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Chapter 307: SSS-Rank!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

Out of options, Ling Lan could only say outright, "City Lord Luo Yixuan, I am here to receive a clan-formation mission. Let's not beat around the bush anymore and stop wasting each other's time."

Hearing Ling Lan call out his name directly, the city lord Luo Yixuan knew for sure that his identity had been seen through by the other. Because to the general outside world, his information was only listed as the city lord of Grandsweep City; his full name would not be displayed. It was very likely that the other had found some other clue to his identity from some other source. This also made it so that he could not continue to hold back from giving out the clan-formation mission.

Yet he did not want to make things so easy for this arrogant and impolite punk. An idea struck him and he instantly brought out a large spin wheel and said coldly, "I can give you a mission if you want, but whether or not you can actually receive one will all depend on your luck."

Ling Lan looked at that familiar large spin wheel once more, but this time, its segments were not marked with various mecha but with various mission options for forming a clan. More than half of the segments were labelled with the word 'failure' outright — she could just tell that this was the city lord Luo Yixuan's doing. She thought back on the two times she had spun a rabbit mecha and could not help but cringe inside. What if her spinning luck was bad here ...

Ling Lan was not really worried about the failures, because if she received a 'failure', she could just wait till a week later to try and receive a mission again. She glanced briefly at that terrifying SSS-rank mission on one of the segments in the spin wheel and could not help but gulp silently. Hells, if her spin landed on that, it would definitely be even more tragic than getting a 'failure'. As far as she knew, no one had ever completed an SSS-rank mission up till now ... she did not want to spend her entire life struggling with this mission.

"What? If you're afraid, you can just choose to give up directly and just come again next week," said the city lord Luo Yixuan coldly, arms folded across his chest.

Damm*t, her luck could not be that bad all the time! Ling Lan would never choose to give up voluntarily; she decisively pressed down on the handle of the large spin wheel. The spin wheel began to spin rapidly — Ling Lan pressed her lips tightly together, praying in her heart for the SSS-rank mission to stay away ... and the large spin wheel finally stopped.

Ling Lan first reflex was to stare down at her own hand. Her hand was obviously so white and soft ... why was her hand-luck so black then?! She even began to curse herself — why did she even think about the SSS-rank mission while the wheel had been spinning? Didn't she know how the more she didn't want something, the more likely it was to come?

Ling Lan had no tears even though she felt like crying. She could not help but sigh loudly at the skies. Reality proved that she was natural enemies with large spin wheels — in the end, the needle firmly pointed at a mission of SSS-rank. Ling Lan's first thought was whether she should just choose to give up and come again next week.

However, before Ling Lan could decide, the city lord, who had been equally stunned by the results, very quickly came to himself. Chortling sinisterly, he withdrew a token from a pocket and threw it into Ling Lan's lap, and then ... he immediately ran away.

Amidst the schadenfreude-filled laughter of the city lord which had yet to fade, Ling Lan stared speechlessly down at the mission token in her hands, a green vein spasming uncontrollably at her temple ... no matter how much the city lord did not like her, he still could not be so irresponsible as to just dump the mission token on her and leave! At the very least he should give her a mission introduction and offer some useful tips or suggestions ... what an extremely irresponsible NPC! Ling Lan decided that she would definitely submit a complaint about this city lord of Grandsweep City. An NPC just could not be that shameless.

With no other recourse, Ling Lan could only try to get more information from the token in her hands. She had just straightened the token when a notification popped up on her mecha's screen.

"Clan-formation mission, mission ranking: SSS-rank. Mission content: A month ago, Fleet Swift Dragon, which is stationed at the Nebula Boundary, sent over an extremely subtle S.O.S. As the message was too brief, the Federation military was unable to determine whether it was a mistake or a true request for assistance. Although headquarters sent a team over to investigate, they did not discover anything out of the ordinary. Despite everything looking normal, the Federation military is not completely convinced. They have decided to secretly send an unofficial civilian expedition to look around the Nebula Boundary to find out once and for all what the S.O.S. was about. Upon completion of the mission, the Federation shall convey the official status of battle clan on the expedition team. The team will from then on be granted the same rights and benefits as military troops of the same rank ..."

"As expected of an SSS-rank mission. How troublesome." Reading the mission introduction, Ling Lan's mood became very horrible. This mission was not easy. One, the people they were supposed to contact were unclear. Two, the situation at the Nebula Boundary was unclear. Three, as a civilian expedition party, entering a location controlled by the Federation military ... that was definitely seeking death. Any random person within a trained fleet would be able to drown their entire expedition team with just a mouthful of spit.

Moreover, how they could covertly get to the Nebula Boundary was also an extremely difficult matter. In short, this mission was already extremely tricky from the very beginning, and the further they progressed, the harder things would be. Also, Ling Lan did not believe that military headquarters would really just send them, this one team. It was highly likely that while they were acting, the military would also send another investigative team to secretly sneak into the Nebula Boundary to investigate. At the bottom of it all, they were just the diversionary lure to draw away the guard troops of the Nebula Boundary.

"Perhaps, giving up would be better for us." Ling Lan felt that this mission was absolutely impossible at the level of her current party.

Ling Lan was not someone who was blindly confident. When the difficulty of a mission was truly worlds apart from her team's capabilities, Ling Lan would rationally choose to give up. She did not want to lead her companions into danger recklessly. Even though dying in the game would not lead to true death, Ling Lan was worried that this would instil the habit of risk-taking within herself. This character trait was undesirable as it could very well hurt everyone in the real world. Ling Lan was constantly on guard against it.

Having come to a decision, Ling Lan instantly threw the token onto the ground without any hesitation. In Mecha World, whether it was equipment, resources, medical agents, or materials, as long as it was dumped somewhere, the system would wipe it away with a refresh when time ran out. The same applied to mission tokens. As long as one chose to cast it aside, the mainframe would judge it as a mission failure ... then, she would be able to come back one week later and accept a new mission. Of course, after failing, the one who accepted the mission would have to pay some price; Ling Lan felt that this was still much more worth it than recklessly risking their lives.

However, what happened next proved that Ling Lan's internal abacus was inaccurate. When Ling Lan chose to discard the token, the system actually notified her that the mission was already bound to her and could not be discarded ... in other words, the mission she had received was a death command that could not be refused.

