressing his fatherly love had hurt the souls of these children.

As a result, after reflecting on this pain, Ling Lan's band of little companions all decided that when they returned home, they would raise their flags and fight for independence, beginning their prolonged revolutionary life. This would also cause their fathers to stab knives at Ling Xiao's image in the dark depths of the night when no one else was around ...

Against this move of Ling Xiao's, even the composed Ling Lan was helpless and relented. How could Ling Lan have known that this national idol, this supreme elite of the Federation, would actually be this thick-skinned? Ling Lan, who had always not been good at expressing herself, could only rub her nose at this time, keeping her silence once again. She couldn't very well heartlessly chase away her dad who had travelled all this way to visit her!

At the heart of it, this behaviour of Ling Xiao's had still moved Ling Lan considerably — right then, she truly felt like she was a wild and unruly daughter being spoilt and pampered by her father.

Who was Ling Xiao? He immediately sensed the softening of his daughter's heart and was instantly overjoyed, convinced that he had done the right thing.

Honestly, regarding how Ling Lan had always been unwilling to accept him as her daddy, Ling Xiao had been very anxious despite feeling resigned to it. After saying goodbye to Ling Lan previously, he had constantly been thinking how he could resolve this distance between Ling Lan and him.

Ling Xiao had never been a father before — so suddenly having a daughter emerge out of nowhere made him exceedingly flustered, unsure how to communicate with her. Although Ling Xiao did not know what to do, he was someone who was willing to learn. Thus, even while he was working on establishing the 23rd Division, he had not forgotten to purchase lots of reading materials about parent and child relationships from the virtual network. Outside work, whenever he had the free time, he would hide away in his study and pore over these books diligently, trying hard to seek a solution to his problem ...

After reading through countless books, he finally felt it was time to progress to the next stage. Thus, he had decisively grabbed the chance to come down here to the military academy and rushed over excitedly, prepared to sweep away this issue that had been plaguing him for so long in one concerted attempt. In short, he would definitely become the most perfect daddy in his daughter's eyes.

Therefore, the moment they met, he had followed the instructions of the books: Fatherly love should not be hidden. It must be explicitly expressed, otherwise your child will not feel it and think you do not love him ... Only by letting your child feel your love will he accept you, and only then can you establish a close relationship with your child ...

Of course, when Ling Xiao read those books, he was absolutely ignoring that line of extremely small print at the bottom of the covers: This book is only suitable for use on babies aged 0-3.

Ling Xiao felt as if he had gained something, which made him even more convinced of the efficacy of the books' guidance. All smiles, he looked towards the few youths standing behind Ling Lan and said kindly, "You all must be Ling Lan's good friends. It's a pleasure meeting you all for the first time. And also, thank you all for taking care of Ling Lan all this while."

Ling Xiao's friendly manner flustered Qi Long and the others. Overwhelmed by this unexpected show of favour, they quickly replied, "Not at all, G-general Ling ..." Fine, having gotten used to the stern authoritative image of their own fathers, Ling Xiao's attitude of treating them like equals was undoubtedly a shock to them.

Of course, at the same time, their expressions were dreamy. Even though they had long known that Ling Xiao was Ling Lan's father, they had never met him before. In their minds, Ling Xiao was still that national idol far away out of reach, their lifelong goal in their studies. And now, they had finally encountered their idol in the flesh in such close quarters.

"You all are my son Ling Lan's good friends. Just call me Uncle Ling," said Ling Xiao with a wide smile. When Ling Lan heard this, the frost on her face thawed a little.

Ling Xiao yelled a great big YES in his heart — sure enough, to be a qualified dad, one must treat the little companions who played with one's child with a good attitude. This would make the child feel that they were respected, and they would just love you more and become even closer with you.

"Yes, Un-uncle Ling!" They looked at that face of Ling Xiao's which was so youthful it could almost pass off as their own elder brother's, and once more compared it to the grizzled faces of their dads adorned with white sideburns, and were instantly tearing up inside. This cry of 'uncle' was truly quite difficult for them. But they were well aware that these words of Ling Xiao meant that he had acknowledged them, accepting them as Ling Lan's confidants.

Watching Ling Xiao conversing with Qi Long and the others with full sincerity, his attitude warm and an easy smile on his face, Ling Lan stared up into the sky, utterly speechless.

Ling Lan knew her dad's charisma was boundless, but this was truly too much. With just a simple exchange of words, he had completely taken Qi Long and the other four in under his spell. Seeing their faces filled with idolisation and adoration, Qi Long and the others might have already forgotten that they still had their boss by their side. This made Ling Lan feel a little wistful — as expected, she was still no match for her dad ...

Even more frightening was the fact that, in the mindspace, Little Four had been screaming his adoration non-stop ever since Ling Xiao had arrived. He was making so much noise that her head hurt. Not only that, he was even complaining that Ling Lan was not giving him a chance to talk with Ling Xiao. His various antics expressing his gloom and sadness almost made Ling Lan resort to domestic violence once more. Luckily for Little Four, after being tempered by Instructor Number Five's countless perverse training torments, Ling Lan still managed to restrain herself before she went berserk.

Still, right after, Little Four was heartlessly thrown by Ling Lan into a small dark room, and the world was instantly peaceful and quiet again. Ling Lan felt refreshed and at ease down to her very soul.

However, Ling Lan's good mood soon turned sour again. This was because she could hear Qi Long and the others telling Ling Xiao everything that had happened ever since they had entered the military academy without any reservations. They told him how they had been pressed by the seniors since joining the school, forced to accept a wagered fight with Leiting, and how three members of the New Cadet Regiment had been injured heavily in the subsequent arena, requiring Boss Lan to use his mighty fist to settle the issue, etcetera etcetera ...

Fine, telling him all this, so be it, but unexpectedly, that brat Luo Lang actually told Ling Xiao all about the incident with Tianji with a grieved expression on his face. When Ling Xiao heard that there were actually evil and manipulative students within the school that liked the same gender 3 , his initially warm and genial smile finally cracked ...

With a 'boom', the livid Ling Xiao slapped a powerful palm down onto the only tea table 4 in the living room of Ling Lan's villa, pulverizing it into dust.

"Bastard, how dare he!" Ling Xiao roared. His force of presence whipped free for an instant, and all the lights in the hall shattered with consecutive pops, plunging the entire villa into darkness.

Apparently, his daughter, who was as lovely as flowers and jade, was still in so much danger even though she was disguised as a boy ...

Chapter 289: Not Wronged!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

Staring out into the pitch blackness before her, Ling Lan could no longer keep calm. Through gritted teeth, she said, "Dear father, are you planning to demolish our living quarters? And then let us sleep on the streets?"

Ling Xiao's anger which had been about to explode deflated rapidly under this question of Ling Lan's, scattering to the winds. The entire hall was eerily silent for a few seconds, and then Ling Xiao could be heard to say carefully, "This ... I really could not control it. I'm sorry, son, I'll take care next time."

Next time? There would still be a next time? Ling Lan felt her head start to ache. She had known that her dad coming here would definitely not be calm and peaceful, but it still should not be to the extent of breaking her house down, right?

In a very bad mood, Ling Lan's entire body was giving out endless cold air, dropping the temperature of the room instantly by several degrees, making the others in the room shiver involuntarily in the dark.

Ling Xiao naturally knew that this was a sign that his daughter was truly enraged now, and so he could only ask hesitantly, "Then, this ... what should we do?"

"What to do? Of course we'll need to fix it? And also, father, do you expect me to fix it personally?" Ling Lan stretched out a porcelain hand with a cold expression, waving it in front of her dad's face.

