314-320

Chapter 314: Rapport

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

"Leader, no precious power source dropped. Looks like that thing has been transferred to them." One of the mecha had not waited for his leader's instruction to fly over to the remains of that opponent's mecha to do a swift check, and he then reported his findings in disappointment.

In Mecha World, as long as a mecha and its operator were directly destroyed, all of the precious items, materials, weapons, equipment and so on belonging to Mecha World would definitely drop. Thus, just a quick check would be enough to tell whether or not the item they wanted had still been on the operator when he died.

At this news, the team leader became livid. He instantly pointed a beam gun at Luo Lang's team of three and sneered, "Punk, hand over that thing quickly. Or else we won't be polite anymore."

Without even glancing at the item in his hands, Luo Lang threw it into his mecha's bag and sneered back in return, "Since it has come into our hands, it won't be leaving them. I would really like to see how you all plan to be rude to us." Since he knew Boss planned to teach the other a lesson anyway, Luo Lang naturally would not show the opponent any face.

"You're really asking for it." The rage in the team leader's chest burned hotter — once, twice, these three or four puny kittens actually dared to bare their teeth against his threats. Even as he felt immensely frustrated, he also felt that this was a great loss of face. He decided that he would definitely torment these three arrogant punks before him to death and let them realise that they were not qualified enough to be arrogant just yet!

Before he could say 'kill them', the mecha responsible for sentry duty suddenly yelled out once again, "Leader, two more squads of mecha have appeared. There are six more in total ..."

"F*ck!" The team leader could not help but curse internally. Still somewhat rational, he knew his team could not finish off nine mecha in one go without suffering any losses, so he instructed, "Warn those squads that we are fighting here. Tell them to circle around."

This was a type of established convention within Mecha World. When two parties were in conflict and did not want any other parties to disturb them, they would arrange for sentry members to go alert uninvolved mecha teams passing by so they would go around them and avoid the area where they were fighting.

After giving his instructions to the sentry member, the team leader then ordered all the other team members present, "Attack at full force!"

The reason why the team leader would call his team members to attack without worry was that, in his mind, he had already assumed that these six mecha that had just appeared would definitely circle around them. Generally, an uninvolved party would never willingly stick their nose into trouble. However, he could never have expected that these six newcomer mecha were not uninvolved members at all ...

He had barely given the command when, in that instant where his men had yet to pull the triggers in their hands, a long prepared Luo Lang moved one step before they could. He slammed two heavy fists into the ground and followed it up with a strong and powerful sweeping kick. The sand and rocks on the ground were instantly jolted into the air and then sent smashing down like a waterfall on the heads of those 13 mecha. For a moment, the two sides completely lost sight of each other.

Seeing the wall of sand and dirt flying at them, the opponents' first reflex was to dodge and wait for their vision to clear before attacking. However, they could never have imagined that Luo Lang's team of three who were clearly the underdogs, being outnumbered, would not choose to escape at this time, instead following up with another attack.

The sand and gravel had yet to fully settle when the team leader heard three chilling cries ring out in his party's comms, which were then swiftly followed by the sounds of mecha crashing heavily into the ground.

These terrifying cries caused a tendril of fear to rise up within the team members' hearts. Instead of pushing the attack, they chose instinctively to defend. Their first thought was to first protect themselves well.

Finally, the cascading waterfall of sand and dirt settled completely and everyone could see clearly again. Only at this time did they discover that three of their teammates were already on the ground. Eye-catching crimson fluid was trickling out from the cockpits of those fallen mecha, staining the white sand beneath the mecha red ...

Beside them stood those three newcomer mecha. In each of their hands was a standard high-alloy long sword that came equipped with every mecha. Blood still remained on their blades, slowly sliding along the edge of their swords to drip to the ground. Everyone knew what this meant — those three teammates of theirs were definitely dead.

Still off-balanced and frightened, they abruptly heard the other side's leader 1 sneer and say, "With just this much strength, actually daring to threaten to be impolite to us?" Luo Lang had initially thought that these people must be rather capable for them to dare waylay others to rob them in broad daylight — who knew they were actually so worthless? One attack had been enough to throw them into a state of disarray.

At these words, the team leader almost bit through his tongue. Right then, he knew that these three were definitely incomparable to that 5-man team they had pushed around earlier. He had likely stumbled upon a tough team this time. If he had only known earlier, he would have told the sentry to stop them and asked them to circle around.

However, he knew that it was already too late now. He and the other side were already at the point of no return — one side had to die for the conflict to end. Setting aside the matter of the precious power source he craved in the other's hands, the three members who had been sacrificed in front of him needed him to stand up for them and avenge them.

But before he could give any orders, six beams of light suddenly shot down from above, instantly striking six mecha whose operators did not have any time at all to react. Needless to say, these six mecha exploded simultaneously to become heaps of debris. In just a few seconds' time, the team leader's side was down by nine mecha. His initial grand team of thirteen mecha had been reduced to only four mecha in an instant — he had all but lost the upper hand.

The team leader stared off despairingly into the distance, and he soon saw those six mecha he had assumed to have circled around descending like gods from the heavens to land before him.

"Why did you all choose to get involved with this mess?" asked the team leader bitterly. He knew what his fate would be, but he just could not figure out why this would happen. Thus, he wanted to ask to find out, otherwise he would not be able to rest in peace.

"It's not that we wanted to intentionally get involved in this messy situation ... we just could not be uninvolved, because you've intercepted some of our team members," responded Ling Lan calmly. She had initially thought that the other side would give them some trouble, but things turned out unexpectedly easy. It looked like there was no further hope of training up her troops.

"So that's how it is ..." The team leader finally understood the resulting despair of being overconfident 2 . His luck was truly too terrible, actually stepping on the tail of an extremely strong team.

Just as everyone thought the team leader would just give up and surrender, unexpectedly, as his voice trailed off, the remaining four mecha who were still able to fight sprang into motion and began attacking ferociously. It looked like they knew their lives were forfeit, and so decided they might as well push forward without worrying about the consequences and take some of the enemies down with them.

The ones they chose to attack were Ling Lan and [No Mecha Unrepaired] because among the nine mecha, the only two intermediate mecha were theirs. In the opponents' eyes, trying to kill advanced mecha warriors with just the four of them was rather difficult, but killing two intermediate mecha warriors which were lower level than them was still doable.

However, they were doomed to be disappointed, because of the two mecha operators they thought were the easiest to handle, one just happened to be Boss Lan. She was the one Qi Long and the others recognised as the strongest — she was the horrifying boss who could crush them effortlessly even if she was controlling an intermediate mecha.

Meanwhile, though the other person was also an intermediate mecha, the pilot was a genius mecha mechanic. The control skills of a mecha mechanic might not be too remarkable, but the mecha he piloted would definitely never be as simple as it appeared on the surface ...

Ling Lan gracefully flashed from side to side, drawing a swift streak of shadow through the air as she easily dodged these attacks. Meanwhile, [No Mecha Unrepaired] did not even move. He simply raised his mecha's right arm, and the thick and heavy armour at his elbow suddenly opened up like an umbrella, instantly forming a large round shield. The surface of the shield was even emitting an indistinct sheen of light.

The cold beams shooting at him were all blocked by the shield, not causing him any bit of trouble. Rather, after receiving these cold beams, that faint sheen on the shield actually intensified, becoming gradually more opaque and visible.

Seeing this, Ling Lan's eyebrows lifted slightly, barely able to conceal her surprise. This shield of [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s was not as simple as it seemed — as a genius mechanic, [No Mecha Unrepaired] did not waste that talent of his.

Ling Lan and [No Mecha Unrepaired] had just dodged these beam attacks on their end when, on the other side, the team leader's party no longer had a second opportunity to attack. Four mecha were not at all enough to split among the other members of Ling Lan's team. Almost simultaneously, Qi Long, Luo Lang, Xie Yi, and Li Lanfeng moved ahead of the others and used their respective cold weapons to slash down the remaining four mecha efficiently. Even the strongest on the opponent's side, the team leader, only lasted one round under Qi Long's swift and powerful attack.

It could only be said that this party which loved to rob others favoured ambushes and group attacks too much; they were extremely weak when it came to individual combat. This made the combat-loving Qi Long feel extremely unsatisfied, and he could not help but grunt peevishly, "F*ck, what trash. It's really no fun fighting them."

"They are rather weak!" Ling Lan agreed with Qi Long's sentiments, but her eyes were sparkling as she looked in Li Lanfeng's direction. Their final attack earlier had undoubtedly pleased Ling Lan greatly. "However, we have still achieved one of our objectives. All of your attacks earlier were well-coordinated. Attacking all at once without actually overlapping in target. It's clear that you all have rather good rapport."

A clan was most afraid of lacking rapport, especially after the addition of new members. Ling Lan was not surprised by the fact that Qi Long, Luo Lang, and Xie Yi worked together well, but Ling Lan was extremely pleased and satisfied that the leopard had been able to determine who the others were attacking instantly and choose the remaining target. The leopard truly had not let her down.