Seeing this notification, Ling Lan could not help but show a middle finger to the screen inside her cockpit. D*mmit, mainframe, you're just too shameless!

However, since this was already done, Ling Lan did not waste time panicking or despairing. She decided to go back and discuss with her companions how they wanted to complete this mission.

Ling Lan very quickly returned from whence she came and was transported back to the gates of the city lord's manor. Back outside the manor, Ling Lan once again reappeared in her intermediate mecha. Seeing their boss reappear, Qi Long and the others asked Ling Lan excitedly whether she had received a mission.

Ling Lan did not reply, instead asking them to move to a quieter location first. Only then did she share the details of the mission with them. When the others saw the contents of the mission, they instantly fell silent.

Ling Lan smiled wryly. It looked like this mission had scared her companions. She was just about to speak up and explain when Qi Long could be heard to roar excitedly, "Boss, you are just too awesome! Actually obtaining an SSS-rank mission that has not appeared in over several hundred years. I really just need to follow boss and there will be crazy awesome things to do ..."

"Yeah! I can't believe that there's something so exciting to do again so soon!" Xie Yi was just as excited.

"I had just been thinking that Boss would likely bring us an extremely high-level mission. Who would have expected Boss to dish out an SSS-rank mission just like that? My guts are still no match for Boss's," sighed Han Jijyun.

Han Jijyun had always set figuring out Ling Lan's thoughts as his highest goal. However, reality proved that he had still failed this time. Boss was even more savage than he had imagined ... but this was their boss! Forever doing things others would not dare to do. Han Jijyun could not know that this mission was not something Ling Lan had asked for on her own initiative, but was rather something that had been forcefully thrown upon Ling Lan.

"In any case, whatever Boss decides to do, I'll do." Luo Lang had no opinion whatsoever on this; he had long decided to follow his boss faithfully.

"If it's a mission of this level, the resources I prepared previously will be lacking considerably. I'll need to go supplement them as soon as possible." At this moment, Lin Zhong-qing was already thinking about how he could compensate for the ranking of the mission. He had no objections at all on accepting this mission.

Ling Lan stared at this group of audacious people and sweatdropped. Fine, she had forgotten that not many of her companions were normal. Earlier when she had thought they had been scared stiff, her mind must have short-circuited for a moment to even consider it.

Ling Lan turned her head to look at the other three silent people, thinking that these three at least must be shocked ... after all, those abnormal people like her companions should still be the minority.

And so Ling Lan addressed [No Mecha Unrepaired], saying, "[No Mecha Unrepaired], the mission this time is unexpectedly difficult. You can reconsider your invitation to join this battle clan if you would like." [No Mecha Unrepaired] was after all not that close with them. If by any chance they did not manage to complete the mission, Ling Lan did not want to drag [No Mecha Unrepaired] down with them.

"No, I want to join the battle clan, and I also want to follow you all for the mission ..." At Ling Lan's words, [No Mecha Unrepaired] quickly responded emphatically, "I was just moved earlier that I actually have the chance to participate in an SSS-rank mission. This is just too unbelievable." [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s voice actually contained a trace of dreaminess.

"An SSS-rank mission that one might only see once in several hundred years ... there is indeed a need to see this. Besides, I believe you all will need my treatment ability even more." [Priceless Kinship] deviated from his usual indifference, becoming unbelievably enthusiastic. It was clear to see how much attraction the SSS-rank mission held for him as well.

The corners of Ling Lan's lips could not help but twitch. Hells, what kind of members were these whom she had taken in?! Each even more abnormal than the one before, actually so eager to attempt a mission normal people would never dare to touch ... She could not help but look towards [Self-Defined Destiny]; her leopard should be a normal person, right?

Li Lanfeng rubbed his jaw and asked with clear interest, "Say, do you all think that by completing this mission, the reward we receive will also be of a legendary level?"

"Legendary level?" Everyone sucked in a sharp breath ... within the mecha comms channel, Ling Lan could practically hear the endless dripping sounds of drooling.

Ling Lan stared up into the sky, speechless. She really could not expect much of her team members. As members of a team led by an abnormal person (a freak), they really could never be normal either ...

Chapter 308: Planet X192!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

In Mecha World, for every ten major cities, there would be a sky metropolis connecting these ten major cities. As its name suggests, the sky metropolises existed in the sky. However, these sky metropolises were not for human inhabitation; they merely functioned as spaceports.

Every day, there would be massive numbers of spacecrafts, military vessels, and cargo ships passing through these metropolises, departing from them or merely stopping by. Many lone wolves, expedition parties, and battle clans which needed to travel to distant lands for their missions would need to enter the sky metropolises to hitch a ride on a starship or some cargo ship. However, though battle clans could freely choose between military vessels and common ships, regular lone wolves and commoner expeditions could only ride civilian spacecrafts.

This was another reason why battle clans were so popular in Mecha World. After all, in Mecha World, 70% of ships were military vessels of the Federation. Furthermore, some military-governed areas could only be accessed by military vessels — general civilian spacecrafts could not even approach. Oftentimes, the spots with the greatest profits were all located in those areas ...

For instance, the base camp at the Nebula Boundary where the Swift Dragon Fleet was stationed was an area where only military vessels were permitted to enter. This was also why they would find it troublesome — not yet having the right to board military vessels, they would never be able to get close to their destination by using civilian ships alone.

In any case, today, the initially already extremely bustling sky metropolis was even busier than ever. This was because the once-a-season planetary reclamation activity was about to commence officially, and this was also the one and only time when ordinary lone wolves and commoner expedition teams could board military vessels.

Planetary reclamation was an official activity organised by the Federation government. They would release some newly discovered wild and unexplored planets to the public, allowing civilian individuals or groups to go explore and cultivate the land. If they discovered any resources beneficial to the Federation or any new biological organisms, the Federation would reward them with countless credits.

Many troubled lone wolves or expedition teams that were not doing well financially had been able to revive due to this activity, becoming famous people or renowned expedition teams in their own right. Therefore, this planetary reclamation activity had become the premier shortcut for ordinary lone wolves or expedition teams to fame and fortune.

"They only see the glory of success but fail to see the consequences of failure. Tell me, these individuals or parties who go on this exploration — how many of them return alive?" As the person in charge of ferrying these adventurers this time, a commanding officer could not help but sigh as he looked at the spirited civilian adventurers down below controlling their mecha to board the starship from the screen of his mainship.