Ling Xiao naturally could not bear for his beloved daughter to do this kind of rough work, and so he said quickly, "I'll fix it, I'll fix it ..." Taking care of one's daughter was the solemn duty of a dad, not to mention that this accident was his fault anyway — he could not shirk the responsibility.

"Sir, let us handle it," His bodyguards quickly stepped up to volunteer. If they let General Ling Xiao do such menial things himself, they could forget going back and just kill themselves here and now for the crime of doing so.

"Uh ... then I'll leave this to you both. Thank you for the trouble." Ling Xiao knew that if he insisted on doing it himself, these two bodyguards would definitely disembowel themselves and use their deaths to pay for the 'crime'. In order to save two lives, he could only let them help him.

"We'll help too." Although the two men who had volunteered were bodyguards, the insignia on their shoulders clearly marked them as majors. How could Qi Long and the others just sit around and watch the two majors repair their things? They quickly leapt up to lend a hand.

In the face of the students' eagerness, the two bodyguards naturally would not refuse. Just like that, the few of them begun to clean up the mess Ling Xiao had made. In fact, the villa had its own self-automated sweeper and cleaning device, but unfortunately, Ling Xiao's burst of power had also destroyed those things as well. Thus, the group could only do things manually unless they sought out someone from the administration to come solve this, but that would be even more troublesome.

Once everyone had begun busying themselves with their respective tasks, all of them leaving the hall, Ling Xiao turned to look at Ling Lan and said, "Do you want me to do anything? Son?" Even though Ling Xiao really wanted to call his child 'darling daughter', as level-headed and rational as he was, he would never commit such a base mistake and bring possible trouble to his daughter.

"What can you do?" asked Ling Lan with a quirked brow.

"They'll probably apply for enlistment, right? Even if I cannot influence the other divisions, for the 23rd Division at least, I have the ability to refuse them," said Ling Xiao with a smile on the corners of his lips, still appearing as kindly and gentlemanly as ever. It was as if what he was saying had not one whit of personal motive leading to his abuse of power.

Ling Lan decisively shook her head and said, "No need!"

"Why?" Ling Xiao was shocked by her response. He was sure his daughter must be angry at those who bullied her, and he truly wanted to help his daughter vent some of her anger.

"This is between us students. There is no need to escalate things!" said Ling Lan evenly, "Besides, even if they managed to qualify for the 23rd Division and become my rivals in the future, I'm not afraid of them now, and I won't be afraid of them in future either." Ling Lan stated all this with conviction, the confidence on her brow moving Ling Xiao greatly. Boo hoo hoo, my daughter is just too amazing, she is just too aspirational ...

Inside Ling Xiao's mental landscape, his Twenty-four Filial Exemplars dad mode was officially activated. He was all kinds of emotional inside, weeping freely and copiously. However, on the surface, he was as composed as usual. After a brief silence, he nodded and said, "That's how my son should be like. If they really apply for enlistment to the 23rd Division and pass, I'll take them all in, and as for the grudge between you and them ..." Ling Xiao's eyes gleamed brightly, "I'll let you handle it personally."

As if not sensing the sudden spike in the pressure coming from Ling Xiao's body, Ling Lan continued to stand tall and replied steadily, "What I have said, I will do."

Ling Lan's behaviour made Ling Xiao both proud and sad at the same time. He was proud that his daughter was so independent and strong, but also sad over all the hardship his daughter had had to suffer to support the entire Ling family for these past 16 years. If he had not disappeared for those whole 16 years, how could Ling Lan have turned out like this? Believing that she had to handle everything herself?

At this thought, Ling Xiao was filled with regret. In a low voice, he said, "I'm sorry, these past years have been hard on you."

What these words were referring to, both Ling Xiao and Ling Lan understood very well without needing any further explanation. Ling Lan's heart throbbed, a complicated emotion stealing over her heart. For a moment, she did not know what to say, and the silence stretched out between father and daughter.

Finally, Ling Lan raised her jaw and replied proudly, "I do not feel wronged. I feel that, this shall be one of the most colourful parts of my life. I am glad that I could experience all of that."

Yes, if she had not impersonated a man, would she have made friends with this bunch of steadfast companions and become their boss, working hard and growing up together? At most, she would only have been able to become a girl much like Luo Chao or Han Xuya 1 , chatting about the things girls liked to chat about, fantasizing what their future husbands would look like 2 ... but was that sort of life really what she wanted?

Ling Lan mentally shook her head. She had already gotten used to her current thrilling rollercoaster life with its dramatic ups and downs — a tranquil life would probably feel strange to her now. At the very least, she just could not imagine becoming that kind of sweet and delicate girl like Luo Chao — becoming a tomboy like Han Xuya was perhaps a more likely possibility. At this thought, she began to miss those two girls, wondering how they were doing at the Federal Co-ed Military Starship Navigation Academy ...

"Alright, Ling Lan, You must remember what you've said today. I, Ling Xiao, am proud of you." A trace of emotion brushed across Ling Xiao's eyes. With a daughter like this, how fortunate was he? If he could, he would laugh wildly up into the skies, to better express the full swell of his happiness.

"Father, I will not disappoint you." Ling Lan reeled back her nostalgic thoughts, speaking to Ling Xiao with a serious expression.

Ling Xiao nodded in satisfaction, but his heart was weeping, 'Daughter, if you switch that 'father' into 'daddy', I'll be even happier ...'

Right at that moment, the villa's hall was abruptly lit up. It turned out that Qi Long and the others had finished repairing a small part of the light sources. The greatest contributor was Lin Zhong-qing — he lived up to his role as the team's logistician, repairing all those devices at soonest notice. After that, under the intense repair work of these reactivated devices over the course of 10 minutes in the dark, Ling Lan's entire villa was once again restored to the light. Of course, not everything was as good as it had been previously, but at the very least, the lights were back on, and that was a good thing.

Seeing this, Ling Lan felt that she could not keep her dad, this king of destruction, here any longer in order to save her villa from further catastrophe, so she said, "Father, the assessments begin tomorrow. You had better go back earlier and rest."

Ling Xiao was touched. His daughter was really too considerate, fearing that he would become tired ... in any case, he would not admit that his daughter was sick of him and wanted him out of her house.

Though he was touched, Ling Xiao could not bear leaving his daughter so quickly. He was just about to say that he was not at all tired when Ling Lan suddenly lifted a brow and sent an icy look straight at her father, saying, "Don't you think so too, my father?" In particular, the two words 'my father' was greatly emphasised, pretty much squeezed out from between clenched teeth.

Those phoenix eyes filled with an air of desolation, the subtle warning in her words, that demeanour and tone, was exactly alike when Lan Luofeng was warning him.

And so, Ling Xiao succumbed to tragedy, because he just godd*mn had no resistance at all to this kind of tone and demeanour ...

In the end, Ling Xiao could only leave Ling Lan's villa with a bellyful of resentment and reluctance. Of course, when he left, he did not forget to remind his daughter to report to the assessment point bright and early tomorrow. For a week from now, all of Ling Lan's time had been claimed by this shameless dad, Ling Xiao, and he seemed rather comfortable ordering his daughter around.

After they had sent Ling Xiao off, Ling Lan let out a silent breath. Finally, this great bundle of trouble, her dad was gone ...

When she turned around to see those countless pairs of starry eyes, Ling Lan's headache became worse. It turned out that her troubles were just beginning. She still had to settle these five obviously overexcited and curious little followers before her eyes.