"Not bad, [Self-Defined Destiny]! Next time, let us work together again!" said Qi Long with a large grin. He too had not expected [Self-Defined Destiny] who had just joined to actually work so well with them. This made Qi Long's impression of [Self-Defined Destiny] rise significantly.

Luo Lang nodded in agreement with what Qi Long had said. Meanwhile, Xie Yi, who had initially been in the role of newcomer himself, had already been sympathetic towards [Self-Defined Destiny] to begin with, not as aloof as Qi Long or Luo Lang towards him. Hearing this, Xie Yi could not help but smile, feeling happy for [Self-Defined Destiny].

"This was just a lucky coincidence. I just hope that we can have such great rapport next time," replied [Self-Defined Destiny] with a smile. Even though he said it was a lucky coincidence, that was not actually true. The reason he had managed to work so well with the other three was because he had already deduced the accurate choice to make before he had attacked.

Chapter 315: A Nature-Defying Existence!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

Although Li Lanfeng had not joined the rabbit's team for long, observant as he was, he had already gotten a pretty good understanding of the personalities and positions of the members in the team. In terms of mecha combat, [Lingtian Combat] only submitted to the rabbit, and in truth, he was indeed the second seat in regards to combat within the rabbit's team. Despite being extremely covetous of this position, Li Lanfeng also knew that he could only continue to covet it for the time being. His capabilities might not be any weaker than the other's, but he just did not hold the same weight 1 as the other. From their conversation, he could tell that these people had grown up beside the rabbit; as a latecomer, he did not have the right to grasp for this position.

Li Lanfeng really wanted to stand by his rabbit, but he was not impatient. He would not impulsively offend the team members of the rabbit. He would slowly gather the team members' acknowledgement bit by bit and climb his way up to finally stand matter-of-factly by his rabbit's side. He would become the rabbit's undoubted best partner.

Ever since Li Lanfeng had become old enough to think sensibly, he had only wanted to change his fate, but now he had finally found a new goal in life.

"Boss, what should we do with these people?" Qi Long and the others looked at the remaining few enemies who were not dead yet but had already lost all will to fight, and then turned their heads to ask Ling Lan. Against these sorts of defenceless enemies, Qi Long found it somewhat difficult to take action.

Ling Lan did not answer verbally, simply gesturing with a hand to have them killed without any hesitation, appearing unbelievably cold-blooded and ruthless. They were currently doing a covert mission, so they could not let any news of their real capabilities get out. No one could be certain whether the enemies had activated any recording functions — only by destroying the others' mecha and killing them all to let them resurrect at the save point could they eliminate this possibility.

In Mecha World, other than the actual death itself being fake (those who are killed by spectre abilities though would truly die without any chance of revival), everything else would be realistic. In other words, if a mecha was destroyed and the operator died, any recordings they made of this battle would be gone. Even if these people went back to rant on the official website, no one would be able to tell which team it was which had killed them. Next time they met, the other would not be able to identify them either, because they were all basically just using standard mecha at the moment ...

Qi Long and the others saw Ling Lan's hand gesture and understood what Ling Lan meant. Without saying anything more, everyone neatly destroyed their opponents' cockpits and began smashing up the mecha. Of course, this type of destruction could not directly destroy all evidence. Still, Qi Long and the others were not afraid. Once this reclamation event ended, even if anyone came here again, it would take at least three months. And three months' time would be enough for these mecha to run out of power. At that time, even if this fight had been recorded and someone really managed to get their hands on the wrecked remains of these mecha, they would not be able to restore the mecha and get the recordings intact.

After all this was done, Ling Lan was about to tell them to continue moving when Luo Lang idly glanced at the item he had received at the start of the fight and shouted out involuntarily.

Everyone halted to look back in surprise at Luo Lang. Although Luo Lang looked sweet and gentle, his heart was extremely strong — he would never cry out over any small thing. For something to make Luo Lang lose control like this, it must be a great deal.

"Boss, take a look at this." Luo Lang ignored everyone else's gazes, instantly handing over that precious power source in his bag to Ling Lan. Of course, he did not dare to toss it, instead being extremely careful as he passed it over.

Ling Lan accepted it, took a look, and was instantly stunned speechless.

X192 high-glazed nuclear power source: a power source exclusive to planet X192. Overall capacity 10 thermie 2 . Able to sustain activation of mecha below imperial level, and has the ability to self-recharge. Recharge factor: On planet X192, 10 calories per second. In star space, 8 calories per second. On other planets, between 2 to 5 calories 3 .

This was an absolutely nature-defying awesome item! In awe, Ling Lan changed the privacy settings of the power source in her hands to share its details with the group. As expected, all her team members could not help but exclaim in shock as well — right then, everyone finally understood why Luo Lang had lost his composure like that. Because when everyone saw the item, they too could not help but find their hearts pounding in excitement.

It should be known that what a mecha feared most was running out of power. Once their mecha ran out of power, even the strongest operator would be a turtle in a jar waiting to be killed. And not only could this power source before them store such a large reserve of power, it could even automatically replenish itself over time. Even though the recharge rate was only several calories worth compared to its full ocean-like capacity and could pretty much be ignored ... for context, it should be known that the most commonly used beam saber among Federation mecha only used 1 calorie per second ... Once one equipped this precious power source, one would pretty much have an inexhaustible mecha. Everyone knew what this meant.

Among all the mecha in the Federation, only god-class IN mecha possessed infinite mobility fittings — this was also why IN mecha had become the strongest god-class mecha which drove all mecha operators wild.

Therefore, Ling Lan believed that once this item made its debut in the world, it would definitely stir up a storm of carnage and blood!

Ling Lan sighed softly and pushed down the frenzied cries of Little Four in the mindspace, then asked lightly, "This thing, what do you all want to do with it?"

"Boss can just decide what we'll do." Qi Long was the first to answer. He was indeed very covetous of the item, but he knew it was not fated for him. Using it on an advanced mecha would just be a horrible waste of this precious power source — even he could not bear to see this pearl fall into dust.

Han Jijyun sighed deeply as well and said in a restrained tone, "I think keeping it will be worth more than offering it up for contribution. I believe Boss can definitely become an imperial operator." Han Jijyun had full confidence in Ling Lan and believed that it was just a matter of time. If they gave it up here now, if they wanted to use this type of heaven-defying instrument suitable for imperial mecha in future, they would probably never have the luck to see one again.

Hearing these words, Li Lanfeng's gaze brightened and he stated firmly, "I agree with what Abacus says, Rabb —— First-String can definitely become an imperial operator." In his excitement, he almost called out his forbidden address for Ling Lan. Luckily, he had caught himself in time.

Even as Li Lanfeng was secretly rejoicing having escaped a round of beating by the rabbit, his heart was truly filled with confidence in Ling Lan.

The conviction in Li Lanfeng's tone caused everyone around to glance at him. In particular, those who had grown up alongside Ling Lan, Qi Long and gang, found their impression of Li Lanfeng rising exponentially.

It could not be helped; they were just like mindless fanatics when it came to Ling Lan. Meeting another mindless fan who idolised their boss just like them, it was exceedingly easy for them to mentally accept the other as someone on their side ... It had to be said that these words of Li Lanfeng perfectly scratched the right spot for the group; this helped him set down a sturdy foundation for him to successfully become one of the team in future.

Only Li Shiyu could not help but purse his lips. What virtues and abilities did this despicable and shameless Boss Lan have to inspire such adoration from these followers?! That even a strange mecha operator in Mecha World was so trusting of him? Li Shiyu felt his three outlooks of this world begin to distort ... till now, Li Shiyu still had not forgiven Ling Lan for her black-bellied actions in the past.

Of course, even if Li Shiyu was somewhat dissatisfied with Ling Lan, he too agreed with Han Jijyun's and [Self-Defined Destiny]'s suggestion. He too believed that keeping the power source was the smartest option.

[No Mecha Unrepaired] was an obsessed mecha modifier to begin with. Seeing such a valuable power source, his heart was already pounding violently out of his control. If there came a day when he could personally modify an imperial mecha, his entire life would have been all worth it. Right then, [No Mecha Unrepaired] did not know yet that his wish would actually come true in the near future ...

Everyone thought that this heaven-defying power source should remain with them. Seeing that everyone was in accord, Ling Lan turned her head to say to Lin Zhong-qing, "Parcel, how much longer can those energy blocks of yours sustain us for?"

"Easily 10 days," replied Lin Zhong-qing assertively after checking on the stores within his bag. In reality, if there was not the concern that a large battle could occur to drain their power, their stores could last them for up to a month without any problems. However, Lin Zhong-qing liked to be conservative in his estimations, unwilling to cut the timing too close. If by any chance anything happened later, he did not want them to be trapped in a dead end.

"Besides, our yield this time is pretty decent. At worst, we can still trade them for up to another 10 days' worth of power supplies," added Lin Zhong-qing.