"This is their own choice. Perhaps this failure will let them understand what it means to act within one's means," responded an adjutant coldly from beside the commanding officer. The adjutant did not think highly of these untrained civilian adventurers. If this were not an assignment, he would never have willingly made contact with these trash.

"Oh you. You should not have these kinds of thoughts. Have you never heard the old saying of 'prodigies sprouting from the civilian world'?" said the commander with a laugh, shaking his head.

"That saying has long become obsolete. With the perfected system of the Federation now, any prodigies would have long been excavated for cultivation. Would they have been able to remain hidden until now?" said the adjutant scornfully. These trash which could not even form proper battle clans could only remain mediocre all their lives. "The only thing that perplexes me is why we have to come to this virtual Mecha World to do this mission. It's seriously a complete waste of our time."

At his adjutant's words, the smile on the commander's face vanished. Grimly, he said, "Because the Federation mainframe has sent an emergency notification to us. At the Nebula Boundary of Mecha World, some strange phenomena has occurred. Although it has tried its best to eliminate the problem, it has failed, and it simply cannot discover the reason for its failure."

The adjutant's expression changed. "Could it be that our Federation mainframe has been invaded by an enemy nation's virus?"

The commander nodded solemnly. "Highly possible. This is also why we have secretly entered Mecha World to replace these NPCs under the mainframe's arrangement. You should know that once the Federation mainframe is successfully corrupted by a virus, the entire order of the Federation will utterly collapse. At that time, we will be like deshelled turtles, helpless on the chopping block."

"Are we enough to handle this?" The adjutant was rather concerned. After all, he was not a hacker who was proficient on this front — he really had no certainty in handling everything in the virtual world.

"Don't worry. We are not the only ones who have come. There's still those top-class hackers of the military. Headquarters has even sent out some of those top-level spectres this time ..." Aggression flashed across the commander's face. "Thinking to destroy our mainframe, don't they even dare think they will live to tell the tale."

The adjutant could not help but clench his fists. As someone on the verge of breaking through the barrier of ace to advance to imperial operator, this was undoubtedly a great chance for him. He believed that if this was truly an attack by an enemy, they would certainly have top-class operators as escort. Perhaps this was why headquarters had sent a prodigy like him on the verge of a breakthrough here right at this moment.

'Ling Xiao, I will definitely become a legendary figure surpassing you!' Ambition flared in the adjutant's eyes for a brief instant. That god-class operator General Ling Xiao who had broken records multiple times had completely trodden other prodigies under his feet. No matter how outstanding they were, in comparison to his records, they were all not even worth a mention. But all of that was in the past now — if he could advance successfully this year, he would break Ling Xiao's record of being the youngest ever to become an imperial operator ...

At this thought, the adjutant could not help but shiver in excitement. He would definitely pull Ling Xiao down from his godly pedestal!

Among the crowd of mecha registering to board a starship was Ling Lan's party. Around them were all advanced mecha which had been modified, and there were even quite a few formidable special-class mecha. In contrast, their team appeared extremely slapdash. Qi Long and the other four of Ling Lan's original team, Li Lanfeng, and Li Shiyu were all using standard Federation mecha, while [No Mecha Unrepaired] and Ling Lan were using intermediate mecha which were one level below the others. Even though [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s mecha had obviously been modified quite a bit, no matter how well it was modified, it was still nothing before an advanced mecha.

The level difference between mecha was not something which could be bridged with modification ... Of course, this was only referring to ordinary modifications. This may not necessarily be true of a mecha which had been modified by a master-level mechanic.

That said, no one would believe that an ordinary expedition team whose advanced mecha were still just standard mecha would have intermediate mecha modified by a master-level mechanic ...

"Combat, it's our turn." Ling Lan saw that it was finally their turn and quickly urged Qi Long on their party comms to go up and register. As her present mecha was still an intermediate mecha, she was really rather unsuited to be the party leader.

"Got it, Boss!" Receiving his boss's reminder, Qi Long, who had been in a constant state of excitement, finally scrambled over to register. All this had been arranged beforehand — from the moment they set off on the mission, the public leader had been Qi Long.

As Qi Long was registering, Han Jijyun finally voiced his doubts, "Boss, why won't you let us help you redeem an advanced mecha?"

A lower mecha operator could of course pilot a more advanced mecha, but they would not be able to draw out the full power of the mecha and may even be unable to use it for long periods of time. This was because the more advanced a mecha was, the higher the demands it would place on the operator's physical constitution and stamina. Some people have tried using advanced mecha as intermediate mecha warriors — 10 minutes later, they would be utterly drained and no longer able to continue piloting the mecha. This stark truth dispelled all thoughts of any operator thinking to take a shortcut; they all practised honestly to advance.

However, Han Jijyun and the others believed that with their boss's capabilities, even if he piloted a mecha at a higher level, he would be able to play around with the advanced mecha like it were his own arms. Thinking back on how terrifying Ling Lan's control skills were that year back then, after so many years, his skills could only have gotten better.

"Because, this is more convenient for my mobility. No one will pay attention to an intermediate mecha. Besides, as far as I know, boarding details must match actual ranking, otherwise the mainframe will refuse boarding," explained Ling Lan calmly. She was too embarrassed to admit that she already had a secret weapon, although this secret weapon was not something she really wanted ...

Han Jijyun was just about to say something when he heard Qi Long yelling in the comms channel, "GO, GO, GO~" It turned out he had finished registering and was now urging them to get on the military vessel.

Seeing this, Ling Lan said, "Let's board the ship." That said, she was the first to follow Qi Long to walk towards the boarding entrance of the military vessel. As these were all transport ships, after entering through the entrance, they saw an extremely large empty space. Right then, there were already quite a few mecha inside. They followed the order they entered to walk over to their exclusive secured seats.

In order to ensure the stability of the mecha during transport, the hold of transport ships were all equipped with this type of mecha-specific secured seats. Once a mecha was buckled in, the mecha would not be able to move. Other than the transport ship activating the release of the secured seats, the mecha could only try to break free by breaking the seat with brute strength.

