294-300

Chapter 294: Mecha Instructor!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

Ling Xiao and Ling Lan hid in the forest, coolly watching batch after batch of mecha come and go. Even though they had to hide in the forest for up to an hour, there was not one trace of impatience on their faces. It could be seen that both father and daughter had extraordinarily strong patience.

Ling Xiao glanced at the completely still Ling Lan in her mecha by his side and just knew that his daughter was extremely calm. The feeling called pride reared up in his heart once more — just this patience alone was not something an ordinary person could possess.

Following the passage of time, their patch of grass finally regained its initial peace and quiet. Only then did Ling Lan move her mecha, and she could not help but say, "Father, you should keep a lower profile. Why don't you change to a slightly more common mecha?" She did not want to keep hiding here in this dense forest, unable to go out.

Ling Xiao was silent for a beat, then sighed and said, "This is already my worst mecha."

In his virtual mecha hold, all the other mecha were even higher level than this one. One of them was even the so-called god-class mecha he had obtained by completing that horrific mission, while several others were exclusive special editions specially gifted to him by the Mecha World after he had created a few imperial level skills in the game. These were all representations of his personal identity — the moment he piloted those mecha out, just the fire phoenix logo on their chests alone would allow others to guess who he was ...

Ling Lan was utterly speechless. The two of them once again descended into wordless silence. But then, right at that moment, Ling Lan's heart clenched, a sense of danger suddenly rushing into her. Without thinking, Ling Lan chose to leap up and dodge instantly. When she turned around, she saw Ling Xiao, who had initially been standing immobile beside her, slowly in the middle of resheathing the two short blades of his mecha back at his waist. Meanwhile, on the ground beneath his mecha, two extremely ferocious-looking forest savage beasts were laid out.

Seeing this, Ling Lan's heart was shaken — when she had sensed a threat earlier, she could only choose to evade. But Ling Xiao had been able to easily finish off these ambushing savage beasts coming from behind him. From the two bodies laying on the ground, she could clearly see that there was only one point of fatal injury on them. In other words, Ling Xiao had instantly drawn his swords, both swords stabbing out to kill one savage beast each in the blink of an eye.

This may seem like a simple thing, but to do it was certainly not easy. A savage beast's life force was extremely formidable — even if one struck a fatal weakness directly, their powerful vitality would still allow these savage beasts a chance to carry out a final counterattack. This was precisely why many people did not dare to attack these type of savage beasts at close range.

However, all of this was no problem at all when it came to Ling Xiao. With clean and efficient moves, he had eliminated all danger.

"When you strike their vital points, you must instantly sever their nerves and disable their reflexes in one go. This way, the savage beasts' ability to counterattack will be destroyed. However, this kind of ability requires tens of thousands times of training before you will be able to do it. It cannot be rushed," Ling Xiao knew what Ling Lan was bothered about and so spoke up to explain.

Ling Lan nodded at his words. Her eyes shone vibrantly, because she had discovered that her father Ling Xiao was most likely the best instructor in this world to mentor her in mecha control.

Though Instructor Number Three in the learning space was indeed very strong in terms of mecha control, because the world she lived in now was still different from the world the instructors had come from, there were still some aspects which Ling Lan found rather difficult while learning from him. It should be said that the control methods Ling Lan was learning were modified from the control methods of their world, based off the results of Instructor Number Three's analysis of this world's mecha. Despite being very high-level, those methods could not achieve true 100% compatibility ...

However, Ling Xiao was different. He was one of the top mecha operators in this world to begin with, and all the control methods he had learned were the accumulated results of this world over thousands of years. It should be said that Ling Xiao's control skills were the most appropriate for the mecha presently being used by the Federation, and he would be able to let Ling Lan truly understand the mecha of this world.

Ling Lan was rather frustrated at this time — why had she not realised this over these past few days? Actually wasting so many days for no good reason. Knowing that her dad's time was precious, Ling Lan decided that she could not continue wasting it any further, so she said to Ling Xiao seriously, "Father, you should be free these few days, right?" Ling Lan's eyes were sparkling brilliantly, her eyes shining with boundless hope ...

Could it be that his daughter had acknowledged his fatherly love? Ling Xiao was overjoyed — did this mean that his daughter was willing to accept him now and call him 'daddy' affectionately? He quickly nodded repeatedly, "Yes, I'm extremely free."

"Then instruct me a little on mecha controls." Ling Lan's subsequent words made Ling Xiao's mood plummet from the heights of heaven straight down into hell. He was greatly depressed, tears all over his face inside.

Oh daughter, daddy came all this way to come into the military academy undercover, just so I could establish a deep and meaningful father-daughter relationship with you, not so I could PK with you and be your instructor ...

But facing that bright-eyed gaze of Ling Lan's, Ling Xiao just could not say anything to refuse. He could only nod and say, "Okay."

Hearing Ling Xiao agree, Ling Lan's lips quirked up instantly. Even though Ling Xiao could not see his daughter's expression, for some reason, he just felt that his daughter was in a great mood. He could only smile wryly and console himself that he had finally done something that made his daughter happy, that all his efforts had not been for nothing.

An excited Ling Lan was completely an action-oriented Ling Lan — without saying anything more, she led her dad back to the city closest to them, Clear Winds City, running all the way. They came to the mecha combat hall at the city centre, and found an empty private room and requested entry for a spar.

Her entire mind filled with thoughts of learning from Ling Xiao, Ling Lan did not notice that when she and Ling Xiao had entered Clear Winds City, they had been noticed by those sharp-eyed people at the city gates. It could not be helped — Ling Xiao's mecha was just too unique; there was no way to conceal it. Some people were even quicker, instantly taking photos of the two of them flying across the city and uploading them onto the official website. The title of the post was naturally 'Top-class Elite [belief] Sighted'.

This news caused a commotion instantly, the post scoring several billion hits within just a few minutes. When someone pointed out that the gleaming and eye-catching mecha in the photograph was the top imperial mecha in the mecha world, the entire mecha world was rocked to the core.

For context, imperial operators were very difficult to see in the mecha world now. These top-class masters were now all old men who had become famous a decade or even a few decades ago. They were all basically already living reclusively, rarely sighted. There was even a time when many people questioned whether there were any imperial operators existing at all within the mecha world. And this time, this photograph proved that the imperial operators of rumour truly did exist in Mecha World, and one had finally appeared.

Everyone was worked up, especially since the post stated very clearly that the photo was taken at Clear Winds City. Having found some direction, the mecha operators all flocked towards Clear Winds City ... fortunately, Ling Lan and Ling Xiao were both moving extraordinarily fast, not meandering inside the city for long. They had directly headed straight into the combat room of the mecha combat hall to fight, thus dodging this crisis, not being trapped by the mecha operators who had rushed over because of the news and jammed up the city.

Nevertheless, the small little Clear Winds City had turned into a choked up hive of activity within the course of several minutes. Those outside could not get in, while those inside could not get out either, causing the entire city to become unbearably congested.

********

Inside their own private combat room, when Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng saw the news about the top-class elite [belief] descending upon Mecha World, they no longer had the mood to continue sparring. They too wanted to see what the top-class elite [belief] was like and so were preparing to go outside and try their luck.

They had just left the private room on their end when Zhao Jun received a text message from a member of his team.

Zhao Jun instantly stopped moving after he glanced at the message, prompting Li Lanfeng to ask him curiously, "Why'd you stop?"

Zhao Jun smiled wryly and said, "It looks like we can't get out anymore."

Ah? Taken aback, Li Lanfeng immediately used his communicator to check, and after finding out about the situation, he too smiled bitterly and said, "Who would have expected that [belief] would actually be at Clear Winds City. I really don't know if we're lucky or unlucky ..." Lucky, because they were in the same city; unlucky, because they were trapped within the combat hall, unable to go out.

"We just weren't destined to meet that elite," said Zhao Jun regretfully, "Since we can't go out, why don't we have another spar?" He had no intention of going out to crowd with the people outside.

Li Lanfeng naturally agreed and said, "That's fine."

Obtaining Li Lanfeng's agreement, Zhao Jun bent his head over his communicator, connecting to the A.I. of the mecha combat hall as he said, "Let's just go back to our previous room, 817." Even as he spoke, he keyed in the number '817', and without even noticing the alert tagged to the room, he clicked to enter.

Seeing Zhao Jun's entire mecha suddenly disappear before his eyes, Li Lanfeng shook his head helplessly. Knowing that the impatient Zhao Jun must have already gone ahead to room 817, he quickly connected to the mecha combat hall's A.I. as well and selected room 817 too, then chose to enter ...

Li Lanfeng unintentionally saw that the number of the people in the room was 3 ... huh? What was happening?

The next second, Li Lanfeng had entered room 817. In a corner of the room, he saw that familiar black-coloured special-class mecha of Zhao Jun's. Not only that, on the stage in the middle of the room, two mecha were facing off against one another. One was an extremely common standard intermediate mecha, while the other was an extremely dazzling and beautiful mecha. With just one glance, Li Lanfeng could tell that this was the rumoured top-class imperial mecha ...