At this thought, Ling Lan could not help but sigh long and loud. Other dads helped their daughters settle problems, so why was it that when it came to her, she as a daughter had to clean up the messes her dad made? As expected, she was not a winner in life in this world. She was not a global sweetheart, a female lead showered with the love of the masses. This was why her life was so tragic, filled with trials and tribulations.

********

After Ling Xiao and the two bodyguards left Ling Lan's villa, they very quickly arrived at the nearest hover car stop, and waited for the next hover car to come.

At this time, one of the bodyguards suddenly spoke up, "Sir, Young Sir Lan is very strong." It was the one who had been closely watching Ling Lan and the others from his position in the corner of the hall all the while.

"Don't call him Young Sir Lan. Just Ling Lan will do," replied Ling Xiao with a subtle smile, "In future, he will be a soldier just like you all. At that time, the both of you will be his senior officers."

"Yes, Sir!" said the two bodyguards in unison. Respect shone from their eyes — General Ling Xiao was just this sort of person, treating every single soldier objectively without caring about their personal statuses.

Soon, the hover car arrived, and the bodyguards opened the door to the backseat, and Ling Xiao boarded the car and sat down. Then, the bodyguards split up. One sat at the back with Ling Xiao while the other sat in the front and swiftly entered the address of their lodgings in the military academy, and the hover car sped off ...

Seated inside the hover car, Ling Xiao still maintained that typical trademark smiling face of his, but the bodyguards by his side could clearly sense his unusually excellent mood.

Ling Xiao was indeed very happy, because today's meeting had proven that Ling Lan's disguise was impeccable. After living with Qi Long and the other boys for so long, they had still not discovered that she was a girl. Just this ability alone would make it much harder for any outsiders to discover Ling Lan's secret; this caused a worry which had been weighing on him all this while to disappear.

She only needed to endure for four years and it would all be over! When she reached her fifth year, he would definitely enlist his daughter into his army division and protect her from close quarters, and then provide her with a life that would truly belong to her ... Ling Xiao mentally clenched a fist and made a promise to himself.

Chapter 290: Ambition!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

Outside the regiment commander's office of Leiting headquarters, Lin Zhidong suppressed his urge to flee and forced himself to press the doorbell.

"Who is it?" A cold voice came from within — it was the voice of the current regiment commander of the Leiting Mecha Clan, Qiao Ting.

"Regiment Commander, it is I, Lin Zhidong." Lin Zhidong sucked in a breath and stated in a still relatively steady voice.

"Come in!" At the same time that Qiao Lin's voice rang out, the room's door slid to the left. The first thing that came into Lin Zhidong's sight was a well-built youth with a stern and frosty expression seated on the sofa on the right — he was Qiao Ting.

Meanwhile, on a sofa to his side, another youth was seated. His expression was sinister and he was clearly a little younger than Qiao Ting, and he was currently looking at Lin Zhidong with a wide smile. In fact, this person was actually seated in a position which was even more easily noticeable by anyone entering the room. However, Qiao Ting's aura was too powerful, unable to be ignored, which was why the first person Lin Zhidong saw was Qiao Ting.

Seeing the other youth, Lin Zhidong's expression changed slightly, but he quickly recovered and forced himself to stay calm and walked through the doorway. As intelligent as he was, by now he had already realized that this youth must have come one step earlier to tattle to Regiment Commander Qiao. It looked like he would not be able to overcome this matter easily.

"Sit!" Qiao Ting casually pointed at the sofa across from him, signalling Lin Zhidong to sit down and speak.

Lin Zhidong sat down carefully, as if in the presence of a great enemy — this behaviour of his made a mocking smirk appear on the corner of the other youth's lips.

"I heard Lin say that, a month ago, you initiated a wagered arena battle and lost?" Right then, two deep furrows had appeared on the stern-faced youth's brow. It was clear to see how bad his mood was.

Lin Zhidong bowed his head, deeply ashamed. "I am sorry, Regiment Commander. I was careless."

The youth who had tattled was Qiao Ting's younger brother, Qiao Lin — Lin Zhidong knew that no matter how he tried to explain, it would not stand up against one word from the regiment commander's own blood brother. The regiment commander most certainly had already formed his opinions beforehand, so he might as well admit the fault honestly — the regiment commander might be merciful this way.

Qiao Ting said nothing. His right arm resting on the arm of the sofa, his index finger and middle finger were rubbing vigorously against his thumb — this was a habitual motion of his while in thought.

Qiao Ting's silence made Lin Zhidong even more afraid to say anything; he could only watch silently as he waited for Qiao Ting's decision.

"Freshmen?" Qiao Ting seemed to be inquiring, but also seemed to be talking to himself.

"Yeah, it's that bunch of arrogant freshmen! Even creating a new cadet regiment. Who knows whether in their second year, after entering mecha piloting, this new cadet regiment will still be standing," Qiao Lin butted in with a face full of anger. He cast a cutting glare at Lin Zhidong across from them and said resentfully, "And our Vice Regiment Commander Lin, before fully understanding the other's true strength, impulsively suggested a wagered arena fight, losing all our Leiting's face, even helping to boost the New Cadet Regiment's reputation ..."

Lin Zhidong could only bend his head even lower, hunching into himself. Even if he knew Qiao Lin was saying all this because Qiao Lin was dissatisfied with his position, and so was intentionally mocking him, there was nothing untrue in what the other said. On this matter, his responsibility was indeed the greatest. His tactical error had caused Leiting's reputation to be greatly impacted — if not for the fact that the Tianji incident had coincidentally occurred right after, drawing away the attention of the entire school, Leiting's situation would have been much worse than how it was now.

"Zhidong, so hastily rushing into a wagered arena fight and submitting a wager to fully absorb the other side into our Leiting, was there some special reason behind this?" Qiao Ting stopped the motions of his fingers, peering intently at Lin Zhidong as he asked.

Lin Zhidong looked up in astonishment — he had not expected Regiment Commander Qiao Ting to be willing to hear his explanations. This made Lin Zhidong feel extremely grateful, his loyalty to Qiao Ting increasing by a level higher. He nodded solemnly and said, "Yes, there is one very important reason. I believe that taking in the New Cadet Regiment would push the power of our faction one step further."

"Even if we don't take in those punks, our Leiting will still be the number one faction in the academy." Qiao Lin did not believe Lin Zhidong's words at all, feeling that he was just making excuses.

Lin Zhidong seemed about to say something but stopped. Seeing this, Qiao Ting said, "Just speak if you have something to say. Lin is my younger brother, he will not spread what we say here lightly." Hearing this, Qiao Lin sent a glare in Lin Zhidong's direction, believing that Lin Zhidong was certainly doing this on purpose, trying to get his elder brother to think that he was unreliable.

Lin Zhidong knew that this time, Qiao Lin had truly been offended. Still, Lin Zhidong could do nothing about it — who asked Qiao Lin to find him disagreeable? Till today, he did not know why this was so.

Although Lin Zhidong felt that Qiao Lin was untrustworthy with secrets, since the regiment commander had spoken, Lin Zhidong could not continue to hedge. He passed a document he always kept on him over to Qiao Ting, and indicated for him to take a look.

Qiao Ting flipped it open casually, and then he abruptly sat up straight, the expression on his face becoming grim and focused. Meanwhile, from the moment his brother had flipped open the first page, Qiao Lin had scampered over to peek at the document as well, and when he saw the grading of 'excellent' and 'good' attached to row after row of names, he too was dumbfounded.

Qiao Ting snapped the file closed and asked sternly, "Is this document true?"

Lin Zhidong nodded heavily, "I retrieved it from the S-tier partition of the academy mainframe. There can be no error."