Ling Lan's team walked over to their secured seats in an orderly manner, and then they all settled in to rest respectively. This so-called rest just meant they were sleeping in their respective cockpits. Once the ship left the spaceport, no one would be allowed to log off until they arrived at the next save point.

Fortunately, this journey was not a very long one; it only took one night. Besides, Ling Lan and the others had already made the proper preparations. All of them had requested several days' leave from their instructors, and their virtual login pods were also properly filled with energy replenishing fluid, which should be enough to sustain them till they arrived at the new save point.

This time, the destination the Federation had organised for the planetary reclamation activity was planet X192, which was not too far away from the Nebula Boundary. Ling Lan was aiming to use the planet X192 as their springboard, so they would have the chance to enter the stationed camp grounds of the Swift Dragon Fleet at the Nebula Boundary.

Right then, they did not know that a bunch of people from the Federation military were also planning on doing the exact same thing.

The night passed in silence. The transport fleet very quickly arrived at the Nebula Boundary and began its descent towards planet X192.

At the same time, relevant information on planet X192 was announced on the public channel of Mecha World:

Planet X192; Gravity 29.7, Strength of Magnetic Field 15e-18 tesla. Temperature: 56 1 . Normal Wind Strength level 12; Extreme Wind Strength level 19. Atmospheric Elements: Carbon Dioxide 87%, Hydrogen 3%, Chlorine 8%, Others 2% ...

"F*ck, is there really life on this planet?" Listening to these details that were not at all suitable for human life, Qi Long asked his companions as he adjusted the settings of his mecha to accommodate for planet X192.

Chapter 311: Abandon?

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

"So what if it's unsuitable for life? Reclamation is not for the sake of seeking lifeforms, but to find minerals and resources," said Han Jijyun coldly in response to Qi Long's question. He felt that this question of Qi Long's was really just too silly.

"Alert. The starship shall enter the atmospheric layer in 10 seconds. Please ensure all anti-shock measures are in place, please ensure all anti-shock measures are in place ..." In the public comms of the mecha, the voice of the starship's JMC rang out.

At the end of the 10 second countdown, all of the mecha operators in the transport hold could feel an intense quaking which lasted for over 10 seconds before the starship gradually stabilised again. At this time, all the mecha operators knew that they should have already passed through the atmospheric layer of X192 and were now truly within the airspace of the planet.

Sure enough, the JMC's voice once again rang out in the public comms. This time, it was to notify them that in 1 minute and 30 seconds, the starship would officially land on the ground of planet X192.

One minute and thirty seconds was not a very short period of time; it was enough for the mecha operators to make all necessary preparations for landing. Even so, when the countdown hit zero and the starship landed heavily on the planet's surface, the intense vibrations still caused many mecha operators to feel their Qi and blood roil in their chests. Quite a few of the mecha operators did not manage to regain their equilibrium till several beats later.

Ling Lan's original party of six did not react in any way. Under Ling Lan's tutelage, even the one with the weakest physical constitution, Han Jijyun, was able to easily withstand the impact. Well aware of her companions' conditions, Ling Lan skipped over them to ask [No Mecha Unrepaired], [Priceless Kinship], and [Self-Defined Destiny] how they were holding up.

[Priceless Kinship] did not delay, instantly responding to say that he had no problem at all. Stopping to think about it, Ling Lan understood instantly. Li Shiyu's body could not be that weak ... he was the dux of the Military Medical Research specialization! Exceedingly intelligent, he would never allow his own body to be all that weak.

[No Mecha Unrepaired] was the second to reply. Just as Ling Lan predicted, he felt somewhat uncomfortable. However, after swallowing a tube of concentrated recovery fluid, he felt much better.

The final one to answer was [Self-Defined Destiny]. Even though he said that everything was fine, what kind of ears did Ling Lan have? She could clearly hear that the other's breath was rather short — the violent vibrations earlier must have given [Self-Defined Destiny] some trouble despite him saying otherwise.

This made Ling Lan frown slightly. She had only been mentally prepared regarding the slightly weaker constitution of [No Mecha Unrepaired]. After all, [No Mecha Unrepaired] was a support type researcher — it was natural for him to have some foundational difference from specialized mecha operators like them. Thus, for [No Mecha Unrepaired] to falter in situations like this was normal. However, things were different with [Self-Defined Destiny]. [Self-Defined Destiny] was a specialized mecha operator too — this was something the other had told her personally and she believed that the leopard would not lie to her. Besides, his control skills were more than sufficient to make him a specialized mecha operator.

She would never, ever have considered that the leopard, who should have an amazing constitution based on her impression of him, would actually have a constitution roughly similar to that of [No Mecha Unrepaired]. This meant that the other's strength and stamina would not support drawn-out battle ...

This forced Ling Lan to ponder calmly — could her old friend the leopard really become a permanent member of her clan? Although Ling Lan had gotten along very well with the leopard, and she also greatly cherished the rapport between them, this did not mean that she would allow the other to drag down her entire clan. She needed to think about the futures of these companions who had grown up alongside her.

It had to be said that in Ling Lan's heart, the leopard was still not as important as her companions. For her companions, she could abandon her leopard.

Sensing his boss's thoughts, Little Four hurriedly explained, "Boss, because the spectre's spiritual power is too strong, that is why the damage to his body is great. It's just like Boss in your previous world. Of course, with the gene agents, this world now has considerably improved on this front, but it still cannot fully cure the problem of the weakened constitution."

Little Four was rather fond of this spectre with abilities similar to his. At the very least, the other gave him a sense of kinship, which was why he decided to speak up for [Self-Defined Destiny]. "Honestly, spectres should not be able to operate mecha. The fact that [Self-Defined Destiny] can do this is already extremely outstanding. Furthermore, having a spectre around is also very advantageous to the clan. Spectres are very sensitive to the presence of other spectres; he will be able to protect the others in the clan during critical moments."

"Won't you be able to protect everyone?" Although Little Four's words moved Ling Lan a little, the problem of the leopard's constitution still made her feel extremely conflicted.

"Of course I can, but Boss, there will always be times when you're alone, or when the team splits up to act. At those times, having an additional spectre will increase the safety rates for everyone on the team no matter how things are arranged," replied Little Four calmly. He did not believe that his boss would trivialize her clan members' safety.

As expected, Ling Lan paused after hearing what Little Four had to say.

"Besides, it's not like the other's weak constitution is unchangeable." Little Four prepared his finishing move.