With this answer, Ling Lan knew there was no longer any need to worry. She tucked the power source into her own mecha's bag and said, "In that case, I will temporarily take care of this precious power source. If anyone needs it in future, you can ask me for it."

"Okay!" Qi Long was the first to yell out exuberantly. Perhaps when he advanced to ace mecha 4 in the future, he could maybe ask Boss to lend him the power source just for the heck of it. This power source would definitely allow an ace mecha to be in an unlimited mobility state; that would allow him to get an indirect taste of the ultimate advantage of a god-class IN mecha.

Just like that, under everybody's collective decision, this precious power source was retained. Ling Lan's group of nine no longer tarried, swiftly moving towards the assembly point the military vessel's control centre had notified them of.

By the time Ling Lan and the others arrived at the assembly point, they found that there were already quite a number of mecha which had already returned. Of course, their conditions were not as good as Ling Lan's team — many of the mecha had not gained anything noteworthy. Expending so much effort for little to no gain, quite a few mecha were already grumbling at the redemption area that this was a wasted trip on their part.

This sudden interruption to their reclamation process had indeed cut short their time so they were unable to venture further in their search for resources. Mind you, every previous reclamation event had always lasted for at least a month. At some truly wild and deserted planets which were extraordinarily massive, the event could even be extended for up to three months. Thus, the mecha operators' complaints did have some merit.

At the redemption point, Ling Lan's team brought out all of the common material resources and minerals they had found over these last few days — perhaps the military would give them some compensation for them. They had initially thought they might only get about 10 days' worth or maybe half a month's worth of power supplies in return, but the military actually gave them a month's worth of power supplies outright. It looked like the military actually felt rather guilty about cutting short the reclamation event as well, and so had applied some measures to compensate the teams that had participated in the reclamation event.

At 12 noon on the 10th day of their arrival on planet X192, all of the military vessels departed punctually, prepared to leave the gravitational pull of planet X192 to return to outer space.

The mecha hold Ling Lan was in, which had been filled to the brim at the start, was now at least one-third less populated on this return trip. A significant number of mecha operators had not been able to adapt to planet X192's environment and had ended up resting forever on planet X192 as scrap heaps due to errors in their control methods. Of course, many more had been done in by other humans ... quite a number of mecha had encountered the same thing Ling Lan's team had when trying to return, becoming someone else's prey. Of course, there were also those who managed to transform from prey to hunter, but this would all depend on the individual's skills.

Chapter 316: Magnetic Storm!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

The process of deorbiting from the planet went smoothly. When the JMC notification came over the official comms telling them they had officially entered starspace again, all of the mecha operators breathed a sigh of relief. Honestly speaking, they had also been afraid that the energy turbulence of X192 would occur prematurely and turn them into one of the scrap heaps on the planet. Even if they did not profit from this trip, being able to return with their lives was still good.

However, they had not been happy for long when they felt the transport ship's system begin to display signs of scrambling. The initially brightly lit illumination system of the transport ship actually began to flicker nonstop.

"What the hell is going on? Why are we unable to control the illumination system anymore?" The operations staff in charge of this facility in the transport ship shouted.

But before he could report this to the captain, another staff member responsible for a different system also cried out in shock, "Dead-ahead radar has stopped working. Not good, the port side has also stopped responding ..."

"The surveillance system is unstable. We've got some white noise ..."

Bad news rang out one after another in the control room. The captain broke out in cold sweat; without daring to delay, he quickly made emergency contact with the fleet's command ship. Only then did he find out that theirs was not the only transport ship to have these issues — all of the starships were experiencing these issues.

However, they could not find the reason for it right then. Just when everyone was at a loss, someone noticed that the star map of planet X193 not too far from them was different from usual. A ring of violet haze had actually appeared around the typically dull and grey planet.

This strange phenomenon made everyone take serious notice. After some specialists studied it, they discovered that that ring of violet haze was actually a magnetic storm, the very mention of which caused the expressions of the people to change, and this magnetic storm was currently spreading out at an extremely rapid pace.

A magnetic storm was an extremely terrifying phenomenon. Anywhere it descends upon, everything there would be pulverized into dust, not a trace of it left behind. But even more frightening was the fact that this magnetic storm was unstable, liable to explode at any moment. When that happened, the magnetic storm would become a magnetic tsunami, sweeping out in an instant to consume everything in the surrounding space completely.

Knowing a magnetic storm had formed over X193, the command ship ordered all the starships to ignore the disturbance to their peripheral systems and just drive forward at full speed to escape from the danger zone of the magnetic storm. Here and now, at this critical moment, the dual-system navigation of the starships showed their true value. With the malfunction of the auto-piloting system, at this time, the starships' captains true navigational ability was put to the test.

This change in the starship was instantly sensed by Ling Lan within the transport hold. A strong sense of danger rose in her heart. Without even thinking about it, Ling Lan instantly let Little Four connect to the starship's mainframe and thus found out about the magnetic storm brewing not too far from them at planet X193.

Although the transport ships drove forwards with all its power, trying to leave the range of the magnetic storm, the speed of the transport ships was obviously slower than the patrol ships escorting them, not to mention that of the command mainship in the lead.

Little Four's knowledge of magnetic storms was obviously much deeper than those of the specialists here. He anxiously told Ling Lan that if his calculations were not wrong, the magnetic storm would erupt half an hour later. This half an hour was not at all enough for the transport ships to escape the danger zone of the resulting magnetic tsunami. In other words, if Ling Lan and the others waited patiently here in the transport ship, death would be inevitable.

According to Little Four's analysis, only the command mainship in the lead had any chance of escaping; even the patrol ships which were faster than the transport ships would not be spared ... of course, this all still depended on whether the command mainship would begin flying at full speed from this point on.

In the command mainship, the commanding officer received a new command from the mainframe. His expression turned ugly, and there were signs of rage on his brow.

Seeing this, his adjutant asked, "General, what has happened?"

"The mainframe is asking us to go full speed ahead and ignore the other starships behind us," said the commander in a deep voice after taking in a deep breath.

"Why?" The adjutant asked in shock.

"Because the magnetic storm will erupt completely after half an hour. Other than our mainship, the other starships have no chance of escaping," said the commander grimly.

"Then let us follow orders. Perhaps this is the best outcome the mainframe can see." A gleam flashed through the adjutant's eyes but quickly vanished.

"But there are several hundred thousand mecha operators in the transport ships. That's several hundred thousand lives there!" As a commander, he could not abandon his own troops.

"General, this is Mecha World, and we have a mission to complete. Even if this sacrifice were necessary in reality, we must still harden our hearts and do it," reminded the adjutant.

"Ah ... look at me. I had completely forgotten," The commander slapped his forehead, smiling wryly. Mecha World was truly too realistic, causing him to forget that he was only in a virtual world.

Divested of his concerns, the commander decisively gave the command to move forward at full speed. It was just as the adjutant had said. No matter what, he had to complete his mission — even if there were some sacrifices in the process, he could not falter. His only consolation was that this was the virtual world, so he would not carry this regret with him for life.

"Boss, terrible news! The command mainship is already moving forwards at full speed. It looks like they have discovered the eruption time of the magnetic storm." Little Four, who had infiltrated the mainship's computers, sensed the change in the mainship's movements and immediately alerted Ling Lan.

Ling Lan frowned at his words. She felt that they might have fallen into a scheme of the mainframe. Enraged, she raised the right arm of her mecha and broke the secured seat bindings holding it down. At the same time, she connected to the team's comms and said coldly, "We've been had. How despicable."

"Boss, what's going on?" Ling Lan's words sent a jolt running through the hearts of all her team members, who quickly began asking her to explain.

"This reclamation event was a lure. On the command ship, there are probably some people who have been officially dispatched to investigate the base camp of the Swift Dragons. Meanwhile, the rest of us are just sacrifices to give them a legitimate reason to get close to the base camp." Smiling coldly, Ling Lan laid out her hypothesis. Everyone's face could not help but change after hearing what she had to say.

"Our mission ..." As if thinking of something, Han Jijyun's expression became extremely pained.

"It's like First-String said, that is likely also just an excuse. The mainframe had never put any hopes on us to succeed from the very beginning," Li Lanfeng chimed in with a cold chuckle. "We're just cannon fodder. The mainframe is obviously playing a grand game of chess, and we are all just pawns in its game. The question is whether those people on the command ship are in the same boat."

"Who shall be whose pawns is still uncertain." That said, Ling Lan flicked her left arm and broke the bindings on her left arm as well.

This sort of unexplained vandalism caused all the mecha operators in the same hold to glance askance at her. However, the gazes of some of the extremely bored mecha operators lit up in response. They too followed Ling Lan's lead and used force to break free from their secured seats. Having been secured in the hold for several days already, they were actually full of resentment inside. Since someone had started it, they were happy to follow suit. Being able to just move around a bit in the transport hold was still pretty good.