"What in the world is this?" Li Lanfeng was stunned by this scene before his eyes, and quickly sent a private message to Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun very quickly responded with a message of his own, "Shh, don't make a sound. That imperial mecha's operator is most likely [belief]. Let's observe quietly. Don't let them discover us and kick us out ..." Zhao Jun worked hard to shrink in on his own mecha. Right then, he truly wished that his mecha could instantly become tiny — best if it could become a speck of dust, invisible to the naked eye.

Li Lanfeng saw Zhao Jun's actions and sweatdropped profusely. This fellow ... did he not know that no matter how much he tried to hunch in on himself, these two hulking mecha they were piloting just had no way of becoming any bit smaller? This series of actions by Zhao Jun only made him even more conspicuous.

********

"Do you know those two mecha?" Ling Xiao had long noticed these two mecha that had entered behind them, and he turned to ask Ling Lan about them.

Ling Lan shook her head and said, "No, should we kick them out?"

Even though she had left messages for her companions, asking them to come to room 817 of Clear Winds City to observe the mecha fight between her and Ling Xiao, Qi Long and the others had soon responded with news that the entire traffic of Clear Winds City was already paralysed. They just had no way of getting there.

Chapter 295: The Composition of a Battle Clan!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

For this reason, Qi Long was so frustrated he could almost bang his head into a wall, while Luo Lang was actually tearing up. The others were not reacting that much better either — after all, this was a mecha instructional fight from a god-class operator! How lucky did they have to be to witness that?! But now they had to watch helplessly as this great fortune slipped right through their fingers, unable to do anything about it ...

Ling Lan could only placate and comfort them, promising that they would still have opportunities in the future. At that time, she would definitely inform them beforehand to enter the combat room in advance so they could observe. Only then did these bunch of mournful brats subside.

It was precisely because of that that Ling Lan had not set a passcode on their room at the very first moment to restrict outsiders from entering. By the time she had settled her companions, two strangers had already entered the private room.

Ling Xiao was nonchalant about it. "No need. Since they have already come here, it can be considered that they're fated to see us. Besides, they don't know us. Let them watch a little, and if they gain some insight, that's their fortune." Ling Xiao was not someone who would stick to the beaten track 1 , otherwise he would not often invite others to PK with him at the military-exclusive combat fields. The stronger the Federation mecha masters were, the gladder Ling Xiao would be. He was a pure-minded military man.

"Since, father, you have said so, then let them stay." Ling Lan agreed with her dad's mindset. The mecha operators in Mecha World came from all the various star systems of the whole Federation. No one could tell who another was, or which planet they came from. If those spectators could gain something from this fight, it would indeed be a kindness on their part.

Ling Lan recalled the first time she had entered Mecha World and met that cheetah mecha. They had not known each other, but had had a startlingly amazing rapport. During that time, if not for the other's constant companionship and their mutual encouragement and supervision, perhaps she might not have been able to endure through that period of dry and monotonous foundational training.

Ling Lan cherished this sort of heaven-given serendipity, and so did not want to stand in the way of it. Since her father was not opposed, Ling Lan decided to just let them watch. Of course, the prerequisite being that they knew their limits and did not disturb her and her father.

********

On the stage, the two mecha that had been standing around casually began to shift. The intermediate mecha suddenly raised its hand to draw the long weapon from its back and got into an attacking stance, while the imperial mecha remained still and unmoving as before.

At this point, Zhao Jun could not help commenting surreptitiously, "Lanfeng, this match is probably going to end in one move. The gap between the strength of the two is just too wide. The intermediate mecha will definitely be unable to withstand an attack from the imperial mecha."

"It won't end like that," Li Lanfeng responded confidently.

"Ah? Why not?" Zhao Jun was boggled.

"Just think, which imperial operator would have the free time to PK an intermediate mecha operator? I'm guessing that the latter is just a disciple of the imperial operator, which is why the former would come to instruct him a little," Li Lanfeng analysed, "In this match, the imperial operator will definitely control his strength, perhaps even sealing away some advanced control skills and killing moves."

"In other words, this is an instructional fight." Zhao Jun's eyes brightened. Instructional fights were not only extremely useful to the one fighting, spectators would also learn quite a bit. However, Zhao Jun began worrying once more, carefully asking, "Lanfeng, do you think they'll chase us out? After all, this type of instructional fight is usually related to some sect legacies and secrets."

Li Lanfeng glared exasperatedly at Zhao Jun, "You've only now noticed this point? Still, it's been so long. Since they have not kicked us out, they are likely to have tacitly agreed to our presence here."

"Ah? Really?" Li Lanfeng's words made Zhao Jun ecstatic.

"Yes, of course, they could also have mistaken us for people they know, but that possibility is almost zero, so it can be excluded." Li Lanfeng knew well that it was indeed possible to conceal one's ID in Mecha World so that name cards would have to be exchanged before one's name would be revealed. However, this feature was ineffective against top-class masters like imperial operators — that was a sign of respect and distinction Mecha World afforded to imperial operators. Thus, it was obvious that the other must know that the two of them were strangers.

"I believe that, they have chosen not to kick us because they intend to give us a chance." Li Lanfeng felt that this was the likeliest possibility. Many top-class masters believed very strongly in fate and serendipity — perhaps the other felt that he and Zhao Jun's stumbling into this room was fated, and so left them alone.

"That's great!" Zhao Jun clenched his fists, exhilarated. Li Lanfeng's words moved him greatly — if he could learn anything at all from this imperial operator, he would never ever forget this fated kindness for the rest of his life.

"Our luck today is truly incredible ..." said Li Lanfeng with a sigh. Perhaps his destiny was not going to be as tragic as he had thought — would this be the turning point of his life?

"Oh, they're starting!" cried Zhao Jun, instantly calling Li Lanfeng back from his scattered musings.

On the stage, the two mecha divided by a great disparity in strength finally clashed for the first time.

Facing her unfathomable father Ling Xiao, Ling Lan chose to take the initiative and attack. She just did not have the confidence that she would be able to withstand her dad's powerful attacks, so she decided to take the advantage of striking first.

Ling Lan could be seen to control her mecha to sprint forwards like a gust of wind, striking out towards Ling Xiao's mecha. When she was about 3 metres away, Regretless, which had been hanging low, was abruptly lifted up into a diagonal slash, drawing a streak of cold light through the air.

This was a mid-range attack! While Ling Lan had been waiting, she had already considered things thoroughly — the only close-range weapons on her father's mecha were his short swords, so he did not have a long cold weapon like Regretless to fight against her. This undoubtedly gave Ling Lan a slight upper hand in terms of weapons, and this was also her only advantage.

"Not bad!" Seeing his daughter choose to execute a mid-range attack with her long weapon, Ling Xiao unstintingly gave praise. Against such a formidable opponent like himself, with no chance of winning, Ling Lan could still identify and use her greatest advantage to strike out against a weakness of his — this was undoubtedly a testament to Ling Lan's levelheadedness and strategic mind.

However, Ling Xiao was a god-class operator after all. Moreover, he was operating a formidable imperial mecha — both in terms of control skills and plain mecha advantage, his strength exceeded Ling Lan's by too much. The counterplan Ling Lan had worked so hard to execute simply would not work against Ling Xiao.

With an elegant slide-step, Ling Xiao operated his mecha to twist to one side, dodging this streak of savage light. At the same time, the arms of his mecha folded firmly over the gleaming blade, actually performing an empty-handed weapon grab with his mecha.

Even though Ling Lan's attack was already so fast that it was almost impossible to catch with one's eyes, for Ling Xiao, it was still a little slow. He easily caught Ling Lan's Regretless between his palms.

"Ling Lan, this move won't work against me," said Ling Xiao with a smile, "You'll need to come up with something else."

"Father, don't get too careless now." The right arm of Ling Lan's mecha suddenly shook and pulled back, and Ling Xiao felt that long sword between his mecha's palms slipping away like a slippery fish, escaping from his tight clasp.

Ling Xiao's heart jolted and he instantly dashed back, once again pulling a distance away from Ling Lan.

He stared curiously at Regretless in Ling Lan's hands and could not help but ask, "This weapon is very unique. What are its attributes?" This particular quality which let it escape was something even Ling Xiao had never seen before

"Its special attributes are high tensile strength and sharpness," replied Ling Lan.

Ling Xiao immediately opened up his mecha's palm, and an extremely faint line could be seen on it. This made even Ling Lan 2 exclaim in awe, for it should be known that the outer shell of an imperial mecha was so strong that even the Federation's strongest beam saber would not be able to leave a mark on it. Who would have expected this Regretless to be able to do so ...

"This weapon is very powerful," lauded Ling Xiao.

"This is the work of one of the seniors in the academy. As long as I keep it well, even when I upgrade to ace mecha, it'll still be useful," Ling Lan was indeed very fond of Regretless; her introduction of it clearly carried a trace of pride.