"Oh?" Ling Lan was extremely interested. If the problem of the leopard's constitution could be resolved, she naturally did not want to abandon the leopard. After all, it was so rare to find a friend with such good rapport. Ling Lan treated Qi Long and her other childhood companions as followers and sons to be raised, while the leopard was the very first one to give her the feeling of having a friend. As such, Ling Lan treasured him greatly.

"Boss, have you forgotten how your body recovered? As long as there are gene agents, once I've modified them, the other will be able to absorb them endlessly. Combine that with your Qi exercises and the foundational physical skills of the learning space, and by applying all three methods simultaneously, this problem should be fixed in two to three years." Little Four reminded Ling Lan. How she had resolved her own latent issues would be how the other could resolve his own latent issues.

"I'll have to think about this." Ling Lan glanced at [Self-Defined Destiny] and cut short the topic. This was because all the mecha had already begun to leave their secured seats and were now lining up to walk out of the hold's door. There was one other reason why Ling Lan did not want to make a decision just yet. She wanted to first see if the leopard could actually gain her companions' acknowledgement. If her companions truly accepted him, she would willingly help her leopard solve this problem.

Everything would still depend on how the leopard performed in future! Ling Lan sighed internally and then led her party members to walk out of the hold doors.

Right then, Li Lanfeng had no idea that he had almost been given three strikes 1 by his rabbit. As soon as he could, he downed some restorative agent, and very soon, his body had recovered. He quickly followed the other members of his party forward, rather frustrated with himself deep inside. He had not expected all the members of the rabbit's party to have such sturdy constitutions. Of all the members, his constitution actually ranked at the very bottom ... he silently clenched his fists tight, deciding that he would increase his nightly basic training by threefold. He definitely would not disgrace his rabbit.

The moment they stepped out of the starship transport's hold, a wave of heat swept over them. Even though the temperature within their mecha cockpits had already been adjusted lower, they could still feel the difference from the temperatures of an inhabitable 2 planet. On the respective screens of all the mecha in Ling Lan's party, an endless desert came into view. It was a swirling sheet of white with not a single speck of any other colour. After only looking at the scene for several seconds, they could already feel their eyes vaguely starting to prickle in pain.

"Adjust the temperature of your cockpit. Lower it by 10 degrees. And set your visuals to infrared mode." Just when everyone was stunned, Ling Lan's voice rang out in their party comms.

Used to obeying Ling Lan's commands, Qi Long and the others quickly made the adjustments as instructed. Once they had adjusted the initial internal temperature of 25 degrees down to 15, they felt all the heat which had penetrated the cockpit completely wiped away. Their cockpits once again returned to regular levels of comfort. Meanwhile, changing their screen displays to infrared mode eased the strain on their eyes. They no longer felt as if they were staring into a blizzard of white, and their eyes stopped hurting.

Li Lanfeng had the utmost faith in his rabbit, so he did not think much of the other's immensely accurate judgment. However, Li Shiyu and [No Mecha Unrepaired] could not help but feel a jolt go through their hearts. Their leader must know everything about mecha like the back of his hands; otherwise, he would not have been able to make such accurate and precise judgments in a split second. [No Mecha Unrepaired] found his respect for Ling Lan deepening, while Li Shiyu too gradually began to acknowledge this Boss Lan who he had never thought well of, who liked to turn common sense on its head.

When they truly walked out onto the planet, they were shocked by the scene before their eyes. Those mecha that had walked out before them were currently struggling against the sands of the area. Many mecha had sunk into the sandy ground, while even more had no choice but to power up their engines to fly into the air and move forwards that way.

"Warning. Do not use your engines for a long time. The temperature and atmospheric elements here will cause great damage to your engines." In the public comms channel, the JMC's anxious voice rang out once more in warning.

He had barely finished speaking when in the skies not too far away, a loud boom rang out as a mecha's engine abruptly exploded. The strength of the explosion instantly sent the mecha careening to the ground. The entire mecha crashed into the sand and its massive body became completely buried within it. If not for the help of his party members, he would not have been able to resolve this dire situation on his own — all that would have awaited him was death.

"Godd*mn, what a dangerous planet." Witnessing this scene, Xie Yi could not help but exclaim in the party comms. However, he was only exclaiming for the sake of exclaiming; he would not shrink back in fear because of this.

"Let us go." Ling Lan's voice had yet to fade when she had already controlled her mecha to begin striding onto this patch of desert. But then, [Self-Defined Destiny] suddenly shouted, "Wait a moment!"

"Hm?" Ling Lan controlled her mecha to dip her head at him, signalling for [Self-Defined Destiny] to explain why he had stopped her.

"I think that it's better to first send someone to test things out," said Li Lanfeng with a smile, "I volunteer myself. As a new member, I hope everyone can give me a chance to perform." Li Lanfeng's words made the initially rather tense atmosphere of the team dissipate instantly. Qi Long even began to laugh uproariously, while there were several other soft giggles and chuckles that were almost inaudible — god knows who was laughing so secretly.

The corners of Ling Lan's lips quirked up; she was extremely in favour of the leopard's behaviour, so she said, "Alright, go." Ling Lan hoped the leopard would be accepted by her companions; thus, she naturally indicated her support of the leopard's request without any hesitation.

Chapter 312: Robbery

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

Hearing [Lingtian First-String] agree, Li Lanfeng was exhilarated. He breathed in deeply, trying to calm himself. This time, he must definitely perform well and not disgrace his rabbit. Li Lanfeng knew well that in order for him to find secure footing within the rabbit's team, relying purely on the friendship between himself and the rabbit would not be enough.

Li Lanfeng operated his mecha to dash out onto the sands, landing in the endless desert which had already swallowed many mecha. Very quickly, the shifting sand beneath his feet had sucked in both of his mecha's legs. His mecha began sinking down at a rapid pace — at this speed, his entire mecha might be completely buried a minute later.

"The default desert-mode setting of the mecha does not match up to the real conditions. The buoyancy difference is extremely large. The settings need to be altered. Change it to twenty. No. Thirty. Still not enough. Forty, that's a little too much ... correction. It should be 37 or 38. Confirmed as 38. Original mecha traction setting lacking. Compensation coefficient at 10 results in sluggishness. Change coefficient to 9, success. There is an error with the original granular load 1 . Increase load value to 20. Still wrong, increase to 25? Adjusted to 24, confirmed ..." In the party comms, [Self-Defined Destiny]'s rapid-fire speech came through clearly, along with the faint sound of fingers moving at super high control speeds.