"A path to survival must be created by one's own hands. We need to rush over to the command ship before the magnetic storm blows up completely," Ling Lan stated her plans. Only by making their way there would they have any chance of survival. Fortunately, a mecha's short-distance speed exceeded that of the mainship's. As long as they did not drag it out too long, they would still have a chance of catching up.

As for how they would enter the mainship, Ling Lan was not worried about that. Little Four, who had already gained control rights of the mainship, would surreptitiously open the launch ports for mecha for them to slip into the mecha hold ... of course, once they entered, they would certainly be discovered, but Ling Lan had no time to spare to worry about that right now.

At Ling Lan's order, her team members wrenched free of their secured seats without hesitation. Li Shiyu cast a pitying look at the other mecha operators in the hold and sighed, "These people ... dying here is such a shame. Should we alert them?"

"If we delay at all, we too might become one of their numbers. When we can't even save ourselves, don't bother with useless mercy," Ling Lan chided coldly. She did not have the heart of such a saintly matron; let her first secure the lives of her companions before anything else was said.

Li Shiyu was still rather tender-hearted — Ling Lan had great admiration for Li Shiyu, truly, because a doctor needed to have this sort of tender heart. However, a dutiful military doctor not only needed to have this compassion, they also needed to be rational and cold-blooded if the situation called for it. They needed to react to the circumstance and be decisive, not hesitant in making their decisions. Ling Lan felt that on this point, Li Shiyu was still not quite there yet.

Ling Lan's words shocked Li Shiyu — he said nothing more, only quietly sticking to Ling Lan's side. He had recalled something his instructors had once said to him. A military doctor was not only a doctor, he was also a soldier. His instructor had once criticised him — on being a doctor, he was doing extremely perfectly, but on being a soldier, he was greatly lacking. On the day he finally understood what it meant to be a soldier, then he would truly become a perfect military doctor. At first, he had been extremely perplexed, but Ling Lan's words just now had triggered some vague insight in him ...

"What are you all doing? Breaking the secured seats ... do you not want your lives anymore? The unexpected turbulence from the high-speed flight will cause you all to be injured!" The JMC of the transport ship saw what was happening in the hold and could not help but shout in the public comms.

Some of the other mecha who were just planning to forcefully break out of their secured seats as well instantly stopped their struggling at these words. Indeed, so what if they temporarily obtained their freedom? If they hit any turbulence, without the secured seats holding them, they were very likely to be thrown into the air and ricochet around the walls of the hold violently. Even with the protection of their cockpits, that could not guarantee they would be unharmed. They might as well meekly stay in their secured seats to ensure their safety.

Thus, those mecha operators still in their secured seats no longer envied those mecha operators moving around freely. Meanwhile, those mecha operators who had already broken free were starting to regret their decision. If they truly encountered some violent turbulence after this, they who had already broken free might really receive heavy concussive damage. If that happened, their loss would outweigh the gains.

Only Ling Lan's group of nine was unrattled. They pushed aside the mecha blocking them to reach the doors of the mecha hold and began thinking how they could swiftly break apart these doors.

Chapter 317: Destruction!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

"Adjust mecha settings for outer space." Ling Lan rapidly changed the settings on her mecha, not forgetting to remind her companions at the same time.

"Yes, Boss!" At this time, everyone knew the situation was urgent so they did not chatter unnecessarily, calmly following Ling Lan's instructions. Very soon, the team had all set their mecha to outer space mecha mode. Receiving the OK from all her team members, Ling Lan abruptly pulled out Regretless.

Behind her, [No Mecha Unrepaired] saw this familiar weapon in Ling Lan's hands and a complicated surge of emotion rose within his heart. This was the weapon which had almost ended his military academy life, but it was also this weapon which had brought him to this bunch of great friends. Even as he was proud of himself, he was also grateful for the trust [Lingtian First-String] had in him.

Ling Lan's original plan was very good — let Little Four invade the mainframe of this transport ship and open it automatically. But unexpectedly, after the appearance of the magnetic storm, whether out of panic or another motive, some unknown bastard had actually put the hold doors in lockdown. In other words, it was no longer possible to use the starship's automatic system to open these doors — only violence would do.

"They want to destroy the hold doors and kill us all." One of those mecha who had broken their secured seats, only to regret it and blame Ling Lan's team for their rashness, saw this action of Ling Lan's and put old grudges and new alarm together. He quickly opened the public comms and yelled out to all the mecha operators present.

This cry caused all the eyes of the mecha present to turn to Ling Lan's party. Seeing that they were indeed planning to destroy the hold doors, the mecha were instantly livid. Right now, the transport ship was travelling swiftly. Breaking the hold doors would undoubtedly disrupt the movement of the transport ship and may even create wild air flow in the hold and threaten the operators' safety.

No one would be willing to see their safety threatened by another. This action of Ling Lan's undoubtedly raised the ire of the crowd — all of the mecha that could move turned with furious faces and began gathering around Ling Lan, looking like they were about to rip this intermediate mecha to shreds.

"Anyone who dares disturb me, kill without mercy." Ling Lan did not even turn her head, but Little Four had already transmitted everything that was happening in the hold faithfully into her mind. The corners of Ling Lan's lips turned up into a subtle cruel smile as she coldly issued this bloody order.

For the sake of her team's survival, she did not care about doing some brutal and inhumane things to these people who wanted to stop her. At this time, the blood-soaked killing intent she had gained through the endless killing simulations within the learning space burst forth.

Everyone on her team sensed Ling Lan's endless killing intent, and the eight of them instinctively lifted the weapons in their hands and directed them at the mecha headed for them. With that, the tension grew between the two sides — it seemed like a great battle was about to commence.

"Who'd have thought that just a handful of advanced mecha would dare to fight against everyone in this hold? How audacious." A cold harrumph rang out from a corner, and then a special-class mecha could be seen walking out.

Qi Long could not help but scoff and then stand out. He was the second strongest on the team — with Boss focused on destroying the hold doors, this opponent could only fall to him. He did not feel afraid but was instead feeling rather exhilarated. He had in fact long wanted to try fighting a round with a special-class operator, just to see how much distance there was between him and them.

Qi Long was not so swelled with confidence that he thought he could defeat a special-class mecha. He only believed that his boss would definitely succeed in breaking down the hold door before he was defeated and save him.

It was precisely this sort of trust that allowed Qi Long to stand forward unflinchingly; of course, most of it was because this punk's desire for combat was blazing high again.

With a loud boom, the two mecha's short high-frequency blades clashed once, and then the two mecha brushed by each other. Surrounded by mecha, in consideration for their own safety, Qi Long and that special-class mecha showed great restraint and used short swords in close-range combat.

[No Mecha Unrepaired] brought out two guns but did not use them against the mecha operators in the hold. He turned around and said to Ling Lan who was just about to act, "Leader, let me go first."

Ling Lan glanced at the strangely shaped guns in [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s hands and knew that they must be things created by [No Mecha Unrepaired] himself. A thought sparked and she withdrew several steps, giving way to [No Mecha Unrepaired].

For convenience of travelling, the team had not brought any weapons which could affect their mobility this time, such as heavy cold weapons or heavy cannons. This was also why Ling Lan had no choice but to handle the breaking of the doors personally. But now since [No Mecha Unrepaired] had weapons capable of destroying the hold doors, Ling Lan was happy to take a backseat.

Two loud rumbles rang out — from [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s twin guns, laser cannon shots the size of bowls burst forth to crash heavily into the joints of the hold doors. The entire transport ship actually began to shudder due to the heavy collision.

Quite a few mecha operators who had lost their secured seats were thrown to the ground by this abrupt great shudder. At the same time, this shudder had also affected the battle between Qi Long and the special-class operator. The two of them began to waver on their feet, somewhat unsteady, but as they both had extremely strong sense of balance and control, they managed to find their footing after just a moment. Still, due to this interlude, the two of them did not continue to fight. They faced one another in an impasse, neither willing to make a move recklessly.

[No Mecha Unrepaired] disdainfully cast aside the two guns in his hands. Although this thing packed a decent amount of power, they were one-time use items. These were defects he had created back when he had been bored. As the conditions in the town then had not been sufficient, not possessing enough sturdy materials to create this sort of laser cannon guns, he had created the guns from substitute materials. Thus, this type of incomplete one-use weapon had been created. [No Mecha Unrepaired] had not thought much of them, which was why he had thrown them into the recesses of his bag. If not for reorganising his bag before they had gone travelling, he would have completely forgotten he had ever created such rubbish ...

Although the power of the laser cannon guns were formidable, the hold doors and its interlocking chain were made from ninety-nine layers of the sturdiest high-density steel. The laser cannon guns had only blasted off several layers from its surface — this bit of damage was nothing to the ninety-nine high-density steel layered doors and chain.