"Once that senior of yours grows up and reworks this weapon two or three times, perhaps you might be able to use it for even longer," exclaimed Ling Xiao.

"It can still be reworked two or three times?" Ling Lan was overwhelmed with curiosity — she had thought that all weapons were forged to completion in one go.

"Of course. That's why a mature mecha battle clan must have an outstanding mechanic. They can help a battle clan's combat power rise vertically." Of course, once one reached imperial level and above, all this talk was just passing clouds.

"Aren't mecha battle clans all made up of people from the mecha piloting specialization?" Ling Xiao's words confused Ling Lan. She had truly thought that mecha battle clans were organisations built by a group of people who specialized in mecha piloting.

"Of course not ..." Ling Xiao replied, astounded. Could it be that Ling Lan did not know about this? However, after a beat, Ling Xiao figured it out. Generally, it was the father's job to teach about all this, but he had been missing for 16 years, and since coming back, he had been bogged down with various official duties. Thus, he had not had any chances to communicate properly with his daughter, much less even think about teaching her all this.

Of course, if the student's father was not a mecha operator, hence not allowing them to receive such instruction from their father, when they advanced to the second year of school, there would be mecha instructors who would guide students in building their own battle clans or in choosing one to join. At that time, Ling Lan too would have learned about the composition of a battle clan. However, right now, Ling Lan was still a first year, so she had yet to have a chance to learn any of this.

At this thought, Ling Xiao apologised and said, "This is all my fault, not instructing you in these things in time." At the heart of it, it was still his own dereliction of duty as a father.

"In fact, the members of a mecha battle clan are not solely from the mecha piloting specialization. It can encompass many specializations — it all depends on what route your battle clan wants to take. Generally speaking, a battle clan needs three types of mecha warriors — close-range, comprehensive, and long-range — along with logistics and support units, which includes a repairman, a doctor, and a quartermaster, etcetera. Thus, at minimum, a battle clan requires 6 people. However, this type of small battle clan is inadequate to support the logistics component in the clan for long, so now, a developed mecha battle clan needs at least 12 people — 8 mecha warriors and 4 support personnel." Ling Xiao continued to explain, "With 2 warriors for each support personnel, a mecha battle clan will be able to continue running smoothly. Each person in the clan will be able to benefit and grow without any wastage."

Support personnel required warriors to provide for them, otherwise they would not be able to procure any resources to improve their abilities. This was why smaller battle clans were gradually being eliminated. Of course, a battle clan could also abandon logistics and support, but this type of battle clan would definitely be unable to compete with other clans which had better allocation of roles, so their elimination was also inevitable in the long run.

Chapter 296: The Price of Fate!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

"In other words, if I want to lead my companions further, I need to make sure to allocate my members' roles within the battle clan in the most logical and perfect way?" Ling Lan scrunched up her brow. It looked like she had taken things too much for granted ...

At this time, Ling Lan finally figured out some things she had always found puzzling before — why Lin Zhong-qing and Han Jijyun had chosen to apply for other specializations in the military academy even though their mecha control standards were not much lower than Xie Yi's, Luo Lang's, or the others. In Mecha World, they were all already at the level of advanced mecha warrior. It turned out that they were already familiar with the composition of a battle clan, and so had made their choice early on for the sake of the future of their battle clan. In contrast, as the boss, she had been rather muddled and clueless till now — though she had known subconsciously that they had done it for the team, she had not understood their motives as deeply as she did now.

"This is absolutely necessary. For example, that senior who made this weapon for you would be a great candidate. You should know that for a person to create such an outstanding weapon, he must have reached the pinnacle in terms of his mastery of materials. He is most definitely a prodigy in engineering and modification. He'll be able to help you greatly by increasing your battle clan's strength by onefold or even more," replied Ling Xiao, "If he hasn't joined any other battle clan yet, I recommend you act quickly. This kind of prodigy is a truly rare and lucky find."

"Hn, I'll have to think well on this." Regarding the composition of their battle clan, Ling Lan still wanted to check in with Qi Long and the others first. After all, even if she wanted to expand the team and take in new people, Ling Lan still hoped to receive their agreement.

Right then, Ling Lan could not help but think of that dux of the military medical research specialization, Li Shiyu. At first, she had only felt that the other's medical skills were amazing, which had moved her to establish a good relationship with him in hopes that if her team members were injured in future, they would have a trustworthy doctor to rely on. Now, from the looks of it, she needed to change her strategy and redraw her plans.

Ling Lan also recalled that the students studying to become military doctors typically would not join any battle clans, strictly holding onto a neutral stance. She reckoned that this dux, Li Shiyu, would also be the same. Ling Lan decided that no matter what, she must manipulate ... er, no, force ... wait, that's not right either ... snatch him for her clan! Ling Lan silently clenched her fists tightly. She could not let this type of prodigy slip away just like that from her hands.

Li Shiyu, who had initially been not really all that important in Ling Lan's mind, had all of a sudden become Ling Lan's top priority target. Right then, Li Shiyu, who was still immersed in medical research in the Military Medical Research Centre, did not know that his future had already been decided for him by Ling Lan without him being the wiser! Let us take a moment of silence to mourn for him!

"If you really want to establish a battle clan, you indeed need to think well on this." When Ling Xiao had mentioned the first half of his sentence, he could already feel the endless cold air seeping out from within Ling Lan's mecha, and he smiled wryly.

It was probably impossible for his daughter to cast aside those few little companions who had grown up alongside her. At this moment, Ling Xiao did not know whether to be proud or sad 1 — his daughter, who should have been a bundle of adorableness to be cosseted in the palms of his hands, had now become so cold, stern, and domineering, her boss aura even more formidable and fearsome than his had been while he had been thriving in the military academy back in his time ...

Say, had his wife really given birth to a daughter? Ling Xiao was suddenly uncertain. He had the impulse to immediately contact his wife to confirm — back then, had she really given birth to a girl? Could it be that his wife had wanted a girl so much that she had forcefully decided to treat their son as a daughter?

This notion was quickly dispelled by Ling Xiao because it was an absolutely impossible scenario. He was really too stupid to even consider it, certain to be chased out of the bedroom by his wife for half a year if he asked her ...

"Of course, there are two ways the members of a battle clan can join. One way is for them to be permanent members. These people must have gone through some testing and have earned your trust. And then there are some talents who may not be so reliable, who you can choose to sign on into your clan temporarily. For example, you could take in some battle clan members temporarily, just for these few years at the academy, and once you all graduate, the contract automatically ends."

Ling Xiao shoved aside all those messy thoughts in his mind, continuing on with the previous topic and listing the rest of the key information about battle clans, "Aside from a few necessary permanent members, a typical battle clan is primarily made up of contracted members, because no one can guarantee that in future, there won't be better team members who come along. One more thing — permanent team members who are not united in spirit, who do not trust each other unconditionally, may very well choose differently when the time comes to choose their army division in the future. This would not create much difficulty for those team members themselves, but for the battle clan leader, the departure of a permanent member could be devastating. This would indicate that this team leader does not possess great leadership abilities and may also have problems with his judgement of character. In the army divisions, this would significantly impact that leader's future progress. Of course, this point won't influence you much. As long as you think they're alright, just take in whoever you want. You don't have to worry."

Ling Lan would definitely be in Ling Xiao's army division in the future. As long as she did not commit any major fault, ascending the ranks step by step would certainly be no issue. Besides, Ling Xiao and Lan Luofeng were already in tacit agreement — they would gradually weaken the presence of the male Ling Lan, not allowing her to stand out too much in the division. Therefore, even if her battle clan really split apart in future, there would not be much impact on Ling Lan's future.

"A battle clan usually only stabilises properly after the clan has entered an army division. That's why the clan leader who organised the clan would mostly choose to have temporary contracts with the members, waiting to properly establish the battle clan after he has chosen and entered an army division." Ling Xiao went through all the important parts of building a battle clan.

Ling Lan nodded pensively, and then Ling Xiao asked, "Right, are the specializations of all those companions of yours in Mecha Piloting?"

"Hm, Lin Zhong-qing chose Logistics, Han Jijyun chose Starship Command, while Qi Long, Luo Lang and Xie Yi chose the same as me, Mecha Piloting." Ling Lan responded to Ling Xiao's question by listing out all the specializations of her companions.

Ling Xiao's eyes sparkled at this response. Inside, he was happy for his daughter's sake — these little fellows had truly been aiming for the perfect establishment of a battle clan. "Are Qi Long, Luo Lang and Xie Yi particularly strong in terms of combat ability? And are their awakened innate talents more suited to mecha piloting?"

"Yes, compared to Lin Zhong-qing and Han Jijyun, it is indeed so," Ling Lan nodded and said.

Pleased, Ling Xiao nodded and said, "From the looks of it, your battle clan is still lacking a strategic adviser, a doctor, and an engineer-mechanic. High level engineer-mechanics are generally in high demand. If you can't find a particularly exceptional one, I recommend you look for a skilled mecha repairman. That would be more useful than an average engineer-mechanic. The extra slots you have on your team can be filled with several other strong mecha operators."