Qiao Ting stood up, pacing back and forth a few times before turning his head to ask, "Who else knows of this information?"

Lin Zhidong replied, "All the other vice regiment commanders of Leiting know, but I've already told them clearly from the start that this information stays with us few. All of the documents were destroyed after they looked at it ..."

"Good, well done!" Qiao Ting shouted abruptly, a slight smile finally appearing on his austere face. He paced back and forth animatedly a few times in the room, involuntarily clenching his fists in his excitement and said, "Their joining would not only advance our Leiting by a step, it might even allow us to become the true rulers of the entire military academy ..."

Qiao Ting's words made Lin Zhidong excited as well. Worked up, he smiled and said, "Yes, that's what I thought back then, which was why I wanted to take in all these freshmen in one go before the other factions discovered this info ..." At this point, Lin Zhidong's smile vanished, his excitement and adrenaline fading, leaving behind only endless regret. "Unfortunately, in the end, I messed up. I did not fully understand the depth of the New Cadet Regiment's strength, thus helping them increase their reputation instead."

Lin Zhidong's words made Qiao Ting's high spirits settle down as well. After some careful consideration, his mood turned up once more and he said, "No, the wagered fight this time did not turn out too terrible. Although Leiting's reputation has been damaged somewhat, the other side's wager has also given us another chance to integrate them into our ranks in the future."

Lin Zhidong raised his head in confused shock, unsure why Regiment Commander Qiao Ting would say this. Was he just trying to console him?

"No, this is not consolation," said Qiao Ting, sensing Lin Zhidong's confusion, "Didn't we promise to help the New Cadet Regiment fend off all harassment from the other factions for two years? This means that, in these two years' time, the New Cadet Regiment will still be right under our watch and will not be consolidated into any of the other factions."

"This wager gives us an excuse to pull the New Cadet Regiment under our wings, preventing any of the other factions from coveting them. Once the two years are up, that will be the chance for us, Leiting, to try our hand again!" Qiao Ting's eyes were filled with fire — just the information in this document alone was worth Leiting spending two years' time to wait and plan.

Just thinking about how he would have a chance to accomplish such a great undertaking, Qiao Ting's face was flushed with vigour and excitement. Finally, he forcefully suppressed the emotional upheaval in his heart and turned to look at Qiao Lin, whose head was spinning in confusion from the other two's conversation, and warned the other, "Lin, everything that you've heard or seen today, not one word can be leaked to the outside. Otherwise, don't blame me for skinning your hide!"

The unforgiving cold glint in Qiao Ting's eyes scared Qiao Lin so much that he shuddered, emphatically shaking his head and saying, "Never, never, I would never!"

Qiao Lin did not dare to disobey — he knew well that his elder brother was an absolutely ruthless person when the occasion called for it, so he would truly do what he dared to threaten. He really did not want to be skinned alive by his brother.

"But two years later, when you, Regiment Commander, enter an army division for your practical training, if the New Cadet Regiment produces another one or two genius mecha operators, I fear that our odds of winning a wagered fight will not be very high still." Having lost once, Lin Zhidong had become extremely cautious. Without Qiao Ting holding the fort, he still felt that it was rather risky.

At these words, Qiao Lin said angrily, "Don't worry! Two years from now, I'll definitely be able to take on the heavy responsibilities of my elder brother and make Leiting even bigger and better!" Qiao Lin had always considered himself to be the next regiment commander of Leiting, so Lin Zhidong's words had once again pricked and irritated him. Yes, he disliked Lin Zhidong so much because the other did not take him seriously, thinking he was an incapable fool — but his mecha skills were clearly not bad, able to place him within the top 5 in his class ... Qiao Lin had never considered the fact that his mecha class was not a special class, merely a regular class.

"Lin, shut up!" Qiao Ting, who had always been gentle and courteous with his own younger brother, instantly berated the other angrily when he heard such foolish and self-deluded 1 words coming from Qiao Lin.

Qiao Lin heard Qiao Ting's angry roar and glared back with an expression of stubborn indignation. However, his eyes were already turning red, a wounded sort of feeling expressed by his gaze.

Seeing Qiao Lin like this caused Qiao Ting to sigh helplessly, "Mecha piloting is not as simple as you imagine it to be. When you advance to intermediate mecha warrior level, I'll bring you with me to a clan battle and let you properly experience the depths of mecha piloting."

He was the reason why Qiao Lin, who did not have much talent in the way of mecha piloting, had refused to listen to the advice of their family and had stubbornly insisted to apply for the Mecha Piloting specialization in the First Academy. Although his ability qualified him for the regular mecha class, in the long run, it was impossible for him to develop to Qiao Ting's level. Still, Qiao Ting knew that Qiao Lin had not given up. He worked very hard — when no one was looking, he had always been training hard in his mecha control. Qiao Lin was willing to use hard work to compensate for his lack of talent — this made Qiao Ting unable to say anything discouraging, only able to sigh in the end.

Lin Zhidong wisely sidestepped this matter between the two Qiao brothers, pretending that he knew nothing. After comforting Qiao Lin, Qiao Ting turned his head to say to Lin Zhidong, "Don't worry. We have to spend six years in the military academy. Even if we go off for practical training in an army division, we will still be military academy students and can still fight on behalf of Leiting."

Lin Zhidong lifted his head in pleasant surprise, "Regiment Commander, you're saying that ..."

"Yes, two years later, I will return once more with my mecha battle squad and host this wagered fight!" After subduing the New Cadet Regiment, in his final year, he would utterly conquer the entire military academy and accomplish his grand goal of complete domination! Sheer naked ambition flashed through Qiao Ting's eyes.

Meanwhile, in the upcoming two years, the New Cadet Regiment would constantly be on Qiao Ting's mind, always within the sphere of his attention!

Chapter 291: A Trap!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

In Li Lanfeng's villa, three uninvited guests were there once again, and their expressions were extremely solemn. These three were Zhao Jun, Han Yu, and Wei Ji.

Seated in the living room flipping through video data, Li Lanfeng saw them drop in suddenly for a visit and stared at them in confusion. He asked, "Why are your expressions so horrible? What has happened?"

Zhao Jun's face was dark as he said, "According to the latest news, the Thunder King has come out of Closed Door Meditation."

Li Lanfeng's finger jerked to a stop in the middle of swiping across the screen, then resumed its motion without any fuss. He asked, "He advanced?"

Han Yu sneered and said, "Yes, he has become the first genius mecha operator in our school who managed to advance to ace operator in his 4th year. Everyone is saying that he will be the next General Ling Xiao!"

"This is a good thing. When the time comes for us to apply for enlistment with the divisions, it won't be like this year where the divisions are being perfunctory, only sending some small fry to handle things," Li Lanfeng replied nonchalantly.

"Li Lanfeng, stop looking at that." Han Yu blocked the screen in Li Lanfeng's hands with a palm. Peering at Li Lanfeng, he said, "Don't you know what this means?"

Li Lanfeng regretfully set the miniature display in his hands aside, lifted his head, and said, "I know. The Thunder King's ascension to ace mecha operator means that he has truly become the number one within the military academy. We are no longer able to threaten his top position."

"Not just that. I'm also worried that he'll take the opportunity to dominate the entire school, perhaps even merging all the factions of the school together to become the true king of the military academy," said Wei Ji with a frown. His initial calm and unruffled air had completely disappeared at this moment — it was clear to see how great a blow the ascension of the Thunder King was to him.

"He won't. He has just advanced to ace; his realm isn't stable yet. The Thunder King will not act against us so quickly." After some thought, Li Lanfeng outright denied this possibility.