The mecha operators in the hold had barely let out a sigh of relief when two more of the same guns had appeared in [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s hands once more in the very next second and were made to blast at the doors once again. It should be said that [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s shooting skills were pretty good; the spot he hit was not one millimetre off from where his first shot had landed, once again melting off several layers of the door.

By the time [No Mecha Unrepaired] brought out his fourth pair of guns, the faces of all the mecha operators in the hold changed. Hells, was this intermediate mecha warrior the Doraemon of legend 1 ? Did that bag contain a never-ending armoury of weapons?

Frankly, things were not as outrageous as they believed. [No Mecha Unrepaired] had only made ten of these guns in one go back when he was bored. At most, he could only shoot five dual shots and then he would be out of ammo.

However, the mecha operators there did not know this. They thought that if they just continued to watch as [No Mecha Unrepaired] continued his destruction, great calamity would befall them. They did not want to die due to the insane actions of these morons here. And so, all the mecha that could move leapt towards the hold doors almost simultaneously, trying to stop [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s violent vandalism.

Having been long prepared, Li Lanfeng and the other five free members naturally would not let these mecha pass by their defensive line. Thus, a chaotic melee broke out within the hold. Fortunately, out of fear of the consequences of breaking the transport ship, everyone was using cold weapons. Of course, these mecha did not have many lethal or highly destructive firearms on them to begin with.

In the midst of this chaotic battle, Qi Long and the special-class operator continued to face off, their fight threatening to break out at any second ...

The entire transport ship instantly became shaky due to the violent actions of the mecha within its hold. Meanwhile, the nebulous magnetic storm around X193 was becoming increasingly unstable. Little Four, who had been monitoring its condition all this while, began to grow a little anxious because the condition of the magnetic storm was turning out to be much worse than he had reckoned ...

When [No Mecha Unrepaired] was firing his fifth round, he gave notice for Ling Lan to take over.

Ling Lan knew then that [No Mecha Unrepaired] must be out of laser cannon guns, but she was still extremely pleased that he had managed to destroy half the thickness of the doors and chain in such a short amount of time. This had undoubtedly saved her a lot of time, and what they lacked most right now was time.

After [No Mecha Unrepaired] had fired his last round, Ling Lan stabbed Regretless at the joint of the doors in the very next second. Regretless' blade was extremely sharp; it actually managed to pierce through a little. Just this little bit was enough to light up Ling Lan's eyes. It looked like the sharpness of Regretless was indeed special.

Ling Lan pulled it back out again forcefully and stabbed it forwards powerfully once again. Finally, she felt as if she had pierced through, and she began pushing forwards with all her might. An ear-splitting crack rang out, and all the mecha operators who had been fighting stopped fighting in unplanned unison, looking towards Ling Lan with shocked incomprehension.

Perhaps they had never expected Ling Lan to break the hold doors so rapidly. After this shocked pause, they quickly regained their senses, but just as they were about to leap forwards once more to stop the other, a clarion voice rang out in the transport hold ...

"If you all want to die, then just continue to stop us," said Li Lanfeng abruptly in a frigid tone.

These words made everyone pause once again, stunned. They looked at one another, unsure what to make of these words by the opponent.

"You think we're just fooling around? Who wants to die here? It's precisely because we don't want to die that we're doing this," Li Lanfeng continued to say.

Han Jijyun frowned at these words, but his brow smoothed out again very quickly. He turned a deeply contemplative gaze on Li Lanfeng, as if thinking of something. Meanwhile, the others said nothing since Boss Lan was not doing anything to stop Li Lanfeng. Ling Lan did not care whether the truth got out or not — as long as her destruction was not hindered, [Self-Defined Destiny] could say whatever he wanted.

The first to speak up in return was that special-class operator facing off against Qi Long. Tone cold, he asked, "What's the meaning of this?"

"According to what we know, a magnetic storm has formed not too far from us, and our fleet is within the eruption zone of the magnetic storm." Li Lanfeng decisively announced this news.

"What?" "Impossible ..." "You're bluffing." Li Lanfeng's words caused the mecha operators present to break out into disbelieving protests.

The special-class operator was undoubtedly a level-headed person, otherwise he would never have been able to advance to become a special-class operator. It should be known that it was an extremely difficult matter to advance from advanced operator to special-class operator.

After a thoughtful silence, he asked, "How did you all find out?"

Chapter 318: Entering the Mainship!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

"Because I am a hacker." Li Lanfeng did not hesitate to reveal his other identity to the crowd.

Hearing this, Ling Lan's hands paused for a moment, but she soon continued chopping away determinedly. During this time, she had already destroyed almost half of the joint of the doors now, though Regretless' condition was also becoming extremely bad. Still, Ling Lan could not afford the time to wince and worry about it — after all, when their lives hung in the balance, all else was immaterial.

"If you all do not believe us, you can ask the control room of this transport ship," suggested Li Lanfeng calmly, seeing that everyone was still sceptical.

Quite a few mecha operators stopped moving and began to contact the control room of the transport ship for confirmation. Once they received confirmation, everyone began to panic.

While the others were communicating with the control room, the special-class operator asked Li Lanfeng, "Even if a magnetic storm forms, a mecha would not be able to fly out of range based on its own power alone anyway. We might as well stay in the transport ship. It'll be safer that way."

"Sadly, the transport ship's speed is too slow ..." Li Lanfeng only responded briefly to these words. As if thinking of something, the special-class operator kept away the high-frequency blade in his hands and said to Ling Lan who was still busily destroying the door joint, "I have a special-class beam gun here. Perhaps that might help."

Ling Lan decisively stepped away from the door, signalling for the special-class operator to come forth. Every second saved would mean an extra measure of safety.

The special-class operator decisively unhooked the special-class beam gun from his back and aimed for the joint which had already been half destroyed by Ling Lan. He shot a powerful blast at it, not at all stingy with the energy of the beam gun. In just a short 10 seconds, he had completely unloaded all of the beam gun's power.

At this time, the joint was already quite beaten up. Ling Lan was just about to move forward to resume her destruction when [No Mecha Unrepaired] suddenly said, "Let me try."

Ling Lan was taken aback — this [No Mecha Unrepaired] still had a card up his sleeve? Looks like a mechanical genius truly could not be underestimated.

Two missiles suddenly shot out from the head of [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s mecha — these were the anti-air interference missiles all mecha were equipped with. Their attack power was the worst among all of a mecha's weapons and equipment, so mecha operators generally very rarely ever thought about using them. These missiles were absolutely one of those things that had little value and yet was kept just in case 1 . It was very unexpected for [No Mecha Unrepaired] to choose to use them and attack.

A trace of disappointment was revealed in the special-class operator's eyes. Only Ling Lan's brow lifted, because she had seen very clearly that the missiles fired from [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s head were absolutely not that regular type of interference missile. Despite appearing somewhat similar, Ling Lan's keen and discerning eyes had nevertheless instantly registered the difference.

Sure enough, when the missiles hit the door joint, a tremendous blast rang out once more, completely drowning out the screams of those mecha operators who had already learned the truth.

With this violent explosion, the hold doors finally broke apart with a cracking sound. Seeing this, Ling Lan resolutely kicked out a foot to send the hold doors flying.

The air within the hold rushed out — quite a few mecha who were out of their secured seats were sent flying due to the loss of gravity, slamming heavily into the roof of the hold. Unprepared, those mecha operators who had been standing near the doors were thrown out of the transport hold entirely, ending up in outer space.

Ling Lan's group of nine had long been prepared. The moment the hold doors opened, they leapt out into space themselves. Witnessing that lovely violet ring of light that was becoming increasingly vivid in colour, they knew that that was the magnetic storm that could reap all life within this area.

"Activate all engines to their maximum. Move forwards at your mecha's fastest speed." Following this order, everyone on the team flew forwards at full speed, overtaking one transport ship after another.

"That special-class operator is following us," Xie Yi, who was bringing up the rear, alerted everyone on the team.

"Don't mind him," Ling Lan said curtly. Seeing [No Mecha Unrepaired] gradually slowing down, she instructed Qi Long, "Combat, remember to help out [No Mecha Unrepaired]." Meanwhile, the others seemed to be doing fine on their own for now.

"Little Four, how far away is the command mainship from us?" Ling Lan asked Little Four.

Little Four answered, "Moving at full speed like this, we can catch up in 19 minutes and 47 seconds. However, let me remind you, Boss, that the magnetic storm might erupt prematurely."

"What is your earliest estimation for that to happen?" Ling Lan's brow was deeply furrowed.

"It's very likely to happen in only 18 minutes." Little Four directly revealed his latest estimated time to Ling Lan. As this was the virtual world, Little Four was not overly anxious.

What bloody rotten luck! Ling Lan could not help but swear when she heard Little Four's reply. Even though dying within the virtual world did not seem like a big deal — it would only cause them to drop some level points and at worst they would simply have to start over — Ling Lan did not want to give up just like that. In her mind, she was treating everything here as if it were real, just as she did with her assignments in the learning space. Only by using this sort of mindset to put pressure on herself could she find that single slim thread of survival in her missions and complete those seemingly impossible missions.