"There's no need to look for a strategic adviser. That's Han Jijyun's secondary specialization. He was already exceptionally gifted in that area, only choosing Starship Command for the future of the battle clan," Ling Lan conveyed the situation with Han Jijyun to Ling Xiao.

Ling Xiao found himself speechless. He really had no words to describe how lucky Ling Lan was. Actually having such an exceptional prodigy among the companions she grew up with, able to take on two roles ... this way, the battle clan would have one less support member to provide for, and the pressure would be much less. It could be said that in comparison to other similar 12-man battle clans, Ling Lan's battle clan would definitely be much stronger because of this 2 .

"Ling Lan, you need to cherish these companions well. They're really very good," said Ling Xiao seriously. Since the members were giving their all to contribute to the formation of the battle clan, as the clan leader, Ling Lan needed to live up to their contributions.

Ling Lan's lips quirked up at these words, and she nodded solemnly and said, "Don't worry, father, they are the most important friends of my life. I will definitely treasure them."

That said, Ling Lan's gaze narrowed in contemplation, silently considering a candidate for the engineer-mechanic of her team. No matter what, getting to know [No Mecha Unrepaired] in Mecha World was indeed a stroke of luck, plus the other was also from the First Men's Military Academy — he was truly the most suitable candidate. At first, she had only thought to establish a good connection with the other, but now, this idea of taking him in was indeed a good one. It would resolve the problem of finding an extremely important support member for her battle clan.

********

Right then, [No Mecha Unrepaired], who was in the Suncreed City Library engrossed in researching all sorts of blueprints and reference materials, felt a sudden chill go through his body. He lifted his head warily, silently observing the other fellow aficionados in the library who were similarly bent over their own blueprints and diagrams in focused study. After all, he had offended the Thunder King before; who knew whether the other would send people to trouble him here in Suncreed City ...

He looked left and he looked right, however, no matter how he looked, he could see nothing strange ... could it be that he was too tired lately, thus messing up his sense of perception? [No Mecha Unrepaired] decided to finish up with the diagram he was studying and then take a good rest so that he could avoid this sort of paranoia messing with his productivity ...

********

At this thought, Ling Lan involuntarily turned her head to glance at the two people watching the fight. Could these two people also be serendipitous acquaintances for her? Ling Lan's mind stirred, and she turned to ask Ling Xiao, "Father, what are the IDs of those two mecha?"

"Why do you ask for their IDs? Has something happened?" Ling Xiao frowned. He had allowed those two to spectate because he wanted to show them a kindness, but he did not want them to distract his daughter from learning.

"No, I'm just wondering whether they could be a fated connection for me. They could turn out to be a member of my battle clan in future," said Ling Lan coolly, "Fated meetings are not so easy to come by; perhaps they should pay some price for this ..."

Er ... is this his daughter? Isn't this too sly and cunning? Ling Xiao could not help but glance at those two innocent mecha who were still clueless about what was happening. In his heart, however, he firmly gave his daughter 32 thumbs ups 3 : D*mn, as expected of a daughter of mine, definitely never taking a loss if she can help it.

"The black mecha is called [Forge the Future] 4 , while the advanced mecha is called [Self-Defined Destiny] 5 ," Ling Xiao revealed their IDs to his daughter without any hesitation, using action to show his support for his daughter's decision.

Seeing the two mecha on the stage stop fighting to turn and look at them one after the other, Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun felt their hearts skip a beat. Was the other side about to kick them out now? In his mecha's cockpit, Zhao Jun even began to pray with his palms held together: Oh God, please no!

In the midst of Li Lanfeng's and Zhao Jun's worrying, the two mecha on the stage turned back in silent unison, and then the intermediate mecha suddenly leapt backwards, pulling away once more from the imperial mecha to put some distance between them. It looked like a new fight was about to begin.

"That scared me! I thought we were really about to get kicked out of here!" Only then did Zhao Jun lower his palms with the sense of relief of a survivor, exclaiming to Li Lanfeng with some lingering fear.

"For some reason, I still feel somewhat uneasy." Li Lanfeng did not know why, but a strong sense of danger was spreading within his heart.

Chapter 297: Advanced Mecha Warrior?

Translator: DRZ Editor: H2dH2mr

"What's wrong? Could it be that they truly intend to kick us out?" Zhao Jun, who had relaxed, was once again anxious as he asked with a look of concern.

"No, since they have yet to kick us out, I doubt they would do that after this. However, I have a hunch that we might have to pay a huge price if we continue observing …" Li Lanfeng's voice was extremely soft, seemingly talking to himself. He was unable to come up with a reason at the moment as to why he had that hunch.

"Even if we have to pay a price, are you willing to abandon this opportunity?" Zhao Jun did not believe Li Lanfeng was willing to take the initiative and leave.

"Of course not. Even if I have to pay a huge price, I will still stay and observe." Li Lanfeng replied decisively and smiled bitterly afterwards.

Being a number one elite family, the Li Family naturally had a few imperial operators serving them. However, no matter if it was his current identity or his other unpresentable identity, he did not have the right to obtain pointers from those people … He was thus unable to reject the temptation before him, especially because he wanted to become a winner who could dictate his own destiny and that was why he was all the more unable to reject this opportunity.

"Therefore, why should we think about the future? What we should do now, is to grasp the opportunity to observe and study what's before us." Zhao Jun smiled, being of the same mind.

"You're right!" Li Lanfeng laughed soundlessly and started to reflect on his mentality of overthinking things. It was just that this bad habit had been ingrained in him from a young age and was impossible to correct even if he wanted to. Thinking of this, Li Lanfeng sighed softly and appeared at a loss.

"Quick, take a look, the intermediate mecha is moving!" Zhao Jun's shout suddenly sounded beside his ears. Luckily they were using their private comms or else, with Zhao Jun making such a big disturbance, they would have definitely been chased out by the room's owner.

Li Lanfeng hurriedly curbed his thoughts and focused on the arena. The intermediate mecha had indeed moved but it did not choose to attack immediately. Instead, it hopped around the imperial operator by the edge of the arena at high speed. Its speed increased to the point where the mecha's silhouette turned blurry.

"How is this possible? This shadow slidestep is a technique only an advanced mecha warrior would know." Looking at this scene, Zhao Jun cried out in disbelieving surprise.

Li Lanfeng's expression instantly stiffened. Could it be that the operator of this intermediate mecha was an advanced mecha warrior? There were numerous techniques that could only be executed with a compatible mecha, just like the shadow slidestep which was an exclusive technique of an advanced mecha. Did an intermediate mecha have the capability of allowing the operator to execute such a technique?

For some reason, the rabbit mecha of that time surfaced in Li Lanfeng's mind at this moment. It had clearly been a trainee mecha, yet the other party had executed many movements which exceeded the limit of a trainee mecha, pushing the mecha to its extreme limits. Wait, it was to the extent of even exceeding the limit … Could it be that this intermediate mecha operator was another outstanding aberrant operator?

"No, it's impossible … the rabbit mecha operator is unique and unmatched." Li Lanfeng shook his head and expelled the thoughts in his mind. He would never admit that someone could be mentioned on equal terms with the rabbit in his heart.

Just as both spectators were bewildered, the intermediate mecha finally launched another attack after circling several times around the arena.

The shadow slidestep was simultaneously an evasion and confusion technique that would cause illusions to appear before the opponent. An afterimage of the mecha would be displayed through the external recording device, and although this would only cause several seconds of delay, it could perhaps lead to an important turning point to obtain victory during a high-speed mecha fight.

Therefore, by the time Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng could see the attacking movement of the intermediate mecha clearly, it had already appeared behind the imperial mecha, and the sharp, shiny, black tangdao in its right hand chopped down, making a sound of tearing through air. This showed that the attack was both powerful and fierce, but while facing this attack the imperial mecha did not move in the slightest.

Even though Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng knew that it was impossible for the attack to land, seeing the intermediate mecha's tangdao about to chop down on the imperial mecha's shoulder made them involuntarily cry out "ahh!" in alarm as the mecha was so close to danger.

With a resounding 'bang', the imperial operator merely leaned slightly to the side and, raising his right hand, stopped the tangdao that was about to strike the shoulder of his mecha. So it turned out that the beam shield on the imperial mecha had quietly activated while the tangdao had struck the beam shield, which generated a powerful rebound and directly sent the intermediate mecha bouncing backwards into the air.

Both of them were under the impression that the intermediate mecha would retreat after having made an ineffective attack, but it suddenly rallied itself and renewed its onslaught. After the intermediate mecha was sent away by the rebound, its originally silent engine abruptly exploded with noise and using its thrusters as opposing force, it directly neutralized the powerful rebound force.

The mecha's engine ceased once again after neutralizing the rebound force. Having maintained its position, the intermediate mecha suddenly began to rotate rapidly like a spinning top before following up by launching a fierce kick towards the imperial mecha below it.