"There will come a day when his realm will settle. We all know that the Thunder King has wanted to be the military academy's true king for a very long time," said Han Yu worriedly.

"King, is it ...?" This querying tone of Li Lanfeng was airy, and a chill seemed to envelop the other three, only for the sensation to vanish in the very next second. Startled, they stared at Li Lanfeng — he still had a smile on his face, and the warm air around his body had not shifted for even a moment; it was as if that brief sense of cold had just been their imagination.

"If we want to stop him from becoming the king of the academy, we can only become even stronger." Li Lanfeng did not seem to sense the other three's shock, directly offering his own opinion.

"Although we have all advanced to special-class operator, aside from Zhao Jun, Wei Ji and I are both newbie special-class operators. Being able to stabilise this realm is already not easy, not to mention raising our level further. Probably only Zhao Jun has hope of advancing to ace operator, right?" Han Yu turned to look at the hulking physique of Zhao Jun with a hopeful expression, hoping that he would be able to hear some good news from him.

Zhao Jun shook his head. "I've not sensed the possibility of advancing to ace operator. For the near future, I can only solidify my own abilities as a special-class mecha operator."

Zhao Jun's words made disappointment emerge on Han Yu's and Wei Ji's faces. An ace operator who had stabilised his realm would be able to easily handle up to 5 or 6 special-class operators. Even if their Wuji Mecha Clan sent out a team of special-class operators to gang up on him, they would be no match for the Thunder King ... Furthermore, the Thunder King had other strong and powerful teammates by his side as well, and those people were also special-class operators themselves.

"I never said that 'becoming stronger' meant advancing to ace operator level. That's something that depends on serendipity which cannot be forced." Following their discussion, Li Lanfeng could tell that they had misunderstood his meaning, so he quickly spoke up to clarify.

"If we cannot advance to ace operator level, then how do we become stronger?" Han Yu's face instantly became grim and dark. He really hated this demeanour of Li Lanfeng's which seemed to say he had everything under control, as if indirectly showing them up as idiots. But it just so happened that they currently could not separate themselves from Li Lanfeng's strategic planning. Every time they sought out Li Lanfeng, Han Yu always felt as if his face as regiment commander was smacked thoroughly by Li Lanfeng.

"Since we cannot beat him individually, we can only obtain victory through numbers." Li Lanfeng did not seem to sense Han Yu's displeasure, still composed as he calmly stated his recommendation.

"Numbers? Leiting is the number one faction in our school, and it also has the most members among all the factions. What numbers will we use to obtain victory?" Hearing what Li Lanfeng had to say, Han Yu's face turned even darker — was this Li Lanfeng messing around with him?

"Leiting is indeed the faction with the greatest numbers in our school. None of our other factions can match up to it. But what if we combined two factions together? Or perhaps even three or four factions?" Li Lanfeng felt that the current situation did not allow for units to battle individually anymore; it was time for the factions to work together to bring down Leiting.

Li Lanfeng's words made Han Yu's and Wei Ji's eyes light up. Even as Han Yu was moved by the proposition, he could not help but hesitate a little. "Who knows if Tianji and Doha Central would be willing to collaborate." If their three factions joined forces, even though the Thunder King had advanced to ace operator, Leiting still would not be able to eat them all.

"If we want the Doha faction to work with us, I do have a plan. Right now, Tianji is at their lowest. If both your factions challenge them at the same time, I believe that our rankings will go up a little. Once we become the second faction and gain Doha as an ally, we can work with some other factions. Even without Tianji, that will not affect our going up against Leiting." Li Lanfeng dutifully outlined his plan to Han Yu. As for whether Wuji could climb over that necessary step, that would depend on whether Han Yu had enough resolution as a leader.

Han Yu's complexion was shifting rapidly — his eyes met Wei Ji's and there was an exchange of opinions. Li Lanfeng's recommendation had perfectly scratched the itch nestled deep within Han Yu's heart. He did not dare to oppose Leiting, but he had been eyeing Tianji's number two position for all this time. And now, with Li Lanfeng's reminder, he realised that it was truly a great opportunity to snatch the position of second ... he was moved!

Finally, Han Yu stood up abruptly and slammed a heavy fist onto the tea table before him. Through clenched teeth, he said, "Let's do it."

Having found some direction, Han Yu and Wei Ji quickly said goodbye to Li Lanfeng, while Zhao Jun planned to stay back for a while longer. According to him, Han Yu and Wei Ji were going to busy themselves planning and arranging this matter, and these were things he hated the most, so they should leave him out of it. As long as they told him the time and place of the operation once they were done discussing, that would do.

Han Yu and Wei Ji did not force him, for they knew Zhao Jun was a fierce brute who was all brawn and little brain. And besides, they were indeed returning to look for the top ranks of the Wuji Mecha Clan to discuss things, such as how to best use this chance to join forces with Doha and push Tianji off its pedestal to obtain the number two position in one go. As such, Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng, as external collaborators, were indeed rather unsuitable to be present at their meeting with the upper ranks of Wuji.

Zhao Jun walked the two out of Li Lanfeng's villa and then returned to the living room. He peered intently at Li Lanfeng for several seconds and then asked, "You're really that nice?" Knowing how black-bellied Li Lanfeng was so far and how he liked to entrap others, Zhao Jun just did not believe Li Lanfeng would be so generous this time and give out such a good suggestion freely.

Li Lanfeng stretched leisurely, cast an accusatory glance back at Zhao Jun, and said, "I've always been very nice, okay?" He definitely would not admit that he was a black-bellied fellow.

"Always?" Zhao Jun's lips twitched. These words were just too fake!

"Fine, I do indeed have some small ulterior motive. I want to know, when the Thunder King is still unable to become the true king of the military academy after advancing to ace operator level, will he be angry enough to vomit blood?" admitted Li Lanfeng with a laugh. He too felt that his previous words were too far off the mark.

"Lanfeng, do you hate the Thunder King very much?" After a beat of silence, Zhao Jun suddenly spoke up to ask.

Li Lanfeng's smile stiffened as he turned back to ask incredulously, "Zhao Jun, why would you think that?"

"Frankly, whether or not the Thunder King manages to consolidate all the factions in the school has nothing at all to do with us. We might be collaborators with Wuji today, but we might not be tomorrow. We have had no issues in contention at all with the Thunder King, but every scheme of yours seems to be setting up roadblocks in the Thunder King's path to becoming king ... I can't help but suspect your motives."

Zhao Jun was very frank — he, like Li Lanfeng, was from a third-rate planet. It could be said that qualifying for the First Men's Military Academy was definitely a one in a million chance. Therefore, besides them, no one else from their respective planets had managed to get in — this caused them to feel like they did not belong to any of the factions. Many times, Zhao Jun felt as if Li Lanfeng was just playing with the world around him. With deft and skilful manipulations, he would incite conflicts between several large factions, like just now, especially hopeful that they would actually break out into a great fight.

Zhao Jun's words made Li Lanfeng laugh once more. "I have no grudge against the Thunder King, but just imagine this — the Thunder King has everything within his grasp, but because of us small fishes from third-rate planets, his path to domination becomes riddled with difficulties and challenges, so much so that he will not succeed. Don't you think that's very interesting?"

"You ..." Zhao Jun gaped at Li Lanfeng in shock. He had never known that Li Lanfeng was holding such thoughts.