One more point — Ling Lan also did not wish for her companions to get into the habit of taking death lightly in the virtual world. Once they returned to reality and entered a real battlefield, this kind of mentality might carry over and bring them great disaster. Only by constantly being aware that they only had one life would they be able to maintain their vigilance on the battlefield and keep on living well.

Ling Lan believed that the reason why Mecha World was constructed so realistically and had such harsh punishments for death was in large part in hopes that the mecha operators would cherish their lives in Mecha World. In truth, Mecha World had indeed succeeded on this point. Unless absolutely unavoidable, no one in the game was willing to give up on their lives easily. This was also one of the reasons why Ling Lan had drawn the ire of the other mecha operators when she had been destroying the hold doors.

"Right now, push all of your mecha into overdrive and activate the fastest theoretical speed of your mecha." Ling Lan decisively issued her newest order. Even if their mecha were utterly ruined by this, as long as they lived, all these losses would be worth it.

"Yes, Boss!" No one raised any objections. They all carried out the order simultaneously, increasing the speed of their mecha.

Meanwhile, Qi Long and Luo Lang did not require Ling Lan to remind them — one on the right and one on the left, they grabbed [No Mecha Unrepaired]. Revving their engines at the same time, they shot deeper into space like they were flying.

Seeing this, Li Lanfeng's gaze flashed. He was quietly amazed at the great rapport between the rabbit's team members. This rapport was something he was incapable of at the moment, but he was not discouraged. One day, he would be able to do this too.

Before Ling Lan had given her order, she had asked Little Four to send the flight path to the command mainship to everyone in the team. As long as they were not directionally challenged, they would not fly the wrong way.

The special-class operator following closely behind them saw Ling Lan's team speed up once more and could not help but curse silently. Without even having to think about it, he too accelerated after them. Although Ling Lan's team had already been moving at full speed before this, for the special-class mecha, keeping up with them had not pushed him to his limits yet then. But now, he could feel the strain, and there were even times when he was left behind by a significant margin when he could not react in time. He rejoiced internally over the fact that he was a special-class operator — if he had still been an advanced mecha warrior, he might have already lost sight of the other side a long time ago.

After flying at overcapacity for about 15 minutes, the whole team's mecha were all displaying damage levels between 15% to 20%, but their speed was showing effect — they could already see the silhouette of the command mainship. The group could not help but become infused with joy. As long as they could get on board the command mainship, they would be out of danger.

At the 17th minute, they arrived close to the command mainship. At this time, a mecha launch port on the tail piece of the ship silently opened up. If Ling Lan had not sent over the landing point on the command mainship, they would never have discovered it.

"[Priceless Kinship], go in first." According to the team's flight position, Ling Lan called [Priceless Kinship] who was closer to the front to enter first.

There was actually danger involved in being the first to enter, because no one could tell what the situation was like inside. However, when Li Shiyu received Ling Lan's order, without having to think about it, he instantly controlled his mecha to aim at the launch port and slid in like a cannonball. Sparks flew when both legs of his mecha made contact with the rails of the launch port. Apparently, in order to decelerate, Li Shiyu had used the bottoms of his legs to produce friction. However, they had initially been travelling over their limits so their speed was really just too high — even by doing so, Li Shiyu's speed was not decreased by much.

Watching helplessly as his mecha was about to slam into the second guard door, as if sensing danger, the guard door suddenly sprang apart. Li Shiyu slid in smoothly, and though his own condition was not that optimistic, he still paid attention to the situation behind him. He heard Ling Lan order [Lingtian Parcel] to prepare to jump in next.

Very quickly, Li Shiyu had arrived at the third guard door. Just as if their entry was being observed closely, right as he was about to slam into the third guard door, it once again sprang open.

At this moment, Li Shiyu no longer had any way of keeping track of what was happening behind him. After the third door, they were in fact already in the inner section of the starship, which was where mecha were housed and also where they were prepped for launching.

Sure enough, when he had zoomed past the third door, on his mecha's screen, he saw the flabbergasted expressions of the staff members on both sides of the launch rails. Having received no notice about any of this, it was clear to see that the workers were extremely shocked by the sudden appearance of mecha sliding in from the other end of the launch tracks.

Very soon, a great commotion broke out on the scene. Many staff even leapt down from the mecha they were working on to rush over and try to see what was happening.

At the end of the tracks was a protective air cushion and many cords of bungee rope to prevent mecha from being damaged. Li Shiyu crashed heavily into them but did not receive much shock from the impact.

Without hesitation, Li Shiyu borrowed the rebound force of the bungee ropes to spring out from the cushion and swiftly dashed to an empty space on the right. He had not forgotten that [Lingtian Parcel] was right behind him — he had no intention of becoming the other's 'meat cushion' and end up with an internecine outcome.

At this time, the JMC in charge of the command mainship had connected to the public comms and was asking loudly, "Who are you? Where have you come from?" At the same time, Li Shiyu saw many of the staff members lifting the weapons in their hands, directing them nervously at Li Shiyu.

"Not good, there are still more mecha coming! Run!" Before Li Shiyu could reply, a horrible screeching noise could be heard coming from the launch port. These staff members were quick on the uptake, figuring out that this mecha was not alone in stealing aboard their ship.

The staff members knew very well that a mecha sliding through the launch port at high speeds could not be controlled. If they were not careful, it might simply crush them workers to death. To ensure their lives and safety, they had no more mind to bother with Li Shiyu. They all scattered to escape to safer territory.

Chapter 319: Secret Weapon!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

The next second, Lin Zhong-qing's mecha also crashed into the air cushion, and he reacted just as quickly as Li Shiyu to shift his mecha to one side because there were still 7 companions waiting to enter behind him.

As one mecha after another slid into the military vessel, with even [No Mecha Unrepaired] sliding in easily with Qi Long's assistance, Ling Lan's worry eased. As long as the military vessel flew for another few minutes, they would escape the danger zone Little Four had calculated.

Seeing that her mecha's power was almost running dry, Ling Lan said to the final person by her side, [Self-Defined Destiny], "Leopard, you go first." Perhaps out of trust in the leopard's ability, Ling Lan had left [Self-Defined Destiny] for last.

[Self-Defined Destiny] answered, "Okay." But before he could control his mecha to descend into the port, that special-class operator which had tailed them all this way suddenly accelerated wildly to overtake them and shoot into the launch port.

"That special-class operator is too godd*mn shameless." Seeing this, Li Lanfeng could not help but curse. Leaving alone the matter of following them here, the other should still have known to be courteous and stay in line. How could he be so shameless as to cut their line?

Ling Lan frowned at this. That special-class operator had unexpectedly snatched the perfect time to cut in — that was truly a perfect 10-second cut. What a shame, it looked like the leopard would have to wait a while now. Each mecha needed to take a 10-second delay from the previous one before sliding in, otherwise it would be too easy for a collision to occur. If unlucky, the operators involved could be heavily injured and may even die. Although Ling Lan too was extremely annoyed that the other mecha had done such a thing, she could not let the leopard do anything rash.

So, Ling Lan said, "Leopard, wait another 10 seconds."

The two of them continued flying at high speeds to keep up with the mainship, patiently waiting for the 10 seconds to pass. Seeing that the timing was almost right, Ling Lan was about to speak up to let [Self-Defined Destiny] slide into the port when Little Four suddenly cried out in the mindspace, "Boss, not good! The magnetic storm is about to blow!"

"What?! Didn't you say it was 18 minutes? There's still several seconds on the clock!" Ling Lan's expression changed drastically at these words. She had never considered the possibility that Little Four's estimations would be off by a few seconds.

Before Little Four could respond, a cacophony of the crackling sounds of magnetic disturbance could be heard within the cockpit. Sure enough, the magnetic storm had broken out, otherwise they would not have felt such a strong disturbance so far away from the centre of the magnetic storm.

Ling Lan and Li Lanfeng turned their heads together to look, and they saw the deep purple ring-shaped haze in the distance bloom like fireworks. It exploded powerfully, spreading out into its surroundings like a purple sea of flowers, so lovely that it dazzled the eyes. It was hard to believe that such a beautiful scene existed in outer space.

However, Ling Lan and Li Lanfeng could not appreciate any of its beauty, filled instead with fear. They could see the places where the purple sea engulfed had become barren — it was spreading at a rapid pace and had already begun consuming the transport ship which had fallen behind the most. The ship was turned into dust particles in the starry skies, leaving no other trace of its existence.

"Rabbit, you go first." Ling Lan had yet to ask the leopard to go first when Li Lanfeng beat her to the punch. He shoved Ling Lan beside him with all his might towards the launch port of the starship.

The power levels of their mecha were already at a critical red level — whether it was the magnetic tsunami coming from behind them or the power levels of their mecha themselves, neither allowed them to continue flying in space.