"Whirlwind Garotte!" Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng once again cried out in surprise as this was another advanced-level technique exclusive to advanced mecha warriors.

Seemingly having anticipated this move, the imperial operator once again easily broke through the move. The operator was only seen to decisively raise both arms of his mecha, easily grasping firm hold of the intermediate mecha's powerful kick from among the flurry of afterimages of the spinning leg.

There was a loud 'bang' as the intermediate mecha was firmly smashed onto the ground and slid out several meters.

The instant it was smashed onto the ground, even Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng, who were standing at the edge spectating the fight, could feel an intense vibration from where they stood. This terrifying impact caused their expressions to faintly change, believing that the advanced mecha warrior who had received the brunt of this force would not be feeling any better than what they imagined.

Both of them were under the impression that the intermediate mecha would halt all its movements. Even if its body was sturdy, usually one would choose to lie down on the ground to recover their conditions for a few seconds upon receiving such a powerful blow. Unexpectedly, while the mecha was sliding out several meters and had yet to stop, it moved once again as its right hand suddenly slammed the ground and using the rebound force, the entire mecha soared into the air.

At the same time, the mecha's engine turned on again and this time round, it took advantage of its speed to fiercely pounce towards the imperial mecha in a flash. The cold weapon in its hand carried the momentum of a violent storm as it chopped towards the imperial mecha. Seeing the intermediate mecha dashing around the imperial mecha, no one could guess at the intermediate mecha's direction of movement. This type of irregular movement style caused Zhao Jun's and Li Lanfeng's countenance to change once again.

Currently, they were certain that the operator controlling the intermediate mecha was absolutely not an intermediate mecha warrior as they had previously believed and was undoubtedly an advanced mecha warrior. Reason being, this type of irregular movement style required the execution of numerous hand movements at a frightening speed in an instant; it was definitely not something an intermediate mecha warrior could accomplish.

Li Lanfeng could not help but think to himself, that if he were to operate this intermediate mecha, could he accomplish those practically non-stop hand movements like the other party could? Considering the limitations of the intermediate mecha, Li Lanfeng realised that it would be very difficult. Perhaps he might be able to accomplish it, but it would not be possible to perform it so brilliantly and smoothly and at the same time with such ease like the other. Did this mean that the other party's control skills were better than his?

Thinking of this, Li Lanfeng felt faintly disappointed inside. Genius operators had appeared around him one after another — with his average control talent, would he truly be able to change his fate as he challenged heaven's will?

"Hey, talent is indeed important, but foundations and hard work are of more importance than talent. If you were to train all levels of foundational controls to perfection, I believe that you will not be inferior compared to those geniuses …" The words left behind by that rabbit mecha surfaced once again in Li Lanfeng's heart and he was suddenly jolted to his senses. That's right, maybe he was lacking in talent, but he would continue working hard and practice every foundational control skill until they became part of his instinct. Although the difficulty increased with each level, he had never forgotten the warning words of advice the rabbit had given him, and this had always been his psychological pillar!

"Rest assured, I will not be defeated by those geniuses. I will be more hardworking than them and when we meet, I hope I will no longer be looking up at you." Li Lanfeng secretly clenched his fists as his confidence, which had received a setback due to the intermediate mecha, once again recovered.

He could lose to his rabbit friend, but he could not lose to others. Even if the intermediate mecha warrior before him had an aberrant talent in control, it could not cause his confidence to crumble.

He would never lose to the other party!

On the arena, the sounds of fighting had never stopped, and at times the rhythm of those sounds even seemed as if they were well planned and methodically arranged. Even though the battle was somewhat indistinct from Zhao Jun's and Li Lanfeng's perspective, they knew that the imperial operator had without a doubt intercepted all the advanced mecha warrior's irregular attacks.

Just like that, the intermediate mecha continued to launch fierce attacks for approximately one minute. Although it might not seem long, Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng understood that during this one minute, the hand speed of the intermediate mecha operator had been in a state of high speed. Even Zhao Jun, who was classified as a special-class operator, could not help but tremble internally, hands starting to throb in pain as he imagined himself being the one doing the operating.

These movements had high requirements of an operator's hand speed and for an ordinary intermediate mecha to execute those high-level techniques, it would require the operator's control skills to match. Therefore, Zhao Jun even suspected that the operator's hands were currently cramped and had become numb.

When the intermediate mecha landed, Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng could not help but breathe out, thinking that they should be able to relax and rest for a moment now. Unexpectedly, the intermediate mecha had just landed when it once again moved and executed a shadow slidestep, the exclusive technique of advanced mecha, while dashing towards the imperial mecha ...

"What the f*ck, does he never get tired?" Zhao Jun could not help but curse. Could it be that the operator of the intermediate mecha was a robot?

"What if the other party's true level is at mecha master level?" Li Lanfeng replied unperturbedly.

From the control skills displayed by the intermediate mecha, Li Lanfeng did not think that the other party's real skills were only that of an advanced mecha warrior. He even believed that, perhaps, the other party might have already reached the level of a special-class operator, or even possibly the level of an ace operator.

Chapter 298: Ling Lan's Mistake!

Translator: DRZ Editor: H2dH2mr

Although these conjectures caused discomfort in Li Lanfeng's heart and made him feel that the huge difference between them would be difficult to make up for, he would not disregard the other party's strength due to this.

"It couldn't be …" Zhao Jun replied in astonishment. When fighting against an imperial operator, even if it was just a guidance match, it was undoubtedly an insult towards that operator by using an intermediate mecha to take up the challenge.

"Perhaps there might be a deeper meaning to it." Li Lanfeng touched his chin and started pondering.

"What deeper meaning?" Zhao Jun asked in puzzlement.

"Could using a lesser mecha to execute advanced-level techniques help in comprehending those advanced-level techniques?" Li Lanfeng had indeed overthought things; he would always come up with some reasonings to convince himself, just like now. He decided to go redeem an intermediate mecha again after he finished spectating the fight, and experiment using advanced-level techniques on that mecha to see if it would be of help in improving his control over advanced techniques.

Based on Li Lanfeng's current strength and hand speed, he had already achieved the standard to advance to special-class operator level. The reason he had yet to advance was that he felt there were some fundamental movements that he was unable to execute exactly as he willed. He had always borne in mind the words that the rabbit mecha had consoled him with, so without perfecting those techniques, he was unable to convince himself to enter the next level.

He had originally assumed that this problem was due to insufficient practice, but from the current situation, he felt that perhaps it might be because of his lack of thorough understanding and that it was time to change and try another method.

At this moment, Ling Lan was unaware that her execution of techniques surpassing her level had caused Li Lanfeng, who was spectating the fight, to have a different train of thought, hence opening up a different type of training method. This fortuitous misconception gave him new insight towards foundational control.

********

"Ling Lan, are you still not aware that there's a problem with your control?"

Just as Ling Lan executed a shadow slidestep to continue attacking Ling Xiao, her father's indifferent voice suddenly sounded out in the cockpit. Ling Xiao's voice had always contained indulgence and acknowledgement, yet his current tone actually contained a hint of coldness and reproach.

Hearing his words, Ling Lan was alarmed, but her attack was already a nocked arrow that had to be released. Ling Xiao's counterattack was efficient this time — he launched a palm strike which, with a snapping sound, struck the crook of the arm of the mecha that Ling Lan was operating. It directly destroyed the mecha arm's control system, which basically meant that the right hand of Ling Lan's mecha had been crippled.

With a 'clang', the cold weapon Regretless in Ling Lan's hand dropped to the ground. The right hand which had lost control obviously did not have any means of holding onto that heavy weapon, and so the weapon was naturally dropped.

Ling Lan immediately leaped backwards, increasing the distance between them, and quietly stood stationary while starting to decipher the meaning of Ling Xiao's questioning words.

"Ling Lan, after launching attacks for so long, haven't you noticed your problem?" Ling Xiao's voice once again rang out in the cockpit, asking the same question.

"Is there a problem?" Ling Lan pondered aloud. Indeed, she had not noticed any problems with her own control. Although executing advanced-level techniques which were distinctive to advanced mecha on an intermediate mecha was quite strenuous, she had undoubtedly increased the combat power of the mecha several times over. Otherwise, based on an intermediate mecha's capability, it would have been impossible to exchange blows with an imperial mecha for such an extended period of time and she would have long been knocked down.

"Are you thinking that you've increased the mecha's combat power?" Ling Xiao could make out Ling Lan's thoughts at a glance and so bluntly asked her.

"Yes," Ling Lan replied honestly.

"But are things really what you believe them to be?" Ling Xiao's questioning stunned Ling Lan. Using higher level techniques would of course allow a mecha's power to be greater. Or was she mistaken?

"What's the current damage level of your mecha?" Ling Xiao sighed and could not help but rub at his brow.

As a father, he had lacked severely in fulfilling his obligations. If Ling Lan had not proposed to have him guide her in mecha piloting, he would not have known that his daughter's understanding of mecha piloting would have actually entered a diverged route. It seemed like there were too many things he had to learn to become a competent father. However, it was not serious as it was not considered too late for him to have realised this.