"I only want to prove that even if we come from third-rate planets, we can still stir up a storm of bloody trouble within this military academy ..." Even though I am still weak and vulnerable right now, I can still prevent that person from becoming king ... The smiling Li Lanfeng adeptly secreted his true thoughts deep within his heart. There were some secrets that should never be shared.

Zhao Jun could only shake his head in resignation at those words. "Alright, your words are convincing. I would also like to see if that Thunder King can overcome all the difficulties to climb to the pinnacle of the school." Watching the show and whatnot were the things he most liked to do 1 .

Even though Li Lanfeng still had a smile on his face, there was an emptiness in his eyes, along with endless coldness.

"I have another question. If we plan to ally with other factions to go against the Thunder King, why do you want Wuji to go challenge Tianji? That's obviously against your original plan." Zhao Jun very quickly came up with another question. He was not at all as simple-minded as Han Yu and the others thought he was — the things he needed to know, he picked up on them much better than Han Yu and the others would.

"Compared to the Thunder King, you hate Tianji even more." Knowing Li Lanfeng too well, Zhao Jun stated his conclusion with conviction. "So, even if the timing is inappropriate, you still egged on Han Yu and the others to act against Tianji. Why is that?"

"Have you not heard about the horrific incident which happened a few days ago?" Hearing Zhao Jun ask this question, Li Lanfeng's smile finally disappeared.

"The murder of Shi Mingyi?" That was the first thing that sprang to Zhao Jun's mind.

"Since Tianji had such a shameless and despicable vice regiment commander, it's about time they paid the price," said Li Lanfeng coldly. At this moment, he no longer had any trace of warmth around him — it was clear to see how deep his hatred of this sort of thing ran 2 ...

Chapter 292: Top-Class Elite [belief]!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

The enlistment assessments at the military academy officially commenced; almost all of the attention of the cadets were drawn by this major assessment. As the leader of his assessment team, Ling Xiao had to be present for the first day at least. This made Ling Lan feel as if her time was her own again.

These past few days, Ling Xiao had made Ling Lan bring him all around the school, his excuse being that he wanted to understand the conditions of his daughter's campus. Regarding this, Ling Lan was extremely disdainful of Ling Xiao — could it be that when her dad was giving this reason, he had completely forgotten that he himself had graduated from this very school 20 years ago ...?

Of course, Ling Lan understood inside that this was just her dad finding opportunities to get closer to her — after all, having been absent for 16 years, whether it was Ling Xiao himself or Ling Lan, they both needed this kind of opportunity. Thus, Ling Lan may have been disdainful of his lame excuse, but she still gladly accepted this task and accompanied her dad around the campus for the past few days. It should be said that the effect was still pretty good. At the very least, the two of them were no longer like they were before, awkwardly silent in each other's presence — now, they could at least find a few topics to discuss.

However, having obtained half a day of free time, after eating lunch, Ling Lan was once again summoned by her dad's incessant pestering 1 . Apparently, after showing his face for courtesy's sake, Ling Xiao had excused himself and then came running back.

Arriving at the place Ling Xiao was staying, Ling Lan saw Ling Xiao standing at the doorway, casual and nonchalant, and then she looked back outside where the sun was blazing brightly at the zenith of the sky, and instantly felt that going out at this time was really not a good idea.

Seeing Ling Lan frown as she looked outside, Ling Xiao glanced over as well, and then scratched his nose a little embarrassedly, "Er, it looks like it's rather hot now."

With his mind filled with the thought of seeing his daughter again, things like the weather were not something Ling Xiao had considered. "Why don't we just rest for a bit inside?" Ling Xiao's temporary quarters was also a villa, and it was one that was even more luxurious than Ling Lan's.

Although Ling Lan was not afraid of the heat, she too did not want to go out and be roasted by the intense noon sun for no reason, so she gladly agreed. However, after she and Ling Xiao finished drinking their third pot of iced red tea, she began to think that it was rather silly for her and her dad to just keep drinking tea in silence like this.

Ling Xiao seemed to have also noticed this, and this made Ling Xiao rather dejected. Over the past few days, he had already explored all the topics they could talk about, and now, he truly did not know what else to say. Was he really going to just go over all the questions he had asked in the past few days all over again? Would this cause his daughter to run away because she really could not take it anymore? Or perhaps she would blow her top and just send a fist flying at him?

Seeing the ice in his daughter's eyes, Ling Xiao believed that it was far more likely for Ling Lan to dash away ... how could he willingly to let this hard-won opportunity to hang out with his daughter slip away like this? Ling Xiao began to think hard — what exactly could he ask her? A 16 years old girl should already be at the age when romantic passions begin to blossom ... should he ask Ling Lan whether she has anyone she likes or perhaps admires recently 2 ?

Just as Ling Xiao was struggling with indecision, the long silent Ling Lan who had been stroking her teacup finally spoke up. "Father, do you have any virtual network login pods here?"

Ling Xiao was startled, but he quickly replied, "Yes, on the third floor!" In order to properly accommodate the assessment officers of the divisions, all their accommodations had been installed with virtual world login pods. This made it very convenient for the officers to log on to the virtual world during their spare time.

Ling Lan placed her teacup back on the tea table, lifted her head to peer intently at Ling Xiao, and said, "Father, since you're free this afternoon, come with me to explore Mecha World."

"Go to Mecha World?" Ling Xiao thought about it — ever since he had ascended to god-class operator, he had not been there for a very long time, almost about to forget the youthful days he had spent there. He too had once been an obsessed member of Mecha World ... his heart moved as his interest was piqued. Of course, most importantly, this was a personal invite from his darling daughter — even if he had never ever been to Mecha World, he would still want to go take a look now.

"Alright," Ling Xiao happily agreed. And so the father-daughter pair swiftly went up to the third floor and laid down in two virtual login pods. Right before Ling Lan entered her pod, she did not forget to tell Ling Xiao that her username in Mecha World was [Lingtian First-String].

"[Lingtian First-String]?" Ling Xiao stared at the closed hatch of the login pod beside his, and smiled contemplatively.

********

Meanwhile, at this time in Mecha World, in a sealed private mecha combat room, two mecha were in the middle of an intense spar.

One was a standard Federation advanced mecha, its body painted with traditional blue and white. Other than being equipped with some weapons of personal preference, almost no modifications had been done to it.

In contrast, the other mecha was extremely unique in both form and colour — it was distinctly different from the blue, white, silver, or red basic colours of standard mecha, instead coloured black, which was rather infrequently used within the Federation 3 . The mecha's entire outer frame, when compared to the other standard advanced mecha, was obviously much taller and bulkier — just its four limbs alone were twice the size of the other mecha's, not to mention its equipped weapons, which all belonged to the higher tier of cold weapons. With just one glance, one could tell that this mecha was most definitely a close combat type.

Anyone familiar with Mecha World would know that this type of unique mecha was certainly a special-class mecha, and those who could operate them must certainly be special-class mecha masters.

Generally speaking, when an advanced mecha warrior encountered a special-class operator, the combat would end in a one-sided win. In other words, the special-class operator would definitely obtain the final victory, while the number of moves it would take would all depend on how great the gap was between the two combatants' skills.

However, this fight was rather different. Although overall, it seemed like the advanced mecha warrior was indeed always at a disadvantage, they were only disadvantaged — the fight was not a clear one-way landslide. Several times, there were indeed precarious situations where the advanced mecha operator was being suppressed by endless blows, almost unable to catch their breath, but in the end, the advanced mecha warrior still managed to push through.

And so, the fight became a fight of endurance — in the end, what they were competing on was neither their mecha control skills, nor was it the capabilities of their mecha, but rather the stamina of the operators.