Li Lanfeng believed that with the rabbit's control skills, even if the other was unprepared, the other would still be able to safely slide into the launch port. Li Lanfeng only had one thought in his mind at that moment. Even if he met his end here today, he could not let all the rabbit's previous efforts go to waste.

Unprepared, Ling Lan had been sent hurtling towards the launch port of the mainship by Li Lanfeng's shove, but how agile were Ling Lan's reflexes? As she descended, she abruptly stretched out a hand and grabbed Li Lanfeng. Then, flipping through the air, she flew to the space above Li Lanfeng and lifted both legs to stomp forcefully on Li Lanfeng's mecha ...

This was the rabbit's ultimate move Li Lanfeng was most familiar with, the stomp technique, which was a refined version of Rabbit Sky Leap. Due to this stomp, Li Lanfeng's mecha flew like a cannonball towards the launch port. He looked at the rabbit using the remaining thread of power he had to fly after his mecha, and his eyes could not help but become damp.

Once again he had troubled the rabbit; once again, he was experiencing the pain of being weak.

There was a type of despair in Li Lanfeng's heart. All these years, he had pushed himself desperately, tormenting himself to become stronger — although a part of it was because he wanted to overturn his fate, he knew that the true reason he wanted to become strong was so that he could one day stand confidently by the rabbit's side and become the rabbit's best partner. But now, from the looks of it, this was all just a joke. He was still all too weak — he still did not have the right to fight alongside the rabbit. The rabbit would probably disdain to even use him as a shield to deflect arrows ...

Li Lanfeng hated how useless he was. He could only stare with wide eyes as the rabbit, who was getting further and further away from him, was chased by the purple wave, which kept getting closer and closer. It seemed as if the rabbit would be completely consumed in the very next second ...

Right then, Li Lanfeng's initially wide teary eyes abruptly grew as large as dinner plates, his entire expression screaming disbelief.

That intermediate mecha of the rabbit had suddenly changed into a beautiful and eye-catching mecha in an instant. Even the mesmerising purple sea of flowers behind it could not conceal the radiance of this mecha.

Li Lanfeng was all too familiar with this mecha. It was precisely that imperial mecha that had been giving the rabbit an instructional fight back when he had first recognised the rabbit again. It was the only redeemable imperial mecha among the six models available in Mecha World —— !

After switching her mecha, Ling Lan instantly activated all engines on her new mecha. For an intermediate mecha, the distance between her and Li Lanfeng would need 5 to 6 seconds to cover, but for the imperial mecha, just 1 second was enough to bring Ling Lan to Li Lanfeng's side.

Ling Lan grabbed hold of Li Lanfeng's mecha and said exasperatedly, "Bastard leopard, you've bloody gotten worse than before. Are you trying to commit suicide?" She had only kicked the leopard ahead of her because she had the secret weapon her dad had passed to her to rely on, but this fellow actually did not understand the pains she had taken to save them both. That self-sacrificing behaviour of his almost infuriated her to death.

Smiling, Li Lanfeng was just about to return a quip when he saw the purple flower tide looming above Ling Lan. He quickly shouted out, "Rabbit, be careful!"

Ling Lan abruptly turned around and plugged in that precious power source they had obtained on planet X192 at the same time. The fingers on both hands flew across her mecha controls. Under this type of emergency situation, Ling Lan's hand speed once again broke through her initial speed limits.

It should be said that due to controlling lower mecha, Ling Lan's hand speed had always maintained its original standards. Despite knowing herself that she had improved over these past few years, due to the constraints of the situation, Ling Lan had not known precisely how much she had improved. And now, on this imperial mecha, Ling Lan's restrained hand speed was finally fully unleashed.

"Pulsing King Shield." Ling Lan chose to use an equipped ability exclusive to imperial mecha even as she shouted, "Leopard, hold on to me tightly!"

Ever since Ling Lan had obtained , she had studied some of the special equipment of imperial mecha. Of course, her father Ling Xiao had also given her all of 's information. Combined with supplementary information from Little Four, it could be said that Ling Lan's understanding of was no less than those imperial mecha operators piloting .

Pulsing King Shield was a powerful defensive equipment. Although it was incomparable to the god-class IN mecha's Divine Shield series, it was still a top-class shield among all of the defensive equipment of the Federation. It was a great deal stronger than the typical protective multi-particle beam shields most military vessels were equipped with. Furthermore, the Pulsing King Shield was a defensive shield whose range could be freely modified under a mecha master's 1 control.

Ling Lan not only wanted to protect herself and the leopard, she also wanted to protect her companions who were already within the hold of the mainship. In reality, if this military vessel was consumed by this magnetic tsunami, even if Ling Lan possessed an imperial mecha, she would have no way of holding out till she arrived at the Swift Dragon base camp. This was the limitation of mecha — unable to fly for long distances.

In front of the imperial mecha, a beam of white light rose into the sky, instantly forming a large barrier with a radius of several kilometres. Even though the Pulsing King Shield seemed extremely large, it could still only cover the tail end of the mainship. This was already the extent of Ling Lan's control; the scale of the Pulsing King Shield depended primarily on the operator's level. Ling Lan's true control skill level was not yet at imperial level; she was currently pushing herself to execute cross-level control. Therefore, some of the special functions of the imperial mecha were beyond her, unable to be performed — some elements of the Pulsing King Shield fell into this category.

Honestly, for Ling Lan to be able to bring out a Pulsing King Shield with such a range was already extremely remarkable. Her control panel was already spattered with droplets of blood. Cross-level operation was not without its consequences. Ling Lan registered none of the tearing pain from her fingers — there was only one thought in her mind ... and that was that no one in their team could die here under this magnetic tsunami.

A loud 'boom' rang out as the Pulsing King Shield and the purple wave collided heavily. With a jerk, Ling Lan could not stop herself from spewing out a mouthful of blood, and the initially radiant Pulsing King Shield dimmed.

Ling Lan bit down on her lips, using the intense pain to keep herself from fainting. She knew that every additional second she kept the Pulsing King Shield up for meant an additional guarantee for the lives of her companions.

At the moment Ling Lan had brought out the Pulsing King Shield, Li Lanfeng had obeyed Ling Lan's instruction to hold on tightly to Ling Lan's mecha. When the Pulsing King Shield and the magnetic tsunami collided forcefully, their two mecha had been swept back by the fearsome power of the magnetic tsunami to hurtle towards the tail end of the mainship.

At that moment, Li Lanfeng was extremely calm. He only continued to keep a steady hold on his rabbit. Even if he would die like this with his rabbit in this magnetic tsunami, he still would not let go of his rabbit. Yes, he had already let go once on the friendship between him and the rabbit, so this time he would absolutely never let go again ...

"Bang bang bang ..." Their mecha crashed right into the tail end of the mainship. As the primary point of the crash, Li Lanfeng spewed out a mouthful of blood right after the first collision. The violent crash had caused him to be severely injured, but still he clung tightly to the rabbit before him, tenaciously using his mecha as the rabbit's 'meat cushion'.

The magnetic tsunami still came into contact with the tail end of the command mainship in the end, and the tail of the mainship began to emit violent sounds of explosion. Under the horrific power of the magnetic tsunami, even though Ling Lan had used all her strength in the Pulsing King Shield to counteract the force of the magnetic tsunami, it had still not been enough to prevent the ultimate fate of the mainship. The tail of the mainship was unable to escape wholly unscathed; over one-fourth of the ship was torn to pieces by the magnetic tsunami ...

Chapter 320: Awakening!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

After who knows how long, Ling Lan muzzily woke up and was greeted to the sight of dim darkness. Ling Lan could not help but be taken aback — if not for the fact that she could feel the seatbelt strapping her in, Ling Lan might have thought that she was no longer in the cockpit of her mecha.

Mind you, as long as there was someone in it, the cockpit of a mecha would always maintain a certain level of illumination unless something was wrong with the mecha; only then would this kind of situation occur.

Ling Lan had just thought to move when she found her entire body beginning to ache terribly. With that, she knew that she had already been determined to be in a severely injured state by the mainframe of Mecha World. It made sense when she thought about it. Going up against a magnetic tsunami which was capable of swallowing everything in its path, being able to live was already a great blessing. Of course, this outcome was also thanks to the impressive performance of the imperial mecha's defensive equipment.

Forcefully suppressing the pain, Ling Lan reached out to press the activation button of the mecha based on memory.

The resulting 'beep' made Ling Lan's heart ease. This sound was like music from the heavens, for it meant that her mecha could still be used normally. Very soon, her screen had lit up, and she entered the mecha piloting system. At the same time, the cockpit became bright again, everything in perfect order. Apparently, the mecha had just entered standby mode because no one was piloting it to save energy. The moment the activation button was pressed, it had started up again instantly.

Ling Lan did not concern herself with the situation outside. The first thing she did was to take out a tube of healing agent and slap it onto her body. Only then did she feel her condition improving. This was the virtual world, so recovering was as simple and speedy as that. If this were the real world, based on the extent of Ling Lan's injuries, recovery would not be as simple.