Ling Xiao took a glance at the silent intermediate mecha displayed on his screen and felt certain. As long as Ling Lan realised her mistake, her control skills were bound to improve. Thinking of this, Ling Xiao could not help but feel proud once again. Take a look, this is my, Ling Xiao's daughter. Even though she's a female, she has still managed to inherit my exceptional control talent, and she'll definitely be the best female mecha master.

Ling Xiao had high hopes for Ling Lan and believed that she would inevitably become an ace mecha master. Of course, under his wholehearted nurturing, it was not impossible for her to become the number one imperial operator in the Federation. Thinking of this possibility, Ling Xiao could not help but tremble. Despite being a god-class operator, he was still so moved at the thought of possibly witnessing his daughter ascending to the pinnacle that he could not be calm.

Alright, please forgive a father's feelings. Even if Ling Xiao was a god-class operator, at this moment, he was still an ordinary father who dearly loved his daughter.

Upon hearing Ling Xiao's words, Ling Lan did not delay in asking Little Four, who was currently in control of the mecha, about the mecha's condition.

Little Four replied that although he had tried his utmost to maintain the mecha's balance, its current damage level was already at 32.77% due to Ling Lan overextending the mecha by repeatedly executing advanced-level techniques. That was to say, if Ling Lan were to continue fighting in this manner, the mecha would only be able to sustain itself for another three minutes before it would completely fall apart.

"Damage level is at 32.77%." Ling Lan had not expected that the mecha's damage level would be so high. She somewhat dejectedly relayed this answer to Ling Xiao.

Ling Xiao quirked his brows, somewhat surprised. He had assumed that, with Ling Lan frantically overextending the mecha, the damage level was sure to be more than 40%. Unexpectedly, it was only slightly over 30%. It seemed like his daughter normally took great care of her mecha and made sure that every function of the mecha was adjusted to near optimum levels, thus being able to keep the damage level this low.

Ling Xiao was very satisfied by this. Only a mecha operator who truly cherished their mecha would be able to understand the significance of a mecha to an operator, and thus be able to bring out the true potential of the mecha without restraint. Without him having to bring this to her attention, his own daughter had been able to naturally comprehend this aspect. This proved that his daughter was a natural-born, outstanding mecha operator.

Ling Xiao, who was filled with appreciation for his daughter at this moment, was not aware that his daughter was absolutely not as great as he imagined. The mecha's low damage rate was completely due to Ling Lan's cheat, the omnipotent Little Four, who had done his utmost in preserving and maintaining the mecha. However, Little Four was exclusively Ling Lan's and could be considered as part of Ling Lan's ability, so Ling Xiao could not be considered to have been joyous for nothing.

"According to this damage rate, you'll only be able to continue for another three minutes. Do you perhaps think you can defeat me during those three minutes?" Even though Ling Xiao was very satisfied with his daughter, his tone was still cold. At this moment, he was not playing the role of a gentle father but a strict teacher. Since a problem with Ling Lan's mecha piloting had surfaced, then Ling Xiao needed to let Ling Lan understand her problem and keep it in mind.

"No, I've never thought so. Even if father were to abandon your defences and stand there like a sandbag for me to attack as I wish for three minutes, I would still be unable to defeat you." Ling Lan was clear about the difference in strength between her and Ling Xiao. She had merely had the extravagant hope of landing an attack on him once … only now did Ling Lan realize that her wish was actually so insignificant. From the start, she had been so oppressed by her father's powerful aura that she was somewhat breathless.

"I was only hoping to let father witness the techniques I have mastered. Of course, were it possible, I very much wished to land a strike on you." Ling Lan honestly revealed her own thoughts.

"Do you think you can achieve that?" Ling Xiao snorted and used the tip of his mecha's toe to point at his current position. Ling Lan subconsciously looked over, and what she saw caused Ling Lan to be transfixed. Her expression which had still been quite calm and collected suddenly froze.

"Have you understood?" Ling Xiao asked coldly.

"Yes, I was too egotistical," replied Ling Lan with a bitter smile; she saw that despite all her advanced attacks that she had racked her brains to think up, it had all been insignificant to her father Ling Xiao. Because from the start, the feet of Ling Xiao's mecha had never moved; he had stood there all along. Currently, he was still standing in the same spot and even his feet had not lifted once.

"It's not a problem wanting to win, but the problem lies in you. After executing those ineffective advanced-level techniques, why did you obstinately persist in using them? You clearly knew that if you were to repeatedly execute those techniques, not only would it be a huge burden on yourself, it would be the same for your mecha … Ultimately, there would have been no need for others to defeat you as you would have caused your own defeat. Is this something a qualified mecha operator should do?" Ling Xiao questioned with a grim expression.

Ling Xiao's questioning caused Ling Lan to lower her head in shame. He was right — other than having talent and capability, a cool head could not be lacked as this was related to the decision-making and methods of coping during a battle. A rash action could very well bring about an extreme crisis for a mecha operator and, at the same time, implicate their comrades. Earlier on, she had been too excited, agitated and rash. There had only been one thought in her mind at that moment and that was to successfully land a strike on her father as, after all, he was a god-class operator … In the world of mecha, a god-class operator was equivalent to a god-like existence.

"You've forgotten something more important. In my legacy, I should have repeatedly emphasized that the foundation is of greatest importance for any techniques." Seeing that Ling Lan understood her own mistake, Ling Xiao sighed gently and his tone softened.

"Wasn't I using the foundational controls for advanced mecha?" Ling Lan asked in astonishment.

"Were they foundational controls? They should be a set of foundational controls built on other foundational controls, techniques specially developed for advanced mecha. If you were currently using an advanced mecha, I could have just barely agreed with your viewpoint. However, are you using an advanced mecha at this moment?" Ling Xiao once again answered her question with a question.

Ling Lan was left speechless by Ling Xiao's questioning and knew now that her viewpoint had been wrong. Perhaps for an advanced mecha, the techniques she had used were more or less the same as foundation controls and not particularly difficult. However, when using an intermediate mecha, they were undoubtedly challenging advanced-level techniques and indeed could not be related to foundational controls.

Chapter 299: The Truth of Control!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

Seeing that Ling Lan had come to a realisation, Ling Xiao continued, "One more thing. In order for a mecha to display greater combat power, is it only possible by relying on those fancy and intricate moves? Ling Lan, have you ever thought about this question?"

Ling Lan was stumped by these words. The higher the difficulty of the mecha controls, the harder it was for the enemy to fight against it. This was the universally accepted standard of the mecha world ... but now, Ling Xiao seemed to be suggesting that the truth was not so. Could it be that the entire mecha community was mistaken in their understanding? Or was it her father himself who was mistaken?

Ling Lan instantly eliminated the possibility of her father being wrong. If her father was mistaken in his theoretical understanding of mecha, then how in the world had he come by his god-class operator status? Thinking about the fewer than few god-class operators within the Federation, Ling Lan could not help but think, Could it be that the official understanding of the mecha community on mecha control was actually wrong, which is why there are so few god-class operators? And my father just happened to understand it correctly, thus breaking the age record to become the youngest god-class operator of the Federation ...?

Considering this possibility, Ling Lan's spirits rallied. Did this mean that she was about to learn the truth of mecha control? No wonder it was said that truth was only accessible to a chosen few 1 .

Seeing the radiant light shining from Ling Lan's eyes, Ling Xiao knew his daughter had figured things out. He continued, "Have you heard of 'keeping things simple'? This phrase can also apply to mecha control."

"Does it mean that, it is actually the simplest controls that have the greatest power?" asked Ling Lan with a quirked brow.

"Hn, not quite. It should be more like, being able to control a mecha like your own limbs, using the least amount of effort to bring out the greatest efficiency of a mecha — that is what a true mecha operator needs to do." Ling Xiao shared his insights, "Those special moves which require tremendous effort with equally tremendous power are not unimportant, but they are just unnecessary outside of those life-or-death moments or some other critical juncture. Using them would just drain and damage your mecha for no reason. If you can use the simplest control methods to deal with an opponent, then why be so wasteful?"

At first, when he had clambered out of the black hole and had been faced with a sky full of enemies, he could only use grand and domineering top-class techniques to frighten the enemy forces into submission. Reality had forced Ling Xiao to use those majestic moves exclusive to god-class operators, but the associated massive drain had secretly made Ling Xiao wince as well. Even though god-class mecha could replenish their energy from the stars automatically, after those two astoundingly powerful area-of-effect attacks he had performed, his god-class mecha's energy bank had descended to a point where red warnings had been flashing ... Still, as the Federation managed to obtain the ultimate victory in that battle due to this expenditure, Ling Xiao felt that the cost was worth it.

However, this kind of operation was only applicable under that sort of critical scenario. If he had been facing a smaller group of enemies instead, Ling Xiao would never have made the same choice. Mind you, for a mecha operator, once their mecha's energy source was completely drained or was destroyed, it would mean certain death. As such, this was not something a good mecha operator should do. A good mecha operator would do their best to protect themselves even as they dealt with the enemy. They would understand that they only had one life — only by keeping this life would they be able to kill more enemies.