This gave all the other members of Ling Lan's party a shock; they knew what this represented. Setting aside the brash and forthright Qi Long whose control was coarse and based solely on his instinct, even Han Jijyun with his formidable calculation skills could not collect on-scene data and perform such accurate corrections in such a short amount of time. Those rapid tapping sounds and swishing noises also meant that the other's finger-speed had currently achieved a frightening level.

This caused Qi Long and the others to begin taking [Self-Defined Destiny], this person who had just joined them, seriously. Although they would never doubt Boss Lan's judgment, without experiencing it first-hand, they would never have known that this seemingly friendly and humble [Self-Defined Destiny] was also a control prodigy. As expected, those who Boss Lan took a shine to would never be simple.

Still, after that first jolt of surprise, Qi Long and the others quickly calmed down. Without waiting for Ling Lan to give the order, they immediately began adjusting the settings of their mecha according to [Self-Defined Destiny]'s calculated adjustments. After applying all those settings, Li Lanfeng's mecha had already pulled both his feet out from the shifting sands to stand up properly. He was now standing on the sands like it was solid ground and was waiting for them to come to him. This proved that those settings of his were absolutely correct.

This scene also caused those mecha still struggling with the sand to stare, gobsmacked, but they soon figured things out and began manually adjusting their mecha settings as well. Still, the process was not as easy as they had assumed. Manual adjustment of settings required one to know all the settings of a mecha like the palm of one's hand; if one only had a half-baked understanding of the settings, they would never be able to accomplish it to the degree that Li Lanfeng had.

"Alright, let's move." Seeing this, Ling Lan no longer hesitated, instantly giving out the order.

Following this cry, the eight mecha remaining on the platform shot out like cannonballs to land gracefully in the desert. After reuniting with [Self-Defined Destiny], they ventured off swiftly into the depths of the desert.

This scene was captured by the surveillance system of the starship and was swiftly transmitted to the starship's control room. The adjutant in the control room saw the performance of this team and a slight smile appeared on his face as he said, "Looks like it's not all trash. This team is still somewhat presentable, especially this mecha ..." The one he was pointing at was precisely the first one to go out into the desert to feel out the conditions, [Self-Defined Destiny].

"That's why I said that civilian mecha operators may not be completely worthless," responded the commander with a serious expression, "Still, I keep feeling that the reclamation efforts this time won't go smoothly ..."

The adjutant was taken aback. "Are you saying ..."

"I just received a notification from the mainframe saying that not too far from us, there's something strange with planet X193. It's investigating what's going on right now. Once it has concrete news, it'll contact us again." The commander's brow was deeply furrowed. He had been studying all this time to try and figure out a way for them to get close to the base camp of the Swift Dragons, but all his mental efforts had been useless. He could only wait passively for the notification from the mainframe — this made the commander who liked to have everything within his control uneasy; he did not like this feeling of having his actions dictated by someone else.

"It looks like the mainframe is very afraid that there will be further issues this time ..." The adjutant's eyes narrowed as if thinking of something.

"So we can only wait passively for the mainframe's notification now ..." said the commander with a sigh. He was feeling increasingly uncertain about his mission.

********

Seven days went by swiftly. Within these seven days, nothing much happened to Ling Lan's party. As Ling Lan was not here to cultivate the planet in search of wealth, she did not split her party into smaller exploration teams and spread them out as the other expedition teams did. The nine people of her party broke into three smaller teams and stayed in a triangular formation. All of them moved together within the same district, often checking in with one another. Even if there were some expedition teams who harboured ill intent, when they saw how many members Ling Lan's party had and how the party was in a triangular formation equally capable of offence or defence, they did not dare to act impulsively.

The triangular formation was actually a basic Federation mecha formation — it was typically formed by three mecha teams at three points of a triangle moving as one. This type of formation allowed any one of the component mecha teams to become the arrowhead of the entire team; it was one of the most commonly used formations by the Federation mecha forces.

Even so, the luck of Ling Lan's party was still pretty decent. Although they did not search a large area, they still managed to find some rare metals, as well as some unidentified minerals. They secretly noted all these. They would only need to pass this info on to the registration staff on the starship, and even if it did not yield a large sum in return, the reward would certainly be enough to supply enough power for their mecha for several months.

Speaking of which, we should now talk about the usage of power in Mecha World and the various ways to obtain power. An active mecha, even if its user did not log in to operate it, would still have a basic amount of power drain. Thus, every mecha operator would have the daily pressure of collecting power. Power could be obtained by completing missions or foraging in the wilderness, and it could also be purchased with credits in the power stores of Mecha World.

Therefore, if they had not saved up enough power sources, mecha operators who had not logged in for long periods of time may very likely find that their mecha could no longer be activated for use the next time they logged in. Replenishing power which had been lost was even more expensive than stocking up to begin with. Thus, in Mecha World, the average mecha operator would normally only have one active mecha. Those operators who were slightly stronger would at most have one spare reserve mecha, because just one more mecha was beyond the means of the average mecha operator to support. The only exceptions were those people with great ability or those who had an abundance of credits.

This was also why many mecha operators would do away with those mecha they had replaced, trading them for some power supplies to keep. This was also why when Li Lanfeng had only redeemed another mecha when he was about to advance to intermediate mecha; a normal mecha operator just could not keep all the mecha they had ever redeemed on them.

The reason the conditions were so strict was out of fear that the mecha operators would not be able to focus fully on training with the mecha they had in their hands. Mind you, the further things progressed, the finer the distinction of mecha categorisation became. For example, for intermediate mecha, just humanoid mecha alone had 5 types, and by the time it came to advanced mecha, there were 8 types of humanoid mecha. If operators could not concentrate on training with one mecha, even the most prodigious mecha operator would end up mediocre because of this. Thus, Mecha World had no choice but to use material pressure to forcefully eliminate the distraction for the mecha operators, making them calm down and train hard in the control skills for one mecha ...