After sorting out her own body, only then did Ling Lan have any mind to spare to investigate her surroundings. She found that the surroundings of her mecha were just as dark as the inside of her cockpit before. She decisively turned on the external lights of the mecha. With that, she found that her mecha was currently floating in mid-air, and there were countless metallic scraps bobbing around her.

Seeing this, Ling Lan was quite baffled. Where in the world was she? The last thing she could remember was using the imperial mecha to block the magnetic tsunami and finally falling to crash into the mainship before falling unconscious. Could it be that the mainship had not escaped disaster in the end and had become debris in space? But if they were truly in outer space, it still would not be this dark!

In endless space, there was actually a certain amount of light. This sort of pitch darkness would not happen, so Ling Lan decisively threw out this possibility.

Just as Ling Lan was pondering this mystery, a voice choked with tears suddenly rang out in her mindspace, "Boss, you've finally woken up! Boo hoo hoo, that's really great!"

"Little Four ..." Ling Lan's forehead twitched involuntarily. She had only been unconscious and not about to die — now what reason was there for this behaviour of Little Four's?

As if sensing Boss's displeasure, Little Four sniffled and said, "Boss, you've already been unconscious for a whole night. No one was paying any attention to me. I was so scared!" For that night, it was like Little Four had been shut into an enclosed little black room. The soundless world had almost driven him insane — it had reminded him of his time in Ling Lan's previous world. He had constantly been alone by himself waiting for Ling Lan to notice him, but unfortunately Ling Lan had only heard his voice right at the very end of her life there, making him wait for a whole 21 years.

Little Four was afraid that things had returned to how it was before. Having gotten used to acting spoilt and fooling around with Ling Lan, Little Four could no longer bear to experience that loneliness of before. He believed that if something had truly happened to Ling Lan, his processing chip would certainly choose to self-destruct.

"Don't be scared. Haven't I woken up now? You need to have faith in me, your boss!" Seeing this, Ling Lan's heart softened. Inside the mindspace, she lightly petted the emotionally wounded Little Four, comforting him to ease his fears.

"Yup yup yup, Boss is the bestest!" Little Four's tears had yet to dry and he was already smiling again. That appearance of his was simultaneously adorable and pitiful.

At the sight, Ling Lan could not help but fall silent. She suddenly realised that Little Four was not an omnipotent intelligence entity. He was just like a real living person with his own emotions — joy, anger, sadness, likes and dislikes, and things that made him sad or afraid ...

Ling Lan silently caressed Little Four for a while, finally getting him to calm down. After that, she tried to pilot her mecha to investigate the surrounding environment but found that her mecha was tied down by something. Ling Lan zoomed in on the image of where she was tied down, and only then did she discover that she was being held down by the tight embrace of the leopard's mecha. It was clear to see that the leopard had not eased up on his grip at all.

Seeing the leopard's mecha currently completely still and silent, Ling Lan's heart stuttered and she shouted frantically, "Leopard, leopard ..."

"He's fine, just unconscious." Having calmed down, Little Four saw Ling Lan's anxious demeanour and so told her about the other's condition.

Ling Lan thought back to when the two of them had been thrown at the military vessel by the magnetic storm at the end — the force of their impact had been fully borne by the leopard — and she could not help but feel guilty. "He is only so terribly injured because he was protecting me ..."

"If you hadn't blocked the magnetic tsunami before that, he would not have just ended up terribly injured but completely destroyed. He should instead be grateful to you," responded Little Four, baffled at Ling Lan's reaction. In Little Four's eyes, [Self-Defined Destiny] playing the role as a cushion was the requisite cost for his survival. Why would Boss feel guilty and even feel grateful towards the other?

Little Four's words rendered Ling Lan speechless. She did not know how to explain to Little Four that his perspective was not quite right ... knowing that Little Four was someone who only looked at pure cold logic, Ling Lan wisely did not continue discussing the issue. Instead, she connected to [Self-Defined Destiny]'s comms channel and began calling out to the leopard again and again.

Ling Lan was well aware that she needed to wake the leopard up as quickly as possible, or else the other might die from his injuries due to not applying treatment in time.

Perhaps her cries were effective, for not too long later, Ling Lan heard a slight groan coming through the comms. Ling Lan was overjoyed and quickly shouted loudly, "Leopard, leopard, are you alright?"

"Cough cough, I'm fine. Rabbit, it's fine as long as you're fine," the leopard finally replied. His voice sounded very weak — it looked like his injuries were extremely severe, probably even heavier than Ling Lan's had been. It made sense. Even though Ling Lan had received heavy damage when blocking the magnetic tsunami, she had been using an imperial mecha. The protection afforded to a mecha operator by an imperial mecha just could not be matched by an advanced mecha.

In just a few moments, the leopard's voice began sounding more spirited. He too seemed to have picked up on the surrounding situation, and he asked Ling Lan, "Where are we right now?"

"I'm not sure either," said Ling Lan with a wry smile as she looked out at the pitch-black space they were floating in.

"I only know that we were hit into the inside of the mainship at the end. Who knows if we're still inside it now ..." said Li Lanfeng after briefly rallying his spirits.

His words had barely faded when a corpse floated by the front of their mecha. It was dressed in the uniform of a mecha support staff of the mainship — they could clearly see the insignia pinned on his shoulder. It looked like they were indeed still inside the mainship. However, this also proved that this military vessel had already been pretty thoroughly broken.

Seeing this, Ling Lan's heart sank. If the military vessel had truly been completely destroyed, just based on their mecha alone, it was impossible to fly to the base camp of the Swift Dragons. Could it be that after striving for so long, she would still end up with the outcome of failing the mission with all of her companions dead?

"It's alright. Although the command mainship's condition is really terrible, its basic mobility is not broken. It is still in motion." Little Four could sense Ling Lan's worries and quickly rushed to reassure her, "However, Boss, you are now in the tail end of the ship which was utterly destroyed. They have already sealed off the doors of the airlock on this end, which is why this area is in this anti-gravity state."

"Then, do you know the situation with Qi Long and the others?" Ling Lan began to worry about her other companions who had entered first.

"I'm not very sure. Everything in the tail end has been destroyed, so I also have no way of using the mainship's surveillance system to find them," said Little Four regretfully.

"Since we're fine, I believe they'll be fine too." Ling Lan still had a lot of faith in her companions. In fact, that explosion at the tail end of the ship in those final moments was a death blow to those support staff members without the protection of mecha. They were basically all wiped out in that final explosion — the only ones who could survive were the mecha operators protected by the defensive power of their mecha.

"Rabbit, I seem to feel like our position is shifting. Maybe that magnetic tsunami did not cause fatal damage to the mainship." Li Lanfeng seemed to have sensed something of the situation, and he quickly communicated his findings to Ling Lan.

"Yes. Let's figure out the situation first then find Combat and the others. After that we can arrange our next plan of action." Ling Lan instantly made her decision. They would first look for their team members in this heap of ruins.

The two of them operated their mecha to weave among the debris. Countless corpses floated by them — it looked like all these staff without any protective measures had been sacrificed during that magnetic tsunami. Despite knowing that all these staff members were just NPCs, Ling Lan could not help but have a heavy heart in the face of all this death. Still, Ling Lan very quickly rallied her spirits. She began to think about how this was perhaps even more advantageous for her team because everyone who knew they had stolen aboard the ship was now dead. Perhaps they could change their identities and stealthily infiltrate the ship as official mecha troops of the mainship.

After a round of searching, they found no sign of Qi Long and the others. Ling Lan would rather guess that they had already entered the safe areas of the military vessel. What was more surprising to them was that when they happened to touch some standard Federation advanced mecha which were still functionally intact overall floating through the air, the system actually prompted them with a pop-up notification asking them whether they wanted to retrieve the mecha. This meant that these intact mecha could be freely taken by players.

Ling Lan and Li Lanfeng naturally would not let such an advantage pass by. It should be known it would require an extremely high amount of points at the redemption centre to redeem these mecha. Moreover, Li Lanfeng's mecha was already running on empty — obtaining an advanced mecha with abundant power right now was undoubtedly a stroke of timely luck 1 for Li Lanfeng. Mind you, once one's mecha's power ran out, not only would the mecha be unable to move, the oxygen levels in the mecha's cockpit would not be able to be sustained for long either.

The two of them chose two of the mecha in the best condition to keep in their inventories. It wasn't that they did not want to collect even more, but they would not be able to support the mecha even if they took more.

Within a player's inventory, each mecha would exhaust a set amount of power calories every hour. If a mecha was left unused in an inventory for a long time, it would still become a powerless empty shell of a mecha in the end. After that, it would merely be dead weight in a player's inventory and increase a player's fatigue level. This was also one of the methods Mecha World employed to prevent players from accumulating too many mecha so that the players would not end up unable to focus on training properly with one mecha.