A flash of valour — Ling Xiao did not approve; a flare of brilliance — Ling Xiao did not feel it was worth it. Only by extending one's life could one be considered a good mecha operator, though deserters naturally did not count.

Thus, Ling Lan's fixation with chasing after grand and powerful controls had let Ling Xiao see Ling Lan's problem. This was a common issue with the Federation mecha operators — everyone felt that only the most powerful moves could represent the strength of a mecha operator, when in truth, this thinking was wrong. On the battlefield, the warriors who could survive till the end were often those mecha operators who seemed average in strength but had solid foundations. In the end, they would grow to become even stronger.

Meanwhile, those prodigious mecha operators who caused others to be in awe of them, despite possessing countless grand and elaborate moves, would often die young on the battlefield. Chasing the problem to its roots, every single case could be chalked down to depletion of energy or mecha breakdown, which led them to be struck down by their enemies to sleep forevermore among the stars.

Ling Xiao's words made Ling Lan begin to contemplate deeply. Indeed, regardless of how strong the enemy was, preserving oneself was the most crucial thing. Seeking a moment of valour and glory completely went against Ling Lan's original intentions. Ling Lan had only wanted to continue living on freely and safely; she did not want to let herself become a hero whose name would be carved on some memorial monument.

Enlightened, Ling Lan said solemnly to her father, "I understand now. From now on, I will change my fighting style. Thank you, father, for your guidance." Mecha controls which would let her continue living on was what she truly needed, as well as being the most worthy of her time.

Although her father had only said such a simple few sentences, those words had obviously included the insight Ling Xiao had gained over his 33 years of operating mecha, and so was extremely valuable. From them, Ling Lan could feel Ling Xiao's abundant fatherly love. This made Ling Lan feel extremely moved deep inside, but used to being cold and aloof, she just could not make herself do anything overly warm in response and thus could only sum up her emotions in a simple statement of thanks.

"Alright, since you understand now, then show me your foundational controls properly. I hope you won't disappoint me too much." Ling Xiao naturally could feel Ling Lan's gratitude — he had a slight smile on his lips, but his tone was still stern and grim. At this moment, in order to ensure his daughter would continue to live on safely, he chose to be a strict teacher and not a kind father.

"Yes, father!" Even as Ling Lan replied, she decisively used an advanced mecha repair kit on her mecha. After the repairs were done, the mecha's screen displayed that it was back at 100%. Even the right arm's control system which had been wrecked by Ling Xiao was restored to normal. Clenching and unclenching the mecha's right hand, Ling Lan found that there was no problem at all with its functioning; Ling Lan was extremely pleased.

Fortunately this place was the mecha world ... mecha were able to be repaired and adjusted to optimum condition in a short period of time without wasting time which could be spent on sparring. If this had been the real world, to repair a mecha and restore it to full fighting power would require quite a few hours, no matter how skilful the repair master was.

Even as Ling Lan sighed internally over how convenient the mecha world was, she controlled her mecha to pick Regretless up from the ground and slung it back over her back. Then, she assumed the most simple and unbelievably familiar stance everyone who used mecha would know.

********

The spectating Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun saw the intermediate mecha suddenly change its initial attack style — its complex and dazzling advanced mecha skills and techniques were suddenly replaced with simplicity.

"Lanfeng, isn't this the basic assessment stance before entering Mecha World?" Zhao Jun stared at this stance which seemed so distant in memory and yet was so memorable, and could not help but ask dubiously.

Li Lanfeng responded affirmatively, "Yes, it is!" The basic assessment moves were the mecha operation movements he was most familiar with. That was the set of moves he had trained to proficiency alongside the rabbit mecha. There had even been many times when the two had challenged each other to see who could complete it faster and better. Who knew that many years after that, these basic assessment moves which could hardly be seen in Mecha World would appear right here before his eyes? This scene brought him back to that time, when he had been secretly watching the rabbit mecha train ...

While Li Lanfeng was lost in his memories, the intermediate mecha moved. It used the most basic out-toed sprinting art — this was a type of high-speed sprinting method for mecha which was also extremely stable, a basic control movement that was able to support the body in executing any type of attack. However, in the later stages, after obtaining the better criss-crossed sprinting method as well as the more advanced Z-shaped body flash art, almost all the mecha operators would scorn the out-toed sprinting art for looking crude and ungainly. Moreover, its speed and evasion ability was also no better than the other two types of sprinting control skills, and so this most basic out-toed sprinting art was set aside.

Later on, with the appearance of even more advanced skills like the Figure-8 Spin, Phantom Light Stream, Gamma Whirl, Light-and-Shadow Skim, and other high-speed flight evasion arts, this most basic out-toed sprinting art became utterly extinct among the advanced mecha warriors.

"Impossible, how can his speed be that fast?" Zhao Jun suddenly shouted in shock, startling Li Lanfeng from his reverie. Li Lanfeng eyes focused as he looked over, and sure enough, even though that intermediate mecha was using the most basic of basics, the out-toed sprint, that speed was no lesser than what they could achieve using the criss-crossed sprint or the Z-shaped body flash art at present. It could even be said that the other was one level higher; this was another reason why Zhao Jun would exclaim in such surprise.

"He's attacking now. It's the simplest bash attack." The intermediate mecha that had been running circles around the imperial mecha master suddenly drew close to the other, both fists efficiently striking out at the other's head without any bit of subterfuge.

"Using such a simple attack, how could he land a hit?" said Zhao Jun irritably. The other could obviously execute much more complex attacks, so why didn't he do so instead of using this type of attack method which was clearly not going to work?

Sure enough, the imperial mecha lifted an arm and blocked the intermediate mecha's fists. But right then, the intermediate mecha's fists retracted the moment they touched the other, and immediately after, its feet kicked off the ground and swung powerfully at the other ... It looked like that blatant dual-fist attack was actually just a feint — the true finishing move of the intermediate mecha was from its feet.

"This is the basic stomping art! Hells, what exactly is he trying to do?" Zhao Jun could not help but wrap his arms around his head and wail. He wanted to see an instructional fight, not watch as an intermediate mecha displayed the basic assessment moves one after the other ... could that even be considered a real attack?

Li Lanfeng, who had originally been responding to everything Zhao Jun said, was unusually quiet at this time. Within his cockpit, his expression was one of intense shock, filled with disbelief ...

"This is the rabbit mecha's most habitual attack move. It's also something he created. Whenever he had something he couldn't resolve, he would default to using this move ..." Across the distance of 7 years, this familiar move emerged once more before his eyes — even as it made him emotional, he was filled with shock and doubt.

********

Ling Xiao was rather taken aback by this unexpected kick of Ling Lan's because this stomping art was not an attack technique. Instead, it was a type of basic movement skill which worked together with the out-toed sprint to help shift directions and speed. Ever since the out-toed sprint fell out of favour, this stomping art had also been forgotten by the mecha operators.

Ling Xiao did not find it surprising that Ling Lan would use the stomping art, but the fact that Ling Lan had actually made some improvements to it and integrated it into her attack did surprise him. He was even greatly pleased by it — this meant that his daughter's mastery of the basic controls had already reached an apex, otherwise she could not have evolved these basic moves so naturally into attack techniques. It looked like Ling Lan had taken his legacy to heart — she had learned the foundations extremely well, securing them solidly.

"Not bad!" Ling Xiao did not hold back on giving his daughter praise, even as both his hands rose to meet Ling Lan's feet.

Chapter 300: Seven Years Ago?

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

There was a loud 'boom' — due to the collision this time, the intermediate mecha was sent flying back. Meanwhile, Ling Xiao's body actually wavered slightly as well due to the astounding power behind this stomping art.

"This is no ordinary stomping art ..." Ling Xiao was stunned. Could it be that his daughter had added some special technique into this stomping art?

Before Ling Xiao's astonishment could fade, something even more surprising occurred. The intermediate mecha actually flew backwards at a greater speed than that which it had used to attack Ling Xiao. In the air, Ling Lan flipped her body without trying to control the mecha, letting it careen as it would towards the walls of the private room ...

"Ah ah ah, he's going to hit the wall!" Despite being extremely dissatisfied with how the intermediate mecha was using basic assessment moves to fight, when he saw the other leave his mecha alone to let it just hurtle towards a wall at high speed, Zhao Jun was instantly yelling out in concern.

Only Ling Xiao and Li Lanfeng had a gleam of light run through their eyes at the same time, though the meaning behind each gleam was vastly different.

Ling Xiao believed his daughter was not that weak — he believed that his daughter would not really crash into the wall. On the other hand, the name of a skill which belonged solely to the rabbit mecha he knew had floated into Li Lanfeng's mind: 'Rabbit Sky Leap!' . Oftentimes when it had seemed like the situation was completely out of control at high speeds, the rabbit mecha would use this move to turn things around.