Consequently, in Mecha World, every mecha operator would have headaches over power supplies — Ling Lan and her party were no exception. They could come out and do missions for so long all thanks to Lin Zhong-qing, who had done his duty as support logistician to conserve power all this time. However, this would only support them for another half a month at most, so any gains here would be a great boon overall.

Just as they were planning to move on to the next district, they received an emergency alert from the military vessel's control centre. The alert stated that all the mecha operators were expected to rush back to the transport ship within 3 days because the transport ship would be leaving X192 at 12 noon sharp three days later. As for the reason why, the military vessel's side simply said that there would be a violent elemental energy turbulence on planet X192 three days later. This turbulence may very well destroy any and all mecha still remaining on the planet at that time.

After discussing it over, Ling Lan's party decided to continue foraging for one more day before rushing back. Although they were only a day's journey away from the transport ship, Ling Lan did not like to cut things so close — she liked leaving some room for error in all things.

A day's time passed quickly. After some minor organising of the resources they had gathered and recharging the power of their mecha, they operated their mecha to move towards the transport ship at full speed. But halfway through their journey, an accident occurred before their eyes.

There was a loud 'BOOM' — straight ahead on the path Ling Lan's party was travelling on, the sound of a violent explosion rang out. This sound was clearly the result of a mecha using a cannon-type firearm.

"Razor, lead your team over to take a look." Ling Lan frowned lightly. Using a cannon-type firearm on this planet was undoubtedly a very dangerous act. The atmosphere already contained hydrogen and chlorine; adding high heat would very easily result in self-destruction. If triggered by a cannon-type firearm, there was a high chance of a chain reaction occurring, which could easily endanger the safety of her party if they were unlucky. In order to obtain a clear picture of the situation, Ling Lan instructed Luo Lang's team, which was currently the arrowhead of their formation, to go check things out.

Luo Lang's small team consisted of Luo Lang, Xie Yi, and Li Shiyu, with Luo Lang as the interim head. Receiving his orders, Luo Lang led Xie Yi and Li Shiyu in a quick sprint forwards.

Not long after, Ling Lan and the others received a shared video channel from Luo Lang's team. It turned out that about 1 kilometre ahead of them, there was a mecha team of 15 people who were currently launching a series of violent attacks at a small mecha team of only 5 people.

If they guessed correctly, this should be a robbery in progress. This was a common scene during planetary reclamation events — some large expedition teams with bad reputations just loved to do such things, because robbing others at this time was much more profitable than foraging for themselves.

It looked like that team of five was also the gutsy type, otherwise a fight would not have broken out. Many smaller mecha teams would choose to give up a large portion of their resources when faced with such unbeatable odds, choosing the option of safe return. But this team had not chosen to give in — despite seeing that they would never be able to survive, they had actually taken the initiative to launch a blast cannon 2 . They were obviously trying to kill their opponents in a kamikaze attack, but their luck did not seem to be very good. The firearm had not ignited the elements within the air, so they were now being oppressed and beaten — it would not be long before they were completely annihilated.

Chapter 313: Precious Power Source!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

"Boss, what should we do? Should we wait or circle around them?" Luo Lang observed the happenings from a distance, making contact with the team at the same time.

Ling Lan did not make a decision immediately, instead asking Qi Long, "Combat, what do you think?"

The battle maniac Qi Long had long been driven stir-crazy by these past calm and uneventful days. The moment he heard Boss's question, he quickly replied, "Let's go straight through. If any among them are blind enough to dare rob us, let's just end them." These words were said with a great thuggish air, but it was also Qi Long's true opinion.

"I think it is very necessary for us to hone our blades 1 beforehand." As his sworn brother, Han Jijyun naturally had to show his utmost support for Qi Long's stand. Besides, he too felt that going through a battle would allow their team to become closer. After all, they had just added three additional people, so they had to adapt to the new additions' skills and work on their teamwork. Han Jijyun liked to have everything in hand.

[No Mecha Unrepaired] had no opinion on this matter, while Li Lanfeng's thoughts ran parallel to Han Jijyun's without any prior discussion. So, Li Lanfeng piped up in support, "Abacus speaks truly. We're working together as a team for the first time after all. There is indeed a need for a chance for a real battle. If there are any problems, we can then take some time to adjust before we get too deep into the mission. This will also be extremely beneficial to the future of our clan."

Lin Zhong-qing did not say outright whether he agreed or disagreed — he only told his boss that he had enough power blocks saved up to support this battle. Indirectly, he was also conveying that he too approved of this fight.

Since everyone had the desire to fight, Ling Lan of course would not refuse. Thus, she ordered Luo Lang's team of three which was a distance away observing to stay put, saying, "Razor, wait till we get there, then we will move together."

Ling Lan was afraid Luo Lang would act impulsively — even though the other side's combat power was just at the level of a typical civilian expedition team, their numbers were not few. For Luo Lang's team of only three people to go up against them was still rather dangerous.

"Understood, Boss," responded Luo Lang firmly. He took Ling Lan's orders even more seriously than Qi Long did — Qi Long might still nod on the surface but disobey secretly, while Luo Lang would never disobey something he had promised his boss.

Very soon, Ling Lan had led the rest of the team to Luo Lang's side. Then, she indicated for everyone to move forwards in their original formation, acting as if they knew nothing as they approached the heart of the combat. But secretly, everyone was already mentally prepared for battle. The moment they found the others' arrows pointed at them, they would swoop down upon them at lightning speed and destroy the other side.

"Leader, there's a mecha squad incoming." A sentry member noticed Luo Lang's 3-man team, and he quickly reported the sighting to his team leader at the heart of the fight.

"How many people?" The team leader, who was currently using firepower to suppress their opponents, could not help but frown and ask.

The opposing 5-man team, which was currently being pummelled by them and could only resist futilely, had long been their target. They had discovered them when the other side had managed to collect a rare and precious power source. The team leader knew very well what power sources represented. As long as they could possess this power source and hand it over to the military, they would become filthy rich overnight. Therefore, they had long lain in ambush here, planning to kill the other party to snatch this rare and precious power source.

Initially, they had thought that by surrounding the other side with 15 people, the other 5 would definitely meekly hand over the power source. Unexpectedly, these five people were all a bunch of tough customers, actually choosing mutual destruction and taking the initiative to use firearms. If not for their bad luck in failing to ignite the hydrogen and chlorine in the air, his team might probably have been completely wiped out.