The two mecha clashed once more in mid-air, causing a loud noise of collision. In close-combat, the advanced mecha was obviously at a disadvantage — this could be seen from the distance the two needed once they sprang apart to land.

After the attack this time, the two mecha did not continue to grapple with one another, instead facing off from a distance.

"Huff huff huff ..." Due to the absence of outsiders, the two mecha had opened their public comms, and intense panting could be heard coming from the comm channels.

"D*mmit, Li Lanfeng, you freak," The first to recover from panting was the black mecha, who could not help but swear as soon as he caught his breath. The speaker was none other than Zhao Jun, who had already advanced to special-class mecha.

"Hehe ..." chuckled Li Lanfeng weakly. The gap between levels was not so easily made up — he could make it so Zhao Jun could not defeat him, but that was already the extent of his abilities. This outcome made him rather dejected — he was not at all pleased by this outcome which would already be greatly astounding by anyone else's standards.

"Wasn't I - almost - defeated - by you - a few times - back there?" Still panting heavily, Li Lanfeng spoke in fits and spurts. In terms of stamina recovery, he was no match for Zhao Jun and his type of physical constitution.

"Tsk, didn't you manage to push through? Just like an unkillable cockroach," grumbled Zhao Jun. Fighting with Li Lanfeng was always a frustrating matter for him. He kept having the sense that he could defeat the other, but he would always fall short by just that one breath. Quite a few times, the victory at-hand would just graze by him narrowly ... the disgruntlement he felt was no less than Li Lanfeng's.

"How the heck did you train? Able to resist my special-class operator attacks just as an advanced mecha operator, if you advance to special-class operator, what am I supposed to do?" Zhao Jun felt that his position as number one mecha expert was being threatened — it looked like he would have to train harder now, so as to prevent himself from being out of a job once Li Lanfeng advanced.

Zhao Jun was very rational. Ever since he had discovered how aberrant Li Lanfeng was, he had been determined to stick with Li Lanfeng. His brain was actually pretty good, but after being showed up many times by Li Lanfeng, he did not want to waste the mental effort anymore, so he had set himself the role of supreme thug ... er, no, make that supreme fighter. But now, he found that this goal was actually pretty tough to realise as well.

"Don't worry, there's still quite a block of time before I advance to special-class operator level. By that time, I reckon you would already have touched upon the gates to ace operator level." Li Lanfeng had finally recovered enough to speak in proper sentences again. "So, you'll still be able to lord over me by a head. You'll be fine," consoled Li Lanfeng with a smile.

"Are you comforting me or mocking me?" Zhao Jun muttered back, discontent ...

Right then, a bright red system notice startled everyone, as well as interrupted the conversation between the two.

"Heavyweight news! The great top-class mecha elite [belief] 4 has graced the mecha world with his presence. Does his coming herald the successive appearance of other top-level elites? It can be predicted that the mecha world will once again bear witness to great waves ..."

"[belief]!" Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng shouted almost in unison. This name was just too familiar — this was the name of god-class operator Ling Xiao's mecha. Despite not knowing what Ling Xiao's name in the mecha world was, the moment this name was linked to a top-class elite, they could not help but suspect whether this person was Ling Xiao himself.

"It has to be fake, right? How could General Ling Xiao have time to come to Mecha World?" Zhao Jun's face was filled with disbelief and he was the first to voice a denial. They were well aware that General Ling Xiao was currently establishing the 23rd Division, as busy as could be. Even if he had time, he would not come to Mecha World, this sort of virtual world where youths made up the majority. If he wanted to find a PK partner, he would more likely go to a virtual simulation mecha battle stadium specially set up for the Federation military, where only military officers in service could enter.

"I don't know, but these top-class elites are basically all old beasts from ten or so years ago or perhaps even decades before that ... it could just very well be him." In contrast to Zhao Jun's disbelief, Li Lanfeng did not outright reject the possibility. Perhaps General Ling Xiao had been seized by whimsy and had decided to come back and indulge the nostalgia for his younger days. Who knows?

Leaving aside Zhao Jun's and Li Lanfeng's uncertainty, everyone else in the mecha world had also been struck dumb by this heavyweight news. It could be said that the entirety of the initially raucous virtual world descended into a long moment of silence, while there were even some mecha operators who lost their lives 5 to the monsters they were battling due to the distraction. However, all of this was not a problem. Very soon, the mecha world was swept up in commotion once more ... people all turned to the companions beside them and asked, who in the world was this top-class elite [belief]?

Several of those with quicker minds immediately logged onto the official website of Mecha World to look up information on [belief]. Unfortunately, they were disappointed. This was because the information of top-class elites could only be accessed by elites of the same level. All they obtained from their search was the response that their strength level was not high enough, hence they did not have enough clearance. Thus, they could not glean any clues from the website.

Chapter 293: Wind's Shadow!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

Ling Lan was oblivious to the things happening within Mecha World because this news had been announced a second before Ling Lan logged in, so she just so coincidentally missed this alert. If Ling Lan had known about it, she definitely would not bring her dad gallivanting all across the town ...

Very swiftly, Ling Lan received a friend request from [belief]. Seeing that familiar name, Ling Lan could not help but sweatdrop. How much did her dad love this name really?

After she accepted, the other party instantly sent over a private chat request. When Ling Lan accepted it, she heard her dad's warm voice coming through, "Ling Lan, where are you?"

Ling Lan immediately told her dad her location — when she had logged off previously, she had been outside hunting monsters. Not because she wanted to collect any points from the monsters, but because in her mission to advance to advanced mecha warrior, she needed some items which would drop from these monsters.

The route Ling Lan was taking was different from other people — she never ever looked for monsters to level up, instead mostly choosing to enter the arena fights for cross-level challenges to gain a large amount of experience points in one go. This was also why Ling Lan had been able to earn enough points to advance to advanced mecha warrior in such a short amount of time. Of course, Ling Lan's personal mecha control skills were already high enough in terms of standards, allowing her to bring out the greatest combat power of the mecha she piloted, which was why she could take this shortcut.

If she had been like Qi Long and the others who had started from zero, she would have had to take her time and accumulate the fruits of hard practice. Thus, Qi Long and the others had spent a full three years to train up from trainee mecha to advanced mecha warrior. Meanwhile, at Ling Lan's speed, it would not be long before she caught up to Qi Long and the others. However, Ling Lan was planning to pause once she hit advanced mecha warrior level, because she wanted to lead Qi Long and the others personally at that point. Through verbal teachings, self-modelling, and sparring with them using mecha, she wanted to push them into mastering all the control skills of advanced mecha warriors so that they would be able to transition smoothly into the realm of special-class operator.

Well aware of the importance of foundational controls, Ling Lan did not want her companions to fall into the common pitfall of neglecting those skills. Once they had all successfully mastered those, at that time, it would finally be time for her to let them spread their wings and fly freely.

This was because once one entered special-class operator level, one's mecha piloting would begin to display one's individual style and character. No one else would be able to help with the development of these control skills — one could only rely on oneself to contemplate and seek insight. This was also the true reason why special-class operators were also called mecha masters, while advanced mecha operators could only be called mecha warriors.

However, entering special-class operator level was still only the first step. Only by advancing into ace operator status could one prove that one's personal control style had matured and become complete enough to be considered a distinct style of its own. Many mecha masters had ended up being stuck at this level — many people would only be able to be half-assed special-class operators for their entire lives, unable to push through to find a place among the ranks of those who held true strength, ace mecha masters.