Sure enough, just as the intermediate mecha was about to slam into the wall, Ling Lan, who had long been prepared, operated the mecha's two strong and powerful legs to kick out forcefully at the wall. There was a loud 'boom', and the entire room suddenly began to shake violently, almost sending the spectating Zhao Jun's and Li Lanfeng's mecha tumbling off their feet.

Meanwhile, following this push off the wall, the intermediate mecha used this surge of rebound force to send its body shooting like lightning towards the imperial mecha standing in the middle of the stage ...

Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng reacted quickly to steady their mecha. Once they were stable once more, they turned their eyes towards the stage again and saw the intermediate mecha zipping around like lightning back and forth across the private room.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! ... the powerful sounds of collision reverberated like the wild rain of a thunderstorm within the combat room. The two mecha sparred — one as quick as lightning, its movements almost untrackable, while the other was as steady as Mount Tai 1 , taking moves as they came, unmoving as a mountain 2 .

"This is just the stomp technique, countless applications of the stomp technique ..." Zhao Jun peered closely for several 10 or so seconds, then felt his eyes were somewhat raw, with even a trace of pain. He could not help but raise his hands to rub at his eyes. It turned out that the speed of the intermediate mecha had already exceeded the capacity of Zhao Jun's motion vision — having stared intently at the screen all this time, he was now feeling rather overwhelmed.

"Yes, it's the stomp technique ..." But this was no ordinary stomp technique, otherwise that imperial mecha would not have surreptitiously shifted its original stance. In contrast to Zhao Jun's carelessness, the conscientious Li Lanfeng had caught the shift. The imperial mecha, who had initially been standing straight with its legs together, had now spread its legs, and its knees were slightly bent. This was the specific stance of a mecha stabilising its lower body. It was clear to see that the intermediate mecha's stomp technique was dealing significant impact to the imperial operator, causing the other to have no choice but to use this most stable stance while defending.

And the only one who could utilise the stomp technique so proficiently, in Li Lanfeng's memory, was the rabbit mecha and no other. Could it be that the rabbit he had searched for in these 7 long years was this intermediate mecha warrior before his eyes right now? 3 But based on the rabbit mecha's strength, he should not have remained stuck at intermediate mecha level ... One question in Li Lanfeng's heart seemed to have been answered now, but this answer merely spawned even more questions ...

Just as Zhao Jun was kneading at his eyes and while Li Lanfeng was plagued with questions, the intermediate mecha, who had been moving at high speeds all this while, suddenly dropped to land at a corner of the stage after one more violent clash with the imperial mecha. Due to its sudden stop from a high speed, the mecha was sent sliding forwards 5 metres or so before it found firm footing.

Perhaps extremely used to this type of abrupt stop from high speeds, though the intermediate mecha slid for about 5 metres, its upper body did not waver at all. This proved that this amount of slide was within the intermediate mecha's calculations.

Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun shared a look, unsure why the intermediate mecha had suddenly chosen to stop its attack when the situation was looking so optimistic. An idea sparked through Li Lanfeng's mind. He remembered the rabbit mecha saying once that this type of high-speed stomping actually put a great burden on mecha. Trainee mecha would not be able to withstand it for long — could it be that it was the same for intermediate mecha?

Seeing this, Ling Xiao stood up from his defensive stance and said to Ling Lan with a smile, "Looks like you understand now."

"Yes, thank you, father, for your guidance," replied Ling Lan gratefully. That combination of moves she had just performed was so familiar to her they were embedded in her marrow — it was no effort at all to execute, perhaps even casual and easy.

Still, whether in terms of speed or attack power, that set of moves had not been any weaker than any of the other advanced techniques she had used previously. In fact, they could even be considered better, because she still had energy to spare in her controls, unlike before when even as she drained herself, her mecha was forced to operate over its capacity, damaging its lifespan.

This also made Ling Lan realise on a profound level what Ling Xiao's words meant. Having understood, she stopped her attack, because she had already obtained what she wanted from this instructional fight. Mission complete, it would be a waste of time to continue fighting.

Ling Lan's words made Ling Xiao's smile deepen. Ling Xiao knew very well that Ling Lan had achieved true understanding, once again proving that his daughter's learning ability was absolutely superior to others'.

"Your stomp technique should have been integrated with some other special technique. How did you think of it?" Ling Xiao was extremely curious. Mind you, those who had only begun to learn mecha control would just rotely follow instructions to complete the training exercises. Normally, they would never even think of combining or improvising on any of these controls ... Ling Lan's ability to do so undoubtedly surprised Ling Xiao greatly, because even he had not been able to do so when he had been younger.

"By coincidence. Back when I first started learning mecha control, I met someone else who had also just begun learning mecha control. The other was a control genius, able to execute each move to utter perfection. His results were very good; I was no match for him at first. This made me determined. Things he could do, what was stopping me from doing them too? So I thought hard on how to increase my mecha's speed, and worked hard to perfect my transitions between all types of actions. Without knowing it, I applied a leg technique from physical skills to my mecha control, and discovered that it actually produced a certain effect. And so, I began to experiment ..." Hiding part of the truth, Ling Lan told her father the story of her meeting with the leopard mecha 4 back then ...

As Ling Lan was telling the story, she realised that a large part of her proficiency with the basic assessment controls should definitely be credited to the leopard mecha. The other's companionship had undoubtedly made that dry and routine training time of her life become considerably more interesting. Upon closer examination, of all the basic controls Ling Lan knew now, this set of basic assessment controls was the one Ling Lan was most adept and comfortable with. This was why when Ling Xiao had insisted for Ling Lan to use basic controls, she had chosen this set without thinking. Reality proved that this was the set that had seeped into her bones, the set which had become part of her basic instinct, the set of basic controls that she had truly mastered.

Understanding all this, Ling Xiao prepared to go offline. Although he did not care much about the enlistment assessment results of the military academy, as the head of the division's assessment delegation, he should still at least show his face and ask cursorily about the results at the end of every day. Otherwise, the administrators of the school might misunderstand and assume that the 23rd Division did not care at all about the First Men's Military Academy ... In order to successfully accept his daughter into the 23rd Division later on, he needed to maintain a good relationship with the school no matter what.

After saying goodbye to his daughter, Ling Xiao instantly logged off from the private room. The next time he went online, his mecha would automatically appear within the main hall of the mecha combat hall. If Ling Lan required instruction again later, he would not have to spend the effort finding his way here anymore ...

Seeing the imperial mecha vanish, Li Lanfeng knew the pair was about to leave. Impulsively, he rushed forwards and connected to his general comms to say, "Hello, can you please wait a moment?"

Ling Lan was just about to go offline — hearing this, she paused and raised her head to look towards the advanced mecha who had spoken.

Seeing the intermediate mecha looking at him silently, Li Lanfeng hesitated for a moment, but then asked resolutely (because he did not want to miss another chance), "May I ask, 7 years ago, were you at the capital city of planet Azure?"

"Planet Azure? The capital city?" Ling Lan's face was filled with confusion. Seven years ago, she had indeed let Little Four secretly bring her out into the virtual world, but back then, the place she had asked Little Four to bring her to had been the capital city of Doha!

"Uh, Boss ... I forgot to tell you. Back when you asked me to take you to the capital, I accidentally chose planet Azure ..." Little Four, who had been drawn out by the advanced mecha warrior's question, revealed his blunder to Ling Lan.

At these words, Ling Lan instantly had her guard up. "How could he know that I was at planet Azure 7 years ago? Could it be that I was exposed somewhere?"

Little Four became agitated by this supposition — that's right, back then, he and Boss had been undercover, so how could someone else have discovered this? Little Four quickly scanned the other's spiritual power ...

"Hmm?" Li Lanfeng frowned lightly. He had sensed some strange disturbance in his surroundings, but could not say for certain what it was. Cautious and vigilant, he immediately wrapped up his spiritual power with his spectre ability. Regardless of whether he was being paranoid, Li Lanfeng's first reflex was still to choose and protect himself.

"Ah ... what a familiar energy signature!" Little Four sensed Li Lanfeng's spectre power and instantly exclaimed in shock. He swiftly dashed back into Ling Lan's mindspace and rummaged through his memory bank of energy signatures, comparing them to the energy he had sensed. Soon, he had dug up the long-buried information of the leopard mecha, that is, the spectre whom they had met back then.

"Boss, we've bumped into an old acquaintance!" replied Little Four excitedly. Because Ling Lan had forbidden him from taking the initiative to venture out and test the spiritual power of others, Little Four had not noticed anything before this even though Li Lanfeng had already been standing there for a long while. Of course, this was also because Little Four had been busy helping Ling Lan control her mecha at the time, with no mind to spare.

"Who?" asked Ling Lan, brow lifted in curiosity.

"It's that leopard mecha! That spectre who watched the mecha fight with us!" Little Four responded enthusiastically.

"So it's him ..." Ling Lan was floored. She had just been telling her father about him, and now he actually showed up? It appeared that she and this leopard were truly tied by fate.