But other than the first person among them who had to retreat away from the fight after receiving heavy damage at the start, the other team members had reacted speedily. Now, under their frenzied attacks, they had very quickly finished off three of the five people, and the remaining two people would probably just take them another 2 to 3 minutes to handle ...

Who could have expected that, just as they were about to reap the fruits of victory, some unforeseen guests would arrive. This spoiled the mood of this team leader considerably — he even felt rather vindictive, thinking to just annihilate this troublesome mecha squad directly.

"It's a 3-man formation." For some reason, the sentry seemed to have not seen the other six mecha on both flanks behind Luo Lang, so he only reported Luo Lang's team of three.

"Hmph, three people? They're bloody seeking death! How long before they run into us?" With a cold sniff, the team leader decided in his mind to stop these three impudent mecha. Perhaps they would be able to obtain some extra resources from the three.

"I reckon there's still about a minute." The sentry gave a rough estimate based on his gauge of the speed of Luo Lang's team.

"Okay. Don't stop them. Just let them through just like that ..." instructed the team leader through gritted teeth. He then turned to the attacking team members and ordered, "Everyone, beat them hard. Try your best to finish them off in one minute, our new prey is coming."

"Yeah!" "Roger that!" "Awesome!" "Watch me ..." Raucous hollers rang out from the team comms; it was clear to see that this was not a bunch of orderly civilised people.

Subsequently, they no longer worried about limiting their power use. The cold beam guns in their hands rattled as cold beams poured out in a torrent, raining down in a sheet towards the heads of the surviving two opponents. Out of fear of igniting the elemental energy in the air, they had all chosen weapons using cold beams. This crazy wave of attack gave the remaining two mecha no chance to fight back; they could only turn their beam shields up to the max to try and hold off these attacks.

The two of them knew what the final outcome awaiting them was — once their mecha ran out of power, the beam shields would stop working. They would definitely be shredded by those cold beams and die here. The penalty for death in Mecha World was extremely brutal. Restarting not only wiped out the mecha you possessed, but the deduction of points was also astronomical. Lacking points after restarting, many mecha operators were even reduced to becoming a lower mecha operator again ...

"Big Brother, let me hold them off. Go find those newcomers quick and ask for help." These two had found out about the impending arrival of an unexpected team of mecha from the alerts of their mecha, so one of the mecha immediately shouted out a suggestion to the other mecha.

"They're surrounding us on all sides. They have no intention at all of letting us run away. Second Brother, even if we die, we must die together, along with the rest of our brothers." said Big Brother with a tortured smile. Then, his face twisted into a scowl as he said, "However, I will not let them win." He rubbed a hand over the rare power source they had found inside his bag, a wild idea rising up in his mind.

Big Brother abruptly spat out a mouthful of spit and said fiercely, "Second Brother, take a gamble with me. We must hold out until those people arrive ..." Big Brother's eyes were shadowed, a sort of savage wildness within them.

Right then, the silhouettes of Luo Lang's team could already be seen. By the time both sides could see each other, the two trapped people were on the brink of running out of power.

"Just a little short. Just 10 more seconds would do!" Big Brother yelled shrilly. He was not content to just die here like this.

At that moment, Second Brother who had been shielding against the cold beams by his side suddenly opened his mecha's limbs and hugged Big Brother's mecha beside him tightly, covering the other's entire mecha beneath his own. All the cold beams focused on Second Brother's mecha, and 2 seconds later, his flickering beam shield shattered, letting all the beams through to rain on the body of his mecha.

"Big Brother, you must avenge us!" Amidst a tragic howl, Second Brother held on for another 10 seconds or so by relying purely on the inherent defence of his mecha's body. Finally, his mecha too broke down into countless fragments under the bombardment of cold beams.

Big Brother's mecha was finally revealed. At the same time, the beam shield he had deactivated reappeared once more — he was preparing for his final stand.

"Godd*mmit, actually letting him drag things out by 11 seconds." The team leader could not help but swear. Meanwhile, Luo Lang's team of 3 mecha was about to enter his team's shooting range in the very next second.

"Old Lu, take two teams to deal with those three mecha. It's fine to just leave me four mecha." The team leader knew he could not delay any longer. If the newcomers initiated attack, even if they managed to take down the other's three mecha, they would still suffer losses. And he did not just plan to rob these two batches of mecha; he wanted to gain even more.

Old Lu had just pulled away two smaller teams of mecha from the main team when the staunchly defending Big Brother suddenly revved his engines. The loud roar of the engines caused everyone's face to change. And then, Big Brother operated his mecha to leap out, pushing the speed of his mecha to the max, flying swiftly towards Luo Lang's team.

This unexpected scene stunned the team who was trying to rob him. By the time they came to their senses, the other had actually charged out of their barrier circle.

"Godd*mmit, take him down!" The team leader bellowed furiously. This behaviour of the other had undoubtedly enraged him; right now, all he wanted was to finish off this detestable mecha before his eyes.

The escaping mecha did not activate his beam shield and waste that last bit of resources he had. He only pushed the engines of his mecha to the max, flying forwards desperately. This type of action was undoubtedly a form of suicide because the heat from the engines could very well ignite the energies in the air. If that happened, the final outcome would be the self-destruction of his own mecha, and he would die at the scene. However, in Big Brother's heart, this kind of death was still much better than dying at the opponent's hands.

Perhaps the Heavens took pity on him — his engine did not explode all the way through. Still, the cold beam guns chasing behind him had struck his mecha, causing his mecha to be riddled with holes from the shoulder down to his entire right arm. Luckily, these attacks had not struck his cockpit, otherwise he would have already been dead.

Still, even so, Big Brother's mecha had still successfully gotten close to Luo Lang's team.

"Take this. This is the precious power source we found. Please help us take our revenge," shouted Big Brother loudly through his mecha's public comms. Using only the left hand of his mecha, he drew out something from his bag and tossed it at Luo Lang with all his might.

The item flew like a cannonball towards Luo Lang, who reflexively caught it. Before he could even look at it, cold beams once again struck Big Brother's mecha from behind. This time, he could not escape — his cockpit was directly hit.

The entire mecha blew apart with a loud boom, becoming a pile of scrap metal to fall before Luo Lang, causing Luo Lang's brow to scrunch up tightly.