********

It had to be said that Ling Xiao had left Mecha World almost twenty years ago, so he had to be rather unfamiliar with this Mecha World which had been updated countless times since then. Whatever the case, Ling Lan had to eliminate the monsters in the area she was in a whole 26 times before she saw Ling Xiao's mecha landing beside her, fashionably late.

Ling Lan herself did not really care how long she had to wait; after all, she was still trying to get the mission item she needed to drop, so this was not a waste of her time. Still, when she saw Ling Xiao's mecha, her initially calm heart became unsettled, the corners of her eyes twitching noticeably.

Damm*t, just how much of a showoff could her dad be?! Did he really not know how much attention operating such a bright and gleaming mecha — almost bright enough to make her blind — over would bring? Ling Lan sensed motion in the distance — it looked like her father's pretty mecha had drawn some attention.

Ling Lan did not know that she had only guessed part of it — a greater reason was that this was a relatively low-level hunting ground. For such a high-end mecha to appear here was definitely unusual; thus, everyone could only think — could the person operating that mecha be that top-class elite [belief] mentioned in the system announcement?

Regardless of whether he was or not, they would not let go of any bit of possibility. Therefore, everyone who saw this mecha all headed after the mecha in the direction it was flying in, chasing after it. The fact that no one had chased up to Ling Lan's location was all thanks to how much the speed of Ling Xiao's mecha outstripped that of all of the mecha here.

Ling Xiao's mecha was indeed extremely perfect. It was neither a standard mecha nor a modified mecha, but a mecha listed by Mecha World as a top-class redemption reward, an imperial mecha. This was the only top-class mecha the people playing Mecha World could use points to redeem. As for the rumoured god-class mecha, it could only be obtained by completing a mission. And that mission had already been confirmed by the majority of people to be humanly impossible.

There were six types of imperial mecha that could be redeemed, and Ling Xiao's mecha was one of those six types. Ling Lan had taken a cursory glance at it when she was redeeming her current mecha — it was called < Wind's Shadow 1 >. As its name implied, this was a mecha characterised by its speed. The entire mecha was uniformly white silver in colour, its form streamlined and elegant. Any equipment and structural design that could influence its speed had been discarded, leaving only those equipment and weapons which were necessary. It could be said to be a very extreme type of mecha.

These kinds of speed-type mecha were generally built for long-range attacks. Ling Lan saw two long and thin particle beam long-barrelled guns 2 slung on its back, and knew her guess was not wrong. However, Ling Lan's gaze was then drawn by the two sword hilts sticking out at the mecha's waist. Based on the direction the hilts were facing, one could tell that they were not the general swords used by mecha. They were very likely short swords similar to high-frequency blades, but since the mecha already had the standard equipped high-frequency blades on it, Ling Lan could not understand why it would have more short swords with almost the same function equipped.

Ling Lan very honestly voiced the doubts in her mind, and Ling Xiao laughed and replied, "This is the frightening aspect of this mecha. Everyone assumes that it's a long-range attack type mecha and so are usually on guard against long-range attacks, neglecting its ability to close in swiftly ..."

Ling Lan's eyes lit up. "Father, you mean that, this mecha is an all-rounded mecha which is proficient at both long-range and close-range?"

Ling Lan's offensive manoeuvres were inclined towards close-range combat, but the designs of close-range combat mecha were typically very bulky and heavy. This clashed somewhat with Ling Lan's need for speed, and furthermore, Ling Lan was still a girl at heart, so she much preferred light, graceful, and elegant mecha over those great, hulking, towering types. This was why when she heard that this pretty mecha was also strong in close-range combat, her heart was moved.

"Yes, because it's extraordinarily fast, it can switch freely between close-range and long-range attacks, flustering the opponent. This is its strength, but also its weakness at the same time." Seeing that Ling Lan had great interest in this mecha, Ling Xiao began introducing it in more detail, "It requires its operator to satisfy three conditions. Otherwise, even if one has this mecha, they would be unable to use this mecha to its full capacity."

"What three conditions?" Ling Lan was listening very carefully. Although she could not possess this mecha which she coveted right now, this did not prevent her from making this mecha her future goal; for things she needed to pay attention to, Ling Lan would take them extremely seriously.

"One, the operator's reflexes must be exceedingly quick to be able to keep up with the speed of the mecha itself. Two, the operator's hand speed must reach a frighteningly high rate, otherwise they will not be able to execute any sequence of action transitions during high-speed movements. Three, the demand on the operator's physical condition is high. It should be known that executing action transitions at high speeds puts three to four times the burden on the body than piloting a mecha at regular speeds. Without a strong and stout physique, one can never operate this mecha well. Otherwise, the operator would become injured simply by making a few moves, to say nothing of operating this mecha into battle."

Ling Xiao listed out each of the requirements to pilot this mecha, when in fact, he really wanted to say outright — Oh daughter, this mecha is not destined for you. A girl's body was just inherently weaker, unable to reach that level of toughness required even with stringent training.

Ling Lan only nodded after hearing all this, though of course she did not forget to ask what Little Four, who was within a little black room, thought about these conditions.

Why was Little Four in a little black room? Well, this had to be explained from the beginning. Every time they met with Ling Xiao, Little Four just could not keep his composure. Therefore, whenever Little Four regressed into a mindless fan, Ling Lan would shut him up in a small black room for a while so he could calm down. Of course, if Little Four behaved well, he would be let out again. Today, Little Four had once again lost control when Ling Lan had been drinking iced red tea with Ling Xiao in stilted silence. That was why he was currently stuck inside that small black room, waiting for Ling Lan to show mercy again.

Little Four was just being bored out of his mind in the little black room when he heard Ling Lan's question. He instantly patted his little chest and guaranteed that as long as he, Little Four, was around, his boss could have as tough a body as she wished. She could control whatever , , or anything else she wanted.

Little Four's answer made Ling Lan relax. She secretly set obtaining this mecha as the goal she would accomplish within the next few years. Meanwhile, Ling Xiao thought his daughter had understood his intentions and received his counsel, and so relaxed as well. Ling Xiao did not know that Ling Lan had indeed listened to him, but her choice was completely contrary to what Ling Xiao was hoping for.

Of course, Ling Xiao was not the type to take things for granted; he was about to personally ask what Ling Lan thought when he suddenly heard some commotion coming from a distance. He could even vaguely hear someone saying 'is it over there?' … This made Ling Xiao hold back on what he had intended to say, turning to look in the direction of the noise with a troubled expression, uncertain what was going on.

Ling Lan had also heard the voices and figured things out instantly. She said to her father, "Not good. Let's run."

Huh? Run? Ling Xiao did not know why they had to run, but seeing that his daughter had already activated her mecha and was swiftly running towards a dense forest in the distance, he dared not tarry, chasing after her quickly.

They had just dashed into the forest and concealed themselves when quite a number of mecha showed up in the initially endlessly empty grass fields. These were the people who had been attracted by Ling Xiao's mecha and had rushed here in pursuit.

"It's not here either! Looks like this isn't the spot." Everyone saw the empty fields before them and turned to leave despondently.

Even if there was the possibility of hiding in the dense forest ahead, everyone had naturally overlooked this avenue of thought. This was because they subconsciously believed that no one would do so and seek death. It should be known that the savage beasts in that dense forest were several times stronger than the savage beasts in the plains — even if it were a special-class operator going in, they would be coming out horizontally 3 .

Right then, they had all forgotten that the one they were seeking was a top-class elite — how could he be afraid of these savage beasts? It could only be said that these people were fooled by their own preconceptions. They were all low-level mecha operators — even special-class operators were existences that they had to look up to — so it was very likely that they just could not comprehend what a top-class elite truly meant.